Many people have asked directly and others, I know, are thinking it: how can we afford this trip? Not only do we have multiple cross-ocean flights, we have to pay for accomodations, food, tours and entry fees into must-see attractions for nearly 12 weeks, all while slowing our income. It's a fair question, and I sometimes ask it, myself (with a little panic rising in my chest!). But yes, we can absolutely afford this trip. And it isn't costing us nearly as much as you may think!
This trip would be much less affordable without lots of pre-planning. I'll give you a preview of the many aspects we had to consider:
1. Travel Points and Transaction Fees
2. Paid Time Off and Working From Afar
4. Early Bookings and Vacation Rentals
5. Home and Dog Care
TRAVEL POINTS
Before we even knew where we were going to travel, we knew we were going to need travel points, and lots of them. There are loads of travel blogs and websties dedicated to maximizing travel points, and I went down that rabbit hole for a while! Some people dedicate their lives to accruing travel points and travel the world for free but...it can be a full time job. We both did research and decided independently and then together that the Captial One Venture Card made the most sense for our needs, which include accruing airline points and minimizing international transaction fees.
We saved hundreds of thousands of airlines points over time to cover the majority of our flights, and this saved us thousands of dollars in travel costs. Although Darrel and I both spent similar amounts on our cards (more or less), I accrued significantly more points than he did. This is because I often checked the Capital One Venture Card perks online and found which websites and stores gave the most points. I recommend checking often because rewards change. Sometimes you can accrue 1x points at a store, and other times, it can be 15x at the same store. That can add up quickly!
After planning for some time, I do believe I would have paid the extra cost for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card ($395 annual fee) versus our Capital One Venture ($95 annual fee) because it has more rewards and travel perks. However, we are really pleased that the points covered the majority of our airfare, so we aren't complaining! I also want to give big thanks to my mom, who donated airlines points to help cover the airfare that our points could not. THANK YOU MOM!!!!!
One VERY important note: I highly recommend that you convert your travel points and transfer them to the airline of your choice instead of booking directly through Chase. You get more for your points when you book directly with the airlines.
INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTION FEES
Most credit cards charge an international transction fee, usually from 1%-3% of the total transaction. The Capital One Venture Card accrues airlines points and it does not charge international fees when abroad, which is why we chose this out of many travel card options. Make sure before you travel to let your bank (for ATM withdrawals) and credit card companies know that you will be traveling or your charges will be declined.
PAID TIME OFF AND WORKING WHILE ON VACATION
Darrel has been accruing PTO for years so that it is maxed out. He is a homicide detective and his PTO rolls over, so...he is getting paid while on this trip. You read that right. He will be getting paid his regular salary while on this trip. I find this mind-blowing! Although he often gets paid overtime, which will not be possible (obviously) while we are traveling, he will be reciving his base salary the entire time we are abroad. This reduces my travel guilt substantially. It feels less gluttonous to travel for an entire summer if at least one of us is getting paid while doing it!
I work in a private practice as a therapist, so I do not have PTO. However, I will be seeing my clients throughout our trip via Zoom. I am legally allowed to see my clients from overseas as long as they are still in Texas. Because the time difference will be 6-8 hours, depending on where we are, I can Zoom with my clients in the evening after a day's worth of exploring, as it will still be business hours for them. I will only be doing this on select days, as I don't want to let work interfere with my travel experience. However, seeing clients while I am away will allow us to continue the theraputic connection from a distance, which I believe is very important. It will also offset some of the travel costs. I already put my half of our trip fund into our "trip account" so I don't have to worry about any lump sums due in our mutual account (Darrel and I are very "financially democratic" in our marriage). Having my own income stream while traveling will be icing on the cake, and I love what I do, so it will not be a huge inconvienience for me.
EARLY BOOKINGS
In order to get the best and cheapest options for airlines and vacation rentals, booking early is key. Airlines release points bookings anywhere from 331-360 days out, so you can essentially start booking points seats a year in advance. We did not have enough points to book this early, but we booked most of our flights 6+ months in advance. We could have gotten some more convienent flights if we had booked out closer to a year in advance, but at the end of the day, our major flights were covered at essentially no cost.
I also started researching and bookmarking my favorite vacation rentals almost a full year out. We wanted to stay in vacation rentals versus hotels so that we could have more space, more privacy, a kitchen and washing machine to use to cut down on eating out for every meal and dry cleaning services. Why spend virtually the same on a hotel room when you can enjoy a full home or aparment? Both VRBO and AirBnB have vacation rentals that offer free cancellation for up to a month prior to travel (or even closer to the travel date, depending on the property policies). So, I could book early without any concern of losing money if we had to change dates or cancel. This is NOT true of all AirBnB's or VRBOs, so make sure you review the properties' cancellation policy before you book!
Many places would not book a year in advance, but some did. Some of the homes I loved so much, I emailed to be first on the list when the rental became availible for rent. This worked for only two properties I had loved before they opened rental dates, so I really recommend checking on rental date openings often, as some renters forget to let you know when dates become avaible. I totally understand this as someone who used to run a VRBO property myself.
Researching early gave me more options than if I had waited. I had more options for location, home type and price. Looking now, I know that my spots in Barcelona, London and Marrakesh are all incredible for the price/location. These rentals would not be availible had I waited 5 months before the trip.
SIDEBAR!!!
I want to sidebar here for a moment. If it isn't obvious to you yet, I love to plan vacations. I am a very detail-oriented planner and I mean it when I say I actually enjoy preparing for trips almost as much as I enjoy the vacation itself. I know that I am getting little dopamine hits when I research new locations. Although my memory is embarrasingly bad and I don't remember history well, I do love learning about the history of the places I am going to visit. The more I research, the more excited I get, and the more fulfilling it is for me when I finally visit these places. I have no doubt that my expereince is elevated because of the work I put in before I visit.
It reminds me very much of my first Art History class in high school at Hockaday. I had an incredible art history professor, Mr.Ed Long, who really belonged at a huge university and not an all-girl private high school. He was an incredible man and his enthusisum for art history was inspiring and contagious.
I remember studying Sandro Botticelli's Venus in his class. Botticelli came from a modest background as the son of a tanner. He was, apparently, always bored in school, hyperactive, impatient and known for practical jokes. (I'm curious if he would have been diagnosed with ADHD today, but I digress...) At the age of 14, he started as a goldsmith apprentice, much like his older brother. However, Botticelli became bored, and at the age of 16 or 17 begged his father to put him in a workshop with Fra Filippo Lippi, one of Florence's leading painters at the time, who saw Botticelli's natural abilities. Sandro's father agreed, and this decision changed the history of Florentine art.
Studying the painting itself and knowing the history of the artist, I was very excited to see Botticelli's Venus in person as a teenager visiting Florence. The moment I walked into the room of the Uffizi and saw the painting, I broke into tears. I was overcome with emotion seeing the size and incredible beauty of something I had studied from halfway across the world. It felt surreal and magical.
This is how I also feel when I plan for travel and then execute that plan. Although I am not always moved to tears, I will have a greater appreciation for the heritage sites and works of art we come upon throughout our adventures simply because I have an understanding of its history.
HOME AND DOG CARE
OK, Sidebar over.
The final component to planning our trip was thinking about dog and house care while we are away for so long. Leaving our dogs, Yoshimi the Husky and Dolly the Corgi, is, in my opinion, the most emotionally difficult part of this trip. I wish I spoke dog so I could just explain to them that yes, we will be gone for what is going to feel like a long time, but we will be back.
I have a good friend who is a bit of a nomad, and I was hoping he would be able to live in our house for the summer and take care of the pups while we are away since he already has a relationship with them and we trust him wholeheartedly. He already had summer plans, so he was out. I started looking at a webside called Trusted Housesitters, where you can offer a free place to live in exchange for pet and house-sitting, and I thought we would have to go that route. It does look like a very trustworthy site and I felt pretty confident using it. Luckily, we were able to find an aquaintance who will be able to live in our home and pet sit while we are away. The puppies will have someone to bond with, walk with and sleep with while we are away. This brings so much comfort to me, and hopefully, to them. This also saves us from spending what could be thousands of dollars for having a service do daily dog walks or professional house-sitting. It's a win-win!