Since Mr. PiN and I married, I have put away money every year for travel. It’s been the same amount every year–no increase for inflation–and I think we have only met or exceeded that number twice.
This fall we spent much more than I think we ever have on one trip, mostly because we went somewhere expensive (London), at the last minute (always more expensive), and knocked a bunch of tourist sights (or sites?) off a mental bucket list. I relearned that we have, for the most part, cheaper interests, but it was in some ways a good experience to have.
We are now facing another set of last minute vacation plans. Okay, maybe not last minute, but we are certainly not going to be finding great deals on flights and lodging. Hopefully that will be most of our costs, as we I am looking forward to a week at a warm beach with access to tennis courts and walking trails.
Clearly, the rentals I was looking at would be a significant fraction of our annual travel budget. Especially as I also see several trips between now and July (a meeting, a wedding, a trip or 2 to see my mom, possibly college reunions). That’s not even thinking about a fall vacation.
The options for our winter vacation include saving money by finding less attractive rentals, looking harder for cheaper locations (though given all the hurricanes that made landfall this year, we might really regret that), or increasing our budget after 14 years.
Happily, Mr. PiN is OK with increasing our vacation budget. Now all we need to do is figure out by how much.
Readers: have you increased your travel spending in the past few years? What do you feel comfortable spending as a percentage of your income?