When did this become the norm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love to travel and we have a lot of money. Goin to a second home at OBX sounds super boring.

We travel to National Parks, Italy, the Islands etc..

OBX is kind of boring. That's the appeal. My kids, who have done a fair amount of travel, love our trips to Hatteras. Beach, boogie board, fish, kayak, beach volleyball, walks on the beach, just hanging out at the beach house, grilling dinner. Sometimes simple's good.

We also like Italy and National Parks too.

PP is a typical prole striver. Can’t afford a second home, so they own nothing and piss away their dough on rentals and hotels trying to appear worldly and sophisticated.

Interesting 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm routinely surprised at how much travel everyone seems to do - and how much it costs! I travel a lot for work, including internationally, but I don't have enough miles to take a family of four on multiple plane trips and hotel stays every year. Ski trips out west, the Carribean at the holidays, and Europe plus a beach trip during the summer...I have to assume that there's a lot of inherited wealth in DC, because a lot of my friends/neighbors/colleagues are living on USG or nonprofit salaries. I'm occasionally jealous but honestly I also work super hard and the last thing I want to do is use all my time off on the road.

It's not so much the money aspect that I can't wrap my head around; I've come to realize that people in this area sometimes just have a crap ton of money through various ways other than work (inheritance, family help, etc).

What I can't always understand is how people have the time off to take these trips? If you're taking a week long Spring Break trip, and then a two week vacation in the summer, and then a two week ski vacation in the winter, peppered in with some long weekends throughout the year, how are these people able to take so much time off?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:People aren't tied to a desk. People don't pay for air or hotel, they use points. It's easier to travel. People prioritize travel. International real estate is more obtainable.

We have a house in Europe. We spend 8 week in the summer there and 2-4 other weeks throughout the year there. We bought outside of town because we couldn't take anymore of the insta tourists.

You are not MC/UMC. Who the hell can take 10 weeks off per year? You are not relatable.

Did I say anything about taking time off from work?

DH works while we are there. He just needs to be near a phone throughout the day. And be able to get on a computer for an hour or so in the evenings.

That is not the reality of remote work for most people.

That is career dependent. DH isn’t “remote”. That’s how his job was even before Covid and remote work was popular.

So then you aren’t actually traveling. You have multiple residences.

We are traveling.
So if someone spends the summer or part of at their beach house they aren’t traveling.

Our house is in southern France we use it as a home base and travel all over Europe from there.

Yeah, so you’re rich, normal everyday Americans don’t own homes in Southern France, just fyi. People like you always have traveled and always have had the best of everything, good for you.

You are making a lot of assumptions. We paid less than $150k for the house. It is worth considerably more now because of work we have done, not contracted anything out. We purchased a modest house here to allow us to do this.
Real estate and daily COL are considerably less many parts of Europe.

Ha ha "my vacation home in France didn't cost $1 million" doesn't mean you aren't rich. If you own a second home, you are rich, almost by definition. Around 5% of American adults own second homes.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/228894/people-living-in-households-that-own-a-second-home-usa/

So if someone owns a $750k house in the DC area and a $150k house in France, by default that makes them wealthier than if someone owns a single $900k house in the DC area?

2 homes are much more expensive to maintain not to mention being able to afford international airfare enough to make use of a second home. So it’s quite possible someone with a vacation home is more wealthy. Although it’s also possible the families have different spending priorities so it’s hard to say for sure.

Can you buy a house in France for $150K? I’d assume it’s more expensive than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are sheep, if I hear about one more person going to Portugal or Japan I am going to scream. A few years ago, it was the National Parks, it seemed like everyone was going to Yellowstone or Grand Tetons or whatever. The constant need to keep up with everyone else, going to the same vacation spots, same poses, same SM captions…Traveling loses its appeal when it becomes so common and predictable. It’s annoying waiting in lines and competing for photo ops. Too many damn people doing the same thing.

It is truly absurd the number of people going to Portugal lately. I suppose I am part of the problem as we travelled there for spring break a few years ago, but good grief. Oh, look, another picture of the pink street.

You are definitely part of the problem. You got yours and that was fine but now others are sheeple?

+1

Also it’s entirely possible people are going to places other people they know have gone because it puts it on their radar and it’s nice to be able to ask for recommendations vs creating a vacation from scratch.

Back in 2012 we had our honeymoon in Costa Rica, which was a popular destination among our friend group at the time. We weren’t trying to “keep up” with anyone but a number of friends mentioned how great their trips were and gave us some restaurant and excursion recommendations. We ended up booking some stuff from our own research but friends got us started with planning.

Not everyone has some deep seated need to prove how “original” we are with our travel destinations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love to travel and we have a lot of money. Goin to a second home at OBX sounds super boring.

We travel to National Parks, Italy, the Islands etc..

OBX is kind of boring. That's the appeal. My kids, who have done a fair amount of travel, love our trips to Hatteras. Beach, boogie board, fish, kayak, beach volleyball, walks on the beach, just hanging out at the beach house, grilling dinner. Sometimes simple's good.

We also like Italy and National Parks too.

PP is a typical prole striver. Can’t afford a second home, so they own nothing and piss away their dough on rentals and hotels trying to appear worldly and sophisticated.

So you're not allowed to travel and stay in hotels until you own a second home? Bummer.

[Anonymous]

We are a family of 4 in Maryland and we bring in "not a lot" by this area. 300k. We play the credit card game and travel a ton. Get points, companion passes, free hotel nights etc. We don't have a lot of dept, we just take advantage of all the perks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are sheep, if I hear about one more person going to Portugal or Japan I am going to scream. A few years ago, it was the National Parks, it seemed like everyone was going to Yellowstone or Grand Tetons or whatever. The constant need to keep up with everyone else, going to the same vacation spots, same poses, same SM captions…Traveling loses its appeal when it becomes so common and predictable. It’s annoying waiting in lines and competing for photo ops. Too many damn people doing the same thing.

It is truly absurd the number of people going to Portugal lately. I suppose I am part of the problem as we travelled there for spring break a few years ago, but good grief. Oh, look, another picture of the pink street.

You are definitely part of the problem. You got yours and that was fine but now others are sheeple?

+1

Also it’s entirely possible people are going to places other people they know have gone because it puts it on their radar and it’s nice to be able to ask for recommendations vs creating a vacation from scratch.

Back in 2012 we had our honeymoon in Costa Rica, which was a popular destination among our friend group at the time. We weren’t trying to “keep up” with anyone but a number of friends mentioned how great their trips were and gave us some restaurant and excursion recommendations. We ended up booking some stuff from our own research but friends got us started with planning.

Not everyone has some deep seated need to prove how “original” we are with our travel destinations.

This. It’s only travel. If you’re on DCUM and making it a weird contest, that’s just strange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of 4 in Maryland and we bring in "not a lot" by this area. 300k. We play the credit card game and travel a ton. Get points, companion passes, free hotel nights etc. We don't have a lot of dept, we just take advantage of all the perks

that’s about our income and I am failing at the credit card game. We have chase preferred and after two years of spending could probably fly all four of us somewhere, but that’s it? How do I learn how to play the game correctly??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of 4 in Maryland and we bring in "not a lot" by this area. 300k. We play the credit card game and travel a ton. Get points, companion passes, free hotel nights etc. We don't have a lot of dept, we just take advantage of all the perks

that’s about our income and I am failing at the credit card game. We have chase preferred and after two years of spending could probably fly all four of us somewhere, but that’s it? How do I learn how to play the game correctly??

Same here. The only way to play it correctly from what I’ve read is to churn credit cards which just seems like a PITA. And we can on travel spring/summer and one of the tips is to travel off season. How do you do that with kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of 4 in Maryland and we bring in "not a lot" by this area. 300k. We play the credit card game and travel a ton. Get points, companion passes, free hotel nights etc. We don't have a lot of dept, we just take advantage of all the perks

that’s about our income and I am failing at the credit card game. We have chase preferred and after two years of spending could probably fly all four of us somewhere, but that’s it? How do I learn how to play the game correctly??

Same here. The only way to play it correctly from what I’ve read is to churn credit cards which just seems like a PITA. And we can on travel spring/summer and one of the tips is to travel off season. How do you do that with kids?

Yes it’s the points from the sign up bonuses, but there are rules and methods to it so the banks don’t cut you off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love to travel and we have a lot of money. Goin to a second home at OBX sounds super boring.

We travel to National Parks, Italy, the Islands etc..

OBX is kind of boring. That's the appeal. My kids, who have done a fair amount of travel, love our trips to Hatteras. Beach, boogie board, fish, kayak, beach volleyball, walks on the beach, just hanging out at the beach house, grilling dinner. Sometimes simple's good.

We also like Italy and National Parks too.

PP is a typical prole striver. Can’t afford a second home, so they own nothing and piss away their dough on rentals and hotels trying to appear worldly and sophisticated.

“Prole,” that’s cute.

[Anonymous]

I’m with you, OP. I haven’t read all of the replies yet, but I am always amazed by this as well and observe similarly.

Our hhi is $400k, we put most expenses on a bonvoy/marriott cc, we try to always fly on the same airline to accrue points, and we still can “only” afford (in money and time off) to travel basically on 1-2 one week trips (almost always in the U.S.) and some long weekends incl family visits - and to be clear I know that is more than most people get to travel and I’m very grateful we can do these trips.

[Anonymous]

Agree with what you say OP. I also feel like I am bombarded by social media ads promoting “travel sets” to wear while traveling, an endless array of luggage, travel accessories, etc. It feels like people are constantly on the go and it baffles me as a regular working stiff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love to travel and we have a lot of money. Goin to a second home at OBX sounds super boring.

We travel to National Parks, Italy, the Islands etc..

Maybe I’m fickle but once you’ve seen a National Park or two, you’ve seen them all. Same with going abroad. I have been there done that and now that I had kids, I desperately need a relaxing vacation, not a jam packed international trip. It’s just exhausting, no fun at all. And I have experienced other cultures as my relatives are foreign and live abroad. They aren’t really very interesting or different than us. Many want to live here actually and I don’t blame them. I would much rather pack lightly and stay at a comfortable beach house or actually a lux hotel and just do nothing but sit on a beach or by a pool for a week and be waited on.

I'm the exact opposite. I crave active vacations - skiing, surfing, hiking, mountain biking, mountaineering, canoeing, etc, etc. No - the Grand Canyon is drastically different than the Galapagos. If you've seen one National Park, then you've seen one. And, sitting in one place sound like torture for a vacation because I have a desk job and sit in one place everyday. I'd be bored to tears plopping down on a beach and eating/drinking/being sedentary. Yikes! I'd rather go somewhere explore and try new food that locals eat, not rich tourists.

Like one PP said - I also have 2 vacation homes in places I LOVE. I go there when I don't want the challenges of travel and logistics, because yes, those are tiresome and complicated- no matter how you do it. One is a ski condo in CO the other is a beach condo in FL. I keep my sport gear there and can pop over for a quick trip with nothing more than my handbag - so I can take those super cheap flights with no faff.

Travel, relaxation, and vacation is not a one size fits all shoe. Different strokes for different folks. And, I still intentionally do stay cations sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love to travel and we have a lot of money. Goin to a second home at OBX sounds super boring.

We travel to National Parks, Italy, the Islands etc..

Maybe I’m fickle but once you’ve seen a National Park or two, you’ve seen them all. Same with going abroad. I have been there done that and now that I had kids, I desperately need a relaxing vacation, not a jam packed international trip. It’s just exhausting, no fun at all. And I have experienced other cultures as my relatives are foreign and live abroad. They aren’t really very interesting or different than us. Many want to live here actually and I don’t blame them. I would much rather pack lightly and stay at a comfortable beach house or actually a lux hotel and just do nothing but sit on a beach or by a pool for a week and be waited on.

I'm the exact opposite. I crave active vacations - skiing, surfing, hiking, mountain biking, mountaineering, canoeing, etc, etc. No - the Grand Canyon is drastically different than the Galapagos. If you've seen one National Park, then you've seen one. And, sitting in one place sound like torture for a vacation because I have a desk job and sit in one place everyday. I'd be bored to tears plopping down on a beach and eating/drinking/being sedentary. Yikes! I'd rather go somewhere explore and try new food that locals eat, not rich tourists.

Like one PP said - I also have 2 vacation homes in places I LOVE. I go there when I don't want the challenges of travel and logistics, because yes, those are tiresome and complicated- no matter how you do it. One is a ski condo in CO the other is a beach condo in FL. I keep my sport gear there and can pop over for a quick trip with nothing more than my handbag - so I can take those super cheap flights with no faff.

Travel, relaxation, and vacation is not a one size fits all shoe. Different strokes for different folks. And, I still intentionally do stay cations sometimes.

Me again. We travel loads and yes we're rich. But I've never stayed in a Four Seasons or traveled First Class - business for work only. I too am like OP - amazed by HOW MANY people travel like we do (or much more luxuriously). Our travel budget is monstrous and we don't do luxury- not our style.