Air France came out the cheapest for the flights and why we will stay in Paris for 2 days shopping at the end of the trip. I wish AVA (Travala) was competitive with their prices, but sadly they are the most expensive option available. Crypto as a real use case they are not.
I have been looking forward to April and dreading it all at the same time because of how much it is going to cost. I am in the process of organizing the air tickets x 7 plus the hotels and car hire. I am aiming for Good Friday because the flight tickets are about 20% cheaper. This all depends on the visa's which I need only 2 out of the 7 and that is being finalized next week.
The problem is the timing leaving the business for the shortest time possible so public holidays overlapping work days helps. Doing some quick sums this 8 day trip is going to cost in the region of £10-12K all in. This is a must do trip because my mother is not well and I would like her to see the great grand kids. I know there will be many more trips for myself to follow throughout the year so there is no budget when it comes to family. These are expenses you cannot budget for and you just have to make it work no matter the costs.
I have set aside a decent nest egg for my clothes shopping which I normally do every couple of years when I travel and this is long overdue. Oddly enough even with the exchange rates being R24 to £1 branded clothes are still much cheaper in the UK than locally. This doesn't make much sense as people in SA tend to pay over the top for certain brands and not knowing the real prices. I have also budgeted 2 days of shopping in Paris on the way back so the 8 days are going to be busy.
The other big spend has already started with the roof being made like new so it is ready for the solar installation that will follow next month. The roof and solar is going to run up another £12-15K because we are going for a bigger specification taking us fully off the grid even if we have overcast days.
I have thought about going with the standard specifications but the idea is to never rely on the grid ever again so spending more is peace of mind. The upside is this is an investment that will be recouped when the property is sold so we may as well go big on this. This solar system will be installed once we return and will hopefully only take a few days. The sooner it is up the better because we are still receiving free electricity because no one has come out to fix the problem which we reported weeks ago. This was kind of expected and why services are in such a state here.
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