What is your travel budget and plan for 2026?

[Anonymous]

We have teens and I am trying to figure out whether there will be a sports tournament required Easter weekend.
If no tournament would love to go to someplace like Tuscany or south of France or maybe Switzerland to ski?

If tournament we will only have like 5-6 days so am considering — paris, Panama (see the canal and then maybe boat trip on blas islands) or Belize beaches with snorkel and scuba. Open to ideas.

Summer is such a mess with teen jobs and classes and everything I don’t know what to do. My bucket list trip is Sicily and every year I saw “hmmm…not going to work this year.” Maybe we’ll just get a house at the beach with the dog for a week.

[Anonymous]

Either Ireland and the north of England, or Indonesia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Around 20k, includes a long European trip over winter (three weeks); a long European remote work trip over the summer (two months), a couple of off-season weekends at a Delaware beach; a couple of east coast trips for family stuff. Excludes another $10k in business travel that comes out of a different budget.

How do you do this for $20K? If there are three of, let’s assume 3 plane tickets at $600 each for each trip. That leaves $16500. Divided by 81 days (2 months plus three weeks) that’s just over $200/day for lodging, transportation (car rental, train tickets, subway, cabs, whatever) food and activities (museums, historic sites, tours, etc). And that’s not including the DE trip and the East Coast family visits you mention.

[Anonymous]

No budget yet but planning Paris and Copenhagen for late spring; Japan cruise for fall and London for Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Around 20k, includes a long European trip over winter (three weeks); a long European remote work trip over the summer (two months), a couple of off-season weekends at a Delaware beach; a couple of east coast trips for family stuff. Excludes another $10k in business travel that comes out of a different budget.

How do you do this for $20K? If there are three of, let’s assume 3 plane tickets at $600 each for each trip. That leaves $16500. Divided by 81 days (2 months plus three weeks) that’s just over $200/day for lodging, transportation (car rental, train tickets, subway, cabs, whatever) food and activities (museums, historic sites, tours, etc). And that’s not including the DE trip and the East Coast family visits you mention.

I travel a lot for work, so I use Amex points for all flights, we get a small airbnb. We don't rent cars - we take the bus/train. We have one meal a day out, and cook the other times. Kids go to local camps, and we work remotely. I am not including the cost of camps in the above figure since they would be in camps in DC for around the same price. We primarily come for language benefits/see family. We're not trying to cram stuff in, more like immerse. Delaware - same deal. Basic arbnb, state parks, one meal out. Family trips we stay with family and drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 2026 (calendar year): $30-35ish

Winter break: Caribbean followed by Disney for NYE

Spring break: Caribbean and Florida (plus DE beaches)

Summer: Italy, Croatia, and Montenegro (nearly 3 weeks) — plus a few trips to DE beaches

Fall: long weekend in the mountains

Other:

-NYC a couple times (including a winter trip to see Christmas decorations)

-Charleston/Kiawah (long weekend/other school break)

-Visit kids at college (plus football games)

-Always on the hunt for cheap flights to nearby Europe for a long weekend

-Spouse and kids might tag along on a business trip or two (typically an American city)

OP here. This is incredible to fit into 30-35 - do you use points for some of the NYC trips or Charleston? How many people do each of these trips cover? Re DE beaches do you have a home - the costs for stay have ballooned it seems, and just one trip can run $2k+.

For DE beaches: it’s a mix. To keep costs down, don’t stay for a week. We sometimes stay in hotels/motels or get a 3 night condo. We prefer to go during the shoulder season these days (after years of doing week long vacations there in summer but now prefer to go abroad or elsewhere during the summer).

Re: Points - Yes, we use points for hotels regularly. We are using points for flights this spring. We have everyone in our household linked to certain credit cards to generate air and hotel points.

My estimate might be a bit low, but it’s a good ball park.

My best tip is to constantly research and track flights and hotels to find deals. And don’t limit yourself to weeklong trips. Finally, be prepared to drive. If you live in the dc metro area, there are tons of places you can drive to within a day or so. Don’t waste your money on flights; drive and use the money on the actual vacation.

Lastly: not every meal needs to be a big sit down production. We enjoy good food/nice restaurants, but we balance that with less costly food.

PS - I have status with a hotel chain and having access to their executive lounge has become a terrific perk for my family. Ditto for the airport lounge and free checked bags.

PPS - We are a big family by dcum standards (more than 4, less than the Von Trapps).

OP here - this is incredible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing for Q1 (last semester of twins in college). Maybe an international graduation trip and definitely a fall trip to either New England or Nova Scotia for spouse and myself.

OP here - what are you planning to do in NS? I'm just now discovering Canada as a destination

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grand Cayman for spring break, Disney Cruise next summer. Long weekend in NYC sometime TBD. I’m guessing will be about $20k or so but don’t track it specifically.

We did UK and France this summer and Hawaii the year before and I’m exhausted from trip planning. DH doesn’t help and just says “sounds good honey!” It’s too much work alone. Pushing the easy button in 2026.

OP here. Haha same! I love to trip plan, but sometimes on top of managing everything else it gets to be more of a chore than fun. I've just now reached out to an agent to see what that can do to the process - I may miss it too much to let go completely. Where in Hawaii and France did you go? Would you mind sharing more details on that trip? I've just seen Kimpton Seafire (sp?) in Cayman that seems v nice.

DP

For Grand Cayman, families should rent a condo on Seven Mile Beach. You should also rent a car. There are nice beaches and things to see around the island, so you don’t want to be tied to a hotel/resort. Plus, the restaurants are very, very expensive. Go to the grocery store and small cafes for breakfast/coffee.

You won’t fight for lounge chairs at a condo.

Having said all that, Kimpton is nice. If money is no object, there’s a nicer boutique hotel down the way. Ritz is too crowded imho (ditto for Westin). If you are looking for a nice budget option, there’s a nice Hampton Inn.

PS - I’ve found travel agents to be overpriced. I used to have them price things out for me but found I could do better myself. I was shocked by what I was quoted for private car services in Italy and found far better prices by coordinating through the hotel concierge directly (like half the price quoted by the travel agent).

OP here - this is what I'm worried about with travel agents. Re Cayman - I've noticed I like luxury but need it to be justified - we aren't at a place where we can spend money on the most luxurious resort without thinking about value. Appreciate the suggestion to rent a condo!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My tentative plan is to spend ~2 weeks in England, roughly a week in London and a week in Cornwall. May swap a few days here and there to be able to visit friends/family. Maybe add a layover in Iceland for a few days depending on flight prices. Estimating $11K for three people (1 adult, 2 kids) not including food costs.

In theory, my best friend and I were planning a trip this year to celebrate our 50ths, but her dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, so we have postponed. It's possible we may do it in 2026, but will have to wait and see how things go. Budget for that is $5-7K. Our original plan was Italy (Amalfi).

Other than that, nothing planned. One of my kids has sports practices over spring break, and other long weekends usually end up being used for grandparent visits. We do have an extended break for Memorial Day in 2026, so maybe we'll do something then.

OP here. This is incredible - minus the very sad diagnosis - where are you staying in England and cornwall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure yet. We will definitely go skiing in the winter - possibly Dolomites again, or France, plus somewhere West in the spring.

Thinking about a week in Provence in the early summer. We are at the beach the rest of the summer.

OP here - do you ski based on the Epic or Icon pass and have you found it to be worth it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't plan trips that far ahead of time.

OP here - we never used to - we'd get a bit of money and then plan something within a month or two. Now that we have a bit more leeway/savings we have started to plan in advance, and its amazing the savings we can achieve - I love a good deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grand Cayman for spring break, Disney Cruise next summer. Long weekend in NYC sometime TBD. I’m guessing will be about $20k or so but don’t track it specifically.

We did UK and France this summer and Hawaii the year before and I’m exhausted from trip planning. DH doesn’t help and just says “sounds good honey!” It’s too much work alone. Pushing the easy button in 2026.

OP here. Haha same! I love to trip plan, but sometimes on top of managing everything else it gets to be more of a chore than fun. I've just now reached out to an agent to see what that can do to the process - I may miss it too much to let go completely. Where in Hawaii and France did you go? Would you mind sharing more details on that trip? I've just seen Kimpton Seafire (sp?) in Cayman that seems v nice.

I'm the PP. I was interested in Seafire but points rooms were sold out by the time I checked so we are booked 4 nights at Hotel Indigo. It also gets good reviews and actually was fewer points. I also booked 3 nights at the brand new Grand Hyatt Grand Cayman opening the same week we are there. I am nervous about that - I've never stayed at a literal brand new hotel before.

OP here - I've heard good things about the Baha Mar Hyatt so hopefully its great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For kids I highly recommend figuring out a way to go to Billund Denmark the home of Lego. Lego House is great and is legoland. And it has an amazing restaurant where you make your order in Legos.

OP here - this sounds really cool. Going to start with one of the local Lego Discovery centers to see if our little is interested

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Summer 2026- Paris and then Iceland for the solar eclipse
Spring break 2026-possibly skiing in Utah or CO

OP here. I didn't realize there was an eclipse next year - Iceland is on our list, thank you for the idea!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not really sure but we spend a lot on travel sports. Probably 8 weekends a year at $2k minimum each plus one weekend to see family for $3k with flight and then a summer vacation in Rehoboth for Maybe $7k not including pet care and then spring break and winter break for another $25k.

OP here - wow we have a much younger child, i didn't know travel sports were this expensive!