Being a financial planner gives me a unique perspective on life and finances. Yes, I am the cobbler with good shoes. Live within my means, save, spend responsibly, you name it. We give advice on all of this – but we also see the hard part of life. People get sick unexpectedly, opportunity can get ripped away in a moment’s notice. While we help plan for that financially, the emotional toll it can take on the individual or family is noticeable. The reason I bring this up is that it forces me to knock stuff off my personal bucket list and enjoy the here and now, not just save for future me and my family. Two weeks ago today, I returned from Oktoberfest in Munich with some close friends – something I had dreamed of for years.
Likely not a surprise to everyone, but I ended up planning the trip for all 7 people. Arranged the hotel, obtained the beer tent reservations, and so on. We kept our eyes on the weather with our original departure date of Saturday Sept 26th. And as luck would have it, a storm was coming in – a good sized one with the focus right on Boston. We made the executive decision to all leave a day early which ended up being a scramble, but we all eventually got to Munich a day early. Did we need 1 more day at the Oktoberfest grounds? No. But was it absolutely amazing? Yes! Just to prove even the best plan always needs to be flexible.
Each of the days in Munich, we walked from our hotel to the Oktoberfest grounds to enjoy beer and some Bavarian food. We rotated beer tent reservations with the most notable at Hofbrau, Schottenhamel, Armbrustschutzenzelt, and Ausgezeichnetes. Yes, the beer was awesome, but the atmosphere, live music playing constantly, and just the energy was something that was hard to believe.
To put this in perspective, the large tents (4 of which I mentioned above), hold around 10,000 people each at any time. And the numbers came in that they estimated 7.3 Million people went through the gates at Oktoberfest over just 16 days! If you do not like crowds, this trip is not for you, but if you like standing on a bench, signing your favorite song with your favorite people while having a delicious beer – then put this on your list. I could write a novel about the trip, but instead I will include some pictures to help capture the rest.
Until next time….
