Is $12,000 per year in travel enough

[Nemo2]

Civitavecchia to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in November next year........

Subsequently changed to RC Brilliance of the Seas, Barcelona-Tampa departing Nov 09.

 

[6miths]

In 2013:

- A one week, all inclusive, in Mexico

- 12 days in Prague.

- A week in Barcelona, followed by a transatlantic, Barcelona - Florida.

- Rome...then a transatlantic, Civitavecchia - Florida.

All flights, airport parking, medical insurance, accommodation, side trips, food, etc.

Approx $12,750 Canadian for two.

I bow to you! Any chance you want to start a sideline...

 

[Nemo2]

I bow to you! Any chance you want to start a sideline...

I started my travel life from 'umble beginnings.....backpack, sleeping by the side of the road, like that....so being inside while we're on our trips is like "Wow".

 

[6miths]

Lol yes I laugh thinking back at some of the places that I have slept. The kids are always disbelieving at the tales. Those were the days and I know that you have a few years on me so I'm sure that your stories are even better. Still I'm always impressed to hear how far you are able to stretch your travel dollar. Our youngest is out the door this summer so the fun will begin in earnest.

 

[Nemo2]

Still I'm always impressed to hear how far you are able to stretch your travel dollar.

Possibly our biggest thrift is restaurants......except on the rarest of occasions, we don't go near them.

I can easily envision our land based costs doubling if we were to eat most/every meal 'out'; more so if we didn't rent small studios with kitchen facilities, instead of staying in hotels.

Also, (apart from the odd beer on a particularly hot day), neither of us drinks any more...basically just can't be bothered with it.

It suits us, we grab something to eat when we're hungry, (on day trips we might buy some cheese, bread and apples and sit on a park bench), but we're not 'foodies', (and neither of us enjoys having waiters hovering over us......which is a/the primary reason that we always eat at buffets shipboard).

So...we get to see more of what we want to see for less, and most of the studios we rent are down back alleys, where people actually live....we still smile about one place we rented in Barcelona; the lady across the alley played piano for a couple hours at night, there'd be shouted doorway-to-doorway conversations....oh, and the one kid who continually yelled out "Ali" to someone we presumed was his buddy, but who never once responded while we were there.

 

[ERD50]

In 2013:

- A one week, all inclusive, in Mexico

- 12 days in Prague.

- A week in Barcelona, followed by a transatlantic, Barcelona - Florida.

- Rome...then a transatlantic, Civitavecchia - Florida.

All flights, airport parking, medical insurance, accommodation, side trips, food, etc.

Approx $12,750 Canadian for two.

Possibly our biggest thrift is restaurants......except on the rarest of occasions, we don't go near them. ....

Hmmm, to each their own, but that would not be a 'vacation' by DW's definition. A kitchenette can be nice so you can get a quick breakfast, lunch or snack, instead of the time effort to go somewhere, wait to be served, wait for the check, etc - but for us, that is more convenience and time saving than cost.

Also, (apart from the odd beer on a particularly hot day), neither of us drinks any more...

To me, the "odd beer" (or two, or three) is part of the travel experience - try a beer that you haven't tried before, seek out the "odd" ones.

I don't think your budget would work for us, different strokes is all.

-ERD50

 

[Nemo2]

To me, the "odd beer" (or two, or three) is part of the travel experience - try a beer that you haven't tried before, seek out the "odd" ones.

Been there, done that.... Tusker Beer, Coopers, VB, Castlemaine XXXX, etc, etc, almost ad infinitum...throughout Europe/Israel/India/parts of Africa........plus tried Arak, Ouzo and the like.

I don't think your budget would work for us, different strokes is all.

I appreciate that....wasn't angling for converts......if everyone traveled the way we do on the transatlantics and didn't buy the drink packages, visit the specialty restaurants, and and and.......the prices would go up, so we applaud the spenders.

(A major factor for us though is it suits us, whereas eating in restaurants doesn't.)

 

[Teacher Terry]

When we do land travel we eat dinner out, breakfast is usually included with hotel and we put some stuff in a backpack for lunch. This helps keep our costs and our weight down. On cruises we don't pay for the specialty restaurants when the dining room which is free has great food. I would never eat the buffet for dinner when I can get great food in the dining room but it does take time. We also still enjoy having a good drink.

 

[Nemo2]

Winding up, (pretty much), the numbers on our May/June trip. Leave Toronto May 07 - return to Toronto June 22. Three back-to-back cruises, (20 ports, from Puerto Limón, Costa Rica to Bergen, Norway), including flights from Bergen, Norway to Poland.

Flights/Accommodation/Cruises all paid.....not included at this point.....bus to/from Toronto, one way shuttle San Jose to Puerto Limón, food/incidentals in Poland.

Thus far, $7,573.23 Canadian - roughly $5,638.24 US

2nd leg ends, and the 3rd leg starts, in Rostock.

:

 

[ugeauxgirl]

Winding up, (pretty much), the numbers on our May/June trip. Leave Toronto May 07 - return to Toronto June 22. Three back-to-back cruises, (20 ports, from Puerto Limón, Costa Rica to Bergen, Norway), including flights from Bergen, Norway to Poland.

Flights/Accommodation/Cruises all paid.....not included at this point.....bus to/from Toronto, one way shuttle San Jose to Puerto Limón, food/incidentals in Poland.

Thus far, $7,573.23 Canadian - roughly $5,638.24 US

Wow. Just wow. Can't wait to show my husband. We just got back from a week at Disney camping in our RV and it cost us $4700. For a thousand dollars more I'd rather have done your trip!

 

[Teacher Terry]

Nemo, I can't remember where you are going in Poland but if you can go to Krakow. We have been there twice and it is so awesome. You got such great deals!

 

[Nemo2]

Nemo, I can't remember where you are going in Poland but if you can go to Krakow. We have been there twice and it is so awesome. You got such great deals!

Flying from Bergen to Krakow, there for a week, then on to Warsaw for four nights, then home.

 

[brett]

Good for you Nemo!

We travel on value. Recently did a 15 day cruise in South America. Then stayed in some great 3 and 4 star hotels. Now we are on Carrillo Beach in Costa Rica. $60 per night including breakfast for a great little chalet in a small family run operation. HUge value based on our requirements. Westin and JR Marriott were $400 with no beach view. Why pay more?

 

[Zona]

So is this budget reasonable?

In my experience I would say a $12K USD budget is very reasonable for slow travel, especially since you are looking at only 1-2 months with inexpensive activities. A lot depends on which countries you go to, of course.

As an example, last year DH and I spent 3 months in Scandinavia. A Quicken report for all our vacation-related expenses shows that we spent about $22K USD (that includes 1K for groceries and 7K for dining -- I know your 12K budget excludes food, but I track it). We spent 13 days in Iceland w/rental car, staying in hotels; one week in Norway doing Norway in a Nutshell, a month in Copenhagen at an airbnb, and a month in Stockholm also using airbnb. Our RT flight from the US was paid with airmiles, but everything else is included in that $22K. Here's the breakdown:

• Groceries: $1000
• Dining: $6740
• Lodging: $8970
• Souvenirs/Gifts: $257
• Tours, Entertainment, Fun Stuff: $1888
• Travel: $3640 (includes 1 flight, multiple overnight ferries w/cabin)

We did similar trips a few years ago to Barcelona (16K for 2 months) and Paris (23K for 10 weeks). These were no-holds-barred-on-spending type trips (we were working remotely at the time) and the numbers include dining/groceries. So I think with a budget of 12K and a 2-month timeframe you should have no problem. When we finally retire in a few years, we are budgeting around 15K/year to continue slow travel.

Also for mail: this year we used Traveling Mailbox, which worked really well and even allowed me to open/deposit rent checks remotely.

Happy travel planning!

 

[BellBarbara]

I think it depends on how long you want to be gone, and what you like to do.

We budget 25K, but some of that (5K) is for a family vacation with all the kids/grands that we pay for 100%. The rest is for us - we like to be gone maybe 5 months or so in blocks. Sometimes we camp in our pop up trailer, but we really enjoy road trips. We stay in choice hotels (Comfort, Quality), and eat out some, but not all the time. Generally we eat at places that are not expensive (ethnic, barbecue, pub) and we don't drink much. Also, we drive our prius, so cheap gas and travel off season.

This year we are doing this 2 month roadtrip across the US up the west coast and back, 8 weeks in Aus/NZ, family vacation 1 week, some camping, and some weekends.

We do love to cruise, but may skip it this year.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Nemo: do your amounts include any tours while you cruise or do you not do that?

 

[Nemo2]

Nemo: do your amounts include any tours while you cruise or do you not do that?

Haven't taken an 'official' tour yet, except for one in Iceland to see the geysers/waterfalls/tectonic plates, etc......and we didn't do that through the cruise line. (Oops, just remembered, we grabbed a bus, run by volunteers, in Greenock, Scotland, for a little around-the-town drive.)

Usually we prefer to make our own way wherever possible.

 

[kcowan]

CruiseCritic.com allows you to chat with people on your trip and also people who have taken the trip previously. Great for arranging independent travel while in port, often with cruisemates.

 

[Nemo2]

CruiseCritic.com allows you to chat with people on your trip and also people who have taken the trip previously. Great for arranging independent travel while in port, often with cruisemates.

DW posts, sporadically, on Cruise Critic.......not having much luck sharing a shuttle from San José to Puerto Limón in May though....we'll likely have to bite the proverbial bullet and pay for it on our own.....we'll see.

 

[kcowan]

we'll likely have to bite the proverbial bullet and pay for it on our own.....we'll see.

Just have her post that it is laid on and the price per seat is XX. I find they get serious about 4 to 6 weeks before the cruise.

 

[Nemo2]

Just have her post that it is laid on and the price per seat is XX. I find they get serious about 4 to 6 weeks before the cruise.

Pretty much what we've done.

 

[FUEGO]

As another data point, we do pretty well with a travel budget just under $12,000. And that's for a family of 5 I just tallied up our 9 week trip through Europe for this summer (peak season, generally speaking) and it's looking like we'll be able to do it for around $10,000 total (transportation $2500, lodging $4000, food $3000, admission tickets to museums/castles $750). 90% of that other than food and admission tickets is already booked so the costs are fairly certain at this point.

That should leave enough to take the family on a week long cruise in the Caribbean taking advantage of the fall or winter off season rates.

In the past several years we've spent a few weeks on a road trip 2 times ($1000-$3000 each trip) and 7 weeks in Mexico ($4500 total).

No hostels, all airbnb type apartment or house rentals (typically 2+ bedroom). Cooking a lot at the apartment but plenty of dining out too. Nothing too fancy. We do a lot of travel hacking with credit card bonus offers (free flights other than tax; sometimes free hotels but none on our Europe trip).

We typically stay in one city for a week or two which helps with the cost (and the sanity with 3 kids).

 

[Nemo2]

Winding up, (pretty much), the numbers on our May/June trip. Leave Toronto May 07 - return to Toronto June 22. Three back-to-back cruises, (20 ports, from Puerto Limón, Costa Rica to Bergen, Norway), including flights from Bergen, Norway to Poland.

Flights/Accommodation/Cruises all paid.....not included at this point.....bus to/from Toronto, one way shuttle San Jose to Puerto Limón, food/incidentals in Poland.

Thus far, $7,573.23 Canadian - roughly $5,638.24 US

Almost all the numbers are in now; my out-of-country medical insurance costs increased slightly because I'm still on prednisolone eye drops in an attempt to combat the corneal incursion by shingles, (if I'm taken off them soon (fingers crossed) and haven't had to take them for three months prior to our Fall trip, the premiums will drop again).

So, right now, for 47 days, we're up to $8,500 Canadian, (approx $6,355 US).

 

[DrRoy]

Almost all the numbers are in now; my out-of-country medical insurance costs increased slightly because I'm still on prednisolone eye drops in an attempt to combat the corneal incursion by shingles, (if I'm taken off them soon (fingers crossed) and haven't had to take them for three months prior to our Fall trip, the premiums will drop again).

So, right now, for 47 days, we're up to $8,500 Canadian, (approx $6,355 US).

Wow. Is that per person or total? What air and cruise lines?

 

[Nemo2]

Wow. Is that per person or total? What air and cruise lines?

Amount is total.

Airlines: Avianca, Toronto to San Jose, Costa Rica.

Norwegian Air, Bergen to Krakow

Lot - Polish Airlines, Warsaw to Amsterdam.

Jet Airways, Amsterdam to Toronto.

Ship: Pullmantur Monarch

http://www.cruisemapper.com/ships/Pullmantur-Monarch-550

Three back to back cruises......three different cabins....we opted for an oceanview for the Norway sector, (the others are inside).