Should I go? How much money will it take?

[California]

Am I reading this right that this may be a once in a lifetime trip and you'd be able to go for one week max? With airfare being so expensive, I'd save up and plan for a time when you can go for two weeks, minimum, and build in some safety time in case one of you struggles with jet lag or gets sick.

[schrocat]

Vancouver's amazing in the summer. I've been to Switzerland a couple of times. It's probably a personal thing but Vancouver's more fun.

Is it possible to do a road trip to Vancouver rather than fly? You live on the West Coast afterall. You husband should definitely not go early for the scout camp like he planned on doing.

[rin]

Just have a minute. Thank you to all your replies!

So a few things I wanted to mention. First, I don't think I'd be inclined to bring the kids to vancouver as that would great increase the cost of the excursion, although making it a family vacation makes that a lot more appealing.

I DEFINITELY think DH should just bail on the scout thing. He'd only have to go AT MOST one day late. As it is, he's planning on going two days early and that's why there is the problem with the date! This is a point of contention between us. He's in charge and planned this six months ago and he feels responsible. I don't think he'd feel the same if it was his sister!

Although we'd do Europe on a budget, and might eat only sandwiches, we'd plan it in such a way to get the absolute most out of it. We'd want to see things and experience museums, gardens, etc. I'm definitely thinking that it would be worthwhile to extend the trip to a week but I'm not sure how much we could afford. We do great, really affordable (but cheap) vacations in the US. I'm not sure how plausible that is in Europe because it is my understanding that lodging can be really expensive.

It's totally doable; lodging can be pricey but Switzerland has airbnb just like the US, there are also hostels which can be a great deal. You want to research to make sure you get one of the more family-oriented hostels rather than the backpacker-oriented ones (which will be full of teens & 20-somethings getting drunk), but last time I was in that area you could usually get a private room in a nice family hostel for $60 or so/night. If you can't get a good sense from their website you can always email them to ask, pretty much everyone in the hospitality industry there will speak excellent English.

Which part of Switzerland? I lived there years ago, it's a beautiful country. For me it would probably come down to cost, I'd honestly do a bit more scoping out how much it would come to. Switzerland is a pricey country, but you can definitely find affordable things to do there.

The plane ticket over there will definitely be the biggest cost, as a PP said, minimum $1k/ticket for a major airline roundtrip in/out of your target city. You may be able to save a few hundred per ticket if you look for the cheapest round-trip in/out of Europe (i.e. using Google Flights) and then book an Easy Jet or Ryan Air (both budget European airlines, usually around $40/ticket) from that city to/from your final destination. The only caveat with using these airlines is that they usually fly out of different airports from those used by the major airlines, so you'd be needing to transfer by bus/train/taxi/etc from the first airport to the second.

[rlu]

I DEFINITELY think DH should just bail on the scout thing. He'd only have to go AT MOST one day late. As it is, he's planning on going two days early and that's why there is the problem with the date! This is a point of contention between us. He's in charge and planned this six months ago and he feels responsible. I don't think he'd feel the same if it was his sister!

If this is their District level summer camp - it's a big deal. If it's just a weekend camping trip - different issue. DH has volunteered at several district camps locally, it takes commitment of time and effort beforehand as well as the weeklong daily involvement and he wasn't even the guy in charge.

[KpbS]

Is it possible to do a road trip to Vancouver rather than fly? You live on the West Coast afterall. You husband should definitely not go early for the scout camp like he planned on doing.

This is what I was wondering also. Is driving possible? Can your DH get a sub for the Scout commitment? I think the family wedding trumps Scout commitment any day. I think it would be very fun to travel with the kids to the wedding in Vancouver.

[SnuggleBuggles]

This is what I was wondering also. Is driving possible? Can your DH get a sub for the Scout commitment? I think the family wedding trumps Scout commitment any day. I think it would be very fun to travel with the kids to the wedding in Vancouver.

I love that idea! Family weddings really are the best!


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[DualvansMommy]

I would do Vancouver for several reasons; most of your extended family will go to that one over Swiss destination. If your family weddings are anything like mine, where it often turns into impromptu reunions with lots of members not seeing each other in years. Great time to enjoy and reconnect with all the far flung members and distant cousins, etc.

Secondly, if finances is really an issue as you're saying I would drive as I think it's fairly doable to drive up and make a long weekend out of it. Family weddings trump scout camping trip for sure!!! If kids CAN tag along, renting an apartment on airbnb is more doable than trying to scramble money for expensive airfare thousand of miles away.

Lastly these really honestly more fun things to do in Vancouver than in Switzerland. It's a beautiful country, been there and loved it as a young adult. Perfect place for fun skiing or people watching in their small cute cafes. Not so much to do with kids in tow though.


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[o_mom]

For those saying to drive, it's about a 20hr drive (just driving, not including stops). I would not do that with four kids, some preschool age, for a weekend.

I do agree that I would not do Switzerland.

[JBaxter]

I do a 1000 mile drive with my youngest 2 at least 2x a year. Can you make the Vancouver trip your family vacation in addition to your sisters reception?

[bisous]

Just have a minute here but some things I want to clarify:

First, my sister and I are close but we aren't close to any of my parents extended family and they won't be there. We all live pretty close together except my sister in DC who comes here for all major holidays and my sister in TX who might not be able to be in Vancouver either.

Second, my sister who is getting married does not like kids. She's perfectly kind to mine but I don't think she'd really want kids at her reception. So that's something I need to think about if I go there.

Third, I don't think I'd mind driving to Vancouver if I had the time and if I had DH with me. I don't think we could do the drive straight, we'd need to break it up a little bit and I'm a little nervous about doing that alone. Plus, while DH does have some vacation time that he can use, he'll be using two weeks in a row to attend Scout Camp and then for our already planned family vacation the week immediately after. He probably could get the time but I can see him balking at the idea of taking the whole family. I don't know, it still sounds fun to me.

Fourth, I feel like a brat complaining about not traveling. I've done a lot in my life and I have a vacation almost every year. It isn't Switzerland but it is fun. I do think I need to be practical at some point. Going to Switzerland sounds fun to me because it seems like getting know the people that are close to my future BIL sounds like an experience I'll never be able to replicate. But the bottom line is that I don't NEED to go but I do NEED to start saving. It is hard to say!

I think I might just run the numbers and scenarios. I want to see the cost of a flight to Vancouver and how close I can time it, run the estimate of the gas and lodging if we did it as a family vacation, see if any flights can be obtained for Switzerland with miles, play with Air BnB, talk to my sister about the plans, see if DH can take vacation, etc.

There is still a lot up in the air but I appreciate all the ideas and thoughts.