Expensive Doesn’t Always Mean Better.
This weekend I went on an impromptu trip to the coast with my husband. Initially we were debating on going to Smith Rock to go hike around, but ended up deciding on the coast. It was the kind of trip that I searched, and searched for a place to stay about an hour before we decided to leave. We ended up deciding on going to Long Beach, Washington. Of course, it was also Spring Break so there were limited options as the cherry on top.
I’m just going to throw this out there, I’m cheap. My husband, not so much. It’s something we agree to disagree on most of the time. I’m still learning that married life is sometimes about compromise. I wanted the cheap hotel, he wanted a nice one. He finally agreed to let me choose and I found a place to stay. (Muah ha ha ha.) The difficult part was actually finding somewhere to let me bring the dogs. I think my girls like the beach as much as I do.
After finding a place to stay online, I called to verify the availability because I’d never booked a room on the website it was listed on. I’m glad I did that because I ended up saving an extra $40 by booking through them. When we arrived, I went to get us checked in and got a little nervous. The office smelled like cologne masked cigarette smoke. The key to the room was an actual key, not the fancy cards most places have these days, and the outside of the motel looked like it had seen better days. The pictures online didn’t quite match up.
Our room…was actually a family suite. There was a queen bed, a queen hide a bed, and a futon for sleeping options. There was a little sofa and a dinning room table, along with a kitchen, which I was not expecting. Not too shabby for $99 a night right? It wasn’t perfect but saving money on our room meant, I didn’t feel so guilty splurging on a couple treats, even though we planned most of our meals to be made in.
In all it’s cheap glory, we ended up having a really nice time. The place was clean and only a few blocks away from the beach. The pups were excited to go on an adventure with us and I was excited not to have to pay for a dog sitter. If I’d have opted to pay for a costlier room, my inner cheap skate would have been less likely to enjoy the couple things we did spend money on. #insertfancykite #insertcaramelapple #insertfunland
That being said, even though we bought those couple bonus things, the things I cherished most about this trip was the quiet time, handstands on the beach, the bald eagle up close, and seeing my husband happy flying his kite even if the wind wasn’t being super cooperative.
Moral of the story? Money doesn’t buy happiness. Enjoy every moment.