ChocolateBabz

Yes this was our plan too, breakfast & dinner on the patio, nipping off to different US cities every weekend. Reality: 100° Heat & Bugs drive us indoors, hubby working all hours, dude's homework and $$$ airfares nipped our plans in the bud!! In four years we have never nipped away for the weekend .

markwm

That is a pity - work-life balance is quite important so no weekend working for me and Mrs Wife isn't allowed to work (H4) so we will do something every weekend. There is a lot to see and do in and around LA so we'll be busy for a while plus there is year round golf (though I've yet to play - any golfers in LA?)

HumphreyC

Holy crap - it'll be about $2,500 for me by the time the winter is finished and I thought that was steep (considering how mild it has been). That's for a 2 bed Victorian house with 6 rooms and high ceilings (oil heat only; I wish I had a wood burner!).

N1cky

Not everything is about the salary though, I could earn an extra $30k now we are living in Silicon Valley but choose to stay working for my LA based company because I get the huge perk of working from home, which means my daughter actually has a life outside of school/day care. I also got unbelievable travel benefits. $30k doesn't cover the cost of these perks, however makes life much nicer.

So yes, if I had to go back into working in an office, I'd consider earning less for more vacation, (yes I know I am in a nice situation to be able to do that).

As it is I started on 10 days vacation, 2 personal, and 10 sick days, all accrued over the course of a year, we only get 6 bank holidays. I get 15 days next year when I complete my 5 years I can also take unpaid leave easily.

N1cky

That's a shame, are there no places you can drive to within a couple of hours?

Giantaxe

From Houston

N1cky

I've never been to Texas so have no idea. I know it's big, but so is California and there are loads of places we can drive to for a weekend away.

Edit: So it wasn't such a stupid suggestion, from doing a quick google search I've discovered Davy Crockett National Forest, Sam Houston National Park and Galveston are all within easy drives. I remember Leslie talking about going to Galveston and I really wanted to go so know thats worth a visit.

robin1234

Never been to Texas but I just looked at a map, and it seems there's a Davy Crockett National Forest not too far away, with wild hogs...

ChocolateBabz

Yeah you start driving on Monday you are still in Texas on Friday .

When we have had visitors over we have been to Austin, San Antonio & Dallas (3 - 4 hours) and we drove to New Orleans (whoa that's a whole other state!) to catch a cruise ship a few years ago. We also drove over to Orlando for a week (16 hours door to door) in 2010. Apart from that we have used our free flights each year (thank you hubby's work) to go home each year. But I must stress that this on not a 'holiday' nor should it ever be referred to as a 'holiday'....hard labour maybe....

This year we are planning a 'family vacation' just the three of us to Hawaii.

So don't feel too bad for me. I just laugh remembering before we moved how we thought we would be 'doing' a different city every month and that we would try to visit every state

Mummy in the foothills

Theres more to life than money, and no I wouldn't sacrifice my childrens lives growing up and their childhood memories for more money, there are so many kids here who spend 12 or more hours a day in school/daycare 50 weeks a year. Sad for the kids while their big shiny house sits empty all day and the parents run about cleaning and shopping and dropping kids to "activities" on weekends.

N1cky

I know what you mean about England, we went back last year and it definately wasn't a holiday. We've just returned from a week in Hawaii and that definately was

I laughed when I read your original post too, I knew what you were getting at. When we were moving to LA I had visions of sitting at a restaurant on the beach front, like you do on the med. I arrived in Santa Monica and there is a great big stinking 6 lane road between the beach and nearest structure. I did manage to get a hot dog

Bob

Because for many, that just isn't the case...or the cost of living is so much higher that the extra salary is needed to equalise the disposable take home pay :/

Bob

They were bloody high in our last town we were living in, friends were paying $6-14K on property tax.

As for heating, $500 a month on oil for 6 months of the year and the same on AC for the rest of the year. Obviously not on a new build or a apartment, but it's not unheard of either.

kimilseung

For me tis is one of the big downsides of America.

In the UK I had most weekends in Snowdonia or the Lakes. I had ample vacation time, so I had several long weekends in the Highlands, for me it was like having loads of holidays throughout the year, with one big one in the summer abroad for a month.

Here in my part of America the outdoors are in easy reach, but to get to similar landscape I have to trek for a weekend, in the UK I could be there in an hour. The UK does not have any glaciated landscape, but a days out doing something like the Snowdon horseshoe is not a possibility for me any more. A days walk can get me to a 10 minute scramble, but that day will be stuck in a tree shrouded path, There is a choice of sticking to the paths or hacking with a machete through the forest, which means it is easier in crowded Britain to have a quiet day in the wild. There might only be 10 people on the mountain in Washington State, but you are going to see them all on that path. Then there is the quality of snow which means crampons get little use, and snow shoes are a necessity in the winter where I am. Oh for a bit of freeze-thaw.

(on the plus side, I have done one of the volcano's here, and that was a lot easier than flying to the Alps)

edit: This has hit a sore spot.
Then there is the camping, UK may pack 'em in, but you know you will get some place. In the US its book six months ahead, and pay a crazy price for a spot designed for a Winnebago. Wild camping is discouraged, and I have seen some odd official wild camp spots.

Bob

I think most people know about it, but they probably don't realise how much it impacts your life not being able to take long holidays.

Long weekends don't make up for that...and many people either can't take or afford unpaid leave and when sick time is included in your holiday allowance, it suddenly gets even smaller than imagined.

And the swing side to your argument, when in the UK, how cheap and easy was it to head to France, Italy, Spain etc for a cheap weekend break? Do that here? Not likely....and who wants to be outside in the 100+ temps with the mozzies? It's not all as much fun...certainly as I thought it might have been :/