Italy - On a Budget

So, my husband and I love to travel. Two years ago we both made lists of where we most wanted to travel in the world, and Italy was at the top of both of our lists. Okay, so it was set. Going to Italy. Now, budget. What can we afford? Italy is expensive. What do we want to see? How long can we take off work? So, we researched and answered all of these questions. We came up with 17 days (including travel) in which we would visit Venice, Florence, Naples/Pompeii, and Rome, and we would not spend over $6000.

At the time, Hubs and I were not married so we were splitting the bill at $3000 each which would include all airfare, hotels, food, tours and excursions, and souvenirs. This was a number we were comfortable with. So, how does one go to Italy for 2 1/2 weeks, eat three restaurant meals a day, sleep in a private room with a bathroom, and go to all the museums they fancy for $3000? You go to Italy in the dead of winter. Yeah, it's cold. You bring a warm coat, a scarf, and gloves. The daylight hours are reduced, which is probably the biggest downfall of going in winter. But, you can set your little alarm clock, get up early, and have a full day in the sun. The pros completely outweigh the cons: airfare and hotels are significantly cheaper than going in the summer, and the tourist headcount is way down so you can actually see everything you came to see.

We did a lot of research before we left. I don't believe in making daily itineraries to make the most of your time, but we did map out what area of what city we wanted to go to each day, and I made a list of attractions we might want to see. We'd look at the list a couple of times a day. "Oh, we didn't see that. Should we go there?" Whether yeah or meh, this system works for us. We don't have a rigid checklist scheduling us, just a few guidelines, and we let the trip happen.

One area we were really concerned about in our budget was food. We are big eaters. Foodies, if you will. And the American Dollar was weak. I believe when we went it was about $1.65 = 1 Euro. Sucksville. But that's the way it is, and we took that into account when we budgeted. So when on a tight budget, there must be research. I did a lot of restaurant research because I wanted to eat the best food possible for the amount of money we wanted to spend. Trip Advisor is a great resource. And the blogosphere is awesome. Ah, technology!

So, that's a long intro into our Italy trip. But I want to write about the wheres and whys and hows in hopes that someone else who wants to go to Italy may find this info as useful as I would have. I also want to emphasize that travel is something that you have to prioritize if you want to do it. I hate when I tell travel stories to people and they give me that attitude like, "oh, well, I would travel if I could afford to," implying that I have more money than they do so I'm lucky enough to travel. Look, I'm not complaining. I live a blessed life; I'm happy and healthy. But people who travel do not have mystical sparkly travel money that magically falls in their lap when they're hankering for a vacation. Hubs and I put money aside throughout the year for trips that we may or may not take. It's part of the monthly budget: rent, utilities, groceries, entertainment, travel. The only way I've found travel to be affordable is to have money specifically for travelling. It's that simple. So save and enjoy.