Kindness of Strangers

I was pleased as punch when President Bush approved an economic stimulus act this week, for this will mean an additional $1,200 for Our Trip Fund.  But I couldn’t help but observe the irony:  the very money that is supposed to stimulate the U.S. economy will, in our household, be spent entirely in overseas markets.  Ca-ching!

I can’t feel too bad, though, even if we haven’t really done our part to stimulate the economy in the past six months.  Saving for this trip has been an exercise in ascetic self-control.  It has meant cutting back and prioritizing in nearly every area of our lives.  Items that were once referred to simply by their monetary value — “that Starbucks coffee is $5″ — have now been assigned a World Travel Equivalency Rate (WTER).  A Starbucks coffee, therefore, is now referred to as “a night in an Indian hostel.”  We’ve learned that you can boil just about anything down to its WTER and, because of this principle, one can’t help but be wracked with guilt when buying, well, just about anything.

The WTER principle was painfully illustrated to me last month.  The universe, apparently testing my resolve, sent Anthropologie into my life shortly after we made the decision to travel around the world and save all of our discretionary income.  I hate to shop, but Anthropologie is a store that makes my heart sing.  Upon walking through the doors, I typically covet about 84% of its merchandise on any given shopping trip.

Last month was no exception.  Hoping to snag some post-Christmas deals, the only thing I really wanted was a dress.  It cost $138.  I loved this dress.  I wanted this dress.  But all I could see was its WTER, staring me in the face:  a full day of spa treatments in Bali.  A week on the Milford Track.  One-third of a tour up Machu Picchu.  A bus ride from Montevideo to Sao Paulo and back (plus snacks along the way).  Using the WTER metric, buying the dress just seemed frivolous.  The budgeting chapter of our round-the-world travel guide contains a “Spendometer” chart.  Basically, it tells you how far $1,000 will take you, depending on where you’re traveling.  For $1,000 you can spend 15 days in Japan…or 71 days in India.  I realize I’ve become a human Spendometer.  I reluctantly put my New Zealand hiking trip back on the rack and headed out of the store and into the cold.