Within the space of one week, I had plans for 2.5 vacations fall through. I say 2.5 because two were excursions I was involved in planning, and one was an invitation from a third party that I had to turn down. I’ll admit that two and a half vacations in one year seems pretty extravagant. But the idea of going on no vacation at all makes me frown and think the word pauper (yes, in italics and everything). It also makes me think that the plans we make for our spare time and money are so fraught with pitfalls that I might actually prefer furrowing my brow and thinking the word pauper to actually going anywhere.