What travel related splurge do you remember the nost?

[thebulldog]

We leave next week for two weeks in China. I am so excited and after all the reading and planning it finally dawned on us that hey we don't have to go to work for two weeks....that alone deserves a yippee.

We have stuck to our budget but have wiggle room if something amazing comes up...curious what has been your biggest splurge while traveling that you remember. It can be the trip itself, something you bought, a meal, a spa treatment, a hotel. Whatever.

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[v]

Well, our trip to the Galapagos was the most expensive trip we've taken and I'm really glad we splurged on going on a really nice boat.

I don't know if this counts *exactly* as a splurge because we didn't pay for the outrageously splurgey part, but when we went to Hawaii two years ago and stayed at the (truly heavenly, and splurgey) Four Seasons Hualalai for a week, we were fortunate to receive an upgrade from whatever the basic room was to a prime oceanfront suite that was bigger than our apartment. That was a 12-level upgrade. Thank you, travel agent!

[spunkarella]

Our B&B in Rome. I was trying to keep it under $150/night, but it ended up being close to $200/night. It.was.perfect. The place itself, the location, and the service really made our trip. We both want to go back and stay in the same place, for longer next time.

[littlemisssunshine]

On a girls weekend trip to the beach we splurged on $300+ a night hotel room. Worth every penny. But that was only for one night.

For longer trips I never regret sight seeing splurges. Segway tour on the beach in Mexico, hot air ballon ride over Sonoma Valley, Broadway show in NYC, etc. We've splurged on food before and always regretted it. We're not into food and can take or leave it. To me food can be found anywhere as can spa treatments, massages etc. Exploring the sights (especially in China!) are a once in a lifetime opportunity.

[tine]

When H and I went to Israel for a friend's wedding we were offered a free stay at the groom's parents house but decided to splurge on a hotel room right outside the old city instead. 2 of our friends stayed at the house and were at the mercy of what the bride and groom wanted to do the whole trip. 2 of the day trips and 1 night out was cancelled due to wedding stress. Luckily H and I were free to do our own thing but our 2 friends were stuck in the house - 2 whole days of their 7 day trip!

[noodleoo]

The things I remember most from vacations are the really amazing experiences. Sometimes those involve splurging (like spending $500 on a helicopter tour of Kauaii) and sometimes they don't (free drive up the volcano to see the sunrise on Maui). We are budget people but I always try to find a hotel with an amazing beach. I also will splurge on really good food experiences.

But what the most memorable thing is in each destination will differ depending on where you are. So we do a lot of research and spend the money on the things that you can't do anywhere else. When we did a cruise we spend a stupid amount of money on a couples massage, which was really nice. But the thing I remember most is the excursion we did which was a horseback ride through the rainforest to a 500 foot waterfall. Now *THAT* was amazing!!!

[glynn]

A 1 week cruise 2 years ago for the family. NYC trip over Thanksgiving with DD1, it was her senior year and she was in the parade.

[mbcdefg]

We spent more than we usually would when we booked a B&B for our honeymoon. It was really nice. 

[Deleted]

I didn't plan much ahead of time for Maui. I splurged on a couple of things when I was there, a sunrise tour of Mt. Haleakala, and seeing Ulalena. Both were truly amazing and worth every penny.

[crashgizmo]

Oh man, so many....

- upgrade to first class to Jamaica for our wedding
- couples massage on the beach in Jamaica
- pretty much anytime we've upgraded to an all inclusive package has been great
- the first time we went to Napa, we upgraded our rental to a convertible. It really wasn't that much money, but the experience was awesome
- balcony upgrade on cruise
- swim out rooms in Cabo and Punta Cana (one was a free upgrade, one we paid for)

Clearly, we are not MM travelers.

[aurora]

I think the kayak rental that allowed us to swim with the dolphins in the wild was about $30. I'll be talking about that one forever.

In general I agree that I'll pay more for experiences than luxury.

[sporky]

We tend to splurge all around when we travel. One biggie for us is private airport transfers regardless of where we go. It's just so nice to not have worry about navigating public transportation in a new country right after a long flight.

[ddi741]

Flying first class to Aruba on our honeymoon.  Every time the flight attendant came by offering something, I took one for me and one for H.(He was asleep). He woke up to find multiple drinks, nuts and cookies.

[mpc]

Experiences, definitely. The plane ride over Denali national park. The 4 day tour to ride camels in the Sahara. things like that.

I don't usually get as much satisfaction from an upgraded room, with a few exceptions, usually related to the location rather than the room itself.

[justjen]

Our only real splurgey trip was our honeymoon. Perhaps the biggest splurge was having a travel agent arrange everything, and us just showing up. We went to 5 different cities and I did like no research before we left, which was such a treat compared to the hours of obsessive planning I usually do. It was awesome.

[WinterWine]

For our honeymoon in Costa Rica, we splurged on the nicest hotel we had ever stayed in. We had our own little cabana with a pool and view of the Ivan. It was only around $300, and was so worth it. All the rest have been experience splurges, white water rafting in Costa Rica, surf lessons in Mexico. Tgougg some of my best memories also cost almost nothing. Street fish tacos in Mexico, talking and walking with locals in Nepal. Have an amazing trip!!

[mich1]

Mar 31, 2015 10:04:25 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

The first thing that came to mind was our hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti. It was such a peaceful and cool experience, though certainly a pricey add-on. The next hot air balloon trip I want to do is in Cappadocia. I also want to go to the hot air balloon festival in New Mexico.

We did this, and I would say that this entire segment of our trip to Turkey was a HUGE splurge.  Trip was almost a month.

We stayed in a cave hotel and had a private tour guide to escort us for 4 days in Cappadocia, including the hot air balloon ride at sunrise.  The private guide showed us things in the area that we never would have found on our own, even with the very best tour book, and he knew an incredible amount of history.

Second spurge on the same trip was when my Turkish friend (she was the one who recommended the tour guide) took us to a legitimate Turkish rug shop.  We are now the proud owners of 2 incredible carpets (the last of the handmade carpets by Hereke) and a gorgeous silk wall hanging......$6000 later.

[Deleted]

I agree, the experiences. The helicopter ride over Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. It was $150 a person for 1 hour, but totally cool!

Also, nice-osh hotels in Europe. We've agreed that were already so out of our element, that it's a priority to have a place to stay that we feel safe and comfortable in.

[UnderProtest]

Well, it was just a week and a half ago, but our best splurge was our resort in the Maldives. OMG, it was amazing. I have never been somewhere where the pictures didn't do the place justice. It was even better in person. But the spa, scuba diving, and snorkeling we did there were also nice splurges.

[UnderProtest]

Mar 31, 2015 10:04:25 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

The first thing that came to mind was our hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti. It was such a peaceful and cool experience, though certainly a pricey add-on. The next hot air balloon trip I want to do is in Cappadocia. I also want to go to the hot air balloon festival in New Mexico.

Damn it.  Can we go hot air ballooning around here?  I've always wanted to do that.

[lmdbww]

I remember joking back in the day when we took our honeymoon (like 2004-2005ish) that we should stay in the room one morning and order one of each off of the breakfast menu for room service. We totally did it and it was awesome lol

[hokiegirl82]

Many of the trips DH and I took before we had a kid were to watch different MotoGP (motorcycle) races in different parts of the world. Each race is a three day weekend event. We splurge on every single race we go to by buying VIP tickets. The last race we went to was the final race of the 2013 season in Valencia, Spain. We went all out and bought a package with a travel company that specializes in racing events. I think it was $3500 total for three days not counting hotel and food costs, but it was an amazing experience and we are so glad we did it.

[Redpoppy]

While we definitely splurge on experiences, sometimes the splurges are just things to make the trip easier such as getting a dinner package with reserved show/fireworks seating at Disney.

Our last trip involved leaving a day early during a busy travel week with a blizzard coming on top of a few feet of snow on the ground. We said screw it and booked car service to the airport. We may just use it every trip now.

[gustafngrete]

When we were in Rome we hired a private tour guide for the city. As we finished our tour of the Vatican, Just looking at the mile long line (not kidding)of people queueing up to get in made it worth every penny!

[stretchad]

Kobe Beef Dinner in Kobe Japan was incredibly memorable.
Staying at the Four Seasons in Mexico (Punta Mita) was worth the splurge.
Hoping t have some memorable ones in Maui next month!

[msmerymac]

Usually meals. Cyrus in Healdsburg, CA and Arpege in Paris were two of the best meals we've had. We also did the Scottish Whiskey Tasting Experience in Edinburgh and wish we had splurged on another scotch-related event.

[mskitkat]

Upgrading to a balcony on our cruise.
The night we randomly had a crazy expensive dinner in Vienna.
Belinis at the Plaza Hotel.

[compassrose]

Helicopter tour in Kauai
Dinner at Gary Danko in San Fransisco
Dinner at Garde Mange in Montreal (really, it's the wine there)
A silk comforter (stuffed with raw silk) in China. It's amazing-- warm in winter, not too hot in summer. thebulldog, you should get one!

[gt7301b]

It was actually pretty cheep cause my grandparents lived in Atlanta, but going to the Olympics in Atlanta.

We tried to get tickets for Sochi, but couldn't get ice skating tickets. I will go one day and I will spend a small fortune on event tickets.

[yentl]

Couples massage on the beach on our honeymoon. OMG amazing. They set up tents so it was still private.