Let's Get Real

2015 is going to be a busy year for the Durneys. I currently have 7 roundtrip flights booked and this in only through August. In case you can't tell from this blog, we are trying to make the most of our time in Europe and our list of places we'd like to visit is LONG (seemingly infinite!). Next week I'm headed to London for a few days to see friends and then Pete and I are off to Southern Spain the last week of February for his Crocus break from school.

I used to follow the blog of a woman in Brooklyn. Her blog consisted of renovation projects to her three story brownstone in Brooklyn and condo on the Jersey shore and photos from her 5-star vacations around the world with her husband. One reader asked the obvious question- how do you afford all of this? To which she replied that they were not rich and that they saved money by not buying designer jeans (I'm paraphrasing). Um, really?! So in an effort to be fully transparent, I'd like to take a minute to explain how all of this travel is (financially) possible. I don't want readers to have unrealistic expectations of the salary of a teacher in the Netherlands!

You may have heard how strong the dollar is against the euro right now (again, hint, hint- come visit!). This may seem like bad news since Pete is paid in euros, but it actually beneficial for us. You see, every month we spend all of the money that Pete brings in (and then some- we are working on this!). Saving euros while we are here is not a goal of ours (thank goodness). We weren't sure how it was going to be living on one income with a baby as our prior arrangement was two incomes and no baby (or, as our friends in NYC referred to it: DINKs- "Double Income No Kids"). So Pete and I decided that in the months leading up to our move, we would make an effort to live on just his income and save mine. We decided that the money saved would be our "travel fund" for our time here. So now we have a savings account dedicated to our travels that we can spend guilt free. And this fund is in dollars so keep rocking it America!

Still, our travel list is long and the funds do not run that deep. Thankfully, I am sort of a master budget trip planner. Self proclaimed. I intend to share all of my tips with you, so stay tuned!