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Old 01-30-2016, 06:07 PM   #41
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We have about $20K built into our regular annual budget. Last year we managed to spend about that much on a 4 week Europe trip.

We have about four times that amount set aside as a special travel splurge fund, and we need to start tapping into that soon!
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Old 01-30-2016, 07:43 PM   #42
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We don't have a specific travel budget but last year travel related spending accounted for 81% of total spending.
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Old 01-30-2016, 07:47 PM   #43
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I wonder how perpetual travelers count their travel expenses.

Surely, they pay for hotel rooms, but they have no house maintenance, RE taxes, utility bills, nor the dead money in the house value which can be used to invest to generate income. They also have no cars. What else do I miss?
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Old 01-30-2016, 07:58 PM   #44
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When we were living in our RV, constantly on the road, we did not count travel expenses separately. When we resumed living in a house, we also resumed our travel budget.
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Old 01-30-2016, 08:17 PM   #45
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I wonder how perpetual travelers count their travel expenses.

Surely, they pay for hotel rooms, but they have no house maintenance, RE taxes, utility bills, nor the dead money in the house value which can be used to invest to generate income. They also have no cars. What else do I miss?
Hotels and apartment rental, transportation (cabs, car rental, trains, planes, buses, boats), all food, and admissions are stuff I count as "Travel Expenses."

Our next largest expense is Health Insurance & health care; then donations & gifts; clothing and misc stuff; personal care; "utilities" which is mostly SIM cards and subscriptions to stuff like Skype, a VPN, etc; mail forwarding; and finally "entertainment" which is mostly our Netflix subscription and other purchased videos.
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Old 01-30-2016, 08:23 PM   #46
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I never count food costs when I travel, because I have to eat regardless. It is true that a meal at home is usually cheaper, but still. Some other incidental things are also not counted, such as clothes or gifts bought for relatives. However, these are insignificant. I do count hotel costs, RV campground fees, car rental, airfare, etc...

Strictly I count expenses that I would not incur if I stay at home. And my home expenses do not stop when I travel. So, travel expenses are extraneous luxury items that I can cut during economic hard times. On the other hand, if I lived in my RV full-time, it's harder to see what is travel and what is just living costs.
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Old 01-30-2016, 08:34 PM   #47
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I never count food costs when I travel, because I have to eat regardless. It is true that a meal at home is usually cheaper, but still. Some other incidental things are also not counted, such as clothes or gifts bought for relatives. However, these are insignificant. I do count hotel costs, RV campground fees, car rental, airfare, etc...

Strictly I count expenses that I would not incur if I stay at home. And my home expenses do not stop when I travel. So, travel expenses are extraneous luxury items that I can cut during economic hard times. On the other hand, if I lived in my RV full-time, it's harder to see what is travel and what is just living costs.
It's helpful to differentiate between food costs "on the road" and those incurred at home when trying to forecast a budget for either living on the road or living at home. Before we started traveling full-time I wanted some idea what we'd spend on food. My weekly grocery budget where I used coupons and knew which stores had the best prices wasn't a good guide. My travel food spending, though, was a better approximation.

Edit to add: I also tag all my expenses by country, which isn't something ordinary people do.
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Old 01-30-2016, 08:40 PM   #48
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It's helpful to differentiate between food costs "on the road" and those incurred at home when trying to forecast a budget for either living on the road or living at home. Before we started traveling full-time I wanted some idea what we'd spend on food. My weekly grocery budget where I used coupons and knew which stores had the best prices wasn't a good guide. My travel food spending, though, was a better approximation.
Absolutely true. My travel is just not long enough for the difference to matter.

I do spend more than 2 months at a time with the RV, but we do eat just like at home (finding a place to eat twice a day is a chore). Fly-and-drive trips are usually only 2 weeks.
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Old 01-30-2016, 09:01 PM   #49
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I count dining while traveling as a travel expense, because we are typically eating all meals out, and it's a lot more expensive, in general, than eating at home. It helps for future planning.
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Old 01-30-2016, 09:31 PM   #50
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For simplicity, I include the cost of eating while traveling in Travel. Some of my trips involve self catering accommodation where I can prepare my own meals. Depending where I am, fresh produce may be cheaper than at home. While I am away from home, I am not spending anything on Groceries. It all works out in the end.
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Old 01-30-2016, 09:50 PM   #51
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I don't count food while traveling as we eat pretty much the same as we do when at home. We rent places for weeks at a time so we can mostly prepare the majority of our own meals and we eat out as frequently at home as we do on our long trips.

Our utility bills at home drop dramatically while we are away as I have the AC set much higher than if we were home, plus the immersion heater (hot water) is turned off.

I just keep it simple and add up all the travel and accommodation costs for a
vacation, and I don't track food, meals out etc, and don't subtract savings like lower utilities costs and gym membership savings that I cancel prior to each long trip. I also downgrade our home internet speed to the lowest possible as I only need internet access at home to monitor the thermostat, web camera and DVR.
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Old 01-31-2016, 12:43 AM   #52
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6,700 USD or 27% of annual spending per typical year. That cost is everything between leaving home to returning plus all the prepaid expenses. I travel alone. No budget. As I have for decades, I track what I've spent, then spend accordingly.

Spending will increase significantly beginning this year. Enjoying it while I can is a prime motivator. Starting SS in 2016 means more time in higher cost countries. Finally, last year I flew business class for the first time. So, as long as I can afford it, all the long legs of future trips will be in biz class. I'm sure my heirs will understand.
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Old 01-31-2016, 12:51 AM   #53
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Edit to add: I also tag all my expenses by country, which isn't something ordinary people do.
I do too. Not coincidentally, I've rarely been considered ordinary. Did I mention I like spreadsheets?

Seriously, the main reason is so I can compare my pre-trip estimates to actual spending. The value of which is... more fun with spreadsheets.
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Old 01-31-2016, 01:44 AM   #54
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I wonder how perpetual travelers count their travel expenses.

Surely, they pay for hotel rooms, but they have no house maintenance, RE taxes, utility bills, nor the dead money in the house value which can be used to invest to generate income. They also have no cars. What else do I miss?
Health & insurance mostly.

Most of the things you list also don't apply to inner-city renters (some rent including utilities, as I did the past 7 years).

PT's just count expenses in the same categories as everyone else. Transportation, housing, communications, health, food ...

At least those that I've heard of and met. So the only thing they do differently is not treat "travel" as a special occasion or category. Just like people who never travel I guess.
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Old 01-31-2016, 06:47 AM   #55
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So the only thing they do differently is not treat "travel" as a special occasion or category.
+1

Whereas a vacationer puts their normal day-to-day life on hold to go somewhere else, we’ve simply incorporated the "somewhere else" into our normal day-to-day activities.
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Old 01-31-2016, 09:42 AM   #56
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Our upcoming 12 day trip St. Maarten - Barcelona, oceanview cabin, base price & taxes, but not including 'mandatory gratuities', works out to $29.13 US, p.p. per day. (It'll be our third time on this ship and we love it.)

WOW, who is this with

I eat more than that a day, so it would be worth it IMO....
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Old 01-31-2016, 09:57 AM   #57
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WOW, who is this with

I eat more than that a day, so it would be worth it IMO....


French line, English widely spoken, (we're basically unilingual apart, apart from some appalling French on my part)........video mentions 100% all inclusive, but alcohol, on this upcoming voyage, I believe, is extra.....although there are rumors to the contrary.....we don't drink, so it's immaterial to us.
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Old 01-31-2016, 10:14 AM   #58
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+1

No desire to travel, although I could easily afford it...
+1
10% of budget allocated to travel and having a hard time spending it. Sometimes I think that budget item is there because I feel "I have to" because every retiree is supposed to just love to travel. Typically don't like international travel until I get there. Lately come to realize there aren't a whole lot of places I want to visit. Some people like external adventures; I like adventures of the mind. It's amazing how many books I've read since I retired.

We'll see. Maybe after a few years I'll just get that RV and be done with the whole subject.
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Old 01-31-2016, 10:33 AM   #59
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Not budgeted per se, but I've been willing to spend quite a lot annually because I still have consulting income coming in. Since becoming semi-retired in early 2013, I've spent between $10,000 and $35,000 a year on travel for one person, the great majority international.
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Old 01-31-2016, 10:49 AM   #60
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10% of budget allocated to travel and having a hard time spending it. Sometimes I think that budget item is there because I feel "I have to" because every retiree is supposed to just love to travel.
I completely understand.

One of the aspects of retirement that I just love, is not having other people deciding what I should do with my precious time. That includes travel. It's nice that after being dragged around the world for most of my childhood, and then having to travel for work later on, finally I am the one who gets to decide how much I travel.
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