Kindness of Strangers

We decided to take a weekend off from trip planning.  Until we finalize our itinerary and purchase our plane ticket (which we’re not quite ready to do) we’re at a bit of a standstill, so now seemed like the perfect time to take a breather.  I knew exactly how I wanted to spend my Saturday:  seeing Be Kind Rewind, the new Jack Black film, costarring Mos Def.  It is a film I had been been looking forward to for months, and Ebert called it a “whimsical…amusing film,” which was exactly what I needed.

Let me begin by saying that I really wanted to love this film.  But what I thought would be mindless fluff quickly devolved into mindnumbing boredom.  The characters were quite possibly the stupidest grouping of humans that I have ever seen assembled on the silver screen.  The plot was ridiculous, and not in a good way: there is the suspension of disbelief, and then there is just plain disbelief.  I have only walked out of one movie in my life, and I really wanted to make this one my second.  But it was my day off, and I was supposed to be having Fun.  Not only that, but the film’s WTER stared me straight in the eyes.  In researching visas on Friday afternoon, I discovered the $13 spent on tickets would nearly cover the cost of my Egyptian vistor visa (good for 30 days).  How could a two-hour movie — especially a really bad one — ever equate to 720 hours in Egypt?  The guilt was palpable.  (I also learned, in the course of my research, that overstaying your visa in Indonesia could result in five years of imprisonment.  And, while you are eligible for a stay upward of 90 days in Peru, the operative word is upward:  the Peruvian official will make that determination when you make your way through immigration in Lima, based on unstated criteria, so good luck!)

I soldiered through the movie.  After returning home and taking two aspirin, I determined that my lovely day off was ruined.  So why not do our taxes?

More WTER moral conundrums abound.  Today I called the totally awesome New Mexico Travel Health Clinic (who, incidentially, has the best billboard EVER) to figure out what vaccinations we would need to receive prior to departure.  It turns out we need to start with the yellow fever vaccine, because some South American visas require proof of this particular vaccination.  It also turns out that this vaccine costs $99 per person (certificate included!).  My dilemma is this:  can trip-related costs carry a WTER?  Technically, a vaccination is a WTER.  But it’s just not very much fun, and I can’t help but feel that only fun trip-related costs should receive a WTER .  Then again, visas aren’t a lot of fun, either; although, visas lead to more fun things than vaccinations.  Japanese encephilitis, anyone?  

I read an article on the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, and was disappointed to learn that we won’t get our estimated $1,200 check until mid-May.  This means no bolstering our trip fund until we’re nearly ready to depart.  But there is a silver lining to this seemingly dark cloud.  Our friend, Pete, happened to read my post on the rewards we will reap from the Act.  He had a brilliant plan:  why don’t we track how we spend our stimulus act monies, and report it via our blog in WTER terms?  So, beginning in July, get ready to be wowed and amazed by how we will stretch $1,200 over the course of eight months.  Thanks for the idea, Pete!

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.