Most expensive vacation you’ve ever taken?

[Anonymous]

I’m really entertained by the “it was worth it” responses. Big difference between. “It was worth it” and my spouse makes $10mm a year, and “it was worth it” we are now $100k in credit card debt for life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are people just trolling and making up these numbers ?

Unbelievable.

I assume a lot of those people have generational wealth and are used to those kinds of vacations. I am wealthy now but grew up with a teacher mom, so I am used to living a middle class lifestyle. My husband also grew up middle class and is in tech and makes low 7 figures. We've never spent 50-60k on a vacation, though we could. I don't even think I've spent over 12k, and I've had some nice vacations. I'm just not comfortable spending that much, to me it is ridiculously over the top. I'd rather invest more or spend on something I use everyday.

We both grew up in strictly middle class families in third world countries, so no generational wealth here. We came to the US to study and worked our way into well-paying careers and had a bit of luck with the stock market. Beyond a point after saving well and making sure our kids are taken care of we can’t take anything with us. We would rather create memories with the kids and grandkids. I would always look at National Geographic magazines with awe when I was a kid and I can finally visit the places I thought I’d only be able to dream of.

Of course, well paying careers are key. But at some point, if you were raised middle class, you decided to substantially increase your spending far beyond that which you need to be comfortable or taken care of. It's interesting to me that you are taking regular luxury vacations to "create memories" just because you have money to burn. Maybe I just can't shake my own middle class frugality. I love to travel, can easily afford that kind of travel, and yet view a 60k Galapagos tour as a very wasteful (and let's be honest, environmentally destructive) way to spend one's wealth. But you're right, there comes a point where acquiring more wealth is pointless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents both came from low income families, with one receiving welfare as a child. They became quite wealthy when I child, and luxury and unique travel experiences became the way they wanted to spend their money. It’s an incredible gift they gave to me, and now my children. I’m very grateful for that, as it’s not something I could ever afford. My kids are super lucky with the trips they get from grandparents, but we also take our own family trips on much smaller budgets and they are still really cool and fun. Luxury travel is awesome, but camping in national parks can be just as amazing. I think just taking your kids places and exposing them to different stuff is a great gift to give them. You don’t need to spend $50k to give them a wonderful travel experience.

So true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m really entertained by the “it was worth it” responses. Big difference between. “It was worth it” and my spouse makes $10mm a year, and “it was worth it” we are now $100k in credit card debt for life.

We took the bucket list trip with our older teens, before they left for college, have never taken a trip like it and I can't imagine spending that much money on a vacation ever again - and I have no regrets. We saved for it (Covid helped because we had jobs and weren't spending money), and did not go into debt for the trip - we paid for it on our cc to get the points, and paid our cc off in full that month, as we do every month

At the time our income was $230k, although now one of us has lost their job, and our income is down to $117k. Still no regrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to know how much money you make to take $60K vacations. I think posters need to add this information.

I just posted. Its not about "money you make". Its your net worth.
Our NW is around $35M. We spend about $100-150k on travel annually for a family of 5 (usually 2 long trips: 1 spring or early summer and 1 winter break). We also have 3 homes.

This 1000%. Once you are $25-30M+, what else will you spend your $$ on? We own 2 homes (no mortgages), college is paid for as well as grad school, we budget $500K/year to live off of and can generate that from interest/bond income easily after taxes. So we can afford to spend that much. We didn't spend that much when we were only worth $5-8M.

[Anonymous]

We definitely average 40-60K per trip as a family of 5. I actually don’t know how people say they did luxury trips for 20K or less?

Just fyi we’ve used travel advisors and many companies define luxury as above 1K per person per day, not including airfare or food. So a trip to Greece for a family of 5 for a week is 35K, plus maybe 15K for flights and another 5K for food. Total of 55K would be bottom floor luxury travel.

Not my definition, just sharing what I’ve learned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are people just trolling and making up these numbers ?

Unbelievable.

I assume a lot of those people have generational wealth and are used to those kinds of vacations. I am wealthy now but grew up with a teacher mom, so I am used to living a middle class lifestyle. My husband also grew up middle class and is in tech and makes low 7 figures. We've never spent 50-60k on a vacation, though we could. I don't even think I've spent over 12k, and I've had some nice vacations. I'm just not comfortable spending that much, to me it is ridiculously over the top. I'd rather invest more or spend on something I use everyday.

No generational wealth. We made our money. Parents were not wealthy on one side and immigrants on the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m really entertained by the “it was worth it” responses. Big difference between. “It was worth it” and my spouse makes $10mm a year, and “it was worth it” we are now $100k in credit card debt for life.

I”m one of the “it was worth it” posters and I think the reason why you’re seeing those statements is because of the question posed: “What’s the most expensive vacation you’ve ever taken?” When you cross the barrier into the “most expensive” of any decision you make, there’s a lot of thought and planning (financial and other) that goes into it. It’s not something done on a whim, at least in my case. We did not go into debt for the trip.

[Anonymous]

FWIW is worth, our net worth is about 2.5M and I just booked an East Africa safari trip for a family of four for 55K including flights.

I know we spend a LOT more on travel than most people in our income bracket (hence our net worth "only" 2.5M). But it is worth it to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW is worth, our net worth is about 2.5M and I just booked an East Africa safari trip for a family of four for 55K including flights.

I know we spend a LOT more on travel than most people in our income bracket (hence our net worth "only" 2.5M). But it is worth it to us.

Mind me asking who you used?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents both came from low income families, with one receiving welfare as a child. They became quite wealthy when I child, and luxury and unique travel experiences became the way they wanted to spend their money. It’s an incredible gift they gave to me, and now my children. I’m very grateful for that, as it’s not something I could ever afford. My kids are super lucky with the trips they get from grandparents, but we also take our own family trips on much smaller budgets and they are still really cool and fun. Luxury travel is awesome, but camping in national parks can be just as amazing. I think just taking your kids places and exposing them to different stuff is a great gift to give them. You don’t need to spend $50k to give them a wonderful travel experience.

So true.

very true, but if you can easily afford a fancy vacation, that is also fun and meaningful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About $15K at a villa in Turks and Caicos for 5 nights. Family with teens. Economy flights, nice dinners, a few expensive excursions.

How many kids do you have? We just paid $18.6k for only 4 nights at an all inclusive in Turks and Caicos (flights included) and I feel like we’re the biggest suckers in the world. We have 3 kids and I’m guessing that’s why we’re paying so much. Our trip isn’t til next year and it’s during a “peak” time because we’re going during our kids’ spring break. But still… it feels excessively expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are people just trolling and making up these numbers ?

Unbelievable.

I assume a lot of those people have generational wealth and are used to those kinds of vacations. I am wealthy now but grew up with a teacher mom, so I am used to living a middle class lifestyle. My husband also grew up middle class and is in tech and makes low 7 figures. We've never spent 50-60k on a vacation, though we could. I don't even think I've spent over 12k, and I've had some nice vacations. I'm just not comfortable spending that much, to me it is ridiculously over the top. I'd rather invest more or spend on something I use everyday.

No generational wealth. We made our money. Parents were not wealthy on one side and immigrants on the other.

+1

No generational wealth for us either. Both sets of parents were LMC. We had to work for everything we have.

If you don't enjoy spending that much then certainly don't. We routinely spend $20K for 2 of us on 14-18 day trips to Europe. Add in the 2 adult kids and it's much more. For us, business class flights are $5-6K+ per person (kids normally go Economy Plus/Premium Plus if available so $1-2K less). So for just 2 of us it's $10-12K alone for airfare, add in the kids and it's $4-6Kmore for airfare and a 2nd hotel room each night as well. But it's not anything over the top fancy. A good (but not top hotel) in Paris/London in a good area is easily 600Euros+ per night especially in May thru September.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About $15K at a villa in Turks and Caicos for 5 nights. Family with teens. Economy flights, nice dinners, a few expensive excursions.

How many kids do you have? We just paid $18.6k for only 4 nights at an all inclusive in Turks and Caicos (flights included) and I feel like we’re the biggest suckers in the world. We have 3 kids and I’m guessing that’s why we’re paying so much. Our trip isn’t til next year and it’s during a “peak” time because we’re going during our kids’ spring break. But still… it feels excessively expensive.

The key is 5 of you (so is a 2nd room required, I'm betting it is) and all inclusive. T&C is not cheap.
And spring break and xmas are always way more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW is worth, our net worth is about 2.5M and I just booked an East Africa safari trip for a family of four for 55K including flights.

I know we spend a LOT more on travel than most people in our income bracket (hence our net worth "only" 2.5M). But it is worth it to us.

Mind me asking who you used?

Not PP but we used Iconic Africa and highly recommend them.