This is the Money You Should Have Saved to Make the Trip of Your Life

Almost everyone has a dream trip, a destination they would love to visit no matter what, but sometimes the lack of knowledge and not knowing how much the trip of a lifetime might cost leaves it as just a dream. Your dream experience might be an entire summer in Benidorm or traveling the historic Route 66 in the United States in an RV. In any case, by following the advice of experts, we are here to help you figure out how much money you should have saved to make the trip of your life.

According to Fidelity, an investment expert, each person should dedicate 10% of their salary exclusively to savings, but how much should we set aside for vacation?

Here, the percentage varies slightly, and it's not based on the salary we receive. In this case, it is recommended that we reserve 60% of the money we have not invested in fixed or variable expenses for travel. An example will clarify this much better. If, for example, we have a salary of $1,100 a month, and after paying all the bills and food for the month we have $400 left, then 60% of that amount should go directly toward the trip and the rest for savings. In other words, $240 should be set aside each month for the trip while the remaining $160 would serve as savings.

With this in mind, we still have the question, how much money should we have saved to make the trip of our lives? Well, this will depend on where you want to travel, so you will need to create a budget. Our recommendation is to create a table with several items: transportation and accommodation, food, attractions, transportation, and extra expenses. Determine a range of money for each of these items based on where you want to go.

For example, let's assume that the trip of our lives is to spend a week in New York, and we want to do this at Christmas because it's our favorite time of year. This is considered a high tourist season, but we could get a plane ticket for a price between $400 and $600.

To this item, we would need to add between $2,000 and $3,000 for accommodation with breakfast included. The food item is the most variable, as it will depend on whether you choose to eat in restaurants or food stalls. In any case, you should budget between $500 and $700, considering that meals in the city are expensive and you will likely want to snack in between.

The attractions item also depends on personal taste. Since it's a week-long stay, and if you want to visit many museums, the best option would be to buy a New York Pass for $300 to visit any monument in the city for 5 days, leaving you with two completely free days for last-minute visits and shopping. This item is the most concrete, but add a little extra money just in case. As for transportation, it will depend on whether you choose to take a taxi, subway, bus, or walk everywhere. In any case, an unlimited weekly subway pass will cost around $30. If you opt for taxis, this figure can increase by about ten times.

Finally, the most variable factor is the extras item, where we would include gifts, excursions, or any unforeseen events that may arise. You can allocate anything from zero dollars to as much as you want in this category, so we'll leave that amount to your discretion.

Considering these figures, the trip will cost us between $3,000 and $4,000 per person, plus any extra expenditure we want to make. Obviously, this is just an example, and traveling to areas like Latin America, Africa, or India could cost you much less, while going to Dubai, for example, would require a higher budget. Therefore, it is best to always have a few thousand dollars reserved for the trip of your dreams, because when you finally get to enjoy it, make it grand. And always remember the experts' advice: try to save at least 10% of your salary and reserve as much as you can for your next trip.