One you can afford – seriously.
Look at how much you earn. What can you put aside for a trip? What are you prepared to sacrifice to make your trip a reality? Maybe you’ve been saving for a while and have a few thousand dollars in the bank. You do? Great. Well that’s your realistic budget. If you want to fly to Europe tomorrow and you only have ten dollars in the bank then you are not being realistic. But it might be enough to get you in to the local museum for a few hours escape.
When you are setting your budget, be practical. Everyone has different needs for their travel experience and if your travel plans include overseas flights, you will need to budget accordingly. Sure you can find great deals and get there cheaper than you might have expected, but make sure you have enough money in your budget to not only get you there but to travel around, find a place to sleep, oh and have enough money to be able to eat!
So how do you go about setting a budget? Following these steps might help:
1. Draw up a table with two columns.
2. Column A is for Expense Items. Column B is for Approximate Costs.
3. In column A write down all the things you can think of that will cost you money while traveling. These might include: air flights, car hire/fuel allowance, travel passes, sight-seeing tours, accommodation, food, insurance, immunizations, and souvenirs.
4. In column B write an estimate of how much you think these things will cost while on your trip. You can research your travel costs quite easily on the Internet. Food allowance might be a bit more difficult. If you are traveling alone, as a couple or in a family you will need to budget food costs accordingly.
5. Now add up the costs. This will give you an estimate of how much your trip will cost. Can you afford it? Yes – then this is a realistic budget for you. If not, then you may have to rethink your destination and the type of travel experience you want.
Remember that this table will only be an estimate of your travel costs. You must also budget for incidentals and prepare yourself for things to not go to plan. For example, have you got enough money in your budget to buy new clothes if your luggage goes missing? A realistic travel budget will have extra built in to it to cover emergencies. Setting yourself a budget of about sixty-five dollars a day, if traveling alone, is a reasonable amount. If you are traveling as a family or in a group, this number will be vastly different.
Also consider if you will be traveling and working. If this is the case, then you may not need as much to start with, just enough money to get you to your destination and a place to live while you look for work. (And enough money to buy you food until you begin earning a wage.)
Start making your travel plans with your budget in mind. Don’t exceed your budget, always keep a little in reserve so you can buy that fantastic Italian leather handbag or go jet-skiing in Hawaii if the desire takes you!
This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru
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Help answer the question about travel
Is travel in Ecuador more dangerous for gringoes than other latin american countries?I read some in a travel book and the warnings were so scary concerning assaults, weapons and kidnapping. I am now a little shy of travelling there and yet would like to go if it is safer than what I read. Anyone help?
About Author
Stuart S. Travel / Your All World Online Travel Guru:
Sherry Hardesty has been a professional flight attendant for over 15 years. Her experience is extensive and she provides professional travel consulting and booking services at http://www.stuartstravel.com
Maybe)))
You can't do all that in 40 days. For example – half a day in Florence and half in Rome? IMPOSSIBLE. My friends waited in line for 3 hours just to see the David (totally worth it – I jumped in line – I had to run a group errand). Plus you don't want to miss out on the nightlife in those places. European night life is something you HAVE to experience. Also, you will burn out from running around to museum after museum so allow some none museum activities (I recommend Versailles gardens one half day, beer garden in Munich, go up to the castle in Saltzburg and just chill – follow a school tour if you can, you get into so much more). You don't need a full day in Cologne (unless you want to watch for Hollywood stars) because there's not too much to do there.
Also, are your calculated costs in Euros or in USD, because if it's Euros double it to get Euros. Finally, you need more than 100 bucks Emergency money – my friend got an eye infection in Zee AM See (a resort town in Austria – great place to visit) and it cost him about 300 USD to get treated. He was fine, but he needed the antibacterial drops to preserve his vision. My point being, since the European health care system is mostly socialized out-of-towners pay a ton for simple health care.
Entertainment you need to budget more for too. Aren't you going to want to see a couple clubs (the good ones are 15-25 Euro cover – about 50 bucks a pop), do a gondola ride (about 60-80 Euros for 6 people, so about 20 bucks a person), smoke in Amsterdam (about 15-20 Euro for 3 joints, 40 bucks)? You also will need more to eat on. Even eating cheap we spent an average of 8-14 Euro a meal.
I could give you tips on what to do, see, and visit – I did a wonderful Eurotrip this summer. But right now you have too much on your plate and not enough money.