I had a tremendously busy yet successful trip to two states on our West Coast last week. Good that I am a seasoned road warrior, chaining together three airlines with several one-way and one round-trip flight to four locations that are rather remote.

The travel included going to and through two major cities…

…San Francisco and Seattle. I have decided that I really do not want to visit either of these cities again if I can avoid it.

In the past, I loved visiting and working in San Francisco. I worked there almost full-time from 1989 to 1994. But back then, the cost of living was much, much lower and affordable. These days, taxes and fees just kill you. They add a surcharge to restaurant bills for what they call the “SF mandate.” According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle:

San Francisco has a number of mandates on the books aimed at improving workers’ lives, which make it more expensive to operate a business in the city. When asked which mandates they’re charging for, many restaurant owners cite health care, paid sick leave and paid parental leave.

This “mandate” percentage on a restaurant bill ranges from 3% to 6% and on top of that nuisance, is subject to S.F.’s sales tax of 8.5%.

Makes you want to bypass eating, or eating at a restaurant, anyway. Oh well, good way to lose weight, I guess 🙂

On top of that, try to find an affordable hotel room! If I hadn’t lived in the area and visited countless times, I wouldn’t be as aware of less expensive options for a night’s room, especially one that provides free shuttle service to and from the airport.

Then there’s BART — the SF Subway. Man, talk about expensive! A quick six-stop round trip cost me $17.00. Just to have dinner with a friend. But I figure that taxi would be more expensive. Since I don’t have a smartphone, ridesharing such as Uber is not an option for me.

Up in Seattle, the taxes and fees get ya, too. I rented a vehicle for a trip through the Olympic Peninsula for one day, and one more day in Seattle itself. There were 14 separate taxes, fees, and surcharges on the rental car bill. Then the sales tax rate–about the highest in the nation at 10.1%–just makes buying anything from a meal to a souvenir a downer.

Trust me — I no longer will complain about Maryland’s 6% sales tax rate and “mandate-less” restuarant bills.

The weather while I was there was absolutely stunning. Warm, sunny, dry in all locations, even on the Pacific Coast. I kinda lucked out. If I had a regret, it is that I couldn’t enjoy this visit on the saddle of a motorcycle. It would have been perfect.

I had visited Seattle several times before, but in the last several years, the increased cost of hotels, meals, and just getting around makes this town much less desirable to go back and visit again. I have already determined that I can never bring back my large group meetings to Seattle again. We can’t afford it any more. King County (where Seattle is located) has priced itself out of being an affordable option for group meetings, even during less desirable winter.

Oh well, I am back home in affordable Maryland, safe and sound. Spouse and I are traveling together at the end of the week to Pittsburgh to finish cleaning out his mother’s house prior to donating it to a non-profit.

Life is short: save money and visit Maryland, the Free State!