National Lampoon's Family Vacation

I am lucky to have grown up in a family that traveled. Every summer, my parents (who were not wealthy in the monetary sense) would take my sisters and me on trips to beautiful places, historical sites or the beach (sometimes all three) for a week or so, making me not only appreciate but yearn for a world outside of the small town where we grew up. I realize now, as an adult, that I saw more states and Civil War battlefields on family trips than most American children. And I am so grateful.

My parents have always appreciated the value of traveling. In fact, their first trip to Europe was when I was a year old and my sisters and I stayed with our grandparents for two weeks. I grew up watching photo slides of my parents' trip and aspiring someday to follow their path. When I was 27 my parents took me on a 3-week trip to Europe - driving from Paris down through the most beautiful areas of France, over to Italy, up to Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg (because of a wrong turn) and over through France again. It was incredible!

Since that amazing trip, I have been lucky to have traveled all over England and to Austria. And this summer, I am going to Austria again to visit one of my sisters. While I'm there, we hope to go to Budapest in Hungary and Slovenia and Croatia for weekend trips. Exotic trips for such a frugal traveler!

I don't make a lot of money as a manager at a non-profit organization. However, travel is a priority to me, and I make room in my budget to make it possible. I realize there are others my age who have families to support and who have other expenses (houses, fancy cars, credit card debt) that make travel difficult. I made my choices just as they have theirs. Yes, it's easier to put a portion of your paycheck towards "travel" when you don't have a family to feed (the only one who suffers from an all-ramen noodle diet on my paycheck is me.) But, if my one income in the 1970s parents could make a trip to Europe work, so can you. Lack of money is no excuse when your priorities are defined.