u/Dependent_Plenty5905

My friend and his family invited me and some of our friends to a 10 day trip to Florence and Rome. They are covering the flights and housing. However, I JUST got out of a crappy housing situation which ended up with me having to spend an extra couple thousand $, and I need to buy some pretty important things that I have been putting off for a while because I just didn't have the money. I also want to start to build an emergency fund so something like this doesn't happen again. I feel like I was just starting to get ahead when I'm hit with this dilemma. The people I'm going with are extremely wealthy, so I'm assuming we will go to expensive restaurants and do expensive activities. I don't want to be that guy that doesn't order anything at a restaurant and make everyone else feel bad/uncomfortable, but I also don't want to be that guy that looks ungrateful for not going on this "once in a lifetime" trip. The thing is, I feel like I should spend my money on things that I actually need, not things that I want. At least for right now. does anyone have any advice for me? Is there a way to spend a minimal amount of money on this trip (<$300), or should I just give it up and let someone else go?

My friend and his family invited me and some of our friends to a 10 day trip to Florence and Rome. They are covering the flights and housing. However, I JUST got out of a crappy housing situation which ended up with me having to spend an extra couple thousand $, and I need to buy some pretty important things that I have been putting off for a while because I just didn't have the money. I also want to start to build an emergency fund so something like this doesn't happen again. I feel like I was just starting to get ahead when I'm hit with this dilemma. The people I'm going with are extremely wealthy, so I'm assuming we will go to expensive restaurants and do expensive activities. I don't want to be that guy that doesn't order anything at a restaurant and make everyone else feel bad/uncomfortable, but I also don't want to be that guy that looks ungrateful for not going on this "once in a lifetime" trip. The thing is, I feel like I should spend my money on things that I actually need, not things that I want. At least for right now. does anyone have any advice for me? Is there a way to spend a minimal amount of money on this trip (<$300), or should I just give it up and let someone else go?

I currently make my own gels. I went kind of crazy and bought a TON of maltodextrin and fructose powder, but I am running out so I did some research. Table sugar is a LOT cheaper than maltodextrin and fructose, but it has some differences in digestion. It basically is a 1:1 ratio of glucose:fructose. My preference is 2:1, so I would have to mix in maltodextrin powder with table sugar. Would this work just as well as what I have going currently, or could there be some gut issues that might come with it? I am also starting to do research on how to make my own carb bars if that is relevant at all.

If I race XC, how long should my weekly long zone 2 rides be? Does rides > 3h have diminishing returns for races that don’t really last longer than 90 mins? Would rides longer than this just increase my TSS with minimal gains?