Travel Tops Aussies’ 2026 Savings Goals – And That Says A Lot About Us

For all the talk about tightening belts and cutting back, one thing clearly has not moved off the priority list for Australians: getting away. New research from Money.com.au shows that almost half of Aussies (46%) are actively saving for a holiday in 2026, making travel the most common savings goal for the second year in a row.​

From a traveller’s perspective, this makes perfect sense. A trip is one of the few big goals you can map out, pay off and actually experience within a year – and that immediacy seems to be resonating far more than distant milestones.

When the Holiday Fund Beats the House Deposit

In the Money.com.au survey, respondents were asked what they are putting money aside for this year. The answers paint a very telling picture:​

• 46% are saving for a holiday
• 42% are building an emergency fund
• 35% are saving for retirement
• 26% are saving to buy a home

As someone who spends a lot of time watching how people travel and why, the ranking isn’t surprising. A home deposit or a bigger super balance is absolutely important, but both can feel abstract and painfully slow. A trip, on the other hand, has a departure date, a countdown and a set of images you can already see in your head.

Money.com.au’s research found it takes Australians about eight months on average to save for a holiday. That is a long stretch of saying no to little things – takeaway coffees, extra subscriptions, those “it was on sale” buys – but there is a very clear reward waiting at the other end: the moment you close the front door with a suitcase in your hand.​

Why Travel Still Wins, Even When Everything Costs More

Money.com.au’s finance expert Sean Callery summed it up neatly: most people can realistically plan, budget and look forward to an overseas trip within a year, and that makes it a powerful motivator even while everyday costs keep climbing.​

Seen from a traveller’s lens, there are a few reasons this rings true:

• Travel feels like progress you can touch. You might not own a house yet, but you can stand in front of the Colosseum, snorkel a reef or eat your way through a new city.
• The payoff is emotional, not just financial. A good trip resets your perspective. It gives you stories, connection and sometimes a much‑needed sense that life is more than bills and headlines.
• The goal is finite. You are not saving “forever”; you are saving for a specific itinerary, season or festival. That clarity makes the sacrifice easier.

In that sense, a holiday has become a kind of modern life marker. For younger Australians especially, travel milestones – first solo trip, first long‑haul adventure, first big splurge cruise – are starting to hold the same weight that buying a first home once did.​

Experiences as the New Milestones

What stands out in Money.com.au’s research is not just that travel comes first, but that it has now held this position two years running. This is not a one‑off post‑pandemic splurge; it is a deeper shift in how many of us think about “a life well lived”.​

Traditionally, big life markers were things you owned: property, a certain car, a bigger TV. Increasingly, they are places you have been and experiences you have collected. That doesn’t mean people have stopped caring about security – emergency funds and retirement still rank highly – but it does suggest Australians want their memories now, not only in some hypothetical future.

As a traveller, that mindset is easy to recognise. The conversations have changed. Instead of “one day, when I retire, I’ll go to…”, it is “if I plan it right, I can make that trip happen next year.” Money.com.au’s eight‑month saving window backs that up – the horizon is close enough to feel real.​

Turning a Dream Trip into a Realistic Goal

If travel is your own top priority for 2026, it is worth treating it the way Money.com.au’s data suggests many Australians already do – not as a splurge, but as a structured project:​

• Work backwards from a date. Pick a month that fits your work and family life, then give yourself six to twelve months of saving time.
• Give your holiday its own account. Automating transfers into a dedicated travel fund turns “I’ll save whatever’s left” into something far more reliable.
• Match the trip to the budget, not the other way around. An eight‑month saving window might fund two weeks in Asia, ten days in Europe or an extended domestic road trip – the key is aligning the dream with the numbers.
• Build joy into the planning. The anticipation is part of the reward. Tracking progress, building itineraries and learning about your destination can keep you motivated when the savings process feels slow.

Why Keeping Travel on the List Matters

It is easy to dismiss holidays as a luxury, but Money.com.au’s findings, and countless conversations with travellers, suggest something deeper. For many Australians, travel is the thing that makes all the other discipline worthwhile. It is the reason to say no to a few forgettable purchases, so you can say yes to something unforgettable later on.

In a year when the cost of everything seems to be up, choosing to prioritise a trip is not just about “getting away”. It is a reminder that life is allowed to be expansive, curious and joyful – even when the spreadsheet is tight. And if nearly half the country is saving for a holiday right now, you are in very good company.