My new vacation dilemma.

My screenwriting teacher is offering a screenwriting retreat in Hawaii in January. My mom wants me to come and visit in January. I could go to the screenwriting retreat and then go and see my mom.

A friend of mine invited to go with her on a one week cruise to Mexico in March. I've never been on a cruise before, and I'm curious to know what they're like. I could use a holiday in Mexico, and it would be fun to lay in the sun for a week.

I can do one of these trips but not both. My friends tells me the Mexican cruise would only cost about $500, plus airfare to LA. The Hawaii trip with airfare and expenses for the retreat will probably run $500-$1000, and I'd be taking 10 days of vacation.

Part of me just wants to stay home and save money. The economy is so bad right, and who knows when it will get better. I should stay home, and save as much as possible and pay off my credit card debts. If I'm vigilant, I will be completely debt free by the end of next year. Debt free that is, except for my car. I have had credit card debt for the last 12 years, and once you start down that road it's hard to get off of it. I get close to paying it all off, then I just add more to it. I'm just sick of the cycle. I'm committed to getting it all paid off, and then never getting back into it. I'll still use my credit cards, but I'm determined to not let it get out of control anymore and pile up again. With all the churn about my job and the economy, getting rid of a stressor like debt will lighten my anxiety level.

I can always go to Hawaii another year, as well as go on a cruise later. I have three months to decide. I told my screenwriting teacher and my friend, that if I'm still gainfully employed at the end of the year, I'll consider a vacation. In the old days, I would thrown caution to the wind and gone to Hawaii and go on a mexican cruise. But that's how my debts piled up, and I'm not willing to do that anymore.