Needless to say, we're a busy family.

Running kids around to practice galore.
Working our full-time jobs.
Trying to keep the house from completely falling apart.

And then, of course, came the usual questions after we got home from Italy:

How was it?
Where did you go?
What hotels did you stay at?
How much did dinner cost?

But eventually, we were left with the biggest, most glaring question of them all:

HOW DID YOU DO IT?

How did we leave the kids for 12 days AND afford to fly across the world and stay in Europe?

What a great question you asked there!

Luckily for you, we're going to break down some of the little quirks, strategies and money-saving nuggets we used to make it happen.

We're not travel professionals.

We're just two people who wanted to take a dream trip and figured out how to make the numbers work.

In a funny way, most of it was fairly simple.

With the right attitude, some patience and a little focus, your dream trip might be a lot more attainable than you think.

The most important thing to remember is that there is no perfect science to travel planning.

2 + 2 ≠ 4.

There are too many variables.

Markets change.
Demand changes.
Availability changes.
Airlines change their prices.
Hotels change theirs.

Cost is probably the most fluid part of the entire process.

So what's the best approach to keeping the price from getting out of control?

If you look at the trends, they reveal themselves.

What are the Rules?

Our first trip to Europe revolved around an Ed Sheeran concert in London that Becka bought tickets to... before we had any other plans.

This time was different.

We knew we wanted Italy, and we knew we wanted to be there around our anniversary on 8/12.

That gave us a starting point.

Rule #1: Start with the flights. ✈️

Don't wait until you're ready to leave before you start looking.

For a major international trip, start watching airfare 6–10 months ahead of time when possible.

Not necessarily because you'll immediately find the perfect deal, but because you'll start learning what a good fare actually looks like.

How to Save Money on Flights 

Instead of waking up one morning and thinking:

“Let's go somewhere next month!”

...do your research first.

Learn the prices.  

Google Flights is by far our favorite resource. 💻

Play around with different dates & locations

It will notify you of any price changes and warn of potential price hikes.

Ultimately it’s comparing actual airline/OTA fares on its own while you tend to daily duties.

In addition to Google flights, Kayak pairs very well, with an itinerary planner to boot.   

You can validate all the flight deals AND plan your schedule by browsing hotel prices too!

It has a user-friendly format that incorporates AI for any travel questions you have. 

Welcome to the 21st Century! 👏🏻

While planning, try to figure out what fits your work schedule and PTO balance.

Use the weekends to your advantage.

This was a big one for us. 

We intentionally incorporated two full weekends into our Italy trip so we could maximize our time overseas without burning through an unnecessary amount of PTO.

Our math looked something like this:

10 vacation days off work gave us

= 16 days of life built around the trip while using only 10 PTO days.

That's roughly 40% more valuable time gained simply by coordinating the calendar. 🤓

Same vacation. Same PTO. Better planning.

Shop airports, too.

We flew directly to Europe out of Chicago O'Hare every time.

But don't automatically assume the airport closest to your house is the cheapest option.

Compare airports.

Compare nonstop vs. connecting flights.

Compare the actual cost of getting there.

Because parking at an airport can get stupid expensive very quickly.

If you have friends or family willing to drop you off or pick you up?

Ask them!

Then buy them a nice dinner when you get home. 

Our parents helped with the kids while we were gone,

They deserve an entire vacation of their own after that 🥇

Rule #2: Avoid the Price Surges

While you're deciding where you want to go, there's another question that might be even more important:

WHEN?

Spring break. 🏖️
European summer. 🌞
Christmas. 🎄
New Year's. 🪩
Major holidays. 🦃
Popular festivals. 🤹🏻‍♂️

Those are all potential red flags.

The more popular the travel period, the more likely you're competing with everyone else for the same seats and rooms.

And when demand goes up? So does the price.  

Economics 101

If your schedule allows it, try moving your trip a week or two before or after the peak dates.

We did this on our Holiday Disney Trip last year (First week of December). 

Sometimes a small calendar adjustment can create a surprisingly big difference in cost.

Don’t force yourself to change the destination.

Sometimes you just need to change the date.

The best options will reveal themselves to you. 

Rule #3: We at the Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn! 🏨

Don't even start getting emotionally attached to hotels until you have a pretty good idea of your flight dates.

We knew we were going to Italy.

We didn't know exactly which cities we were going to visit.

After playing around with flights, locations and transportation, our itinerary started taking shape.

Then we started looking at hotels.

One important little tidbit: The cheapest room isn't always the cheapest option.

Saving $40 a night on a hotel that's 20 minutes away from everything you want to see might sound great...

Until you're paying for transportation every day and wasting hours getting around.

Sometimes paying a little more for location, convenience and walkability is actually the better deal.

We booked most of our stays about 1–2 months ahead of the trip 

Many of them came in around $150 per night.

The exact numbers will obviously vary depending on destination, dates and availability.

That's why flexibility matters.

Stay open to adjustments.

Nothing is going to go perfectly anyway. 😇

Rule #4: Use Credit Cards as a Tool, Not a Crutch. 💳

This is where things can get really helpful...

or really stupid.

Let's say you're planning a vacation a year from now.

If you're going to spend money on necessities anyway—gas, groceries, utilities, normal household expenses—using a rewards card responsibly can help turn those purchases into points, miles or cash back if you want to Travel Affordably 

But there's a very important rule:

DON'T OVERDO IT.

If you can't afford to pay it off, don't put it on the card just because you want the points.

If your card charges 25% interest and you're earning 5% rewards...

you're #NotWinning 

You're just running through an expensive loophole. ➰

Maximize the deals you already have.

About six months before Italy, we purchased our flights using our United card with a 12-month interest-free promotional period.

We paid the balance off before the vacation.

That felt pretty damn good. 🤑

The rewards we earned helped us book a couple of hotels, and the card also gave us access to the United Club at O'Hare.

Free food. Free drinks.

A private place to sit and relax before the flight (which was delayed almost 3 hours)

So long, airport peasants! 👋🏻

The lesson is definitely not to “go get a bunch of credit cards.”

Understand the benefits of the cards you already use, and take advantage of them responsibly.

Flights take up a huge chunk of the travel budget.

But there are a million little expenses waiting behind them.

Parking.
Rental cars.
Gas.
Uber.
Taxis.
Trains.
ATM fees.
Foreign transaction fees.
Roaming charges.
Airport food.

On a two-week trip, those little expenses can snowball quickly.

Luckily, if you're traveling around Europe, some of your best transportation options are incredibly simple:

Walk.
Take the train.
Use public transportation.

We averaged around 20,000 steps a day in Italy. 👣

Sure, our feet were destroyed.

But those steps were a hell of a lot cheaper than paying for rides everywhere. 💰 

And honestly, walking through Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre and Venice became part of the experience.

The point is to plan for the little expenses before they surprise you.

Rule #6: Don't Get Destroyed by Foreign Currency. 💶

Not gonna lie...

We fell for this one.

When you're traveling internationally, pay attention to how you're converting and spending your money.

I learned this lesson the hard way.

I paid about $20 to convert $100 USD into euros.

Stupid. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Many travel-friendly credit cards don't charge foreign transaction fees, which can make them a much better option for everyday purchases overseas.

And when given the choice at a vendor, paying in the local currency is generally the better move rather than accepting the merchant's own conversion to U.S. dollars.

Those little conversion decisions can quietly eat into your vacation budget.

And when you're doing it over and over for two weeks?

It adds up.

Rule #7: Spend Money on the RIGHT Things.

This sounds cliché, but hear us out.

We didn't want to spend the entire trip feeling cheap.

We wanted to spend money on the things we would actually remember.

So we skipped some of the unnecessary extras and saved our money for experiences that mattered to us:

🏛️ The Colosseum experience

🍝 Our anniversary pasta class

🍷 A Tuscany bus tour

🌅 A fancy Venice sunset dinner

🚤 Boat rides

🚆 Convenient high-speed trains

We weren't interested in making every single decision based on saving $10.

We wanted to make sure our money was going toward the experience.

Skip the stupid extras.

Spend intentionally on the things you'll still be talking about for years to come.

Rule #8: Start Saving Before You Start Booking. 💰

Duhhhhh.

We need money to support these habits of ours.

Don't wait until the trip is booked to start saving.

By then, it's too late.

And now you're trying to figure out how you're going to pay for a $5,000 vacation while you're supposed to be relaxing.

Start a vacation fund.

Like...NOW.

Whatever you can afford to tuck away. 

$50. $100. $200. $500.

It doesn't matter. 

Start.

Cut some of the unnecessary stuff out of your everyday life and redirect that money toward something you actually want.

Maybe you don't need those new sneakers. 👟(looking at you, Adam)
Maybe you don't need another jersey. 🎽(Adam… again)
Maybe a night out with a boatload of drinks can wait. 🍺
Maybe save that fancy dinner for vacation. 🍽️

Say no to some of the little things now...

and picture yourself drinking wine in Italy six months from now. 🍷
Or drinking around the world at Epcot in Disney World 🐭
or Bahama Mama’s in the caribbean 🍹
or Margarita’s in Cozumel 🍸

Take your pick!

$200/month × 12 months = $2,400

That's a pretty damn good chunk of change toward an extravagant vacation.

And don't forget about the bonus money:

Tax refunds.
Work bonuses.
Side-hustle income.
Cash-back rewards.
Selling stuff you don't use anymore.

Those can all add a little cherry on top. 🍒

Instead of staring at a $4,000 travel bill and panicking...

you could already have more than half of it sitting in the vacation fund.

That's a completely different feeling. 👏🏻

Rule #9: Set a Budget Ceiling.

Once you've played around with locations, dates, flights and hotels...

set a maximum number.

Not a wish…. A ceiling.

Here's roughly what our Italy budget looked like:

Looking at $7,000 all at once?

Completely daunting.

So don't.

Break it down. ⛓️‍💥

One category at a time.

That's how you make a giant number feel manageable.

Here's a fun game we like to play:

If you come in under budget in one category, move the money.

Don't just pocket the difference.

Put it somewhere else.

Save $200 on hotels?

Maybe that opens up room for a nicer anniversary dinner.

Save $100 on transportation?

Maybe that's your boat ride.

You aren't necessarily spending more.

You're reallocating money toward what matters more.

It's the Same Thing as Your To-Do List. 📋

Think about your neverending to-do list:

“There is absolutely no way I'm getting all of this done.”

But you knock out one task.

Then another.

Suddenly, the impossible list doesn't look so impossible. 💪🏻

Travel planning is the same way.

Don't stare at the entire $7,000.

Break it down.

One category at a time.

One decision at a time.

One little savings opportunity at a time. 😌

That's B.A. Travel Formula 🧠

Plan early.

↓

Avoid the expensive dates.

↓

Track flights.

↓

Shop hotels.

↓

Use rewards strategically.

↓

Eliminate stupid fees.

↓

Save months in advance.

↓

Spend intentionally.

↓

Go make the damn memories.

Italy wasn't cheap.

We didn't magically discover a secret loophole that made Europe free.

We just stopped looking at the trip as one giant, impossible expense.

We broke it down, planned ahead, adjusted when necessary and saved where we could.

And we spent our money on the things that mattered to US. 🧑🏻‍🤝‍👩🏻

Obviously Italy wasn’t cheap, but we figured out how to make it affordable. 

Now That's B.A.

Inspirational Quote 👓

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Teddy Roosevelt