Heading home tonight from San Antonio.  I took my family there because my daughter is involved in competitive dance, and there was a “Nationals Elite” competition there.  San Antonio is only about 3 and a half hours from Houston, so its not a bad location for a quick get-away weekend.

Here are the challenges with our trip:

• We are here for a dance competition, so we have to be around for unpredictable periods of time.  The scheduling on these events is never what you would hope for, because it is complex and chaotic with so many dancers, teams, and all that goes with those things.
• We are downtown for the dance competition, so getting around means we are walking, or dealing with very slow traffic.  I will add that San Antonio drivers seem very courteous and pedestrian-friendly, even if the pace is quite slow at times for those of us who are from more bustling, uptight cities.
• There are bus routes and trolleys, but picking those up at the right locations when you are not used to the city or the trolley service makes it likely you will be approached by people selling guided tour bus and trolley rides.
• I was super busy in the weeks prior to the trip, so I did not get a chance to plan my site seeing.  So, I was making it up as I went.  This works for me traveling alone, but is not great when the family is looking for me to lead them in the adventure.

Here was my rough itinerary:

• Get daughter to her dance events and practices.
• Deliver snacks or external battery pack if it is forgotten, for when her cell phone dies.
• Visit the Alamo
• Visit Tower of the Americas
• See the city a bit
• Enjoy some down time.

Here are the outcomes for the itinerary items:

• Get daughter to her dance events and practices.
  • Success!  She made it to all events that were scheduled more than 12 hours in advance.  One event was announced at 1 in the morning via email for early morning the following day, so that one, we did not make.
• Deliver snacks or external battery pack if it is forgotten, for when her cell phone dies.
  • Success!  Snacks were delivered when needed, battery provided if needed.  On the way back from delivering the items, I saw the first cattle on a sidewalk since I returned from Mumbai.  Ok…this bull is not alive, and that is a big difference from India!
• Visit the Alamo
  • Success!  Made the tour early on Friday morning, no real crowds, so it was easy to get in and see it.  The next day was July 2nd, so the 4th of July crowd was insane!  Glad we went on Friday.
• Visit Tower of the Americas
  • Fail!  Despite purchasing tickets at a discount on Group-on, we could not get up on the observation deck.  The Tower box office was not selling or redeeming tickets for the observation deck, so we could not go.  No explanation was given, just that they might start selling tickets again in 45 minutes or so.  Very disappointing.
• See the city a bit
  • Success!  I walked the city streets looking at various things with my son and daughter at different times, and that was great.
    • My son and me tried to get into a math teacher convention, but they were checking for ID and we could not get any “math swag”.  Oh well, maybe next time!
    • My daughter and me enjoyed a Starbucks drink and looking around, and talking.
    • Here is a picture of the Alamo Cenotaph
      
• Enjoy some down time
  • The kids wanted to check out the mirror maze on the Alamo Plaza area.  A view from inside the mirror maze.

Final verdict for this trip:  I enjoyed the time with my family.  San Antonio would be a great town to visit for 2-3 days, on a non-holiday weekend, in a month other than July or August, because it is very, very hot and you have to walk a lot.  Maybe staying out of Downtown would be more my style also.  Maybe one of the Hill Country area bed and breakfasts would be nice, with a tour of local wineries?  I might give that trip some thought for another time.

Hoping to get home at a decent hour tonight, so I can get up early tomorrow and go for a motorcycle ride…its been a bit too long since I got out there.  Here is a picture of my steer of choice currently:

Until next time!  Try to make some memories of your own.

Happy Easter!

It took some time to recover from the travel back to the US!  While I was not seriously ill, I was profoundly tired, and lacked motivation to do most anything until about the 9th day back home.  By then, my stomach smoothed out to normal, although I cannot indulge in coffee the way I did before and during the trip.  I am now at my second week at home and feel like its time to get moving again finally.

There is so much to do.  In addition to the normal daily family obligations and fun, the work is picking up quickly.  I have a website project for a client that I am assisting with, and about 15 other activities that demand attention this week!

Its good that I have such a great team now.  I spent a number of years doing project work by myself mostly and that approach has perils and benefits.  One benefit of going alone is that you do not have to wait for anyone else to get the work done!  If you are willing to work like a maniac, you can accomplish quite a lot, and make a lot of money.  The downside is that this is likely to lead to burnout if it goes on like that for too long.  Additionally, if you lose your flow, get sick, or whatever, the work derails, and you might not get paid!  It is difficult to maintain discipline and good work habits all by yourself for an extended period.  That said, if you have a money problem to solve like debt,  grow up, get off your ass and fix that now!

If you are doing a Herculean effort to do some project work to pay off some debts, this solo working approach can work fine.  I recommend paying your debt off as soon as you can, even if your life sucks for 2 years while doing it.  Notice that I put a guideline of 2 years in there…if your life sucks for much more than 2 years, you run the risk of this suck-i-ness becoming your new normal life and nobody’s life should suck over the long term.  I would say any grown up can apply discipline and work an extra job, start doing projects as a consultant (give yourself your own job), or whatever they need to for 18 to 24 months.  Make a plan, and then go do it!  In 2 years your bills will be cleared up and you will have proven something to yourself.  I highly recommend cutting the junk you don’t need out of your lifestyle to make this 2 year time frame feasible.  If you do not cut your lifestyle extras out, the timeline to paying your debts will be extended, and your life will suck for a long time, or your motivation will fizzle out before you complete the goal.

Whatever your reason for the extra working is, make a plan for achieving a specific goal in 2 years or less, and then go do it already.  You do not need TV, you do not need to hang out all night on Friday and drink beer…you need fix your finances while you can.