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Old 09-11-2014, 09:01 PM   #41
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I went to San Francisco for a week. Spent about $100, because someone else picked up the tabs.

When I see what people spend on fairly short trips, I don't think I could make myself do this unless I had about $10million. I always have traveled very cheaply, and that is how I will in the future or I won't go. My gf can only travel in August, and I pretty much refuse to leave Seattle in August, although if she got serious about it she could call out her heavy artillery and I might give in.

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Old 09-11-2014, 09:18 PM   #42
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In January my DW and I went to St. Lucia where we chartered a bareboat Lagoon 420 sailing catamaran with friends and did a 2 week sail as far north as Antigua and back. We also did stop offs on Guadaloupe, Dominica and Martinique. Costs were approx $1200 airfare, $2000 share of charter and $1800 food & fun. Total = $6000.

We've been chartering a couple times a year while joined by friends since 2010 and it's a great time! Plans are to buy a boat and spend winters on board when RE'ed in a couple years.
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Old 09-12-2014, 05:50 AM   #43
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We went to Ireland, spent ~$1700 with travel agency for car, GPS, Insurance, and B&Bs stays that covered real nice rooms and breakfast.
The air fare was ~$1500 for two (off-season, Oct, Nov).
We spent ~$1200 on dinners, tours, and sites on a two weeks trip.

The trip included 3 days in Dublin (no car), 1 day Kilkenny, 2 Cashel, 7 days in Blarney (day trips from Blarney to Cobh, Cork, Kinsale, Killarney, and more. We went to different sites almost every day; we had a discount book from travel agency that cut most costs in half as a BOGO.
Evening meals were at Pubs, and nice restaurants we don't drink so we ate pretty well.

We take a lot of pictures, but have stopped buying souvenirs don't need the stuff, just the memories.

So about $4400 all in and even though we went in off-season, all the sites were still open and we had most to ourselves, weather was not bad, wore jeans, t-shirts, and hoodie.
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Old 09-12-2014, 06:02 AM   #44
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We are heading to France in a few weeks with another couple for 12 days. Should cost us around $8,500 per couple.

Airfare - $2,800
Transport - $700 (combo of rental and public)
Lodging - $1,650 (2 VRBO's and 2 nice B&B's)
Meals - $2,000 (planning around $100/day/person - probably will be less)
Attractions - $1,000 (This might be high but doing a nice wine tour and some other experiences)
Misc - $350 (buffer)

Total - $8,500

If anything I'm high and the dollar has been climbing against the Euro in the past month which should help in the end. Guessing it may end up closer to $8k.
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Old 09-12-2014, 07:30 AM   #45
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Looking at some of these numbers, looks like I'll be staying home a lot...
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Old 09-12-2014, 07:47 AM   #46
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Originally Posted by haha View Post
When I see what people spend on fairly short trips, I don't think I could make myself do this unless I had about $10million. I always have traveled very cheaply, and that is how I will in the future or I won't go.
Travel has always been a huge priority of ours. Back when frequent flyer programs were more generous, I was accumulating points via business travel, and DH's back could withstand long hauls in Coach, we went to Europe 2 or 3 times a year. I'm glad we did that when we could. OTOH, we lived very modestly in other areas (driving mediocre used cars, eating mostly at home, etc.) to free up more money for travel.

Next weekend we're headed to our favorite B&B for 3 nights- a little over 3 hours away. It will probably be $1,000 after factoring in purchases at the local wineries and meals not provided by the B&B (although we'll have a very special dinner at the B&B one night). I'm grateful that's still in the budget!
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Old 09-12-2014, 07:52 AM   #47
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We're in week three of a month-long RV trip to New Mexico and Colorado. Looks like the total cost will be around $2,400.
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Old 09-12-2014, 08:07 AM   #48
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We're in week three of a month-long RV trip to New Mexico and Colorado. Looks like the total cost will be around $2,400.
I love NM - used to live in Albuquerque and my folks retired to Santa Fe.

When I FIRE, I want to take about a month and just drive the state - lots of festivals, events, beautiful spots.....and the food!
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Old 09-12-2014, 08:15 AM   #49
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I love NM - used to live in Albuquerque and my folks retired to Santa Fe.

When I FIRE, I want to take about a month and just drive the state - lots of festivals, events, beautiful spots.....and the food!
+1

We try to spend a couple of weeks in NM every year. We stumbled across this place last week in Albuquerque. Some folks will probably recognize it...
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Old 09-12-2014, 08:29 AM   #50
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We're in week three of a month-long RV trip to New Mexico and Colorado. Looks like the total cost will be around $2,400.
That works out to a bit more than $100 per day. We couldn't travel on that.

The NM part sounds like fun. We've finally begun taking road trips, shorter ones to start, but I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks in the SW as we build up our "on the road" endurance.
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Old 09-12-2014, 08:34 AM   #51
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+1

We try to spend a couple of weeks in NM every year. We stumbled across this place last week in Albuquerque. Some folks will probably recognize it...
Isn't that the car wash from Breaking Bad? I hear there is a Breaking Bad Tour in ABQ!
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Old 09-12-2014, 08:41 AM   #52
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That works out to a bit more than $100 per day. We couldn't travel on that.
It should end up being under $90 per day by the time the four week trip is done. Looks like we'll spend about $800 in each of three categories: fuel, RV park fees, and food/fun.

A the moment we're looking out the window of the RV at a dusting of snow. We were hoping to escape the Texas heat but this is a little cooler than we planned/packed for.
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Old 09-12-2014, 08:48 AM   #53
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Isn't that the car wash from Breaking Bad? I hear there is a Breaking Bad Tour in ABQ!
+1

Yes, there is a tour but we just stumbled on this place as we were driving to a restaurant. We also discovered while watching BB that we ate lunch a couple of years ago at the restaurant where Walter 'spiked' the Stevia. Sat at the table next to the scene of the crime!
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Old 09-12-2014, 10:48 AM   #54
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It should end up being under $90 per day by the time the four week trip is done. Looks like we'll spend about $800 in each of three categories: fuel, RV park fees, and food/fun.
Not bad at all for such a long trip. The economics of an RV are real.

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A the moment we're looking out the window of the RV at a dusting of snow. We were hoping to escape the Texas heat but this is a little cooler than we planned/packed for.
Sounds like your average temp is pretty good.
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Old 09-12-2014, 11:33 AM   #55
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A friend & I biked in France for 3 weeks in May/June this year. Included in that was a few days in Paris and a couple of days on the Channel Islands. 4 nights of our lodging were free. We had very nice dinners in restaurants, but our breakfasts came from boulangeries (bakeries) and most of our lunches were picnic lunches. We spent a fair bit on trains and ferries, because we biked in Normandy, the Channel Islands, Burgundy, and a brief foray into the Alps. We stayed mainly in reasonably-priced hotels (2 star places in the French govt. rating system). We each spent about $2,000 exclusive of airfare. I used miles for my ticket and paid $93 in taxes, plus $100 each way for my 2nd piece of luggage (my folding bike). So about $2,300 total for me, and about $1,000 more for my friend who bought his plane ticket but didn't have any baggage fees.

Last January I spent 10 days in Colombia. My ticket from the east coast cost only $399 roundtrip. I spent about $550 while there. My transportation to colonial towns and national parks north of Bogota was by bus. I used airbnb for my accommodations in Bogota, and hotels elsewhere.
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Old 09-12-2014, 09:14 PM   #56
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Over the last ten years we have averaged $400/day for driving trips in Europe not including airfare.
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Old 09-14-2014, 09:39 AM   #57
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My wife and I spent 4 weeks in Paris this spring.
$2,500 airfare
$5,000 vrbo apartment in the 6th arrond.
$3,500 approx for groceries (we cooked meals often), dining and transportation.
We had our daughter and her husband visit and stay with us for a week. Also had a couple from the UK we met on a cruise come and stay with us for a week.
It was a great trip. We saw parts of Paris that most tourists never see. The metro is amazingly efficient, you can get anywhere in the city in about 25 minutes. We would take one of the metro lines to the outskirts of the city and spend the day walking back to our apartment exploring.
This was the kind of trip where you did not feel relieved to be going back home.
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Old 09-14-2014, 09:55 AM   #58
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Whereas a 7 day overseas trip would be closer to $6-$7K (we prefer not to stay at hostels, snatch stale croissants off of outside cafe tables, or walk 5 miles from the hotel to the site we want to see)
The biggest issue with your goal is that airfare will be a big % of the total outlay. If you have the constitution to stretch out your trip to 14-21 days, the airfare component as a % of the total drops dramatically. So instead of having three separate 7 day trips overseas with each plane ticket running $1,000-$1,500 each ($3,000-$4,500 per person), you suddenly slash that down to just $1,500 per person, "saving" as much as $3,000 per person by combining several trips into one. Also, you don't have the issue of 2 full days spent traveling/adjusting to time zone differences, and having just 5-6 days left to enjoy the trip.

Also, at least one other forum member has discovered that repositioning cruises can possibly be just as cheap (or perhaps even cheaper!) than a plane ticket. So don't forget to possibly add in that as an option, if you live near an East Coast or West Coast port that might have a ship going one-way to Asia/South America/Europe on a repositioning trip at certain times of the year. Those cruises are always very cheap on a $/day basis, because you spend most of the time at sea, but could be an interesting way to add a different adventure if you're up for it.
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Old 09-14-2014, 09:59 AM   #59
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Then seven weeks in New Zealand, where we rented campervan for most of the trip. A few hotel days at the beginning and end of the trip in Christchurch and Auckland. Toured most of the country, camping in the van all along the way. Hiking, mountain biking and a kayaking trip. Most meals were from the grocery store and consumed in the camper sitting in some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Flight was from the US west coast. Around $12,700 for the trip.
My last big blowout trip was 4 weeks in New Zealand (with my gf at the time). We rented a small car and stayed at hostels and a farmstay in different towns, spending 2 nights in each town before moving onto the next. This was in Dec 2006, and all-in with all costs, we averaged $100 per person per day with flight/hostels/food (mostly cooking our own at hostels, but a few meals out), and some great activities (dolphin watching cruise, kayaking Milford Sound, horseback riding, hiking Franz Josef glacier).

And I always say that NZ has the best scenic beauty out of anywhere in the world.
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Old 09-14-2014, 10:08 AM   #60
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We spent about $15K for our trip to Alaska and Canadian Rockies (tour bus and railroad). Alaska cruise, stayed in top notch hotels, though our hotel in Banff was really uncomfortable--heat wave, no AC in our room, and our tiny windows opened up to the noisy lobby AC unit. The few meals we had on our own we went for cheap--food court at a mall for two dinners in Vancouver, reindeer sausage for lunch from a street vendor in Anchorage. Most of the time we were eating too much anyway. We don't drink much so that cuts the cost considerably, as alcoholic beverages are very expensive in restaurants compared to buying a bottle of wine for home.
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