My Recent Trip
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By: Michael Foster CFA, CFP®
Please allow me to pretend to be a travel blogger for the next few minutes.
My wife and I have been wanting to visit Australia since her brother and his girlfriend moved there 2 years ago. We love to travel and saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit a distant country with built-in tour guides to show us the ropes.
We were finally able to visit in November, and it didn’t disappoint. It was my favorite trip I’ve ever been on. It was great to see her brother and his girlfriend, experience a different culture, and see new sights.
We had the opportunity to sail and snorkel in the Whitsunday Islands, explore Freycinet National Park and go wine tasting in Tasmania, and spend several days in Sydney where we practiced lawn bowling, played in a recreational rugby league, and took the obligatory pictures in front of the Opera House. Each day began with a dip in Bondi Beach and some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. Not too bad!
However, not everything about the trip was easy. The flight was long (really long), Vegemite was disappointingly salty, and the planning was overwhelming at times. We spent months tracking flight prices from every airport within reasonable driving distance. We built a rough trip budget and savings plan in addition to our regular budget and savings plan that was frustratingly difficult to follow, especially as someone who talks about planning for a living. This led to Grace and I going back and forth on whether this trip was going to happen at all.
Despite the headwinds, we were able to make it work. We eventually found a flight deal that allowed us to book with basically every airline mile we’ve collectively earned, even if it meant an extra layover in Raleigh on the way back. Our savings plan and budget allowed us to properly plan for the trip and gave us an idea of what we could comfortably spend while there without sacrificing other financial priorities we have. A relatively strong US Dollar and an Australian culture of low-priced flat whites and cappuccinos certainly didn’t hurt.
Planning for life’s goals, from a single vacation to 30+ years in retirement is never going to be easy. There will be unexpected changes, spreadsheets and systems that go stale with new information, and no shortage of noise from talking heads to snoring seatmates along the way. Despite this, I’d rather take my chances with planning for these goals knowing that things may not work out 100% as planned than not try at all.
Please go to Australia if you get the chance. It was worth every cent and all the headache that went into it. Maybe next time I’ll hire a travel planner to help. I’ve got a twice-in-a-lifetime trip to plan for.
Yes, I did carry around that DCA shirt all day for this picture
Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsunday Islands
Wine tasting in Tasmania
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