Is spending 10% of annual income on a fortnight’s holiday unreasonable?

[liloandtitch]

I’m late 30s and on a middle-income salary (comparable to a teacher), not a high earner.

Love long haul travel, did some shoestring / backpacking adventuring with friends in my 20s and had the time of my life.

Now 10 years on my friends are settled and I would love to travel again, but don’t want to travel alone, so have been looking at group travel.

I’ve found a company I like the look of, but their long haul destination group tours for 10-14 days are in the region of £2500 - £3000.

Add a long haul flight, and that’s £4000 gone before even factoring in spending money or new clothes and kit for the trip.

If I put savings aside for a year, I could ‘afford’ it… but it feels like ridiculous money for a middle-income person like me, it would be 10% of my salary

I have been thinking about doing a trip like this for years and always dismissed the idea an unaffordable having seen the prices.

But…. the idea won’t go away. Prices aren’t coming down. With prices shooting up in comparison to my salary, I almost feel it is kind of a now or never situation.

Do I need to put this idea to bed because spending 10% of my annual income on a holiday is obscenely irresponsible, especially in a cost of living crisis, or is this something other people in my situation would consider doing?

I do wonder whether other group members on such a trip would very very high earners with whom I’ll have little in common.

Any thoughts?

Every year, probably not. Once every 5 years or so, go for it. I still remember holidays I had with Exodus almost 20 years ago.

I would just add, though, that not all my Exodus holidays have been equally successful. The best were those with a single focus. The less successful ones were dual focus (eg half cruising/half historical) and on those, whatever we were doing at any particular time, there were always people in the group who weren't happy with it. So choose wisely and have a great time!

Absolutely book it.

Oooh. Starting to get less anxious and more excited about it now ☺️ There’s actually 3 possible destinations I’m considerinf, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica or Belize. I’m going to go away and do some more research now!!

If anyone has any other recommendations, please do share!

Costa Rica definitely because SLOTHS 🦥

Just do it! Wonderful holidays are what we will remember at the end of our lives, not the fact that we had a slightly better house than our neighbours or numerous new cars.

Do your sums OP and if you can afford it without leaving yourself vulnerable then go for it - you only live once!

I did this for my 50th birthday. The trip cost 20% of my annual salary in total although that was for me and my two DSs (18 and 21 at the time). We had an amazing time and shared lots of unique experiences that we probably wouldn't have got the chance to do otherwise.

I started planning 3 years in advance though so I had time to save a regular monthly amount as well as squirrel away any odd additional funds here and there to go towards some spending money.

Have a fabulous time!

It's not ridiculous at all.

We have a similar income but for 4 people so couldn't spend that on a holiday as its not spare money.

If you're on that as a single person I'd say yes do it every year!!! Write spend more than 4k a year looking after kids, why not spend it on your interest instead. I would.

We've done Costa Rica, Thailand and Vietnam. None were cheap but absolutely worth every penny, best experiences unlike any holiday we've ever been. In Costa Rica we stayed in a tree house in the rainforest, it was like something from a film. If you can afford it, you'll not regret it. Now we have a baby on the way so long haul rainforest trips are on hold for a while and we only wish we'd made a point of seeing more of these kinds of places before now. Definitely do it! I'm so excited for you just thinking about it!

Yes go. Sounds like you can cover your bills, have a mortgage so you are doing ok and don't have children to reliatent on you.
Enjoy yourself, you live once and a group trip sounds fun and safer than doing it alone.

Go for a cheaper holiday

If you can afford it without financial difficulty then do it! Perhaps not an every year type of trip but will be a great experience

If you can afford it and would really enjoy it then prioritize it for your spending and do it! We spend quite a lot on holidays, but I economise in other areas because we both enjoy it. I also collect points as much as I can for airmiles, use a card that collects hotel points (but pay it off each month so never charged), any money I get that I didn't expect (eg found £2 on pavement a few weeks ago!) I put it in a savings account, I do "round ups" taken automatically to a savings account - all goes on our "travel fund". Honestly those few weeks are fantastic, I feel renewed and ready to take on anything and just love the reset of getting out of my usual rut. Go for it I say!

I know they do group trips to Japan, not sure what they cost though. A very interesting country to visit :) costs while there might be more than the other countries you have mentioned though

I would absolutely do it. I have seen the price of my regular long haul leg increase a lot over the past 5 years and what with the cost of petrol I think the increases will keep coming. I'd go now and enjoy it!

It would be ridiculous not to follow a dream while you still can op. I’ve never regretted a holiday so far.

I went to Costa Rica with Explore before I met my DH and it was incredible. Seemed a lot of money at the time, and I paid a single supplement to have my own room, but it was SO worth it and am still in touch with some of the people I went with. Will def do one again as soon as I can.

One thing to take into account is, not only spending money on snacks, drinks etc while away, but activities to do as well. Most of the group holidays I went on gave us opportunities to do skydives, bungee jumps, boat trips etc but they all cost extra and aren’t cheap. If you can’t afford that stuff too, maybe wait a year or two until you can. Or, alternatively, take out a loan or credit card and pay it off afterwards.

Definitely travel as much as you can though. I’m dying for a holiday but don’t have the room in my budget atm.

Go for it, make some memories.

I easily spend 10% of my salary on holidays some, if not most years. What else do you work for? If you can afford it, do it.

Go for it! You only live once and sounds like you would always regret it. Maybe you can have a massive clear out, good for the soul and you can probably make a load of money on eBay/Facebook/Gumtree to add to the pot!

Do it! You only live once.

Absolutely do it! There's no way you'll regret it

Why is she ridiculous to spend money she can afford each year to save for a holiday that she wants?

I'm in roughly the same income bracket by the sound of it, and I would and do spend that sort of money on holidays. Not every year, maybe every 2-3 years. It's worth it to me for the places I get to see and the experiences I get to have. So I say go for it!