Comment by jiggawatts | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jiggawatts | Hacker News Reader

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I do!

A long time ago I started computing entertainment in terms of quality hours per dollar.

So for example a good book might cost $20 but last ten hours of high quality entertainment, which is very good value at $2 per hour.

Movie tickets are not-so-good at something like $20 per hour, $40+ if I have a date and we're buying snacks.

Some computer games are ludicrously efficient. I never paid a cent for some games and played them for thousands of hours. Even factoring in the cost of the PC and electricity, we're looking at cents per hour.

Holidays are the worst, at something like $1K+ per day or $60 per waking hour.

I had to explain to the missus that we're wasting money going to a so-so restaurant on an overseas holiday. Since we've already sunk thousands into just being present at that location, and every hour was costing us Real Money, we may as well go to restaurant that's just shy of 5 stars and costs triple digits. Do the sky dive. Then do a dive under the ocean. Snowboard. See something spectacular! Otherwise, what's the point? We're burning money for what... doing nothing... but in a different part of the planet!?

Doing “nothing” in a different part of the planet is my kind of vacation. Those “spectacular” things might be there occasionally, but I don’t optimize for them.

I optimize for having a good time with people I care in places where we get know how other people live, taste what other people eat, appreciate different landscapes. I also optimize for relaxing and thinking about life, without the regular worries I have at home. Walking around to see how different cities are.

I don’t optimize for “stories to tell”, “adrenaline”, or “instagrammable moments”.

We are different people and there is nothing wrong with your view on vacations. The only issue that I see is when you try to convince your partner (I’m not sure if that’s what “missus” mean) that this a “waste of money”. “Waste” here is completely subjective. There is nothing objective about it as you seem to imply. So I would make sure that they spontaneously agree with your perspective, before trying to convince them of what is a waste of money and what’s not.

That is a very micro-economical view.

There is some merit into investing from an "hours of fulfilment resulting from the investment" perspective, but if you overdo things, it may actually spoil most of your vacations. If in every moment, you reflect what you could have done, and calculate the hourly opportunity cost instead of enjoying the moment, any money spent on being right under that clear summer sky with romantically sparkling stars on the French coast will degrade to a spreadsheet exercise.

My recommendation: use such considerations in the planning phase, but not _during_ a vacation or date! "Be here now."

I understand (and am prone to) this line of thinking, and found it most prevalent when I was doing a lot of consulting. The problem is you also start to see ALL time as money and thinking opportunity cost of everything: playing with your kids, going for a walk, doing absolutely nothing. I found it really stressful and unhealthy and it took years to break this habit.

If you watch shows like "No Reservations" a traveler who is competent in gastronomy will avoid near 5-star restaurants. They are largely copies of an international standard you could get anywhere, certainly much closer to home.

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