When I shared my post talking about how much I spent on travel in 2025, I wasn’t shocked at the total but I did start idly wondering what else I could have spent that money on.
People have said to me that I should have loads of savings or I should be overpaying my mortgage (I am!) or that I should be replacing my car, which is ten years old but absolutely fine. I couldn’t have replaced my car with the money I spent on travel last year. I probably could if I didn’t travel for five years.
When I travelled solo I went for super budget accommodation so I could go to more places. Now I travel with J accommodation costs are halved and we go for something a bit better, but still a cheaper place rather than a super fancy hotel. We choose overnights in cities a short flight from us rather than three nights, and we do multi country trips because it’s cheaper to get a coach or train from A to B than to fly to each place indiviually from home.
For me, travel is the best thing I can spend money on. Exploring new cities, taking photos, eating new food, hunting down street art and buying snacks from a new supermarket bring me great joy. A slightly newer car sat on my driveway does not.
My partner and I, especially me, live a fairly frugal life. We stick to a budget for our food shops. We put the heating on when we need to, but we are smart about it and only do so when we have a jumper and thick socks on and are still cold. We drink, but very rarely. We go out for meals, but usually only a couple of times a month. We very rarely get takeaways and we don’t go on nights out. I rarely buy new clothes and when I do, it’s same, New Look or supermarket clothing.
I don’t think I scrimp, but it would be easy to get my nails done once a fortnight, my brows done monthly, a proper haircut and colour regularly, and other things some people consider essential. I could have a pricy phone contract and be driving around in a large fancy car, and I don’t. I bought a sensibly priced house rather than pushing to the very top of my affordability. I made these choices for a reason.
Because of the things I’ve chosen not to spend money on, I’ve been to places some people will never visit. Hong Kong is a particular highlight. Exploring the Balkans was worth having an older car. Walking through Marrakesh’s souks, buying myself some leather sandals, drinking fresh fruit juice and spotting all of the Moroccan cats, was much better than a higher food bill.
Some people count their designer handbags or how many glasses of prosecco they drank last weekend, and that’s totally cool. Some people spend thousands making their house perfect, and that’s amazing. I would rather have an okay home filled with photos of the places I’ve been, shelves full of cool things I’ve bought from cool places, and count countries.
For me, travel brings new experiences, new opportunities and gives me satisfaction in a way that nothing else ever has. That’s why I’ll always prioritise it.
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