Summer is vacation time for many people, especially, folks with kids! While out walking my dog, I ran into one of my younger neighbors walking her pup. We somehow started talking about vacations and my neighbor asked me these questions: How do you plan for a vacation? How do you start? How do you budget for that? While I didn’t have a ready answer then, these questions have been on my mind. Maybe, planning a vacation is an easy task for some, however, others may have a harder time. How do you know where to go or how much you can afford?
If you are lucky and have friends who live at the beach with a free guest room, this might be an easier task. Or… if you like to camp and have all the stuff, there is probably a campground not that far. But, what if you have that wandering feeling and want to go to some far and exotic place … Las Vegas, Paris, Istanbul, or Greece!
I remember when I was much younger and a coworker invited us girls over for a cook-out – bring your own ‘raw’ meat and she would grill and provide everything else. She had a nice house all by herself and I was amazed! I knew she was an accountant/CPA meaning good with money. But still… it made an impression on me. She mentioned savings and said we each needed an emergency fund. I wanted to have a nice house and so the next day I started saving $30 per pay period and let me tell you, this was not easy in the 80’s with a 17% interest rate on my car loan!
“So how will this help me with my vacation planning?” Knowing that you have a savings account with a good balance for emergencies will help you feel more comfortable taking a vacation. Perhaps, start a specific vacation savings account to put aside for vacations and have funds from each pay check automatically sent to the account. Yay! You are saving for your vacation. And, if you were already saving – how much more should you save specifically for this vacation?
How much will be enough? If you would like to take a European vacation to Paris, first look to see the best time of year to visit Paris. Paris in the Spring… sounds very lovely to me! And, one day I will visit Paris! The most popular time to visit vacation spots will also be the most expensive, due to the economic concept of “Supply and Demand.” However, that doesn’t mean don’t do it! Just need to do some research on hotel prices and airfare. And here is a big secret … sometimes international airfare can fluctuate a LOT, so check the prices. Perhaps, you can get the best deals if you can vacation “some other time!” A few years ago, three of my friends and I went to Greece in mid-September and found way better airfare prices than in the summer. I have also found the best airfare mid-November around Veteran’s Day. If you can be flexible, you can afford to go on an exotic trip!
Planning the trip took some research and asking my friends to each pick one island they wished to see. Then we knew we wanted to go that year and we were planning during early summer. That said, the airfare and hotels were more available in September. We checked the weather and squeezed in 9 days (11 with the 2 travel days and time changes) before the “bad” weather was going to hit. In Greece this makes a big difference in being able to move between islands. Due to time constraints, we narrowed it down to Athens, Rodos (Island of Rhodes), and Santorini (very popular).
We traveled Turkish Airlines via Istanbul with a quick plane change on the way to Athens. We had a few days in Athens (Acropolis!) and then we took a small hop to Rodos for a few days. In Rodos – such a fun place with a UNESCO Walled City (sprawling and beautiful old castle) and then to Santorini — the history and the views!! I will say this was a wonderful trip and I loved being in Greece. I would definitely go back. And to cap off our trip, we (I) made a small oversight booking on our return flight and had a 22 hr. layover in Istanbul! Our planning party had a bit of wine flowing before dinner ….. Anyway, I found this when I plugged our itinerary into a spreadsheet and made sure all of dates/times for flights, hotels, tours and excursions, and taxis/cars to/from the hotels and the airports were in sync. Well, it was going to cost a LOT to change the flights. Thankfully, we found a nice hotel in Istanbul with a rooftop restaurant and a VIEW that was amazing and the food was safe and delicious. Crisis averted! We all made it home safe and sound with a quite a few mementos.
While I ordered the transportation on the smaller islands, I thought Athens would have ‘larger and more available transportation’. Well, I learned that you have to order the transportation for 4 women and luggage to ensure you have a large enough vehicle to get to the hotels. It was fine, but took 2 cars!
Also, pack a bathing suit! We thought we only had “harbor” views in Athens and we did but also, across the street was beach access and we were able to swim. So have a suit and the water will come!
By selecting our hotel just a bit away from downtown Athens, we saved quite a bit of money. We also selected hotels with breakfast bars. This way, we could always get coffee and food without leaving the hotel and no need for a lot of translations early in the morning. That said, most employees spoke English. We did have to do an excursion to the bank to get money converted but we managed. We also managed the train/trams to get to downtown for a walking food tour. Once downtown, after walking up/down the Main Street, we finally found the starting point for the tour. It was worth it.
So … all of this was said, because you have to do some research and see what you would like to do. Having our breakfast covered every day as part of the hotel costs, was delicious and budget friendly. The breakfast bars had a mix of both the usual items and some of their specialties. It also allowed the earlier risers to go downstairs and grab a table and have their coffee while the rest made it downstairs.
Pre-booking excursions that picked us up at the hotel also made it easier to get around without getting lost and included the transportation costs. Therefore, when planning a vacation: decide on the goal of the vacation, e.g. touring new places or just relaxing. Even if it is a touring vacation, plan some downtime or a down day to relax and enjoy the location.
Decide what excursions you would like to do — do you want to visit the place where Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand (like me!) or see the Grand Canyon or just find a new beach to get a tan and some good food?
How many days will it take you to see what you would like? Or how many days can you get off work? That was part of our constraints. We basically had a week with two weekends plus I needed a day to finish laundry, pack (I hate it!), and get the dog to the kennel. Speaking of the kennel — that is another cost to factor in. I found out my kennel now charges higher rates in the summer!
We did all the planning and then split some of the charges on two of our credit cards and the others paid us. The spreadsheet helped with tracking the costs. If you do your research you can have a draft budget to help you decide what you would like to do. You can automate your savings so you know you have $XX amount of money every year for your trip and that can help guide you. There are a lot of different strategies. For me, it often depends on when I can take off work — and have I injured an important body part like an ankle (the dog tripped me) or a knee… which can limit which type of vacation. Beach is more restorative for a knee injury that is almost healed. That’s another story.
How long has it been since you went away? Now, you want …wait… you NEED a vacation! Some people just wing it and that is a strategy too, but just a bit of research and planning might save you a lot of money and bring you a much more comfortable vacation!
