brother reservations

My brother Davy, the guy who lives sometimes in China, sometimes in San Antonio, has had the reputation since he was a little kid of being the biggest cheapskate on earth.  There is nothing he wouldn't do to save a buck.

I'm generally the opposite -- definitely not a comparison shopper. 

So I felt a little unnerved a couple days ago when I realized I had had a Davy moment; in fact, several Davy moments.

I had given up on going to Finland because Finland -- hotels, food, etc. -- is just so darned expensive, and I'm feeling a little low on spendable cash at the moment.  But I need a getaway desperately.

So, listen to this:  I planned a mostly free trip.  I had enough perks miles to get a ticket for no cash, and I'm doing a circle ten-day trip, starting a week from Wednesday.  First, I'm going to go visit my sister Nancy in North Carolina for a few days, and I don't think she'll charge me for the room.  Then I'm flying from Charlotte to Las Vegas, where I have a bunch of free hotel nights.  I was just in Vegas in March, so I can't very well sit in Las Vegas for five days without going crazy, so I plan on renting a car (not free, unfortunately!) and driving off somewhere, a couple of day trips, maybe north to Utah to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park or west to California or south to Arizona.

And I'm going by myself, to wander as I please -- another thing that Davy would do.  What's happening to me?  I might become obsessed and have to ask him for some tips on cheap travel.