Vacation planning

Yes, it is summertime, and we all want to get out there, experience mother nature in all her open glory, we want to travel, we want to explore, we want to relax and take a break from the mundane 9-5 work that we have to do in order to get by.

We can't wait to have that two-week relaxation, going to some destination that we have been wanting to go to like... forever! OMG! It is so great to go, and to experience it and oh my gawd, we will have such a great time!

My home state of Florida is the recipient of a vast number of travelers, who pack the beaches of the Sunshine State every year with a drink in one hand and a credit card to charge it in the other. Don't get me wrong, we love having all ya'll come to see us, to see our beautiful beaches, especially here in the Tampa Bay area, with Clearwater Beach, St. Pete Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, Sarasota, Santa Maria Island just around Bradenton, it is truly a dream come true to spend a few weeks just lounging on the sugar white sand - that gets into everything - and enjoy the finest Rum Runners in the world - which cost anywhere from $8 - $15 depending on which bartender serves it up - and stay at some wonderful properties on the beach - costing anywhere from $250 a night if you don't mind a little fish smell at some of the older properties to $750.00 a night at the beautiful Don Ce Sar right on the beach, where the sunsets are magical and the food is scrumptious and the atmosphere is amazing.

But if you plan to come to Florida, or the Carribean, or take a cruise, or do any number of other activities in the Sunbelt, just know that the average amount Americans spend per vacation, that's average, some are quite a bit higher, is around $3000.00 according to a NY Post survey. According to US Travel and tourism statistics, (U.S. Travel & Tourism Statistics 2020-2021 (tourismacademy.org)) Americans spend over 1 trillion dollars on tourism every year and almost 16 million jobs are supported by tourism dollars in the US. In my home state, between Miami's nightlife and Orlando's the House of the Mouse, over 10 million visitors come to spend their hard-earned monies every year.

And why not - as someone who has the privilege of living in the amazingly beautiful state, with some of the most visited beaches in the world, I find it hard to resist the temptation to jump in the ol' Jeep, with a canopy, a few beach chairs, a cooler packed with food and drinks and head to my favorite destination in the area, Ft. DeSoto park where it costs $5.00 to park all day and enjoy the warm waters of the Gulf while listening to Jimmy Buffet and sipping a cold drink - non-alcoholic that is. Florida state parks are strictly non-alcoholic, and this is one law I definitely agree with. My wife and I have the option if we choose to do so, to drive to the terminal in Tampa and get on a Royal Carribean cruise ship for a weekend getaway without having to plan it, or to go in debt over it. It's an amazing life.

But a lot of people don't have the luxury to just jump in their cars and head to the beaches or to Terminal 3 in Tampa and hop on a cruise liner without having to do some major event planning around it. This is where finances come into the picture. As I mentioned earlier, Americans spend around $3000 for a domestic vacation per year on average and around $6200 on international destination. But with numbers like that, that kind of expenditure requires a budgetary planning. Meaning, if someone wants to plan on spending $3000 on a vacation, and they are trying to budget their monies, that vacation better have a budgetary line item on the weekly or monthly budget every month until the funds are saved up.

In 2023, 66% of Americans used their credit cards to pay for their vacation instead of saving up for it. Also, in 2024 it is expected that due to inflation, the average cost of a domestic trip will be over $4500 instead of the $3000 in previous years. $4500 on a credit card with an average interest of 20% will take about 25 months to pay off at a monthly payment of $220 and will incur an interest payment of $1040 dollars. So for the privilege of using the plastic, the beach getaway will cost an extra $1,000 dollars.

Wouldn't it make more sense to start saving now for next year's trip by setting aside $250 per month for 12 months for a total of $3000 and after using the credit card to pay for the trip, pay it off as soon as the bill arrives leaving no balance or a small balance rather than using the card to pay for it now and figure out how to afford it later? But what if there is not an extra $250 in the budget to set aside? What if after paying the mortgage, gas, groceries, utilities, student loans, car payment, insurance, etc... there is nearly nothing left over for a savings account for a rainy-day fund let alone for a vacation fund? Why not just use the plastic and go see the beautiful beaches of Florida's west coast?

Getting that plastic out and using it for wants rather than emergency needs is what can lead to a long-term debt accumulation that will result in many years of struggling to pay off a large debt, that with a little discipline and a little more prioritizing, can be avoided. I promise you; Florida's beaches will be here next year as well - they have been here for hundreds of thousands of years, they will not disappear by next year. But by not using that plastic to pay for a trip without having the means to repay that debt right away, you can set yourself up for a time when, by making smart financial and budgeting decisions now, you will get to enjoy many more trips to the beautiful west coast of this state with the knowledge that you made prudent financial decisions to pay for them rather than going into debt for a single vacation that you will be paying for years to come.