Lachat.com

Our little adventure all started innocently enough while I sat in yet another interminable meeting for my job as a research assistant. Don't get me wrong, the work I do is interesting. We have a large research group targeted with designing a multi-agent simulation to predict ethnically motivated violence or cooperation. At least I think that's what we do. Anyhow, as a subgroup in the room continued their discussion with little direct relevance to my tasks, I nodded periodically whilst checking my email online. After checking my email for the 500th time that afternoon, I discovered an advertisement for GO Airlines had somehow evaded my spam filters. The ad boasted $30 airfares in Hawaii. Sure enough, a quick browse of their site showed the advertised fares which quickly became $48 fares a few days later.

Feeling like broadening my horizons a bit past Hawaii's golden shores, I switched over to cheaptickets.com and checked on my favorite location to muse about foreign vacations--Paris, France. Ah, and what did my wandering meeting-ignoring eyes did appear? No, not Santa's reindeer, though you'd probably catch Santa's enormous body sunning in Waikiki this time of year. No, I found airfares to europe starting at around $1000. I smirked at the irony. Apparently one upside of the plummeting economy and swine flu was that airfares nosedived down to where people like me could afford them.

I sighed inwardly, stifling a yawn as the two people actively chatting in the meeting launched into yet another round of questions. I already had my vacation planned for this year. I'd already responded to Dr. Chin's email inquiring as to the RA's summer plans. I told him that I planned to spend one week sometime on the big island to caretake my three acres of land but would otherwise be available (i.e. to work full time)... that is, unless something came up.

Of course, that was the prudent thing to do. I should save my money, work toward my goals, plan for tomorrow, build a credit history, show a good hard-working puritan work ethic, and so forth. Impromptu trips to Europe were never really on the agenda, merely penciled into the 'someday' column of life's todo list with a despondent sigh. I mulled over that poem 'what happens to a dream deferred?"

Another email account, this time my student account, held a new email from Dr. Chin to all the RA's on the project. He ordered us all to take long merry vacations to europe. Ok, no it didn't. It merely inquired as to when the RA's, me inclusive, would want to take our allocated month of vacation.

Ah, a month in Europe! That's where I wanted to spend it. Before I knew it, my romantic mind was already churning with plans for the trip. I envisioned sipping champagne and eating baguettes in a French park, even though I don't realy dirnk alcohol. My fingers flew on the keyboard to find the best airfares to the foreign ports of call I'd so often heard of with glazed-eyed looks of adoration. So many friends and relatives had somehow managed to find themselves roaming through Europe when young. My mother, I know, had even done it, collecting exotic teacups and hummels which survived decades until the fateful '94 Northridge earthquake smashed them to bits.

The airfare, the vacation time, the ennui of being stuck in a meeting. Everything just screamed, "Just do it! Run for your life! Don't look back!. Go go go!" My heart racing, I emailed Eric, "Let's go to Paris!"