All my friends have been on a cruise to Alaska and I am finally getting to go. It’s expensive, yeah, but with my new job I can just afford it. Life is too short to scrimp and save for nothing. You have got to spend some of it on yourself.

So first I fly to Seattle. But to get there I am saving money by taking a bus from my little town – it is amazing we still have bus service – all the way to Chicago. That was the cheapest alternative.

What a cruise it is going to be! I can’t wait to see that beautiful water and those amazing snow banks I have seen so many photos of.