To Travel or Not...

Meh. Go or not go. Such a personal thing. I am with Pam on this one. Enough money is such a nebulous thing and with kids it's a sliding scale at best. If I decided to go and for whatever reason on the back end at a later date, money became tight I wouldn't have the room to complain.

My bigger issue was the idea of missing out on travel experiences because of kids (or fill in the blank reason). Life can always be constructed in terms of coulda shoulda woulda. Shrug. I did what I did before marriage and again before kids not because of those things but because that was where my life was at in those points in time. I could have done more or made different choices or... But I didn't. Now I do what I do with my family and it is satisfying because I choose to say it is such.

Good luck whatever you decide.

I'm the Debby Downer. To me it depends on what you mean by "afford". I'd go if even with some really bad luck we are still totally fine financially. But if afford means counting on things going well and only a "good" savings buffer, i probably wouldn't. We keep getting hit with expenses which aren't even horrible luck or anything. Just seems to be life with a house, cars and kids and they really add up. Over the past week, almost $4k in car expenses. Just random stuff. And if it's not the cars, it's the house. And if it's not the cars or house, it's the kids. So I'd want a very big savings cushion (and that's all relative) so hard to say. Looks like I'm way outvoted though :)

Go for it. Have a great time!

Life is uncertain. Go for it! You may have a "plan" but you never know what the future holds. Take advantage of this opportunity now, while you are in a good place.
New Zealand sounds amazing, I'm sure you won't regret it at all.

Go. It will be great.

Go for it. You'll regret not going especially if your talking about expanding your family

i never second-guess a trip. money comes and goes...

I would do it now. One of my big regrets is that we didn't travel more before having kids. We didn't do it enough, either, when we had just one child. Now that our kids are 11 and 7, it's easier, but we had a long stretch there of finding it tough to travel (not to mention, it's very expensive with four people).

GO!
Don't regret not doing it. You may never have the chance again, for one reason or another, and 2 children is a whole different ballgame.
Go, take the one you have, and enjoy the time and ease together.

I'm jealous!

Go. You never know what the future holds.

I would go.

Sure, it's expensive. It's a long trip, it's never going to be cheap. But you have the time, you can afford it, and you've always wanted to go. So go for it!

I have learned over the last couple of years that life is too short for regrets. No one is guaranteed a tomorrow. Go for it!!! Have fun and enjoy!

Not sure how it's a waste of money to see another part of the world you won't be able to go to for at least 5 years! Sometimes you just have to seize the opportunity. I'm sure you can find some economies by staying in lower-tier places or Bed/breakfasts, or by doing one of those home-sharing deals through a reputable agency.

There will always be things that eat up our money - you say you can afford it and still have a savings cushion, your son could handle it, and you'll be losing your free time soon. What's the down side to going?

I would go. Not only will your future little one not be able to hike etc. for 4 or 5 years, but you will have to arrange vacations around school schedules very soon too. It may be more than 5 years before you have this opportunity again.

DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
I went to Kenya for three months when I was pregnant with my first son and even though it was expensive, I am so very glad that I went! What a wonderful experience for your son. If you have the money and are not taking away funds that should be paying for things like your electric bill and food, then absolutely do it. ABSOLUTELY.

I encourage you to go now.

the answer to this sort of question is invariably 'GO!!!!'
:) khairete
S.

I say GO. If you can do it financially, go now.
You may not get the chance later.
Life is about experiences.
I've never regretted a single trip I took BK (before kids).
So thankful I did ALL I did as now I can't do anything. ;)

If you can afford it. DO IT.

If this is part of your bucket list? GO FOR IT....

If you can go now, and in your heart you really want to, i say do it.
Life is about the experiences you get that inspire you, push you forward.
There will not be extra money, probably ever. Possessions you will not take with you to another life ;) New Zealand is one of my dreams and a great place to leave you in awe of mother nature.
I say, live it up! Don't postpone. You never know what awaits tomorrow.
:)