budget,  travel

Travel bucket list

September 18, 2019 /

I keep an ongoing travel bucket list that I tweak as the time passes. This bucket list allows me to make plans financially and helps me budget for trips and vacations. I usually plan the following year’s vacations and then keep in mind larger abroad trips that we want to take. Today I am sharing my long  and short term bucket lists and where we plan to vacation this year and next.

Short term travel plans

I typically map out our vacations about a year in advance if they are within the United States. With  the children’s school schedule in mind, I am able to plan some time away so we do not wait to long between vacations. Vacations allow us to spend some nice quality time as a family away from stressors and work factors and help us recharge. It allows the children to spend some long periods of time with their daddy who usually works out of town during the week. It renews us as a family unit. Now until we make reservations whether hotel or rental house, these vacations plan might change but we usually stick to them.This is what our next 12 months travel plans look like:

  • October fall break: long weekend at Uncle’s at the lake (tentative plan depending on hubby work schedule and uncle). We will bring food, have fun on the lake, fish and maybe plan a couple excursions such as the flea market and maybe visiting a state park. Mostly we plan to visit and relax and enjoy uncle’s company as well as each other’s.
  • Thankgiving break: week at the beach with sis in law, cannot wait: we had a blast last year!
  • Spring break: 5 days in St Louis taking advantage of all the free museum, zoo, botanical gardens. We plan to visit the City Museum which is supposed to be awesome. We will use our hotel points for lodging and free breakfast and I will need to research budget friendly places for lunch and dinner (maybe find some children eat free places, food trucks for lunch would be cool!). I will be sure to reach out to Carrie at Curly Crafty Mom for suggestions!
  • Summer break: free activities around home, visit to Missouri to see our friends, the pool!

Most of these will require saving for food and some fun activities as well as gas but nothing like airplane tickets and hotel rooms (I already have saved for the lodging at the beach), so it will allow us to put more money aside for future big trips.

Long term travel plans

Now this list is by no means set in stone. Many events could change these hopes/plans but writing these down helps me be accountable of how I spend our money and allows me to set some saving goals.

  • 2021: Costa Rica
  • 2022: New Orleans, beach
  • 2023: Spain and France
  • 2024: beach and somewhere in US
  • 2025: solo trip to meet my friend on an island to celebrate our 50th birthdays!
  • 2025: beach and somewhere in US
  • 2026: beach and somewhere in US
  • 2027: 25th anniversary cruise to Alaska for me and hubby

Yes, you have read the list correctly, I have mapped out the next 8 years! The reason I did that is that to afford any trip abroad, I need a couple years of savings to make those trips happen. Now, will we be able to make these vacations a reality? Only God knows in his wisdom. Family, work related events, hardships could prevent some or all of these trips!

However with goals in mind, I can prepare for the possibility of these trips and save accordingly, making cuts in my budget, prioritizing how to spend money on non necessities!

A bientôt!

Please take a minute to subscribe to the blog to receive an email letting you know when a new post goes live. I usually post Monday, Wednesday and Friday but sometimes have a bonus post during the week. You can also follow me on instagram @chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

I link up with these fabulous blog link ups!

 

30 Comments