I often see posts on different pages asking 1. how people afford to travel and 2. how one does it as a single person.
I am a single parent and my one goal in life was to take one nice trip per year with my daughter.
The first trip I took was to Disney World. My family had planned for some time so I was able to pay very little for my portion of a villa we stayed in, got some cheap airline tickets to Florida, and my grandmother left me $500 when she died so I used that as my spending money.
Nowadays when I plan a trip I plan it well in advance, about six months to a year. I reserve my hotel room through Booking.com and always choose the option to cancel the room. Before my trip I continue searching for cheaper rooms.
I fly Southwest and look for their deals. Fortunately, if you purchase a flight with Southwest and find a cheaper fare on their page, they will credit you the difference. I’ve also used PayPal credit where you pay no interest for six months on purchases.
I also budget what I’m going to spend on food. I try to stay at hotels that provide breakfast and/or I try to find cheap eats near the hotel. I will splurge on food also but I make sure that I have budgeted so I don’t have to use a credit card.
I’ve been taking all cash trips for several years now and this includes trips I take with my daughter. If you plan and budget wisely and realistically you should have no problems creating a fulfilling and debtless trip for yourself.