CourtlyLove
Rookie
Hi all,
I'm a big tennis fan (though only the last few years) but due to my location I don't have many tournaments close to me. Last year I did finally get to Cincy for the MOnday, Tuesday, Wednesday and it was really amazing. Everything I could've hoped for and more.
My plan since last year was to make it to Wimbledon this year. I've been saving for it (one day of qualies, Eastbourne QFs, and first three days of Wimbledon)
. I'm 24, so it's hard to see this opportunity available to me in the future once a wife and family and home ownership enters the equation. In a lot of ways I feel this is my last chance to go do Wimbledon on my own. I've been saving and I've already done a good job in meeting my savings target, four months out.
Unfortunately there's some uncertainty at my work regarding budget cuts (I'm a high school teacher) so it looks like I might be out of a job--I'll know by early April at teh latest what my situation is. If I don't stay on at this job it would be really foolish to go ahead with my London trip.
But since I've been planning for this and gotten all amped up about it, I've decided to set some back-up plans in case Wimbledon falls through. These are all only 30-40% the cost of what my London trip would have been. Please note that I'd be doing all of these solo, as I don't have any close friends who are tennis fans. Makes it a lot easier to hop court to court and not have to sit there educating someone else about the game the whole time!
Option A: US Open Labor Day weekend.
I'd fly in Friday night, catch each day session Saturday, Sunday, Monday, plus one night session. Would have to leave a little early Monday night to catch my flight back to Chicago. The pluses for this is obviously that it's less of a time commitment, and it's a grand slam tournament--would be a way to rescue the excitement and prestige that I'd miss out on with my Wimby plans falling through. Minuses would be that it's only three days of tennis and might feel a bit of a whirlwind because it's just over a few days. The Grandstand court is supposed to be amazing, and this is supposed to be its last year before they tear it down.
Option B: Cincinnati, FULL TOURNAMENT
Surprisingly enough, full tournament subscriptions for Cincy are way less than I imagined they'd be. I would be at the tournament from qualies all the way through the final. This is really appealing because I'd feel so much less rushed about the whole thing as I did last year when I was there for three days and was trying to cram in every player and hop around from court to court. I could take my time and really take in the full week fo the tournament, and see a ton of tennis. The pluses are the amount of tennis I'd see (including some exciting late-round matchups), obviously, as well as the fact that it's only about a 5.5 hour drive away. I also would spend way less on souvenirs/gear since I bought plenty of that stuff last year. Drawbacks would be that it would be a full week to set aside in the summer, and it might feel a little less exciting because I was just at the tournament last year. This would be the last year I could do this full week thing, because starting from 2015 it's pushed back a year so it would overlap with the start of the school year.
I've budgeted, these are both roughly the same amount, depending on hotels and etc., with Cincy probably being a few hundred $ more expensive. Either way, it'll be about 35% of what I've saved for Wimbledon, leaving me a good deal of savings in the bag. I guess it comes down to more tennis vs the grand slam experience.
So, what do we think here? Wimbledon is still the absolute ideal and would be a dream come true, but even if that falls through I think I've drawn up two great back-up plans that won't leave me with a summer of disappointment. I don't think I'd much have the opportunity to do Cincy in the future due to the date change and it might be hard to find someone else to go to a full week of tennis in Ohio with me, while US Open Labor Day weekend might be easier to sell a future spouse/friend on.
Any thoughts?
I'm a big tennis fan (though only the last few years) but due to my location I don't have many tournaments close to me. Last year I did finally get to Cincy for the MOnday, Tuesday, Wednesday and it was really amazing. Everything I could've hoped for and more.
My plan since last year was to make it to Wimbledon this year. I've been saving for it (one day of qualies, Eastbourne QFs, and first three days of Wimbledon)
. I'm 24, so it's hard to see this opportunity available to me in the future once a wife and family and home ownership enters the equation. In a lot of ways I feel this is my last chance to go do Wimbledon on my own. I've been saving and I've already done a good job in meeting my savings target, four months out.
Unfortunately there's some uncertainty at my work regarding budget cuts (I'm a high school teacher) so it looks like I might be out of a job--I'll know by early April at teh latest what my situation is. If I don't stay on at this job it would be really foolish to go ahead with my London trip.
But since I've been planning for this and gotten all amped up about it, I've decided to set some back-up plans in case Wimbledon falls through. These are all only 30-40% the cost of what my London trip would have been. Please note that I'd be doing all of these solo, as I don't have any close friends who are tennis fans. Makes it a lot easier to hop court to court and not have to sit there educating someone else about the game the whole time!
Option A: US Open Labor Day weekend.
I'd fly in Friday night, catch each day session Saturday, Sunday, Monday, plus one night session. Would have to leave a little early Monday night to catch my flight back to Chicago. The pluses for this is obviously that it's less of a time commitment, and it's a grand slam tournament--would be a way to rescue the excitement and prestige that I'd miss out on with my Wimby plans falling through. Minuses would be that it's only three days of tennis and might feel a bit of a whirlwind because it's just over a few days. The Grandstand court is supposed to be amazing, and this is supposed to be its last year before they tear it down.
Option B: Cincinnati, FULL TOURNAMENT
Surprisingly enough, full tournament subscriptions for Cincy are way less than I imagined they'd be. I would be at the tournament from qualies all the way through the final. This is really appealing because I'd feel so much less rushed about the whole thing as I did last year when I was there for three days and was trying to cram in every player and hop around from court to court. I could take my time and really take in the full week fo the tournament, and see a ton of tennis. The pluses are the amount of tennis I'd see (including some exciting late-round matchups), obviously, as well as the fact that it's only about a 5.5 hour drive away. I also would spend way less on souvenirs/gear since I bought plenty of that stuff last year. Drawbacks would be that it would be a full week to set aside in the summer, and it might feel a little less exciting because I was just at the tournament last year. This would be the last year I could do this full week thing, because starting from 2015 it's pushed back a year so it would overlap with the start of the school year.
I've budgeted, these are both roughly the same amount, depending on hotels and etc., with Cincy probably being a few hundred $ more expensive. Either way, it'll be about 35% of what I've saved for Wimbledon, leaving me a good deal of savings in the bag. I guess it comes down to more tennis vs the grand slam experience.
So, what do we think here? Wimbledon is still the absolute ideal and would be a dream come true, but even if that falls through I think I've drawn up two great back-up plans that won't leave me with a summer of disappointment. I don't think I'd much have the opportunity to do Cincy in the future due to the date change and it might be hard to find someone else to go to a full week of tennis in Ohio with me, while US Open Labor Day weekend might be easier to sell a future spouse/friend on.
Any thoughts?
