Gen Z Guide to FI

TL:DR I have regrets about spending over $2k on a ski trip.

I recently went to Black Ski, an annual ski trip for MBA students across the country. For many months, I’ve dreaded going on this trip but I thought to myself: “YOLO”.

If anyone remembers my Mexico Pity Party post, the vibes on this trip were similar. Although, I believe this was overall much better. 

I’ll start with what went well.

I got to see my roommate from college (a.k.a my roommate for life) and meet her new boyfriend. She moved to Colorado recently so she & her new boyfriend came up to the mountain to hang out with me on Saturday. She was my roommate for all 4 years of college. So there was no question that I’d be in the state of Colorado without making time for her.

Second, I got to bond with some of my classmates who came along on the trip. It was nice to build out those relationships out more. I also got to see a lot of my MLT friends who were in the trenches of applying to MBA programs with me in 2023. 

Now let’s pivot to what didn’t go so well.

This trip was so unnecessarily expensive in my opinion. In retrospect, I really should have cancelled it. Since I’m in my penny pinching era, I’m trying to stretch my savings as much as possible. I could have done without this trip. You live and you learn.

I spent $1400 on lodging/social events/trip insurance, $510 on flights, $200 on ground transportation to and from the resort and another $200 on overpriced food at the resort. This puts this trip at a whopping $2310 for a 4 day ski trip. And, I don’t even ski bro. I definitely played myself here and I know I can’t really afford anymore just for vibes oopsy trips so this is my last unexplainably expensive trip. You’d think I’d have learned from the Mexico trip but I clearly did not.

Next, it was fucking freezing on the mountain. I was also 10,000 ft above ground. I couldn’t breathe well and the air was so damn dry. I got altitude sickness. I promise I hydrated ahead of the trip but it didn’t do shit for me. I spent a day and a half in bed because I felt so horrible and congested and could barely walk without getting out of breath.

As always, there were many parties and I can happily say, I enjoyed some of them. I also actively sought out low key activities like signing up for dinners with strangers (6 MBA students from different schools who I didn’t know). That was definitely one of favorite experiences on this trip.

I changed my flight to leave on the earliest flight back to New Jersey. I ended up leaving for the airport straight from the last party at 2am. I’m all for getting the fuck out after a trip has served its purpose. I even got upgraded to first class. Stylish, classy, oooo.

All in all, I’m super glad I saw my roommate for life and met her new boyfriend, who seems really great actually. I’m also glad I got to see old faces from MLT and bond with some of my classmates. But, I’m not going anywhere near a fucking mountain again.

XOXO Gen Z Fire Baby