Budget: Vacation Planning, Part I
Realistically money can only go so far and it doesn’t grow on trees. There are a few items that a splurge would not be a bad idea and in some cases may be recommended or necessary.
- A good hotel
- A great room with a balcony and view
- Dinner at a fine restaurant at least once including wine
- Using bonus miles to upgrade
- A digital camera
- Good looking, comfortable shoes
Many a weary traveler has wished they had gotten the better recommended hotel for a few extra dollars than the cheap, noisy, hot and uncomfortable cheap dive they settled for. When all is said and done you want great memories. And for any regrets to be so small they get forgotten in the long run. The trick is to make it seem like you didn’t plan the trip to be affordable, but to be great!
On the flip side of worthy splurges there are some things to not worry about. Those would include: airport food and drinks, breakfast in bed, in room calls, room service and hotel room drinks/snacks, cheap souvenirs, commercial photos, and formal clothing or trip specific clothing you will only wear once. To practice some of these new ideas let’s put together a trip. As an example, a trip to the US Virgin Islands (USVI) will be used as the chosen destination to budget. Here is a sample spreadsheet layout to use that is simple and can be easily modified:
USVI Vacation Budget for Three
$880.00 Airfare
$884.00 Cabin
$130.00 Ferry Fees
$60.00 Taxi Fees
$50.00 Gratuities
$150.00 Sailboat Tour
$60.00 Trunk Bay Tour
$100.00 Bike Tour
$270.00 Snorkel Tour
$100.00 Souvenirs
$150.00 Eating Out
$100.00 Groceries/Supplies
Total Expenses $2934.00
This is a trip myself, my son and my brother are actually taking this fall to celebrate the completion of my bachelor’s degree. Personally, my favorite thing in all the world is a beach. And the ultimate beach vacation would be in the Caribbean. My best friend went to Antigua last year. Their hotel, or hut, alone at a resort was more than the cost of this whole trip. So even though the total looks a bit much, for this sort of vacation it is very affordable. I decided I deserved it! Made a plan and have stuck to my budget for two years to make it happen.
First up, travel expense. There are lots of choices and even more opinions about how and what you should choose for travel plans. Two years ago we drove to Orlando to make the trip more doable for our family. While that decision served its purpose for that trip, it’s not feasible for this one. We have compromised a couple of points though to make flying more affordable.
One, we are driving to Atlanta to catch our flight. There is a difference of over $200 per ticket flying out of Nashville to the USVI. I feel a three hour drive to Atlanta is a small sacrifice to save almost $900 for this trip. The second compromise is we are trying an airline we have never flown before, Spirit Air. I have read the reviews and they are mixed. Keep in mind that having a Saturday stay over during your trip and flying to an area in an off season will reduce your flight costs if that is the choice mode of travel.
We are choosing as a family to overlook the negative and suffer through a few hours for an 8 day – 7 night dream vacation in the long run. To help ensure we don’t have as negative an experience as some do with this airline, we are paying a little extra to have the big comfy seats up front. Hopefully when all is said and done, this won’t end up being a big regret on our trip. I will update you the first of October and let you know!
For our lodging choice we are staying at a wonderful place called Virgin Islands Campground, an eco-sensitive resort with self-contained tent cottages. On Trip Advisor, USVI Campground has a 100% positive recommendations from past visitors. The tent cottages are canvas tents built on wooden frames. They are located right on the beach and the Caribbean trade winds blow through day and night. You can hear the surf as you drift off to sleep and rise in the morning. Granted it’s not a five star luxury resort. But no five star luxury resort can beat their location and atmosphere on Water Island. And staying there is not harmful to the environment to boot. To me that is worth every last penny of the $884.00. Plus they have facilities to store and cook food so you do not have to eat out at every meal, saving more money in the long run.
It is unavoidable that most vacationers will have taxi fees, ferry fees and gratuities of some sort to calculate into the budget. One word of advice, don’t be stingy. These are locals who are opening their home up for you to enjoy. We, vacationers, are ambassadors where ever we roam. Generosity is always rewarded in this respect. Plus, in such a small locale as an island, you’re liable to need their services again. How accommodating do you think they are willing to be after you have disrespected their profession? They make a living serving the likes of us. Let them know they are appreciated. If you plan a tour or day trip and have a guide or teacher of any kind, tip respectfully. There will also be taxi fees to get to and from the airport. And in our case, ferry rides to and from the main islands to our resort.
We are planning four different guided tours during our stay we had to plan the expenses for. There is an all day guided tour, a bike tour, a bay scuba diving sailboat tour, and an under water snorkel tour of an underwater national park. I chose varying activities so nothing is old and everything is new and exciting. I chose to find local links and referrals for these tours so when we arrive I don’t have to worry about finding someone on the spot and wondering if we trusted and paid the wrong people. These particular tours are all inclusive with gear, training on the equipment, drinks, meals and in the case of the snorkel tour it includes a day long tour of three beaches including snorkeling with a guide, drinks, meals, a theme park admission, and driving tour to the highest point of the island for panoramic views. Everything you want to do and see almost rolled into one! It is actually a bargain of a deal and we don’t have to pay for extra transportation because it’s included in the tour fee of $90.00 per person.
Of the eight days we will be in the islands, four days we will be out and away from our resort during midday lunch time so we will be eating out and have budgeted accordingly to accommodate this expense and one very nice dinner out for local cuisine while we are having our island experience. For breakfast and dinner most days our resort allows for preparing our own food. We will be enjoying our private beach getaway and the only ‘work’ we will have to do on our down days is pour a bowl of cereal, make a sandwich or grill a burger. On Mondays, Water Island has a free movie night for residents and guests to enjoy. They hang a huge white sheet between palm trees and relax on the sand while the latest blockbuster plays in the moonlight. And that’s FREE!
Some of the related trip topics such as type of vacation, location, travel and dining I will be touching on in upcoming articles so don’t worry if the explanation of why that particular choice was made isn’t answered here. I just wanted you to see of how I put together this trip budget and why I made some of the decisions I made. Feel free to make comments and ask questions. I am happy to share what I’ve learned over the past few years of budget trip planning with everyone!
Helpful Links:
www.tripadvisor.com
www.spiritair.com
www.tipping.org
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