How we budget for an epic international family trip

The closer our kids get to leaving the nest, the more we are prioritizing family travel and adventure together. Our oldest will graduate from high school in just two years, so we are eager to take some of the trips that have been on our short list for a long time.

If you read our March Family Budget Update, then you know that we made a recent decision to budget for a big trip together this summer in addition to the trip we already have planned for Spring Break 2025.

A friend recently gave me this financial advice for traveling: “Just come up with how much everything will cost, then double it. That should be about right.”

No way. Not me!

In any travel, cost is a real factor. For me, thinking through all the expenses and plans well in advance allows us to prepare financially for the trip so we can just enjoy ourselves when we get there, without that nagging feeling that maybe we shouldn’t be spending so much, or that surprise total at the end that leaves us scrambling to cover unplanned expenses.

In this article, I want to walk you through my process for planning and budgeting for a big trip like this. I am meticulously planning our itinerary and travel so that we know precisely how much money to save before we go.

An important reminder

I should start by saying that these trips require some sacrifice on our part. We didn’t just come into new money that allows us to take this trip.

Right now we are prioritizing family travel over many other things that we could be spending money. For example, we would really like to replace the flooring in our house. Our carpet is thrashed and hideous. Every time we have someone new over, I am embarrassed by how ugly and stained our carpet is. A few months ago we explored options for flooring and got our house measured for cost estimates.

Ultimately, we decided that making memories with our kids while they are still at home is more important to us than having nice things like beautiful floors, decent furniture, and more-than-basic cars.

Helping in that decision is the fact that we still have lots of little people who are especially hard on floors and furniture.

I think it’s important to remember about the trade-offs. When I am keenly aware of our awful old carpet every time someone comes over, I remind myself that I am choosing to spend money on travel right now instead of home improvement. When I remind myself about that tradeoff, I don’t feel bad for myself and I don’t regret my choice at all.

WHERE we’re going this summer and WHY

A few months after Mike and I were married, we spent 4 months living in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala for an internship with LDS Employment Services. We taught a career workshop and a self-employment workshop to (mostly) young adults who were getting started in the working world. We also traveled to different parts of the country to train local volunteers so they could continue teaching the workshops after we had returned home. We quickly came to love the country and the people.

That was 18 years ago!

For years we have planned to return and take our kids to Guatemala so they can meet our friends there and get to know this beautiful country. We have been pretty busy during these past 18 years, but we know that once the kids start leaving home, getting them all together for a family trip will be even more complicated.

I have looked at airfare several times in the past years, but was never ready to make the trip happen. A few weeks ago, I peeked again this summer and was pleasantly surprised. That got me excited and I started to look seriously into making this trip happen this summer.

When we were in Guatemala in 2006, we didn’t have much in the way of extra funds for travel. We took advantage of a few opportunities for additional touristy-type travel after finishing our internship, but we barely scratched the surface of what Guatemala has to offer.

We decided that taking all 6 of our kids (ages 4, 6, 9, 12, 14, 16) would be a little overwhelming for many reasons, so we decided to take only the oldest three.  The oldest three have each studied Spanish, so the trip will be more meaningful for them.

The three little ones aren’t missing out entirely. They will fly to their grandparents’ house for two weeks, so they aren’t too disappointed about missing out on Guatemala.

Dates and Flights

The first step for planning our trip was setting the dates and getting flights. When I had initially looked at flights (before we had even decided to take the trip), I found flights in the $300-$400 range. At first I was prioritizing the price of the flight, trying to plan the dates for the least expensive flight, but those dates didn’t work for my parents.

I didn’t want to give up the idea of going this summer, so I continued to look at alternate dates and found even better dates that would allow for a longer trip. I looked for a more convenient (but still well-priced) flight that would have a layover at my parents’ airport so we could personally hand off our three younger kids.

Knowing that we wanted to see some of the sites in northern Guatemala, I looked into flying into Belize to start out our trip. If we flew in and out of Guatemala City, we would have to take another round trip flight up to Tikal to see that area. By starting out in Belize we can cut out a leg of the in-country flight.

I made a spreadsheet to compare the options for two different sets of dates then showed Mike the options. He voted for the option that gave us a longer time in Guatemala. I also compared the cost for the lowest tier of service and the tier that allows you to change/refund your flights and choose your own seat assignment.

For our own peace of mind when investing this much money into a trip, we wanted our tickets to be changeable/refundable in case something came up. And, for the comfort of our littlest travelers, being able to choose seats together sounded like a good idea. We debated this additional cost and decided that for those two reasons, it was worth it to us to pay the extra $730.

Round Trip– From Home to Grandparents (x3) $805

One-Way– From Home to Belize (x5) $1,300

One-Way– From Guatemala to Home (x5) $1,455

Total cost: $3,560 (5 people to Guatemala and 3 people to Phoenix)

Looking at it on a per person basis, that breaks down to $268 round trip for the kids going to Grandma’s house and $551 round trip for each of us going to Guatemala.

Because we had already started saving for our Spring Break 2025 trip, we had money already set aside that we could immediately put toward our flights. Had we not already been saving for our 2025 trip, we probably wouldn’t be making this 2024 trip happen.

—-Budget for Flights: $3,560—

Activities for our Guatemala Itinerary

Once we knew the dates of our trip and had the flights secured, I got started planning where we would go and what we would do. This was the fun part! I listed all of the places we wanted to visit and things we wanted to do, then started fitting them into the schedule based on their location. Some things needed to be on certain days (like going to church in Quetzaltenango to see our friends where we used to live), so we put those things on the calendar first and worked more flexible activities around them.

If I were planning for activities in the United States I could easily look up the admission prices to the various parks, museums, and sites and then dig deeper to see how to get the best deal for each one, like I did planning our San Diego family adventure a couple of years ago.

In Guatemala, it is wise to pay for not just the admission but for a guide to take you around, especially when we’re talking about going into the jungle. While there will inevitably be many willing “guides” near the Mayan ruins and other sites, we’re planning to book tours ahead of time with reputable companies. There are tour guides available for every budget. Since we will also need transportation to the various sites, in many cases we have found tours that include travel.

Here are paid activities that we plan to do in Guatemala. I added a link to the Wikipedia article for each one if you are curious. The cost listed is the total for 5 of us.

Xunantunich Mayan ruins in Belize – $100– includes transportation, entrance fee, and tour

Cahal Pech Mayan ruins in Belize – $25– includes entrance fee only

Yaxha Mayan ruins in Guatemala – $163– includes transportation, entrance fee, and tour

Tikal Mayan ruins in Guatemala – $178– includes transportation, entrance fee, and tour

Fuentes Georginas volcanic hot springs- $100 includes transportation and entrance fee

2-day backpacking trip up Acatenango volcano to see Volcan de Fuego – $320 includes transportation, entrance fee, guide, camping equipment, and food

Semuc Champey turquoise pools and caves in Guatemala- $128 includes transportation, entrance fee, and tour.

In addition to these, we will be visiting people and places that don’t cost money like the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple and the Coban Guatemala Temple. I am also adding in $150 to the budget for anything else we might have time to squeeze in.

Total cost of Planned Activities: $1,014

Extra for unplanned activities: $150

—-Budget for Activities: $1,164—-

Accommodations

We will be traveling all over Guatemala (and a little of Belize, too), so we will be staying in many different hotels, hostels, and Airbnbs. Once I nailed down the flow of our itinerary, I started looking for where to stay.

In most parts of Guatemala, the price of accommodations can be significantly less than most places in the US. We could have booked really nice places for what a mediocre place would cost here, but I was careful not to get carried away. With two weeks of nights to book, even a “great deal” adds up, and we are mostly just going to be sleeping in these places.

Location was a more important factor than price in choosing where we stayed. Since we will either need to walk or get a ride everywhere (we aren’t renting a car), it is important to us to be situated within walking distance of the bus terminal or wherever we are visiting.

I was careful to book places that were easy to cancel in case our plans change. Here are our planned stays:

San Ignacio, Belize (hostel)- 1 night – $85

Flores, Guatemala (hotel)- 2 nights –  $162

Guatemala City (apartment)- 1 night – $55

Quetzaltenango (Airbnb)- 3 nights- $240

Antigua (hostel)- 3 nights- $114

Lanquin (hostel)- 1 night- $56

Coban (Airbnb)- 1 night- $84

Guatemala City (Airbnb)- 1 night- $64

Estimating the budget for this portion of our trip was pretty easy since everything is booked in advance. I’m still adding in $100 of wiggle room to cover any changes depending on the exchange rate. Most of these places will be either paid in cash in Quetzales or charged to our credit card in foreign currency. While Google is handy for estimating the exchange rate for making our budget, credit cards usually use a less favorable exchange rate in reality.

Total for booked accommodations: $860

Wiggle room: $100

—-Budget for Accommodations: $960—-

Travel within Guatemala

We have absolutely no desire to rent a car and drive in Guatemala. That crazy driving is just too far out of our comfort zone, not to mention the dangerous roads and possible encounters with highway robbers.

Thankfully there are many other options for getting around. If you read about our family trip to Washington DC, you know we aren’t afraid of relying completely on public transportation to get around. Guatemala takes that spirit of adventure to another level!

To travel within Belize and Guatemala we will be using everything from taxis and Uber to “chicken buses” and microbuses. We will also take a one way flight from northern Guatemala (Tikal) to Guatemala City. We will mostly use various buses. The downside of taxis and Ubers is that with 5 of us traveling together, we would require two cars every time, which doubles the cost and means we have to split up.

I researched the various bus routes and making notes of prices, pick up locations, and schedules. Thankfully, there’s a lot more information availalbe online than there was 18 years ago! I won’t bore you with all of the details, just the totals. The totals below often represent several different modes of transportation. The cost listed is the total for all 5 of us.

Belize City Airport to San Ignacio $90 (Taxi – Charter bus)

San Ignacio to Flores $135 (Taxi – Chicken bus, includes $100 tax for leaving Belize)

Flores to Guatemala City- $225 (Flight – Uber)

Guatemala City to Quetzaltenango- $60 (Charter bus)

Quetzaltenango to Antigua – $70 (Charter bus – Chicken bus)

Antigua to Lanquin- $110 (Chicken bus- Charter bus – Chicken bus)

Lanquin to Coban- $25 (Chicken bus)

Coban to Guatemala City- $70 (Charter bus)

Guatemala City to Airport- $15 (Uber)

These are just the cost estimates for getting from city to city, but don’t include all the travel within each place (from door to door). We will surely do a lot of walking (sometimes that’s just easiest), but will also take other transportation as needed. I’m adding in $150 of wiggle room to our transportation budget to account for extra travel or difference in actual cost (vs what I found from my internet research of mostly blogs).

Total estimated major travel with country: $800

Additional wiggle room: $150

—-Budget for In-country Travel: $950—-

Food

If you have read about our other family travel adventures, you know that we don’t budget much (if anything!) for food. Eating out is expensive and with a big family, the cost adds up quickly! Since eating out isn’t a part of our normal lives, we don’t do it on vacation either and no one knows the difference. When we are traveling, we try to stick to our normal food budget. We love staying at Airbnbs where we can easily cook for ourselves to keep food costs down.

The food for our trip to Guatemala will be different than our normal family trips for several reasons:

• We won’t be staying places with kitchens for most of the trip. In fact, many of our stays will be for just one night.
• We will have a very full schedule that won’t leave much time for home cooking.
• From our previous experience, we know that finding ingredients we are familiar with can be really hard.
• We want our kids to experience authentic Guatemalan food.
• Prepared food is not prohibitively expensive there like it is in the US.

Now, does that mean we will be eating out for every meal? No. I expect we will buy prepared food once or twice a day on days other than Sunday. We can buy bread and produce from the market to eat for most breakfasts and lunches. We are pretty easy to please.

We will also have to buy all of our water since the tap water in Guatemala is not always safe to drink.

For our budget, I’m figuring 500 Quetzales per day (100Q per person per day). In American money that’s about $65 per day  which is $13 per person per day. I really think that will be plenty!

—-Budget for Food: $845—-

Gear

When I first started thinking about this trip, I envisioned packing light with each of us taking just a traditional carry-on and a backpack. It wasn’t long after I started planning that I realized that would be a terrible idea.

We will be staying in 8 different locations and riding on cramped buses to get between them (with travel of up to 10 hours at times) and walking across towns to get to bus stations. Sometimes we will be checking out of one place then going on tours all day before traveling to our next accommodations. We won’t have anywhere to stash even a small suitcase while we are galivanting around the country. We need to pack even lighter than that, which is fine, but requires some additional gear.

Our new plan is just backpacks. I did some research on the carry-on size maximum and found 40L size backpacks that will work. They are a few inches too tall, but slightly smaller in other dimensions, so they can be squashed if their size is challenged.

We will be in Guatemala during the rainy season, so it could be potentially raining everyday. While trash bags can work in a pinch, I wanted backpacks that had rain covers included.  We already have one backpack that should work. After reading reviews, I chose these backpacks for the other four.

Now that we are packing for two weeks in a carry-on backpack, we have to be careful about everything we’re bringing. For now I’ll just mention some of the main gear items we are budgeting for.

40L Backpacks – $40 x 4 = $160 (we chose 4 different colors of these affordable backpacks with excellent reviews)

Waterproof hiking boots – $65 x 5 = $325 (so far we have purchased these, these, these, and these)

Lightweight microfiber towels – $30 (After lots of comparing of sizes and prices, I got this set)

Lightweight hiking pants – $40 x 4 = $160 (so far we have 2 pairs of these for Mike and our oldest son)

Money belts – $7 x 3 = $21 (we bought 3 of these since we already have 2 from our first Guatemala trip)

Battery pack– $36 (We got this battery pack to be able to keep phones and headlamps charged)

Mosquito net head covers for adventuring in the jungle- $13 (We bought this 6-pack)

Total estimate for the above items: $745

I will add an extra $155 to cover additional clothing or toiletry needs that come up as we are packing.

—-Budget for Gear: $900—-

Spending/Giving

We really aren’t sure what sort of souvenirs we will buy, but we expect there will be some things. We will set aside $500 for spending.

We also want to set aside some money that we can use to give as we travel. I know we will want to give, so having money already planned for this will allow us to give without worrying that it will cause problems with our budget. We will budget $300.

—-Budget for Spending/Giving: $800—-

Total Trip Budget

To summarize, here are the current budgeted expenses for our summer 2024 Trip to Belize and Guatemala:

$3,560 — Airfare (includes $805 for 3 youngest to fly to Grandma’s house)

 $1,164 — Activities

   $960 — Accommodations

    $950 — Travel within country

    $845 — Food

   $900 — Gear

   $800  — Spending/Giving

TOTAL: $9,179

Right now we are looking at nearly $9,200 for 5 of us (including the 3 younger kids flying to Grandma’s house). I prefer to err on the side of slightly over-budgeting, so I am actually expecting to  stay below this budget.

After the trip, I will do a follow up post detailing our actual spending on our Guatemalan Adventure so that we can see how it compares with our informed budget plan.

I love having such a detailed trip budget rather than just an arbitrary amount that we hope will cover our trip’s expenses. A thoroughly planned trip budget like this lets us know how much money we need to set aside between now and when we take our trip. When we are traveling we don’t have to stress about how the cost of things is adding up because we anticipated our costs ahead of time.

I hope it was helpful to get a sneak peek (okay, it was more than just a peek!) into what goes on in my brains (and many spreadsheets) when I plan a big trip.

I should also mention that I think this part of planning is FUN, not a chore. I like having all of my financial ducks in a row, so budgeting for a trip this way is my jam. I also know that future Stephanie will be able to relax and enjoy herself so much more without having money worries hanging over her.

How do YOU budget for trips?

When you budget for big family trips, do you budget meticulously or just save a certain total amount?

Have you been to Central America? What travel tips do you have?