Well it’s day 3 of our vaca. We have done no parks yet, we are still in recovery from our giant travel day. Instead we have been setting up camp. Run to the local grocery store (called “Publix”—a horrible name for a grocery store in my opinion…somehow too close to pubic or something). More importantly we have GPSed all local Targets, Super Targets, McDonalds with play structures and free wi-fi, and of course, Costco. Done round one of food and diapers stock-ups.
Our place will work. It’s not super sexy, but hey, I’m not super sexy right now, so it fits. Our place has 3-bedrooms—my mom has a room, we have a room with babes, and big kids have a room. Alice is sleeping in a closet (took her out of the twin bed after she rolled out). In our experience closets are fabulous rooms for kids while traveling. Contained and dark, which means good naps. The twins are using Jon and my suitcases as beds. We’ve got a washer/dryer, A/C, a TV and a pool. We’re golden.
My one complaint is wi-fi…they wanna charge me $7/day for internet access in my room. What a racket! And we are such freegans, I just can’t bend over.
If I had access to Wikipedia I’d get a more official definition of “freegan”, but my layman’s def is this: “a enthusiast of deals, free or inexpensive finds, someone who enjoys living without in order to stick it to the man”. A freegan teeders on cheap. We admit it. We just wanna get the most bang for our buck. I am not quite the extreme of a coupon clipper—that’s different and requires far more organization than I can muster at this stage of life. I’m not saying freegans are lazy, they are just more spur of the moment. Ie. “Happy hour ends in 10 minutes, let’s go get our drink now”… “That store is everything half price today only, let’s go”… “I found this perfectly good pair of Abercrombie pants folded and sitting on top of a dumpster, I’m gonna go home and wash ‘em and see if they fit” (Jon did do this once, and they did fit). And for the record, Jon also did find a case of beer in the same dumpster as the AF pants where half of the beers were unopened, undrunk. They were Sierra Nevada, and he took them, of course. We did pour them into glasses. I spose freegans might fall into the dumpster-diver category at times. A freegan doesn’t pick up used gum off a park bench, but perfectly good beer near a garbage can? Score.
This is a learned art for me. I am a reformed material girl, which means I am still a material girl (translation: snob), however I have found ways to be a snob but pay less. Second-hand designer brands don’t gross me out. In fact, the recycle/no waste part of freegan actually makes me feel really good, like I am contributing to society. A North Face fleece is a lot more fun when it’s $9.
Even though my natural bent is a little on the snob side, I have discovered that really, Jon and I come from a long line of freegans. Our families like to wring a dollar for all it’s worth. My grandmother (my mom’s mom) was a military wife and a seamstress and was so good at making the most of what she had. So creative. We were trained growing up on how to have fun cheap. Not spending is not because we work in ministry, although that does encourage us to continue to life the freegan life. If we had money, we would still choose to live this way. I love traveling with my mom because the woman is financially stable, but still loves to find a deal and cheap ways to have fun.
We are freegans in real life, but it can be amplified on vacation because I usually bring an alotted amount of cash for our trip and it’s a good challenge to see how long it can be stretched. It’s a game. How do we eat well and have a blast without breaking the bank? And being here with my mom and Jon, I have seen that we all like to play the game. Here’s how I have seen the freegan come out since we have been here:
Jon:
—Won’t buy new swim shorts at Costco for $20 (which is honestly not expensive), but for him it’s the principle—he knows he can get them cheaper (actually, he did once find a pair of board shorts in Maui at a state park, came home and washed ‘em, good as new)
—Jon has already scoped out the local thrift stores nearby. No way to get a better picture of the local color than checking out their second hand stores.
Tutu (my mom):
—When checking in to our room and got asked to go to a timeshare presentation. Hmmm…is it worth it? The reward: We all got a free breakfast and $100. She went for it. Jon and I have done these too, and they are super annoying. We did get a delicious breakfast at a restaurant for all 7 of us (probably the only restaurant besides McDucks we will eat at while here). My mom had to war with the sales guy a bit, but she won the battle. We didn’t buy, she wasn’t a sucker, and she got her cash. Money we can indulge the kids at the Disney store on their special toy or choice, or something.
Kristina:
—Won’t pay $4.95 for a map of Florida but instead emailed Jon’s mom to run by AAA before she flies to meet us tomorrow and asked her to grab some maps. $4.95 is a couple cups of coffee, or an adult beverage for that matter, maybe a happy hour drink.
—Writing my blogs in my room, then driving 1 mile down the road to McDonalds to connect to the internet. I would rather hoof it a bit. That $7/day x 21 days could equal one a bitchin’ dinner with my husband! Plus, good for us to “unplug” a bit. Our kids are loving more direct access to us. And isn’t that what family vacation is all about.
