Neil_Oz

It wasn't Shrink's US$1000 dinner (as toe-curling as that number is) that surprised me so much, it was the $250 tip. I had the impression that although 15%+ tips are unavoidable in the US due to the wage structure in the hospitality industry, 10% was more the mark in Europe, not 25%. Am I wrong on this, or were there special circumstances?

Maybe this grabbed my attention because I've just got back from China, where (as in my own country) tipping isn't expected.

rj007

My 10 year car has almost 64,000 miles on it so I expect it will last awhile. I'm getting ready for my 4th trip to Europe in 12 months. Not rich, just don't spend a lot of money while traveling. Food costs -$10-$15 a day. I only buy 1 meal a day. Public transportation is fine with me.

janeg

On another thread I surmised that members of this board have decreed that smoking is intolerable, you shouldn't be fat or take anything larger than a 22 in rolly bag for a vacation, despite its length. Tennies are bad form too. Now, I see it is not cool to have enough money to both travel & live well.

Merseyheart

Thanks, LoveItaly. I do have a good example. I know several music fans who want to spend their money collecting stuff, instead of doing things. One of them tells me she can't afford to go to England, but she does own 200 (!) Barbie dolls. If that's her choice, fine. But I don't think she's aware that she made a choice. I do get weary watching people complain about being broke, and still spend money on things they don't need. (I have the same problem with food, but I know that my extra weight comes from those hamburgers, pizzas, and candy bars. I'm just arguing for self-awareness here.) And JaneG, living well and living expensively are not necessarily the same thing. A lot of people on this board are saying that living a modest lifestyle, and putting their spending priorities on travel, is their choice. As I said, I'm just arguing for self-awareness herel.

cigalechanta

I say to each his own way, as long as you are happy in that way. Or-as Sinatra said, "Whatever gets you through the night."

OneWanderingJew

Jocelyn and P_M,
Thanks for the words of advice. I definately hope my husband and I can escape for long weekends now and then although I don't know how many jaunts to Europe we will have in the next couple of years. His family lives nearby and we already have a couple of volunteers in the babysitting department. Hope they don't regret those offers ;-)

I plan to pass on my little travel addiction to my baby, just as my grandparents passed it on to my brothers, cousins and I. Growing up, I looooved hearing about their trips to Asia and Europe and plans for that safari in Africa--and seeing pictures and getting those souveniers only made it more real! When we got older, they started taking us on trips and that clinched it for me. By 19 or 20, I was a travelholic.

JaneG--My grandparents were lucky in that they had the means to travel and spend reasonably freely. Having said that, they never took on debt and in the words of my grandfather, 'tightened their belt' when necessary. I respect that and wasn't criticizing those who have more than me, just discussing MY financial/travel philosophy.

I guess what probably brings most of us together is not just our love of adventure but our need to experience other cultures and not just read about people and places in a book!

Debbie

MelissaHI

Hmmm. My car is going to be 14 in a couple of months and I don't drive it much (only 65,000 miles on it) so I save on gas. My parents taught me that for some people, their luxury is their home; for others, their luxury is their car; for some others, it may be something else. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that not everyone "has it all."

Lexma90

I enjoy these posts about the relative value of travel, from those who, like me, value travel highly. We travel a lot, both in the U.S. and in Europe (someday we'll venture beyond), and when we do, we stay in 3-star hotels (nice enough for us), but will splurge on food.

We could afford a much bigger/nicer/better located house, but the one we have is plenty big enough and suits us just fine. I'll admit our cars are pretty nice, but I my last one was old enough when I sold that I had a hard time finding someone willing to buy it! Our clothes are nice enough, we DO NOT own a big-screen TV (can you believe it) or the latest technology of anything. We don't go out to eat much, but when we do, we're willing to spend to have a great meal. (Going out to lunch at work is a big treat.)

Most of the people we know spend much more on all that other stuff than we do(and can afford to), but not many of them travel like we do. We see a lot of people taking the kids to a popular destination, spending much more on a fancy hotel than we would, and staying there for a week. I honestly think most people aren't interested in going to Europe, or elsewhere further away, or even exploring much of the U.S.

PatrickLondon

I decided decades ago that I would rather spend money on foreign holidays than a car that would spend most of its time rusting on the street - but I'm lucky enough to have the option. I do splash out a bit on the river bus (pun intended) that runs from right beside where I live - it's an added cost, but it's convenient, quick and comfortable.

On the other hand, I'm a skinflint about a lot of things, among them eating out. Spending the equivalent of $200 per person for a restaurant meal just wouldn't be an option for me - in fact, I think I could get quite puritanical about it, though I can perfectly well see that a great 'occasion' meal with friends could be as important a memory - and perhaps less selfish - as sunset on Uluru or snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef.

Samsaf

This board is great. There are people in our family who won't even talk about any of the travels we've been on -- they think we travel too much. So now we usually don't even mention it any more. But we're the same as a lot of you; we don't put a lot of priority on jewelry or expensive furniture.

But it's really up to us and nobody else what we decide to spend on travel. Everybody has their own priorities, and I don't understand why people get so upset at people who travel or not travel, buy jewelry or not, or anything else they decide to buy or not buy. As long as you're not on government assistance to help fund your purchases, why should I really care?

I have a few friends that I talk to a lot about travel, because they feel the same way I do about it. They also feel like they can't discuss it with a lot of their friends.

That's why I read this board every day -- for my travel fix!

Zeus

We spend 2-4 weeks each year in Europe and both have brand new cars. However....While on vacation we stay at the cheapest, but cleanest, places we can find. We go out of our way to keep dinner below 10 euro per person although that is getting close to impossible now. We pay in advance via the internet for as many things as possible (hotels, car rental, event tickets). Our two new cars are the cheapest Toyotas on the market. We shop at Walmart (yecch) and buy the store brand. Our house needs new rugs, new paint, new appliances and furniture constructed within the past twenty years. If there's a way to do things cheap, my wife and I employ it just so we can have the time of our lives for a couple weeks each summer.

P_M

This is interesting that so many of you can't talk travel with your friends or relatives. I am in the same boat. Some people see it as bragging, others just can't relate to anything you're telling them. So I only talk travel here in Fodorland.

ira

>I seem to meet an awful lot of rich folks on my travels to Europe. <

They're not rich. They are up to their ears in debt.

BlueSwimmer

What I find amazing about the original post is that it was inspired by an article in which a 6 year old car was considered REALLY OLD. We just bought a 6 year old car and consider it our NEW car. Our "old" car is 11 years old and still going strong.

Beyond the big-ticket items, we save a significant amount each year on the little things that many people seem to require in life.

Example: My secretary spends about $40 per month on her cool cell phone with tons of minutes. I'm the boss, but I carry an old freebie Nokia that looks like a brick- I pay $10 per month for service with just a few minutes to use in case my car breaks down. $30 savings per month x 12 months=$360 = one off season plane ticket to Paris.

It's the same with cable, Tivo, renting DVDs, buying Starbucks everyday, etc. Those little luxuries can add up.

I'm not condemning then as inherently bad- I would love a cool cell phone- just saying that sometimes you can choose to scrimp in just one little area and see the money add up for a trip.

My DH and I once took a lovely driving trip to Savannah completely financed by collecting all of the change sitting around the house in jars, rolling it and converting it to cash. IT was like winning the lottery!

ira

>...driving trip to Savannah completely financed by collecting all of the change sitting around the house in jars,...<

Way to go!

BlueSwimmer

Ira-

There were literally years' worth of jars. My husband never spends change- just chucks it into a jar. The full jars go to the basement.

Once we rolled all of the coins, I had to use a wheeled suitcase to take them to the bank because I could not lift the combined weight of all the coins. We ended up with around $800 bucks.

This was ten years ago, so gas was MUCH cheaper, of course. It was a bare-bones trip, but it's a fond memory!

Pilchard

Somehow this reminds me of Woody Allen's old gag:

He and his wife were trying to decide whether they should go on vacation or get a divorce. They chose the latter because a trip is nice, but when it's over, it's over. A divorce is something you always have.

Shrink

Hi All
God I love this forum. Its so great to be in contact with so many people who "understand". I'm surprised to find others tho that feel like they have to keep their travels in the closet. Again I thought I just lived in a unique envrionment. We (wife and I) have to be very careful about talking about where we have been or where we are going. People seem to get the impression that we are bragging and resent it. We even have to downplay it around her parents. They have never been out of the state and are convinced that we are going to wind up in Fallujah at any moment! As an example last summer in Italy, they were OK with our going to Venice -- until someone looked it up on the map and realized its proximity to Croatia. We think this is a lot funnier than they do. At any rate, like some of you above, I definitely tune in to this forum for my daily fix. An incidentally, like someone above, I do believe that travel is a need for some people and not just a want. And for what its worth, the $250 "tip" at Antico Martini included a few "souvenirs". Thanks for your responses.
Shrink

P_M

Shrink, your story of your in-laws reminds me of my late grandfather. The only time he ever went out of the US was when he served in WW2. He always remembered post-war Japan, and that was his image of what it's like to be out of the US. He thought that once you step outside of the US, the world is a crazy, dangerous war zone.

I always made it a rule never to talk about travel with him until after I returned from a trip and could tell him what a great time I had. He was OK hearing about it after the fact, but I dared not tell him beforehand. One time at Christmas my sister slipped and told him I was about to go to Greece. He pulled out his hanky, cried, and begged me not to go. I did all I could to reassure him that I would be OK, but he just didn't buy it. Looking back, I should have lied and told him I would cancel, but I didn't think of that at the time. In any case, I know how hard it is to handle situations like this when relatives worry needlessly.

dgruzew

My wife and I live in a townhouse in Chicago. We have commuter, EL and Subay trains in easy reach as well as busess. so I really don't drive very often so my car is old, paid for and rarely used. So our commuting expensives are very low (60 bucks a month)

I recently noticed that I spend more on travel than just about any other leasure activty or purchase. I see lots of people buying BMW's and paying for Dog daycare. Buying twice the house they can afford. I don't like borrowing money for Cars or other "non appreciating " assets, so we live more modestly - and spend alot of our money on vacations

This is how we choose to live our lives, many people really don't see the the benifits of travel and would rather have that 42' plasma than a trip to Europe