Or Mexico. Mexico's good.

OK, so you all know I've been pondering The Cheap Vacation.  I can use frequent flier miles to get someplace, but I need the someplace to be inexpensive when I get there.  Someplace nice and vacationy.  Perhaps outdoorsy.

And, the other day, I was talking with my friend/neighbor about it, 'cause she needs a vacation too.  Indeed, a friend of mine at work said she was selling a week (at the end of March) in a vacation condo in Hawaii for $1000 -- I mentioned this to the neighbor.  It didn't sound like such a bad idea, but since it was a condo, we'd have to go out and get food and stuff.  Which gets pricy.

So, today, I'm at a show.  (I do that.)  It's a charity benefit, and, during the intermission, they have a silent auction.  For zillions of things.  And the bidders at the auction are usually very generous -- often bidding right up to (and sometimes over) the fair market value of the items.  I've bought a few things at their auction over the years -- but, mostly (because of the charitable nature of the other bidders) my main role at the auction tends to be driving up the bids so the charity makes more money.  So I'm looking over the auction brochure and I see they've got a week for two at an all-inclusive resort in Puerto Vallarta.  Airfare not included (but that's OK, 'cause I got all them miles).  Meals, drinks, kayaking included.  Market Value:  $1700.

And I think, hell, even if I can't get someone to go with me, it'd probably be worth it at, say, $700.  I mean, $100/day for an all-inclusive -- that's good, right?  So I check out the bidding on it.  There's a guy there bidding on it.  Lurking near it.  He's bid on it four times already, and he's standing by the auction table, sort of daring you to outbid him.  The last bid on the sheet is about $600.  I pretend like I'm not interested and walk away.  Ten minutes later, lurking man is gone, having left a $650 bid.  Auction ends in four minutes.  I write $675 and go back inside the theatre.

While sitting there (in, somewhat ironically, the cheap seats), it dawns on me that I've probably played this wrong.  I'm pretty sure my friend/neighbor would go with me, and if we paid, say, $400 each, that's a fairly awesome deal.  I figure Lurking Man has probably kicked the bid up to $700 now,and I should go back and bid as high as $800 -- and let it fall where it falls.

Except when I get back to the auction table, the auction is over, and there's a little line under my bid, indicating that I've won.

It's been a few hours, and I'm still a bit shocked that I did this.  I mean, sure, I've spent way more than this on a vacation -- but that's been highly researched and deliberated -- I've never ponied up this kind of cash on a ten-second look at a one-page brochure and the thought yeah, "Yeah, Mexico could be nice."