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I can’t lie to you, guys. I’m feeling that gingerbread feeling. It’s almost Christmastime, and for us, that means exchanging gifts with family and gathering with loved ones. The tree is up, the stockings are hung, lights glimmer on rooftops, and John Williams’ delightful Home Alone soundtrack is playing in the background. And two of my dearest friends and I will be playing Santa soon and delivering gifts to families who need a little extra cheer this year. Seeing people’s faces light up as you give them something that is both unexpected and that will hopefully bring them some joy is the best way to warm your own heart, without question. So suffice it to say, I’m a big fan of Christmas – always have been.
I think one of the reasons I’ve always appreciated Christmas so much is that I’ve never had to fly during the holidays. Not a once. I’ve always been within reasonable driving distance of family, which is pretty darned awesome. Because if there’s one thing that would kill my gingerbread Christmas buzz, it’s having to run through the airport to the soundtrack of Run Run Rudolph like the McCallisters, and feeling hustled and jostled and cramped among the throngs of people flying during the holidays.
I mean … I feel stressed out just looking at poor Catherine O’Hara and John Heard here. (John Heard is that other guy whose name you probably forgot and usually refer to as Kevin McCallister’s dad.) One of the things we talked about in this episode is just how ungodly, unbelievably, sickeningly, disgustingly, ABSURDLY expensive it likely was for 15 people to fly to Paris. Especially at Christmastime. (I know, I know, it was actually only 14 people who flew because Kevin was left Home Alone – but someone still bought his ticket! Which is yet another of the kajoogiquadribillion plot holes in this otherwise delightful movie: How did they not notice Kevin was missing as they got everybody on the plane and had a ticket left over? HOW, Catherine O’Hara and John Heard??)
But I digress. My point is: buying all those tickets to Paris was insanely expensive – our best estimate in today’s dollars is about $40-45k.
So of course the McCallister family was feeling stressed out to the MAX when they nearly missed the flight that John Heard’s insanely generous brother had given to them as a Christmas present. Can you imagine how furious you would be if you spent close to the average American’s annual salary on airline tickets, and then everyone overslept and not a single one of the people you bought the tickets for actually made the flight?? Yeah … that’s angry. And I get that the power went out, resetting all the alarm clocks, and it was 1990 and no one had cell phones to set as alarms. But I’m pretty sure there were watches back then. (Citation: Was alive then and can personally attest to this fact.) Were NONE of the 15 people in the McCallister house rocking a Casio watch that they could have set a backup alarm on?? Dangit, I’m getting sucked into the plot holes again.
My point is that the whole travel experience was pretty stressful for the McCallisters. And even if the power had not gone out, ruining all the alarm clocks, and they had woken up in plenty of time, it would still have been a lot of stress. We saw 15 people running around fretting and packing the night before they were scheduled to leave. And, as we also talked about in the podcast, it seems highly likely that the McCallisters were only going to be able to stay in Paris for about 5 days before having to turn right around and come back home. That means everyone’s going to be fighting jet lag and coming back to the states exhausted and having had very little time to spend with family or see the sights in Paris.
My super hot take on this situation is that flying 15 people to Paris for 5ish days was – while a great plot point to set up a delightful booby-trapped theme movie – not the best money move. Some of those kids they flew to Paris were also probably so young that they’ll barely remember it. I just wonder if maybe the two family members that were living in Paris couldn’t have flown back to the states instead of doing the reverse and having fifteen people go the other direction?
I get that Paris is lovely. We’ve been lucky enough to go and it was incredible. I’m not immune to the allure of chocolate croissants and strolling down the street with a baguette under your arm and popping over to see the palace of Versailles. It’s absolutely idyllic. But also … maybe the two McCallisters living in Paris could have invited people over in smaller groups at a time, at a less hectic time of year. At a less expensive time of year.
But all this assumes that the McCallisters cared about things like value, saving money, and having a restful rather than extravagant holiday season. Yeah yeah … I’m being snarky. And judgy. Almost as judgy as Tim Curry’s character in Home Alone 2.
And maybe I have no right to be judgy. Maybe this is a long-held and dearly beloved dream of the whole McCallister clan to go to Paris for Christmas, and maybe it’s a drop in the bucket for them financially, too. The best part of personal finance is that it’s personal. You get to spend money on what makes YOU happy, not on what might make someone else happy. But, if I were counseling the McCallisters, I would probe deeply into just how big of a hit this is for them financially. And I’d ask whether there might be other times of year when it would be less expensive to get the family over there. And whether it really maximizes everyone’s enjoyment to have the whole family go at once or whether it might be easier to manage a smaller group at a time. These seem like valid questions that I sincerely hope this entirely fictional family considered before booking this entirely fictional flight.
For you and your non fictional lives, I hope you consider these kinds of things before making a big investment in a holiday trip. Traveling during the off seasons is always a great way to save money. And to avoid insane crowds. And to be able to curl up at home during the holidays with a cup of hot cocoa and hopefully some dear friends or family.
So to all of you, I wish you the holiday of your dreams. But I hope for every one of you that your holiday season is safe, happy, warm, cozy, joyous, and at least a tiny bit relaxing. I hope none of you have to fly, if you don’t want to. But if you do, make sure you set your 1990 Casio watch as a backup alarm and don’t miss your flight!
