one-way highway

one of bestest my friends is long-time single and gay. he too is an industry lifer and makes a good living in not too many hours. his condo payment is relatively small for the market so it affords him a pretty broad spectrum to spend leisure dollars how he chooses. he is not a shopper or collector (except of music and recently apple products, lol), so most of his fun money is spent on museums, movies and "reasonable" restaurants.

the last few years he has indulged himself with autumn trips to europe and i was so happy for him when he booked the first one because he's always scoffed at that sort of thing as an indulgence. then 2 years in a row he picked the same city and was about to rebook a third trip there. knowing he likes paris i poked and prodded for him to change his mind unless he wanted to be that old man who went to the same hotel every year for the next 30. he finally relented and is thrilled about leaving in a few weeks.

my idle internet noodles for possible vacations for myself came up with about $1000 for air and hotel for dublin, lisbon, paris, savannah and montreal, which really seemed like a good value. (although strange that such disparate destinations all cost the same?) he's yankee reticent about money but i asked how much he paid. he hemmed and hawed, then i realized he'd booked his trip a year ahead. over $3000 for the flight and a room. yikes. he said he'd rather pay more and have all the details in advance! holy moley! then, even though he is traveling to one of the world's best dining cities where reasonable and heavenly bistro meals are easily had with a mouse click, he refuses to plan for that because he can have "good food at home," and will "just eat whatever." and he truly enjoys dining out!

he will stroll the streets and prowl museums and i'm sure he will have a wonderful time, so i am not disrespecting his choices. it's his trip, lol. i am just a little surprised by the reasoning, i guess, and the willfulness to deprive one's self of all the best a city has to offer.