We just returned from a Disney World vacation and a cruise to the Caribbean. It has been a long, expensive and unforgettable trip, which I hope will be remembered by all our family for a very long time. To be honest, I love this category of spending because putting the experiences together is what will stick with us and our kids will remember. It was also a great way to end 2019. When we achieve financial independence, we will have free time to gather more experiences. Even though it was expensive, a vacation was a happy way to spend 2019. It was much better spending on travel than upgrading my old 2007 Honda Civic, which I’m putting off until the car is no longer driveable.
Disney and Universal
In the first week we visited three Disney World parks, three Universal parks, and Sea World, all in Orlando. The Disney parks were Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios. At Universal Orlando we visited Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay. All parks were selected based on online reviews. The cost of the ticket for me and the two kids is about $3,000 CAD. It was an unforgettable experience and worth every dollar.
Symphony of the Seas
The second week, we took a cruise from Miami, which is about a three-hour drive from Orlando. The Royal Caribbean ship Symphony of the Seas took us to the Eastern Caribbean, stopping in St. Maarten, San Juan and Coco Cay in the Bahamas. Coco Kai was heaven on earth. The total cost was about $8,000 CAD, including gratitude, for our family of five.
Miami
We explored Miami for a few days during the third week. We took a bus tour, visited Sunny Isles (AKA Little Moscow), Miami Beach, Little Havana, explored Everglades National Park, and had dinner at Oasis Restaurant, which specializes in Uzbek cuisine. I spent the evenings in the courtyard of a beautiful Airbnb in a residential area of Miami. This part of the trip cost us about $3000 CAD.
Happy spending cost
Let’s add the cost of the airfare of $1,600 CAD and food, which was about $1,000 CAD, to get a vacation price of about $17,000 CAD. It was definitely worth it. We saw many new places and the weather was sunny at 27°C. We ate Uzbek cuisine, which tasted like the food of the country where I was born. On board, a new experience was spending a few hundred dollars playing poker at the casino; We also bought some cheap pictures at auction and attended music, ice and water shows, jazz evenings and more. The ship features a small ice skating rink, patented by Royal Caribbean, and not owned by any other cruise company.
Financial decline
In August of 2017, we traveled from our home in Vancouver to Alaska, and I…
Describe that vacation in this post. I mentioned at the time that Disney stock could be a promising investment. If we bought shares today, we would only get a capital gain of about 50% plus the increased dividend. On this trip we saw the entertainment industry at its best. It’s amazing how such surroundings can make you willing to spend money. The only drawback I see to investing in the entertainment industry is the risk that this spending will diminish if the economy slows or enters a recession.
We don’t go on vacations very often, so some of the spending was unpredictable. I was under the impression that purchasing tickets to adventure parks, cruise ships, and planes would be the bulk of the money spent on vacation. Tickets should be taken into consideration, but there were other categories that were not taken into consideration prior to our amazing trip. These expenses included taxis and restaurants Everglades ParkMiami bus tour, food, on-board casino and shopping items. It’s easier to shop while on vacation. As a budget planner and household financial manager (my wife calls me that), I’m OK with spending as long as we stay on the path to financial freedom. A brief examination shows that we will be very close to achieving our financial goals set in 2019
Financial goals function.
Lots to come
Now it’s like I’ve never had this much uninterrupted time with our kids before; We were together days and nights for about three weeks. We plan to do this often.
I am glad that we have already created income streams that will increase over time
Without our intervention. Our income streams also make me feel relaxed when we spend money on vacations because I know our financial freedom plan is working and we will get there. Now I’m more confident than ever on our path to financial freedom even with happy vacation spending like this.
