Summer Time Highlights (good updates)

Not a heavy one this time. Keeping it a nice and light blog post on positive things going on, and possible silver linings. Weekend and summer plans/hopes.

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Paralegal Updates

Class is going all right. We have career day this Thursday, when a few people are going to be speaking with us. I’m behind in some reading, so I’ll be playing catch-up this week. 

I also joined a group on Facebook after one of the other students in class mentioned it. Basically, it’s a great place to look for a job, and so far I’ve seen a lot of postings. So that’s promising. I had to recreate my LinkedIn, but I should probably spend some time on it, as well as working on my resume and cover letter.

Which… I think I’m rethinking the idea of wanting to apply only to jobs that are in the office. For one, I’m shocked at how many work-from-home or hybrid listings I’ve seen. I wasn’t expecting that. And depending on how much I make, or will hopefully make after I get a year or two of experience, I might be able to travel more if it’s remote. Which leads me to…

Travel?

I recently learned about the GoWild Pass with Frontier airlines. It's basically an all you can fly program for a set cost (they have monthly plans, annual, and summer). Right now their summer pass is available for $200, and lasts until September 30th. Basically, it’s one of their subscription programs where you log in the night before, see if there is a GoWild open spot available on the plane, and if there is, you book it and fly out the next day. It’s great if you travel solo, not so great for traveling with your family. (Another drawback: the pass only covers the ticket cost and not fees, taxes or baggage.)

One of my sisters works for a different airline and I texted her to see what she thought of it. She immediately responded saying it was awesome.

I want to give it a try, just for the summer, and see if I can use it at least twice. Because if it’s actually as good as it looks, I could see myself using it quite a bit—especially if I end up working hybrid or remote (even if not immediately). It also depends on my salary/budget and checking on the right weekends and/or days of the week. I won’t really know until the new year what I’m looking at there, but is it within the realm of possibility? Maybe? That’s why I want to try the summer pass.

I actually love seeing how cheap I can get a trip. Remember that presentation we had to sit through in Missouri? Yeah, the Bass Pro people lied to me. It was a Timeshare presentation. What’s funny is I was the one who accidentally shut the ‘closer’ down at the end. She laid out all the price plans and asked us if we could possibly imagine cheaper trips? I said I could. I like to camp, and when I travel, it’s maybe $35–$45 a night for a camp spot–with a shower on location too. Even if I factored in the price of a rental car and food, it was still significantly cheaper than the numbers on her spreadsheet. Her mouth turned into a thin line and we got to leave shortly after. But it’s true. I can get trips super cheap if I buy groceries and invest in a good travel cooler. It’s almost a game at this point. How cheap can my trip be? Let’s get creative and find out. And maybe the GoWild Pass might be a new way to get them even cheaper. Because the cheaper I make a trip, the more money I can save for the next one.

One major hiccup I see with the pass is I am not a spontaneous person. I love to plan. It’s fun for me. I like looking up the spots and seeing what there is to do and where to stay in different places. So if I get the pass, and it ends up working out, I think I’ll just have to have several prepped spreadsheets/documents of where I can stay, what to do (including seasonal), camping sites/Airbnbs, rental cars, and any rental gear, and places I can work if need be. 

Even if I just used it to go see my friends in Utah, it might be worth it. The only downside is the flights are one way, so users have to either have very flexible schedules in case the day they want to go home doesn’t have any spots available or buy a return ticket. One thing people seem to do is buy a transferable/refundable ticket at the same time as the GoWild ticket and if a return GoWild is available the night before your flight home, then you grab it and cancel the paid-for ticket. 

The chances of getting a GoWild spot goes up with the hub cities for Frontier. LA, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, and maybe Seattle, ChatGPT suggested as cities where the pass would be easiest to use. Which would definitely work for me. Again, it depends on some moving parts, but I’m crossing my fingers really hard this works out. 

And from what I’ve read, the annual pass ($600) is great if you’re traveling solo and want to take 4+ trips in a year, which I could see happening, especially if I fly up and crash on my friends’ couches and hang out with them for a short weekend. Or work at a library during the day, then go hiking in the afternoons or whatever, and either camp or get a cheap Airbnb. 

Camping

I booked a spot at Brazos that was supposed to happen a couple weeks ago, but there was flash flooding and dumping rain everywhere. And fun fact: I guess it was gator mating season and I didn’t feel like stumbling on one as it went out looking for a girlfriend. So that didn’t happen. And now it’s so hot and humid that even the devil wouldn’t visit here, which is fine. I’ll have to plan something for the fall.

A Wild B-day (Party)

It’s my birthday. I hate it. Whatever. But it’s a big one, so I figured I needed to do something fun for it.

I had an idea, so I visited the website of one of the accounts I follow on social media where it said, “Do you have a kid who loves wolves?”

Yes. Me. I’m the kid.

And then I pulled out my credit card and booked the party package. So I’m excited because we’re going to get a private tour of a wolf sanctuary where they have both wolves and wolfdogs that you’ll get to learn about. It’ll be fun. The kids are excited. I think my sister is making my cake? And my mom said she’d bring the decorations. My actual birthday didn’t work out, but I was able to reschedule for the 26th.

DnD Friday Nights

Still loving it. The only time I skip is when either I’m anxious about classwork or something else is happening (like taking kiddos to movies or whatnot).

This Week

Everyone is off with the McWinnerson Clan at Surfside in a beach house until Sunday. I’m staying home, partly so we don’t have to pay an arm and leg for boarding the dogs. I’ll probably head over one day this week and catch lunch or dinner with them. I’d like to go Saturday and visit The Witchery in Galveston. Such a cool store. Both kids liked it when we went there a year ago with my friend Missy too. 

But I’ve got a couple of days/evenings where I have a bit of freedom to do whatever, so I’ll probably go to the gun range again, possibly the museum, and maybe visit some thrift stores. I’m trying to follow my sister’s advice, because it’s insane the deals she’s found.