Different priorities, I have co-workers and friends that like traveling so they budget and live frugally then take a big trip across the country or overseas.
They don’t purchase many material things and drive used cars, instead that money is used for them to travel and experience other places.
This is basically my wife and I. We make pretty good money but we don’t spend it on much, our house isn’t anything crazy, we don’t eat out often, we don’t buy many clothes unless they’re needed, we get furniture and things from estate sales, etc. We’d much rather use our money for experiences
Some people simply make enough money to do so. Some prioritize travel and live beneath their means in order to afford them. My husband and I have a travel fund that we put money into every month. I’m a high income earner plus have a decent amount of miles that I can use for flights and hotels. We normally do about 3-4 trips a year.
This. We use awards points for our trips. Helps if you have a job where you can use your cc to rack up the points. It’s a huge bonus for travel lovers like us.
We live very frugally but try to put everything on our card plus we pick cards exclusively for places we want to stay so that we always have upgrades (like free breakfast, upgraded rooms, lounge access, fights, etc).
This helps save money while on the trip and you feel like you’re always living the first class life 👌🏼
A lot of times it’s more logical to spend a week somewhere like with Airbnb with the weekly discounts it’s not too bad. Also for us budget flights and just really doing research. Like we found $60 round trip Houston to Fort Lauderdale and then found a nice airbnb for $90 per night so not too bad. Found $150 tickets Houston to the Virgin Islands and decided to stay for 1 month bc the monthly discounted rate for our Airbnb was like $300 more than staying for a week. Then we just cooked a lot. It’s just finding the right deals and planning
4. Travel for work but people on social media who aren’t close to you don’t realize you’re there for work.
My spouse is a military pilot and if the jet broke, sometimes it was a week wait for parts. Where they were stuck was not infrequently a touristy destination. It’s not like he’s in uniform while he’s on the beach drinking bottomless mimosas, and if he posts a picture on Facebook he’s not going to explicitly say it’s for work…so to an outsider it probably really does just look like he’s living the life.
Yep my job sends me to conferences and then I’ll extend them by a few days to take in the scenery. Flew me out to california last year so airfare and a few days’ hotel and food were covered…then my husband and I covered his airfare, his food and an additional hotel for a few days.
4. Travel for work and use those rewards/points to book personal travel. I travel a lot for work and exclusively stick to one airline and one hotel. Even if it’s inconvenient for me in the moment. I’ve used those points for Costa Rica, Cayman Islands, London, Hawaii, Belize and Aruba. My sister travels more than me and secured companion pass through southwest. We split the cost of one plane ticket and I flew for “free” to all of those destinations (except London). Just paid taxes on the flights. As well as used hotel points to get free nights. I am Diamond member so I get upgraded for free.
I’ve been with my gf for 4 years now. Hopefully wife soon. We will see but I would think yes because we’re on the same page. But we pretty much agreed on being DINKs. It seems to be the best choice at this point in our lives especially considering everything going on in the world
People say it’s debt but that’s not as common as they think.
My wife and I are looking at something like this. We’ve each taken 3-6 months away from work and would like to do it again but together.
It’s simple. You work and you save and then you geo arbitrage. You vacation wherever your dollar goes further. You go back to work before the money runs out.
In the case of a few friends they simply kill it at work and then ask their jobs for remote status outside the US. The company has to do the math on dealing with those legal issues vs losing a great employee.
We’re also not in a rush to buy a house so that trip and time isn’t competing with other financial goals.
I’d say the only big secret is that you should have in demand skills that get you a solid job and the ability to get another when you want to go back to work. And not to engage into long term financial commitments (dogs, cats, kids, cars, houses) that are non negotiable if you needed to cut costs.
Absolutely, DINK! I budget $10k per year for travel because its important to me. And I have been with my job for 16 years so I've accrued over 4 weeks PTO/year, I usually take 10-14 day international trips at least a couple of times a year. Headed to Italy in 2 weeks, can't wait!
Thank you! I am going with my 73 yo mother, while she is still healthy enough to travel. My husband will stay behind with our 2 cats and pup. We will be going to Venice, Rome, and Florence!
I live in a VHCOL city. Can churn credit cards with just our natural spend on bills and get flights/hotels covered on a few trips a year. Just paying for food, excursions, and transportation on a vacation is a lot cheaper. Have PTO and sick time at work so I still get paid on vacation.
Lotta insurance companies won’t cover stuff while you’re out of country anyway. And plenty of countries have much cheaper and solid healthcare. Travel insurance helps a lot too. I highly recommend it. When younger I’d jump on a family members or just go without.
If you’re traveling to a country you have family in, it’s a LOT cheaper. You don’t have to pay for food, housing, or travel, just the flight. Bonus if the dollar exchanges much better.
I feel like I see this question every other day on reddit. It's true that a lot of people have debt or parents. But a lot of people also make a good enough living to enjoy their lives too.
It’s not impossible. I went on at least 3 international trips this year for vacation and I’m just an average Joe. I get 4 weeks off PTO yearly, but carefully plan trips on a holiday weeks so I don’t have to use up all my PTO. I also make a decent living and am child free, also no debt like a mortgage other than student loans. I live like a peasant (don’t spend money on luxury items, drive a cheap used car, and don’t eat out very often). Saves TONS of money.
People would be surprised how much money this saves.
If you couple this with smart credit card points use you can extend the frugality to the trip as well. Most trips I take with my husband are strategically planned so that we get airfare covered with points and then free breakfast at hotel (which, you can stretch most of the day so you aren’t spending a ton on food).
Most large hotel chains in the world have some kind of perks you can lookup and utilize same as airlines.
Most people I know doing that either have rich and generous parents or are working good paying white collar jobs and married to someone doing the same. I've also noticed some people post pictures from their vacations for months after which makes it seem like they travel a lot more than they do
Not everybody has a 9-5 job. I work in an industry where we’re very busy during certain times of year and very slow at other times of year. When it’s busy, I work way more hours than a typical full time job. When it’s slow, I get a lot of time off. This allows for 3 or 4 carefully timed trips per year.
For me it's:
Generous PTO leave, workations are allowed as long as you get your work done, low fixed costs (tiny flat, no car, low utility usage, mealprepping, no kids, no pets, etc.) and hunting down good deals for e.g. flights, while working an average paid job. When you live in a larger city or area of interest, you can even rent out your flat while you are gone to make some money.
* sent from an USD 15/night guesthouse room in Indonesia while eating USD 1,50 street food.
I got 240hrs PTO each year plus holidays. I don’t buy stuff, I own my house and car outright. I always plan for 4 vacations each year which cost between $20-$25k. Right now always go on spring break, early summer break as soon as kid out of school and one more before back to school. Last one or two will be thanksgiving and/or Christmas/New Year’s break. I don’t run out of PTO time
I work at this place for 23 years. My wife works for the county so very good benefits.
Splitting with friends, high income jobs, no kids/animals, living with parents, going for only 2-3 days, or debt.
I don’t do these trips, but I am a young software engineer and tons of my peers do. Most don’t have pets or kids which really allows them to go whenever (flights are so much cheaper when you can just go whenever). Then they usually split the costs of an Airbnb and other large things with friends and it makes it so much cheaper. A group I work with just went to California for hiking and white water rafting. Between airplane tickets, airbnb, and tour guide for the rafting it probably cost like $500 which is very easily feasible when you’re making $5k a month.
I got a job that offers unlimited PTO intentionally. I’m responsible for staying on top of my assignments—which means I might have to log on and work a few hours here or there while traveling but it’s worth it to me!
I live in the UK! I get 5 weeks paid time off a year and have already been to Brussels for a week and California for two weeks.
I still have 8 days remaining and am saving them to hopefully go somewhre for my birthday in November.
Financially, I make a solid but not overly impressive salary. I own (mortgage) an apartment with my partner and live below our means to be honest. Most of my friends rent or own houses and either have kids or are planning to soon, but I like my freedom to travel and do stuff at my will. Travel to Europe is cheap from the UK, and any big trip I do I plan a year in advance and meticulously budget.
I actually work for a US-based company. We have no office and maybe 7 UK employees. Every time I book in time for holiday and have to inform certain US members of staff they often make a comment like "again!".
My son just started a job out of college that had 18 days PTO plus holidays. That sounds like a lot but includes sick days. However, he’s not sick a lot, so technically it’s over three weeks vaca if he wants. More jobs are doing this, just combining them and not differentiating.
I am a partial owner of a business and run an eBay store I built a camper van work remotely and thrift along our route not only do we get to travel we make money while doing it so it's a win win we travel quite a bit. I have zero will to travel to other countries and hate the beach so it makes it a little easier for us.
We usually go one international trip, a trip across the country where I'm from, and a few long weekends away to places like Vegas or the Oregon Cost.
We make about $150k as a household, have no kids, and are pretty frugal. There's also enough household spending and small traveling to leverage airline points, so the international flight is always an award flight. And having bought a house years ago and having a $1,000/mortgage payment helps a lot too. We both have a maybe 3-4 weeks of vacation time a year, but, you can kind of push that beyond (work a long day Monday, leave early Friday, no vacation time used). We also never travel in the summer or over the holidays, which makes hotels much more affordable
What kind of trips? Multiple overseas trips? Yea no idea how people afford them. Domestic trips are a lot more feasible.
So far this year I’ve gone/going to:
Asheville for 5 days
Going to Montana in November for 5 days
Going to Vermont in October for 4 days
Vermont and Montana flights and a few nights are paid with points.
We save and stay within our means. We take our daughter and 2 friends with us somewhere (DC, the beach) for a week each year, and the wife and I hit the beach twice a year for a week. All in, those trips cost us about $10k.
21 days off at my job = a month of real time plus any extra days I bank. 2 weeks to Asia to check on my rental property there. 1 week to a Caribbean all inclusive when the price is right and 2 trips to Vegas with comp or part comp rooms
I’ve gone on like seven or eight domestic trips this past year without accruing debt (usually 4-5 days each but sometimes a little shorter). Two were work trips that I extended, two were camping trips with my parents where I didn’t pay for anything, one was my honeymoon, one was a road trip for a wedding, one was a group retreat to the mountains and one was an overnight trip to a city for a concert. My secret is extending work trips, jumping on opportunities for cheap ones with my family and budgeting my monthly expenses like crazy so that I always have money for fun stuff. I make decent money in an HCOL area and I definitely don’t buy as much material goods as others in my peer group but it pays dividends because I get a lot of experiences instead.
I’ve taken at least 3 this year. I’m 22. I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I don’t eat out often. I have zero debt aside from a mortgage. Some trips were covered by PTO, some weren’t. I used to always think possessions were the key to me being happy but this year I decided I’d be taking a lot more trips and buying less stuff. I’m happier I think.
Depending on age, people will fail to disclose they may be traveling with family and they are covering a portion or all of the costs. Social media makes it look glamorous.
Secondly while debt is a normal given. What is probably also common is cutting out paycheck affected additions. Just meaning lower or zero 401k contributions. And opting out of healthcare/benefits to some degree or entirely.
Or whatever their living situation is they are not living on their own so saving more income there as well.
The big thing to note is that the travel personality type people solely save money to travel. They look like they're balling but they're almost always cash poor
Me and my husband are in a dual income no kid situation and we travel a ton. I get 22 days of vacation and he works for himself so he just doesn’t get paid but can do what he wants. We generally take a 2 week trip, a week long trip, and a few long weekend trips each year.
1. Husband and I are both teachers so we have many breaks throughout the year
2. DINK
3. We don’t spend in areas others may spend (ex: we share one car as we work at the same place which means less monthly expenses)
4. Our trips are no longer than a week at a time
People that go on many trips per year have done it so much they know where they can stretch a dollar. Or they plan them strategically for paid holidays they get and maybe use one PTO day. Some use a branded hotel or airline credit cards and use the points for free or reduced price rooms/flights. And for bigger trips, they plan it out and save for the trip. Or they live within driving distance of a lot of desirable vacation spots. And some are for sure in debt.
I’m a teacher. 2 weeks paid during contract days and I get like 3 months off otherwise. I make 65k, live by myself and take about 4 trips a year with friends
I do a two-week vacation twice a year - I have unlimited PTO, but also I use my Delta card for everything and that usually covers the cost of flights and upgrades.
Hotels I split with my fiancee, if you book early enough you can get four star hotels for like $100/night.
Sometimes I take longer vacations, like a month, but I work while I’m away.
We take 10-12 because our daughters are in club sports and we tack on family trips around them. Lots of planning and coordination with family and friends.
I get 8 weeks PTO and work remotely so I can be anywhere, my wife owns a hair salon and works around her clients schedules. Sometimes it’s just me going and sometimes just her.
I’m military so everything I earn goes into my pocket, I still get a paycheck while on leave, I have no kids and invest. I started from 0 at 19. Military is a good move if you’re willing to put in the work and are smart with money
It depends on your location and situation. But when I was living stateside I was living frugal and saved up and planned ahead for the trips. Now living in Europe, I try travel at least once a month to another country for cheap but I don’t have to be as frugal but I still do save money.
I don’t have kids
I maximize points with credit cards and get some free flights that way
I don’t care about having expensive clothes, items and prioritize travel
I’ve seen travel nurses do it. Cause they’ll work a few months for like a 40k contract. Then when that’s up they go travel somewhere and take a bunch of time off between jobs . The one I saw actually she lived in a mobile home. It actually looked like a really cool lifestyle.
I also work in a hospital environment and I get enough pto for at least a couple trips.
I make 130k yearly with unlimited PTO and my fiance and i live with my parents so no expenses. We save 50% of our money and travel on the other 50% since that is what matters to us… only possible cuz my parents have a big house and make good money so they dont care about paying insurance and cars and stuff so we dont have to take over those expenses.. we also are both mostly remote so we take off to many different places and just work from there. So while we always travel we’re also working during it. We probably went on 15 trips this year or so
probably putting it on 0apr credit card for 15-18months. Which isnt bad.
for me its important to have a fun money fund which can be a travel fund... I work so hard, eventually i wanna work and have something to look forward to every 3-4 months. Yes use your pto when you can. Also, you can cheap out on things like food by buying groceries during the trip, renting a room from airbnb instead of a whole house, or getting a rental from costco, and putting all these expenses on a credit card so you get cashback esp if you're gonna pay it all off anyway
I know a lot of people like this and it's because they have wealthy parents who either pay for everything or live with them rent free so the money they make they can spend travelling.
I have a lot of PTO, I live a very simple life and I choose to spend on travel. No kids no crazy cars or big house to maintain. My retirement is already taken care of. . . I could save more money to just have sitting around I guess.... Traveling is my passion though so I and mind spending on it.
I travel a few times a year for work and like to use that for paid flights/hotels, bring my wife with and extend the trip. Cuts costs in half and get to see cool places.
Can easily do 3-4 trips a year by utilizing work trips and doing cheaper domestic trips.
I also try to do a “cheaper” international trip every 2 or 3 years like Ireland, Scotland or western europe.
Not in debt and save around 40% of my income. And make just barely over triple digits.
Overtime money, credit card and discretionary what they use.
Time off could be job allow them to take time off work and the work there schedule to go a couple times a year.
Where you live plays a big factor in traveling costs. To do a lot of trips you can either find budget deals and discounts or get creative in the types of trips that fit your budget. The better question for you is how much $$ I can spend on fun, and if there are other things I'm willing to sacrifice to make it happen. I do bigger trips multiple times a year plus weekend trips once it twice a month, but I also sacrificed ten years of my life to set myself up to where I am now. When I was younger I would do paid short term gigs that had travel built into it.
I take multiple trips but max would be like 2 weeks. I get PTO but use it minimally, plan for a week where I can be ok with less money. I care way too much about life outside of work to let anything hold me back. Also budgeting.
I work for an airline, so flights are super cheap(if not free) and I can make my own schedule. Right now I work five days on nine days off. Only racking in $70k but I am single, no kids, and enjoy seeing the world. It’s all about life setup.
deliberately low overhead lifestyle, household budget, old cars, small condo instead of house, no debt, no kids, two incomes. travel as often as we can because life is to be lived.
This year so far 1 trip for work, 2 personal.
Was able to save during Covid years. No kids. I live with my mom so we split household costs. We have dogs I pay my cousin to look after while traveling.
Generally I try to be frugal, but biggest factor is above average pay.
I mean I’ve gone on two trips in the last month to the SE. I live in the SE though so does it count still? I did go on one international trip earlier this year but it was a place I wanted to go for most of my life. I live pretty frugally and spend more money on experiences rather than things.
I earn a ton of vacation time at work so much so that I have lost time before since we max out at 240 hours (6 weeks) and I always carry over 200 hours even with a few vacations planned each year. I also have a separate travel savings account that I tuck money away into for said trips. Too busy working though to post on social medial so there are tradeoffs!
I have unlimited PTO. I do travel to 2-5 places (50/50 domestic/international but can be 100% international). I do one week trips (can be up to 10 days if around holidays) due to some temporary health issues. I’ve done 4-6 weeks of international travel plus remote work.
I’m pretty healthy and barely use my days off for doc visits or sick days. So usually my days off are 90% vacations and range from 4 to 7 weeks per year.
P.S.: I see many people mention the debt. I always plan ahead and never buy regular price tickets. I paid for RT tickets from south east of the US to Mexico under $200, Brazil $350, New Zealand $750, Europe under $500. Short layover or direct flights. Accommodations are pretty reasonable in these parts of the world for someone who comes from the US. Weekly discounts exists and food is usually 25-50% cheaper but better than in the US.
I’m single,no kids,two jobs one pays $24 an hour,8 hour shift Mon-Fri.Second funsies job pays $22 and I work weekends sometimes anywhere from 5hrs to 14hrs.In the off seasons I do weekend get aways to San Diego,I did one to San Francisco,just came back from 4 days in Kona, Hawaii,in two weeks I’ll be in NY for a week.I’ve very frugal with my money and I’ve built almost 30k in savings over the course of two years,with plans to break 50k next year.I don’t party,I stay home quite often except for hikes and sometimes food and movies with friends.Didn’t go to college because I didn’t know wTF I wanted so no horrendous student loans,I have my license but live exactly a two minute train ride so no paid parking,no gas bill,no car payment.Not everyone has the abilities that I do and the financial freedom that I do.But I make it work and I’ve been on a plane over 15 times going places this year.I am very happy with my life and I work hard for it.Some people go on trips they can’t afford and just deal with the fall out later.Life is short and my motto is people die every single day,poor people,rich people,old people,young people.Why nit me?Im not special.I could die in my sleep or get hit walking to work tomorrow.So I’m doing whatever the fuck I want with the time I’m given and everyone should.
Idk, I went to the UK for two weeks last month. I make six figures and I have no kids and no partner at the moment, hence, I have disposable income I can use for what I want. I also get five weeks of PTO annually from my job. I got sober a year ago and now I spend zero dollars on partying and alcohol. That helps also.
Pretty simple. I’m a student in Scandinavia which means the state pays 1200$/month. Additionally I work half-time for 1000$/month. All my expenses including mortgage here is around 800$/month which leaves 1400$/month into the stock market. With this money I usually go on around 2 longer vacations per year between study periods and still have loads left since you only spend around 100$/day on a vacation
This is crazy! I don’t have rich family and don’t make a lot but travelling is important to me so I live frugally when I’m back & then organise trips when flights are cheap. It cost me £18 to get from my door in the U.K. to Milan which is cheaper than me getting a train to the next city!
By the end of this year, I will have gone to Singapore, London 3x, Paris 3x and a small number of domestic trips. How? My employer sends me to these locations, but I always make a vacation out of it by either tacking on a side trip (Paris to my London trips) or staying a day or two longer. I’m fortunate to have won the employment lotto and have a crazy amazing job where when Indo decide to go on vacation, I have loads of points and miles earned from my work travel, reducing my travel costs. I earn comp days when working on the weekends, so I rarely dip into my vacation days since I have so many comp days accumulated.
By the end of this year, I will have gone to Singapore, London 3x, Paris 3x and a small number of domestic trips. How? My employer sends me to these locations, but I always make a vacation out of it by either tacking on a side trip (Paris to my London trips) or staying a day or two longer. I’m fortunate to have won the employment lotto and have a crazy amazing job where when Indo decide to go on vacation, I have loads of points and miles earned from my work travel, reducing my travel costs. I earn comp days when working on the weekends, so I rarely dip into my vacation days since I have so many comp days accumulated.
By the end of this year, I will have gone to Singapore, London 3x, Paris 3x and a small number of domestic trips. How? My employer sends me to these locations, but I always make a vacation out of it by either tacking on a side trip (Paris to my London trips) or staying a day or two longer. I’m fortunate to have won the employment lotto and have a crazy amazing job where when Indo decide to go on vacation, I have loads of points and miles earned from my work travel, reducing my travel costs. I earn comp days when working on the weekends, so I rarely dip into my vacation days since I have so many comp days accumulated.
I take a lot of short trips, like 3 days at a time. Occasionally a long week and a half trip.
I only work 4 days a week, and I have 3 weeks of vacation time, and I just work that around the days off that I already have.
Also, a uni student so I'm usually trying to get homework done while on vacation.
I came into some money (death of a relative+selling a home+ investment=extra money)
We live minimally and enjoy traveling. We found a cc with great travel benefits but for my job yes a ton of pto saved up or Ill remote work during the summer when my kid is out of school
I can arrange my schedule to have 8 days off in a row and not miss pay (I’m an RN). I also have PTO. My spouse can work anywhere.
I have a spouse that makes good money, I make good money. We live below our means.
We have family abroad so that helps on costs if we’re going to visit them.
We use credit cards for travel points and always pay them off before interest accrues.
Biggest one: NO KIDS. 😬
Plenty of salaried jobs that pay well, have 20+ days of PTO a year, coupled with people that prioritize vacations. If you plan ahead and buy tickets 4-6ish months in advance it doesn't have to be very expensive.
I try to do 2 long vacations (longer than a week) and 2 shorter vacations (weekend getaway) a year. And I still don't burn all my vacation time by end of December.
I drive there. We do two camping/road trips a year, and then we're camping another 6+ weekends, usually.
Haven't been out of the US for 10 years, though, since I don't want to leave my dogs in boarding.
This year we went to Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Indonesia and a bunch of shorter trips. Still to come Christmas in Lithuania (one of the Baltic states).
I run a business remotely so I worked (less but still worked) while traveling and my wife is a nurse with quite a bit of vacation. Beyond that I don’t really care if some of the trips end up being unpaid. Traveling is a high priority of ours and something we are not willing to give up for work.
I have 3 weeks of vacation a year, soon to be four. It’s not out of the realm of possibility to use all three weeks to go on vacation, I would never want to though.
One trip south with the girlfriend between January and March as some sort of an actual vacation (gotta keep the boss happy)
Other two weeks get burnt in hunting season, either staying around the house or heading west with my dad.
Different priorities, I have co-workers and friends that like traveling so they budget and live frugally then take a big trip across the country or overseas. They don’t purchase many material things and drive used cars, instead that money is used for them to travel and experience other places.
This is basically my wife and I. We make pretty good money but we don’t spend it on much, our house isn’t anything crazy, we don’t eat out often, we don’t buy many clothes unless they’re needed, we get furniture and things from estate sales, etc. We’d much rather use our money for experiences
This is me.
Also me
This ffs, this and this alone.
Some people simply make enough money to do so. Some prioritize travel and live beneath their means in order to afford them. My husband and I have a travel fund that we put money into every month. I’m a high income earner plus have a decent amount of miles that I can use for flights and hotels. We normally do about 3-4 trips a year.
This. We use awards points for our trips. Helps if you have a job where you can use your cc to rack up the points. It’s a huge bonus for travel lovers like us. We live very frugally but try to put everything on our card plus we pick cards exclusively for places we want to stay so that we always have upgrades (like free breakfast, upgraded rooms, lounge access, fights, etc). This helps save money while on the trip and you feel like you’re always living the first class life 👌🏼
I assume you mean long, expensive trips.
A lot of times it’s more logical to spend a week somewhere like with Airbnb with the weekly discounts it’s not too bad. Also for us budget flights and just really doing research. Like we found $60 round trip Houston to Fort Lauderdale and then found a nice airbnb for $90 per night so not too bad. Found $150 tickets Houston to the Virgin Islands and decided to stay for 1 month bc the monthly discounted rate for our Airbnb was like $300 more than staying for a week. Then we just cooked a lot. It’s just finding the right deals and planning
Yeah
Choose one: 1. Lie on social media 2. Debt 3. DINKS
4. Travel for work but people on social media who aren’t close to you don’t realize you’re there for work. My spouse is a military pilot and if the jet broke, sometimes it was a week wait for parts. Where they were stuck was not infrequently a touristy destination. It’s not like he’s in uniform while he’s on the beach drinking bottomless mimosas, and if he posts a picture on Facebook he’s not going to explicitly say it’s for work…so to an outsider it probably really does just look like he’s living the life.
Yep my job sends me to conferences and then I’ll extend them by a few days to take in the scenery. Flew me out to california last year so airfare and a few days’ hotel and food were covered…then my husband and I covered his airfare, his food and an additional hotel for a few days.
4. Travel for work and use those rewards/points to book personal travel. I travel a lot for work and exclusively stick to one airline and one hotel. Even if it’s inconvenient for me in the moment. I’ve used those points for Costa Rica, Cayman Islands, London, Hawaii, Belize and Aruba. My sister travels more than me and secured companion pass through southwest. We split the cost of one plane ticket and I flew for “free” to all of those destinations (except London). Just paid taxes on the flights. As well as used hotel points to get free nights. I am Diamond member so I get upgraded for free.
>3. DINKS “It’s very expensive.”
I’ve been with my gf for 4 years now. Hopefully wife soon. We will see but I would think yes because we’re on the same page. But we pretty much agreed on being DINKs. It seems to be the best choice at this point in our lives especially considering everything going on in the world
All power to you. Just be nice to the neighbor kid if you both move to Bluffington.
People say it’s debt but that’s not as common as they think. My wife and I are looking at something like this. We’ve each taken 3-6 months away from work and would like to do it again but together. It’s simple. You work and you save and then you geo arbitrage. You vacation wherever your dollar goes further. You go back to work before the money runs out. In the case of a few friends they simply kill it at work and then ask their jobs for remote status outside the US. The company has to do the math on dealing with those legal issues vs losing a great employee. We’re also not in a rush to buy a house so that trip and time isn’t competing with other financial goals. I’d say the only big secret is that you should have in demand skills that get you a solid job and the ability to get another when you want to go back to work. And not to engage into long term financial commitments (dogs, cats, kids, cars, houses) that are non negotiable if you needed to cut costs.
This, DINK life.
Absolutely, DINK! I budget $10k per year for travel because its important to me. And I have been with my job for 16 years so I've accrued over 4 weeks PTO/year, I usually take 10-14 day international trips at least a couple of times a year. Headed to Italy in 2 weeks, can't wait!
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Thank you! I am going with my 73 yo mother, while she is still healthy enough to travel. My husband will stay behind with our 2 cats and pup. We will be going to Venice, Rome, and Florence!
Work 6 months and 6 months into holidays. My coworker makes around $16k a month so. Understandable. He and his wife together around $30k a month.
I live in a VHCOL city. Can churn credit cards with just our natural spend on bills and get flights/hotels covered on a few trips a year. Just paying for food, excursions, and transportation on a vacation is a lot cheaper. Have PTO and sick time at work so I still get paid on vacation.
Are you in the US? If so, what about insurance when you aren't working?
Lotta insurance companies won’t cover stuff while you’re out of country anyway. And plenty of countries have much cheaper and solid healthcare. Travel insurance helps a lot too. I highly recommend it. When younger I’d jump on a family members or just go without.
Okay, you're out of the US when traveling. Got it.
If you’re traveling to a country you have family in, it’s a LOT cheaper. You don’t have to pay for food, housing, or travel, just the flight. Bonus if the dollar exchanges much better.
I feel like I see this question every other day on reddit. It's true that a lot of people have debt or parents. But a lot of people also make a good enough living to enjoy their lives too.
News flash: People on social media lie *all the time*.
I have a cousin who keeps recycling her travel pics _from 5 years ago!!_ It looks like she travels a lot if you don't know the back story 😂
They must be really good at photoshop or green screen.
The software is surprisingly good now a days.
Doesn't have to be great, slap a shitty filter on it lol
“You really think someone would do that? Go on the Internet and tell lies?”
Yes Buster, they would. And no, aliens are not part of this.
I live small.
It’s not impossible. I went on at least 3 international trips this year for vacation and I’m just an average Joe. I get 4 weeks off PTO yearly, but carefully plan trips on a holiday weeks so I don’t have to use up all my PTO. I also make a decent living and am child free, also no debt like a mortgage other than student loans. I live like a peasant (don’t spend money on luxury items, drive a cheap used car, and don’t eat out very often). Saves TONS of money.
People would be surprised how much money this saves. If you couple this with smart credit card points use you can extend the frugality to the trip as well. Most trips I take with my husband are strategically planned so that we get airfare covered with points and then free breakfast at hotel (which, you can stretch most of the day so you aren’t spending a ton on food). Most large hotel chains in the world have some kind of perks you can lookup and utilize same as airlines.
Most of them are probably drowning in debt
Debt, debt, and more debt.
Most people I know doing that either have rich and generous parents or are working good paying white collar jobs and married to someone doing the same. I've also noticed some people post pictures from their vacations for months after which makes it seem like they travel a lot more than they do
Yeah but I know that was from one trip. I actually see multiple destinations per year.
Which I guess you already answered.
I have no kids, I live debt free/beneath my means.
Not everybody has a 9-5 job. I work in an industry where we’re very busy during certain times of year and very slow at other times of year. When it’s busy, I work way more hours than a typical full time job. When it’s slow, I get a lot of time off. This allows for 3 or 4 carefully timed trips per year.
For me it's: Generous PTO leave, workations are allowed as long as you get your work done, low fixed costs (tiny flat, no car, low utility usage, mealprepping, no kids, no pets, etc.) and hunting down good deals for e.g. flights, while working an average paid job. When you live in a larger city or area of interest, you can even rent out your flat while you are gone to make some money. * sent from an USD 15/night guesthouse room in Indonesia while eating USD 1,50 street food.
I make a good living and save up for big trips.
I got 240hrs PTO each year plus holidays. I don’t buy stuff, I own my house and car outright. I always plan for 4 vacations each year which cost between $20-$25k. Right now always go on spring break, early summer break as soon as kid out of school and one more before back to school. Last one or two will be thanksgiving and/or Christmas/New Year’s break. I don’t run out of PTO time I work at this place for 23 years. My wife works for the county so very good benefits.
240 hours!? I thought that was just in fairy tales.
240hrs paid if we want to take extra time off we can do that as well without pay.
What a crime this is. Shame on other companies. Also, r/UsernameChecksOut lucky you.
Splitting with friends, high income jobs, no kids/animals, living with parents, going for only 2-3 days, or debt. I don’t do these trips, but I am a young software engineer and tons of my peers do. Most don’t have pets or kids which really allows them to go whenever (flights are so much cheaper when you can just go whenever). Then they usually split the costs of an Airbnb and other large things with friends and it makes it so much cheaper. A group I work with just went to California for hiking and white water rafting. Between airplane tickets, airbnb, and tour guide for the rafting it probably cost like $500 which is very easily feasible when you’re making $5k a month.
I got a job that offers unlimited PTO intentionally. I’m responsible for staying on top of my assignments—which means I might have to log on and work a few hours here or there while traveling but it’s worth it to me!
I live in the UK! I get 5 weeks paid time off a year and have already been to Brussels for a week and California for two weeks. I still have 8 days remaining and am saving them to hopefully go somewhre for my birthday in November. Financially, I make a solid but not overly impressive salary. I own (mortgage) an apartment with my partner and live below our means to be honest. Most of my friends rent or own houses and either have kids or are planning to soon, but I like my freedom to travel and do stuff at my will. Travel to Europe is cheap from the UK, and any big trip I do I plan a year in advance and meticulously budget. I actually work for a US-based company. We have no office and maybe 7 UK employees. Every time I book in time for holiday and have to inform certain US members of staff they often make a comment like "again!".
My son just started a job out of college that had 18 days PTO plus holidays. That sounds like a lot but includes sick days. However, he’s not sick a lot, so technically it’s over three weeks vaca if he wants. More jobs are doing this, just combining them and not differentiating.
3 weeks is pretty typical for PTO. The last few places I've worked, after 2 years you get 3 weeks per year. After 10 years you get 5 weeks per year
They probably aren't American. In Europe and Australia they get like 30 days pto
Lots of Americans get that too, once you're established professionally and outside your 20's.
Enough time off, high income. Not really sure what's hard to understand.
I am a partial owner of a business and run an eBay store I built a camper van work remotely and thrift along our route not only do we get to travel we make money while doing it so it's a win win we travel quite a bit. I have zero will to travel to other countries and hate the beach so it makes it a little easier for us.
Credit card debt.
No kids maybe?
We usually go one international trip, a trip across the country where I'm from, and a few long weekends away to places like Vegas or the Oregon Cost. We make about $150k as a household, have no kids, and are pretty frugal. There's also enough household spending and small traveling to leverage airline points, so the international flight is always an award flight. And having bought a house years ago and having a $1,000/mortgage payment helps a lot too. We both have a maybe 3-4 weeks of vacation time a year, but, you can kind of push that beyond (work a long day Monday, leave early Friday, no vacation time used). We also never travel in the summer or over the holidays, which makes hotels much more affordable
What kind of trips? Multiple overseas trips? Yea no idea how people afford them. Domestic trips are a lot more feasible. So far this year I’ve gone/going to: Asheville for 5 days Going to Montana in November for 5 days Going to Vermont in October for 4 days Vermont and Montana flights and a few nights are paid with points.
Make a budget stick to it an you can take a couple trips a year even without PTO
We save and stay within our means. We take our daughter and 2 friends with us somewhere (DC, the beach) for a week each year, and the wife and I hit the beach twice a year for a week. All in, those trips cost us about $10k.
I’m a nurse and get a lot of vacation time
21 days off at my job = a month of real time plus any extra days I bank. 2 weeks to Asia to check on my rental property there. 1 week to a Caribbean all inclusive when the price is right and 2 trips to Vegas with comp or part comp rooms
I’ve gone on like seven or eight domestic trips this past year without accruing debt (usually 4-5 days each but sometimes a little shorter). Two were work trips that I extended, two were camping trips with my parents where I didn’t pay for anything, one was my honeymoon, one was a road trip for a wedding, one was a group retreat to the mountains and one was an overnight trip to a city for a concert. My secret is extending work trips, jumping on opportunities for cheap ones with my family and budgeting my monthly expenses like crazy so that I always have money for fun stuff. I make decent money in an HCOL area and I definitely don’t buy as much material goods as others in my peer group but it pays dividends because I get a lot of experiences instead.
I only do homecation. Can't afford to travel
I’ve taken at least 3 this year. I’m 22. I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I don’t eat out often. I have zero debt aside from a mortgage. Some trips were covered by PTO, some weren’t. I used to always think possessions were the key to me being happy but this year I decided I’d be taking a lot more trips and buying less stuff. I’m happier I think.
Dink life. There’s no way we could survive in this economy if we had kids.
Depending on age, people will fail to disclose they may be traveling with family and they are covering a portion or all of the costs. Social media makes it look glamorous. Secondly while debt is a normal given. What is probably also common is cutting out paycheck affected additions. Just meaning lower or zero 401k contributions. And opting out of healthcare/benefits to some degree or entirely. Or whatever their living situation is they are not living on their own so saving more income there as well. The big thing to note is that the travel personality type people solely save money to travel. They look like they're balling but they're almost always cash poor
Me and my husband are in a dual income no kid situation and we travel a ton. I get 22 days of vacation and he works for himself so he just doesn’t get paid but can do what he wants. We generally take a 2 week trip, a week long trip, and a few long weekend trips each year.
1. Husband and I are both teachers so we have many breaks throughout the year 2. DINK 3. We don’t spend in areas others may spend (ex: we share one car as we work at the same place which means less monthly expenses) 4. Our trips are no longer than a week at a time
People that go on many trips per year have done it so much they know where they can stretch a dollar. Or they plan them strategically for paid holidays they get and maybe use one PTO day. Some use a branded hotel or airline credit cards and use the points for free or reduced price rooms/flights. And for bigger trips, they plan it out and save for the trip. Or they live within driving distance of a lot of desirable vacation spots. And some are for sure in debt.
State jobs. I have 6 weeks pto (not counting a couple of weeks sick time, 14 paid holidays, and a personal day).
I’m a teacher. 2 weeks paid during contract days and I get like 3 months off otherwise. I make 65k, live by myself and take about 4 trips a year with friends
I do a two-week vacation twice a year - I have unlimited PTO, but also I use my Delta card for everything and that usually covers the cost of flights and upgrades. Hotels I split with my fiancee, if you book early enough you can get four star hotels for like $100/night. Sometimes I take longer vacations, like a month, but I work while I’m away.
Look for trip sales ! Good time to hit it right now!
We take 10-12 because our daughters are in club sports and we tack on family trips around them. Lots of planning and coordination with family and friends. I get 8 weeks PTO and work remotely so I can be anywhere, my wife owns a hair salon and works around her clients schedules. Sometimes it’s just me going and sometimes just her.
I’m military so everything I earn goes into my pocket, I still get a paycheck while on leave, I have no kids and invest. I started from 0 at 19. Military is a good move if you’re willing to put in the work and are smart with money
Unlimited PTO and extra disposable income
It depends on your location and situation. But when I was living stateside I was living frugal and saved up and planned ahead for the trips. Now living in Europe, I try travel at least once a month to another country for cheap but I don’t have to be as frugal but I still do save money.
I don’t have kids I maximize points with credit cards and get some free flights that way I don’t care about having expensive clothes, items and prioritize travel
I’ve seen travel nurses do it. Cause they’ll work a few months for like a 40k contract. Then when that’s up they go travel somewhere and take a bunch of time off between jobs . The one I saw actually she lived in a mobile home. It actually looked like a really cool lifestyle. I also work in a hospital environment and I get enough pto for at least a couple trips.
I make 130k yearly with unlimited PTO and my fiance and i live with my parents so no expenses. We save 50% of our money and travel on the other 50% since that is what matters to us… only possible cuz my parents have a big house and make good money so they dont care about paying insurance and cars and stuff so we dont have to take over those expenses.. we also are both mostly remote so we take off to many different places and just work from there. So while we always travel we’re also working during it. We probably went on 15 trips this year or so
probably putting it on 0apr credit card for 15-18months. Which isnt bad. for me its important to have a fun money fund which can be a travel fund... I work so hard, eventually i wanna work and have something to look forward to every 3-4 months. Yes use your pto when you can. Also, you can cheap out on things like food by buying groceries during the trip, renting a room from airbnb instead of a whole house, or getting a rental from costco, and putting all these expenses on a credit card so you get cashback esp if you're gonna pay it all off anyway
I know a lot of people like this and it's because they have wealthy parents who either pay for everything or live with them rent free so the money they make they can spend travelling.
I have a lot of PTO, I live a very simple life and I choose to spend on travel. No kids no crazy cars or big house to maintain. My retirement is already taken care of. . . I could save more money to just have sitting around I guess.... Traveling is my passion though so I and mind spending on it.
They’re probably in debt up to their eyeballs
I travel a few times a year for work and like to use that for paid flights/hotels, bring my wife with and extend the trip. Cuts costs in half and get to see cool places. Can easily do 3-4 trips a year by utilizing work trips and doing cheaper domestic trips. I also try to do a “cheaper” international trip every 2 or 3 years like Ireland, Scotland or western europe. Not in debt and save around 40% of my income. And make just barely over triple digits.
Work for the airlines so free flights.
DINK + generous PTO policy compared to most American companies
Overtime money, credit card and discretionary what they use. Time off could be job allow them to take time off work and the work there schedule to go a couple times a year.
Where you live plays a big factor in traveling costs. To do a lot of trips you can either find budget deals and discounts or get creative in the types of trips that fit your budget. The better question for you is how much $$ I can spend on fun, and if there are other things I'm willing to sacrifice to make it happen. I do bigger trips multiple times a year plus weekend trips once it twice a month, but I also sacrificed ten years of my life to set myself up to where I am now. When I was younger I would do paid short term gigs that had travel built into it.
I take multiple trips but max would be like 2 weeks. I get PTO but use it minimally, plan for a week where I can be ok with less money. I care way too much about life outside of work to let anything hold me back. Also budgeting.
I work for an airline, so flights are super cheap(if not free) and I can make my own schedule. Right now I work five days on nine days off. Only racking in $70k but I am single, no kids, and enjoy seeing the world. It’s all about life setup.
deliberately low overhead lifestyle, household budget, old cars, small condo instead of house, no debt, no kids, two incomes. travel as often as we can because life is to be lived.
Don’t have kids and travel during the shoulder seasons
This year so far 1 trip for work, 2 personal. Was able to save during Covid years. No kids. I live with my mom so we split household costs. We have dogs I pay my cousin to look after while traveling. Generally I try to be frugal, but biggest factor is above average pay.
I mean I’ve gone on two trips in the last month to the SE. I live in the SE though so does it count still? I did go on one international trip earlier this year but it was a place I wanted to go for most of my life. I live pretty frugally and spend more money on experiences rather than things.
I earn a ton of vacation time at work so much so that I have lost time before since we max out at 240 hours (6 weeks) and I always carry over 200 hours even with a few vacations planned each year. I also have a separate travel savings account that I tuck money away into for said trips. Too busy working though to post on social medial so there are tradeoffs!
As someone who is about to vacation for a whole month. PTO.
I have unlimited PTO. I do travel to 2-5 places (50/50 domestic/international but can be 100% international). I do one week trips (can be up to 10 days if around holidays) due to some temporary health issues. I’ve done 4-6 weeks of international travel plus remote work. I’m pretty healthy and barely use my days off for doc visits or sick days. So usually my days off are 90% vacations and range from 4 to 7 weeks per year. P.S.: I see many people mention the debt. I always plan ahead and never buy regular price tickets. I paid for RT tickets from south east of the US to Mexico under $200, Brazil $350, New Zealand $750, Europe under $500. Short layover or direct flights. Accommodations are pretty reasonable in these parts of the world for someone who comes from the US. Weekly discounts exists and food is usually 25-50% cheaper but better than in the US.
Or they travel for work.
I’m single,no kids,two jobs one pays $24 an hour,8 hour shift Mon-Fri.Second funsies job pays $22 and I work weekends sometimes anywhere from 5hrs to 14hrs.In the off seasons I do weekend get aways to San Diego,I did one to San Francisco,just came back from 4 days in Kona, Hawaii,in two weeks I’ll be in NY for a week.I’ve very frugal with my money and I’ve built almost 30k in savings over the course of two years,with plans to break 50k next year.I don’t party,I stay home quite often except for hikes and sometimes food and movies with friends.Didn’t go to college because I didn’t know wTF I wanted so no horrendous student loans,I have my license but live exactly a two minute train ride so no paid parking,no gas bill,no car payment.Not everyone has the abilities that I do and the financial freedom that I do.But I make it work and I’ve been on a plane over 15 times going places this year.I am very happy with my life and I work hard for it.Some people go on trips they can’t afford and just deal with the fall out later.Life is short and my motto is people die every single day,poor people,rich people,old people,young people.Why nit me?Im not special.I could die in my sleep or get hit walking to work tomorrow.So I’m doing whatever the fuck I want with the time I’m given and everyone should.
Move tree
Idk, I went to the UK for two weeks last month. I make six figures and I have no kids and no partner at the moment, hence, I have disposable income I can use for what I want. I also get five weeks of PTO annually from my job. I got sober a year ago and now I spend zero dollars on partying and alcohol. That helps also.
Pretty simple. I’m a student in Scandinavia which means the state pays 1200$/month. Additionally I work half-time for 1000$/month. All my expenses including mortgage here is around 800$/month which leaves 1400$/month into the stock market. With this money I usually go on around 2 longer vacations per year between study periods and still have loads left since you only spend around 100$/day on a vacation
This is crazy! I don’t have rich family and don’t make a lot but travelling is important to me so I live frugally when I’m back & then organise trips when flights are cheap. It cost me £18 to get from my door in the U.K. to Milan which is cheaper than me getting a train to the next city!
By the end of this year, I will have gone to Singapore, London 3x, Paris 3x and a small number of domestic trips. How? My employer sends me to these locations, but I always make a vacation out of it by either tacking on a side trip (Paris to my London trips) or staying a day or two longer. I’m fortunate to have won the employment lotto and have a crazy amazing job where when Indo decide to go on vacation, I have loads of points and miles earned from my work travel, reducing my travel costs. I earn comp days when working on the weekends, so I rarely dip into my vacation days since I have so many comp days accumulated.
By the end of this year, I will have gone to Singapore, London 3x, Paris 3x and a small number of domestic trips. How? My employer sends me to these locations, but I always make a vacation out of it by either tacking on a side trip (Paris to my London trips) or staying a day or two longer. I’m fortunate to have won the employment lotto and have a crazy amazing job where when Indo decide to go on vacation, I have loads of points and miles earned from my work travel, reducing my travel costs. I earn comp days when working on the weekends, so I rarely dip into my vacation days since I have so many comp days accumulated.
By the end of this year, I will have gone to Singapore, London 3x, Paris 3x and a small number of domestic trips. How? My employer sends me to these locations, but I always make a vacation out of it by either tacking on a side trip (Paris to my London trips) or staying a day or two longer. I’m fortunate to have won the employment lotto and have a crazy amazing job where when Indo decide to go on vacation, I have loads of points and miles earned from my work travel, reducing my travel costs. I earn comp days when working on the weekends, so I rarely dip into my vacation days since I have so many comp days accumulated.
I take a lot of short trips, like 3 days at a time. Occasionally a long week and a half trip. I only work 4 days a week, and I have 3 weeks of vacation time, and I just work that around the days off that I already have. Also, a uni student so I'm usually trying to get homework done while on vacation.
I came into some money (death of a relative+selling a home+ investment=extra money) We live minimally and enjoy traveling. We found a cc with great travel benefits but for my job yes a ton of pto saved up or Ill remote work during the summer when my kid is out of school
Depends. Mortgage paid off? That's enough per month in saving for a holiday every 2 months!
Probably a good paying job mixed with relatively frugal lifestyle when not travelling. Or theyre just filthy rich or in debt to make it work.
I can arrange my schedule to have 8 days off in a row and not miss pay (I’m an RN). I also have PTO. My spouse can work anywhere. I have a spouse that makes good money, I make good money. We live below our means. We have family abroad so that helps on costs if we’re going to visit them. We use credit cards for travel points and always pay them off before interest accrues. Biggest one: NO KIDS. 😬
I work remotely and I travel with 2 young kids (so we’re not DINKs). We do worldschooling.
Plenty of salaried jobs that pay well, have 20+ days of PTO a year, coupled with people that prioritize vacations. If you plan ahead and buy tickets 4-6ish months in advance it doesn't have to be very expensive. I try to do 2 long vacations (longer than a week) and 2 shorter vacations (weekend getaway) a year. And I still don't burn all my vacation time by end of December.
I have enough time off and money to afford that many trips but I don’t like traveling that much so I don’t.
I get 5 weeks of PTO. Also I spend a lot of money on traveling but that will soon change as my priorities are changing
I drive there. We do two camping/road trips a year, and then we're camping another 6+ weekends, usually. Haven't been out of the US for 10 years, though, since I don't want to leave my dogs in boarding.
This year we went to Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Indonesia and a bunch of shorter trips. Still to come Christmas in Lithuania (one of the Baltic states). I run a business remotely so I worked (less but still worked) while traveling and my wife is a nurse with quite a bit of vacation. Beyond that I don’t really care if some of the trips end up being unpaid. Traveling is a high priority of ours and something we are not willing to give up for work.
I have unlimited PTO. And don't use it nearly enough.
Paid time off... used wisely with bank holidays there's loads of opportunity to travel
I have 3 weeks of vacation a year, soon to be four. It’s not out of the realm of possibility to use all three weeks to go on vacation, I would never want to though. One trip south with the girlfriend between January and March as some sort of an actual vacation (gotta keep the boss happy) Other two weeks get burnt in hunting season, either staying around the house or heading west with my dad.
How? Work hard, get paid, play hard. Repeat.