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Since when is travelling a need?
I am in a venting mood today ....
I have quite a large group of close friends. Some of them are very well off and some are in the middle and some are broke. Everyone takes at least one trip out the country a year sometimes two or three trips.
While talking about everyone's upcoming trips I get asked, "so when are you guys taking your next trip?" To which I reply, "well we just got back 4 months ago from spending 15 days in Europe so I think it will be awhile yet before we go anywhere." I get, "oh, well whys that?" I say, "well travelling costs money and we don't do it unless there is no debt and we have the cash to pay for it first." They kind of all looked shocked. Like paying your student loan off before going to Mexico is backwards thinking.
Is all of Canada like this? or is just my group of friends?
Re: Since when is travelling a need?
You know, I have some friends who are on both sides of this. One of my good friends is single but loves to travel and goes on long vacations all over the world. Ok, great. But she also complains about her financial future (retirement, home repairs, etc). Her house currently needs some rather major reairs and, instead, she is booking a trip to Europe. Like, DUH! lol
Then we have other friends who could well afford to travel without a cent of debt, but they are very selective about where they go and what they spend.
I think we're somewhere in the middle, to be honest. I have occassionally put a trip on a credit card, but for the most part we like to pay cash for our vacations. We are also fortunate enough to have DH's employer send us on annual vacations (as reward for generating and retaining business).
I was recently reading a study that said that taking vacation time often makes you more productive and is beneficial to your health (I'm assuming they mean reducing stress). I can see the point.
This being said, I haven't taken a vacation in 12 years. This year we are going to Disneyworld with our goddaughter. We saved up for two years.
I agree. I think taking vacation time is super important and I always take my max allowed each year. But if we can't afford it we are likely having a stay-cation or going camping which I find to be way more relaxing than some of the other out-of-country trips I have been on.
I just came back from a vacation we probably shouldn't have taken and don't regret it at all. It ended up costing more then we planned and DH's job is uncertain but I didn't hestitate to say we "needed" to go. I absolutely wouldn't trade the experience we just had for a few thousand in the bank - to me exploring other parts of the world is something i do need to do and I absolutely make a priority.
My student loans will be paid off when they get paid off, I'm not sacrificing a trip to have those gone, although I do refuse to carry credit card debt, to me they're different. But we have a car loan, a mortgage and student loans and I don't count paying them off as a top priority. That said, I'm not going to judge someone who does the opposite, I just don't understand it.
I don't think you're backwards. You're responsible like PP said.
FI and I don't go on trips unless we can pay it off right away. That said, we have separate accounts for things. Car loan account, mortgage/bills account, trip fund, etc.
I do agree with you that it's countercultural. Most people my age( i'm 25) have loans up the wazoo and have no intention of paying them because they just continually get more to do what they want. it's frustrating. They pay for things they want, rather than need.
2/40
I get what your saying that your debt doesn't take priority over travelling but it sounds like you pay for your travelling up front (as you refuse to carry cc debt) which is completely different than what the bulk of my friends are doing. I don't tell them they should be doing differently I keep my mouth shut because this is their preference. I just find it annoying that they are openly expressing that they don't understand my motives to make sure I have cash in hand and/or debt free before I travel.
Well I have paid for trips using a credit line (different from the credit card because lower interest rate) and I probably wouldn't hesitate to do so again if I felt I needed to get away for a last minute trip or didn't want to miss an experience that came up suddenly.
If someone were to openly say anything though I'd also have no problem telling them they don't need to worry about my finances and how they're spent or not spent. Your friend are being rude because just like you aren't commenting they shouldnt' be either.
Did the study differentiate between taking vacation time to travel and simply taking time off work, whatever you're doing? I would think it's the time off that's important, not where you do it.
I would love to travel, but we can't afford to do it. Period. The only real travelling I have done in my life was to Banff for my honeymoon 6.5 years ago. We don't even leave the city unless it's to visit (and stay with) family within driving distance. I can't imagine being able to go on annual (or even more frequent) trips.
I'm full time student and I work a very good paying job once a week and I saved up $1300 for an all inclusive winter holiday (which we just got back from on Monday). My FI on the other hand, didn't have the expendable income and since we didn't do a winter holiday last year and we won't have time next year, he booked it on his credit card.
Not the smartest idea, but he'll have it paid off in a couple of months and imo, we damn well needed that holiday. Did it need to be to Cuba, probably not but he works 6 days a week, and I commute Edmonton to Red Deer every week and work and manage a lot of social/family commitments so we felt like we deserved it
And honestly, a week in the winter and a week in the summer is something I hope we will always be able to afford and this sounds snobby but we're used to it now and I would really really miss it if we didn't have it