How to Budget for Travel | Our Stories Matter
By: Harriet Chase
When Sheryl asked me to write about budgeting for travel and the Return on Investment (ROI) of a women’s retreat so many thoughts began flooding in. Full disclosure, this topic is as personal as it is professional. My earliest memory of travel is as a little girl waiting anxiously for my grandmother, Pearl, to return from her many international trips with her girlfriends. My younger self may have felt an obligation to sit still and listen politely, but as soon as my grandmother’s stories began, any burden I felt soon dissolved. What stood out to me was the giddiness she exhibited when recounting her adventures and the opportunity to immerse herself in different cultures around the world. And most importantly, she returned home a slightly enhanced version of herself.
Living next door to my grandmother, I was around her a lot. I was lucky to witness her travel planning process from start to finish. Preparing for her trips appeared flawless, but her travel adventure didn’t begin there. It began with a plan.
Planning for travel comes in many forms. It isn’t surprising that “travel” is synonymous with the word, “journey”. A journey is deeply personal. It is imperative to discover what type of journey you are longing for when planning and saving for travel. This isn’t always adventuring to far flung places, it can be as simple as discovering what brings you joy.
Women make over 70% of all travel decisions, but are we budgeting for it? Or more specifically, do our travel plans align with our personal core values? If not, we tend to dip into our travel fund for other needs or wants throughout the year, or we return home from a trip feeling exhausted and unfulfilled.
As a financial planner for over 24 years, I have witnessed just how easy it is to save when a savings goal aligns with one’s personal core values.
The first step to budgeting for travel is discovering what type of travel best suits you. This is achieved by determining your personal core values. For example, 2 of my 5 personal core values are Adventure and Environment. You can already visualize the type of travel I enjoy: the exhilaration I feel when experiencing something new, spending time in nature, and personal fulfillment when supporting businesses that implement sustainable practices.
I work extensively with my clients to help them identify their core values and use them to guide and support our investment decisions. If you haven’t taken the time yet, discover your top 5 personal core values here: Values Exercise
You are your best investment. Going a step further and answering the following questions will provide greater clarity around the necessary financial outlay.
Why is travel important to me?
What do I personally want to attain from the experience?
These answers, combined with your personal core values, will ensure a net positive ROI (Return on Investment) for every trip you plan for.
And the ROI doesn’t stop here. We are learning more about brain health these days, and many brain health benefits are met through female travel. One important example is the social aspect of meeting new people. I have heard multiple stories from my female clients of the new friendships they have forged while traveling. Many now travel together with their new friends from around the world and visit one another’s homes. I can personally attest to this too. When this happens, it feels like magic. Staying active and being social builds independence and prolongs longevity.
Hopefully by now you have taken the time to discover your personal core values, and have spent time determining what type of travel experience you need. The next step is budgeting for it. This takes a little time, but remember the goal aligns with YOU, so it will be fun to see the savings grow each month. I recommend doing this with weekly money dates. This can be a solo date, or if you are partnered, together. My husband and I have our weekly money date on Sunday mornings over coffee. We tried other days and times but found we are most relaxed during this time.
For my younger clients with children still at home, I have them go on a “real” date. Make it something to look forward to. Of course, choose a place with some privacy so your money conversations aren’t overheard. One client couple even trades babysitting with friends so they can all experience a weekly money date without having to spend money on a babysitter.
If you work with a financial planner, you most likely have internet access to your financial plan. Within these plans are your personal savings goals. This is where my clients house their travel goals and budget. This isn’t the only way of course. There are many great online financial budgeting tools:
Most of these companies offer free versions but aren’t as robust, and remember YOU are your best investment, so I recommend paying the nominal annual subscription.
It isn’t uncommon to use multiple bank savings accounts, an Excel spreadsheet or a paper and pencil ledger. Anything works really - I’ve seen it all! If you have heard of or currently utilizing the “envelope method” where you physically place cash every month in different envelopes for each financial goal you may want to check out this digital version.
Now that you have chosen your tracking method, how do you come up with an annual budget? I use an old-fashioned calendar. I first populate known family and friend commitments such as birthdays, weddings and work travel for the upcoming year. I then plan the travel that really lights me up. This step includes travel planning with my husband to places we want to experience together and my annual female travel trips. You may be unsure of the destination, but know what type of experience you are yearning for, which will help determine an approximate cost. Is it trekking in the mountains? Snorkeling in warm waters? Or, visiting a big city? The costs will widely vary according to location and activities.
A money date is a financial checkup. Once you have determined your annual travel budget it is important to check in and make sure your weekly cash flow is in check so you can fund your personally aligned savings goals. The ones that light YOU up! This is why it’s important to make your money date something you look forward to. We all slip from time to time, or have something come up. If you treat your money dates like a boundary or reschedule if needed, you will stay on top of where you are spending and know if and when any tweaks need to be made.
Financial planning is a lifelong moving target, but prioritizing an annual Travel savings goal that enables and supports you in traveling with women will enhance your life more than you can ever imagine. Bon Voyage - I hope to see you out there!
Harriet’s first women’s only trip was three years ago with www.daretodetour.com and she has Detoured every year since. Harriet has discovered that a week spent on a women’s only retreat not only gives her a window of time to reconnect and make lifelong friends, each time she returns her family notices a slightly enhanced version of herself.
Harriet K. Chase, founder of Aspen Grove Wealth Management, LLC, serves women’s financial planning needs nationwide. She can be contacted at 307-214-0503 or www.aspengroveadvisory.com
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