Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

Recently, Madame X shared a story about a high school trip to Greece she sacrificed because she didn’t think her parents could afford it.

Coincidentally, I also had the opportunity to travel to Greece in high school. And this is the story about how I found a way to pay for most of it. This story is super secret. I know of of my high school classmates reads this blog. He will be able to figure out which teacher I wrote about and I ask that he does not comment here about it. No one knows this story. I never tell it, but I think it’s worth telling now since it’s too much of a coincidence what Madame X wrote. Strikes a nerve.

Unlike Madame X, I told my parents how badly I wanted to go. My teachers were running it as a private trip outside of the school’s sanction, and they really wanted me to go too. I had just finished up Ancient History and was taking 2 classical languages at the time. I really wanted to be an archaeologist when I grew up. (But cooler heads prevailed, as well as the desire to live somewhat richly. But I digress.) Everyone felt this was going to be a fantastic trip for me, given my fascination with the ancient world. I had just aced my classes in these subjects and was the only Greek reader in the group of students attending.

The trip was going to cost approximately $2200.00. There was no way my parents could have foot the bill for that much money on top of my private school tuition and college tuition for my sibling. No freakin’ way. I needed a passport. I needed luggage stuff, travel kits, gamma globulin shots! I didn’t know anything about traveling, let alone go overseas. This was a really big event in my life and I wanted it to be memorable with pictures and journals, and souvenirs, etc.

My absolutely wonderful teacher knew how I felt, so we cut a deal. My teacher asked me to pay as much as I could and to repay the rest I was asked simply to do something like this for someone else when I had the chance, hence my secret desire to create a scholarship at my high school, but again, I digress. I signed over every single one of my paychecks for a few months before the trip. At the time I was making about $5/hr taking care of kids in a latchkey kid program. Whenever I got a check, I endorsed over to my teacher. It never even hit my bank. At most I probably gave her about ~$700.00-900.00 of my own money. I think my parents might have given about another $500.00. My teacher figured out a budget for the trip and included one less than fully paid person into it.

My pop brought home two coffee cans full of change from the gas station and told me and my sibling to roll them and take it all to the bank to buy traveler’s checks. My sibling was spending the summer in London and we both needed pocket money for our trips. I fantasize about the coin machine at Chevy Chase because of the countless amount of change I touched that year. Pop threw in everything, dollar coins, half dollars, quarters, etc. We found some collectible stuff that we put aside. (Pure silver dollars anyone?) You’d be surprised, but there was over $1200.00 in change in the coffee cans.

When it doubt, ASK. Say something. Where there is a will, there is a way. It took the collective will of me, my family, and my teacher to get me going on the trip that would put a lifelong love of travel into my heart. Like Madame X, I was scared of going on this trip, but I had an amazing set of character-building experiences because of it. I received a mission and purpose in life, a financial goal I still dream about.

I have sacrificed travel at other times in my life. I skipped my annual camping trip for those 4 weddings last year. I never went to Beijing in the 4 years my friend from college lived there because I was too poor living hand to mouth in San Francisco. I never went to Italy or Palau these last 7 years for basically the same reason. (Other friends.)

But this one time, I’m so glad I went.