Subject: Re: LBYM travel


With getting older and all of the other stuff going on, I haven't traveled since 2018. Unfortunately my miles/points are slowly losing value.
In the past I once set up a trip to Europe for about 12 days and I think my total spend, including taxes/fees, on airlines and hotels was under $300 for the 2 of us. The business class airline tickets only had about $10 per ticket in fees. Most hotels were free except for 1 night.

I'm hoping I can do one more nice trip but that depends on health.

I think one biggest thing you need to keep costs down is flexibility in scheduling. People with limited vacation time and rigid schedules have a much tougher time to save money on trips. Summer vacations in most places is costly and crowded. We tend to go in the off season and really enjoy winter trips to Europe, especially if we can catch the Christmas markets. One of our nicest and most memorable days was a December day in Rothenburg Germany during a 10' snowfall. We were walking around and it was so peaceful, quiet and calm. Fortunately it wasn't windy so that it wasn't that cold. When we got cold we'd brush off the snow and sit in a cafe and have a drink and a pastry. I know others prefer lounging on a beach somewhere but that isn't for me.

I also have never rented a car outside of the US. Usually the trains work well enough for us. In some cases I could see having a car being useful but for major cities they just add to headaches.