How do you justify holiday costs?
Discussion
What's money for, if not spending on things that make you happy and broaden your experience?
I try to do as much as I can while I can as you never know what's round the corner. That place you've always wanted to go to might become unreachable; your health might turn on you; you might have kids; you might, er, die.
For the last decade or more I've ring-fenced a chunk of income just for travel. We used to save that up and every other year, go and do a big trip somewhere. People tend to drift into to whatever their income is so by putting that money away, you just get used to not spending it and it doesn't feel painful when it's time to pay up.
I try to do as much as I can while I can as you never know what's round the corner. That place you've always wanted to go to might become unreachable; your health might turn on you; you might have kids; you might, er, die.
For the last decade or more I've ring-fenced a chunk of income just for travel. We used to save that up and every other year, go and do a big trip somewhere. People tend to drift into to whatever their income is so by putting that money away, you just get used to not spending it and it doesn't feel painful when it's time to pay up.
Bill said:
I struggle, particularly as we have three kids in school. Long haul in school holidays is eyewatering, and even short haul is painful unless you book the moment flights are available.
So we bought a motorhome and mostly go away in that, including skiing.
This is an important point - if you're doing it with kids in school holidays it is much harder to justify spending that cash on a 2 week break, than if you're single or retired and can go off season. So we bought a motorhome and mostly go away in that, including skiing.
If you've got no kids, and are paying for yourself, then most destinations (Galapagos is probably one of the most expensive places to go in the world from here!) are pretty reasonable. Flight to Europe is £150 return, flight to Asia £400 return, the USA, £300 return.
Gary C said:
Carbon foot print
f
kit
flying will be banned soon so we will make the most of it
It is essential that Governments put pressure upon airlines to force them to create cleaner propulsion but only the retarded have jumped on the 'don't fly/carbon footprint' bandwagon - that's both sides of the argument! Far too many idiots who haven't the IQ to understand human impact upon the natural cycle to cause the airlines any issues with public pressure from a major reduction in travelling that way so they need to be forced via legislation - no different to what we are seeing in the car industry.f
kitflying will be banned soon so we will make the most of it
So fly but choose cleaner airlines where/when they exist.
Holidays are about experiences. Some are just for de-stressing, relaxation, others for rare lifetime experiences - the costs between those is justified according to what the goal of the holiday is. It also depends upon the level of luxury or the want for a lack of it that you prefer.
Mrs Toon and I both spend pretty much what we earn on living and a few luxuries in life. We both get a decent annual bonus which is what we use for non essential things like my watch collection or travelling. A bonus is just that, something that we don't rely on to live but when we get one, it's used to make life more pleasurable. I love to holiday (I'm a city break guy, she's more of a hot weather, lounge around kind of gal.) We do both and wouldn't have it any other way. We've got our summer holiday booked already, are looking at a city break in March and are sorting out a UK cottage stay with neighbours. We're also planning a Canada trip with a visit to Niagara Falls for the end of the year.
I'm on flights most months for work and I couldn't bear not having any flights booked for personal. It's not something I need to justify, I'm creating memories and getting much needed downtime from a stressful job. Now I'm getting older, I'm looking to use some of the money we get to pay more off the mortgage and plough into pensions but we'll still go away, just cheaper or less often.
I'm on flights most months for work and I couldn't bear not having any flights booked for personal. It's not something I need to justify, I'm creating memories and getting much needed downtime from a stressful job. Now I'm getting older, I'm looking to use some of the money we get to pay more off the mortgage and plough into pensions but we'll still go away, just cheaper or less often.
We both have taxing jobs and holidays are one of the biggest things we plan for to escape from the rat race, see other cultures, experience things that we never thought possible and also to unwind (posted a thread a day or two ago about the Vietnam trip we're currently planning).
There's a huge world out there and you're missing out on so much if you don't travel IMO.
Also, my view is do the big/huge long haul/challenging holidays while you can (youth/fitness/stamina) as the older you get the less inclined you are to go further afield. I watched my parents travel reduce from Europe to the UK, to travelling to us then not going anywhere as they got into old age.
There's a huge world out there and you're missing out on so much if you don't travel IMO.
Also, my view is do the big/huge long haul/challenging holidays while you can (youth/fitness/stamina) as the older you get the less inclined you are to go further afield. I watched my parents travel reduce from Europe to the UK, to travelling to us then not going anywhere as they got into old age.
Like the OP, I’m self-employed (currently contractor, will be properly self-employed shortly – one hopes), and I had problems justifying the cost of a holiday, not only the cost of the holiday, but the cost of not being at work. It doubles the cost of the holiday – at least. However, if I work on my income just being 45 weeks a year, not 52, it helps rationalise things.
Previously as staff, I never had the money for a holiday that was more than 3 or 4 days anywhere humble. I spent 18 years doing this.
In a previous role, I used to travel the world for work regularly, so the desire to go through yet another airport terminal really isn’t there, so any holiday has to be exactly what I want to do.
For me, I love skiing, although I’m not great at it, the scenery is truly epic, and it’s a week of nothing like the rest of my life. I can remember all the skiing trips, and what I enjoyed about them in detail. Great experiences and memories.
A gang of us left school at 16, and went on a number of different paths through life. Some we lost contact with. A number died via motorcycles, heart attacks, cancer etc... A mate organising a reunion rang last April Fool’s day informing me that of the 15 of us that left school at 16, only 5 of us were still here at 54.
Go on holiday and enjoy it – you are only here once.
Previously as staff, I never had the money for a holiday that was more than 3 or 4 days anywhere humble. I spent 18 years doing this.
In a previous role, I used to travel the world for work regularly, so the desire to go through yet another airport terminal really isn’t there, so any holiday has to be exactly what I want to do.
For me, I love skiing, although I’m not great at it, the scenery is truly epic, and it’s a week of nothing like the rest of my life. I can remember all the skiing trips, and what I enjoyed about them in detail. Great experiences and memories.
A gang of us left school at 16, and went on a number of different paths through life. Some we lost contact with. A number died via motorcycles, heart attacks, cancer etc... A mate organising a reunion rang last April Fool’s day informing me that of the 15 of us that left school at 16, only 5 of us were still here at 54.
Go on holiday and enjoy it – you are only here once.
Question is - do you live to work, or work to live?
Personally I work to live, much preferring to be sat there in my dottage remembering the time I went on that 2 week cruse to the Galapagos Islands than the time I didn't go on a 2 week cruse to the Galapagos Islands because it cost as much as a brand new everyday type car.
Personally I work to live, much preferring to be sat there in my dottage remembering the time I went on that 2 week cruse to the Galapagos Islands than the time I didn't go on a 2 week cruse to the Galapagos Islands because it cost as much as a brand new everyday type car.
bucksmanuk said:
A gang of us left school at 16, and went on a number of different paths through life. Some we lost contact with. A number died via motorcycles, heart attacks, cancer etc... A mate organising a reunion rang last April Fool’s day informing me that of the 15 of us that left school at 16, only 5 of us were still here at 54.
Go on holiday and enjoy it – you are only here once.
That's terrible mate. Go on holiday and enjoy it – you are only here once.
I'm 57 and although out of a group of maybe 20 of us that have known each other since being 17, only myself and one other still have bikes, thankfully only one was badly injured decades back.
Everyone still appears to be around.
I think a lot of people replying with things like "you only live once" are maybe missing a critical point.
Yes, it's great to travel, and I love it myself, but how do you justify the holiday costs that come from paying for a package?
I managed to pull together self-catering summer holidays for eight in the school holidays with mountain cabins for a week, a villa on the coast for 5 days and two nights in central Barcelona, including everything but fuel for the hire cars for £5k. I wasn't scrimping and saving on everything (civilised flight times, E-class Merc as an absolute bargain hire car, private pool at the villa, etc), and I reckon if we'd tried to replicate the same thing through a travel agent, it would've doubled the cost of the holiday.
Sure, it takes extra effort, but I really enjoy that when I'm sat on the sofa with my laptop whilst it's pissing it down outside in the middle of winter, and OK, things might get trickier if something goes wrong, but I've got very good travel insurance to help with that sort of thing, plus it means I get to tailor the holiday to exactly what I want, rather than having to compromise on the package that a tour company has decided on.
Whether it's in the UK or overseas, the only package holidays we've been on are where my parents have wanted to take the whole family away for bid anniversaries and the like. Other than that, with everything now available on the internet, I really don't understand why so many people pay over the odds for a potentially lesser experience.
Yes, it's great to travel, and I love it myself, but how do you justify the holiday costs that come from paying for a package?
I managed to pull together self-catering summer holidays for eight in the school holidays with mountain cabins for a week, a villa on the coast for 5 days and two nights in central Barcelona, including everything but fuel for the hire cars for £5k. I wasn't scrimping and saving on everything (civilised flight times, E-class Merc as an absolute bargain hire car, private pool at the villa, etc), and I reckon if we'd tried to replicate the same thing through a travel agent, it would've doubled the cost of the holiday.
Sure, it takes extra effort, but I really enjoy that when I'm sat on the sofa with my laptop whilst it's pissing it down outside in the middle of winter, and OK, things might get trickier if something goes wrong, but I've got very good travel insurance to help with that sort of thing, plus it means I get to tailor the holiday to exactly what I want, rather than having to compromise on the package that a tour company has decided on.
Whether it's in the UK or overseas, the only package holidays we've been on are where my parents have wanted to take the whole family away for bid anniversaries and the like. Other than that, with everything now available on the internet, I really don't understand why so many people pay over the odds for a potentially lesser experience.
Going to Galapagos on a pre planned trip from the UK will cost a fortune. My advice would be to Fly to Peru, spend some time in Cusco and Machu Picchu, then fly to Ecuador and book a last minute trip to Galapagos from there.
The travel companies in Ecuador offer amazing deals if can go in the next day or two.
The travel companies in Ecuador offer amazing deals if can go in the next day or two.
I find the use of the word justify when planning holidays strange and a word I'd never use. I think about being on my deathbed and thinking did I want to do it? Could I have done it? If the answers yes you need to do it, if not maybe do something else that has less impact on your day to day spending.
All depends.
Money spent (We always do it on the cheap) on holidays with my girlfriend is worth it every time. She taught me that one should always have time away pre booked, so we normally have 2 trips to look forward to over the coming months.
We have a week in Madiera this Easter costing £371 each, accommodation and flights.
Holidays with my kids however, break the bank and are generally a ballache, I need a holiday to get over it.
Last October, Tenerife with both my son's for a week cost me, on my own, £4k all in.
All they were bothered about was lack of WiFi. Amazing scenery whilst driving up Mount Tiede and their heads were buried in their phones.
That trip just seemed a waste of money.
Money spent (We always do it on the cheap) on holidays with my girlfriend is worth it every time. She taught me that one should always have time away pre booked, so we normally have 2 trips to look forward to over the coming months.
We have a week in Madiera this Easter costing £371 each, accommodation and flights.
Holidays with my kids however, break the bank and are generally a ballache, I need a holiday to get over it.
Last October, Tenerife with both my son's for a week cost me, on my own, £4k all in.
All they were bothered about was lack of WiFi. Amazing scenery whilst driving up Mount Tiede and their heads were buried in their phones.
That trip just seemed a waste of money.
I used to be the same as the OP - in my single days I didn't really go on holiday and would have weekends away more to visit somewhere specific (ie. a museum, event, etc.) than just a general holiday to get away from daily life. If someone would say "the plane ticket is only £500" I would always think what I could buy for that price instead of the ticket which is a 'service' rather than a 'thing' that I could keep.
Then I met my girlfriend (now wife) who went on a lot of foreign holidays growing up, worked at Thomas Cook for a few years, etc. and now pretty much every day of annual leave is taken up with a trip somewhere either in the UK or abroad and I don't think I could go back to not seeing the world and how other cultures go about their daily lives, etc.
I'm also approaching 40 and most of my grandparent's generation in my family have now died, I've got friends who are getting cancer and it's made me realise you can't take money with you so spend it on things you enjoy while you can.
Then I met my girlfriend (now wife) who went on a lot of foreign holidays growing up, worked at Thomas Cook for a few years, etc. and now pretty much every day of annual leave is taken up with a trip somewhere either in the UK or abroad and I don't think I could go back to not seeing the world and how other cultures go about their daily lives, etc.
I'm also approaching 40 and most of my grandparent's generation in my family have now died, I've got friends who are getting cancer and it's made me realise you can't take money with you so spend it on things you enjoy while you can.
Since having kids my holiday costs have rocketted (extra seats on the plane, airlines hiking prices during school holidays etc.) and the locations have become less exotic. Even with the added costs my thoughts are that you only get 16 or so summers with your children - they grow up really fast so my wife and I want to spend as much quality time with them as possible while they are young.
We take 3 weeks off in the summer for a holiday (Cyprus) and 2 weeks off for a spring holiday to somehwere hot.
We take 3 weeks off in the summer for a holiday (Cyprus) and 2 weeks off for a spring holiday to somehwere hot.
The wife and I never buy each other presents for birthdays, we book a short break somewhere where at least one of us hasn't been. Rather than a main holiday each year, we do a number of three/four day breaks spread throughout the year.
It always a new experience, we always have our horizons broadened, meet awesome people, great food, etc... it can get expensive sometimes but it's always worth it.
Life is way too short, get it done.
It always a new experience, we always have our horizons broadened, meet awesome people, great food, etc... it can get expensive sometimes but it's always worth it.
Life is way too short, get it done.
Looks like you're overthinking it OP.
Just get it done.
We're blessed now with the ability to travel the world quickly and relatively cheaply all things considered - It doesn't even need 'justifying' in my view.
I'm sure more people close to the end of their life will look back and say "I'm glad I travelled" rather than "I'm glad I watched that documentary about travelling"
Just get it done.
We're blessed now with the ability to travel the world quickly and relatively cheaply all things considered - It doesn't even need 'justifying' in my view.
I'm sure more people close to the end of their life will look back and say "I'm glad I travelled" rather than "I'm glad I watched that documentary about travelling"
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