Fearless Money

I’m on vacation with the family right now. We’re visiting my birth family in Nebraska, and I’ll also be attending my twentieth high-school reunion.

This is the first driving vacation I’ve ever taken with my family. With five of us, and the youngest no longer young enough to fly for free, it was time to try a van trip.

I rented a mini van from Budget for $450 for the ten days. Quite a deal, as they openly advertise that their “unlimited miles” really are unlimited, and that if you wanted to you could drive across the country.

That’s a pretty good deal, since we’ll be returning the van with an additional 3500 miles put on it. Ouch.

The van is a Dodge Grand Caravan. I owned a much older model Caravan long ago, and I must say that it didn’t hold a candle to this vehicle. In fact, it almost permanently soured me on mini vans. By contrast, this car is an absolute dream to drive, and the built-in DVD was heartily appreciated by both parents and kids.

We drove for almost two solid days, just about completely burning out, but today was a wonderful, fun, happy time with my parents and siblings. It is a good life.

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