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.

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).

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.

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).

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.

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+.

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.

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)

Anonymous wrote:Winter: Switzerland and Italy
Summer, just now: Thailand, Korea and Japan

OP here. Where in Switzerland and Italy? How long did you spend in Thailand, Korea, and Japan? How many people did you take on each and how much are you able to do these trips on?

Anonymous wrote:We were thinking Disney in the spring, but it's SO expensive - maybe will push to 2027.

Summer: renting a beach house with family/family friends at Rehoboth.

Fall: DH and I are going to Napa Valley.

OP here: We are planning a Disney Cruise for this winter, and WOW it ballooned. I don't think we would be able to do it more than once every several years without forgoing a lot of other travel.

We were thinking Disney in the spring, but it's SO expensive - maybe will push to 2027.

Summer: renting a beach house with family/family friends at Rehoboth.

Fall: DH and I are going to Napa Valley.

Winter: Switzerland and Italy
Summer, just now: Thailand, Korea and Japan

Anonymous wrote:$0 i just got back from our biannual international trip. Miserable for me. COVID is back, people hate Americans, fascism is on the rise around the world, fuel is so expensive. I'm going to hide out in my bunker for a couple of years. Wake me after 2028

OP here. Where did you go for the biannual international trip??

$0 i just got back from our biannual international trip. Miserable for me. COVID is back, people hate Americans, fascism is on the rise around the world, fuel is so expensive. I'm going to hide out in my bunker for a couple of years. Wake me after 2028

I posted this last year and received some wonderful ideas! We are working on our travel for next year and an accompanying budget. As with last year, we are no longer dictated by family events for the most part (one is listed below for next year), and are looking to expand our horizons with a 3 year old. Looking for some inspiration along with associated costs, including number of people covered.

For now, our year is a trip for 3 to Sun Valley where we have family accommodation in Q1 and a trip for 4 to Beaches in T&C for a family event 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: Sun Valley ($5K 3 people 4 nights - accommodation is covered, this is for flights, rentals, ski school)
Q4: Beaches Turks & Caicos ($10-12K 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.