Most people are budgeting for vacation the wrong way and don’t even realize it.

Recently a #HighAchiever executive told me all about his family’s $20,000 Caribbean vacation. He was excited about the trip but admitted that due to the cost it would be the only vacation he and his family took for the entire year. I don’t mean to diminish the experience because I’m sure it was first rate, but I think this is a great example of how most of us budget for vacation the wrong way.

Time & Money

There are two budgets we need to consider when it comes to vacation: time & money. Unfortunately, most of us think a lot about money when it comes to our vacation budget but not nearly as much about time. This is a problem, because if we really think about it, time with our loved ones matters far more than the money spent on the trip.

There are two budgets we need to consider when it comes to vacation: time & money

I learned this principle the hard way. I spent a fortune taking my wife to the Caribbean back in the early days of our business when a four day trip abroad required our entire travel budget for the year. To be fair, we had a wonderful time. But on the way home from vacation I asked my wife what her favorite part was, she said, “Holding hands with you while we went shopping and playing cards by the pool.” Not kayaking in the ocean. Not the unmatched Caribbean sunset. Not even the all-you-can-eat menu at the resort. To be candid, the part I enjoyed the most was the frequency of sex. The common theme between our favorite activities was that we were spending time together – all in ways that we could have done for a whole lot less money somewhere else. That opened my eyes and since then I’ve seen the same theme play out over and over in people’s lives. The best part of vacation is the time we spend fully engaged in one another. That’s where the memories are created. As much as you might love a particular destination, you might be surprised to find you could still get 99% of the benefits of the trip doing it in a much less expensive fashion.

If I’m right, and spending time together fully engaged with one another is what matters most about vacation, then perhaps it follows that the time component of our vacation budget matters far more than the money component. To be sure, I know money matters, but most #HighAchievers I know are budgeting somewhere between $5,000 – $30,000 per year for vacation and travel. That’s a lot of money. Enough that it gives you a measure of freedom with your time. The question then becomes, with whatever financial budget you have, should you do one or two big cost trips (like my friend from the intro story) or instead do several smaller costs trips throughout the year?

Time > Money

Many families are finding great joy in doing more vacations (time) with less financial cost for each one (money).
Examples:

• If your budget is $5,000 for vacation – then consider five $1,000 vacations instead of one $5,000 vacation.
• If your budget is $24,000 – consider eight $3,000 vacations instead of one $24,000 vacation.

The principle holds true regardless of your budget!

Why time matters more than money:

• Time is almost always a more important commodity for your family than money as a #HighAchiever.
• Time is the only way that relationships are built, strengthened, and maintained. It’s one part of life where there are no shortcuts.
• No one remembers how much you spent on the trip unless it was a bad idea to spend that much. In other words there is no correlation between more money and a better trip.

Which lie are you letting win?

If your initial reaction to the point of this post – that you should consider taking more vacations for your same travel budget – is one where you find yourself saying, “that sounds good but that won’t work for us” then which of the common lies are you buying?

• The “I can’t take the time away from work” lie? This is the lie told by people that think they will be less productive if they take time off of work. The reality is that you will gain productivity instead of losing it. (see the future post titled When Less is More at Work for further insight on this truth)
• The “I can’t afford it” lie? This is the lie told by people that think they can’t afford more vacations. Remember, my point is to enjoy more days together on the same budget. I’m not advocating that you spend a dollar more than you were already planning. Check out upcoming posts under the category of #VacationHacks for tips on how to get more bang for your buck while traveling. We’ve picked up some fantastic tips along the way that allow us to enjoy world class destinations at a fraction of the cost.
• The “The kids have school” lie? This lie is told by those who believe they will hurt their children by taking them out of school for vacation purposes. You’ll never convince me that studying is more important than time together as a family, but even if you think I’m wrong, you can still navigate this issue by bunching your trips into your children’s vacation schedules.
• The “My Kids Have Sports” lie? Whether your children are in sports or other activities, it doesn’t change the fact that they need unfettered time with you more than they need darn near anything else. How many kids have you met that would have been better off if they’d gone to 6 more baseball practices instead of spending high impact time with their family on vacation? Check out the upcoming post on How Sports Can Ruin Your Family for a fresh perspective on this increasingly maddening topic.
• The “My Kids are Too Young” lie? This is told by parents who have young children and believe that because of this they don’t have the freedom to enjoy frequent vacations together. Stay tuned under #VacationHacks for a special guest post by a mom that will beat this lie to a pulp.
• The “That’s too Stressful” lie? This is the lie told by people that claim they need a vacation from their vacation. If you’re coming back from your trips more stressed out than when you left, you’re not doing them right. The forthcoming #VacationHacks posts will help you with this.
• The “We Have Nothing in Common” lie? This is the one that breaks my heart the most because it’s the only one that’s not actually a lie. Instead, this is a very real problem faced by many #HighAchievers. Often you’re killing it in your career but somewhere along the way you lost touch with the people that matter the most. It takes more than extra vacation time to solve this issue. If this is your reality then my heart goes out to you. I’ve been there and I know how it feels to be a rockstar at work while simultaneously being a miserable failure in my own home. The upcoming post titled How to Be A Rockstar in Your Own Home may prove beneficial for you but you are right that vacation time alone won’t solve this problem.

Please know I’m not making light of these lies. I’ve told all of them to myself at one point or another. I’m just thankful I have a wonderful wife and wise friends that helped me to see the lies for what they really were before my children were grown and gone.

The principle is just as important for time with your spouse.

My wife and I used to wrongly feel like we were cheating our children by getting away together to have fun without them. Nothing could be further from the truth. You’ll see this point reinforced often on this blog.

There is no better gift you can give your children than a happy marriage.

The Impact:

Our family went from doing one expensive (money) trip per year to doing 5-7 (time) less expensive trips per year. Last year we took seven trips. Four were with our children and three were for just my wife and me. These ranged anywhere from 3 to 11 days each. Making this change to how we viewed our vacation budget was one of the most important changes we’ve made as a family and the impact on our relationships with our children and with each other as a couple has been profound. In the coming #VacationHacks posts I’ll show you how we accomplished more trips on the same budget without sacrificing much at all in terms of quality.

Comment Below:

• As a #HighAchiever, how much do you currently spend in terms of money (dollars and percent of income) and time each year? I’d like to get a sense of some norms here so please provide your occupation and how many vacation days you’re allotted compared to how many vacation days you actually take.
• What are your favorite vacation memories? Where were you? What made it memorable? Is it something that could only happen in a certain destination?
• Which lie is the one impacting your family the most right now? Why is it winning?

Bio for The Anonymous Donor

Executive and owner of a successful international business, a father of 3 children under age 15 (one with special needs), married more than 10 years to my college sweetheart, a multi-millionaire, a former professor, an avid reader, completed my graduate training at Harvard Business School (#HBS), and approach life as a follower of Christ. Passionate about helping other #HighAchievers to build stronger families and careers.

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