I'm back! I did pretty well with my vacation budget. Factoring airfare, hotel, and rental car beforehand gave me a really good picture of how much I was going to end up spending overall. The only things that I didn't buy that weren't consumed on my trip was one t-shirt and two postcards (created by a friend of a friend, so I can say that I'm supporting a local artist!). I probably could've gone cheaper with the food if I wanted to, but the food that I did eat significantly enhanced my happiness during my vacation, so I didn't feel bad about any of it.

One strange and convoluted free pleasure I find everywhere I go: museum stores. You'd think it'd go against my anti-capitalist instincts, but they have some advantages: 1) they're free, as opposed to the $10+ fee to go in the museum; 2) you get to touch and play with the stuff, as opposed to the museum art itself, and 3) everything's way too expensive anyways, so there's no real "threat" that I'll buy anything, because I can't afford it! (Of course, some would argue that a postcard or mousepad rendition of a painting or sculpture is not the same as seeing it in person, but I'll leave those experiences for when I'm hanging with the art experts in my life, who make viewing art so much better anyways.)

Wow, vacation is so great, I'm so much more relaxed and can confidently face all the work that's ahead of me for the next couple of weeks. Money well spent!