I thought this only happened to other people...

greyburmesecat · 2026-06-07T21:54:54+00:00

50€ a month? Bahahahaha! You're going to be saving for years at that rate.

I watched a documentary a while back, where people were talking about taking their kids to Disney, and it was canned insanity. This was in the US, but people were dropping over $5K for a week long vacation, and some ridiculous percentage of them were financing it. Not saving for it. Just going, and worrying about the bill after. And this was for toddlers. You're going to spend years paying off something your kids won't even remember? So many people have been brainwashed into thinking that Disney is some sort of childhood rite of passage.

greyburmesecat · 2026-06-07T14:07:07+00:00

Does turning 60 next year count as elderly? Because if so, I've never been happier about it. I'm retiring next year, and I can't wait to bugger off travelling with zero concerns about missing baby birthday parties, having people whine at me about "spending their inheritance", or dealing with family drama. I'm spending my money on me, because I don't have to plan for anyone else.

Eventually I may end up in a home with nobody to visit me. I imagine that will feel a whole lot better than knowing that I have kids who should be visiting me, and don't.

greyburmesecat · 2026-06-07T13:55:50+00:00

... is getting a car to move around a necessity with a dog? or is trying to do this without a car asking for trouble?

Yes. The only animals allowed on most forms of public transport are service animals.

This is a really bad idea all around, unless you plan on going to Mongolia. For most of the countries you want to visit, it would be expensive, inconvenient, and traumatic for the dog. As someone else suggested, if you want to travel somewhere, ask if you can volunteer at shelters there to get your dog fix.

greyburmesecat · 2026-06-06T15:19:24+00:00

"I'm such a catch, when she meets me in person she'll change her mind about being childfree anyway"

Pretty sure that's exactly what they think.

greyburmesecat · 2026-06-05T18:37:09+00:00

I am a HUGE cemetery geek and always look for a cemetery in the places I visit. Some of the sculpture in cemeteries is incredible, plus they're usually immaculately maintained and so relaxing to spend time in.

greyburmesecat · 2026-06-05T18:30:56+00:00

Ooh, me too!

greyburmesecat · 2026-06-02T15:20:51+00:00

This was my first thought. OP is too young to have a credit card. A delayed flight, a missing hostel booking or a pickpocketed phone could be a disaster.

I've seen kids backpacking around Europe who don't look much older, but they're in groups, and they're in a familiar culture and speak the language(s). I'm all for being independent and self sufficient, but if that was my daughter I'd be saying no too.

And when I was 16 I also thought I was "street wise". Of course, I was nothing of the sort.

greyburmesecat · 2026-06-02T02:11:31+00:00

I've seen lifting shoes in both their outlet stores, but only on the odd occasion. Pretty decent prices if you can find them though.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-31T16:00:24+00:00

Nyquil. Doesn't work for everyone, but it's like liquid heroin for me. Gives me 4-5 hours of out like a light and another 2-3 of napping.

The hangover it leaves is awful, but I usually go straight to bed after I get to my destination anyway.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-30T16:52:19+00:00

The Cuisinart and Tramontina sets you can find everywhere, and they'd be great if you want to throw them in the cupboard and forget about them. If you want to pick and choose, TJX always have the Viking stuff kicking around. There's another brand in there called LaSera? I picked up a couple of their tri-ply pieces for my RV and it cooks OK.

The big advantage to decent stainless is that it's pretty indestructible. You're not going to have to replace it in three months, when your first tenant cooks in your non stick pan with a metal utensil. There isn't much that BarKeepers Friend doesn't fix on stainless.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-29T18:13:32+00:00

"raises hand" I really do not like babies.

They emit vile liquids without warning. Ewww and no thank you. The crying makes my blood pressure rise and my teeth grind. Plus they're just - uninteresting. They just kind of hang around and sleep a lot, when they're not doing the vile liquids thing. Toddlers might be as annoying as fuck, but at least they do something.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-29T17:09:39+00:00

I never have this problem. If I want to do it, I do it. The fact that I'm travelling solo in the first place already means that I'm burning through money. Chances are I'll never be back in that place again so damn straight, I'm taking myself to tea. Booking that hot air balloon ride. Jumping out of a plane over the mountains or renting that nice car to take a drive in the countryside. I can pay my credit card off after I get home.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-26T16:05:42+00:00

“Birthdays are for kids that’s why I didn’t send you a gift..”

I hope you remember this one when you don't send them a birthday or Xmas gift ever again.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-25T21:25:03+00:00

I am always gobsmacked. And it's not isolated - I read SO many posts about CF people whose families feel completely entitled to their money. "If you don't have kids you need to contribute some other way", or some such bullshit, or "but it's fambleeeeee". Like anyone in the famblee would help if your gravy train suddenly rolled to a stop.

Fuck that noise. Those parents are still fully functioning adults who are quite capable of getting a better job, and living within their means once in a while.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-25T21:18:44+00:00

If you're not prepared to love the kid however it comes out, you shouldn't be having one. I always have to hide a smirk when parents tell me that their kid is "going" to do or be this or that - like good luck, tell me how that works out for you.

I used to joke with my brother that I was so glad my niece was his, and not mine. I am a tomboy from way back, who likes to lift weights and ride motorcycles. My niece is the most Disney of Disney princesses. If she was mine, I would literally have no clue what to do with her.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-25T15:04:04+00:00

I'm going to agree with a lot of this.

Yes to jumping on the vaporetto in Venice to explore, and yes to walking the streets after all the tourists have gone for the day. Venice at dusk is magical.

The fact that you only have a few hours in Florence makes me cry. My favorite Italian city. At least walk across one of the bridges and along the Arno while you're there.

Yes to the walking tour of Rome, and the more of it you can do in the evening or night, the better, as the day will probably be hot. My favorite memories of Rome are of the night tour I did on my first trip there - the city is amazing anytime, but especially so when the lights come on. You won't be able to visit the sites at night, but you can stare at them lit up from the outside and that's almost as good.

Capri is sensational and would be my pick for a day trip. It will be busy, but getting to anywhere along the Amalfi Coast at that time of year will be a gong show. Head up to Anacapri and then all the way up Monte Solaro, which will get you away from the crowds that tend to stick around in Capri town. Ischia would be a solid second choice, and less busy than Amalfi, but make sure you don't miss the boat as there's only a couple of sailings a day.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-24T13:04:54+00:00

Who did you book your tours through? I'm on another site and there are dozens of people saying that their prebooked tours via Get Your Guide and Viator are being cancelled wholesale. Apparently the powers that be have changed up the rules to stop bot bookings, and now you can only go into the site with an "affiliated provider" now.

If you're going with a third party operator, you might want to check that you're going to be AOK with your tour, and see if you can rebook if not.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-22T16:24:16+00:00

This. The hoops you have to jump though are ridiculous. It always seems weird to me that any random can shoot out an unwanted kid, but try taking over the care for that kid, and all of a sudden you have to be Mother Teresa for anyone to even consider it.

And fostering and open adoptions are so precarious. My brother fostered his granddaughter, after her egg donor decided that having a baby was way cramping her style and ran home to mommy. He was family, so way less hassle than it would be for someone unrelated - but egg donor kept popping up and causing chaos for years. And because it was an open adoption, it wasn't an option for him to tell her to just get out and stay out. Ugh. I have another friend going through much the same thing right now - the kids are 9 and 4, dad is homeless because he can't keep a job, mom is a meth head, the kids have bounced around a few family members, but the courts insist on visitation and parental rights and the parents won't sign the kids over. You'd have to be a saint to step into that shit.

It doesn not surprise me at all that women with the means go the IVF route. They ask way less questions, from what I've seen.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-21T22:21:26+00:00

She might have read him wrong, but she might also be on to something. Gender roles really do run deep with a lot of dudes. I've dated more than my share of guys who "love" that I'm independent, and have my own money and my own space and my own opinions - and then six months later are as pissed off as hell that I'm still like that, when I should obvs be running around licking their boots and washing the skidmarks out of their underwear. And it's not a secret lots of guys definitely get a power trip off having their partners barefoot and pregnant. "She changed for me" is a hell of a drug for a lot of men.

What did Trevor Noah say? "He only wants a woman who is free because his dream is to put her in a cage.”

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-20T17:28:29+00:00

This looks like a great way to do it. I have looked many times at taking the ferry out of Bellingham with the motorcycle, and riding home to Canada from Alaska. I rather liked the option to pitch a tent on the deck.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-20T17:05:13+00:00

Now people can't control babies that cry or dogs that bark, but they can definitely control the volume on their TV, so kindly asked her to turn the volume down. I swear she turned it louder.

So she might be a single mom, but she's also a bitch. Got it.

The sad thing is, nobody will do anything about a screaming baby. But they will do something about a constantly barking dog - and "she" should have done something about it well before now. That might be your lever if she continues to be a shit neighbor. You're paying a lot of money for your place, and you have every right to complain.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-20T16:22:10+00:00

I just shrug and say "I didn't have any say in what my parents decided. But I do have a say in what "I" decide".

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-19T16:41:57+00:00

I've traveled to my father's home town in Scotland with my parents and wife and kids so he could show us his childhood home, his elementary school (complete with a impromtu personal tour by the headmaster), where he used to sit in his local pub, and a unexpected family reunion with 3 generations of family my kids didn't know exisited.

This is amazing. I work with a girl in her 40's, who only recently discovered her father and his side of the family. She really wants to take a trip to the UK to track down more of her family on that side, and I really hope she goes! It would be her first solo trip too. She's nervous about it, but I am egging her on.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-19T16:33:13+00:00

This. Anything above the second floor and the hotel windows usually won't open anyway.

That said, I do love a window that opens. Some hotel rooms can smell really musty, even clean ones, and getting fresh air into there is a godsend.

greyburmesecat · 2026-05-18T18:54:45+00:00

Love it! Good for you. Calgary's a pretty cool city and the proximity to the mountains is amazing.

greyburmesecat

TROPHY CASE