Sad that we will probably never overseas again

[BooseysMom]

Just that really. We're in our early 50s and had a child late in our 40s. We never seem to have enough money and everything just gets more and more expensive. We are both working but don't earn that much. We rented for so long that we didn't get on the property ladder until late. We have holidays but they're the same each year, a caravan in Devon. Never anything more adventurous. We would have to get passports sorted too which is more expense. I don't know what i'm asking really except why have we got so boring and even too scared to go anywhere different? It's crazy when you only get one life!

You can get some basic but cheap s/c accomm in France and if you look for good deals on ferries/chunnel, you can travel on a budget. I recently went to South of France and back on the train, including Eurostar, for just over £100. More than cheap flight but it got me door to door.

You could try some other places in the UK such as Northumberland or the North Pennines. It's lovely there and a change of scene.

I don't think going abroad would necessarily be a lot more expensive than Devon. Campsites have got more expensive though as they provide more and more facilities to meet the increasing demands of guests. You can still find good places.
I had a lovely time camping in Hungary about 5 years ago.

You could get a Ryanair flight somewhere and then find a cabin on a campsite or an airbnb somewhere.

Do the same but self drive across the channel to France? You can access Europe so easily by car

I’ve just come back from Christmas in Switzerland, the bones of the holiday (chalet and travel) was less than taking a holiday house in Cornwall and driving to it. Food there is chuffing expensive though!

I use Quidco for all internet shopping where I can. It’s amazing how quickly you can build a cash back balance that can be exchanged for vouchers with a 1-5% mark up. I used that to pay for a load of the winter gear we would need from Amazon. You can also have it out straight onto your bank account instead.

Found a chalet I liked the look of on VRBO, did the sleuth work to find the direct website, contacted the chalet owner and booked it direct which saved £££

Used Tesco vouchers to get £££ off the Le Shuttle costs and saved up Shell points to pay for a lot of the fuel (filled up at Folkestone just before the Le Shuttle and just after we came back).

I went a bit feral on Vinted and built up some ash to contribute towards costs out there.

I used to think that we’d never afford abroad holidays, and we certainly can’t afford them every year, but with enough planing it is certainly doable. Switzerland is notoriously expensive so I’m sure you could find much MUCH cheaper options.

If you plan it right then there is no reason you cant go abroad.

Im taking my 2 kids to a eurocamp in the 6 weeks school holidays for 5 nights and its costing me £683 for flights and accommodation.

Never is a strong word. My in-laws are still going abroad in their 80s. Can you really not imagine that you might be able to go away on a short haul European trip aged 70 out of peak season for an inexpensive break? Or a £39 Eurostar trip to Paris or Brussels?

Travel with young children is a headache and it gets more expensive as they get older and you are paying adult fares and limited to peak travel. You could decide to go on one foreign holiday every 2 years rather than one UK holiday a year if you wanted to. It is about choices.

You could also frame it as a return to the norm where "normal" families wouldn't be travelling overseas on holiday and settle with that and the side effect of environmental benefit.

Passports last 20 years. If you fly with a budget airline, avoid package holidays, prebook your accommodation with an established on line agent, you can probably find a cheaper holiday than in the UK.

We manage by going away in Term time. Lots do it here. The school are ok with 1 week a year in term time. I know in England they are notorious for the stupid fines but they can't fine you for 4 days in school term. It has to be 5 days. Make use of one of the inset days you get.

This year we we have opted for a City break (Kids are 16 and 11) for 4 nights. Staying in an apartment, so we dont have to eat out every evening, Flights and accommodation for 4 of us is just over 1k(there are def cheaper european cities too). I've no idea how much your caravan is in Devon but i'm guessing if its Summer hols, it probably costs you best part of 1k too.

Passports last 10 years for adults in the UK and 5 years for children.

Look at lesser known areas and you will find some real bargains in France that might be affordable? If you search gites.fr, in the summer holidays, an area like the Limousin will have loads of beautiful gites for between €400 - €600. That's probably cheaper than camping in more touristy parts of France!

You'd be near swimming lakes/rivers, the weather should be great and it won't be rammed with British tourists.

Avoiding toll roads and picking ferry routes carefully would keep costs down.

For us the ferry crossing to France seems expensive. We also find eating in France, especially buying from markets, costs more than at home. All inclusive Spain is a cheaper choice.

100% agree. Friends were skiing over new year (high season) and got an Appartment for 600€ sleeping 6 in a beautiful town in the French alps. Or try northern Italy. I bought 5 cappuccinos for €10 last week. Try doing that in Cornwall!

My flights last week were £15 each way to Spain and back

Just travel light , get a hotel on hotels.com and go. It'll be cheaper than Devon

@BooseysMom
As others have said, if you have holidays in the Uk, you can have them abroad.
Obviously if you have absolutely no spare money available at all, then holidays just aren’t feasible, but if you can go to Devon, then you can go to many places both home and abroad.
It can seem daunting, but follow the advice of people here, cheap flights, off season , driving over to the continent, self catering.
We have done far flung holidays self catering, spending the same as a Mediterranean AI.
It’s often down to adjusting expectations and prioritising travel over other experiences, if that is what you want.

Homeexchange I’d a plataforma where you can swap homes with people in other places for free. I live in Spain and lots of my friends and acquaintances use this to travel the world - a Spanish salary doesn’t go far outside of Spain so it’s a great resource.

your main expense is flights but that can be offset by the cheaper everything else compared to expensive Devon.

We did a Devon holiday this year and the accommodation was shockingly expensive compared to here in Spain.

In Spain, you can choose destinations that are more off the beaten track/slightly further away from key airports and the price goes right down. One of my favourite places is Merida, a city full of Roman ruins and empty of tourists where you get free tapas with your beer and a decent hotel for €50 a night!

True. But child passports are cheaper. Even factoring in these costs, l could still holiday in parts of mainland Europe cheaper than in Devon.

School holidays are the price killer. I'm not going to advocate taking your kid out of school, but look at ways to use inset days thoughtfully and shop around for deals. It's possible to get some great vacations, just by going a few days early. To cheer yourself up (You don't need to book anything at the moment), look at:

• Euocamps or Canvas holidays
• Holiday pirates
• jet2holidays
• holiday chat forums and suggestions on Moneysavingexpert.

The internet has made it much easier to find deals. The killer (for me) is eating out as my school-age kids are the same height as me and eat adult portions. Depending on your set-up, it might be easier to go self-catering or all-inclusive.
If you book with a tour operator, they will often allow you to pay in instalments, or you can do the same with a 0% credit card (but treat it exactly like a loan).

Finally, I appreciate what you say about the costs of a passport - it is wince worthy - but it opens up the world to you for the next decade. That works out at £10 per per person, per year.

I find UK holidays as expensive as EU ones tbh.

Is the issue money or your fear?

How old is your child?

I feel your pain. We have been having boring uk holidays for years with the kids as can’t afford abroad. I finally decided to do something different. This year we are going on a shorter city break instead. It is probably going to cost a bit extra but not loads. I decided I would rather have a shorter break and expose my kids to a bit of travel and culture. We can’t afford luxury all inclusive holidays but we can stretch to an air B&B in a European city for a short break.

We used to go to Devon and Cornwall each year when DC was small.Had lovely times and the weather was always kind to us .ATM I have Cancer ,so insurance puts hols abroad out of reach really.We went to Sussex ,and it was lovely .lots of NT properties lovely beaches and Country pubs .Also Premier Inns are good value ,with many offering breakfast and evening meals .There is not a huge difference between caravan hols, with bringing food along and cleaning products etc and you get a well earned break!

There are so many amazing places on our doorstep in Europe.

i live in Ireland so flights are more expensive than the U.K., but for example this month, flights to Lapland return under 100 euros op, self catering accommodation quite cheap (post Christmas). This would be a once in a lifetime trip while kids are young.

there are cheap flights to Spain. France, Germany etc you can get some good deals.

Id make a list of places you like, your budget, and type into chat gpt to get suggestions you’d be surprised at the great options you will get especially if you ask them to come up with additional ideas

I highly recommend trains in Europe. I like Germany, my brother lives in Berlin, the public swimming pools in the summer are amazing and have very cheap entry, amazing parks and zoos etc. He’s just back from a spa hotel just an hour outside Berlin - 65 euros per person per night (with breakfast) - heated outdoor pool etc. A night or two in that would be lovely (leave the kids behind 😀)

there are lots of great forums where people talk about how to save money eg bringing food and car v flying etc. and costing routes.
eg some people use ‘Sun vouchers from paper, when park sale are on, how the weather is in certain campsites during ‘shoulder seasons ‘

perhaps if you have a bucket list of places to plan towards you can keep an eye on flights, again forums etc are great for advising sales and when to book flights

This week is the one that everyone gets a little down post Christmas and starts thinking about holidays so you are not alone !

You can definitely do abroad on a budget! I find holidays in the UK are absurdly expensive; accommodation, travel costs, eating out - it's all generally cheaper in Europe. I'm a huge fan of mini breaks - very enriching, and don't break the bank.

I'm spending this year going to a different place in the UK for two days every month. You don't always have to go abroad or to Devon.