Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - How Do You Afford These Trips?

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The two of us make $125,000 A year, no kids, no car payments. We take two trips a year. life's hard.

So, who in this wide, wide world forced people to buy more than one car, homes, run up credit cards, take out massive student loans, get themselves in low-paying careers, reproduced when they couldn't afford it, etc., etc.? Life is all about choices and taking responsibility for them. It's no wonder that some of these people can't afford to travel to Europe, they aren't even mature enough to accept that they made their decisions. No wonder kids today have such a total lack of personal responsibility. Maybe it's hereditary.

Many people in lower-paying careers, like teaching, provide a more valuable service to society than people in higher-paying careers.

Stacy, you are correct, the $$$ are not the only thing. However they do allow you to do more than those without them. My niece teaches grade school in TN and probably makes the $30,000 that was mentioned and she has a masters. When she whines about some folks making too much and not working harder than she does, I let her know that she made her choices, she can leave teaching and take the risks that others take. For example, I was a VP Sales for a major corpoaration, I really enjoyed my job, the perks, the $$$...but I'm unemployed now. Risk and reward...risk and reward! Some are cut out for it and some are not. Even unemployed, I'd rather take the next risk, starting a business, than having her tenure. My point to you was that there are folks like me that have very contened lives, give to church and charity and do all the same things and have similar satisfaction as those that that are in histoically lower paying jobs that are making the world a better place. Your husband's job is valuable,but for whatever reason it is not $$$$ valuable. That's just the way it is.

My husband regularly rescues children from life threatening situations. (He comes home with stories of abuse you could NOT imagine in your wildest dreams). What is TOO BAD is not that he isn't selling some meaningless product for a living, but that our SOCIETY doesn't recognize the value of what he does with a monetary reward. FYI we are leaving for Paris in two weeks, our third trip there in the last 5 years.

And I'm not whining about it; more defending the intellectual capacity of the under 30K crowd. And my Dad is a VP of sales for a major canned food company. He doens't have a college education. What I'm saying is; intellect and education are not ALWAYS linked to income.

I make a rather meager salary. Single, no kids. My simple condo is paid for, but my bathroom and kitchen are falling apart and I should really remodel. My car is 11 years old. I wear the same outfits to work every week. I don't have cable tv or caller ID. All my savings, except what goes for auto repair emergencies and such, goes to travel. I do have guilt that I should spend the money to remodel or save up for a new car, but once the travel bug bites, the swelling never goes down!

Stacy, you can have a low income and still feel good about yourself, but your travel is limited, that's all that this thread is about. You can pick any noble occupation you want that is low paid and you won't have that much spending money, that is obvious Unless you choose the Peace Corps. type job you won't travel that much either. And don't pull that old spiel that only poor/low income are happy and self fufilled and true to themselves, you should know that everything is relative.

Well, when I am on my death bed, I won't worry about the new car I didn't buy, or the kitchen remodeling I didn't do. I will think about being on the top of Jungfrau, or walking on the beach in Cannes or seeing Notre Dame for the first time. My travel memories are much more important to me than any THING I could buy.

Betty, thanks I needed to hear that! : )

Amen Betty! As U2 sang,..."all this you can't leave behind" They can have the cars and the house and when you bail out of here all you have is what you came with...and the memories and the fact that you may have helped soemone along the way!

wait a minute, when you "bail out of here" all you have left is nothing, you idiot, You're Dead. Why is a memory better than a house when you're dead???

Hi Curious, I have a rule...I never pay full price for anything (or close to anything). I don't want to overstep my boundaries, but it sounds like you need some assistance getting your finances in order. You might want to check out www.clarkhoward.com - he is a self-made millionaire who gives tips on how to make your financial life work for you...including some travel tips. There are lots of other sources on the web that can tell you how to reduce living costs so you can begin to save some money. I hope I don't offend.

Hey Melissa! Go Space-A! You're right, it's great perk. Live in DC, fly the Patriot Express out of BWI several times a year to England. It's a contract flight with World Airways sometimes ATA, DC-10, stewardesses, movies, dinners, etc., etc. and since I go off-season I always get to spread out in two or three seats. I also fly the C-5's out of Dover and Andrews to Germany. The C-5 is my favorite because of the roomy seats and legroom. Am planning to try Aviano this Sept.

OK, since you asked. Some of us live in dual-income families where the income from both is enough to finance a great trip abroad every year. Do you have a problem with that? I went to medical school and my wife went to law school and we make a combined income of $400,000 -- do you have a problem with that, or with our deciding to spend some of it on a two week (we don't get those fabulous 4-week European vacations the French and others get) vacation? We choose to spend our money on travel as opposed to decorating our house or other more frivolous pursuits - do you have a problem with that? We are also of course saving for out future kids' education and whatever...I realize we make tons of money to some of you, but it's not even close to what Hollywood folks make and we still have to guard every penny. Sure, I guess we're rich, by your standards, but I'm poor by my own. By the time we get home from a trip abroad, we've used up all the extra income we had for that trip

relax. No one has a "problem" with your lovely income. I don't get what all the animosity is about... maybe you should go on vacation right now! you sound like you need it.

Although we're now in the income bracket where the answer would be, "Yes, we are well off and that allows us to travel," such has not always been the case. And we still travelled. And except for the house payment and one graduate school loan, we have never used credit. How 'bout I put it this way: our family spends no greater percentage on travel than did my husband's family or my family. It has been tradition on both sides that "travel" is as important as "education." Perhaps that's a major reason why we married. Both of our families hated credit cards--we ourselves only got them to establish credit, and now, of course, we use them to obtain frequent flyer miles. We still religiously pay them off monthly. When I was little, my family's travel habits were considered strange in our town. We had a bone-bare living room, we packed our lunches, we made our own clothes, we bought store brand food, and we went to England. And when we went, we stayed at B&B's (not the cute ones!), ate fish and chips, etc. Years later, I have a family of my own. Because our income is greater, we travel more. We've upgraded to 3* hotels. But while we can afford great cars, we drive utilitarian ones. The mall and I are strangers. My furniture is absolutely ugly. And I don't care--I'm planning my next trip. The point is--no matter what level your income, you make choices. When my husband and I first married and had no money, we sat down and wrote out our budget. One entry read, "travel." (please note the word: "travel" as opposed to "vacation"; there's a difference). We considered that term part of our lives. There was a year when we bought the house that "travel" meant a weekend in Gettysburg. So what? We researched it the same way we have done trips to Europe. And like so many of the posters above, I check deals constantly. I remember years ago being charged with planning a vacation for three couples to Florida. Then I read that for $50 less ($165), I could fly to Tucson, AZ. Being in the Northeast, I had never been to Tucson, AZ. That's where we ended up going (they forgave me two days after landing). If you truly want to travel, then before you get your next paycheck, make your budget with the category, "travel." If all you can put in that area is $1, you are $1 greater toward that goal. If you are unwilling to sacrifice that dollar, then you don't want to travel.

1. Job that requires traveling and a company that pays for everything. 2. Frequent flier miles. 3. Friends with homes all over the world. 4. Trust fund. 5. No kids.

No car=two trips per year.

We stay in hostels and 1 or 2 star hotels most people would never consider, though we find most of them to be positively charming. If you plan and book early it's amazing what you can get! We usually never pay more than $70 per night, and average about $40 per night. Got our airfare for London-Detroit for a JULY trip for $385 (incl. taxes!) by again planning early and grabbing this bargain when I saw it. I finally convinced my mother to come to Europe last summer and she was amazed how inexpensively it could be done-it introduced her to pensiones and private rooms in hostels. She always just assumed that she couldn't afford it. She is already planning a return trip. I actually find traveling in the US to be much more expensive then Europe. Also don't have kids, because then you're stuck with having to take holidays during the peak season.