What travel actually costs over a lifetime

Most people treat travel as something that happens when there is money left over, which is why it happens less than they intend.

The budget line approach

A specific practice that changes outcomes.

Setting aside a fixed monthly amount into a separate account designated for travel, in the same way as any other regular commitment.

Which converts travel from an occasional discretionary decision into an ongoing allocation, and removes the guilt that attaches to spending on it.

It also means the money exists when the opportunity does, which is the main reason trips do not happen.

The trade-offs worth seeing clearly

Not to prescribe, but because the comparisons are rarely made explicitly.

A modest monthly amount over a year funds a substantial trip.

Regular small expenditure — subscriptions, habits, convenience purchases — frequently exceeds what people believe they cannot afford to save.

Which is not an argument for austerity but for knowing what the actual choice is.

Several people who travel extensively describe having made one large substitution — a cheaper car, a smaller flat, no car at all — rather than many small economies.

The cost of the trip you take

Where the largest variation is.

The same fortnight can cost by a factor of several depending on the destination, the accommodation type and the pace.

Which means the question is rarely whether travel is affordable and generally which travel is affordable.

A month somewhere inexpensive frequently costs less than a week somewhere expensive, including the flights.

And travelling slowly costs substantially less per day than travelling quickly, as discussed elsewhere on this site.

The timing arbitrage

The largest available saving for anyone with flexibility.

Shoulder and low season pricing is substantially below peak on both flights and accommodation.

Midweek travel is cheaper than weekends.

And avoiding school holiday periods produces the single largest difference for anyone not constrained by them.

Which is why travel is disproportionately affordable for people without children of school age, and why those with them face costs that are not a matter of choice.

The stages of life

Worth acknowledging.

Travel is easiest before responsibilities accumulate and again after they reduce, with a long middle period during which it is harder and more expensive.

Which is an argument for doing the demanding trips early, doing what is possible during the middle period rather than deferring entirely, and not assuming that later will be straightforward.

Health and mobility are not guaranteed, which people who defer trips indefinitely frequently discover.

What is worth spending on

An opinionated summary from people who travel a great deal.

Worth it: location over room quality, direct flights over connections on long journeys, insurance, a rest day, a good guide once, and the specific thing that was the reason for the trip.

Not worth it: the marginal accommodation upgrade, most organised excursions available independently, airport food, and the fifth attraction on a day that already had four.

Genuinely disputed: premium cabins on long flights, which some people regard as transformative and others as an enormous cost for a night's sleep.

The comparison worth making

A closing observation.

Research on spending and satisfaction generally finds that expenditure on experiences produces more durable satisfaction than expenditure on possessions, with the proposed explanations including that experiences are less subject to comparison, become part of identity, and improve in recollection.

The finding has been qualified and debated, and the direction is reasonably consistent.

Which is not a licence to spend beyond means, and is a reason to treat travel as a legitimate allocation rather than as a residual.

The credit card question

Worth a specific note.

Financing travel on credit carried between months is expensive, and the interest generally exceeds any rewards earned by a wide margin.

Which means the practices in this article — a designated fund, a monthly allocation — are also the practices that keep travel from becoming a debt.

The cheapest travel available

Worth remembering.

Domestic travel, travel by ground transport, staying with people, camping and travelling in low season together produce trips at a fraction of the assumed cost.

Which means the choice is rarely between an expensive trip and no trip, and more often between an expensive trip and a different one.

General information about travel, not financial advice. Consult a qualified adviser about your own circumstances.