How do middle class people afford international vacationing?

[HardcoreRobot]

without knowing actual salaries its hard to tell.

i would say the most common reason is that there is little or no retirement savings going on. secondarily, possibly debt.

 

[sze5003]

Talk about retirement and savings, I can see why most would rather save and spend now as opposed to later. A lady I worked with retired last year. Today I got an email that she's dead. She was at the company longer than anyone.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Talk about retirement and savings, I can see why most would rather save and spend now as opposed to later. A lady I worked with retired last year. Today I got an email that she's dead. She was at the company longer than anyone.

Look, it's one thing when you're 45-60 and you're worrying about retirement. You're screwed nearly at that point.

20-35 are your PRIME years for putting your retirement into place so that you don't have to shit a brick at 45-60.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Go on a cruise, they can be cheap as hell. It's not quite the same as a week in europe, but, you stop in international ports and get to see places outside of your normal everyday monotony.

$1000 is easily enough for 2 people for a 5-7 day cruise. Often you can do it for less if you are willing... (we did 5 days in 2012 from new orleans for about 700, and this year we are going on 7 day out of baltimore for about 1000.)

 

[AViking]

Actually 20-35 are our prime years to travel. Old people are incredibly rare if you are out doing the interesting travelling beyond resorts. I can assure you that you will see very few 65+ year olds on the Great Wall of China, climbing the Himalayas, trekking to see Orangutans, river rafting, or anything that doesn't involve a flat surface with minimal physical activity or distance involved.

When I'm old I'll sit on beaches and do shit just like them but I will have already done a whole bunch of cool stuff that they can't do.

Ideally everyone should at least travel around the world for a year between high school and college, college and work, and any job changes that might happen.

 

[HeXen]

Ideally everyone should at least travel around the world for a year between high school and college, college and work, and any job changes that might happen.

Have you seen Hostel? No freakn way man ^_^

 

[AViking]

Have you seen Hostel? No freakn way man ^_^

It's exactly like that movie.

 

[sze5003]

Have you seen Hostel? No freakn way man ^_^

I stayed in a hostel in Germany for a school programming project with my classmates. The living situation wasn't that nice and it's like we were the only people there. But I would not stay at one on my own.

 

[rh71]

It's exactly like that movie.

hell the word alone is intimidating.

 

[AViking]

Hostels are kinda irrelevant to this thread. Hostels are where you stay when you're a teenager or early 20's in Europe. Even then if you're going to be in a place for longer than a week it makes more sense to just rent an apt short term. With that said hostels and interailing around Europe was damn fun when I was 18.

 

[Sheep]

Hostels are kinda irrelevant to this thread. Hostels are where you stay when you're a teenager or early 20's in Europe. Even then if you're going to be in a place for longer than a week it makes more sense to just rent an apt short term. With that said hostels and interailing around Europe was damn fun when I was 18.

The OP was inquiring about how people can afford international trips and one way to cut down lodging expenses sharply is by staying in hostels and B&Bs as opposed to hotels. I'm nearing 40 and I wasn't even close to the oldest person in the hostels I've stayed in which have ranged from huge "party" hostels when I was younger to tiny ones that look like somebody's huge apartment that can only accommodate 10-12 guests at a time. It's an American bias that once you get older, you're somehow supposed to be willing to fork out a ton of money for lodging when you just need a place to sleep for a few hours while you're busy seeing and doing stuff during the day. I've also done the short-term apartment thing which can be a great time if you find a place to split among friends but that's still going to be more expensive than a private room with ensuite bathroom in a hostel.

 

[OutHouse]

Go on a cruise, they can be cheap as hell. It's not quite the same as a week in europe, but, you stop in international ports and get to see places outside of your normal everyday monotony.

$1000 is easily enough for 2 people for a 5-7 day cruise. Often you can do it for less if you are willing... (we did 5 days in 2012 from new orleans for about 700, and this year we are going on 7 day out of baltimore for about 1000.)

yea cruises are cheap, cruise.com is a good site. its the airfare that doubles the cost not to mention all the nickle and dimeing the cruise company does to you.

 

[OutHouse]

When vacationing internationally, all you need is the plane tickets

lol lol lol lol

hostels are for the hippies and unemployed. ive stayed in a few in holland and Germany while in my 20's. I am past the bunk beds and 8 to a room bs. just give me a basic hotel room and im good.

 

[Born2bwire]

I went to Germany and Paris for 10 days (including travel time) in 2012 with my girlfriend. It cost $1775 a person. My trip to Bavaria back in 2008 cost around $2000 for a similar length of time with a buddy. I went to China this past Spring and this Spring should be Bavaria and Austria (I want to see if I can get in and do some hiking in Tyrol).

Planning the trip out yourself is where you can save the money. With the internet, comparison travel sites, and review sites like TripAdvisor you can get a very good idea on where to go for how much and for what quality of an experience. I was making these trips back when I wasn't pulling in more than $30K a year. Basically, it comes down to saving $150 or so a month. I think most people spend that much on little unnecessaries like at coffee bars, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. Just look to where you can trim back and keep on that budget and put in the time to research and organize the trip and you should be gold.

 

[crashtestdummy]

lol lol lol lol

hostels are for the hippies and unemployed. ive stayed in a few in holland and Germany while in my 20's. I am past the bunk beds and 8 to a room bs. just give me a basic hotel room and im good.

It really depends on what you want out of the trip, and what your priorities are. There's certainly nothing wrong with wanting a full hotel room, but if it financially means the difference between being able to make the trip every two years or going every four, I'd gladly take the hostel every time. But then, my ideal vacation is backpacking in the mountains somewhere, so maybe I'm the wrong person to ask.

 

[ModerateRepZero]

Reminds me of a NY Daily News article about a guy who spent just about his entire paycheck partying each weekend for about a year:

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/party-globetrotting-jon-levy-article-1.1455440

 

[AViking]

The OP was inquiring about how people can afford international trips and one way to cut down lodging expenses sharply is by staying in hostels and B&Bs as opposed to hotels. I'm nearing 40 and I wasn't even close to the oldest person in the hostels I've stayed in which have ranged from huge "party" hostels when I was younger to tiny ones that look like somebody's huge apartment that can only accommodate 10-12 guests at a time. It's an American bias that once you get older, you're somehow supposed to be willing to fork out a ton of money for lodging when you just need a place to sleep for a few hours while you're busy seeing and doing stuff during the day. I've also done the short-term apartment thing which can be a great time if you find a place to split among friends but that's still going to be more expensive than a private room with ensuite bathroom in a hostel.

In Stockholm the cheapest hostel will cost you around 6300 SEK (~$1000 USD) a month to stay in a 24 bed dorm room (50% more for a 6 room dorm). You can rent a small apt for about the same price. I think the main difference is that I travel with a woman now vs travelling alone and drinking my way through Europe as a teenager. As a couple if you wanted to spend a month in a hostel you are going to pay a minimum of 12,600 SEK and if you want a private room you're going to pay closer to 21,000 SEK.

You are right though. You can stay at a hostel at any age. A couple nights in a hostel passing through is no problem. I've done that too. However for a vacation with a family it is pretty uncommon unless you are going to be interrailing and I don't think I have ever come across that.

There are websites where you can rent out people's apts for a few nights so it makes much less sense today to use a hostel for a trip if you're older unless you like giant dorm rooms.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Zoom, zoom Mazda Miata?

335

 

[Exterous]

The price of the flights to Europe are more or less fixed at $1K/person. You can't really avoid that.

Not really sure 'more or less fixed at $1k' and 'You can't really avoid that' is true. I spent 10 minutes looking and found the following:

DC:Olso $628
DC:Thessolonika $624
Toronto:London $690
LAX:Athens $868
DC:Athens $741
Toronto:Glasgow $725
New York:Milan $622
Boston:Frankfurt $805
New York:Madrid: $624
Chicago: Dusseldorf: $774
New York: Dublin $549

The blackout dates for those aren't bad either

 

[openwheel]

Traveling is cheap if you plan it correctly.
I stay at Hilton's for free with points, and shop around for airfare deals. Go during shoulder season or off season for cheaper price. Only splurge on expensive dining onece or twice. Drink water and prepare your own picknick.

Airfare is actually very cheap these days. Not like the 60s and 70s.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I'm probably lower-middle class in the amount that I pay myself, but I'm sure I could afford a trip if I planned ahead. I could save up 7500-10,000 for the trip if given a years time. I'm not sure what a trip like that is supposed to cost, but that should take care of it I think. I'm not talking about staying a month either. There's no way I could be away from my business that long anyway. I don't drink, so that wouldn't be part of my spending.

 

[GTaudiophile]

If you really think about the OP's question - there are other questions (OP is NYC, right?)
How about "how does a middle class couple each afford a pack a day cigarette habit?" In NYC, it's about $13-$14 a pack. So, for 2, let's say $27 per day. That's $9855 per year for smoking. Or, if each has half a pack a day, nearly $5k per year for that habit.

Or, how about people who have that $5 latte at Starbucks every.single.day.of.the.workweek. That's $1k/year just for coffee. Again, I'd say "I don't know how people afford that." But, really, I do - they just prioritize coffee a lot higher than I do as far as things they're willing to purchase just for enjoyment. Ditto cars - how do so many of the people afford such nice cars? They can't. Well, they can - if they prioritize the car as being more important to spend their money on than other things that I'd rather spend money on. I'd rather buy a nice new kayak paddle in April for $100, a $100 in new fishing equipment in May, a $100 new tube to tow behind the boat in June, an extra $100 to spend on vacation in July, an extra $100 to spend in August on vacation, an extra $100 to spend on hunting equipment in September, etc.; than be driving a car that cost $100 more per month to drive.

Amen.

 

[Kaido]

If you really think about the OP's question - there are other questions (OP is NYC, right?)
How about "how does a middle class couple each afford a pack a day cigarette habit?" In NYC, it's about $13-$14 a pack. So, for 2, let's say $27 per day. That's $9855 per year for smoking. Or, if each has half a pack a day, nearly $5k per year for that habit.

Or, how about people who have that $5 latte at Starbucks every.single.day.of.the.workweek. That's $1k/year just for coffee. Again, I'd say "I don't know how people afford that." But, really, I do - they just prioritize coffee a lot higher than I do as far as things they're willing to purchase just for enjoyment. Ditto cars - how do so many of the people afford such nice cars? They can't. Well, they can - if they prioritize the car as being more important to spend their money on than other things that I'd rather spend money on. I'd rather buy a nice new kayak paddle in April for $100, a $100 in new fishing equipment in May, a $100 new tube to tow behind the boat in June, an extra $100 to spend on vacation in July, an extra $100 to spend in August on vacation, an extra $100 to spend on hunting equipment in September, etc.; than be driving a car that cost $100 more per month to drive.

Exactly, it's ALL about priorities. A lady I used to work with would come in every day with two large Starbucks to last her throughout the day, and then would ask me how I could afford to lease a new car. My cheapo car lease was like $40 less than she spent every month getting a drink!

Of course, it didn't help that she also drove a Land Rover that cost more in gas alone per month than my car payment did :biggrin:

 

[Tweak155]

Exactly, it's ALL about priorities. A lady I used to work with would come in every day with two large Starbucks to last her throughout the day, and then would ask me how I could afford to lease a new car. My cheapo car lease was like $40 less than she spent every month getting a drink!

Of course, it didn't help that she also drove a Land Rover that cost more in gas alone per month than my car payment did :biggrin:

Not to mention a car is something you spend a large chunk of your lifetime in. It is a much better investment than most other things.

As far as vehicles, I think you should buy what you really within what you can actually afford. Don't get the $10k vehicle you don't want if you can afford the $20k vehicle that you really want, just so you can save more money. Can't spend that $10k+ you saved when you're 6 feet under

 

[AViking]

Depends on what you want and how far you drive. $10,000 is still $10,000 dollars and most people finance a car so the actual price difference is closer to $12,000 more.