Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Mark wondered aloud. “I don't even know if I can get
off work.”
“Mark, it's eleven months away. Just tell Jim that you'll be taking your vacation then. He's
got plenty of time to adjust.” Hannah was right, but Mark hadn't taken a week-long vaca-
tion in years, and he was nervous about committing to such a large block of time. What if
something came up while he was away? Almost reading his mind, Hannah added, “And you
can check your e-mail every morning too, sweetie, just in case. But no phone calls. That's
where we have to draw the line. We'll be on vacation, after all! Now let's get back to picking
flights.”
It had been three months since Hannah and Mark had decided to go to the Netherlands.
After looking into the seasonal temperatures, they had decided that late July or early August
would be best. They had been tempted to go in the spring to watch the tulips bloom but, since
Mark was worried about money, they had decided to push their plans back by a few months.
Already, though, they were finding that the finances were going to work out. Hannah had
picked up some extra hours catering on the weekends, and Mark had gotten a good response
to an ad he'd posted at the local community college offering to tutor students in math and
computer science. He was only doing about two hours a week, but he was putting all the
money aside for their trip
.
The biggest difference, though, had come from the commitment they made to each other to
avoid impulse purchases. Historically, Mark had a tendency to accumulate books he didn't
have time to read, and Hannah loved to start her days with a Starbucks mocha on the way
to work. Since they had started planning their trip, however, they were both finding it relat-
ively easy to only spend their money on essentials. It was a bit of a tough transition at first
for Hannah to give up her mochas, but she told herself that, when she was in Amsterdam,
she would have all the treats she wanted. And more than drinking mochas, she planned to
eat plenty of chocolate. Ever since she had read about a store called Unlimited Delicious,
where the chocolate was made on premises with flavors including rhubarb with candied
ginger and caramel cayenne, Hannah would just close her eyes and imagine herself there
.
And now here they were, in front of their computer, contemplating the “purchase itinerary”
button on the checkout page of United. com. They had found a pair of reasonably priced
tickets leaving on a Tuesday in mid-July and flying back just over a week later, on the fol-
