Cost of world travel...

[€uroMeinke]

Then you must pick a destination (or two) and start doing some research - watch for cheap flights - or at least know how to recognize them, look into neighborhoods or activities you'd like to do - Oh and get your passport up to date, so you can leave at a moments notice.

Like all things they can be done extravegantly or on the cheap. We did very well dining in Tokyo but spent more on lodging. In Paris our lodging was cheap, but we spent big on food - sometimes. Of course your dollar will go really far traveling in the third world. We lived like Kings in our stay in Peru, and it hardly cost us anything.

[tracilicious]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

Then you must pick a destination (or two) and start doing some research - watch for cheap flights - or at least know how to recognize them, look into neighborhoods or activities you'd like to do - Oh and get your passport up to date, so you can leave at a moments notice.

Perhaps I should clarify. I'm started this thread as more of a travel voyeurist than in actual preparation for travel. I have my top five international destinations picked out, but it will be a while before I actually go anywhere (other than disney). International travel with a baby and two year old does not sound like my idea of a good time. We are going to start saving for our trip to Japan (first on the list), but it will probably be about five years before we get there. A big city should be manageable with a five and seven year old and by that time a long flight should be doable with enough distractions to occupy the kids.

I've read travel books and such, but I've had a really hard time finding international airfare quotes online. Travel within the states is so easy to research, but it's hard to know where to begin with a foreign country.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by tracilicious

I've read travel books and such, but I've had a really hard time finding international airfare quotes online.

No way! Just go to any of the major plane booking sites - Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, etc - and toss in theoretical information. WHAM, you've got pricing.

We bought our Paris tix on Travelocity.

[tracilicious]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

No way! Just go to any of the major plane booking sites - Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, etc - and toss in theoretical information. WHAM, you've got pricing.

We bought our Paris tix on Travelocity.

Really? It's been awhile since I've tried. I was also looking at tix to Africa, so maybe that's why I had a hard time.

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by tracilicious

I've read travel books and such, but I've had a really hard time finding international airfare quotes online. Travel within the states is so easy to research, but it's hard to know where to begin with a foreign country.

Airfares are an arcane science with bizzare pricing schemes that I doubt anyone really understands. A while back I was going to San Francisco and wanted to try to bring Lisa along - that $79 round trip flight, ultimately doubled, tripled, and was even selling as high as $800 by the time I left - leaving Lisa behind.

That said Europe now has some Jet Blue-ish airlines that make intra-European travel much more affordable.

From what I know, Africa is a bit dodgy and usually involves several connecting flights if you're not going to the major cities. We've been working on getting a speaker from Uganda to Chicago, we can get him from Nairobi on British Airways, but he has to figure out how to get there himself.