Should We Stay, Or Should We Go?

You’ve all probably seen this popular meme: “Life is Short. Take the trip. Buy the shoes. Eat the cake.”

I’m normally 100% in agreement with this philosophy. But for miles and points aficionados like us who travel a lot, should we still always take the trip? When is it just too much travel?

Here’s my situation: My kids go back to school in one month. We’ve already been on three trips since school let out: a cruise to Bermuda with a New York City stay, a short trip to Washington, D.C. and a 2-week trek to Australia and New Zealand.

I still have one trip planned with just me and my kids, which is our MegaBus trip to San Antonio (first time on MegaBus!) with a stay at Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa. However, I’m on the fence as to whether we will keep this trip or scrap it.

The Case for Taking the Trip

I’ve been wanting to try MegaBus for a few years now. Several readers have requested that I try it and report back. I personally hate highway driving, and my kids are horrible at road trips. But since we scored $1 tickets and reserved a table for dirt cheap, I think my kids would enjoy the bus experience better than a typical road trip. I know I would.

I also want to visit Hyatt Hill Country Resort in the summer to enjoy the lazy river and pools. The last time we were there over New Year’s, it was too cold to enjoy most of the resort’s amenities.

With my World of Hyatt Visa card’s free night anniversary certificate (combined with my husband’s certificate), our two-night summer stay would be covered. (Side note: My card anniversary was a few weeks ago and I still haven’t received my free night! But that’s another story).

It’s been 2 ½ years since my family has been to San Antonio. It’s my favorite city in Texas to visit.

Our summer has been so hectic, with my oldest starting driver’s ed and a volunteer job on top of training for tennis. We’ve only made it to our neighborhood pool twice this summer! It would be nice to have a slower-paced getaway in a lazy river. Since the trip is during the week at the end of the summer, I anticipate the resort wouldn’t be very crowded. Ahhhh, sounds relaxing.

The Case for Staying Home

I can think of a lot of reasons to cancel the trip. It feels like we’ve barely been home this summer. Why should we leave?

I’m feeling a bit blah about traveling right now. The trip to Australia and New Zealand really kicked my butt. The transition back to Texas has been difficult.

If my Hyatt anniversary free nights don’t come on time, I’d have to use a combination of Hyatt points and Ultimate Rewards points for the stay. That’s not the end of the world, but I’d rather save UR points for flights.

If I cancel the trip, I’m only out $35 in total. Actually, I could move our MegaBus tickets to another day in the future and not lose the money at all.

Instead of schlepping six hours away to San Antonio, we could have more of a local resort staycation here. Two years ago, my family enjoyed the Gaylord Texan over the summer. I have a Marriott gift card that’s been burning a hole in my pocket which would more than cover a night there. It seems like that would be hitting the easy button.

Lastly, my kids don’t know about this trip, so they wouldn’t be devasted if we didn’t go. I did tell them a few months ago that we would be trying the MegaBus, but I think they forgot about it since they haven’t brought it up once.

Bottom Line

I haven’t yet decided what we will do with our last planned vacation of the summer. Fortunately, I still have time to decide and I can be somewhat flexible with our plans.

I’ve canceled trips before when I’ve over-scheduled my family. Sometimes, you have to just do what feels right at the time.

Have you ever booked a trip and then debated canceling it? Do you ever schedule too many trips?

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