Thanks so much for the replies! We had initially budgeted $15,000 a year for travel (taking into account that son lives 1,600 away and daughter has yet to pick where she will live after college as well as how much we loved going to Italy as a family this year!).
A friend of hub’s thought that was very low. Then again - he’s traveled the world adventurously for most of his adult life. I feel there must be a reasonable middle ground - I’d like to see the world, but not necessarily using the highest-end version of travel.
Seems like the amount needed could vary wildly based on how much you travel, where you travel, what you do while traveling, and whether you choose budget or luxury options while traveling.
That’s true; it’s certainly individual. I was curious how other people’s retirements have played out re: travel, though. I’m not sure what ours will look like and it’s helpful to hear from others.
For instance, one of our financial planners said the majority of his clients have far over-estimated the amount of travel they will do after retirement. Not sure what to make of that…
We tracked expenditures for many years, including some nice travels. So we figured “at least that much” in our monthly estimates. Plus we’ve been trying to use frequent flyer miles. But we also have a stash of money tat my husband inherited, and when travel revolves around his family (including his Europe trips with his brothers before I retired), we dip into that.
Thanks for sharing, Colorado_mom. I am sort of thinking that the more frequent/adventurous travel will probably occur in the first portion of retirement (active years) - then that money might flip to contribute to some sort of home health aide situation!!
Those who become more physically limited as they get older may find travel to be too much of a chore and choose to do it less. However, any travel that they do may be more expensive due to needing to pay for assistance and services that were not needed previously.
However, if you can continue to maintain similar levels of physical fitness and ability, then you may be more likely to use your past travel history and preferences as a guide to retirement travel.
Although we don’t have a “travel budget”, we would have easy ability to track it on our annual credit card summary. Along the lines of your comment, I have joked we should have a Travel/Medical bucket, since we will be able to travel more til medical challlenges kick in.
I think trying to be a ‘SuperAger’ can be a help with QOL – and it is not too late to improve one’s health/healthy habits. SuperAger (as described in the article) is a person over 80 that has as good or better memory than cognitively normal people in their 50’s and 60’s (10% of tested population). Obviously can’t ‘choose’ your genes, but can get healthier.
To answer budget question on vacation budget in retirement, it depends on what typical vacations are, and if there are bucket list travel plans. DH has scheduled traveling to 3 events this year (one trip already taken), and has a brother or brothers (both retired) involved with each of them. I might travel to 3rd event and split off some on my own. I also plan to fly for 2 weeks to DD1/family out of state (and do this about twice a year), while DH stays home. At some point we may make a big road trip together, including stopping at DD1/family. DD2 just visited us for a few days. These are our typical ‘low cost’ travel plans. DH has traveled extensively globally for business in the last 30 years of his career (as well as in the US), and people he has been with have often had him also experiencing some of the visitor spots - he has no desire to travel internationally again. I traveled to Switzerland for all of June 2016 (my 5th visit, with first being when I was 12 with my parents and two older siblings), but I am a dual Swiss citizen and stay with relatives and friends (my sister traveled and stayed 2 weeks, so we flew over together). Schweitzer-Deutsch was my first language.
I have a lot of things ‘to do’ at our home to eventually get it ready to sell and for us to move – but we are not ready to get close on selling/moving. I have a fund for home improvements, and need to get some of that ball rolling. First though it is getting rid of some ‘stuff’. DH is on board with some of the home improvement tasks - we have been improving our ‘curb appeal’ with attention to plants (DH does a great job with the grass). DH is good at closet improvements (extra shelving and such with his wood working/shop equipment). DH is a general fix it person, but we hire out stuff we don’t want to do (like painting). No definite new home location decided either (or if we want a small condo at one place and a bigger home at another).
We have our semi-annual ‘state of the markets’ by financial group tonight, and individual appointment next week. We have that cash flow situation and investments all currently alright.
A financial advisor I met divided retirement into the “go go” years, the “slow go” years and the “no go” years. I think the higher numbers make sense for the go-go years. My MIL took a bike trip to India with her daughters and went on a number of jaunts. Then just a few trips a year (slow go) and now only one – to her Florida house for the winter and then back. My mother also in no go did not think she would be able make it to her first grandchild’s wedding. Alas, she died four months before.
So I suspect that most budgets overestimate the no go and probably the slow go years.
Do people camp (ie sleep on the ground) in retirement? In our experience empty nesting/retirement tends to be the time many invest in an RV/travel trailer. That’s a significant initial outlay, though it can be cheaper than hotels for a lengthy road trip.
We still camp. Sleep on cots in the tent. We’ve considered a trailer, but we’d need a car capable of pulling it. That would be an additional expense, as we have two paid-off cars now. We’d also have to expand our driveway, which would involve taking down an 80-ft oak tree.
Would not buy a trailer new: there are plenty of people who purchase a trailer and then have buyer’s remorse.
Travel is our splurge, though we don’t do luxury trips. If both our sons continue to live thousands of miles away, we’ll have airfare. Hotels in S2’s corner of the world are very inexpensive.
I’m glad we started the bucket list trips early, as orthopedic issues have been a recurring issue. During Covid we discovered lots of outdoor day trips in our area. That may well prove the basis for travel in the slow-go phase.
We’re in the same boat. We tent camp. We have a nice but heavy 10x14 canvas tent, two cots with built in Air mattresses that we use foam toppers on in colder weather, a luggable loo (don’t like having to travel outside the tent for those middle of the nigh necessaries) etc. The only thing I miss is air conditioning. Summer days and the occasional night can get pretty steamy.
Several years ago when we were working with someone to figure out how much we needed to retire, I budgeted $20K a year for travel.
COVID hit, and we didn’t spend much for a couple of years. We have decided we are going to knock off several of our bucket list trips in the next several years, while we are still healthy and fit, so our $ amount will be significantly higher.
Lazy campers here. Pull into park. Pitch tent. Hike a little. Go out for dinner (at the nearest town). Sleep on deep cushions. Take down tent. Go into nearest town for coffee. Next day, repeat, or rotate nights in a hotel if on a road trip.
I HATE paying $150 / night (or more) to just sleep somewhere. I miss our old mini-van. Pull into park. Sleep in van (on deep cushions, already set up). No take-down needed. Most SUV’s don’t fold flat, or not long enough to lie down. Newer mini vans are HUGE (Our former one was the short version of a Caravan. Shorter vans are no longer an option).
We have an old minivan, with seats removed (it’s my “pick up truck” for yard waste etc). I have thought about using it for an overnight camping trip. But I’d have to find a way to quietly sneak out for a trip to the restroom without making a lot of noise with the doors. It would be an economical way to stay overnight near Rocky Mountain National Park, only an hour away but it would be fun to stay over.
I’m with you! I love a hotel room, but I hate paying those prices. My BIL owns several properties where we’ve stayed for free, or I tend to visit friends and stay with them. It’s rare that we plan a vacation where we would have to pay for a week of hotel rooms.
We used to fly from Maryland to CA with camping gear, a 5 & 6 yo and our bags. IWe’d camp our way up the NorCal coast into Oregon. I can’t fathom schlepping all that stuff now! Pre-Covid, H and I would rent a Jucy van which has a kitchen, double bed, table, kitchen equipment, and a pop-up roof and go camping along the same route. Much easier than bringing our stuff.
We have a large Eureka tent, dining fly, lots of big foldout camping chairs, and enough kitchen gear to cook for a dozen people. H likes to cook; the venue is irrelevant.
I miss our 2000 Odyssey. Best vehicle we’ve had. Tons of room, great seating, reliable as all get out. So many good memories made there!
We try to do one big trip a year (we leave for Ukraine in five weeks for S2’s wedding; we’re staying at a fancy spa resort. It’s $32/night.) and lots of smaller trips. “Small” has different meanings for people; I’m driving solo to ATL and back next week for a niece’s wedding shower. Will stay with friends who just moved to NC one night, three nights at my niece’s, then drive all the way home. I could get a cheap plane fare, but the rental car rates in ATL were nuts. And this way, I can stop at antique malls and fabric shops along the way!
We don’t tend to hang out at hotels or beaches and relax, so we look for small, locally owned places where we can get a decent night’s sleep. This may change as we get older and comfort becomes a higher priority so that we have energy/capability to be active the next day.
This upcoming trip for the wedding will be a big physical challenge for me. We’ll see how it goes!
We do still camp but just before Covid we got a 20 ft trailer. It was my husband’s idea and I wasn’t thrilled as I thought camping needed to be in a tent. I now admit it’s super nice to have the trailer. We still have our tents, camping stove and all the gear. We also have backpacks and backpacking tents that I’m sure we will never use again. Our kids do borrow the tents. We did many long camping trips when the kids were growing up. We are just back from a week on a lake where we rented a house. It was such a pleasure to not be camping.
I don’t budget travel but we do try to take the cash back on our Costco credit card and reserve it for travel spending money. I would like to do a bigger trip every year but it works out more to being every other year. One thing I’ve upped the budget on is flights. If it’s over a certain time I want to fly business. I’ve got hip and knee problems and it makes my trip so much better if I’m starting out not in pain. The last couple of times when decisions were to be made on destination we thought about all the places we want to go and picked one that we felt would be better earlier.
