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This is a question that has been on my head ever since I joined these boards (well long before but this is the only place that focus on it) and have seen so many posters talking about their expericnes over seas. I just read this thread and this poster said something along the lines of "I have lived in the Caribbean and traveled to 5 nations/territories (multiple islands) thus far. I briefly studied in the UK and traveled to 8 European nations in total". How!?
By abstaining from rum and making their own "Coke" from packets.
It is not unusual to spend $6-10,000 for a family summer vacation abroad here in Norway.
$400k won't get you anything in a decent neighborhood in nyc.
a relative and her family (4 people total) went on 2 weeks trip to hong kong. just the 4 air tickets and 2 weeks hotels alone already ate up over $9,000.
they are not rich, but can afford the trip because they work and save.
1) Job - It's good paying and it's always good to have money for this.
2) I live in a City - I happen to live in the middle of a walkable city (Chicago) that has great public transportation. That means I don't have to own a car. In fact, I've barely ever needed one here.
I know what you're saying, and it's "Well most cities (i.e. Chicago) has more expensive rent than Anytown USA." Sure, totally agree on that, but when you consider everything else, it's not as wide margined as you think.
Take Chicago versus some small city in the US not part of a major metro area and Chicago rent is $900/month and Anycity USA rent is $450/month. In Chicago, I don't have to own a car and say I pay $70/month for public transport and walk almost everywhere. That's $970/month. Now in Anycity USA pretend I have to pay $200/month in car payments, $75/month in insurance, and say $300/month in gas. That means transportation + rent in that city, at $1025/month (plus a few dollars a month extra for motor oil, windshield wiper fluid, and anything else you might do to keep your car up like a checkup, emissions test, car wash, etc), is actually more than in a city like Chicago ($970/month total).
Even if you own the car and pay the same insurance and gas per month, it's only $145/month cheaper. In reality, my salary is actually adjusted to the COL, so these things being $145/month off? In reality, since I make more money in Chicago than say Des Moines (adjusted income that most companies do), the percentage of my rent+transportation cost in the example above is actually less in Chicago than a city like Des Moines, even though I might be paying less per month in Des Moines. I have more money left over in other words.
But that brings me to the next point...
3) Big city airport - I live in a big city, meaning I can fly direct to a ton of cities around the world (not all). Imagine you live, again, in a city like Des Moines. If you want to get to Paris, can you fly direct? No. You have to take a connecting flight to somewhere like Minneapolis or Chicago. That means your overall airfare is going to cost more. In fact, smaller airports charge more money for you to fly to many places due to small traffic numbers. You have to keep operations going whereas at a big airport, since tons of people go, you can usually keep costs down.
4) Deals - Deals, deals, deals. Last year I went to Istanbul direct from Chicago via Turkish Airlines for $525 round trip. This year when I go in 3 weeks..I'll be having the same deal. Last year I stayed at an inn (not a hostel) for $30/night. This year I have an Airbnb that's $28/night. Traveling between cities even. Last year when I went to Ephesus (Izmir) in Turkey, it was maybe $50 round trip. In Malaysia/Thailand between a few cities, I've paid like $30 round trip.
5) Job again. I don't travel that much for my job, but I can. When I do, I get all the hotel and airline points even though my company is paying for it. I know a lot of people with a few million miles and can basically take trips (even first class) to almost wherever they want in the world. It helps to know how to maximize your miles/hotel points.
I plan for travel every year. Think about it, estimate it, save it, do it.
This is what I plan on doing also. I will try to travel at least once a year. I dont have kids. If I can put away $50 a month, stay at a B&B or a guest house, and make some of my meals I could afford a short trip. Some people have high incomes and some of us just have to live more frugally. I know I will make it happen cause I plan to travel the world
Here's a simple way to save... when you want to buy a cup of coffee or something you don't need, put that money away in addition to your $50. Drink tap instead of bottled water, bring a lunch to work, etc.
You'd be surprised at how much you can cut down expenses and save.
* Travel during off-season
* Book cheap hotel (it's from night to night anyway)
* Visit relatives/friends so you don't need hotel
* Save $
* Higher paid job or job that travels
* Drive locally to big cities
* Hotwire.com
Not everybody stays in 100$ per night hotels. I always stay at Hostels. Gonna cost me 4 bucks per night in Vietnam. Paid 25 per night in Paris, 8-9 in Berlin etc.
With 58 yo, and 64 yo, this way of traveling gets old for us.
With a little bit more money, it's possible to rent a comfortable 300-400 ft apartment with a king size bed in a condo with pool in some countries (bonus : you can cook your own food!). Last month I paid only 1000 $ for three weeks (yes you read right, 3 weeks!) for this kind of property.
-"visit relatives/friends" : bad advice! it's the best way to spoil a vacation. Never heard of the arguments vs fights developing between stepbrothers, cousins, friends of friends,over any subject, from noisy children to the sharing of house chores the timetable of meals the different personal habits (smoker/nonsmoker) or diverging political opinions etc ? relations can turn sour fast, especially in small rentals / family homes. And nothing like independence and liberty for successful vacations.
-"cheap hotels ": again, not for everyone. Cheap can mean noise, bedbugs, unsanitary conditions,etc. I'd rather travel less often but in satisfactory conditions (not speaking of luxury here just average , standard comfort)
- "traveling off season" : if it's off season, it's for a reason : it's because the climate is less pleasant during that period. for instance, I like to snowbird in winter when weather in Europe is awful to pleasant north hemisphere tropical places, I'll probably pay slightly more than in summer, but it's unavoidable. Some subtropical places like the Canary islands Florida or south California are anyway high season year round.
LOL. Most amusing and interesting piece of advice here by far.
Do you have any interesting stories to tell about this?
After an 8 hour train ride into London, I got off at Waterloo station only to find that it had pay toilets. After a (what I thought was) quiet, "goddamnit" a pissed off janitor opened the employee entrance and let me use the bathroom for free!
I've also gotten comped free foodstuffs at cafes.
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