I think I’ve mentioned before that we’re heading to Cape Breton Island in August for a little bit of relaxin’ and whale watchin’ and cottage livin’.  I booked our flights a few months ago and got a great deal through a Westjet seat sale.  I booked our hotel for our few days in Halifax a few weeks ago and got a great deal through Hotwired.  I went to book our car rental a couple of days ago and … discovered it would cost more than both our round trip flights. 

I was more than a little surprised to discover this, although a quick Google search indicated we weren’t the only ones outraged at the price of car rentals in Nova Scotia.  This problem was due entirely to a lack of foresight on our part.  We’ve only ever rented a car before a couple of times; once was locally and resulted in me sending an angry email to Thrifty swearing we’d never rent from them again, and a couple of times were in Hawaii and resulted in us having an awesome car at a really cheap rate because everyone in Hawaii rents a car because you can’t exactly drive there.

We looked at cancelling our flights and driving our own car out to the East Coast, figuring it would be worth the cancellation fee to save on the car expenses in spite of the fact that on long car trips I require lots of stimulation and  pee breaks, as well as an abundance of juice boxes and sugary snacks much like a 5-year-old, but upon being told we could only exchange our flights for store credit with Westjet, I tentatively booked one of the expensive rentals and am proceeding with what is perhaps foolish optimism to attempt on a daily basis to bid for a better rate on Priceline.  I feel good about this option in spite of the uncertainty.  William Shatner regular reassures me that I’m well on my way to getting a great deal, and if you can’t trust Denny Crane, who can you trust?

We leave in a little less than a month and are both beside ourselves with excitement.  We’re staying at an adorable little summer house that is somewhat secluded from the rest of the world, with a view of the mountains and a long sandy beach within walking distance.  And unlike most of the other vacations we’ve been fortunate enough to take, we don’t have anything planned.  I’ve started stockpiling books that I plan to read on the beach and in a lawn chair and in bed and in a cafe, and I’m researching whale watching trips, and I’m weighing the pros and cons of SPF 30 vs. SPF 45, and I’m starting to think it will be worth it even if we have to walk there from Halifax.