Chapter Two: Respect Yourself (By Respecting Your Budget)

In Chapter One, we attempted to discover what we want the most out of our vacation, and now it is time to do something much more difficult - decide its level of importance. It sounds strange to say it that way, but it’s actually a very important step in travel planning. Everyone wants to have incredible memories from their vacations, and they deserve them, but they shouldn’t be tainted by regret. No one wants to think about money during their vacation!

It’s not just important to know your budget, but to know your true flexibility on that budget as well. If this is the last family trip you’re going to get to go on as a family before your oldest goes off to college or the last trip before your family of two becomes a family of three you might decide to make this trip more involved than initially planned. It is important to take circumstances into consideration. You may go in with an idea of how much you want to spend and then decide that the ability to see your kids screaming down the zipline is a necessity even though it wasn’t originally in the budget.

The opposite is absolutely true as well - if your budget is firm, then remain firm! Some of the best trip memories are free, and involve nothing more than the people we love in a beautiful, new place. Whether your budget is firm or flexible, there’s no reason you should have to think about it while you’re making memories, so make sure you define your trip’s (and your budget’s) level of importance of and stick to it.

Memories can be made regardless of price point, so don’t let yourself get discouraged.‍ ‍

Whether you have a 'splurge' budget for a private boat tour or a 'firm' budget for a walking tour, we’ve compiled some of our favorite Obscure Excursions as examples.