Ways to travel overseas

[DumbSheila]

My husband and I are in our late 20s and neither of us has traveled much. We went on a cruise for our honeymoon to the Bahamas and I went on a cruise at 20 to Mexico and Belize. But I really want to go to Europe (so much that it depresses me). We don't even own passports.

I feel like traveling is such a long way off bc it seems to cost so much. What is a realistic amount to save? Howfar in advance do you book the trip? We want to go to Italy, Scotland, Ireland, and Greece. It doesn't have to be at the same time, obviously, but It seems like saving for the trip without taking out debt for it will take a lifetime.

We would need to factor in airfare, hotels (neither of us wants hostels but don't have to have luxury hotels), travel throughout the countries, and food. We would go about a week (so maybe just 1-2 countries near each other).

Obviously airfare and hotels are the most expensive, but what's realistic? We currently have savings set up for stuff like this and should have about $4000 in savings by the end of the year (total, which is about 1 1/2 months worth of bills...yes we plan to continue to save more and will not drain our savings just to travel).

[ktmarvels]

I would recommend looking at hostels again. Some of them are just basic hotel rooms, not all of them are multiple people sharing a room. When I lived in Spain for a little while I would travel around and took both my mom and 70+ year old grandparents all around Europe staying in hostels. They are a great deal, and really you should be there to see the sights, not just stay in a nice place. So search for hostels, but then find ones that meet your specifications (separate rooms, etc).

[riverwed070707]

My husband and I are in our late 20s and neither of us has traveled much. We went on a cruise for our honeymoon to the Bahamas and I went on a cruise at 20 to Mexico and Belize. But I really want to go to Europe (so much that it depresses me). We don't even own passports.

I feel like traveling is such a long way off bc it seems to cost so much. What is a realistic amount to save? Howfar in advance do you book the trip? We want to go to Italy, Scotland, Ireland, and Greece. It doesn't have to be at the same time, obviously, but It seems like saving for the trip without taking out debt for it will take a lifetime.

We would need to factor in airfare, hotels (neither of us wants hostels but don't have to have luxury hotels), travel throughout the countries, and food. We would go about a week (so maybe just 1-2 countries near each other).

Obviously airfare and hotels are the most expensive, but what's realistic? We currently have savings set up for stuff like this and should have about $4000 in savings by the end of the year (total, which is about 1 1/2 months worth of bills...yes we plan to continue to save more and will not drain our savings just to travel).

The thing about international travel is the most expensive part is getting there; therefore, if you can stay longer, you get more bang for your buck. Have you considered *moving* overseas for a while? If its something you both want and there's a lot you'd like to see, see what your employment opportunities are so you can spend a year or two (or longer if you love it!) working, living and traveling in Europe. Once you're there, its just a trainride for a weekend in Paris, trip to Germany, Spain, Ireland... I know its not for everyone but it certainly makes seeing all those places more attainable.

[josetann]

The thing about international travel is the most expensive part is getting there; therefore, if you can stay longer, you get more bang for your buck. Have you considered *moving* overseas for a while? If its something you both want and there's a lot you'd like to see, see what your employment opportunities are so you can spend a year or two (or longer if you love it!) working, living and traveling in Europe. Once you're there, its just a trainride for a weekend in Paris, trip to Germany, Spain, Ireland... I know its not for everyone but it certainly makes seeing all those places more attainable.

We're doing that here in Australia. A week or two trip = way too expensive. A year...not so much. Only downside is, I've got my wife and son teaming up saying they want to stay here (son wants to stay in the school here, wife has the next 2+ years planned out here).

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I haven't had the pleasure of such travel, but I agree with the idea of staying longer. A week seems very short.

[DumbSheila]

Staying there for long periods is out of the question. We both love our jobs and our lives here. We have great friends and a great dog (our dumb Sheila dog) and we get just over a week of vacation time per year. So my question again is how to save to take a vacation over there and not to figure out how to live there.

[josetann]

So my question again is how to save to take a vacation over there and not to figure out how to live there.

No one's saying you HAVE to live there. Just throwing it out as an option. And the idea is still sound. A single one month vacation is going to cost quite a bit less than four one week vacations. So the longer you can stay, the better. So you can't stay a whole month...is there any possibility of staying two weeks? Do your employers let you carry over unused vacation time? Because again...two 2week vacations are going to cost less than four 1week. It is a very easy, very simple way to save money on such a trip. In fact it's better than it looks on paper (because you have to factor in travel time; one day there, one day back, that's two days out of your trip). But enough about that.

I'd make a list of all the places you'd like to go. Then just keep an eye on travel deals. Simple as that. If the only place you're looking for is England, then it's going to be pretty hard to find a deal on airfare there (it can happen, but it'll be difficult). But if you're looking at a dozen different locations in Europe, and an awesome deal pops up for roundtrip airfare to Italy...jump on it! Cast a wide net, have the funds ready, and pounce! The more flexible your work is with vacation requests, the better the chances of snagging a good deal (often you don't have time to request the time off before you have to book...you see a good deal that night, you book that night).

For a plane to Europe, you'll most likely be leaving from JFK. So what I'd do is get an idea of what a low budget flight would cost to get from your current city to JFK (Southwest, JetBlue, whoever). Then use a site like Kayak once a day (or week, or whatever) to check on prices to different European destinations both from your home city, and from JFK. Often it works out cheaper to book from JFK to overseas, and to take a budget airline domestically to/from JFK. But occasionally, it works out cheaper to book directly from your home city to your overseas destination (and even if not...if it's within a hundred or so bucks, I'd book the whole trip on one ticket...just makes things go a bit smoother in my experience).

And definitely keep an eye on travel sites, read related forums, etc. If there's a sale on flights to Europe, you want to know about it.

[riverwed070707]

Staying there for long periods is out of the question. We both love our jobs and our lives here. We have great friends and a great dog (our dumb Sheila dog) and we get just over a week of vacation time per year. So my question again is how to save to take a vacation over there and not to figure out how to live there.

Well then I guess the answer is simple: live as frugally as you can and save what you don't spend. Not sure why I'm even taking the time to answer this since you feel the need to be snippy but international travel, especially short-term travel, isn't feasible on every budget but if its important to you, you're probably going to have to sacrifice in other areas of your life to make it happen. Read through some of the budget critique posts here. The trends on where to cut spending are all the same -- no data on your cell, cut cable and use Hulu/Netflix, cut your "fun" money in half, eat out less, buy less clothing or buy second hand, meal plan and try to get your grocery budget down to $150pp or less, pay off debt so you aren't burning money in interest every year...

As for how much to save, that's a completely vague question as its going to depend entirely on where you're going, what you plan to do there and even where you're coming from because its much cheaper to fly out of a major city than podunk Kansas.

As for booking, I'd search about a year in advance of when you plan to travel and then setup a travel alert to be notified when the prices go down. Get an idea of what you're looking at spending and then decide what kind of deal would be enough to sell you on purchasing. I'd book through a site like Orbitz that has a price guarantee.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Have you thought about visting a travel agent?

[AsiaTraveler]

My husband and I spent 10 days in Europe in 2010 and spent around $2000 out of pocket. So what you have *could* be enough to get you there for a week and have a great time.

BUT...there are caveats.

We used frequent flier miles to get there & back and paid for some of our hotels using hotel points. Most of these were accumulated over a few year's time using strategic sign-up bonuses on credit cards (we don't carry a balance, otherwise we'd be paying way more than the miles are worth).

My parents chipped in for some of the expenses (we were traveling with them) but even without that I doubt our travel budget would have doubled.

We also kept track of our expenses as we traveled. We had our hotels lined up before we left so we could keep a pretty close eye on what we were spending for other things and stay within budget. We never deprived ourselves, but we also didn't go crazy.

You say that you aren't interested hostels. While others have made good points about them being an option to at least consider, we didn't stay in any. Where we did stay was B&Bs, pensions, small European hotel chains, and the like. I spent a lot of time researching reviews and such to find good value hotels. Booking.com was very helpful to me. Don't go to travelocity or expedia, they pretty much only highlight the big chain hotels. I've heard that Priceline is good for getting a good deal in major cities- see bidding4travel.com- but I didn't wind up going that route.

Also, when and where you are going makes a big difference in your budget. We traveled at the very end of shoulder season- late May/early June- before the big crowds really kick in. Staying in a small town is usually going to be cheaper than a large city, esp. downtown. And go to the grocery store- not only is it a fantastic way to save money, it also saves time (Europeans believe in dining- the waiter only brings the bill when you ask for it) and gives you a fantastic cultural experience (you can't believe some of the differences until you see it).

Ok, so I could go on. Please let me know your questions. The first thing I would do is get passports- that's going to be about $250 or so for the two of you, but they are good for ten years, and if you don't have to pay for expedited service so that you can get them in time for a trip, you will save there!

[snafu]

What is driving your desire to travel in Europe? Why not start with something near-by like Cartagena which also offers culture, resort, famous/infamous, Spanish speaking and reasonable cost. We travel for several months every year so I believe your parameters are unrealistic and will set you up for disappointment. Too much time and money will have been spent flying and coping with jet lag/time differentials to do much more than take a daily canned tour bus to the sites you chose following their schedule. Flying is now such a miserable experience unless you're in Business Class. International travelers must be at the airport 2-3 hours before departure. I can't say anything good about the long lines in Security.

I suggest you start tracking exchange rates as the American dollar swings against the Euro, Pound and Greece may return to Drachma. You can save the sums needed by paring down expenses to bare minimum. Do you want to travel or buy a new pair of shoes...go out with friends, eat in a restaurant or buy Starbucks dbl dbl? One week only allows you to visit one city or small region for a specific event but that will not give you more than a fleeting glimpse of what the country offers. I was going to suggest staying in university residences or B&Bs for the combination of price and experience meeting locals but I think you need to be in city center hotels for each trip. In order to decide on a specific location, you could review the travel DVDs {Rick Steves} offered at your local library.

Would you understand the problem better if I turned it around. What would you tell a couple from Barcelona, Spain about their plan to fly from their home city to LA and take a tourist bus to Disneyland to spend a day at the park. By 9 pm they would have to leave the park to travel back to the airport to fly 12 hours [including stop overs] back to Barcelona? What view of America would they take back?

[Eleanor]

I highly highly recommend reconsidering hostels as well! As already mentioned, some are actually just simple hotels and you can still have your own rooms. I've been in hostels in London, India, and Nepal and I had good experiences at each one. The best part about them is that there are a lot of other travelers there, often times people who've been in the area for weeks and months, so you can get lots of great tips about what to see what to skip over.

But, if you really want to meet people who will help you truly experience a foreign country, and you really want to save money you should couch surf. It's basically a network of people who let others stay at their places for free. It's kind of like in that movie The Holiday only, instead of an exchange, the people who live there are still there. It's great because they're always really nice and know all of the best places in each city, not to mention it's free!

My boyfriend and I have hosted several couch surfers and he's stayed with people in New York, Boston, Colorado, and Portland. We've never had any bad experiences with guests and he's always loved his hosts. We love taking people around who've never been to our city and showing them cool bars, restaurants, parks, etc. and it's a great way to meet new and interesting people because they usually all have great stories to tell.

To try it out you can sign up on the couch surfing website (just google it) and create a profile. Then, you can see if there are any couch surfing events going on in your area. In Miami we have a couch surfing meetup every Wednesday and you can meet other couch surfers in the community and all of the people in that area who are currently visiting/couch surfing. You can hear their stories and decide if it's something for you.

[Nika]

Dear Sheila,

My husband and I have a passion for traveling, and we have been doing so extensively since we were broke students and done everything from hitchhiking in Tibet and staying in a $2 a night village hotel for truckers to 5 star hotels across Europe.
We've been to:
Asia: China (5 times, for total about a year), Hong Kong (2x), Viet Nam, Nepal, Korea, Japan, Thaiwan, Thailand, Cambodia.
Europe: France, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus
South America: Ecuador and Argentina

We always go independently, usually for a month at a time.

1. I don't advice you start with expensive countries on your list. You have absolutely no travel experience (cruising and independent travel have nothing in common).
This is a very expensive way to learn. You might spend a lot of money on tourist traps, tourist restaurants with sucky food and have unrealistic expectations for your trips.

To really enjoy travel you need to have a very flexible mindset and want to experience life as locals and understand local realities. You can't expect a country to adhere to your standards. The more you travel the faster you become at adapting to a local perspective.

I would suggest starting with a cheap and safe country in South America or Asia. While you are young and have no kids you have an opportunity to do backpacking and see amazing places that would be a challenge with a little one -- when food safety and child concerns become a priority and hotel reservations a must. You can always do Italy or Scotland. But you won't be able to randomly get off the bus in a middle of Ecuador, not knowing if you'll even get a room in town, all just because you saw something interesting and decided to check it out for a day (or few).

3. Learn the language. Even basic knowledge will make a big difference. And in developing countries it will save you a lot of money.

4. Read news about the country you are going to. Being aware of political and cultural issues will make you understand and relate better.

points 3 and 4 can be interesting and exciting parts of your preparation. Preparation becomes a part of your exciting journey.

5. Don't base your selection of a place to go on something stupid. An example would be foregoing a country just because you need a visa to go there.

6. If your husband or you find a job that requires travel, stick with one hotel chain and take advantage of the rewards program. Ritz Carlton Tokyo, Marriott on Chaps Elysees in Paris, center of Amsterdam, 700 euros a night room in Vienna, JW Hong Kong, Beijing, Vail in prime ski season, etc... we got to stay all those places for free thanks to Marriott. They have a great easy to use and redeem rewards program.

Anyway, my point is, you can travel at any stage of your life, but the way you do it changes. And memories of my backpacking don't loose out to my luxury trips. They were full of excitement, spontaneity and freedom. Discovering something unexpected, meeting interesting people, wandering across countries randomly was amazing!

When we had little money, we had a lot of time, now we have less time and more money. Each time we go some place, it is a completely different experience, and it is affected by who we are and where we are in our lives.