I admit sometimes I read topics and I'm jealous at the money some of you can shell out for meals or hotels. As a recent graduate, 100 euros is a lot to spend on a hotel room. I am lucky to have the opportunity to travel to about 5 new european cities a year but you can bet I'm not staying at the Four Seasons. At what age or point in your life did you travel in luxury?

I disagree with your basic assertion, seems like most fodors posters spend under 175E a night for hotels and around 30Epp for dinner. Not exactly luxury.

To oversimplify - If you want to travel in luxury, you could travel say 1/3 as much and spend 3x more when you are traveling. As a recent graduate you are indeed lucky to go to 5 new cities per year.

First off, you aren't going to be staying at the Four Seasons for 100 euro a night -lol!

I don't travel in luxury, never have, wouldn't want to, never will. It is not a goal for me. I love to travel but do so within my budget. Yes I stay at a tiny bit nicer places then I did when I was kicking around in my 20's but not by much. So you are a new graduate, no big deal, travel within your budget. Stay at a hostel or 1-star hotel or pensione or rent an apartment by the week.

I am not jealous of people throwing around a bunch of money on fancy hotels (just my opinion) because that's not my style or preference.

depends what level you're starting from whether it's luxury or not. 100 euro to me is very luxurious for a room and i rarely can afford to eat out in Europe or else i couldn't travel there...but i love by park bench lunches which i find as appetizing as any three-star Paul Bocluse (sp?) restaurant, because of my extremely limited travel funds - to others it's maybe slumming it a bit.

Go to LonelyPlanet's web site and the Thorn Tree posting and you'll get a whole different impression of what luxury has.

And i've nothing against luxury - if you can afford it fine...go for it...no jealousy here.

Thorny, I spent a good deal of my youth traveling in Europe and the West Indies. When newly married just out of college, we had little money and did not travel except between NYC, where we lived, and a lake house in the south. DH traveled to conferences presenting research papers, but I could not accompany him with small children.

Traveling is sometimes more fun the "looser" it is. Things come in stages at different ages. Budget traveling is okay for a young person, and you are VERY lucky to be able to travel as much as you do. Be grateful for your opportunities and anticipate the better hotels and luxuries. They'll come, and you'll appreciate them, and perhaps even be nostalgic for the shoestring traveling you do now.

Happy New Year, kswl

"I am lucky to have the opportunity to travel to about 5 new european cities a year but you can bet I'm not staying at the Four Seasons"

Stop feeling sorry for yourself - you got it pretty good gal!

TIP: get some rich sugar daddy to bump you up a couple of stars! Just kidding.

As suggested already by Palenque Bob, get yourself over to The Thorn Tree at Lonely Planet's website for a different style of travel. No one there will be suggesting 100 euro hotel rooms.

Suze, I don't find that to be the case. I've seen a number of threads at Lonely Planet lately with subjects like what would be a good Paris luxury hotel for a special occasion, etc. That's not to say it's a majority, but the higher-end posters don't seem out of place either.

OK, maybe that was over-stated. But overall wouldn't you agree that Fodor's posters have a more generous budget than LP/TT folks?

Five new Cities a year is more than most of us see.

Common sense: work hard, save, retire early and travel monthly, but not to the US et.al. expensive chains.
M

Suze, yes, as a general tendency, I'd agree. But you can get good advice both places, so I look both places, keeping in mind what I want to spend. Neither has the market cornered for any budget level, IMO.

Thornyroses, I consider 100 Euros a lot to spend for a hotel room. In fact I've never done it. Nonetheless, many times I've still been able to stay in double rooms at nice, well-located 3* and 4* places, if not the Four Seasons, by using various booking deals.

When I was a recent grad I worked two jobs to afford basic, budget accommodations in Europe and I sure as heck didn't get to see 5 new cities a year.
After I got married and we were in our 30s, we stayed mostly in 3 star hotels but again, no way could we afford to go to 5 different spots per year.
Now we're in our 40s and we've moved to Europe and have a car, so we don't have to allocate any of our travel budget to airfare. So we generally stay in 4 or occasionally 5 star hotels if we can find good discounts (why should *we* spend 140€ for a 3 star hotel when we can stay in 5 stars for just 15€ more per night?). And we don't think staying once in a while at a luxury spa or city hotel detracts in any way from the "fun" factor of our trips nor do we think it's just "throwing money around."

Please don't equate the Four Seasons with the best that any given European city has to offer. When were on our honeymoon, we stayed in a charming room in a charming small hotel; I woudn't have traded that for a room in a large modern hotel for anything.

As far as food, there's little that can beat a crepe freshly made on a street corner in Paris.

Face it. Some people have lots of money. This summer, DH's aunt and uncle paid for their entire family - kids, spouses and grandkids - to go on an African safari. They're loaded.

As far as we are concerned, I am a professional who makes a good living, but am by no means rich. We have three kids and still live in the house I bought in 1986. We could "afford" a house that costs twice as much, but none of us want to give up travel to live in a bigger house.

"some of you" are the key words in your question. Not ALL, but SOME. Not everyone here is a luxury traveler, everybody pays what they feel is right FOR THEM.

Trust me, the sun shines as bright on budget travelers as on luxury travelers. Just enjoy what you have now, and stop counting somebody else's money.

Most posters on this board are 'fully matured' adults, that is to say, most have raised their families or are at least more advanced in their earnings capacity than is a 'recent graduate'. There is no comparison of your station in life to that of most posters here. Check back about 20 more years into your career.

You are indeed very lucky to travel, period. So be happy about that.

DH and I are probably in the minority of some of Fodors travelers; we travel luxury and we always have. But I come from a hotel background and I am a chef and cookbook author and going to the latest greatest restaurant and experiencing some of the best hotels ( and best to us usually does mean 5 star, but it has to meet good requirements for service, location and decor, not just any 5 star)in the world is what alot of travel is to us, in addition of course to meeting new people, discovering new cultures and enjoying all of our destinations' present and past histories.

For example, even as a teen I spent time in hotels most people would only dream about, but that's just how I was raised.

We are very fortunate and very blessed to have high incomes and have invested extremely well. I also set aside funds in CASH to pay for all the vacations. We live well at home, but certainly not over the top and we do have a budget.

So I've always been this way ( and DH when we married loves the lifestyle, so he goes right along).

Enjoy and cherish all of your travels, whatever money you have to spend... the point is to go. I always say, Don't dream, go.

Thorny, I agree that seeing 5 new cities a year as a recent grad is pretty great. When I was in my 20s, I usually shared rooms with people I was travelling with and that cut the cost a great deal. That being said, in 1985 when I was a recent grad travelling in Europe was much, much cheaper. Most pensions had shared baths and I usually paid about $10 - 20 per night for a shared room, including breakfast, all over Europe. In my 30s, things had become more expensive and many places were converting to ensuite bathrooms which I wanted at that stage of the game anyway, I usually stayed in a 1 - 3 star place for under $80 per night. And I also got engaged then married and shared with my husband. Now in our 40s, we, like btilke, usually stay in 4 star hotels, splurge on a really great 5 star experience if we can get a good price. It also depends on where we are travelling. In Amalfi, paying more for a salt water pool and a terrace was worth it to me, in Berlin I didn't care about a terrace, I just wanted to be near the S-Bahn. Sometimes I'll take a chance on a nice looking, very reasonable 3 star and then splurge later in the trip on something more expensive with what I've saved that looks really worth it. We are also more into atmosphere then every conceivable amenity. I must admit that a very comfy bed and nice sheets and towels mean more to me then they used to though....

I have always wanted to travel that way but one person's "luxury" is another person's dump.

Be grateful for your ability to travel AT ALL.