Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer!
I can’t remember where I first read this travel quote (it was probably a Facebook meme to be honest) but the words really stuck with me.
We’re not the sort of people who can sit on a sunbed all day (well, Miss Frugal is but the rest of us aren’t) and we don’t even like the heat that much as we all burn so quickly so we’ve mostly holidayed in the UK over the last five or six years. There’s so many places to visit and things to see and do here in the UK that we haven’t seen nearly as much as we’d like to see yet but even so, I’ve started to get a bit of that wanderlust feeling and I want to travel further afield with the kids now that they’re a bit older.
I’ve told you about my planned trip to New York with Miss Frugal in April which is something we’re really looking forward to and absolutely something that I feel is going to be pretty priceless when it comes to making memories. We’ve got a great deal on our hotel and flights and we’re all sorted with our spending money and visa waiver form.
(Useful tip: always make sure you get your visa paperwork in order. Check if you can submit your visa application online; this saves you a lot of money and time as you won’t need to visit the embassy.)
I think I might have told you that we’re booked for a week in the Isle of Wight at the end of July but I’ve also just booked a cheeky 4 nights away to Milan over the May half term for us all!
Now I know what you’re probably thinking – this much travel isn’t very frugal at all and you may have a point but honestly, four nights in Milan including the flights worked out cheaper than a trip to London on the train for us and even if it hadn’t have worked out cheaper, I still would have been tempted to book it!
I was planning a couple of days away in this country but I was shocked at the prices coming up, even taking into account that it was half term it was more than I was expecting to pay so thought I’d have a cheeky look at what as available for city breaks abroad. I found some amazing deals for Milan, Nice and Berlin. but in the end we went for Milan because (a) it was the cheapest, (b) the hotel looks amazing and (c) we love pizza! Also a little bit of (d) Milan sounds a bit more glamorous and a lot of (e) I love the Italian accent. 😉
We’re planning on spending some time in Milan but also have our eye on a day trip to either Venice or Rome which are both between 2 and 3 hours away on the train. We also fancy a day at Lake Como which is less than an hour away and I’d really like to take the kids if the weather is nice because I loved the holidays I spent at Lake Garda when I was younger.
Whatever we do, I’ll be making sure that the kids see as much of wherever we are and learn as much as they can while we explore. We’ll have quality time as a family exploring somewhere new together and making lots of memories that hopefully will stay with the kids for a long time to come.
So, back to the quote at the start of this post – do you think travel really does make you richer?
Personally, I think it does because I look back on the trips I took with my family as a child and the memories I have from those trips are priceless. My Mum and brother are no longer with us but I have a huge box of photos of us all on holidays that I love to look through and remember some of the fun we had. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have happy memories if we hadn’t have been lucky enough to travel because I absolutely would and do have lots of other special memories but my holiday memories are some of my favourites.
I also think you can absolutely still be frugal when you travel even though you’re spending money. My top three tips to plan a frugal trip would be to make sure you get a great deal, pay for your with savings rather than a credit card and to research where you’re staying so you can find out how to have fun on a budget there (YouTube is actually great for this).
You might also like: How to travel cheap on a budget from a Humble Penny
Don’t miss out on future posts like this – receive updates directly to your inbox by email by adding your email address here and hitting subscribe. You can also follow me on Twitter, BlogLovin or Networked Blogs and I’d love to see you over on my Facebook page and on Instagram. Collaborative post.
in my opinion traveling is not just waste of money, we can gather lots of experience, learn and enjoy by traveling. i have some of my friends and they are spending huge money every year only for traveling. when they share their experience with us we are surprised to see the knowledge. i think everybody should travel new place.
Great article, with a lot of good advice. Your blog is very informative. Thank you for sharing this post.
That's called a real experience. keep posting and shooting. You have some decent engaging part in the blog 🙂
I have got more and interesting travel based information here,keep making and improving the great tips. You can find the great traveling services and tour based information as well,thanks.
Keep traveling and be happy. Traveling is not waste of money, its part of our life traveling means fun, adventures, exploring unknown places and gating a chance to know different people and culture. Traveling is very good source to get rid of all stress, tiredness and relax himself.
We don't travel enough as with six of us we don't seem to find the deals! Would definitely like to travel further afield with the kids rather then Europe. Somewhere culturally different! I think travel definitely makes you richer x
Sounds like you have some very exciting travel plans this year!
I think you can make an exception with travel as its so important to see the world and experience different things and anyway your so frugal you need to have treats and what better than a trip to Milan! x
Travel is never a waste of oney in my opinion 😉 It's what we spend all of our money on and the reason I have no new clothes or gadgets etc. Have a wonderful trip, it's a beautiful part of Italy and if you're looking for somewhere different I really recommend Verona as a day trip – it's my favourite Italian city and really does have it all. We went last year and the kids loved it. Have fun!
It used to frustrate me that travel abroad is so expensive (I have too many kids), but actually I would rather take them somewhere special than let them have the stuff that they want (and discard after a day). Travel is an investment in their future!!
Great post and I completely agree with all your points! For me travel is not a waste of money at all! I’ve gained so many experiences and memories that I look back on fondly, even years after the fact. The road trips my parents took us on as kids are some of my favourite memories growing up and were a great way to spend time together as a family. The real-world education I get from travelling is far better (and cheaper) than the formal education I received in University. As far as I’m concerned, staying home, paying bills for the things we think we need (but are really are luxuries) is the waste of money. “Stuff” doesn’t enrich my life- travelling and having experiences does.
Travel is obviously not the most frugal thing, especially with the cost of some trips these days and if you're going in the school holidays, but it is also incredibly enriching and not something you can entirely measure on a 'frugal' scale. Memories made whilst exploring and adventuring with loved ones are so of those that remain a lifetime.
It sounds like you have some fun plans ahead of you this year, and I'm super interested in this Milan trip of yours!
A frugal tip for Italy; if you take the train (which it sounds like you might), make sure you validate (stamp) your ticket in a machine at the station before you travel else you can be fined!! There is a very very cool deli shop called Peck that I'm sure you will delight in exploring and is perfectly frugal if you can avoid buying things!! It is quite expensive, from memory, to go to the roof of the vathedral but quite incredible; if you do it, you can save yourself some money and relish the challenge by climbing the stairs rather than using the escalator. I can understand the draw of Rome and Venice but will have you desperate to go back as they both offer so much. I'd suggest exploring a smaller, more quaint city like Bergamo if I were you. I think you can probably tell which side of the travel arguement I come down on! 😉
Thanks so much for those suggesions Sarah – I'll definitely look into Bergamo x x x
I completely agree. And I feel actually quite sad about your box of photos. I have a similar one, but my kids won't have the same, as everything is digital nowadays. I feel like I should make an effort to print lots off and chuck them in an old biscuit tin just so they can have the same experience some day! Can't wait to find out what you get up to in New York!
Travel is never a waste of money xx
With all our family travelling J is going to University to learn Arcgaeology
I hope it's not a waste of money, I've just spent an absolute fortune on our next holiday LOL It does cost an awful lot to travel but I really think it is worth it to have such wonderful experiences with my family x
I think it could make you financially richer in the long term as you may be able to get a better job as it could be argued the travel experiences have made you into a better person. I don't have the research to back up this theory though and I'm sure if you never leave your own back garden you could still end up very rich financially.
I definitely think travel makes you richer in terms of experiences and, like you say, memories. Not only do you get an insight into different cultures, history, food etc everyone has a different mindset when travelling and away from the day to day. Great quote x