What do you get when you combine grand vacations and credit card debt? The (Ariana) Grande effect, apparently. In our instant-gratification-fueled society, social media offers endless inspiration for bucket-list trips, and the algorithm’s incessant YOLO reminders can make once-in-a-lifetime style travel feel irresistibly urgent.
If you’re not familiar with Ariana Grande’s 2019 banger of an earworm, “7 Rings” offers a prophetic-like chorus, perfectly summing up the pandemic-times shift toward bucket-list travel.
“I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it,” and for nearly 30 percent of Americans, this Grande notion applies to grandiose travel.
In the continued boom of bucket-list travel, a 2025 Bankrate Survey found that 29 percent of travelers planned to go into debt for summer vacations by using credit cards to cover travel expenses. At the risk of sounding old, this made me clutch my imaginary pearls. I’m all for a lighthearted escapist-style itinerary, but there’s no escaping a credit card’s 20-28 percent annual percentage rates.
The sobering fact is that if a $15,000 trip is charged to a credit card with a 24 percent APR, compounded monthly and unpaid for three years, the actual total could be about $30,000 — doubling the original cost due to interest. Thankfully, there’s a better way — a travel hack called patience.
Employing 0 percent APR cards, miles, and points can offset the cost of a trip. Still, the foundation of trip planning shouldn’t neglect the stable benefits of good old-fashioned savings. But you can’t save effectively without knowing your itinerary, so do your research to create a realistic budget — choose a tour operator, and plan accordingly.
A common mistake when planning a bucket-list trip is failing to account for all the extras — excursions, alcohol, tipping, and gear. Even park or protected area permits can cost a few hundred dollars. Conversely, prioritizing tour operators that include these extras in their prices can yield significant savings.
Take Antarctica, for example. Its remote location and need for ice-smashing expedition ships and specialized guides drive up the price. While New Englanders know how to layer with the best of them, Antarctica-rated parkas can range from $400 to a whopping $1,600 or more. Add ice-ready boots and specialty camera equipment, and your dream-trip budget potentially grows by thousands. So, it’s critical to research tour operators with built-in, measurable value.
A quick review of National Geographic Lindblad’s Voyage to Antarctica (12 days with a per-person cost starting at $14,490) reveals over a dozen built-in savings — from the pre-expedition hotel and airport transfers to crew gratuities and loaner photography equipment. All meals and house beer, wine, and spirits are included in the price, and each guest is issued a branded 3-in-1 expedition parka — to keep. You’re out of pocket for flights, but once onboard, you’ll want for nothing and have unlimited access to upward of 20 naturalists, guides, expedition leaders, ice pilots, and photography experts.
Assuming a modest average per day food and cocktail value of $125 (covering three meals, tea-time buffet, pre-dinner hors d’oeuvres, unlimited snacks, basic cocktails, soft drinks, and lattes), plus a pre-embarkation hotel night (value typically $250), expedition crew gratuities (assume $15-$20 per person per day), and an extreme cold-rated parka (modest estimate $400), travelers can reduce their extras budget by $2,500 or more. Add to that lectures equivalent to a multi-course nature photography class, 24-hour access to the ship’s doctor, and other inclusions, and that number increases further.
Similarly, a Galapagos adventure with Metropolitan Touring offers travelers concrete value rather than marketing fluff like, “Enjoy this lowly water bottle gift!” Most folks have a water bottle, thanks. They want to lower out-of-pocket costs. Metropolitan Touring’s Origin of Species Adventure on Yacht La Pinta (five days, six islands, starting at $5,987 per person) includes big-ticket items like a pre-embarkation hotel night, airport transfers, all meals and snacks, non-alcoholic drinks, and admission fees for the Charles Darwin Foundation and a Highland giant turtle farm.
Both trips include all activities: snorkeling, paddle boarding, and wildlife walks in the Galapagos; glacier exploration, penguin colony visits, and kayaking in Antarctica. This is key to budgeting realistically. Impulsive mid-trip excursions add up quickly, so choose tours that proactively include all the adventure and exploration choices.
Once you’ve decided where you’re going and have established a realistic budget, it’s time to create a comfortable savings plan, and keep in mind that it might take time. My husband and I have been saving for an African safari for over a decade. Be patient; it’s worth it. But there are ways to fast-track the process without debt.
Five everyday savings strategies can generate up to $3,000 a year, depending on your lifestyle. If your credit card earns generous cash back for purchases like groceries and gas, you can earn $1,000-$1,500 annually. Add another $1,820 if you automatically deposit $35 weekly into a vacation account.
Then come the spending cuts, like our collective love of streaming services. On average, Americans subscribe to four monthly streaming services and spend $69, according to a 2025 Deloitte study. Look to recalibrate such splurges, including the quiet, oh-so-tasty budget busters: takeout food and flashy coffee drinks. Skipping just $40 of takeout food each week adds another $2,080 to the bucket-list fund.
And coffee? Everyday People Coffee & Tea analyzed 10 studies from 2024-25 and found that American coffee drinkers spend between $1,685 and $2,800 each year. Needless to say, coffee connoisseurs can save a few bucks here.
If you’re willing to save for your trip over a few years, you can also level up with short- and medium-term investments. People planning trips for 2027 could consider short-term investments with high liquidity and lower risk — fancy financial talk for options like a high-yield savings account or money market account. Those with more time can layer in fixed-rate of return options like certificates of deposit, a fixed deferred annuity, or short-term bonds or treasury notes. You can also overlap strategies: use your credit card’s annual cash back to fund a CD and roll it over annually. It won’t fully fund a bucket-list trip, but once established, it’s an effortless contribution.
Combine your multi-pronged savings plan with tours and destinations that reduce out-of-pocket costs, and you can avoid the Grande effect and have plenty of money to experience the world’s most far-flung and beguiling destinations. And as beloved Bostonian Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, adopt nature’s pace: patience.