I don’t know if it’s because many blogs (even personal finance blogs!) include traveling, or because after 6 years of schooling I finally have the spare money and time to go on a trip, but I have been thinking a lot about traveling lately. It could also be the fact I live in a teeny tiny beach town with nothing exciting over the winter. I’ve got roughly $250 in my travel fund right now, which is small change but I won’t be going away until next year anyway, so I’ve got some time to save. I think a portion of any extra money I end up with will go into my travel fund since it is something I have been neglecting for forever. The last time I flew somewhere was the day after my 19th birthday, six and a half years ago !
I have been thinking a lot about where I want to go, and there are so many options it’s overwhelming. Here are a few I have picked out :
Scotland
I have been obsessed with Scotland since I was young. My background is Scottish and I’ve always felt very drawn to the place. It looks absolutely beautiful and the people there speak English, so it would be easier to communicate. I think it would be a pretty relaxed trip, I could go tour the countryside and old castles and such, and just take in the atmosphere of the place.
Thailand
I blame this place on the movie “The Beach”. I watched it many years ago and have never forgotten how beautiful the place was. Once I found out where they filmed (Thailand, obviously) I just felt this need to go there. I’d like to do this one while I’m younger rather than older, and I’ve heard once you get to Thailand, everything is pretty cheap, so it seems do-able in the next few years.
Egypt
Another place I’ve been completely obsessed with since childhood. Maybe I watched too many Indiana Jones movies, or it was the King Tutankhamun exhibit I went to as a child, but I really want to go and see the pyramids. The one thing that I’m worried about is the bugs. I am extremely scared of small, Canada-sized bugs and don’t know what I would do dealing with giant, scary, Egypt-sized bugs. Have you heard of Camel Spiders? If you’d like to have nightmares tonight, Google it.
Europe
I’d like to do a Euro-tour. Italy, specifically, with a little Switzerland (boyfriend’s mom and family is from there) and France (just seems beautiful and full of history). This may not come until my later years because I think I want to do other ones first, but I am in love with the thought of going to see things that are hundreds and sometimes thousands of years old with so much history in them.
The issue with these trips is they will be expensive. It is going to take me a long time to save up for any of them, but even if I did one every few years I think I’d still be happy with that ! I also am toying with the idea of traveling in Canada; it would cost less and allow more frequent trips. I’d like to go out to the West coast and the East coast eventually. In Ontario we have a beautiful wine region, and I’ve thought about just driving for a weekend trip with my boyfriend to a cute bed and breakfast or some type of little getaway.
Do you save up to go on big trips in faraway countries, or do you prefer to stick closer to home and get away a little more often?
Shhh, don’t tell, but I’ll be buying a plane ticket soon :D details to follow as soon as I actually get them. To answer your question: I prefer to stick to home but I decided that before I had kids I wanted to travel abroad at least once, so I can make sure I go see SOMETHING somewhere else in my life. I’ve never left the US. I will be visiting Canada soon though, since it’s close enough to drive.
Ohhh ! So excited to hear where you’ll be going ! If you come anywhere near my neck of the woods we should definitely meet up. And your travel secret is safe with me :)
Where’s your neck of the woods?
Mid-Western Ontario !! :)
The Beach definitely made me want to go to Thailand as well! We set aside money every month for our vacations, but we’ve never gone anywhere too far as we don’t have passports. We did go to San Juan, St. Croix and Hawaii in the past year though, but I would love to go out of the U.S (and it’s territories).
I found the movie well-done but depressing. But it still made me want to go so badly ! And those trips all sound amazing. How was Hawaii?
Absolutely love your choices because:
1. I am Scottish hence the blog name – The Savvy Scot
2. My (now) wife and I got married in Thailand at the start of this year
3. Egypt – we are currently planning a Diving holiday there!
Let us know what you decide on!
Wow, weird that we have connections with all three!! And I bet your wedding was absolutely beautiful. I will definitely keep you posted :) Thanks for commenting!
I know right… Check this post out on our wedding
http://savvyscot.com/our-wedding-in-thailand-explained/
:) If you want to know anything about these places – please ask!
While flying to Europe is expensive, once you get there, traveling around is not bad. You can buy a train pass and take it to so many places, including Scotland. You can stay in B&Bs which save a lot of money as well.
Yes I’ve heard Europe is pretty good once you get there ! I like that you can take a train everywhere. Is it easier to cross borders there than here? I love B & B’s and I’d consider hostels as well.
Yes it is easier to cross the borders there. I like the train too, but as well, flights between European cities and the UK are quite cheap, especially on RyanAir.
Thanks for the info. If a flight is cheap I’d consider taking it, especially if it would save me a lot of time.
Quebec is quite lovely throughout the Eastern Townships. Tons of bicycle paths, wineries etc. You can find affordable B & B’s and enjoy picnics in the fresh air and beautiful countryside.
I kind of forgot about Quebec. Another, somewhat closer option !!
Jeff over at Sustainable Life Blog spent his honeymoon in Thailand and visited “The Beach.” I also want to visit there and Egypt and a ton of places in Europe. Probably will be awhile though. Here is the link to Jeff’s post on Thailand http://sustainablelifeblog.com/2012/09/14/honeymoon-thailand-pt-2-phuket/
Here’s where my bf and I differ BIG TIME. He prefers staying close to home and taking trips where you can just drive to the destination. Whereas, I will save, save, save, save up for a BIG trip to a faraway land. Thailand and Egypt are on my list of places to travel to . I live in Ontario too. Last month the bf and I biked from Niagara on the Lake to Niagara Falls and back. We didn’t actually go to any wineries, but I really enjoyed the ride. Especially the picnic lunch after! :D
Oh that sounds like a beautiful trip! I’m from 45 mins. west of there ! :) My boyfriend doesn’t seem to care about trips at all.. but luckily I think he is willing to go and save if it is something I want to do, which it definitely is ! I’m thinking we will have to do a combination of close trips and far trips, with the far trips being far apart to give ample time to save.
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“Europe through the back door” by Rick Steeves was very helpful when we planned a trip to Europe. http://www.amazon.com/Rick-Steves-Europe-Through-Back/dp/1612383696 and of course it comes in Kindle if you don’t want to carry books.