Planning and Budgeting for an Unexpected Return
01 March 2018
We already had a trip to Ireland planned for later in 2018, an extra-special return to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary in the place we had our honeymoon. September was still a good time away though, and we were reflecting on our time in Alsace and how much it felt like home. Both sides of the Rhine – the Black Forest in Germany and Alsace in France – just seem fit us and who we are. Many people have found their place in the world and we really think we found ours. We also thought of how our time there felt so short. Especially frustrating was the ankle issue I was dealing with at the time that made me miss so much of what I wanted to do. We kept dreaming of returning sooner rather than later, where we would focus specifically on this French wine region instead of fitting it in as a small part of a larger trip. But was it possible?
We are not wealthy. We have regular jobs and bills and have to juggle our travel expenses with a mortgage and utilities and other payments while also juggling schedules and time off at work. That was a large motivation for starting this site, to show that regular people with regular lives can also have a life full of adventure. You don’t need to be independently wealthy. Just the same, you don’t need to sacrifice your savings for the future or all other aspects of your life to be a hippie living out of a backpack. Of course, this means careful planning is necessary along with careful budgeting. We crunched numbers, worked a few extra hours, cut back on some local expenses, and managed to fit in a return to Alsace! We set a rock-solid budget that must be strictly adhered to in order to keep the trip a reality, and worked the details and specifics around what we could afford. We picked the time with great flight prices, used loyalty reward points added up from past bookings to get free nights, and booked our trip back to a place dear to our hearts.
Lots of work, but most definitely worth it!