Foreign travel on an average Indian salary - am I being foolish and unrealistic?

sprash · Post by **sprash** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 10:42 pm

A few months ago in my job I got a promotion & significant raise in salary. I have started saving money for my future house/flat, for a car & some of it for a foreign vacation (which I am quite literally desperate to do so, since it has been many years after R2I). When I suggested to my parents that I would like to take them with me on a foreign holiday that they will cherish a lot, they immediately slammed me down with harsh remarks like "are you so foolish? do you really think you have so much money to blow just like that?" and "with just an average Indian salary, please stop building castles in the air!" etc.

I tried to convince them that it won't be a problem for me economically - I showed them my calculations on how much I can save & how I won't be affected even in the worst-case scenario. However, they are still not convinced with my foreign trip idea & criticize me anytime I bring it up. My dad says that instead of "blowing" the money on vacations, I should invest it in a mutual fund or do trading.

Whom do you feel is right in this case? Do you think they are being too insensitive to my feeling for going abroad (after all, they also would love to travel abroad - and I am trying to help them the best way I can)? Or do you think that I am being too unrealistic and foolish & should instead go by what my parents say, realizing that I cannot “blow” my money when I’m earning an average Indian salary? What are your views on this?

MadMax · Post by **MadMax** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:44 pm

Did you pay off your educational loan?

oasis138 · Post by **oasis138** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:50 pm

sprash;329082A few months ago in my job I got a promotion & significant raise in salary. I have started saving money for my future house/flat, for a car & some of it for a foreign vacation (which I am quite literally desperate to do so, since it has been many years after R2I). When I suggested to my parents that I would like to take them with me on a foreign holiday that they will cherish a lot, they immediately slammed me down with harsh remarks like "are you so foolish? do you really think you have so much money to blow just like that?" and "with just an average Indian salary, please stop building castles in the air!" etc.

I tried to convince them that it won't be a problem for me economically - I showed them my calculations on how much I can save & how I won't be affected even in the worst-case scenario. However, they are still not convinced with my foreign trip idea & criticize me anytime I bring it up. My dad says that instead of "blowing" the money on vacations, I should invest it in a mutual fund or do trading.

Whom do you feel is right in this case? Do you think they are being too insensitive to my feeling for going abroad (after all, they also would love to travel abroad - and I am trying to help them the best way I can)? Or do you think that I am being too unrealistic and foolish & should instead go by what my parents say, realizing that I cannot “blow” my money when I’m earning an average Indian salary? What are your views on this?

You are a big boy now...you also seem to have done your calculations.... go for the vacation!

returning_indian · Post by **returning_indian** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:56 pm

oasis138;329135You are a big boy now...you also seem to have done your calculations.... go for the vacation!

Calculations do not mean that they are good for an individual. I think parents in India generally tend to be very cautious about frivolous spending of kids and have different view on instant gratification than us.

I would say present the calculations here and people can give you an opinion.

oasis138 · Post by **oasis138** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 11:58 pm

returning_indian;329140Calculations do not mean that they are good for an individual. I think parents in India generally tend to be very cautious about frivolous spending of kids and have different view on instant gratification than us.

I would say present the calculations here and people can give you an opinion.

I trust his calculations and outside of providing every single detail about his personal balance sheet (and even then he will get varying opinions) i think he should go ahead...hes on r2i forum so i suspect he had above average financial skills. Also seems like he has been planning this for a while.

returning_indian · Post by **returning_indian** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 12:05 am

oasis138;329145I trust his calculations and outside of providing every single detail about his personal balance sheet (and even then he will get varying opinions) i think he should go ahead...hes on r2i forum so i suspect he had above average financial skills. Also seems like he has been planning this for a while.

I have different view than you. I do not trust his calculations. I think he is in my shoes with very little savings/assets and wanting all the things for instant gratification. My parents from the outside can see my pathetic situation, while until lately I was pretty confident of it and blowing master card money.

Old-Spice2 · Post by **Old-Spice2** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 12:09 am

OP,

Give the cost of overseas vacation in dollars. Then your parents may not protest.

We had great plans for overseas vacation after r2i. We can afford it but when I see the number in INR, I start thinking "should we spend this kind of money". Same amount in USD never bothered us.

amaran18 · Post by **amaran18** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 12:19 am

sprash;329082
Whom do you feel is right in this case? Do you think they are being too insensitive to my feeling for going abroad (after all, they also would love to travel abroad - and I am trying to help them the best way I can)? Or do you think that I am being too unrealistic and foolish & should instead go by what my parents say, realizing that I cannot “blow” my money when I’m earning an average Indian salary? What are your views on this?

I would say both have the right intention :)
My dad always said no to anything I wanted to buy for him. But, once I bought him something (inspite of his refusal), he was always very happy :)

mn_op · Post by **mn_op** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 12:26 am

returning_indian;329140Calculations do not mean that they are good for an individual. I think parents in India generally tend to be very cautious about frivolous spending of kids and have different view on instant gratification than us.

I would say present the calculations here and people can give you an opinion.

Never go on vacation. Here are the reasons:
1. You almost always go overbudget when booking tickets and that gives you a buyers remorse. Ticket prices immediately go down once you make the purchase.
2. Then you have to deal with unforeseen expenses. Your costs typically are 20% more than what you were planning to spend (and 100% more than your calculations)
3. Vacations itself are pretty painful. Travelling to new places can be daunting.
4. Your wife packs 20 different dresses for a weeklong vacation while you mistakenly assume that you will somehow wash your underwear and vest every night.
5. Cab drivers are rude to you and you end up paying amounts comparable to GDP of Nigeria for some barely edible food.
6. Wife wants you to carry all kinds of cameras and take her pictures and accost everybody who passes by to take your family pictures.
7. Wife doesn't really care about the monument that you went to see or the history behind but merely wants to ensure that its checked off her list
8. Wife wants to collect all silly freebies that get handed over by hotels and by roadside characters and you have to haul them. Additionally, you have to witness terrible shopping spree that includes barging into each store that has words SALE on it...and we are not even talking about those blasted purses...is there anybody in here who thinks that a pretty purse makes any woman look prettier? I don't remember having noticed a purse of any woman who is not a prostitute (I know that soudns strange but for some reason I vividly remember those women with purses in Mumbai).
9. You and wife promises that you will never ever go on another vacation after many arguments and disagreements.
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However, this all plays out strangely and after a couple of years, you mysteriaously forget all costs and bad things about the vacation...and thats when you get ready to undertake another silly vacation.

All the best!

oasis138 · Post by **oasis138** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 12:37 am

returning_indian;329150I have different view than you. I do not trust his calculations. I think he is in my shoes with very little savings/assets and wanting all the things for instant gratification. My parents from the outside can see my pathetic situation, while until lately I was pretty confident of it and blowing master card money.

OP said " tried to convince them that it won't be a problem for me economically - I showed them my calculations on how much I can save & how I won't be affected even in the worst-case scenario."

To me thats good enough....atleast he's given it a thought etc...i dont see the point of asking him for his balance sheet to make the call on a 2-3 lakh trip.