What's Your Annual Travel Budget?

[bobandsherry]

2 years in retirement, our interest with retirement was to do some traveling and enjoy life. Moved to Florida as well so many days are already like a vacation with warm winters (vs. Chicago winters we had endured our whole life ) I've have shown our first two years of travel as well as what we plan for this year. Also showing % of total expenses for general relevancy.

2016: $14K (17% of total expenses) - 2 cruises (15 days), Punta Cana, Chicago, Vegas

2017: $9K (10% of total expenses) - 1 cruises (10 days), Riviera Maya, Chicago x2, Vegas, Phoenix

2018: $11K (15% of total expenses) - 3 Cruises (23 days), Punta Cana, 29 day Road Trip

 

[GravitySucks]

I have $18k budgeted but have not come near this number yet. Almost all domestic travel because I can't leave my dog behind for long, so he's been to more states than most people.
Between camping, coach surfing, HomeAway, and Air BnB I don't think I've spent half that in any year yet.
Me and the boy have been a month down south for January. A week visiting DD1. A week visiting DS2. Now in OC Md for a few days. Haven't hit $2k mark yet.
We have a month in Colorado camping followed by 2 weeks of California couch surfing and a leisurely drive back to NY. Doubt I'll spend more than $2k on that trip.
Trying to talk DD2and DD1 into a trip this fall. Hawaii could finally hit the budget.

 

[Dtail]

Another point of reference is are most of the posters on this thread including ALL expenses incurred during the travel trip (dining, etc) in their travel number or just the "pure" (airfare/hotel, etc) travel expenses?
I include all expenses, as it is much easier to track this way, since I track all my expenses.

 

[Nemo2]

Another point of reference is are most of the posters on this thread including ALL expenses incurred during the travel trip (dining, etc) in their travel number or just the "pure" (airfare/hotel, etc) travel expenses?
I include all expenses, as it is much easier to track this way, since I track all my expenses.

All. Including the cost of the train to take us to & from Toronto Airport from where we live.

 

[ocean view]

We've spent anywhere from $10K to $40K in the past few years. It just depends on whims and opportunities. We typical buy private travel, with a guide and driver, work with the guide or the company to define an itinerary, and specify in detail the kind of accommodations we want. (B&B and small hotels) We avoid groups, even small ones, to the maximum extent possible. We marvel at the giant cruise ships, which look to us like floating dog kennels.

What company do you use for this type of travel?

 

[Dog]

In 2017, we spent about $18k with a $20k budget. We live in PNW, so DH goes to AZ several times for golf vacations. I do a lot of backpacking and hiking and did backpack trips in Glacier NP, Grand Canyon and Washington. We both spent 2 snowbird weeks in Palm Springs and then several local get-aways.
This year’s budget is $20k and includes my January backpack trip in Tasmania, May trip backpack in Utah and a two week hut-to-hut trip planned in The Swiss Alps this summer. DH and I spent three weeks snowbirding in LaQuinta, CA and he had a couple of golf trips to AZ.
Will up our budget for next year as I’m planning a January bike trip in Cuba and July hiking trip in Norway and an early Fall backpack trip in Wyoming. DH and I are looking at late winter/early spring trip to Hawaii or back to Palm Springs area. He will also have his golf outings and we may go back to East Coast in the Fall.

FYI, DH is not interested in international travel, so I do those trips with friends. We both turned 60 this year and have lots of places and experiences to look forward to!

 

[HI Bill]

Working, it's about $12K. Next year, I plan to kick it up to $50K, and keep it there or higher every year from then (53) to whenever the diving/travel getst to be too much. If it wasn't for wanting an extensive travel budget, I'd have been able to FIRE at age 50 or sooner.

 

[ohyes]

One of the most delightful things I've learned since retiring is that we don't do "weekend getaways" any more. It's way more fun to do getaways on weekdays when everyone else is working!

We practice this, also - and love it.

 

[Katsmeow]

Well, not very much. Last year we spent $240 and the year before it was $449. For the last 6 years we averaged a little under $900 a year. But in 2011 we went to England for a couple of weeks and spent around $14k on travel that year. This year though we've spent about $2600 so far.

We are just not that interested in travel. With the exception of the trip to England most of our trips in the last several years were to go from our home to visit family/friends about 250 miles away. This year, we moved from our home to the area that we had been visiting. From that standpoint we may travel less. On the other hand, we have one child who still lives in the area we moved from so I'm sure there will be trips back there. Another child says he is moving across country soon so there might be some strips in the future.

But, honestly, I have done quite a bit of travel in my life and don't have a lot of places that I really want to visit. And a big trip every few years is enough.

 

[Scuba]

We love travel and our budget is $36K. Overspent it last year with two family trips to GA & FL, a 3 month ER celebration trip to the USVI & BVI, a 1 month hurricane relief volunteer trip, and a couple of weeks on a private yacht with friends in British Columbia.

For 2018, we will likely be on target with 2 weeks in the USVI and 6-7 weeks in Greece & Amsterdam.

We include all expenses in travel so there is some offset for lower groceries, eating out, and local entertainment. However our dog sitting costs are a significant part of our travel budget.

 

[DrRoy]

$25K +/-
We do national parks, international trips, cruises, state parks.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Our budget is $25,000 not including kennel costs which are a separate line item. The last time we came anywhere near this number was 2014. This year we'll come close with a European river cruise planned. We spend two months every year in Mexico for a cost of around $12,000. Other annual travel includes one to two trips to NYC each year to see DD, where our CC sees heavy traffic. That total tab tends to be high, particularly if we spring for Orchestra section Broadway tickets. And dining out in NYC is ridiculous. Tasty though. I don't think you can order a glass of wine in a bar for less than $18.


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[Rianne]

We don't budget for travel. It's included in the lifestyle and changes from year to year. Sometimes we'll take long weekends and drive somewhere fun. Other times we'll go overseas if plane tickets are cheap. We took a month out west last year but drove the whole trip with in laws, who we love.

I do love staying home. We live in a university town and there's so much to do. I guess staying active trumps travel just to travel. We usually see friends or have a reason to travel.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Wow some of you have huge travel budgets. The longest we have ever been away is a month but this summer we will be gone 6 weeks. I can’t leave my dogs for more than 3 weeks. This is a road trip so they can go.

 

[Sojourner]

Interesting and timely thread, as my travel budget is on the rise this year, and I've been thinking about what it should (or could) be going forward. In recent years I've been spending about $6K annually, but I think this year it'll be closer to $8-9K.

Another point of reference is are most of the posters on this thread including ALL expenses incurred during the travel trip (dining, etc) in their travel number or just the "pure" (airfare/hotel, etc) travel expenses?

I include all expenses incurred during travel, while taking into consideration that I would be spending money on things like food and drink and certain other categories anyway, regardless of whether I'm home or away. So I apply some discount to those subcategories of travel when figuring out how much I actually spent on any given trip.

 

[RenoJay]

Mid 40's. Travel ends up being ~$20k - $25k/year.

 

[COcheesehead]

Another point of reference is are most of the posters on this thread including ALL expenses incurred during the travel trip (dining, etc) in their travel number or just the "pure" (airfare/hotel, etc) travel expenses?
I include all expenses, as it is much easier to track this way, since I track all my expenses.

I include all.

 

[pacergal]

We guesstimated $10,000-$12,000 per year( all expenses included) for the first 10 years of retirement. We are in year three, and have averaged less than that so far. However, we are not traveling like we thought we would. Since retiring, we don't have the need to "escape" anymore-lol. Our dog is getting older and does not tolerate us being gone very well, and we have also discovered we don't like being away more than a week at a time.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I include all expenses. We don't eat out all 3 meals while traveling because we will gain weight. We usually stay at a hotel with free breakfast, have a healthy snack in afternoon and then do dinner out.

 

[jebmke]

No budget per se, I just track total spending. So far, 2 1/2 yrs into ER, I have spent only about 1.0k on travel, all local. I'm surprised my interest in it has waned since ER, as before that I would peruse brochures regularly and thnik "When I'm retired, I will go".

Same here - we spend a lot of time in-state. But I traveled a lot the last 15 years of my career; the last two years were 100% and the years prior to that averaged around 50%. My penultimate job was as an expat in Europe so we took a lot of advantage of proximity.

Lately, we are content to spend our time locally most of the time.

 

[athena53]

Our budget is $25,000 not including kennel costs which are a separate line item.

Lots of mentions of pet boarding costs here. I knew there was a reason I don't have any!

 

[Teacher Terry]

My son moves in and when I get home I treat them to fancy dinner for their pay:
))

 

[W2R]

Lots of mentions of pet boarding costs here. I knew there was a reason I don't have any!

Me too! Not only that, the vet bills reported in other threads are staggering, and on top of that, personally I am just not willing to take on the responsibility of caring for a dog or cat at this point in my life.

Frank came up with a great idea, though. He bought me a soft, furry, squishy, huggable teddy bear to substitute for a puppy dog.

 

[aja8888]

Frank came up with a great idea, though. He bought me a soft, furry, squishy, huggable teddy bear to substitute for a puppy dog.

I think this would be a bit more fun!

 

[NW-Bound]

I think this would be a bit more fun!

Does it pee on your floor and chew your shoes too?