This is “cheating” as we live overseas on military orders. We are on one government salary, with a 4yo and 6yo. They’ve been to 24 countries so far, even with being sidelined for 18 months due to pandemic travel restrictions. EU travel is very affordable overall when you’re already based in the EU, and we live close to several countries you can easily do a weekend trip to. We are due to return to the US next year; I am sure it will take a couple decades or more or never after that for them to visit another 24 countries. (Favorites have been Baltic states, Scotland, Morocco, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece).

Anonymous wrote:HHI of $800k with two under five and at this point I can’t imagine anything other than the most basic, driveable beach rental vacay. Maybe we will fly to the Caribbean eventually but I don’t like all-inclusive because we don’t drink, don’t want to send the kids to a kids’ club, and don’t like eating out more than one or two meals a week. Omg we sound like the most annoying people ever! DH and I traveled quite a bit in our early marriage but we have settled down to being homebodies in our mid-late 30s. Maybe we will grow out of it once both kids reach ES.

I love you.

Kids 11 and 13 been to 15 states, Mexico, St Lucia, PR, DR, Costa Rica, Italy, Montreal and QC. All the local beaches here too. We didn't want to get too crazy until youngest was 5 to start flying everywhere. We don't have a ton of family so it's really all about where we want to see next. But as they have gotten older and us too, we also like just staying home and being lazy lol! So I'm kind of torn in terms if always seeing as much as possible and getting enough down time and relaxation. There's a point where we've never before gone to same place 2x but so enjoyed Italy and CR we kind of want to repeat.

Ultimately it's about the love of seeing new sights v taking them to see as much of the world. I did a ton of international travel younger and I'm not sure I really retained much while DH hardly any. But by our 20s both of us had wanderlust and were off to so many places in our own. I think in some level when you're older and do it in your own it can be more impactful.

Unfortunately I also think so much of our earth is changing and worry in 10-20 years mg kids prob won't be able to enjoy as we did.

We are Indian-Americans and most of our annual trips were to India to see the grandparents. My kids have gone to India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and around 8 Indian states (road trips) and several big cities on our annual trips to India. We have also visited England, France, Canada, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Switzerland, Italy, Chile, Peru, Iceland. Some of these were by breaking our trip to India and staying from a couple days to up to a week in some of these countries.

We have done several long road trips and seen many national parks in the US. These were due to going to out of state for competitions, camps, internships, college visits etc. DH is pretty good about wanting to travel. My kids on the other hand hate traveling. They don't mind visiting tourist sites, but they hate the travel. The planes, the airports, the road trips. They like fancy food in fancy restaurants and they like luxury hotels, but getting to and fro the destination bugs them and most of the times the historical sites or tourist destinations do not move them, the same way they move me.

We have never gone on a cruise because my kids hate the idea. They do not like the beach or the ocean. They hate shopping too. We went to Disney world and universal studios a few times but my kids are not big fans and never wanted to return to it.

We are looking forward to travelling without the children now that they are in college. Taking them with us was for me a royal pain in the butt. My DH on the other hand wanted them with us all the time. I think they will like going with their friends rather than going with us parents.

France, Italy, Spain, Scotland, St Kitts, St Thomas, Grand Cayman, Canada, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Japan, maybe Iceland and/or Ireland and/or Peru and/or England (those are potential future trips on the list). In the US, biggest trips have been Maine, San Francisco, Orlando, Savannah, NYC, Boston. HHI between 400k and 500k, and our jobs have a lot of vacation.

My kids are 10 and 13 and have been to 5 States and 15 countries. I think that is pretty much the count they will graduate with. We’ll be revisiting many of the same places over the next few years.

My current 8th grader has been to Italy, Turkey, Canada, Bahamas (& a couple of other countries for day-long layovers). He’s been to Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain National Parks and a few others. About half the US states in total, and cities such as NYC, Philly, Boston, DC, and Pittsburgh. We also do local/regional camping trips several times a year (Shenandoah, Assateague, etc).
There are a lot of other places I’d like to take him, but there is only so much time.
HHI is $180K. Time/family obligations seem our biggest constraints.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We would love to do an Europe trip before oldest goes to college. If we can only swing one trip, what should we prioritize? And I would love to do shorter trips to cities. But a lot of cities require flights, which are so pricey now.

Personally, I think Italy has it all. History, art, food, beautiful scenery, music, shopping, etc. You will feel like you are somewhere very different from home, but it’s got good tourist infrastructure so easy enough to get around. France is the other obvious choice and you will find those who argue passionately in favor of France over Italy. It’s really a matter of taste I suppose, but Italy would be my vote.

Agree with Italy being the best choice - it was my kids’ favorite.

If you want to squeeze in more than one country, London and Paris connecting via train.

OP here. Thanks for the suggestions.

Have you considered a cruise, op?

You could cruise from Italy and see Croatia and potentially Montenegro on your way to Greece.

Or start in Barcelona and hit Palma de Mallorca before continuing on to the South of France and then a few stops in Italy.

It’s a great way to see several different places.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious about this too. My kids will have been to quite a few states (mostly because we have moved within the US a few times) and about 5 countries. When I graduated from high school I had never been outside the US, but that was many years ago. And we were poor.

OP here. Travel abroad wasn’t a thing even for most middle class families. Now it’s the norm?? I wonder for how long given inflation. But yeah, it’s crazy all the places kids have been to from my kids’ classes.

Flights are much cheaper now (even with recent inflation) than 30 years ago. In mid-90s I went to SE Asia, flight was $1600. Same flight today is $1700, even though inflation since then almost exactly doubled.

Also, not to stereotype, but the average DCUM is not even close to median US household income- aka middle class. You may think of yourself as middle class, but you very likely are not. Nationally, median household income is about 80k. In this area it's about $115k.

But expenses are higher also... Maybe living in a diverse area makes people more interested in travel, maybe it's competition.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We would love to do an Europe trip before oldest goes to college. If we can only swing one trip, what should we prioritize? And I would love to do shorter trips to cities. But a lot of cities require flights, which are so pricey now.

Personally, I think Italy has it all. History, art, food, beautiful scenery, music, shopping, etc. You will feel like you are somewhere very different from home, but it’s got good tourist infrastructure so easy enough to get around. France is the other obvious choice and you will find those who argue passionately in favor of France over Italy. It’s really a matter of taste I suppose, but Italy would be my vote.

Agree with Italy being the best choice - it was my kids’ favorite.

If you want to squeeze in more than one country, London and Paris connecting via train.

Several countries in Europe, Hawaii, Canada, Caribbean, Alaska, Arizona, up and down east coast.

We lost out on Costa Rica and Japan during the covid years and unfortunately with college visits and SAT etc coming up, don’t think we’ll be able to squeeze those in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We would love to do an Europe trip before oldest goes to college. If we can only swing one trip, what should we prioritize? And I would love to do shorter trips to cities. But a lot of cities require flights, which are so pricey now.

Personally, I think Italy has it all. History, art, food, beautiful scenery, music, shopping, etc. You will feel like you are somewhere very different from home, but it’s got good tourist infrastructure so easy enough to get around. France is the other obvious choice and you will find those who argue passionately in favor of France over Italy. It’s really a matter of taste I suppose, but Italy would be my vote.

Agree. I’d choose in following order: Italy, France, England.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We would love to do an Europe trip before oldest goes to college. If we can only swing one trip, what should we prioritize? And I would love to do shorter trips to cities. But a lot of cities require flights, which are so pricey now.

Personally, I think Italy has it all. History, art, food, beautiful scenery, music, shopping, etc. You will feel like you are somewhere very different from home, but it’s got good tourist infrastructure so easy enough to get around. France is the other obvious choice and you will find those who argue passionately in favor of France over Italy. It’s really a matter of taste I suppose, but Italy would be my vote.

9th grader, visited Mexico (Cancun, Cabo, Cozumel - different trips), Aruba, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Europe (Switzerland, Paris, London, Croatia, Slovenia , Spain, Italy when he as a 1 yr old, doesn't count), US (Vegas, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Disney Florida and California, Universal, Hawaii), our home country in Asia. Our HHI is now ~600K but we have almost always been 200K+ HHI. We play the miles and points game, sometimes take uncomfortable flights and have pulled kids from school a week before summer vacation etc. For example - our entire trip to Aruba including cabs and food was ~3K for the three of us, as it was heavily subsidized by miles and points. My husband was a consultant so business travel points also accrued along with free breakfast at Hayat's and Marriott's.