World Traveler
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2014
- Messages
- 147
Suggestions from leisure travelers out there. I want to budget my retirement numbers for travel. We travel at a 3 star level. Just wondering what people use for planning?
I picked a number that I felt would cover one big and several small trips ($10K). I decreased it to $8K in order to meet my overall budget. In the end I spent approximately $10K but saved on other categories, so it all worked out in the end...
I picked a number that I felt would cover one big and several small trips
You must have skipped the west coast. Some of the best seafood around. Dublin has a lot of international cuisine so you aren't forced to eat the standard Irish meal.Hi World,
Budgeting $12K. Overspent that last year in Italy & w/e in Boston (flew), but didn't spend that much this year in Ireland & w/e in Kansas City (drove).
p.s. If you like 2 potato dishes, steamed carrots & turnips, with over-cooked meat for every evening meal, then you'll love Ireland!
I wonder what my sister and BIL's travel budget is....
Just for 2014 they have been on 2 cruises (Panama Canal and Bermuda) and have a 3rd one planned for late November to the southern Caribbean. They also vacationed in Cancun and Palm Desert, CA. They had non-vacation trips to see family in Atlanta (3 times including a wedding), Knoxville, Chicago and Wash DC. On cruises they've always gotten a stateroom with a balcony but from now on they decided to go with a suite with a balcony for the extra room and more normal sized bathroom.
Their BIG trip this year was Spain and Portugal. Coming up for 2015 is another trip to Cancun, a vacation to Phoenix and New Mexico, another vacation to Florida and a cruise from Southampton, England to the Mediterranean.
They also vacationed in Hilton Head, SC a few weeks ago. They rented a 2 bedroom condo/villa and invited DH and I to come and stay in the extra bedroom. We had a FANTASTIC time! The place is gorgeous and about 1/2 mile from the beach with easy access. The whole trip cost DH and I $682 and that included us treating for an expensive dinner out for the 4 of us.
I don't have large vacation and travel needs, but a trip to the beach every now and then really feels wonderful.
OTOH my sister and BIL don't just travel extensively, to me, they travel excessively. JMHO. I'm genuinely happy for them but I don't know how they do it!
They also have 2 Starwood timeshares, one week in Hawaii and either 1 or 2 weeks in Cancun. They try to do Hawaii every other year and trade the points for somewhere else on the other year.
I watched my family slowly give into inertia and stop traveling as they aged. It made me very sad that they had plenty of money and did nothing. So we are front loading our travel as we recognize this just happens to most people. I think once we downsize we will increase to 30K. My DH loves this house though, it will be tough to get him out of here.
What I envision happening as we age is that we will turn to 'softer' forms of travel, such as luxury cruising, luxury guided touring, and Road Scholar. I imagine we may travel less often (we travel about half the year currently), but each trip will be more expensive, resulting, I would imagine, in about the same overall spend.