How Many Visits to Paris?
Jun 6th, 2002, 11:44 AM
#41
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Dear Karen,<BR>Glad you asked! <BR>I live in a very small studio, (so I buy no appliances, and do no yard work or maintenance) <BR>I have very little furniture (but lots of books), <BR>I don't have a car, <BR>I don't have a cell phone, <BR>I don't have cable, <BR>I don't have a pager, <BR>I don't get manicures or pedicures, <BR>I don't buy expensive makeup, <BR>I haunt the internet for low airfares, and when I'm in Paris I stay in 3 star hotels in less lovely neighborhoods. And happily enough, I finally have a job in which I get to travel for work. But I decided a few years ago that travel was THE thing on which I was spending money, and the few things I have cut out make a ton of difference. (hmmm $50/month cell phone = $600 per year = 1 round trip ticket from Chicago) Not easy to do, but well worth it!
Jun 6th, 2002, 01:40 PM
#43
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Janice,<BR>furniture ($800 a month loan payment), <BR>car ($450 a month loan payment), <BR>cell phone ($150 as we have two), <BR>cable ($55 as we must have HBO, <BR>pedicures ($45)<BR><BR>I guess I could travel more with the $18,000 I spend each year on this stuff. When you put it that way, maybe I should reconsider material possessions.<BR>
Jun 6th, 2002, 01:43 PM
#44
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Dear Red,<BR>I would never tell anybody what to do with their money - that's what makes being an adult great - you can do whatever you want. But if I had an extra $18,000 I could go to Europe for at least 18 weeks. (by myself, mind you, and living pretty carefully) But I get annoyed when people I know are always astonished by how much I travel, and don't consider what kind of choices I've made in order to manage to afford it. <BR>As long as one thinks about the lost opportunities when money is spent and is happy with their choice, that's all that matters. Other prefer houses etc., I prefer travel. Chacun a son gout. (each to his own taste, I think)
Jun 6th, 2002, 02:36 PM
#45
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I made my first trip to Paris as a kid in 1973. A few years later, I lived with a French family as a Rotary exchange student, visiting Paris, but spending most of my time in the countryside and at the beach resort of La Baule. Went back in 1982 to study at the Sorbonne, then again in 1985 for two weeks. A nine year break, then two weeks in 1994, two weeks in 1996, five weeks in 1997, and then we moved to Belgium in 1999. Since living in Brussels, I've probably added at least three dozen more trips to Paris, evenly split between day trips (it takes almost exactly 2 hours to get from our apartment to the Eiffel Tower [via Thalys]) and overnight stays ranging from one night to more than a week. I do day trips at least once a month and have a three day assignment in Paris at the end of this month (I'm covering a medical conference and reporting on the research labs at the Louvre).<BR>BTilke (Brussels)
Jun 8th, 2002, 03:18 PM
#54
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Twice. Three days in 1980 with my daughter and a woman I worked with, and four days in 1994 with my husband. We had been to visit a daughter whose husband was stationed in Germany and rode a fast train from there into Gare du Nord. Stayed in a B&B-type hotel near Montmartre and walked miles and miles every day. Would like to go again soon for an extended vacation and see more of France.
Jun 8th, 2002, 03:53 PM
#55
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Janice, I like your priorities and I share them. It is, indeed, about choices! The nice thing about this board is that in "real everyday life" -- people that I interact with day-to-day -- I don't just know anybody who is like me that way. Here's to the journey and the rest of you who understand it! <BR><BR>In answer to the question that started the post, 8 times since 1996. There have been some other places too; some very interesting. But I always tell people that if I could only take 10 trips for the rest of my life, I would take every one of them to Paris. 
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