Okay, this sounded more blogworthy in my head

My boyfriend and I--if our relationship survives March Madness--will travel to Europe this summer for a family friend's wedding. I'll go a few days early, to a nearby city, and train over to where the wedding is. He'll join me there. My parents are also going to this wedding, and they also want to travel to a nearby city or two. They're not sure which, but they're considering joining me, a few days before the wedding. This would actually be great: I'll have travel companions, and I'll have some time--about three days--on my own with my parents, and then the bf and I will have more leverage to do our own thing the following week when we're all together.

The fun part is getting there. I just booked my ticket on miles. I felt the obligatory Jewish guilt of doing so without consulting any of my travel companions, but we've been talking about getting our tickets for weeks--and I hadn't seen award seats for months--so when they showed up, I had to jump on it. The bf may be annoyed that I didn't coordinate with him, but I had to do what I had to do, and--yes, I know this isn't a healthy relationship approach--but I have some (March-Madness) annoyance to throw right back at him. This post isn't about coordinating with him--I bring up his role only to do justice to the complexity of the situation; it's about coordinating with my parents. Here's a timeline:

-December: Parents and I discuss going to this wedding, agree that we're all going. They're not sure where else they'll go (visit dad's sister in Germany? hit the Balkan beaches?), nor am I.
-January: I let bf know to start thinking about whether he'd be interested, and, if so, to apply for a passport.
-February: We should really buy tickets, but prices are very high. I rule out the Balkans, decide to save it for another trip; settle on three days in a nearby city.
-Late February: I tell my parents where I plan to go. Hound bf about the passport.
-Early March: I tell mom I'm going to buy my ticket soon. She says to find out about hers, too; I say I can only do that if she decides on her travel plans; she says she'll just do what I do. I say, "I don't think so; please figure out what you're doing. You're retired, dad will likely have retired; you haven't spent as much time in that part of Europe, so make the most of it." Separately, I tell dad that the bf will be joining me; he doesn't react. Over dinner with friends, I invite myself and bf to where they'll be moving in the fall. Bf better get on that passport.
-Last week: Dad decides not to retire (specifically, his company decides to find a way to keep him on); mom and dad definitively decide to join me in nearby city three days before the wedding, tell me keep an eye out for inexpensive tickets. I point out that I'm leaving from a different city. I tell mom that the bf will be joining me; she doesn't flip out. She does ask whether I've told the bride (yes, of course). I decide that bf and I will have to go to Costa Rica to visit the Sloth Sanctuary; perhaps because I don't declare my decision out loud, bf finally submits his passport application.
-Yesterday: Get back from my business trip; deal with paperwork for my refi; realize that I'm not getting into grad school; have another conversation with mom about how she needs to figure out what her travel plans are, because tickets are not going down, and she'll want more rather than fewer flight options (with efficient connections). She says sure ticket prices might go down. Then she lectures me about how it's okay that I didn't get into the grad program because good writers already know how to write--it just comes to them; for example, Pushkin cried when it was time to kill of Gherman. I remind her that she told me this every day over the holidays. To her credit, she meant it as a pep talk, and it kind of worked.
-Today: On a whim, I check to see whether there are award flights, and there are! So I buy them (see guilt trip above). I call parents before I complete the transaction. Mom says, "what? I thought we were going to that other city afterward?!" I said, "no, we've discussed this." My dad backs me up. Mom says, "okay, whatever," and proceeds to lecture me about writing and how Pushkin cried but had no choice but to kill of Gherman. I reminded her that we've discussed this and that we could discuss it again another time, but I wanted to complete my transaction. She concurred, I got my ticket, and I sent her, dad, the bf, and the bride my itinerary. Mom and dad will hopefully get their ticket soon. The bf may get his ticket when he emerges from his man-cave at the end of March.

This is one of my best friends getting married, and I'm going to be at her wedding. Out of the four of us, I'm the one who most wants/needs to be there. I was willing, but less than thrilled, to pay $1,500 to get there, so I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to pay ten times less. Why am I trying to convince you? You're probably on my side.