The Turkey Trot
Having 3 kids and living 1,000 miles away from every single grandparent means that each year we have the challenge of deciding whether to make a trip down to Miami for Thanksgiving. As you might imagine, 5 plane tickets anywhere ain’t cheap; let alone 5 plane tickets during the busiest travel weekend of the year. So for the most part we stay put. My mom generally comes to us which is great. This year we toyed with the idea of heading to Hubby’s sister’s house in Atlanta. We had found cheap fares! Only $235 round trip. It sounded good at first but things quickly started to add up:
- Airfare ($235 x 5) = $1,175
- Baggage Fee = (3 bags/$70 each way) = $140
- Car Rental (4 days) = $252
- Airport Parking in Maryland = $40
- Food & Incidentals = ~ $400
And all of a sudden, we were looking at a smooth $2,000 for the trip. Right before Christmastime when Santa needs to go shopping and right after Mom went part-time at work. We considered driving down, but 12 hours each way with 3 small kids? No thank you ma’am. Because we only have 4 days, it’s not like we could stop overnight on the way down and on the way back to break up the driving the way we did this summer on our Montreal roadtrip.
And so. Home Sweet Home is where we’ll be. And we’ll have a wonderful holiday, no doubt. Hubby has even announced that he is making a dish (which will be a FIRST!) The problem is the hurt feelings from family members who were looking forward to our trip or who adjusted their plans based on ours.
It’s for reasons precisely like these that I wished we lived closer to family. I am really aware of the fact that my kids are growing up far away from cousins and grandparents and aunts (with the exception of 1!) and uncles. Both Hubby and I grew up living close to our relatives, and the fact that our kids aren’t bums us out. The DC area has treated us well in terms of jobs and housing and social networks. But sometimes I wonder if we made the right choice to live up here. At the end of the day, isn’t family what’s most important? Just how many more years are we going to have to do this Turkey Trot?
Tags: family, thanksgiving, travel
11.8.10 at 10:24 pm
Tiffany comments:
Such difficult decisions… Even though we live close to family, for various reasons this year we have decided to just have a small Thanksgiving day at home with no extended family. Will certainly be interesting. Love your site and the broad range of categories you have. Come visit us at The Power of Moms. A place where mothers worldwide can connect with each other. Have a great day.
11.9.10 at 8:31 am
Francisco Bacon
Twitter: FranciscoBacon2
comments:
Tell me about it! My family of 5 live some 4,000 miles away in another country – we can only visit every 2 years or so for only about a week. But, I suppose that’s just the way things are.
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11.9.10 at 8:50 am
Felicia comments:
I’m.still.hurting. I really wanted to see my babies….please reconsider! It wasn’t a 12 hour drive when we came to see you(ah hem). :)
11.9.10 at 1:26 pm
DemMom comments:
We’re not that far, but about 2.5 hours from both sides of the family (they’re each in different directions). We decided when we had kids that we don’t travel for Xmas Day. Our kids wake up in their beds on Xmas AM and we are making our own traditions. Some of my family members give me a guilt trip every year about it, and try to get us to come up there. I think you make your decisions based on what’s best for your family. Meaning the family in your house. They are what’s MOST important. And family members shouldn’t make you feel bad for making choices that are good for your family. Extended family is great, but they’re great every day, what difference does the date on the calendar make?
DemMom´s last post: Check It
11.10.10 at 12:55 pm
A Shorter Mama comments:
Don’t GO! hahaha, I TOTALLY understand:) Until my mom moved down here, we were running up the road to Philly and back and though it is just two hours it is still a hassle trying to squeeze in Christmas at our house then running up the road for Christmas at theirs. We are planning to drive to Detroit next summer with all three. Should be *fun*
A Shorter Mama´s last post: Who you foolin
11.10.10 at 2:55 pm
LaTonya comments:
I live an hour from my parents, and in the same city of many of my husband’s family. I love being around family, more so during the holidays. We’re doing the GREAT BIG – family Thanksgiving this year. My kids are really look forward to it.
My sister lives 8 hours away, and she’s the one who’s always left out.
11.28.10 at 11:24 pm
Vanessa comments:
Just found your blog looking for a turkey photo – and then started reading. We just got back from a long road trip with three kids…each time we learn something new to make it easier and less expensive. But no matter what, it is an experience!