The Japan Secret

The Boy and I are going to Japan. Financially it’s not the wisest decision, however, I do think it will be the trip of a lifetime, especially for The Boy.

Where we live, students in the 8^th grade have an opportunity to apply to travel to Japan as ambassadors for our Sister City Association. The Boy was chosen. And then they needed chaperones and I was chosen. As it is an educational trip, they like sending teachers as chaperones.

The down side of this trip is that we need to pay for it. The association estimated $2500 per person. This fee includes: airfare, host gifts, special shoes, the price of passports, and association dues and fees. We have already paid for our passports, and all the association fees. And on the plus side, we were able to purchase our airfare for $500 less than the price they quoted us. That brings our total cost down to $4000 (for both of us) or less. And, as I said, we’ve already paid for many of the expenditures we are expected to pay for.

Our cost does not include ground fees. These are estimated at $4800. These fees pay for hotels on both the frontend and backend of our trip, traveling fees such as trains and buses, and food costs. As a group, we are expected to fundraise at least this much. Anything above and beyond this will be refunded to us in equal parts after our trip.

Although fundraising is not my favorite thing, I like the idea of getting to lower my cost by doing so. Our group has come up with some really good ideas. We have already done a Krispy Kreme fundraiser which raised $1200 for us. We plan to hold a dinner at our local Elks Lodge. We will sell tickets to the dinner and hold a bake sale there. We have a wine and paint night planned. Our last big fundraise is a community rummage sale.

In addition to all the “big” events, we have plans for dinner nights out where part of the proceeds benefit our organization. We are having small raffles, both at some of the events and as a stand alone fundraiser. The last major fundraiser we are doing is a letter drive. We plan to send out letters to friends, family, and local businesses we have an association with asking them to sponsor our trip. Through all these things we are hoping to raise enough money to cover all our ground fees and then some.

In years past, participants have gotten as little as $0 back and as much as $1400. To defray our costs out of pocket, I’m hoping we fall somewhere in the middle.  I would be happy if we got about $700 back. Because both my son and I are going, we would get $700 each, or $1400.

Financially, Japan is not the wisest decision, however I do believe it is a once in a lifetime trip. We will not be charging any of the trip. All of our expenses will come out of our savings account, which is both wonderful and scary. I’m pleased we have the money in savings to cover the trip, but a little nervous about how much it will be depleting our savings. Going forward, we will have to work on being more diligent with our spending so we won’t need to dip into our savings.

Honestly, I debated whether or not to share about the trip on my blog. I know it’s not a good financial choice, but I also believe in being honest about where we are and where we are going. So, Japan. Don’t judge.