My husband and I were married in May 2016 and I would say we are in a "Newlywed Travel Phase." If that's not a real thing I'm coining the phrase now. Approximately every six months since our Honeymoon we've taken a "vacation". In all fairness we haven't been traveling just for the sake of traveling, some trips have been for the purpose of visiting family. Since our wedding we have visited Pigeon Forge, TN (twice), San Antonio, TX (my husband's hometown), Victoria, BC, & Seattle, WA. This doesn't include our quick weekend trips, one for work, two for weddings, and several visiting my family who only live about 2 hours away.
Our honeymoon to Pigeon Forge, TN was the first real vacation either of us had taken as adults and been fully in charge of the planning process. During that trip we definitely caught the travel bug! Our travel style is evolving as we go. Sometimes we drive and other times we fly. There are a lot of factors we consider, mostly the cost, but I also hate long-distance driving so I try to avoid it at all cost. We drove on our trips to TN which is approximately 5 hours in the car (one way). I'm pretty much done after 2 1/2 hours and get very fidgety after that point. When driving he wants to make as many stops as possible and I want to make as few stops as possible. On the trip home from our Honeymoon we stopped approximately every 30 minutes, it drove me insane! Our "road-tripping" styles have merged since then and become much more enjoyable for both of us.
How can we afford to travel?
I can't say for sure where this mind-set came from but, I was always under the impression that traveling more than once a year (or every few years) was a luxury. What I've come to realize is it all depends on your money management. I understand there are circumstances in which people legitimately don't have enough extra cash-flow to facilitate frequent vacations, but thankfully we are not in that category. We both have good jobs and worked on our budgeting so that we can enjoy things like traveling. Part of that means we don't eat out at restaurants, not for lunch and not for dinner. We purchase groceries once a week with a pre-set dollar amount as the budget. I create a menu to maximize our purchases and cook dinner (nearly) every night. Something that really helped me with meal planning was this cookbook by Jessica Fisher. On nights when I don't cook a meal we have things on hand like frozen pizza or lasagna that can be easily popped in the oven. If I know I won't be home on Thursday night at dinner and my husband will, I cook extra the night before so there are enough leftovers for his dinner the next day. This one thing has really changed how much we are able to save, not just for traveling but for making a substantial savings account, and paying off debt.
We also don't have credit cards. This can be a polarizing topic for some but we feel it is important to really "live within our means" and that means not taking on unnecessary debt. Some people will say that you need credit cards to build credit history, or you are limiting yourself and your future. We have not found that to be true. We bought a brand new 2017 Jeep Cherokee off the lot a year ago and closed on our house this past summer, all without credit cards. This choice may not be right for everyone but it is right for us. I have personally seen credit card debt destroy people and families. It is possible to use credit cards responsibly and there are cards out there where you can build up points and/or rewards which can be put towards travel but the cons do not outweigh the pros for us. The only debt we have outside of our new car and home is student loans. We make regular payments on those to keep our credit score(s) healthy. When we have large purchases to make we save the money first and then make the purchase. We have a savings account to help buffer unexpected expenses. That also means I don't have brand new furniture in every room of my home and all the decor pieces I really want. But instant gratification isn't always the best thing. Each time I add a new piece of decor to the walls I appreciate it on a different level because I didn't just pick up the first thing that caught my eye. If I see a piece that I really like I don't impulse buy, our budget doesn't allow for that. If I'm still thinking about it days, or weeks later it goes on my list of things to save up for. This way every piece I purchase is something I truly love.
I don't want to fool anyone into thinking that we have a perfect system and never experience financial stress. We absolutely do and it was through that stress that we created our financial plan. Now we sit down at the beginning of every week to discuss our budget. This discussion includes how much money is currently in our bank account, what bills we will have that week, what "extra costs" we have (such as buying a gift for someone's birthday or a baby shower etc.), and what amount we expect to end the week with. This type of constant, open communication makes financial stress easier to bear. My husband's life motto for us is:
"Live differently now so we can live differently later."
Why do we travel?
1. Taking vacations is a stress reducer. Everyone has those days where they think "I really need a vacation." Well we have an actual vacation to look forward to and it makes it easier to get through those tough days. It also serves as a refresher for when we come home and go back to work. We are re-energized and feel ready to go back to work and be the best employee/co-worker we can be.
2. My love language is quality time (if you don't know what a love language is check out this website) and spending time together away from the distractions of work and everyday life is really important to me. Now sometimes that means turning our phones off on a Saturday and focusing on each other, but other times it means taking a weekend away (or a whole week if we're lucky).
3. It provides bonding opportunities for us. We did not date for years before getting married, we started dating, got engaged and then married in the span of a year. So traveling together gives us an opportunity to create memories that are entirely our own. Some of the best conversations we have had were in airports. Now, we also weren't total strangers before our first date and we have plenty of wonderful conversations in our own home but; there's something about visiting a new place together that creates a new piece of companionship.
4. We know we want to start a family one day (today is not that day, so don't read between the lines here). We also know that means traveling can be more limited both in frequency and in destination. So we are taking the trips now we want to experience just as a couple. That doesn't mean we won't ever take our (future) children there. It just means that when we do take them we will have stories tell.
Stay tuned for recaps of our past trips and look out for future ones.
