Vacations are supposed to be relaxing. Refreshing! Adventurous!

So when they turn into piles of stress, maybe the whole point has been nullified.

Imagine going on vacation every year with your family your entire life. Now you’re all grown up with a baby on the way and more financial stress than ever. Do you still go on the family vacation or skip the trip to ease the financial burden?

Let’s see what the mom to be in this story wants to do.

WIBTA If I don’t go on the family vacation this year?

I (22F) and my husband (22M) are expecting our first baby in September.

We’ve been doing our best to prepare, especially financially, but things are tight.

Because of that, we don’t feel that going on vacation right now is the best decision for us.

We still need a lot of essentials for the baby, and the trip would take money away from those important things.

As if pregnancy on its own wasn’t tricky enough, there are a lot of financial issues:

The vacation would come with several extra expenses.

For one, we have two dogs that would need to be boarded, which is about $200 a day—we are going for a full week.

They also need to be updated on their shots, which adds even more to the cost.

Plus there’s the whole ‘getting there’ thing:

On top of that, our car isn’t in great condition, and the destination is six hours away and it just doesn’t feel safe with the current state it’s in.

We’re not even sure what the exact issue is with it yet, but we do know that repairing or replacing it is a priority before the baby arrives.

Going on this trip would take a chunk out of the money we’ve set aside for that.

The books just can’t be balanced.

We’d also have to pay for our own gas, transportation, and tickets to the activities my family has planned.

The only expenses that would be covered are food and lodging, which is definitely generous, but with everything else going on, it still doesn’t feel feasible.

This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s hard to let go of:

The reason I’m torn is because this trip is a long-standing tradition in my family.

We’ve gone every year since I was two, and no one has ever missed it.

It’s something really important to all of us, and I know my absence would be noticed.

But at the same time, it just doesn’t seem doable this year.

So—WIBTA if I don’t go?

She’s smart to consider her family’s feelings as well as her financial well being.

Let’s see what the comments have to say:

The consensus was unanimous:

You’re really responsible for 22.

It’s a new thing:

As bittersweet as that is, it’s something that must be embraced.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.