because of the economy? Would love to teach our kids to ski (they are 4 and 6), but DH says it isn't the time to introduce them to an expensive hobby. Anyone else thinking they will have to cut back?

there have been a few threads on this. We stopped skiing/snowboarding about 6 years or so ago..it was simply too expensive with 4 children - so I would agree with your dh unless you are very wealthy or live right by slopes .

As far as the question - we have cut out most travel plans for 09. We are taking a big trip for Christmas that has been planned and paid for for about a year - (Paris) and dh and I have a timeshare reserved in Cabo in May - but I am not sure we will be taking that trip. Too many moving parts right now..

I wouldn't take up an expensive hobby either, but we aren't cutting back travel in the coming year. We have our 1 big trip planned - Belgium and the Netherlands - and we have some small trips in the works, thinking of a long weekend in Yosemite, a couple camping trips, a weekend trip to the Mendocino area, and perhaps I will take a trip back east to visit friends. The trip to Europe is doable because we are using miles for the flights - at this point we can't afford a trip to Europe if we have to pay airfare. Nothing to do with the economy, just our own finances. If we didn't have miles to use, I think we would have gone to Asia instead.

If gas prices remain low we will travel around the country even more. Last year we were on the road for two months and 9.5K miles. Our average price for gas was $3.89.... Camping offsets the cost of lodgings somewhat.

Not me. But I'm single, self-supporting and travel low-budget anyways.

There's a difference between taking up an expensive hobby and traveling.

If the price of gas stays low, and hotels keep discounting their rooms, I'll be doing more traveling, not less.

Sounds like a smart husband to me.

Its funny, for us in Colorado, skiing is a more inexpensive vacation. No airfare & hopefully, lodging will be more reasonable this year. I don't ski but the rest have season passes so its no extra. Maybe if gas stays low, we could drive to Yellowstone this summer. yes, we are cutting back

Of course, if you live near a ski area, have all the gear, and season passes, then of course it is relatively inexpensive

Rub it in Betsy...rub it in...

Hopefully if gas prices stay low, we will be able to take lots of mini trips in the motorhome and spend lots of time at the lakes(we love to waterski) around the southeast!! No big trips out of the country for 09 though!!

Well, we live within a couple of hours drive of Tahoe. But with young kids, we don't have all the equipment yet.

I would love to spend if given a chance as long as the place im going to or the things i'm goin to do is worth the price im paying.

http://www.route66place.com

Re skiing -- if you don't live near a mountain, it won't become a hobby. It'll just be a fun vacation activity that your kids talk about for years, kind of like a catamaran cruise or snorkeling. If you DO live near a mountain, then the cost of ski rentals should be much cheaper than the cost of airfare. Win-win! Haha.

I won't be cutting back on travel, although for the next few months we'll be limited (energy-wise and mobility-wise) by the new arrival in our family. But I'm already brainstorming baby's first getaway for the summer!

I usually do a big trip every other year. So although I doubt I'll do a two week trip, it's more because we went to Alaska this past summer than anything else. Plus, like Suze, I am single and a budget traveller.

I was thinking of going to Argentina for 2 weeks for my birthday in March, but instead opted for 5 days in the Dominican Republic - partly because I was able to get 7 other people to go with me! So, we are looking forward to the beach and golf.

We might go camping in Yellowstone in the summer, too...but probably for a week.

I agree with the others that there is a difference between traveling and introducing an expensive hobby to the kids. How about teaching them about things they can do for free/cheap on vacation instead?

We already have a trip planned and paid for in February to St. John in the US Virgin Islands and Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.

Other than that we will NOT be planning any other vacations for next year.

I also don't see any relationship to cutting back on travel & taking up an expensive hobby.

Two completely different things!

And my answer to both is NO (lol)... I won't be cutting back on travel & I won't be taking up skiing!!

Me- I'm cutting back on travel.

No upcoming trips to Hawaii. That's the one place I always feel like I'm on vacation.

Actually we are expanding next year but that was part of the plan. Going to Spain over New Years and to Europe for about four to six weeks in Sep/Oct. Then we might cut back IF the market doesn't improve. Have to take the long term view.

We were planning a two week trip to Alaska next summer. My husband is fisherman who wanted to spend some time fishing and we also wanted to do some sightseeing, hiking, kayaking, etc. Since we didn't know if we would get back there (we live on the East Coast), we wanted to do it up right. We have decided to wait until 2010 when hopefully the economy is better. We will still take a vacation and some long weekends, but they will be closer to home.

I don't know yet. By March I'll know if the company puts some of the profit into my 401K, if I'd have met my retirement savings expectations, then I'll have to make a decision... hopefully not the difficult decision.

But I am not overly optimistic this year... They've already warned us about "maybe no bonuses". This will be known in 2-3 weeks.