145: We Took the Kids to Europe Instead of Summer Camp. Part 5 of 5: Nürnberg, Germany

Welcome Back And Europe Setup

Jessica 0:00

Welcome to the Sugar Daddy Podcast, where we help you build a clear financial plan so you can feel confident and in control of your money. If you are an OG, welcome back. So glad to have you. And if you're new here, we're so glad that you chose today to listen to our podcast. This is going to be a special little mini series. We just got back from a month, almost a month in Europe. And we're going to tell you all about it. And we're going to tell you a little bit about how much we spent. We went to four different countries across four weeks as a family of four. So let's get into it.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Sugar Daddy Podcast, yo. Learn how to make them pockets grow. Financial freedoms where we grow. Smart investments, money flow.

Jessica 0:46

Welcome to the Sugar Daddy Podcast, where we help you build a clear financial plan so you can feel confident and in control of your money. We are in the last leg of our European adventure.

Brandon 0:57

The last leg and the longest part.

Jessica 0:59

Yes, we were in Nuremberg, Germany, which is where I was born and raised. And so it was extra special to be able to bring my family, my husband, my kids, to the place where I grew up, uh where I still have friends, where I still have family. And it was just a big heart hug.

Brandon 1:19

No, it was because the funny part is, even though you're from there, like I didn't do a bunch of research on Nuremberg.

Jessica 1:25

Yeah.

Brandon 1:25

I mean, in my mind, the only thing I know of is like the Nuremberg trials. Outside of that, didn't really do any research on it.

Jessica 1:31

And Nuremberg is known as a very beautiful city.

Brandon 1:35

It is a very beautiful city.

Jessica 1:36

And so we were like walking in one of like the main parts of downtown, and Brandon is like, it's really pretty here. It's like, yeah, no kidding. Like, there's whole books about it.

Brandon 1:46

Yeah, I just I just didn't do any research. Yeah. I was like, I'll just get there and we'll do it.

Jessica 1:52

It showed. But it was it was really special. We took the train from Amsterdam to Nuremberg. Um, it was about three-ish hours, uh, give or take. And um, based on the recommendation of my Dutch friend, he said, you know, get a first class seat. So we got first class, and I think it just gave us a little bit more space, more space for our luggage. And um, it had air conditioning, even though it didn't feel like it had air conditioning. But overall, it was a very smooth ride, and um, it got us to Nuremberg. We stayed in a very popular area. Uh, we were within, I mean, what, 400 meters of like getting into downtown?

Brandon 2:37

You know, I don't know meters.

Jessica 2:40

I mean, we were we were three blocks from downtown. Um, and we were in a really great position to just walk around. We had stores where right where we needed them. We had bakeries, we had we had everything we needed.

Brandon 2:53

Duner.

Jessica 2:54

Duna, which is very important. If you know, you know. And it was lovely. It was hot.

Brandon 3:01

Yeah. Once again, the heat wave and record highs while we were there.

Jessica 3:05

And it was brutal. Again, our Airbnb did have air conditioning, which is great. It had it in our bedroom and the upstairs area. It did not have it in the living room, not in the kitchen, not in the bathrooms. So sometimes it felt like there wasn't any airflow, but at night, at least we were cool. I will say, shout out to Brandon. We were on the fifth floor, no elevator, and he had to bring all the luggage up and down. And you hear fifth floor and you're like, that's not bad. But at the end of the day,

Nuremberg Stay Heat And Tradeoffs

Jessica 3:35

when you've already walked 15,000 plus steps and it's a hundred degrees and you have no AC in the stairwell, oh, at the end of the day, our kids would be like, This is the hardest part of our whole day. All right, we just got to get through it. And we'd all like give ourselves a pep talk because it was rough.

Brandon 3:51

Yeah, I mean, it wasn't the ideal scenario of lugging, you know, our four, our four large suitcases, and then plus my mom's up the stairs by myself.

Jessica 4:00

Yeah, he was like, it was the first day when we got there. I was like, I'm so sorry. But and I this is what I said, right?

Brandon 4:08

That's why she brings me. She does the planning, she does all the planning. I carry the heavy things.

Jessica 4:13

There are trade-offs, right? It's like you could have an elevator, but maybe not have AC. You could have no AC, but you know, have something else that you need. Like I prioritize AC over an elevator, which and also location. And location.

Brandon 4:29

Location was a big thing. Yeah.

Jessica 4:30

So unless you really want to spend an arm and a leg, you can't have an elevator and AC and prime location without a price tag. And so, and again, when we booked this, there were not record highs. It was supposed to be, you know, mid 80s at the at the peak of heat, and that's not what happened.

Brandon 4:49

So I mean, it wasn't a big deal at the end of the day. Yeah.

Jessica 4:52

The Airbnb was, I thought, super cute. We had kitchen, we had bathroom downstairs, our bedroom was downstairs, nice size living room with a sofa that technically pulled out into a bed, and then you would go up a little spare spiral staircase, and you had a queen-size bed in the loft that had an air conditioning unit, little hallway, really nice size bath, a whole other like kitchenette area, um, and a living room, and then another room that had a curtain, not a door where our kids slept. So we had plenty of space. We weren't on top of each other. I think, especially in a trip of this length, you do not want to be on top of each other. Like you need space to spread out.

Brandon 5:32

And like the place was like I said, the place was extremely nice and it was very convenient, uh, conveniently located to everything that we would need, even just simply, you know, going across this the way to get groceries and stuff like that.

Jessica 5:43

Yeah.

Brandon 5:43

The uh subway and bus stations were real close.

Jessica 5:45

Yeah, I mean literally across the street, the subway, which was so great. And then again, we're at the right at the beginning of downtown. And so we would come out of our apartment, take a right, walk five minutes, and you were like literally in the heart of downtown Nuremberg. It was so beautiful.

Brandon 6:00

This was the longest part of our trip. So we were there for what, nine days?

Jessica 6:03

Yeah, I think nine days.

Brandon 6:05

Okay.

Jessica 6:05

Yeah. And it was great because a lot of those days we spent with friends and family. We actually had fam friends come in from Poland. Um, for those of you who've been around, you know that I worked in 2015. Um, I opened an international office. I lived in Poland for about six months, and we still have friends from there. I went to Lisbon last spring and they came to Lisbon. So I saw them last year, but Brandon hadn't seen them um in a while. And so they came down, which was really nice. Yes, they brought their kids. We had our kids. One of my other friends, she's technically Polish, but lives um in a different state in Germany. Um, Germany has 16 states, for those of you that don't know that. Fun fact. And so she lives in a different state than where I was born and raised. Um, and she lives there with her son, and so they came and it was just so nice, all of our kids together. And yeah, even though you know they don't speak the same language, like kids are kids and they will figure it out and they'll have a blast, you know.

Brandon 7:08

Because um their kids, you know, speak Polish, but don't really speak English.

Jessica 7:12

Yeah.

Brandon 7:12

Obviously, our kids don't speak Polish, but you know, you figure it out.

Jessica 7:16

You figure it out. They're they're fine. Um, and it was just it was so nice to have them together. And then I still have childhood friends there as well. And so it was really fun to do the things that I remember doing growing up. Like we took the kids to Playmobil Land, which I just remember as a core memory. Like, if you know anything about Playmobil, um, I think it's a great toy for imagination. And our kids still play with the Playmobil that my brother and I had growing up. It's at my mom's house, and they will spend hours just building towns and cities, and they'll be like, here's the school, and here's the zoo, and here's the fire station. And so I really wanted to take them to Playmobil Lund. They loved it. Again, it was a hundred degrees. It was just brutal. Like we just we powered through, we did all the things, but it was very hot.

Brandon 8:04

It was I would say, at least there, there was a lot more shade.

Jessica 8:06

There was a lot more places to sit in the shade, and there was a lot of water activities that they could do.

Brandon 8:11

So we went there um with one of Just as good friends that I've known since I was five. That she grew up with, and he uh him and his wife have a daughter that's around Aston's age. Once again, she speaks German, doesn't really speak English. Aston, you know, speaks English, but they played for hours, and they figured it out a great time.

Jessica 8:29

And it was amazing about kids.

Brandon 8:31

Like that's one of the things that's so amazing about kids is like you take kids that you know typically can't communicate in the same language and they just figure it out. Yeah.

Jessica 8:39

If if adults could be more like that, the the language of play is universal, you know. So it was just that really just was so special to me to like bring our families together. And you know, you look at each other and you look across the table at your friend. That like I remember Sebastian and I, like our the first movie we watched together in the theater was Lion King, which when did that come out? Like 91. Okay. But like to think, and now we're sitting here with our spouses and our kids, and like it's just so nice, you know? And so it was just really special to do those things. We saw my godparents and my cousins, and um And this is my first time meeting that entire side of the family.

Brandon 9:21

I had never met any of her, you know, her uh out because her mom is the only one that moved to the US, so everybody else was still in Germany. I had never met any of them.

Jessica 9:29

Yeah, my uncle, my aunt is still there, my godparents, my cousins, and so it was just a really nice time. So we got to spend the day with my godparents.

Brandon 9:38

They live in a multi-generational house that um it's very interesting to start to see like the difference in how like families live together in other places compared to the US.

Jessica 9:50

Yes. And so my cousin, her and her family um have the top two floors, and then my godparents are on the bottom floor. And in the basement, they actually have a swimming pool, which was great. So the kids got to swim, and our kids were like, What? You have a pool in your house, you know.

Brandon 10:07

So I think they said the house was built in what, 1973?

Jessica 10:10

Something like that. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, it's just, and my godmother's in-laws uh built the house like, you know, from scratch. And so it's it's just a really special place. Again, nobody has air conditioning in their homes.

Brandon 10:25

Yeah, that was the one thing. No air conditioning.

Jessica 10:28

So you're like sitting, you know. I remember we went to the Greek restaurant in town and we were all just like sweating. Like we were eating lunch and we're like, it is what it is. You're just sweating, you're uncomfortable, it's not cute, and you're just like, how have they not figured out how to put like an air conditioning unit in this place yet? It's just so ridiculous.

Brandon 10:44

Or

Reuniting With Friends And Family

Brandon 10:45

at least just fans.

Jessica 10:46

Yeah.

Brandon 10:47

To at least move the air some.

Jessica 10:49

Oh, and I almost forgot. So we so my my godparents live like outside of the city, and so we took the train to get closer. You know where I'm going with this. I know exactly where you're going. We took the train to get closer to their part of town so that they would come and pick us up so they wouldn't have to drive all the way into the city. Anyways, got on the the train, everything's fine. Brandon goes to the bathroom on the train. And basically, long story short, we're at our stop.

Brandon 11:24

We one, I thought we had one more stop to go before we were getting off. And I said to her, I was like, Oh, we have one more stop to go. And she would and just she would have to.

Jessica 11:33

I agreed because I was, yeah. So that was incorrect. We that was our stop. And so I see my cousin, she's there with her daughter, and they're like waving and excited to see us. And I'm like, oh my gosh, Brandon's in the bathroom. What do we do? So I basically shoved the kids off the train and I'm like, go with Tanya, it's fine. And so I stay on the train because obviously I wasn't gonna just leave Brandon.

Brandon 11:57

And so I mean, you also could have just called me. We had our phone and said, Hey, Brandon, get off at the nest out.

Jessica 12:02

It would have been it was better that we were together. So, anyways, we get off at the next stop. My cousin Tanya drives to the next stop, but instead of going over the bridge to get to the train station, because there was no signage that's like train station this way, we go up this massive hill.

Brandon 12:16

I would like to point out that I said that we should probably go over the.

Jessica 12:19

He did, he did, and I was so irritated that I was like, no, we're just gonna go this way. And so we went up the hill, and I was just like drenched in sweat afterwards, and I was so ticked off. And I was like, this is all your fault. I'm so angry. And again, it was a bajillion degrees, and so anyway, every everything was fine. She found us, I dropped a pin, but I'm like, all of this in the heat, we did not need this. We did not need the massive hill in the heat.

Brandon 12:49

He knew me. I'm kind of yeah, it happened.

Jessica 12:51

Yeah, he was like, Oh, it's fine. Like, we gotta just do what we gotta do. And it was I was annoyed. Sometimes when he's that nonchalant about things, too, then I get even more annoyed because I'm like, I want you to be just as annoyed as I am right now, and this is your fault because you just had to go and pee because you couldn't hold it. Anyway. So Germany was great. Um, we spent $2,118 on our Airbnb. I think for the time.

Brandon 13:19

Yeah, because we were there for a significant amount of time.

Jessica 13:21

For the time and what we got for space-wise. And I mean, it was so cute. It was really nicely done. I think that was great value, especially for the location, for the size and location and the amount of days. I think it was eight nights, maybe. Um, I think it was a great value. Would highly recommend the um owners were very communicative. One of the air conditioning units upstairs was dripping water. And so we let them know like it was still pumping out air, which we were grateful for, but we were you had to put a towel and a bowl underneath, and they had it fixed a few days later, and communication was great. So highly recommend. But Nuremberg, Germany, if you've never been, it is a wonderful city, lots of history. It's very walkable, especially when it's not 100 degrees. Um, it's very beautiful and it's a good like central point where you could easily go. You can go to Munich quickly, you can get to Frankfurt pretty quickly. Like there's you can hop on a train and get to lots of different places without much effort. And I think that's great.

Brandon 14:26

Yeah, because like I said, once again, part of this trip was like, hey, where could we potentially move to overseas? And obviously, one of the places we wanted to check out was because it'd be the easiest, would be Germany, because the kids and Jess both have dual citizenship, so that'd be a lot easier of a move.

Jessica 14:43

And there was a lot of things that I speak the language, of course, and we have friends and family there.

Brandon 14:47

So that'd be the easiest place to move to to at least start out bare much.

Jessica 14:52

Right, to see where we would want to be. I think our daughter's very motivated to learn German. Um, they loved it there. I think to, you know, you think about if you make a pros and cons list, like even if the pros quote unquote outweigh the cons of making such a big international move, you still realize you're giving up your community. You're you're giving up your friends and family. And so to move somewhere where I'm not saying that we would get together with my friends every single weekend because everybody's busy, they all know.

Brandon 15:22

Yeah, because we don't do that here in the US. Right.

Jessica 15:23

But at least you have people that you could rely on. You can tap on the shoulder, you can ask for support, ask for help, recommendations. Um, I think that does help.

Brandon 15:33

And I also think that it was very easy when like for myself and the kids meeting all those people and family for the first time, it didn't feel like the first time. Like after a few minutes, yeah, it felt fine. Like it wasn't like, oh, like these people still feel like strangers. Like, no, like after like, you know, 30 minutes, didn't feel like strangers at all.

Jessica 15:52

Yeah. Yeah, it was really nice. I'm so glad that the kids got to meet my uncle and my aunt, and um, we ended up flying out of Munich because again, points and miles, and we did not have typically I like to fly Lufthansa.

Brandon 16:05

Well, we're so while we're so while we're in while we were in Nuremberg, like some of the things we did, like we did walk up to what's that castle?

Jessica 16:13

The Imperial Castle of Nunes.

Brandon 16:14

The Imperial Castle. And we didn't get tickets for that, so that was free.

Jessica 16:17

Yeah, no, you can do I mean you can pay to walk into the castle. You could also pay to go to De Tiefe Brunnen, which is like the deep well, and they'll do a demonstration of how I think it's like 59 meters deep, which is very deep, and they'll like you know, put water in it, and then you listen for how long it takes for the water to hit the bottom. And that was 113 steps up. And we were like, do we want to do this?

Brandon 16:43

Yeah, because with the kids, it was hot, and once again, like it was like the little Yeah, the tiny little stairwell. Because I mean, I think the castle was built in like the 14, 1300s, something like it started. So maybe even earlier than that.

Jessica 16:55

You read the sign. I don't know.

Brandon 16:56

Yeah, I forgot.

Jessica 16:57

It was it was it's beautiful up there. You get a nice view. There's a cafe up there. We sat, we had breakfast, we had cake. Um, you know, you could have a beer up there, an Aperol, some ice cream. Like, it's nice. You should go. It's also right, like you're walking down, like in the main downtown area where like the Glockenspiel is, and then you go.

Brandon 17:18

Can you explain to them what that is?

Jessica 17:19

The Glockenspiel is a um like a bell, a bell performance from the church, but there's like little characters. There's a clock. The clock.

Brandon 17:31

Like a bell tower.

Jessica 17:32

Yeah, at the bell tower. There's like characters that come out of the clock and like do a little thing, and um, you can look it up online, but we have a Glockenspiel. I think Munich's Glockenspiel is actually much nicer, and I wanted the kids to see it when we went to Munich, but it was torrentially pouring down rain, which was such a bummer. So we didn't do that. But you can do the Glockenspiel, it happens at noon

Train Stop Mistake In The Heat

Jessica 17:55

um every day, and it's like in the center of downtown, and then you literally just walk up to the castle.

Brandon 18:03

So yeah, and the public transport once again, the public transportation there, easy to navigate, um very affordable.

Jessica 18:10

Buses, very affordable. We also went to um the history museum of toys, yeah. Um, which really we were just trying to get out of the heat.

Brandon 18:21

Yeah, it was our as one of our friends from Poland were there with their kids, and we had already the previous day, we'd gone to the pool, the public pool.

Jessica 18:28

The public pool.

Brandon 18:29

Which was an experience in of itself.

Jessica 18:31

Yes, Brandon's never been to a pool like that. So it's like multiple pool spaces. They've got like one really big kind of swim lane pool, then they've got one pool that has like the diving boards that go up to like 10 meters high. Then they have like the pool with like the big water slides, and then they have more of the like kitty pool area, but it was packed.

Brandon 18:52

Yeah, you could tell him a suburban kid who grew up in a pool in his backyard. Yeah. I'd never been to a spoiled. I'd never been to a public pool where there were so many people.

Jessica 19:00

Well, and it was so hot, right? So that everybody was like, this is the only thing we can literally do. But I will say again, as we It was still very nice. It was very nice. And so, like, you know, you could have you could have a schnitzel and a beer there, you know, like that was the interesting thing.

Brandon 19:17

They serve alcohol there.

Jessica 19:18

They serve alcohol in glass.

Brandon 19:20

Yeah, I was also very interested about the glass part because everyone here in the U US knows that you're not allowed to have glass around your pools. And like you talk to people there, they're like, we're just not idiots. Yeah. Don't go to the don't go into the water with your glass.

Jessica 19:31

It was, yeah. He was like, What? They're gonna hand me the bottle. And I was like, Are you gonna drop it in the pool? Like, or are you gonna be okay? So it was hilarious. Um, it reminded me of when one of our friends uh spent a month in Slovenia and had sent a picture, because in the town square, like in the evening when they did they basically did like a cocktail party, and she sent a picture and she was like, Oh my gosh, I just got my cocktail in a glass in the middle of downtown. Like, where would you ever get a glass? You know, and it's like, who wants to drink a nice cocktail out of a plastic solo cup? Like, not me.

Brandon 20:04

I feel like a rattler in like a 40.

Jessica 20:07

Yeah.

Brandon 20:08

So those who don't know what a rattler is, it's like a light beer mixed with like lemonade, which is delicious.

Jessica 20:13

Yeah, it's so delicious. And and the funny thing is in most of Europe, you know, the one of the big differences is when you're at a restaurant, they don't just give you water. Like you don't sit down and you don't get a big glass of water.

Brandon 20:25

You gotta pay for it.

Jessica 20:26

So if you want water, you have to order it. They'll ask you still are sparkling, you know, how big of a bottle of water, and then you're paying for it. Well, in most places, and let's just stick with Germany, you're gonna spend six euro on a bottle of water and you're gonna spend $450 on a radler. So guess what we're drinking with dinner, not the water. Um, same thing with like, you know, an Aperol. Like you can in lots of places you can get like an Aperol spritz for six or seven euro when a bottle of water is gonna cost you that. So, like, you know, it's not it's not a cheap thing. And so most of the time you just end up drinking a beer or wine or something like that because it's so expensive to drink water.

Brandon 21:04

But everything else is reasonably priced.

Jessica 21:06

Yeah.

Brandon 21:06

As far as like when we're getting groceries and eating out, I would say it was pretty reasonable.

Jessica 21:11

And if you're not eating out in the middle of like the heart of downtown, correct, then it's gonna be reasonable to be able to do that.

Brandon 21:17

Because then you get away from the tourist area.

Jessica 21:18

Yeah, if you're in a tourist area, they're obviously gonna attract the price a little bit more. Yeah. But the back to the pool, it was an experience because it was so hot and it was like everybody and their mom was there and it was packed.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Yes.

Jessica 21:31

But the kids had a great time, they loved the water slides, and it was fun. But so then the next day, it was it felt even hotter.

Brandon 21:39

It was hotter, I believe, the next day. And that's why we did the toy museum.

Jessica 21:43

We gotta get out of the sun. Like we're just we were all just so beat from just walking around and being in the sun. And so we went to Das Spiegelzeug Museum, which is like the toy museum, but it's really about the history of toys.

What It Cost And Why It Worked

Jessica 21:55

So there was like, for example, there's one room where Brandon was like, I'm not going in there. Because it was like all the creepy old dolls.

Brandon 22:02

It's like all creepy, like old Annabelle dolls. I'm like, nah, I'm good.

unknown 22:06

Yeah.

Jessica 22:07

And then they had like old doll houses. They had like the Game Boy and the Atari and like all those kinds of things. They had it kind of sectioned off by like trains and automobiles, and then like, you know, dolls and play calls.

Brandon 22:19

Also, some time period kind of.

Jessica 22:21

Yeah. They had like all the history of like the spin top, even. I mean, it's pretty cool. And it was air conditioned.

Brandon 22:27

It was a nice little room where like they had like a uh Super Nintendo setup. So I was playing uh Super Mario Bros. I think two or three with Roman on there.

Jessica 22:37

Yeah. But again, it was air conditioned. They had a cute little cafe outside. I will say, so I think for the children's museum, I think the kids got in free. And I think we together was like maybe 15 euro. The pool as a they had like a family, a family ticket. So going to the pool was 12 euro and 40 cents for the whole family. Um, again, going up to the castle is completely free. If you wanted to go into the castle and then do the the deep well, I think it was maybe 12 euro for an adult. Um so again, very affordable to actually like do things.

Brandon 23:16

And then like the food at the pool is affordable too. Like I've been to other pools where like the food wasn't as good and they charge you more.

Jessica 23:23

Yeah, and even like the alcohol was the safe price, right? It was like $4.50 for an hour.

Brandon 23:28

And it was like the bottom. Like a like a 40-ounce basically.

Jessica 23:31

Yeah. So which is nice, right? It's like, okay, you get to actually go and do things and you don't have to spend an arm and a leg. Because in our very first episode where we announced, hey, we're going to Europe for the summer and we're going to be doing our summer rewind, like I was kind of recapping how much tickets were for certain things. And if we went to one of our um museums here in Durham as a family of four, it's a hundred dollars to get in. You know, so it's it's those things are like when I took Roman to Monster Jam, the parking, the parking was $45. And that was buying it ahead of time. You know, it was like it's that's the kind of stuff where I'm like, this is getting out of control. Like going to the movies. When we went to the movies in Charleston, our two tickets just for the movies, we ordered them online to Devil Wears Prada 2, was $39.98, wasn't it? It was right under $40.

Brandon 24:23

Right at $40.

Jessica 24:23

So for two people to go to a movie.

Brandon 24:25

And this wasn't like the fancy movie theater with the reclining scene. It was like a regular movie theater.

Jessica 24:30

Yeah. But that wasn't that wasn't with drinks, that wasn't with popcorn, that wasn't with anything, anything. And so it really does feel like we're getting so out of touch with like what things should cost. And how do, you know, regular families do anything here? I mean, it's crazy. I mean, even I saw something recently about um, you know, how parents who are like, oh, my son's on the football team or on whatever. And it's like, now I still I have to pay for the program, I have to pay for the uniform, I have to pay for this, I have to pay for that, and I have to pay to go see him every Friday night, you know? And it's like, or our friends that have kids in gymnastics or dance, it's like, oh, I have to spend $15 to go and watch my kid perform when I'm already spending thousands of dollars a year.

Brandon 25:14

I mean, it's just Yeah, I thought that part was crazy about the dancing. I was like, now I have to pay to get into a saddle after paying for them to dance.

Jessica 25:22

You should at least get a parent ticket. I mean, it's crazy. And then we were talking to my cousin in Germany, who when we were talking about how much it costs for like Roman to do soccer or asked him to take sewing lessons, and she was saying that for the whole year for her family to join a club, it's like under $250 or euro.

Brandon 25:40

It was $200 for 200 euro. I think it was for the family. I don't even think individuals for the year. 200 euros for the year, and they have access to everything that is offered there. So gymnastics.

Jessica 25:52

And it's like volunteer led, but like gymnastics and tennis and tracking.

Brandon 25:56

The soccer that we pay for is volunteer-led. Well, that's yeah, that's because we're like I said we paid this upcoming season for Roman that's gonna be starting soon. I think we I paid like $175. And what is it, like in a weeks? And I'm the one coach in the team.

Jessica 26:11

Right.

Brandon 26:12

So it is this one is still volunteer led because I'm not getting paid.

Jessica 26:16

It's just getting crazy. It just really feels like to do basic things, to take your kids to the movies, to take them to the zoo, to take them to a museum. Like it just feels like it's why is it cost so much? Yeah. I'm like, I'm over it.

Castle Transit Pools And Toy Museum

Jessica 26:30

I'm over the cost of everything being so extreme here. And like clearly there are ways to do it differently. Like we went to four different countries. We did, I don't feel like during Barcelona, Paris, we'll leave Disney out, Amsterdam or Germany. I don't feel like we missed out on anything that we wanted to do because we were like, ooh, that cost is a little too high.

Brandon 26:52

No, like if we decided not to do something was purely off the basis of us not wanting to do it, or we didn't know what we're doing.

Jessica 26:56

Because we really had something. We almost every single day of every country we had something to do where we were meeting somebody or we had a ticket to do something. Yeah. We tried not to do more than like one official thing a day, but like we did all the things we wanted to do.

Brandon 27:12

Yeah, the only thing that was like, oh, I don't think it the cost makes it is worth it, was at FC Barcelona to pay the additional 80 or 90 euro to get in to see the actual field.

Jessica 27:21

Right. And then even like at the castle in Germany, we just didn't want to walk up the 113 steps.

Brandon 27:26

It wasn't the price.

Jessica 27:27

I was like, cause cause our daughter had counted the steps to get up to our apartment and it was like 64. And I was like, we're gonna be almost doubling that. Like, do we want to do that today? And the kids were like, nah, we're good. So if the kids are not, you know, on board, it's like you're not gonna force them to walk up 113 steps to come down. And no, oh my gosh, especially not in the heat. No. So, all in all, like Germany was fantastic. I'm so glad that I was able to bring the kids. I'm so glad that they got to meet so many of our friends and family and do some really like nostalgic things. And I know it sounds simple, but like even Aston Eating, it's called like Dreim Vegle, which is like three little sausages in a roll. Like you can go anywhere downtown and order that from like a little sausage booth. And I will say that has gotten more expensive, you know. It's they're now 450. They used to be like three euros. Um but for her to like grab one and actually like it, and if you have kids and you know how picky they are, like that's that's significant in and of itself because you're like, what am I gonna feed my kids every day? But to be able to like buy my kid something that I used to eat as a kid and her be like, Oh my gosh, I love this. And then she really had one like every day, or us eating Duna and me like explaining to Brandon, like, no, you really have to kind of eat them all over town because they're all a little different and they have different sauces, and like you think they're all created equal, but they're not. Like, even that, and then you know, you having Duna and being like, Oh, this is great, like, yes, of course it's great. It's Duna, you know? So even those little things are just they're so nostalgic, and that was so special. And I'm not gonna say like Germany was my favorite part of the trip because I really loved Paris, I really loved Barcelona, I loved seeing our friend in Amsterdam, but it was just different because it was so special.

Brandon 29:20

Because it was going, I mean, we finally got to experience where you grew up.

Jessica 29:24

Yeah. And then even, you know, like I'd never been to Germany before.

Brandon 29:28

Well, none of us uh the myself and the kids had never been to Germany. I'd only been there for like layovers, which doesn't really count.

Jessica 29:33

So right. And even then, right? Like just remembering that you can go to a park in a foreign country and like that's a free activity, and your kids will probably have a great time. Well, yeah.

Brandon 29:44

We went to a park one uh one evening. Yeah, and Roman started playing soccer with some kids, you know.

Jessica 29:50

And he was like, Are you gonna be here tomorrow? And we were like, Oh, we have dinner plans and so's but it was it gave me hope of like, okay, if we did move here, like we just need to hang out at the park and meet some parents and be like, okay, can we come back to the park this weekend?

Brandon 30:03

And I mean, and even taking it back, um, you know, bringing this up, when we were in Paris, we were at a random park and you know, sparked up a conversation with the uh with the uh same-sex couple that the one the uh the one man was from the US, but like had gone to college there just stayed.

Jessica 30:23

He was like, Why would I ever leave here? Yes, I know. Well, and that was a super cute park with like the big sail uh pirate ship or whatever. Yeah, so like find parks wherever you're traveling, especially if you're in Europe, because there's some really great parks, and just like let that be the afternoon activity. Yeah, you know, find the parks, and that way, you know, your kids couldn't find somebody to play with.

Brandon 30:45

The same thing happened when we were in Barcelona.

Jessica 30:46

Yeah.

Brandon 30:47

Out of the park, and the little kid was like, You want to play? And then we were played for a little bit, and he's like, We gotta go now. It's like you're gonna be back tomorrow. Right. I think that's what he said. He said he was speaking Spanish. So it's in my mind, that's what it felt like.

Jessica 30:58

Yes, like he was like, Come back tomorrow. I know it's just those interactions really, I think, kind of warmed my heart to be like, okay, this we could do this, you know, like we would be okay.

Brandon 31:09

So I I I never had any doubt only because, in the sense of you grew up, you know, uh um overseas. I I would say for an American, especially, I did a decent amount of traveling at a young age. So we're, you know, I think we're flexible in the sense of being able to do that anyways.

Jessica 31:25

Right. Yeah, I think I we're definitely gonna start having some conversations around what does that look like? We obviously are homeowners, we have two cars, like there are there are logistics that we would have to take care of. Um, this is not gonna be an overnight decision. We would obviously want to look at international schools and things like that as well, and then really figure out like, besides the cost of living, is this something that we would want to do? And like, how will it affect our family? So, but stay tuned. The adventures

When US Family Fun Feels Overpriced

Jessica 31:55

continue. Um, I think it was money well spent, and I have no regrets. I think the kids absolutely had the best summer ever. They learned a lot, which I think is also great and notable. Like they learned so much about different cultures, different countries, and different people and how people live and her different languages and getting used to the traveling part of actually traveling.

Brandon 32:20

This was the longest flight that they'd been on. Yes, especially when we came home. It was almost a 10-hour flight.

Jessica 32:24

Yes, that was a lot. And then because we use points and miles, we flew from Munich into Charlotte. Um, so we still then had another three-hour drive home in a rental car, which was a lot. Like that that day was long, but they did it. Now we know they can. We only had one little breakdown with our son who was getting a little hangry on the plane.

Brandon 32:45

Um, he turns into a demon when he's angry.

Jessica 32:48

That's a little extreme. But yeah, is it he he did break down? I mean, yeah, listen, there's still kids. It's not it's not perfect, you know, but it was it was absolutely more good than not.

Brandon 33:00

Oh, we definitely. Yeah.

Jessica 33:01

I mean, like money well spent.

Brandon 33:03

Most of the time for most trips, especially when it comes to all of us going together, especially in places we ha maybe haven't been, we're more than likely we're not gonna, you know, regret doing it because like it's an experience in so many different aspects.

Jessica 33:16

Yeah. And it was so again, fifty-three hundred dollars for our accommodations. Um, flights were points and miles, so we only paid the taxes, which let's just say $5,300 was for our for our portion. Yeah. Yeah.

Brandon 33:30

All the countries.

Jessica 33:30

And all the countries. And then we probably spent less than a thousand dollars in total for all flights for the taxes. Um, and then we took about right under 800 euros in cash. We did not come back with very much cash, and then I don't know what we spent on our cards, but whatever it was, it wasn't excessive. It was really just on food and drinks at that point. Yeah. Um, and even our kids had been earning some money for souvenirs and things, and then my uncle gave the kids money, my godmother gave the kids money, like so. They got to buy the things that they wanted, and so we didn't spend a lot of money on things for them. Yeah. Um, obviously, we spent some money getting ready for the trip. Like Brandon and I bought ourselves new book bags and we bought like rain jackets for the kids.

Brandon 34:18

And I think the book bags were like 40, 45 bucks.

Jessica 34:21

Yeah.

unknown 34:21

Yeah.

Jessica 34:22

Nothing crazy. Nothing crazy, but if you're interested in any of the Airbnb links, let me know. If you have any questions about, you know, the book bags that we used or like any other travel kind of recommendations, like just reach out.

Brandon 34:35

We I did buy well, we both bought, but like I bought a new pair of like running shoes because I didn't have a really good pair of running shoes. So if you're gonna go on a trip like that, the walk, make sure you have a good pair of comfortable shoes.

Jessica 34:47

And we bought new shoes for the kids and let them break them in like a week early, and you know, little things like that that I do think made a difference. Um, but we we were pretty conservative when it came to what we bought there, and not in a way of like, oh, we're trying to like hoard our money, but just like if we didn't need it, we didn't buy it. And if we wanted it, we bought it.

Brandon 35:07

Yeah, because the biggest thing was like if I could get it at home and it was gonna be around the same price, what's the I don't need to buy it there.

Jessica 35:14

Yeah, because then you're just schlapping it around too. So anyways, I can't believe we pulled it off. You know, the spreadsheet, my four tab spreadsheet was like you you planned the trip.

Brandon 35:25

That was all you were the MVP of that because I was not a part of planning any of this.

Jessica 35:29

I be in the You just was the passenger princess who carried all the luggage.

Brandon 35:33

Yeah.

Jessica 35:34

Um, but no, it was it was great. If you, you know, want the list of where we stayed and and the links and what we did and what we recommend. Um, just reach out. We're happy to send you any of our information.

Brandon 35:48

Um just as a wealth of knowledge when it comes to trip planning. I always say like this could be a career for her. She's but she's like, I don't want to do it for anybody else other than our family.

Jessica 35:56

If I'm not going on the trip, I'm not doing it. No. I've actually had other people reach out recently on social media to be like, this is your calling, like you should do this. And I'm like, I only want to do this for my family. I do not want to do this for anybody else.

Brandon 36:09

So I've never been on a trip with Jess where I was like, ugh. Also at that point, I couldn't even say it if it was true.

Jessica 36:16

Well, yeah. If I want to say maybe I mean, I will say, like, I like nice accommodations, and you know, there were certain things like we needed a washer in every place because we did again the that saved us because half the clothes we couldn't wear because it was too hot. Yeah. So we were really wearing the same five things on repeat, you know, and so we were

Moving Thoughts Budget Recap And Wrap

Jessica 36:35

as a family, A, the washing machines are so much smaller in Europe. So we were really doing a load of laundry every day at that point. And then if you don't have a dryer, which we didn't in most places, then you're hang drying the clothes. So you have to give it a day or two for them to dry. So we were just really cycling through, you know, so towards the end, you can see you're we're just wearing the same clothes.

Brandon 36:56

That's why I had the same clothes on in all the outfit and like in the same outfit on in a lot of the pictures, is because we didn't have a lot of options at the time.

Jessica 37:03

We we didn't, yeah. It was too hot. We it the heat wave took over, and we had just a few things uh to wear that needed to just be washed and hung and washed and hung over and over again. So but we made it through. I think it was great. The kids had a great summer. Um, and I'm already kind of like, ooh, could we do this again next summer? And could we do like Greece and Croatia and Italy and Slovenia or you know, Turkey or like there's just places where I'm like, oh, I could do this again. So we'll keep you posted, but we'll we'll see. I think if we end up moving to Europe, then those could be just easy weekend trips too. Very much uh for even less money, which is very important to us. So if you have any questions, definitely reach out. And hopefully you have enjoyed our little mini series of Europe. Um, and yeah, we will talk to you again next week. Don't forget, Benjamin Franklin said an investment in knowledge pays the best interest. You just got paid. Until next time.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

Sugar Daddy Podcast go. Learn how to make the pockets grow. Find mental freedoms where we grow. Spot investments, money flow.

Jessica 38:16

Thanks for listening to today's episode. We are so glad to have you as part of our Sugar Daddy community. If you learned something today, please remember to subscribe, rate, review, and share this episode with your friends, family, and extended network. Don't forget to connect with us on social media at the SugarDaddy Podcast. You can also email us your questions you want us to answer for our past the sugar segment at thesugardaddypodcast at gmail.com or leave us a voicemail to our Instagram.

SPEAKER_01 38:48

It's very important to do your own analysis before making any investment based on your own purpose or states.