I am single, a retired teacher with a pension that covers the basics and savings which provide the extras.

I no longer drink alcohol or smoke (two big money pits!) and I don't eat out often. I don't shop recreationally, buying clothes only when my old stuff looks truly awful and household geegaws when there's smoke starting to pour out from somewhere. My car is 13 years old, and I fill the tank only about once a month.

Despite all these "don'ts" (There is no way to punctuate that correctly!!), I don't live frugally. I buy and do what I want. It's just that I'm not into buying stuff.

Also my travel is usually with my sister, so we split hotel and car rental expenses. We usually go to Europe once a year together, and I sometimes travel alone to a Spanish or German-speaking country as I enjoy studying languages.

I'm a licensed pilot, but I no longer fly because it is expensive, and I would rather put my disposable income into travel. As others have said, it's a priority.

The key to this question is "Where are you travelling FROM?"

I gather the majority of posters are in USA, and travelling to Europe is not a big deal. A bit like me travelling between Australia and NZ two-to-three times a year. Whereas from Australia or NZ, Europe is pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime experience - not just price-wise, but also time-wise, because if it's going to cost two of you $5000 just to get there then you want to stay long enough to justify it.

That for me it has NOT been a once-in-a-lifetime experience is testiment only to my passion for travel (that's my version) or my misplaced extravagance or wrong priorities or plain stupidity (that's the version of some others)!

Both teachers teaching for the Dept. of Defense Schools in Germany. Have been doing this for 23 years. Child is grown and no pets, except Oscar the goldfish. It is fun to go to France for the weekend.

I will be 42 this year. I used to be a travel agent and the perks were good back in the late 80's and early 90's. They've pretty much stopped and I am no longer in that aspect of travel. I use my American Express card for everything to get mileage point for the airline. You have to book the so called free tickets ($200 per ticket in taxes and surcharges) well in advance and take a milk run to get there but it helps to save money. I don't have any other expensive hobbies/habits so travel is my passion in life. I try to travel to Europe every other year and in the off year I usually go to the Caribbean and Mexico. This year I did both as I got a really good sell off to Mexico...dirt cheap.

I am going to be 40 in a few months, single and I travel for a living so I get the perks of miles and hotel points which aid in my travel. I take 3 to 5 personal trips a year where either the airfare or the hotel bill is free.

<font color="red"> Here is how I started traveling...

1. Scoured the net and studied extensively average flight prices til I got a great deal on airfare---this often means not traveling during peak times.

2. Stay in 1 star hotels---I am only sleeping there, not trying to pamper myself.

3. Eschew overtly fancy restaurants....maybe one day when I am older and I have a hubby and we like to eat 50 buck chicken roasts---wait, scratch that...some of the best roast chicken I have ever had cost 5 bucks! So no, no 50 plus dollar roasts for me. And no BMWs either...its a class thing and history thing I don't have high regard for. But I digress...

4. Use coupons or do free things for tourists

5. Don't buy electronic items I dont need...so I have an old tv, no dvd player, no ipod, and I have a ppc, but it is for work and I dont care to buy one for personal usage..

6. Avoid brand names on day to day items...I don't follow the fashion trends of paying for the label...I buy what I feel is comfortable and what I like.

7. So, if you added up just the costs of dvd players, too many nights out at clubs or bars, fancy shoes, etc. you could have enough dough to take a frugal european trip.
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I'm 21, I live with my parents. that helps!

I'm in no rush to move out really..we live in NYC, I work in theatre and I also temp, so pretty much every penny I earn goes towards travel. I took my first trip to Europe in Februrary 2004, and am taking my SIXTH abroad in a few days!

Aside from Europe, I take lots and lots of 2-4 day trips around the US and Canada. I travel around N. America mainly to see concerts--for example, Petula Clark is going to be performing in Winnipeg, MB (canada) the end of May--I'm going, it's a great excuse to see a place that I'd otherwise probably never visit. I take probably 20 or so trips like this each year.

48 years of age, own my own retail business, and purchase a lot of stock for resale on my airmiles VISA card. Voila, free airfare for my spouse, myself and our three children! That's about half the cost of the European trip we attempt each summer.

Did a cycle lately thru an upscale residential district in Phoenix, and admired some million dollar plus houses...my home is far more modest! But I reflected that my bride and I have decided to prioritize experiences over material possessions. The folks in that neighbourhood have chosen the big house and the new BMW. Life is what you decide to make it!

I've only been traveling to Europe for 6 years and it all started with a short trip to Barcelona. Since then, I've been hooked.

I drive an 8 year old car, am single, have no kids, at least no 2-legged, just the 4-legged kind. Like quite a few of you, I don't stay in 4 or 5 star hotels, usually 2 or 3, at least when I'm traveling alone which is half the time. Here at home, I only eat out usually once a week, I'm not a clothes horse and almost always hit the sales racks. I WILL admit to a passion for cookbooks that I have to indulge myself with but other than that, I don't spend much.

Thankfully, I do get a yearly bonus that immediately goes into the &quot;travel fund&quot; and I use frequent flyer miles to purchase tickets when I have enough. I don't have to go to fancy restaurants when I'm traveling. As a matter of fact, I prefer the out of the way, small, family restaurant. I also try to go during the &quot;shoulder season&quot;. This works best for me on several levels, especially with work.

I know my family sometimes thinks I'm nuts for wanting to go to Europe all the time but I look at it this way, I want to experience it while I can still enjoy it and not have to say to myself someday &quot;wow, I wish I had of....&quot; BTW, I'm in my early 50's and wish I had started doing this 30 years ago!!!!

My husband and I are both 34 with 2 boys, ages 2 and 6. He works very hard in the computer gaming industry. We are still receiving royalties from a game that shipped 7 years ago! We do own a house, outrageous what it cost for 2100sq ft in San Diego. We're paying off my 2006 minivan and have paid for 2005 Nissan Altima. The main thing holding us back from more travel are work and the kids.

The last few years we have tried to take one vacation alone and one with our kids.
2004 Hawaii with kids/Utah together
2005 Turks and Caicos together/WDW with kids
2006 Paris together/Hawaii with kids
2007 St. Thomas together/WDW with kids

Future plans include Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Australia/New Zealand, more Caribbean, Disney Cruise and Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Glacier NP, Banff etc.

Have a great weekend and Happy planning!

Go to school. Work hard and get good grades. Get into a good grad school or starter job at a top company. Work your butt off - all hours of the day and night. Get promoted - again and again. Earn a lot of money.

End up doing most of your travel for business - since you can;t get much time off. But - when you can go - you don;t have to try to do London on $50 per day - so you can at least enjoy the trip - even if only once or twice per year.

I also think a little bit of non-traveling has to do with the preconcieved notion that it is expensive.

Traveling, in a lot of ways, is like attending college. If you come from a family where no one has gone to college, and you have no one to help you realize it is a possibility for you, you might assume it is out of your reach. But if you are able to get the info on going and the requirements, then you can make it possible!!

It is all about having adequate info about different travel sites, the best time to book, and also maybe some extra dough from an extra job, tax rebate, etc.

But once you take that step and that leap of faith that it may be possible for you to travel, then the wheels begin to turn to make it possible.

I'm 63. Separated and own my own home.
Work every day possible between trips, eat out very seldom. Don't buy a lot of clothes anymore, used to have a new outfit every week when I was younger.Travel mostly off season. Go with 2-3 other ladies and we split the gas and car rental. Watch my money when traveling. Eat well, shop less, and enjoy more. Usually go to Europe 3-4 times a year.

I am a prostitute.

Kidding.

I pimp my boss. And I'm not kidding!

FRUMPS: Formerly Radical Upwardly Mobile Persons! Consulting engineer and office manager and editor. Kids are out of the house now and having worked out tails off for years, finally saw the light and started to travel extensively. Don't spend a lot on clothes, booze or new cars (my Civic is 9-years old but a new one means fewer trips). Not too far from retirement now but every time I think I should retire and spend more time on my photography hobby, it means less travel, so I could end up like my aunt who worked until she was 80 so that she could see the world.

This has been such a fun thread to read!We're both 69, retired with modest pensions, low mortgage payments, no credit card debt, biggest splurge is art books. We go to Europe twice a year for a month each and try to travel 3-4 days every month in the San Francisco Bay Area. Did a house swap in France once and want to do more. Our car is a 91 Camry with 130,000 miles and I hope it outlives me. I often buy my clothes at thrift shops. We also look for internet travel deals...last year we got 6 nights in a decent London hotel PLUS airfare from New York for only $600! We go Jet Blue from San Francisco to New York and it only costs $100 each way. When I was working I traveled quite a bit both domestically and overseas and would second the advice to look for work with travel opportunities. Happy travels to all...

We both are in our 50's and work. I find deals on Travel Zoo and we also own a time share with Hyatt. We just make it a priority.
We were on an Alaskan Cruise some years ago and an elderly gentleman in a wheel chair came up to us and said he had been watching how much fun we seemed to have and he wished he would have done traveling years ago before he was wheelchair bound. That unknown man has been my inspiration for the last 15 years or so.
I buy most of my clothes at Target, we purchased a smaller patio home and our car is paid for!

We are in our late 40's. We live in a 2 bedroom condo in downtown Chicago where the cost of housing is quite high compared to where I lived before. With that being said, I related to what Muskoka describes in terms of getting off the upwardly mobile tract.

We just dont buy a lot of stuff - like I used to in my younger years. Travel is our first passion and we are willing to forego other things. I am respectful of my friends and co-workers who decide to spend their money on other things, like house stuff, but we are trying to simplify. The money I have spent in the past on fancy comforters every year , kitchen gadgets never used, dvds that we watched once is now what we spend on travel. We dont live like monks by any means - we just got off the &quot;lets go shopping&quot; merri go round.

I lived in a big house in Atlanta during my first marriage. When I think of all the &quot;stuff&quot; I accumulated to fill up that house, I get sick. Most of it got tossed when we split and I downsized a lot.

We have friends who have 3 computers, big screen TVs, ipods for everyone in the house, spend weekends at the mall, fanciest cell phones. Its just not our thing and i dont miss it. To each his own.

Just last month I was looking at new car ads to replace my Accord that has 90,000 miles on it and then suddeny realized that I would much rather put my money toward more trips. It was a big revelation for me. So, in addition to a trip to Greece this fall, I'm adding a week in the Berkshires and a couple of weekend trips this year to my travel plans.

For several years now, I've been saving $250/month for vacations and supplementing that fund with my income tax return. I'm also close to getting my credit cards paid off. All my extra money will go into the travel fund.