Tat,
The Metro in Paris is so easy and convenient, I can't believe you've heard it is difficult. It is also a "Parisian experience" and you will get to be among far more ordinary French citizens than you will at most tourist sites. Plus, you feel like you have "mastered" the city and are able to transport yourself without relying on taxis or others to do so.
I also recommend Paris museum passes for the adults as a cost saver. At most of the museums, I believe our children got in free.

Tat - Just read your message from 1:02. Shopping is the issue. Why spend $1000 on ??? just because you're traveling. I usually bring something back from my trips - but unless its' a good deal on something I already plan on buying I rarely spend more than $50 total.

You need to live life not buy it.

I just had to open this post and glad I did and nice to hear there are many other travel nuts like myself who aren't wealthy! My husband and I live pretty cheaply in an old apartment (no kids, no debt) and rarely spend money on expense items like clothes or new cars. I tell my husband every year not to buy me gifts, but take me on a 2 week vacation someplace new every year!! I guess eventually will have to cut back on these extravagant vacations when we do purchase a home, but probably will always manage to budget some $ for a trip every year.

Tat, I have two in college, one in high school. My husband and I are giving each other our trip for our gifts to each other. At this stage, I am satisfied with not so new cars, a nice, but not lavish house. I want memories and experiences more than things. When my youngest is out of high school (3 years from now) we will travel in off season. But for now we go when he goes to camp. (compliments of his grandparents)

Actually it isn't all that difficult to have a BIG house, several expensive cars, not be retired and travel a great deal...if you have a LOT of money.
But just remember this: those that do don't talk and those that talk, usually don't do.

Looks like we're off to Munich on Lufthansa, exactly the kind of deals I was talking about. Airfare for my wife, daughter & I for $600.

Now STOP !
My trip for 3 was suppose to be cheapest !
Where did you get $200 p/p tickets ?

OK, my daughter is an infant so really 2 1/2 people.

Tat,
I just returned last week from Paris (Paris Trip Report) and we took the subways at all times of day and night. As in any bg city you need to be aware of your surroundings, but they are fun and fairly easy to navigate and very inexpensive. We also always walk a lot! It is great as you really get to know the city and as others have mentioned it is a very manageable city. We did have some rain and that was mainly when we took the subway, or if we were going to eat dinner across town.
As far as my "jeans and sneakers" comment, we did see more than ever and were surprised at some of the places we saw them. That being said, Paris , is much dressier than most places in the US. I live in NYC and my family lives in New Mexico and I am always amazed at the New Mexican's idea of "dress up". I am sure that I will offend a New Mexican somewhere, but...bolo ties?

SanParis, come clean ... before taxes, right ?
Still $600 for 21/2 fare is A OK !
Is Munich too much closer then Hamburg ?
Must be ...

AlanM1,
like I said my friend sees Germans changing style to more American too.
Some people probably would disagree again ... I've enjoyed that thread...

StCirq
You make a lot of sense. Nice to see experienced travelers on this board like you and Patrick that give good advice based on expert travel experience. I couldn't agree more.

DH and I are dual income, no kids. We are young (mid twenties) with a mortgage, student loans and autos, but still manage to save a significant amount of money every year while contributing into our respective 401ks. We don't spend a lot of money on clothes and things, but we have what we need. My one spending weakness (right now) is toys for our puppy!

Planning ahead, budgeting, and saving for trips is the key. I try not to buy a lot of stuff while on vacation, but I take tons and tons of photos. We have 4 weeks vacation each, and usually take one big vacation a year, and several other long weekends. DH loves to camp up north, which I am learning to love- that doesn't cost a lot of money.

I think the important thing is to travel and do something new together, as a family.

Hubby and I are early 30s,no kids yet, good jobs and 3 weeks vacation a year. We don't have a fancy house (nice, but not huge)and have nice but not fancy cars. Plus travel is our vice. When we bought our house we paid for everything with our United card which we then promptly paid off (including student loans.) Next thing we knew we had enough miles for 2 roundtrip trips for 2 to Europe, hence our last 2 trips. When on vacation, we skimp on the hotel, since we're never in it and other than that thoroughly enjoy ourselves!

Tat...not to scare you or be morbid, but I've known dozens of people, including my own father, who saved for the future and never saw it.

Life is now.

The best time to travel is when you are mobile enough and healthy enough. Start when you're young...like you are now...and it will carry you into old age.

You can still save responsibly for the future and travel well now. I do it. I save a bit of money, and I charge the rest. I do some credit card shuffling and always transfer the balance to a card that is offering "0-interest" for balance transfers...and one of my cards is always offering that.

Take advantage of the credit card companies...don't let it be the other way around.

To quote Edward Abbey, "If you don't live now, you'll pay the rest of your life...with the cheap coin of regret."

Tat - don't want to throw in a monkey wrech, and I have to admit I have not read every post in detail. But, how about a big trip every two years. Make it a 10 day jaunt...spreads out your savings time and gets you more time away for the "fixed cost" of your air fare. For the years in between do something local. Many of us don't take advantage of what there is to do around our own homes. I live in Boston and walked the Freedom Trail for my first time this year.

There are lots of ways to afford international travel even on a "regular person's" income. Most have been mentined. The best ones are:

Charge EVERYTHING on a credit card that earns miles - but NEVER let interest pile up - pay it off each month.
Travel off season if you can
Spend the necessary time to find great airfares
Stay in 2 star hotels (usually less than $100 a night)
Eat many of your meals as picnics (even in your room if the weather is condusive to picnicking)
Use public transportation (generally more effecient and more fun in addition to much cheaper)

European travel can be sooooo much cheaper than I had though it would be before my first trip (4 years ago) that I'm currently planning my 6th and 7th trips for next spring and summer.

Ways to save have been pretty well covered already - my favorites are drive an older car, skip the starbucks, bring your lunch, and buy your clothes on sale.

But my main way to afford to travel is by having a second job. I'm very fortunate in that for one thing I have a lot of time off (12 weeks, yes I'm a teacher) but that I have a profession that allows me a second job that I can work just when I want. I'm a nurse so I have a "per diem" job. I use it as a source of guilt free income. All my regular income goes to suppoprting my three kids but this "extra" money I can use to travel. I may be extremely lucky in this respect but I know many other people who can find a very part-time second job to have this source of travel income. For example my husband is a journalist so he teaches a journalism course every year or so at the university near us. But I also know people who can't find a second job in their profession who are happily working in a store or what ever just a few hours a week for this purpose.

Re: <i>Tat...not to scare you or be morbid, but I've known dozens of people, including my own father, who saved for the future and never saw it.</i>

Indeed. I knew a woman, only in her 30s, who died in that Swissair crash in 1998. And just this past September, a friend my age (er, um, somewhere below 50 :) ) died of extremely aggressive melanoma. Ironically, a mere three months before he died, he had just returned from a trip he had always wanted to take, to Russia.

Life's a crapshoot. No one wants to spend all their money traveling in the here-and-now and then end up old and poor. Yet there are those, like Jim's dad, who save for the future than never live to experience it.

Add our family to the list of those who make travel a priority. My husband and I make pretty good money now, but even in our post-student days, we focused our money on travel. We don't have the nicest house or nicest cars, and don't own lots of stuff or nice clothes. We (adults only, so far) travel for a 10-day trip to Europe every other year or so, plus a 10-day family trip in the U.S., plus long weekends here and there. Often our U.S. trips are tied to business trips or meetings that one of us has. I would travel more if our kids were older.

Europe costing the same as a U.S. trip kind of depends on what your U.S. trips are like; the biggest expenditure is the time it takes to travel to Europe. But you've gotten a lot of good advice on budgeting and how to save money in Europe.

Live modestly. Budget carefully. We're retired (just this year!!) so have more time than before.

One thing no one has mentioned (and you've mentioned many things) is clothes. Several people mentioned buying clothes for their trip. We don't do that. We wear the clothes we have. Since we live in southern California, we really layer like crazy when we go north in the fall and winter, but it works just fine.

When I was younger, I used to figure out how much a trip would cost, figure out how many months until the trip and then divide the trip cost by the number of months to know how much I had to save each month. It worked.

You just have to decide to do it and then go ahead. After you've made the decision, the rest is easy.

I've always marveled at the people who travel for months at a time! So far I've only travelled two weeks at a time, which turns out not to be a lot of time. But I'm trying to plan an extended trip of severeal months for either next summer or the one after that (it will be right around the end of college). Before then, it's two weeks twice a year. Or at least once!

I think it is a matter of priorities. If you really want to travel, you will make it happen. I know lots of people who say, 'Oh one day i will' and it never happens. I'm only twenty-two and would like to travel with a friend, but they would rather pay for a new car that they can't afford or hundreds of dollars on clothing every month. And yet they still say, 'I would if I had the money.' I'm always reminding them that it will be much easier to travel now, before they have children and house mortgages, and then they consider it for a moment, until they see a nice pair of shoes or something.

I encountered a man in Austria once who was travelling alone and he said, 'You just have to do it. There might always be a better time, or a day when you will have more money, but you just have to go.'

People would be surprised at how easy it is and how affordable it can be if they just try.