Travel: Hard To Plan, Pizza & Beer: Less So

Krista and Billy

Billy hooked me up with a free week pass at his health club so we could play racquetball more often.  Last Sunday we stayed a little too long, potentially screwing up lunch plans he had with his gf Krista.

I offered to take them out to pizza since I was hungry anyway and knew that dropping me off and then going back would further put him behind.  All parties agreed and we picked up Krista en route to Homeslice.

Billy just bought a house in far South Austin.  Like many folks in Austin, he’d like to live in 78704 but can’t afford a place twice as expensive as one a few miles away.  When he talks about it, he sounds incredulous that people pay double for the same house a few miles away, albeit in a cuter neighborhood with cool stuff close by.  Like the bumper sticker says: “78745, where people go when they can’t afford 78704”.

We get to Homeslice and there’s a huge wait, so we decide to play some ping pong.  The ball that was on the table was deflated, so I went inside and got a new one along with a pitcher of beer.  It had been cold all week, but it was a beautiful, sunny day, and the wait flew by as we drank some Fireman’s #4 and ping-ponged away.  Billy raved about how this was life.  Beer, ping pong, sunny day, cool Homeslice vibe, hanging out, etc.  He saw the value of living in walking distance of Homeslice and its ilk.

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We got to the table and ordered a hefty pizza: basil, fried eggplant, garlic, fresh tomatoes, kalamata olives and sausage (on their half).  It was delish.  Billy’s from NYC, and I always take pleasure in hearing compliments about Homeslice out of New Yorkers.  He’s a big fan.

Over pizza we discussed travel.  Billy and I were lucky enough and had enough foresight to travel extensively when our lives, schedules, wallets and responsibilities (or lack thereof) made it possible to leave the country for months at a time.  Krista wants to travel but is trying to figure out the balance with her responsibilities, job, pets, etc.  It’s much harder to pull off once you’re settled down.

Maybe the best thing to do is to work for an employer like Interplast (or Homeslice!) that has interesting travel as a part of the gig.  But again, once you’ve picked a career that doesn’t have travel baked in, it’s hard to rejigger that to include cool travel.

Hard decisions.  The decision to order a 2nd pitcher of beer seemed much easier and by comparison 🙂

Cost: $29.50
Total this year: $128.50