So, maybe I made a mistake, but now I have to live with it, and do the best I can. This is the price one can pay when making an impulse purchase. To exacerbate matters, I made a mistake and bought the decked out limited edition model, and the most unfortunate thing about an internet transaction error is that there is no salesman to irately shake your fist at.
Allow me to explain.
It started innocently enough, with a heads up from the lady that I work for about an unbelievably cheap flight to Kenya. Toronto to Nairobi for $775. Now I had been seriously looking at a trip to East Africa, but realised that the reason people go to East Africa is to see the animals, and seeing the animals costs at least $200 per day (minimum three days) and that is a budget level well beyond my means.
But the cheap airfare made me bite. I meant to shorten the trip by a few days, and by doing so lower my expenses, and stem the loss of work time by two extra shifts, but I messed up, and forgot to adjust the date.
Having read countless stories of naive travelers buying incredibly cheap tickets on the internet and then trying to change them, I decided to eat my mistake. Que Sera Sera
Much of Kenya is like a hip nightclub, with a huge cover charge. Admission alone to the best national parks is $80 per day, and you must be in a vehicle. These parks are huge and one must camp, or pay huge amounts for hotels. There is no shortcut for a budget traveler here.
I briefly consider starting the Greg Stock Foundation For The Benefit Of Greg Stock, citing the fact that all donations go directly to the benificiary, with no administration costs whatsoever. Unfortunately, I have a collection of friends who are of above average intelligence, and may be a tad reticent to use their hard earned dollars to pay for my jaunts to exotic climes.
While giving up all my hopes for The Greg Stock Foundation, I remind myself that this is the price one pays for not being kinder to the stupid.
So the upshot is that I am definitely going to fly in to Nairobi on Sept 26th. In the travel community, Nairobi is nicknamed Nairobbery, and is widely considered to be one of the most likely places to get mugged on the planet.
But that is the price one pays when one acts on impulse, submitting to the siren song of the "good deal".
Ironically, I am going to one of the greatest places in the world to see wildlife, and I won't be able to afford the luxury.
But thats OK.
I like people, too.
http://www.goyestoeverything.com
PS: I've had this feeling before, and I'm not the only one.
Breathe Greg, breathe.
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