Doesn't count when you're on vacation

The other day I was talking to some coworkers about a family vacation one of them took, and the conversation went something like this:

"My husband yelled at me because he said we spent almost a thousand dollars on food for the week. I said it was better than eating out all the time where it'd be more."
"Well, you're on vacation. You're not supposed to care about that kind of thing on vacation."
"Exactly! Calories and prices don't count when you're on vacation."

Oh, for this to be true. Because dude, I am paying now for not paying better attention then.

I'm kind of grounded at the moment because I spent more in LA than I meant to and then got hit with car issues all at once, so I couldn't bounce back from vacation as fast as I wanted to financially, and I still owe people money. (Also I swear an LA post is coming.) On top of that, after a summer of hating the way I looked in 90% of the photos taken of me, I stepped on the scale and realized I also put on more weight than I'd thought, because I got too busy and broke and it was hard to keep up with a workout and health routine, which also explains why I've been so tired the last few weeks. After a summer in the sun even my skin is rebelling against me and I'm spending a lot of time hydrating and applying lotion because it's actively not fun to deal with. I had an awesome summer, but I overdid it in every way possible. So now I'm in this mode of trying to repair the damage I did, in the gym, at the bank, and in the kitchen.

I'm never going to tell anyone they have to go on vacation and stick to a strict budget and count every calorie. That's zero fun at all. But at the same time, your life is more than just the week or so here and there when you're on a vacation. While you're trying to keep it memorable and try new things, the trick is to not make yourself regret it later, and not to make the parts of your life you don't spend on vacation harder. Make sure you've saved up enough to handle splurges, and don't splurge on everything. Do better than I did. Learn from my mistakes.

Especially on the sunscreen. Dear god, remember sunscreen.