If you’re a married man like myself, I can tell you from personal experience that trip #2 will go over much better with the wife if trip #1 has already occurred. That is, unless trip #1 was a rainy weekend camping trip to a local lake and trip #2 is a week-long stay at an expensive fishing lodge halfway around the globe. In that case a visit to your local jeweler may be required to help offset the monetary difference and gain the wife’s wholehearted approval. While this last step isn’t mandatory, it is often preferable (and cheaper) than the medical bills you may incur if the wife’s approval isn’t garnered!
It seems as though all of my road trips start off with a long list of items to pack and a healthy credit card bill after purchasing those items on the list not already in my possession. Although at least half of my garage is crammed full of fishing and camping gear (most likely purchased prior to my last road trip) it seems that there are always new and better products that I just can’t do without. At least that’s the impression I get while I’m perusing the shiny new ads in my latest fly fishing periodical.
In recent years I’ve gotten to the point where I can tell how close a road trip is approaching by the rising price of gasoline. A ten cent per gallon rise in prices at the local pump is a surefire indicator that I’ve got a trip planned in the next thirty days, while I can inevitably expect a fifty cent spike in prices as I near that week out window. I think I’ll start using my “insider information” to play the stock market the next time I’ve got a road trip planned. Anybody know how many shares of Conoco I can get for $20?