I am independently wealthy. I don't work and I have an infinite supply of cash. That allows me to spend as much time as I want going to theme parks. I go at least once a week. I have been on nearly every rollercoaster in the world. It's quite simple actually. Just win the lotter three times and you're set. Of course, at this point you should be questining my truthfullness because I am comletely full of crap.
All kidding aside, if you MUST spend EVERY weekend catching up on things you didn't do during the week (like what?), then it sounds like you have a touch of obsessive compulsive disorder. My roomate is like that. She NEVER HAS TIME for ANYTHING. Yet, she manages to clean,clean,clean...she talks to the same 4 people for three hours on the phone every single day... she takes a one-two hour bath every night...and spends an hour reading. These are all part of her Obsessive-compulsive ROUTINE. Then on weekends, instead of going to work, it's time for "household chores". She'll find ANYTHING that needs to be done and occupy her entire day with it. If I lived like this, I'd never have time for anything either.
Spend more time doing the things you love and less time worrying what "needs" to be done. Do these thing really "need" to be done "RIGHT NOW?" Why can't they wait until tomorrow?
I usually take one long trip per year to a group of parks (ie OHIO, Florida, Texas), and two or three weekend trips to nearby destinations (Las Vegas, Los Angeles). If I lived back East, I imagine that I would be able to try a more diverse group of parks for my weekend getaways.
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I've traded in my 2000 Giovanola for a 2002 Arrow X4D :)
My other car is now an Arrow X4D!
1. The rate at which my vacation and personal time accrues gives me about 3 weeks of vacation and 1 1/2 weeks of personal time a year. This gives me a great deal of flexibility as far the amount of time I have to check out parks.
2. I have family and friends, both locally and in other states, that are into coasters. My aunt and I have decided to take my cousins on a trip to a new park every year. Last year we went to Hershey, and this year we are going to SFWoA. My friends and I can also use my parents' house in Pittsburgh as a home base for trips, so it's really affordable to hit a lot of parks. We'll probably do two trips over the summer, one in PA and maybe one to Virginia.
3. The mixed blessing: Right now I don't have any dependents or a "significant other," so my time and money are my own.
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"He's blazin' away like the stars in the universe.." A. Vega + M. Rev "Ghostrider"
Someday there will be something here.
I live in central PA so there are a lot of parks close enough that I can take one day trips. When I have a day off work, I look in my wallet to see if there is some cash, and if there is I just hop in the car and go.
I can easily drive to these parks in 5 hours or less:
Kennywood, Hershey, Dorney, CP, SFA, SFGAdv, SFWOA, SFDL, KD, KI, and a few mor that I can't think of right now.
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I have a job which lets me work 4 day work weeks (10 hour days) or 9 days every two weeks (8.75 hour days). This allows me quite a bit of extra time throughout the year to make extended weekend trips without using any vacation. I also get a good vacation and personal time package so I can take longer trips occasionally if I choose.
I'm lucky enough to have a significant other that loves coasters and parks so almost all of our traveling involves amusement parks in some way. She also gets every other Friday off.
We don't live real close to any parks but there are three we can make there and back in a single day with many more within a days drive. This is where our extended weekend trips come in.
Kyle
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- Peabody
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