Ho Ho Ho

My roommates both went home for the holiday, one is 22 and one is 32. It got me thinking about what age you start making your own Holiday traditions and stop going home for your parents'. I get that family is a large part of the holidays, and spending Christmas with the family is pretty standard. But at what point do you stop taking days off to travel to see them and instead start doing your own thing for the holidays?

I stopped going home for the holidays last year. I skype with my family on Christmas morning, but that is all. I don't like returning to the small town I grew up in, and we don't really have any traditions, other than the food that is made on Christmas Eve.

Christmas, to me, is almost as much of a Hallmark Holiday as as Valentine's Day. I have no connection to the religious aspect of it, and it all seems to be centered on gifts and food, cheesy music and too many decorations. Don't get me wrong, I love gifts and food, but it's not a reason to travel home for. Especially not when I have friends in town to spend it with.

All Christmas means to me this year is a three day weekend to relax. I have been so stressed lately it is insane. I was so stressed yesterday that a muscle in my toes spasmed. It was a strange sensation I hadn't had before. It threw off my balance because the toe wouldn't stay where I needed it. It's like my body was telling me I had to stay put.

So I plan on cooking, relaxing with friends and watching Dexter this weekend. The holiday will be in the background making the frosting on my cake green and the wine mulled, but it will be just like any other weekend.

Does that make me a Scrooge?

Cheap Getaway

By Shikole Struber

I feel like I need a vacation on a daily basis. One cheap weekend getaway for a post grad to consider is camping. Note: only cheap if you already have or have access to a tent.

Most camp sites only charge $20-35 a night for a tent. Split that between 6 friends and that's a really cheap stay. Now you will need other supplies for camping like flashlights and bug spray and food and alcohol of course. However, you would be spending money on food and alcohol whether you were home or camping. And camp side food tends to also be cheap when split 6 ways. Get some hot dogs, potato salad, chips, bagels, marshmallows.

Don't look down on camping either. It might not be glamorous but it might be exactly what you need. You'll be OUTSIDE instead of in an office. Imagine that, fresh air! It's also a great bonding experience with whoever you go with. Last time I went camping it should've been recorded. Me and one other female friend, who had never before set up a tent, embarked on the journey. It was too windy to light a fire to cook our food. And we didn't find the bathrooms until the last few hours of the trip. So we cooked hot dogs by wrapping them in tin foil and putting hookah coals on top. And got a lot of bug bites on our asses from peeing in the bushes. The same bushes the bathrooms were hidden behind.

Moral of the story is that you CAN afford a short vacation. Round up some friends and some bug spray and pitch that tent!