I will turn 30 at the beginning of next year. To me, this is the first big birthday anniversary which rightfully deserves a huge celebration. I have had relatively quiet birthday parties to celebrate turning 18, 21 and 25, but turning 30 has somehow carried a much greater significance. I mean, c’mon, I will finally become an adult, a grown up, and there will be no more excuses that I could easily use in my twenties to justify my occasional shenanigans sometimes childish behaviour.
I have been thinking long and hard about the type of celebration I want to have. Do I want to have a huge party and invite everyone I know to celebrate with me? Sure, that would be nice. Or perhaps I can organise a short weekend away to celebrate with family and closest friends? Yes, sounds like a plan. And then it hit me, and I knew this was exactly the type of celebration that I had wanted to have all along. The Carnival in Rio! Since I was a child, going to the Rio Carnival has been one of my dreams, and it would be amazing to finally make it happen.
When I decided to start budgeting and embarked on a long journey to pay off what I owed, I knew I had to make sacrifices and that travelling would be one of them. I took my last trip at the end of June (when I went to Italy) and I am not planning any more trips this year. Although, believe me when I say I have to regularly fight the urge to book a flight somewhere I have not been to yet! So, this is where I had to be practical and decide whether taking a trip to South America (Brazil and Argentina) was something I was supposed to be doing while paying down my debt.
On one hand, taking this trip will delay my planned date of becoming debt free by several months, unless of course I come up with an extra source of income or get a salary increase. On the other hand, if I take this trip I will make one of my dreams come true and gain a wealth of experience, meet new people along the way and create many wonderful memories. After weeks of thinking this over and over again, I decided I should do it! Yes, I know this is a luxury (and not a need!) and yes, I could have been less extravagant and opted for a cheaper holiday, but this is my 30th birthday and I want to make it special. This trip will not be put on a credit card and will be paid for in cash. Needless to say, I will keep all expenses associated with this trip as low as I possibly can.