Anonymous wrote:About $15,000 for a family of 4, less than last year when there was a lot of wedding travel.

- Tag along work trip over a holiday
- Weekend skiing locally
- Europe over spring break
- Week or so at a lake resort in the summer
- Will probably try and plan for a fall something but it's a hard time to travel due to work and also activities and sports

OP here - which lake resort are you looking at? How do you manage Europe with 4 for under 10k?

About $15,000 for a family of 4, less than last year when there was a lot of wedding travel.

- Tag along work trip over a holiday
- Weekend skiing locally
- Europe over spring break
- Week or so at a lake resort in the summer
- Will probably try and plan for a fall something but it's a hard time to travel due to work and also activities and sports

We go wherever we want when we feel like it. We get about 30 vacation days a year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I normally never travel. Last time was in 2022 for a funeral. Later this month I'm going to the East Coast to visit family. A first class ticket has been paid for by the relative who asked me to come visit, and they will drive me to/from the airport. I am staying with them. So I plan to take them to dinner one night and maybe they will let me pay for groceries. Oh, and we have plans to see a movie.

So my budget is $200, but I think it'll wind up costing a bit less.

I'm surprised you are hanging out in a travel forum.

What? Why? Leave them alone -- they probably just "hang out" on DCUM, and look at the recent posts. DP

Anonymous wrote:We generally do

2-4 night February trip to Florida or Caribbean

5-7 night spring break trip

2 weeks Europe in summer

A few days to a local beach or to visit friends at end of summer

Quick weekend trip in fall - local mountains or Philly or somewhere else driveable.

5-7 days winter break trip.

Last year this meant Miami in February, Arizona/Utah for Spring break (Tucson, Antelope Canyon, Zion, France, Italy and Spain in Summer, Costa Rica winter break.

3 people, around $30k and a TON of points. Wouldn't be possible without points and credit card free nights like Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Aspire. Able to fly business and stay at high end places planning way in advance.

OP here - WOW you really know how to stretch the budget, could you share more on how you manage to do 2 weeks in Europe without blowing more than half the budget? Are the Marriot Bonvoy and Hilton Aspire from transferring credit card points?

Anonymous wrote:I normally never travel. Last time was in 2022 for a funeral. Later this month I'm going to the East Coast to visit family. A first class ticket has been paid for by the relative who asked me to come visit, and they will drive me to/from the airport. I am staying with them. So I plan to take them to dinner one night and maybe they will let me pay for groceries. Oh, and we have plans to see a movie.

So my budget is $200, but I think it'll wind up costing a bit less.

I'm surprised you are hanging out in a travel forum.

Anonymous wrote:Travel budget should be dependent on yearly income. $10K/trip is different for someone making $100K vs $800K

People know this ...

I normally never travel. Last time was in 2022 for a funeral. Later this month I'm going to the East Coast to visit family. A first class ticket has been paid for by the relative who asked me to come visit, and they will drive me to/from the airport. I am staying with them. So I plan to take them to dinner one night and maybe they will let me pay for groceries. Oh, and we have plans to see a movie.

So my budget is $200, but I think it'll wind up costing a bit less.

We generally do

2-4 night February trip to Florida or Caribbean

5-7 night spring break trip

2 weeks Europe in summer

A few days to a local beach or to visit friends at end of summer

Quick weekend trip in fall - local mountains or Philly or somewhere else driveable.

5-7 days winter break trip.

Last year this meant Miami in February, Arizona/Utah for Spring break (Tucson, Antelope Canyon, Zion, France, Italy and Spain in Summer, Costa Rica winter break.

3 people, around $30k and a TON of points. Wouldn't be possible without points and credit card free nights like Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Aspire. Able to fly business and stay at high end places planning way in advance.

Anonymous wrote:Travel budget should be dependent on yearly income. $10K/trip is different for someone making $100K vs $800K

OP here, agree - just looking for some inspiration at any budget and how to make dollars work harder especially for trips with a family of 4. Helpful to get a sense of the big picture - meaning if the family is taking 1 huge trip just once in the whole year for 20k, or several small trips. Like I mentioned in the initial post, we haven't had a year like this where much of our travel isn't already set based on other obligations.

Travel budget should be dependent on yearly income. $10K/trip is different for someone making $100K vs $800K

Anonymous wrote:OP here, yes managing our PTO is a real pain - two 1 week trips and it feels blown for the most part, and breaking it up doesn't feel as restful...can't win

+100

OP here, yes managing our PTO is a real pain - two 1 week trips and it feels blown for the most part, and breaking it up doesn't feel as restful...can't win

We are planning an October trip to England for DH and I, including London, Bath/Stonehenge, and a couple of other places (not sure yet, Oxford, Stratford upon Avon, and the Cotswolds are of interest as is a castle stay). Budget is about 15k, maybe a little more, but only that high because I am only willing to fly business on int'l flights (I have an illness that is exacerbated by lack of sleep and I need to lie flat to sleep).

Will also take a domestic trip, also just DH and I, at some point, possibly to a Nat'l Park (Great Smoky Mountains and Acadia are possibilities). Probably just for a long weekend. Maybe a 2k or a bit more budget for that.

I'll add that this year's travel budget is larger than some years -- we only do a big, expensive int'l trip every 2 or 3 years or so. Most recently we had a safari in 2021, so we were due for another big trip. Most years though, it's it is just something domestic and less expensive. The time off thing is an issue as well -- we are both lawyers.

We are working on our travel for the year and an accompanying budget. We have previously been dictated by family events and other things, and this year is a bit more open. Looking for some inspiration along with associated costs, including number of people covered.

For now, our year is a trip for 2 in Lapland in Q1 and a trip for 4 on a Very Merrytime Disney cruise in Q4. That's quite a bit of our budget as it is - interested in how others split out their budget and plan for the year, perhaps interspersing small drivable trips to make the year still feel full.

Q1: Lapland & Helsinki ($10K 2 people 7 nights)
Q4: Very Merrytime Cruise ($12K 4 people 4 nights)

I think in total our budget is $30-35 for the year, we could stretch more but prefer not to. Adding a child and grandma to our trips has made the budget go much quicker than it used to.

I'd like to add some local trips maybe Hershey Park (maybe $1500), NYC (maybe $1500), etc. and perhaps another flying trip like BahaMar for 3 (could be done in $4500).