usvi-on-line
Would you?
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warmwaters
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:39 am
Would you?
I am a long time lurker of the forum and wonder what the wise folks of this forum would do.......? My husband and I have planned on trip to the St John with our airfare booked and our villa reserved since June. We were of course looking forward to a magnificent 12 days away. Here is the kicker. My husband will no longer be employed as of 11/30 with pay through 12/31 and a pretty decent severance package (roughly 6 mos) . He has one extremely good prospect for a new job but also realizes that should that prospect not pan out he will probably be out of work for awhile. So.....if we cancel our vacation we will get airline credit for 1200 bucks (not too valuable at this point) and we can still get our deposit back. I had a fleeting thought that we could go in Dec if he does not get the job he is currently interviewing for. If we could get flights we could go for 8 -10 days and use our airline credit, use our villa deposit and have a warm weather break and a chance for him to relax, refocus and decide on his next career move. He will be leaving an extremely high stress IT job that has literally been beating him down for 3 years. It is not a situation that was unexpected as he basically initiated the change himself. Should we go it would probably cost us an additional 2000 out of pocket. Incidentally I am not employed and will not be employed fulltime until I graduate from college in May. We are both in our 40s and have the wisdom and experience to realize this job upheaval is not the end of the world and that hopefully better things will come. So do we change our reservations and go? Leave our reservation in place and hope for a new job by March with the hope he will be able to use his vacation time? Or just forget the whole thing and stay home (in cold snowy New York State!). Thoughts????
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stjohnjulie
- Posts: 570
- Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:34 am
- Location: St. John VI
Warmwaters, Let me start by welcoming you to the board! It's a fun and educational place. A little over three years ago I ended a career of 36 years but I had no retirement, other then a grossly underfunded IRA and a small severance deal of sorts, with no plan of what's next. My youngest kid was graduating from college in 3 weeks. Debt free. I had paid for his and his sister's undergrad education in full. So what did we do? Probably the most irresponsible thing that we could've done. We took off to STJ and brought our son and his girlfriend with us for three glorious weeks! I didn't think about "what's next?" the whole time we were there. I have since spent the past three years, by choice, working as a general handyman and doing various odd jobs to pay the bills. It's been fun after being in a stressful position for over 30 years. Now I'm relaxed, fit and nearing broke, but never been happier! I'm seriously thinking about going back to my former trade in the near future. I guess my own attitude of "eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you my die" can't be everybody, but I'd sure recommend considering it. Don't cancel you trip regardless!
Peace and Harmony, JT
Peace and Harmony, JT
When you find yourself in a hole.... quit digging.
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sailorgirl
- Posts: 1644
- Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:03 pm
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piscesgirl0314
- Posts: 598
- Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:31 pm
- Location: Chesapeake, VA
I was in a similar situation last year and changed jobs around April. We had a trip to Mexico planned with friends that we ended up cancelling. BUT we're not talking about St John...no offense to anyone who loves Mexico...IF the trip would have been planned for St John there is no way in hell we would have canceled. We would have found a way. I say GO...relax and worry about things later...it would be different if nothing had been paid for...but the airfare is done...maybe you should stay in less expensive accomodations and eat "in" more... 
I'd say go! You have no idea what the future will bring, and if you don't go, and can't get back there for a long time, you'll always regret it.
Tell yourself that you are going to make an effort to spend as little money as possible. Eating in is a good way to start, and you have to eat if you were at home anyway.
STJ on a budget can be done!
Go and enjoy!
Sydney
Tell yourself that you are going to make an effort to spend as little money as possible. Eating in is a good way to start, and you have to eat if you were at home anyway.
STJ on a budget can be done!
Go and enjoy!
Sydney
I would look at the traditional hiring calendar for your geography and area of specialty. I would also push to move to a new position well before the severance runs out - severance can be a bonus rather than a lifeline.
I had a similar thing happen on 9/15/2001, except I was the guy shutting down the company. I had the new gig in place by the end of October and went to St. John the first week of November.
It's 9:01, the stock market is expected to surge today, maybe optimism comes back and the economy walks away from a recession. Or, maybe this is a dead cat bounce and we enter a depression. Or, major inflation hits and the dollars you spend today are worth much more than the dollars you spend in the spring. Nobody knows. Do what works for you and keeps you comfortable for the longest length of time.
Cheers, RickG
I had a similar thing happen on 9/15/2001, except I was the guy shutting down the company. I had the new gig in place by the end of October and went to St. John the first week of November.
It's 9:01, the stock market is expected to surge today, maybe optimism comes back and the economy walks away from a recession. Or, maybe this is a dead cat bounce and we enter a depression. Or, major inflation hits and the dollars you spend today are worth much more than the dollars you spend in the spring. Nobody knows. Do what works for you and keeps you comfortable for the longest length of time.
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
You don't say when your trip is planned for, but assuming it's not very soon (i.e. you won't miss your villa deposit return deadline), I'd say sit on it and see what happens.
Lots of things can change in very short order and you might find out that everything will work out just fine and it would be awful to look back and say "I wish we hadn't cancelled."
Most new employers will honor your request for vacation time if it's something you've already got planned when you come on board, but it's definitely something to ask about.
I always say you can't plan your life around the "what ifs" and that applies to actions (cancelling a vacation) as well as inactions (not even planning one).
Good luck, I hope you guys get everything worked out!
Lots of things can change in very short order and you might find out that everything will work out just fine and it would be awful to look back and say "I wish we hadn't cancelled."
Most new employers will honor your request for vacation time if it's something you've already got planned when you come on board, but it's definitely something to ask about.
I always say you can't plan your life around the "what ifs" and that applies to actions (cancelling a vacation) as well as inactions (not even planning one).
Good luck, I hope you guys get everything worked out!
Jennifer
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David- n Hampton, VA
- Posts: 137
- Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:30 am
Warmwaters....I second the welcome to the board....its a great place to meet funny, warm wonderful people who are passionate about life, the virgin islands and people…..as well as keep the spirit of paradise in tact while your not actually there. As I am sure you know already....many of us have opinions that we are just dying to share with you and others.
Here is mine on your present circumstance.
Go.
In June 2002 I lost my relatively high paying job in the Training, Education industry. (We built Distributed Learning for the Military...and I was the Division Deputy Manager.)
That first night I slept better than I had in three years. Same with the rest of the week. Then reality started setting in.
Like your situation, we had a villa paid for third week of August, and airline tickets for four to STJ (Tennis Villa, I think...before they had fully completed the expansion I think.....we had the Main house) Anyway....wife and I debated the pros and cons....this was before I discovered that I felt better getting travelers insurance each time. She worked and fortunately, it was her best year ever so she was taking up most of the slack my unemployment created....
Best move we ever made was going. She needed the break. I don’t know if I did or not....but within three weeks of our return I landed a job that paid 20% more, was closer to my home and was for a much better company. (Maybe it was the trip!)
Here is mine on your present circumstance.
Go.
In June 2002 I lost my relatively high paying job in the Training, Education industry. (We built Distributed Learning for the Military...and I was the Division Deputy Manager.)
That first night I slept better than I had in three years. Same with the rest of the week. Then reality started setting in.
Like your situation, we had a villa paid for third week of August, and airline tickets for four to STJ (Tennis Villa, I think...before they had fully completed the expansion I think.....we had the Main house) Anyway....wife and I debated the pros and cons....this was before I discovered that I felt better getting travelers insurance each time. She worked and fortunately, it was her best year ever so she was taking up most of the slack my unemployment created....
Best move we ever made was going. She needed the break. I don’t know if I did or not....but within three weeks of our return I landed a job that paid 20% more, was closer to my home and was for a much better company. (Maybe it was the trip!)
This is what we did when the bad economy threatened to cancel our vacation.
We canceled our villa in time to get our deposit back. We used that deposit to book a more cost-efficient villa.
We realized by the time we canceled, we wouldn't have saved any money. We're doing St. John on the cheap (cooking in the villa, renting a budget car, etc), but we're still going to St. John, which is good because we all need a vacation.
Sit down and do the math, but you probably won't really save much to cancel. Good luck, and I'll keep your husband and his job search in my prayers.
And, welcome to the forum!
We canceled our villa in time to get our deposit back. We used that deposit to book a more cost-efficient villa.
We realized by the time we canceled, we wouldn't have saved any money. We're doing St. John on the cheap (cooking in the villa, renting a budget car, etc), but we're still going to St. John, which is good because we all need a vacation.
Sit down and do the math, but you probably won't really save much to cancel. Good luck, and I'll keep your husband and his job search in my prayers.
And, welcome to the forum!
It's a tough one to answer but personally I think I would be concerned about the economy etc so I would still (probably) go but scale back alittle.
I would probably cancel my villa (unless it is a steal) and stay somewhere alittle more budget friendly. I love Sailview in Coral Bay and their rates are only $945 per week high season and $775 per week low season - beautiful, clean, nice view, a/c and great hosts - no pool (who really needs one when you have the beaches of STJ and you are trying to be a little more budget friendly
)or full kitchen, however there is a mini fridge in the room and grill on the deck. You will still need a car
With the money you would be saving it might ease the guilt of going
Good luck with your decision and welcome to the forum
Pia
http://www.sailviewstjohn.com/
I would probably cancel my villa (unless it is a steal) and stay somewhere alittle more budget friendly. I love Sailview in Coral Bay and their rates are only $945 per week high season and $775 per week low season - beautiful, clean, nice view, a/c and great hosts - no pool (who really needs one when you have the beaches of STJ and you are trying to be a little more budget friendly
)or full kitchen, however there is a mini fridge in the room and grill on the deck. You will still need a car With the money you would be saving it might ease the guilt of going
Good luck with your decision and welcome to the forum
Pia
http://www.sailviewstjohn.com/
Welcome to the forum! I lost my job ONE day before my trip to STJ. I stressed over it for about an hour, then finished packing! Everything was already paid for, and the only big weight on my mind was the spending cash. I went of course, refunds were not an option. I didn't beat myself up over it and had a really good time.
I guess my only concern if I were in your situation, is how far out is the trip? I would be a little bit worried about asking a potential new employer for a vacation as soon as I started a new job. So, I think that's the big factor, When is your trip?
I guess my only concern if I were in your situation, is how far out is the trip? I would be a little bit worried about asking a potential new employer for a vacation as soon as I started a new job. So, I think that's the big factor, When is your trip?
"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea." -Isak Dinesen
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warmwaters
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:39 am
I also lost my job the day before vacation once. I will say I was a little more frugal than usual, but I had a non-refundable plane ticket and London was calling. Luckily there was plenty to do without spending too much money, and I didn't regret it for one minute. It was nice to take a little vacation before I went back on the job hunt and had to go a whole year without going anywhere.
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California Girl
Ha! I think it's funny that you'd ask a bunch of St. John addicts what to do? LOL!
GO, of course!!
And don't worry about that old asking a new employer for time off right away thing. I lost my job at the beginning of last year with our trip planned for May. Every interview I went on for a new job, I told them I had my "dream trip" planned & paid for, and asked if there would be any problem getting the time off to go? Absolutely EVERYONE who I interviewed with said "no problem." I think as long as you let prospective employers know in advance, they're usually willing to work with you.
Welcome to the forum! I hope you don't cancel your trip. Just start researching in order to make it more of a "budget" trip. Like others have said, cook in, rent Sailview, etc.
GO, of course!!
And don't worry about that old asking a new employer for time off right away thing. I lost my job at the beginning of last year with our trip planned for May. Every interview I went on for a new job, I told them I had my "dream trip" planned & paid for, and asked if there would be any problem getting the time off to go? Absolutely EVERYONE who I interviewed with said "no problem." I think as long as you let prospective employers know in advance, they're usually willing to work with you.
Welcome to the forum! I hope you don't cancel your trip. Just start researching in order to make it more of a "budget" trip. Like others have said, cook in, rent Sailview, etc.