Skipping Town

The last few days have been devoted to laundry, finances, and organization. I'm leaving town tomorrow night! After my appendectomy, it became clear that I reeeeaaaaally need a real vacation (something I haven't had in a year and a half). Since I can stay at Older Sister's apartment for a pittance and since flights to New York came up decently priced, it was determined that New York City is actually one of the least expensive proper vacations I could take.

Plot twist! I thought it would be a grand adventure to fly out on my own and then potter about the city while Older Sister is working, but my parents were not as keen on that idea. They begged me to take Little Brother with me. (Little Brother is still a child, but he passes as a man and can thus serve as a kind of "protection" against kidnappers or whatever it is my parents are worried might find me if I were to wander the streets of the Big Apple alone.) I didn't want to give in to said begging because I didn't want to redo all the basic tourist things I'd done for my first trip and then done again with Baby Sister for her first trip. In the end, though, I decided the pros of having Little Brother along outweighed the cons, and we agreed on a plan to suit us both. The big excitement of the trip is visiting the Museum of the Moving Image and the Jim Henson exhibit! Little Brother will be an excellent companion for that.

One big thing I always do before a trip is gather all my change and trade it in at the bank. This is something I got from my parents. They keep their change in a big bowl and then sort it out before a family vacation. The change usually yields about fifteen to fifty dollars of extra vacation money. Every little bit counts!