I want to travel damn it...

[Apple]

Mar 25, 2019 21:07:04 GMT -5 travelnut11 said:

Just booked Chicago to Stockholm direct for $400 in September. Never been to Scandinavia but have heard good things about Stockholm and plan to take a side trip to Tallin, Estonia as well.

On Thanksgiving, I booked a trip from PDX to Stockholm for $370.  Could not pass it up at that price!  I'll be taking an overnight ferry to Turku, Finland and spend two days just wandering each side of the river and relaxing when I get there.  Booked the flights, overnight ferry (to and from Finland), and six nights in a private room/bath, for under $800 total.  I leave at the end of April and I can't wait!

[Apple]

I would love to do some kind of foreign vacation at least twice a year (I get 16 days off in a row, if I use 16 hours of vacation time, every 10 weeks, so I have lots of opportunities to take off job-wise).  However, I'm still helping the kid with college, maxing my retirement, and still saving to build that house on the property, so I have to split my money up more than I want to.  I'm also looking at having to file single/no dependents next year, so the tax increase has been a bit painful and cut into the travel fund.

I wish I could just sell the current house, build the new one, and then at least that would be done, but it's not quite that simple.  If DS wasn't still at home for now, I might be tempted to sell the current house and just live in a cheap trailer on my property for a few months while a house is being built.  But, there are some other factors involved, and at least in the current house I don't have a commute (I'm door-to-door in 10 minutes).

Even though I feel like I'm scrimping and saving everywhere else, I always want to put at least a little money aside for travel.  The Sweden trip will be just me, but I'm taking my son to the coast in a couple weeks just to kick back in a yurt with a fire pit for a few days.

I'd rather travel the world on a budget than cut down to fewer trips.  I usually have one day where I can go all out and do the expensive dinner, a show, etc.  But, as long as my room is clean and as quiet as I can hope for, I'm happy.  I try to spend as little time in my room as possible, so I only need the very basics.  The real money goes to things that matter more to me.  Once the house is built and the child is launched, I hope to have a crazy travel budget every year though.

[chiver78]

Mar 26, 2019 8:25:16 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

I need to think twice about coming into this thread in the future!  It's stirring up travel lust.  We're doing a waterpark for a couple of nights in April and then it's camping in Wisconsin the rest of the summer. 

 

I'll be staying close to home in 2019, going to try to keep my travel out to AZ to just one trip. he can come here more than once, he's got way more vacation time.    next year when I can buy an additional week of vacation time, game on!    we were actually just talking yesterday about the places we've been and where we want to go in the future. I've been all over Europe, and he's done the Australia/NZ big trip. guess that's easier when you're starting out from farther west. 

[wvugurl26]

I want that Australia trip badly. But we have other expensive habits besides travel like a theater package and sports tickets. And right now it would burn all of my DH's vacation.

[Value Buy]

When we vacationed while still working, we enjoyed the states.
Rockies several times
Smokies several times,
Carolina coasts twice
The Catskills and NYC
Upper Michigan and Wisconsin couple of times
All over Florida, both sides as well as of course all the Kiddielands in Orlando with the kids and grandkids.
One overseas international trip- Athens and two greek islands
Three Carribean cruises

Before our marriage, NYC and California for me, as well as a week in Sydney when I was in the service
Puerto Rico, Canada and several cruises for my wife

I think our overseas traveling is out as 15 hour or more flights just do not interest either of us.
We are considering Brazil or maybe Argentina in the near future and I would love to see Australia and New Zealand but wife does not want that long flight. Her legs always give her problems,

[Deleted]

Mar 27, 2019 6:29:33 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I want that Australia trip badly. But we have other expensive habits besides travel like a theater package and sports tickets. And right now it would burn all of my DH's vacation.

I've given up on Australia.   I won't fly Coach and Business Class airfares are extortion.  As for miles... my brother used them to bring my SIL with him on a business trip to Australia and it took 400,000 OnePass miles.    (For comparison, I flew to India in Business Class except for the segment from London to my home for something like 170,000.)  There are plenty of other wonderful places to explore.  I LOVED the Baja Peninsula and the Sea of Cortez.  And Southwest flies to Cabo San Lucas!

To those of you yearning to go but it's not in the budget:  been there, done that.  I went to Europe in 1977 and 1980 but then I met my first husband, who did NOT travel well and had "wants" that far outstripped his income.  I cringe when I think of the $$ I spent to prop him up (took out a car loan so he could buy a Camaro, paid for a few deep-sea fishing trips off the coast of NJ at over $1,000 each in the early 1980s).  And then we married and had DS.  I was fortunate that I had jobs that occasionally sent me to Europe but traveling on my own dime wasn't in the budget if I wanted to save money, too. It wasn't until I divorced in 1997, met second DH and started using frequent flyer and hotel points from my travels and from credit cards that we were able to go to Europe a couple of times a year.  

So.. try to be patient and do what you can to keep yourself in good health.  I'm 66 and still scrambling uphill over boulders on hikes and paddling kayaks.

[tcu2003]

I’m FB friends with a couple from my hometown (know them from church, and their older two kids are about my age), and I’m loving watching their retirement travels. They retired somewhat early (I think around 60), as did the wife’s best friend and her husband (they all live in the same town), and now they’re traveling all over together. Right now they’re on a cruise from Florida to Italy with stops along the way, and then they’ll fly home from there. In the last couple of years they’ve also gone to Australia and a cruise through the Panama Canal, plus US based trips. They’re all still healthy and seem to be doing exactly what they want to and traveling all over.

[Deleted]

I meet a lot of active older people on UnCruise.  Some are in their 80s and still hiking.  I found it interesting how many of them were up on the top deck (where they have the exercise machines) doing yoga.  I still prefer cardio for the calorie burn but there must be something to yoga.  

There are no guarantees; I met a 50-ish woman who was an esophageal cancer survivor and had to watch how much she ate because they'd removed the cancerous part of her esophagus and her stomach was about a foot up from where it was originally.  Stuff happens.  One of the "benefits" of having a husband 15 years older was that I knew it was unlikely he'd be up for travel if we waited to do it all till I retired at 65.  I ended up retiring at 61 and he died 2.5 years later.  I'm very glad we were able to work in travel from the beginning.  We just watched the budget a lot more carefully, used hotel and airline points and flew Coach until DH found it harder and harder to recover from long-haul Coach and said he'd like to fly Business Class from then on.  And now I'm spoiled.  

[Cookies Galore]

Mar 27, 2019 6:29:33 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I want that Australia trip badly. But we have other expensive habits besides travel like a theater package and sports tickets. And right now it would burn all of my DH's vacation.

Same. Adequate vacation time is my impetus for hubsie to build his portfolio and get a new job in a couple of years. It's not exactly reason number 1 why we don't travel as much as we could right now, but it's definitely reason 1a.

A lot of our fun money this year is going to be used up with dining out, fundraisers (it's a local election year - these are important ones, folks!), and probably house stuff.

Hubs is super into triathlons and endurance events, so I want to combine our love for Aruba and running and take a runcation for the Ronde van Aruba, a race around the island.

[travelnut11]

Mar 26, 2019 21:52:13 GMT -5 Apple said:

Mar 25, 2019 21:07:04 GMT -5 travelnut11 said:

Just booked Chicago to Stockholm direct for $400 in September. Never been to Scandinavia but have heard good things about Stockholm and plan to take a side trip to Tallin, Estonia as well.

On Thanksgiving, I booked a trip from PDX to Stockholm for $370.  Could not pass it up at that price!  I'll be taking an overnight ferry to Turku, Finland and spend two days just wandering each side of the river and relaxing when I get there.  Booked the flights, overnight ferry (to and from Finland), and six nights in a private room/bath, for under $800 total.  I leave at the end of April and I can't wait!

Yes! Please report back on any cool Stockholm tips you have.

[travelnut11]

Direct flight from Chicago to Barcelona yesterday for $329. It's going to cost me more than that to go to Florida this year.

[chiver78]

Mar 27, 2019 9:16:50 GMT -5 travelnut11 said:

Direct flight from Chicago to Barcelona yesterday for $329. It's going to cost me more than that to go to Florida this year.

this is the time of year to find amazing deals on airfare to Europe. actually, going back even a few weeks ago, too. I caught a sale on Aer Lingus one year during football playoffs (we watched the Pats in a pub over there, that's why I remember) that got a group of college friends and I to spend a long weekend in the Irish town I'd worked in on/off for a few years. I think we paid $99 each way. that's crazy. 

[wvugurl26]

I did decide while reading this yesterday that we are going to Barbados in January 2021. DH has declared he wants to be somewhere warm and sunny on his 40th birthday.

We haven't made it there yet so I think that's going to be the big trip for his 40th. 2020 definitely includes a cruise somewhere because he wants to try it out.

[steph08]

Do you all have specific sites that you search for those amazing airfare deals? I need them in my life! 

I recently got a decent raise at work, we decided to keep living in our cheap-ish house, and I want to make up for the travel I've been missing since having the kids. 

This July, we're hitting a local lake resort for a few days and then I'll take the kids to CO to visit my brother.

In January, I'm doing Disney Marathon Weekend for the third year in a row (fourth time total) with my mom. 

I want to do a cruise next March-April with the family. I need to convince DH on that. Carnival leaves from Baltimore - we can easily do that drive and they seem to have some good kid stuff (cat in the hat, etc.). 

I would also love to get off the North American continent next year - whether to Europe or South America. 

[chiver78]

I had been on mailing lists for the airlines I flew with any regularity. now, that's just JetBlue, but I still search airfares via Kayak. they search for you, everything except Southwest appears in the results. I still book directly through the airline website, but Kayak is a pretty good tool. you can search nearby airports, flexible dates, that kind of thing.

[travelnut11]

I'm addicted to this site: scottscheapflights.com/

I was skeptical at first so just signed up for the free service to check it out. You pick a region (eg. Midwest) and they send you emails with the deals they find from those locations. I did the free service for a while to see if I actually could book the fares they found (yep!) and then signed up for the premium service which was maybe $40 for the year and includes more deals than the free service? I have more than made up for that fee with my $400 direct to Stockholm. I also almost booked a direct Chicago to China last year for $475 and only didn't because the timing didn't quite work out.

[Apple]

Mar 27, 2019 10:14:40 GMT -5 steph08 said:

Do you all have specific sites that you search for those amazing airfare deals? I need them in my life! 

I recently got a decent raise at work, we decided to keep living in our cheap-ish house, and I want to make up for the travel I've been missing since having the kids. 

This July, we're hitting a local lake resort for a few days and then I'll take the kids to CO to visit my brother.

In January, I'm doing Disney Marathon Weekend for the third year in a row (fourth time total) with my mom. 

I want to do a cruise next March-April with the family. I need to convince DH on that. Carnival leaves from Baltimore - we can easily do that drive and they seem to have some good kid stuff (cat in the hat, etc.). 

I would also love to get off the North American continent next year - whether to Europe or South America. 

I use kayak.com and their "explore" option (anytime, anywhere, from my home airport). The results come up on a map and I look for something cheap and see if the dates line up with my time off (you can narrow it down as much as you want with the dates/ month, but I like seeing all the options since I get such different dates off on my schedule).

Dublin was $360, but since I've already been there, I chose Stockholm instead.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Mar 27, 2019 6:29:33 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I want that Australia trip badly. But we have other expensive habits besides travel like a theater package and sports tickets. And right now it would burn all of my DH's vacation.

We want to do this too, but want to take time to do it.  With TD still working, this will be the first trip planned after he retires.  

In the meantime, we will do 3 x 2-4 week trips each year.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I have fallen down the rabbit hole in Cruise Critic, looking at World Cruises.  The major appeal is getting to see a lot, without having to unpack.  Then we would get an idea of places we want to go back to and see more, on a slower schedule.

[zibazinski]

I want to travel but not alone and all the singles or women only trips are very overpriced. There’s a killer deal to a fancy Bimini resort but double occupancy. I asked about paying for two, still less than $400, but they want the extra person wining and dining.

[Deleted]

Mar 29, 2019 7:04:23 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I want to travel but not alone and all the singles or women only trips are very overpriced. There’s a killer deal to a fancy Bimini resort but double occupancy. I asked about paying for two, still less than $400, but they want the extra person wining and dining.

Have you looked at Overseas Adventure Travel?  No Single supplement.  I went with them to India and Nepal and they were great.  I'm planning to use them to go to the Galapagos because the price for a Single for UnCruise, which I love, is thousands more than OAT.  They're not cheap but they cover nearly everything.  I passed up the only "extra"- a $300 flight over the Himalayas because it would have meant getting up at 5 AM and taking the AWFUL road to the Kathmandu airport (still in bad shape after an earthquake) and there was always the possibility of cloud cover obscuring the view.  I didn't spend much on anything else except for jewelry. 

[TheHaitian]

Mar 29, 2019 7:04:23 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I want to travel but not alone and all the singles or women only trips are very overpriced. There’s a killer deal to a fancy Bimini resort but double occupancy. I asked about paying for two, still less than $400, but they want the extra person wining and dining.

No girlfriends you can take with you?
Or your daughter?

[travelnut11]

Mar 29, 2019 7:04:23 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I want to travel but not alone and all the singles or women only trips are very overpriced. There’s a killer deal to a fancy Bimini resort but double occupancy. I asked about paying for two, still less than $400, but they want the extra person wining and dining.

Zib, have you checked out Intrepid? No single supplement unless you want your own room and those charges are pretty reasonable. I haven't been on an Intrepid tour but they have a good reputation in the industry and their prices are really reasonable and groups small.

www.intrepidtravel.com/us/about/solo-travel

[Deleted]

Thanks for the Intrepid suggestion!  I'm also always on the lookout for reasonably-priced Single travel when I want a group tour.  I'm not thrilled with the idea of a roommate but I know that's an option for some people.

I met a large group from Women Traveling Together on my Sea of Cortez cruise.  The owner of the company was there, too.  She described the business as a "retailer" so I guess they just assemble groups for tours organized by other companies.  Same deal as with Intrepid- they'll assign a roommate if you want one.  I was really impressed with the women in the group; they tended to stick together at meals but when I talked with them one-on-one (hiking, for example, or random meetings), they were smart, interesting and friendly.

[azucena]

After our second time spending spring break in Destin, I'm realizing it's probably always going to hoover on being too cool for my kids to enjoy the beach.  Thinking we need to go further south which likely involves flying.  We spent roughly $2k for the week all in.  Wondering if that's enough to get us to someplace like Costa Rica if I can find a great deal.  Easy beach access is a must and an all inclusive so I don't have to figure out meals would be nice.  We've never traveled like that before.  I'm on travelzoo's email list, so I'm seeing deals that might work eventually.  Any other lists like that to sign up for?  My free time to plan trips is limited, so I want to just click a button LOL.

[travelnut11]

Mar 29, 2019 9:54:30 GMT -5 azucena said:

After our second time spending spring break in Destin, I'm realizing it's probably always going to hoover on being too cool for my kids to enjoy the beach.  Thinking we need to go further south which likely involves flying.  We spent roughly $2k for the week all in.  Wondering if that's enough to get us to someplace like Costa Rica if I can find a great deal.  Easy beach access is a must and an all inclusive so I don't have to figure out meals would be nice.  We've never traveled like that before.  I'm on travelzoo's email list, so I'm seeing deals that might work eventually.  Any other lists like that to sign up for?  My free time to plan trips is limited, so I want to just click a button LOL.

How many of you are there? I don't do all-inclusives but I think a $2000 budget is going to be tough for all-inclusive assuming there are 4 of you? I think the best values in beach vacations are renting houses and in some places the cook/housekeeper is included in the price (food costs extra). I've been wanting to try this place in Jamaica for a while:

www.mysilversands.com/content/home.aspx

www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1825561-d155376-Reviews-Silver_Sands_Vacation_Villas-Duncans_Trelawny_Parish_Jamaica.html

[azucena]

Mar 29, 2019 10:15:27 GMT -5 travelnut11 said:

Mar 29, 2019 9:54:30 GMT -5 azucena said:

After our second time spending spring break in Destin, I'm realizing it's probably always going to hoover on being too cool for my kids to enjoy the beach.  Thinking we need to go further south which likely involves flying.  We spent roughly $2k for the week all in.  Wondering if that's enough to get us to someplace like Costa Rica if I can find a great deal.  Easy beach access is a must and an all inclusive so I don't have to figure out meals would be nice.  We've never traveled like that before.  I'm on travelzoo's email list, so I'm seeing deals that might work eventually.  Any other lists like that to sign up for?  My free time to plan trips is limited, so I want to just click a button LOL.

How many of you are there? I don't do all-inclusives but I think a $2000 budget is going to be tough for all-inclusive assuming there are 4 of you? I think the best values in beach vacations are renting houses and in some places the cook/housekeeper is included in the price (food costs extra). I've been wanting to try this place in Jamaica for a while:

www.mysilversands.com/content/home.aspx

www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1825561-d155376-Reviews-Silver_Sands_Vacation_Villas-Duncans_Trelawny_Parish_Jamaica.html

Dh, myself, DD10, and DD6 - some of the travelzoo deals have had kids stay free.  I figured $2k isn't realistic, but I'm so far outside of my element looking at this type of travel that I have no idea where to start.  I didn't mind cooking in the condo in Destin, just didn't know how feasible it would be to get groceries without a car.

[zibazinski]

Mar 29, 2019 8:07:20 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Mar 29, 2019 7:04:23 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I want to travel but not alone and all the singles or women only trips are very overpriced. There’s a killer deal to a fancy Bimini resort but double occupancy. I asked about paying for two, still less than $400, but they want the extra person wining and dining.

No girlfriends you can take with you?
Or your daughter?

DD is working and my girlfriends are either married or caring for parents. 😢

[tractor]

Mar 29, 2019 11:33:51 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Mar 29, 2019 8:07:20 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

No girlfriends you can take with you?
Or your daughter?

DD is working and my girlfriends are either married or caring for parents. 😢

Sounds like a great way for a “mature” single guy to get some free travel opportunities. I’d love to travel with some random person, and am comfortable sharing a room with anyone. My wife wouldn’t be too happy with me but if I’m ever widowed...wait, would that make me a professional “escort”?

[wvugurl26]

$2k with flights probably isn't very realistic for the spring break time frame. We are going to Jamaica over Easter. It's spring break for our friends in another state. The resort has a kids stay free deal. I'm not sure if that increased the adult price? We are staying 5 nights, it's $2300 for the 2 of us. We didn't go cheap on the room category.