Travel is expensive not just because of the expenses associated directly with the travel itself: transportation, food, accommodation -- living away, basically. It is also expensive because I still have to pay what I used to pay when I was not traveling for stuff that I won't be using while away.
I still have to pay my monthly rent even though I am not using my place, still have to pay my gym membership because I had agreed to do so for at least a year, still have to pay for my office space because that's what the agreement says, and I still have to pay for my phone for little to no use (for fear of not being charged long distance, I hardly make any calls while away).
Trying to maintain your regular lifestyle is what makes my travels even more expensive. Gym, for example. These days visiting a fitness centre at least twice a week is a habit as essential as getting a cup of coffee every day. So that's the first thing I wanted to do on my second day of my stay in Edmonton. I look up the gym that I have a membership for, and it turns out that they have two locations: both within 10 minutes drive of each other, but so far away from where I stayed that it would take me 3-4 buses plus a train ride and more than an hour to get there. Not workable. I only have access to a car for a few days and I like my gyms walking distance to my place.
After going to my gym for a day, I quickly started to look for closer alternatives. I was very attentive to my surroundings as I walked around town in the next few days (I had done hours and hours of walks during my stay). There was a YMCA in downtown, within walking distance from my place. But I know YMCA is pricy for short-term purposes. I ran into a massive city-run fitness facility during one of my long walks. I walk-in and ask for rates. That's not any better than YMCA. Lots more fitness, location and activity options than any gym I had seen before, but too expensive for my purposes. It was a bit of a walking distance for me to visit regularly.
I left the facility reconsidering my fitness options: either make fewer, 2+ hours trips to my regular gym, or find some other non-gym exercise alternatives. I had almost settled on my plan when I passed a university fitness centre. I decide to walk in and check what their rates were. They had summer specials! I could pay $20 for two remaining weeks of the month. That's almost the same as their daily rate. So I had a gym within a few minutes of my place for a reasonable pay.
When my two weeks were over, I found myself wanting to go to the gym again. I only have a week of stay to go, and it didn't make sense to do daily visits to my now former gym -- too expensive -- so I considered to make my 2 hour minimum trip to my regular gym. I decided to do some more searches for closer facilities to see if I can avoid the travel. I search Google Maps for fitness centres in my neighborhood and call one that I found not very far...their rates are $9 per day, but why don't I visit and see if I can get a complementary free day pass? Visit I do, and I was presented with a 3-day free pass. Exactly what I needed. This being a neighborhood small, somewhat aged fitness centre, the facilities weren't as great as my pricy regular centre nor the university one, but it was good for my purposes.
And cheap enough that I felt like I saved some money during my otherwise expensive travel time.
I still have to pay my monthly rent even though I am not using my place, still have to pay my gym membership because I had agreed to do so for at least a year, still have to pay for my office space because that's what the agreement says, and I still have to pay for my phone for little to no use (for fear of not being charged long distance, I hardly make any calls while away).
Trying to maintain your regular lifestyle is what makes my travels even more expensive. Gym, for example. These days visiting a fitness centre at least twice a week is a habit as essential as getting a cup of coffee every day. So that's the first thing I wanted to do on my second day of my stay in Edmonton. I look up the gym that I have a membership for, and it turns out that they have two locations: both within 10 minutes drive of each other, but so far away from where I stayed that it would take me 3-4 buses plus a train ride and more than an hour to get there. Not workable. I only have access to a car for a few days and I like my gyms walking distance to my place.
After going to my gym for a day, I quickly started to look for closer alternatives. I was very attentive to my surroundings as I walked around town in the next few days (I had done hours and hours of walks during my stay). There was a YMCA in downtown, within walking distance from my place. But I know YMCA is pricy for short-term purposes. I ran into a massive city-run fitness facility during one of my long walks. I walk-in and ask for rates. That's not any better than YMCA. Lots more fitness, location and activity options than any gym I had seen before, but too expensive for my purposes. It was a bit of a walking distance for me to visit regularly.
I left the facility reconsidering my fitness options: either make fewer, 2+ hours trips to my regular gym, or find some other non-gym exercise alternatives. I had almost settled on my plan when I passed a university fitness centre. I decide to walk in and check what their rates were. They had summer specials! I could pay $20 for two remaining weeks of the month. That's almost the same as their daily rate. So I had a gym within a few minutes of my place for a reasonable pay.
When my two weeks were over, I found myself wanting to go to the gym again. I only have a week of stay to go, and it didn't make sense to do daily visits to my now former gym -- too expensive -- so I considered to make my 2 hour minimum trip to my regular gym. I decided to do some more searches for closer facilities to see if I can avoid the travel. I search Google Maps for fitness centres in my neighborhood and call one that I found not very far...their rates are $9 per day, but why don't I visit and see if I can get a complementary free day pass? Visit I do, and I was presented with a 3-day free pass. Exactly what I needed. This being a neighborhood small, somewhat aged fitness centre, the facilities weren't as great as my pricy regular centre nor the university one, but it was good for my purposes.
And cheap enough that I felt like I saved some money during my otherwise expensive travel time.
