The last time I travelled was way back in 2016 and even then things were considered expensive due to the exchange rates. It could be something like purchasing a simple coffee that is costing 2 or 3 x what you are used to paying and this highlights what you are up against.
Certain items like imported goods are expensive in South Africa and if you are earning the Rand the cost of living due to inflation makes most things seem over priced. I always complain, but know everything is relative to what you earn and those living elsewhere have it just as bad. A good example today is I bought rump steak and it was R119 per kilogram and this is roughly $6 or £5 perk/g. Comparing I noticed Tesco in the UK it was around £17 which is 3.4 x more expensive.
Next month I am travelling to the UK and France which is not going to be cheap especially paying for 7 people. Back in February I took a peek at airline tickets and they were not too bad, but that was 4 months ago and those prices are now 2.5 x more expensive. A price increase was expected as this is the summer season for Europe, but 2.5 x is insane. This is the cheapest tickets available and the next best price is double this and they go much higher. The price difference is what shocked me as I am paying $1.3K each ticket and the next best is $2.2K going up to as much as $2.9K and this is all in economy.
There re cheaper rates, but those do not include luggage which only allow for 12k/g f hand luggage. If you want a suitcase this is where the increase by $280 comes in. Madness as this was a given 10 years ago that it included a suitcase.
Hotels were next and it quickly became obvious that those prices had risen just as much as the airline tickets. A hotel I stayed back in 2016 was now charging $1K per night in central London and I need 2 rooms. A budget option was a pod hotel that slept 8, but at $960 I just cannot justify this. Paris was slightly cheaper at around $900 for 2 rooms per night but still I need to fid cheaper options.
Just doing some quick calculations I would need a $20K budget and is quite a bit more than what I expected to pay. This is just flights and accommodation excluding car hire, shuttles to and from airports plus food. The same spend in SA would pay off 20% on an average property.
The obvious solution is air bnb's which I have never used before and after a quick look I can claw back around half the accommodation costs for London and Paris. I still do think I am staring at $20K though once this is all added together including food and drink. Spending money is separate and that has already been budgeted for.
I just do not understand how people can afford to travel these days and how much people have to be earning in order to be able to travel. Either people are being over paid for the job they are doing or I am missing something here. Prices are definitely not in sync to what they once were.