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LRS · 03-21-2006, 11:15 AM

I travel a lot--we try to take a trip abroad every 2 years. We pay cash for the trips, so no loans or credit cards, but it does take money away from retirement.

I rationalize it like this: if we travel now while we are still relatively young and healthy (ages 47 & 50) and we get to our retirement goal age and find out we need more money, we can always work another year or two to make up the deficit.

On the other hand, if we postpone travel until after our retirement goal age and then find that we are too ill or too cash-strapped to go anywhere, we are screwed.

I love budget travel and I think you will nearly always save money and have more fun on trips you plan yourself. I get a copy of Lonely Planet or any good guide for each place we visit and arrange accomodations and tours myself. I have a good "consolidator" for airline tickets who is magically able to pull cheap fares out of the blue at the last minute.

People think staying at hostels will be dirty, noisy or just a drag, but some of the best places we've stayed in Europe have been in hostels. Nowadays most have private rooms with ensuite baths available, or family rooms for those traveling with children. The last time we went to Europe, we stayed in a hostel that was in a restored medieval building in the heart of a lovely medieval town (Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic). Unique, beautiful, and a private room cost us $35 dollars a night.

My kids were with us that on that trip (they had their own room). On the night of the world cup final, Denmark vs. Czech Republic, the hostel staff decided to go to a bar to watch the game. They left our kids with the keys and told them to take care of the place! My kids loved it! The hostel had a large family room with games and musical instruments, and they spent the evening playing Simpsons ClueDo in German. (by the way, there's next to no crime in places like this, so we didn't have a heart attack when we ran into the staff from the hostel in a bar later that night and they told us the kids were holding down the fort.)

03-21-2006, 11:15 AM	#3
LRS Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 228	I travel a lot--we try to take a trip abroad every 2 years. We pay cash for the trips, so no loans or credit cards, but it does take money away from retirement. I rationalize it like this: if we travel now while we are still relatively young and healthy (ages 47 & 50) and we get to our retirement goal age and find out we need more money, we can always work another year or two to make up the deficit. On the other hand, if we postpone travel until after our retirement goal age and then find that we are too ill or too cash-strapped to go anywhere, we are screwed. I love budget travel and I think you will nearly always save money and have more fun on trips you plan yourself. I get a copy of Lonely Planet or any good guide for each place we visit and arrange accomodations and tours myself. I have a good "consolidator" for airline tickets who is magically able to pull cheap fares out of the blue at the last minute. People think staying at hostels will be dirty, noisy or just a drag, but some of the best places we've stayed in Europe have been in hostels. Nowadays most have private rooms with ensuite baths available, or family rooms for those traveling with children. The last time we went to Europe, we stayed in a hostel that was in a restored medieval building in the heart of a lovely medieval town (Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic). Unique, beautiful, and a private room cost us $35 dollars a night. My kids were with us that on that trip (they had their own room). On the night of the world cup final, Denmark vs. Czech Republic, the hostel staff decided to go to a bar to watch the game. They left our kids with the keys and told them to take care of the place! My kids loved it! The hostel had a large family room with games and musical instruments, and they spent the evening playing Simpsons ClueDo in German. (by the way, there's next to no crime in places like this, so we didn't have a heart attack when we ran into the staff from the hostel in a bar later that night and they told us the kids were holding down the fort.)