Money later or experience now? (Or Science Now, I suppose.)

See, I have this $300 voucher through Continental that’s burning a hole in my pocket.

There’s also the Coachella festival next month, and I could fly there free (using my voucher). Then it would merely be the cost of the festival tickets ($150), on-site camping ($40), and food for the weekend. That’s still over $200.

I promised myself that the trip to Ireland was a deal because we were staying with friends and therefore was cheaper than going to Ireland and having to hostel/hotel/motel/Holidae Inn it. I told myself that after that, I would save like a Ctrl+S. This plan, this idea of spending two glorious days in the hot sun listening to music and possibly even maybe hanging out with Sheive really sounds like it’s worth at LEAST $200. If you add up the cost of seeing music, plus the cost of finding a climate that is warm, that adds up to $200 already. (For me – I’m full of cabin fever.)

I’m torn.

I’m also supposed to be going on a sweet week-long roadtrip in July, which would involve a flight out to NYC, then a flight home from Austin. The voucher really could come in handy for that too.

What does a girl do? I’m planning on, as my library mentor said, “eek out a small living” with my graduate assistantship (which I technically don’t have, and just assume I will have). Saving money now, even $200, might serve me well when I really really want to do more than eat, sleep, poo, and study.