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DH and I haven't done much traveling. In the 7 years that we've been together, the only trips that we've taken was an overnight to Niagara Falls and then our HM. After going on the 'moon we realized what we've been missing all this time. We want to travel and see the world but we never actually do it. We've been talking about going on an anniversary trip this year so I've been pricing out some options and such. Well, yesterday we discussed how awesome it would be to take a Mediterranean cruise. We've always wanted to explore Europe but it was never really on our radar considering how expensive it is. We decided to roughly price out the trip to see how feasible it would be. It looks like we'll be dropping between $8-9k on airfare (coach because first class was like $8k per person, PER WAY), the 7 day cruise that hits multiple amazing stops, a total of 3-4 extra days in Rome before and after the cruise and spending money (which I fluffed considering I don't really know how expensive everything is going to be). It's a lot of money but we also have to remember the kind of trip it's going to be. It's not just a cruise to the Caribbean or something, we'd be traveling around Europe for approximately 2 weeks.
So DH and I discussed it and be both agree that while it's expensive its not totally out of the question. We would forego the big anniversary trip this year (probably just go somewhere within driving distance for a long weekend) and save for Europe in May 2013. This is something that I really want to do before we have kids and will probably never get a chance to again but DH, being the more level headed one, keeps coming back to the house downpayment. We both really want to buy a house (can you tell we want a lot of things? lol) so we won't be able to swing both next year. The way I see it, once we buy the house we're never going to Europe, atleast not for many many years. We either won't have the money for the trip or we'll be sinking that into home repairs and upgrades. As much as I want a house, I'd be willing to postpone that for an additional year so that we could have the experiences that this trip would offer.
I realize that the house downpayment would be the more responsible of the two but that doesn't necessarilly mean that it's the right choice. I want to experience different parts of the world before we settle down and become homeowners and parents. After those happen, we'll probably be lucky to get to Disney every few years let alone galavant though Europe.
If you were in my position, what would you do? Take the trip and postpone the house for another year or so or become a home owner and possibly never see the other half of the world, atleast until you're old and grey?
I'm just bumping this up a little because I'm curious to hear some bee's opinions on this. This is a situation DH and I mighgt find ourselves in very soon... I'm just as torn as you are!
I would take the trip. I'm a little biased because I don't have a desire for home ownership yet. However, DH and I are fairly well traveled for our ages (multiple trips to Europe, several cruises, lots of in-country travels) and I can sayunequivocally that we value those experiences so much. Europe is amazing, Italy is my favorite country so far with the friendliest people, beautiful scenery and delicious food, and there's something about traveling that is a real bonding experience for my husband and and I. I don't think yoit'd regret it, especially while you have the money that doesn't need to be sunk into your house.
I'd postpone the house and take the trip. I'm taking my sweet time buying a house, right now neither my husband or I know if we want to be in his home state or mine, so we're living in a very nice apartment until we figure it all out. A year is nothing, it's a blip on the radar, take the trip!
And not for nothing, but I wish I'd had the opportunity to do something like this early in my marriage.
I would take the trip. When you look back on your life, you'll remember travelling. That'll be the stories you tell your grandkids. You wont talk about getting a house a couple of years earlier.. IMO.
However, i think you'd probably get more for your money if you forego the cruise route and instead travel europe on land. On a cruise you only really get a day for each city (with a lot of time spent on the boat) and theres so much more you could do if you bought an interrail ticket, choose say four or five cities and spent two/three days in each.. Accomodation and food wise, if you stayed in hostels/cheaper hotels it actualy wouldnt cost that much more (or even any more) than the cruise and you get so much more experience of actual Europe..
@KatyElle: We're kind of in the same boat. We've discussed where we want to settle down and we've yet to really come to a decision. If we were going to buy, it would most likely be where we're currently living but we've also discussed possibly relocating to the west coast. Of course we'll have to figure all of this out before any decisions are made.
I worry that we'll regret not going and having the experience. Neither of our parents ever traveled anywhere. Actually, no one in either of our families have done much beyond beach vacations. Europe has always been a dream of ours.
@MrsWrangler: Thanks for our reply! That's my concern. I kind of doubt we'll ever have a spare $10k lying around after buying a house. There will always be somewhere that the money would need to go to over a fancy trip.
@mrsbacon: Hmm, I'll have to look into that! We cruised for our HM and loved it but maybe you're right. Traveling by land would probably provide a lot more experiences than only having a few hours in each place. I don't know if we'd be able to stay in hostels though. DH is pretty particular about his accommodations. Thanks for the suggestion!
I would take the trip and delay homeownership or look into the FHA loans out there that require a lower downpayment. PS, buying a house doesn't stop you from traveling as long as you buy a place that isn't a complete pit and you are comfortable with it. We just bought a place and we are planning on taking a trip later on once we build up enough airmiles for the flight.
I dont know if this is an option, but I'd really try to save up for both a house and a trip and cut out in other areas, like eating out, or other types of personal spending. Did you say the airfare alone was going to be 8-9k? That is REALLY high. I'm pricing out airfare to Italy and Greece this year and they are about 1200-1500 per person. We've budgeted about 8-9k total for 3 weeks... although we arent going on a cruise, but considering the cruise would negate what I've budgeted for hotel and food, it should be about the same. What type of vacationer are you?? Would you be mainly into sites and experience? Or into luxury travel and fine dining? If you are the first, and good at bargain hunting, traveling doesnt have to be as expensive as it may seem.
I think it depends on how old you are. :) I would go for the house personally, but I am 33.
Take the trip. :) Europe has ALWAYS been a dream of ours as well and we went for 3 weeks during our honeymoon and it was worth every cent. That being said, our 3 week trip only cost us about 8K and that included all transportation, food, lodging. So I would reconsider the season in which you are going to bring down the price of airfare. Or consider flying into a cheaper city to save on airfare. 8K-9K for airfare sound astronomical.
Anyway, not wanting to sound like a nag so feel free to PM me if you're interested in some of the budget blogs and online resources I used to plan our trip.
GL making your decision! :)
P.S. Well IF a cruise can be out of the picture then your options are so much more open to keep the $$ under control. We only stayed at two hostels, the rest of the time we stayed in B&Bs and rented apartments. SO much cheaper than hostels AND hotels. And provides a much more authentic experience. What cities are you looking to go to???
Do you remember my original username Gerbera? Search for my honeymoon recap thread. I think I provided rough $ amounts. Granted that was in 2010 so fluff the $ a little. :)
if you do take the trip, which i am sure will be wonderful, stick to land, it is much less expensive.
our return flights from toronto to london's heathrow were only $1600 total. we got a great deal on a hotel in london from booking.com and then we took the train throughout england (to visit FI family). we found great hotel deals online for the spots we wanted to visit. then we took the eurostar to paris. again, our hotel was found online for a deal when you spend more than 3 nights there. we were there for about 2.5 weeks and spent around $5000. we did a lot of touristy stuff and we stayed at nice hotels but never ate out in really fancy places, just pubs and bistos. also, it was off season. that makes a difference with flights and hotel stays.
wherever you decide to go, check out the prices at different times of the year. this may help you decide when to go and you may spend as much as 50% less.
I'd take the trip, but not that trip.
If you want to discover Europe, a cruise is not the way to do it, obviously this is my opinion. 8-9 k for airfare makes no sense to me? I think the last time I flew to Europe, I flew into Spain and the airfare was around 1000.
It is fairly inexpensive to travel in between countries once you are in Europe. My flight from Spain to Belgium was around 200 dollars I believe. And the train system is wonderful within Europe.
You can blow it out and have an amazing trip in Europe for less than 10K, including everything.
I would buy the house. Money has never been cheaper and it's not garunteed that it will stay that way for years to come.
Its probably he right long term decision to make.
However, I'm not advocating not traveling. Just do a different kind of trip. Instead of a cruise consider staying in hostels or renting an apartment for two weeks. When my FI and I travel we always buy breakfast and snacks at grocery stores or local markets and then eat dinner out. You can save a ton of money that way. If you hunt around for bargins you can probably do a 10 day trip to Europe for closer to 5k rather than 10.
I would buy the house personally. How old are you? Im 33 and purhased my first home when i was 25. Once your settled in your home start saving your pennies for this trip. A home is a great investment while a trip is only for 2 weeks.
@pinkshoes: No, it was $8-9k for the whole trip. Airfare is about $2500 for both of us, round trip. We very well could have enough for both but that greatly depends on DH's contracting and consulting gigs. He could score one that would cover both. It just depends on what comes rolling in.
@MapleBecky: We're both (almost) 26. Most of our friends and family who are homeowners didn't purchase their homes until they were closer to 30 so we're a bit ahead of the game in that aspect.
@MissAsB: I know we'd still be able to travel but knowing us, we'd probably put that money towards less exciting things like home repairs and savings.
@UpstateCait: ohh ok, I misunderstood what you said about the prices. I still think you will get to experience Europe so much better if you move around on your own as opposed to a cruise.
I realize my OP may have been confusing. It's $8-9k for the whole thing. Round trip from JFK to Rome is about $2500 for both of us.
I'm definitely going to look into sticking to land. To be honest, I've never even heard of some of the stops on the cruise, it just seemed like the best option since it would include all food and accommodations. I don't know if DH would agree to hostels but maybe he'd probably be open to apartments.
As for the kind of travelers we are, definitely more touristy than fancy. We'll likely have a few nice meals but mostly stick to the affordable fare.
@regberadaisy: I'll definitely be checking out your HM post and I'd love to look into some the resources you used. As for where we want to go, Rome definitely but also France, Germany, Ireland, Amsterdam, the list goes on. I'm not sure if it's even possible to see all of those in one trip that doesn't cost an absolute fortune.
I would take the trip. You don't really need a house for any particular reason at this point. Example: You aren't being kicked out, you aren't forced to move, you aren't knocked up. You guys don't have the responsibility of a house, which you are right could mean sinking money into repairs and upgrades, and decor, nor responsibilities on children.
I would totally take the trip, and then next year settle down and buy if thats what you want.
Definitely go on the trip - traveling is so important (if it's a desire you have) and it will change once you have a house, kids, the whole lot.
On the other hand, I'd also keep shopping around for different prices and deals. You can save a lot of money traveling in Europe if you play with where you fly into, where you connect, if you take trains, etc. Especially as you're in NY, you can find deals to London for like $500 round trip (it is possible. I have done it!), and then maybe fly an airline like RyanAir or EasyJet to Italy, and then take a train to where your cruise departs from. It's a bit less glamorous and maybe a lot of changing flights/modes of transportation, but it could save you tons of money and it's all part of the adventure!
@UpstateCait: ahh. ok, that sounds right. I was floored when I read that as just airfare. I definitely hear you on the money toward home repairs and savings. My vote was for the vacation first. There will just always be something to repair, update, buy for the house, save for. I know home ownership seems like the 'responsible' thing to do, but if you look at the difference 10k makes in a mortgage right now, assuming 200k mortgage vs 190k @4%, its not even $50 a month. Looking at the long run, yes that 7k more in interest payments, which is tax deducitble also. I'd take the 10k, have a blast on vacation, buy a house with a little less down if if comes to that, then make up for it in extra payments on principle every month. Money and a house is important to have, but I dont think its worth the sacarfice of life experiences like this if this is something you really want to do and can pull it off without too much financial hardship.
I agree with previous posters about travelling by land instead of a cruise. There are so many amazing countries that you would miss out on by just taking a cruise!
Tell your husband that hostels in Europe aren't always the disgusting places you might imagine. Many of them are clean and you can get a private two person room. If you're ok with sharing a bathroom, then there's no down side to them!
Like previous posters, I can give advice on where to go if you'd like. I've been to most Western European countries, with Spain being the notable exception.
Take the trip. You will appreciate seeing other things in the world. You have your whole life to live in and create a home together.
My FI has never been out of the country and we are eloping to Paris then heading to Rome. I am so excited to share this experience with him. It is really exciting to see another person seeing all these historical things for the first time.
If you have the option to buy soon, consider that interest rates are incredibly low. Regardless of your downpayment you may be looking at 2 completely different price ranges of homes if you consider interest rates of 4% vs 6.5% in the future. These rates will likely not be around in 2 years.
I thought of another thing...
The things you mention as being positive about a cruise, you can get from something like a tour. With a tour you will still have most room and board taken care of, but you can go on land so you won't miss out.
Tours aren't really my style because I prefer to go more slowly and discover a region myself, but lots of people really like them.
Check out Contiki. They cater to young people 18-35, so it is very easy to make friends on their tours. I did a tour of the south of France with them and despite my dislike of tours, I'm glad I did!
If you take the trip, I'm going to add another vote to traveling by land. If you have $10,000 to spend, you could see a lot of Europe, not just Italy. Buy a rail pass, rent apartments instead of staying in hotels... My sister and I spent about 8 weeks backpacking through Europe about 5 years ago, and I want to say we spent $3k a piece, with airfare I think we spent $7600 total for the both of us. We flew roundtrip from DC to London. We visited Scotland, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and Austria.
Granted, we stayed in cheap hostels most of the time... but we were traveling for a longer period of time than it sounds like you're going to. Though I wouldn't rule out hostels, you meet so many great people and get to talk about your experiences, get tips about places they've been that you're going... it's just a really unique way to travel. My husband and I stayed in hostels on our HM in Argentina, and they really do run the whole gamut from party hostels to places that really resemble hotels.
Take the trip. As another poster mentioned, when you're older, you will look back and be so happy you travelled while you had the chance...you probably won't be saying "I'm so glad I got that house instead"...just my opinion though.
And I would definitely look into other options besides a cruise. I haven't done one so this is biased, but my fiance and I went to Europe for the first time this past summer. Some of my favorite memories are lazy strolls through towns, going to coffee shops, and taking group organized tours to the big landmarks. We did a mix of our own stuff plus some organized tours just to make sure we hit the highlights. Travel from country to country in Europe is so cheap-with flights through companies like Ryanair you can get ridiculously cheap airfare.
Also as a reference, we spent 18 days in the UK and Ireland for about $6000 including airfare. We definitely weren't extravagent, ate breakfast and lunch at home and went out for a nice dinner, and stayed in fairly nice accomodations. Of course if you are traveling to more countries this will be more, but my guess is you could do it for at least the same price as that cruise, if not less.
@UpstateCait: I say take the trip, but I may be biased because that's what we did. It probably delayed our home purchase by a year/year and half, but it was AMAZING, and like you said, not something that you'd be able to do as easily once you have kids.
ETA: I'm seeing a lot of votes for travelling by land, which I think it a great suggestion, but if you're in the same boat as we were (time is more the issue than money) a cruise could be a good fit. I kind of felt like we missed out on getting the vibe of cities as we were gone before dinner each day, but it was a way to check a lot of places off the list quickly, and some ports a day was definitely enough.
We discussed it some more today and weighed the pros and cons. It seems to me like the vacation is coming out ahead but no concrete decisions have been made yet. We also discussed traveling by land instead of cruising and he's more than open to it, though it's all about the Benjamin's at this point. I'm going to start working on an estimate.
We discussed the following itinerary:
Now the rest is assuming we can take the train to and from these places. Some of you may be able to confirm that before I can google it...
This may sound ridiculous to the more experienced travelers out there so let me know if it's a bit too ambitious for 2 weeks and $8-9k (preferably less if at all possible - it will be much easier to sell!).
Wow! That is a lot of stops for 2 weeks, and that's coming from a person that needs a vacation after my kind of vacations. I'm counting 7 cities, 14 days, including travel days. Would you only be spending part a of day in certain places and not do an overnight? I'd feel too rushed to not have a full day in each particluar place. I'd be sure to check out flying in and out of a different airport so that you dont have to use time to double back to the same place to fly out. Budget is important of course, but so is time. If this is a once in a lifetime trip, saving time may be worth a little extra money.
This is what we did when we planned our honeymoon. My husband and I both wrote down the cities we wanted to see. Then we looked at a map and tried to get the best route from city A to City B then City C, etc etc based on location. Then from there we looked online to see if those were feasible options via train, plane or ferry. From there some cities got eliminated, some got added, and some got rearranged to whatever made more sense travel wise. We did overnight/late night trains, ferries and planes whenever we could to maximize time in cities.
Keeping in mind best travel options to maximize times we then wrote down how many days we wanted to spend in each city. Some we were OK just spending a day in others we wanted 2-3. We moved extremely fast but we saw everything we wanted to see.
I highly recommend booking everything before leaving the States, you save a lot of money that way.
Write down some of the must sees you want to see in each cities. A lot of places are closed on certain days, you would hate to have that location closed on the one day you are in that city.
Another tip on the itinerary, rather than thinking of moving in a circle back to your original city. Think about flying back to the US from another city. We flew into Dublin but back from Barcelona.
As you start doing more research your destinations and timeframes will likely get massaged to suit your needs and budget.
SO SO excited for you!!
P.S. Rome got cut out??
ETA: I don't know distance wise how far you are from NYC (don't rule out Neward) vs Toronto but I have heard of people getting some amazing airfare deals flying out of Toronto. So worth a look to see if the savings is worth the drive.
Traveling is good for the soul. I loved every minute when I went to Europe.
The price seems a little high though... I went to Malta, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin and Prague for 2 and a half weeks. It cost about 1,500 in airfare over there and each flight was anywhere from 50 to 150 dollars extra. Trains were too expensive, and they took too much time. I would look into flying to each place, it was very reasonable for us.
I'd skip Prague if I went again. It was cold, and not really much to see except for their mall and some old parts of town. Rome was uhhh-mazing, same with Madrid and Berlin. They all have a ton of great museams - but I took art history in high school so it was really cool to see things that I studied.
I studied abroad in Spain for six weeks, and I think you should defnitley travel! I never wanted to travel before that, but the class was required for my major, and I was literally forced to go. However, I am SO glad I did! And now I can't wait to travel somewhere with my FI.
When I was there I stayed with a host family in Avila, but I took day trips to Salamanca, Segovia, and Toledo. And then I took a weekend trip to Madrid, where we stayed in a nice hostel. Now I know the idea of a hostel is scary, but the one we stayed at was like a mini-hotel. You walked into the lobby, and then each person had their own room and bathroom, so it was completely safe and cheap! You just need to do your research on hostels.
And I haven't been to anywhere in Europe besided Spain, but as far as Spain goes taking the train is way cheaper and more convenient than any other method of travel, but I guess some on here are saying that isn't true for all of Europe.
@UpstateCait: TAKE THE TRIP!! I took a year out to travel and it was the best decision I ever made. I know you're looking at two weeks, not a year, but I would def take the trip over buying a house. You have the rest of your life to buy a house and settle down. You will not regret taking the trip of a lifetime 
It should cost a lot less than the 8-9k you mentioned. I would think the cruise is most of that cost? I would personally prefer to travel by air or land. Once you get to Europe, you can get very cheap flights with Ryanair (European equivalent of Southwest) to all European cities. The inter-railing option would be cheap too (not too sure as I have never done this). I would pick maybe 4 or 5 places that you really want to visit and then spend some time soaking up the culture there. Otherwise, you could spend most of your trip on planes and trains! If you don't fancy staying in hostels, you could stay at a self-catering apartment (check out ownersdirect.co.uk) rented out by the owner for much cheaper than a hotel.
@regberadaisy: I had DH list off 3-4 places he wanted to see and Rome wasn't on it. Funny, 'cause it was there yesterday. After talking we're fine skipping Rome this time around in order to see the other places I've listed.
We're like 3.5 hours north of the city (Albany/Saratoga area). I never thought of flying out of Toronto before. I'll definitely look into it! And thanks for all of the helpful tips!
@Captain013: Shows how much I know about traveling around Europe. I would have thought it was cheaper to take a train. Guess I have some more research to do! As far as Prague goes, DH has wanted to go there for years but he said he doesn't have any interest in staying over. It seems like he just wants to explore a bit and then carry on. Now that I think about it, thats probably not the best use of time or money.
@pinkshoes: You're probably right. After I typed it up it seemed a bit extreme. Maybe it would be best if we limited it to only a few places. I don't want to be traveling the entire time. We'll probably be exhausted by the end of the first week.
Trip!!!
Once in a lifetime versus dumping money into your future money pit ( aka home) ll
If renting is affordable and spacious for you at the moment, then don't worry about rushing into buying a house. Unless you plan on starting up baby stuff, you should be able to take a really awesome Euro trip and then snowball your money into house stuff after.
I would take the trip. I feel like traveling is worth it, especially since you say you haven't travelled much together.
When I look back at the years we have spent together, the time we spent travelling holds my absolute favorite memories. There is nothing quite like it - being on a journey together, discovering new places with each other. So I would highly recommend the trip. But then again, with housing prices being good now, you can also buy a house and travel later. Don't look at it as a one-in-a-lifetime thing. I guarantee you, if you do it once, you will want to travel again anyhow :-).
But it needs not be so expensive! We went to Italy for 13 days, traveling around different cities, and spent about 4K total, including airfare, for both of us. You have to plan carefully, shop around for deals, etc. For instance, if you book the train very far in advance, they give you a large chunk off. We paid only $650 each for airfare (Direct flight, no stop) from New York to Rome on Delta Airline. We had very good accomodations - we rented apartments in the cities. In the country side of Italy, we stayed on a beautiful farm where they make their own wine and olive oil. We really didn't skimp all that much. It's all about finding deals and planning your trip well. I would not recommend the cruise - many of the stops are not places you would normally go, and while it includes all the food and accomodations - you lose out on a chance to experience as much as possible the food in places you will visit. Not to mention it's usually MORE, not less expensive, and highly dependent on weather and sea condition.
I am so excited for you about this opportunity, and hope you will have a wonderful time!
I origionally chose the house, until I read your situation. Take the trip, as other said, you will really regret it.
However, I strongly suggest the cruise. Many Med cruises stop at all the highlights of the Med. And you have one day there, which is often enough to see the main sights. It will also be WAY CHEAPER than food on the land. If the places I have been to are any indication. Lunch of two small sandwhiches and tap water was 20 Euro (25-30$).
The 8-9K is a good price, but keep looking for cheaper air. There are many budget airlines that you can piece together from London/other Europe to Rome and get a better price than the direct US to Rome. Also, many cruise lines offer air fare with the cruise and you get better protection that way.
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