Millennial Money: Set financial limits for holiday visits

For many, visiting family for the winter holidays is a matter of “how,” not “if.” But this year, rising costs could make travel less affordable, especially when paired with other life changes — say, moving cross-country, going to school or getting married.

The best way to tame these holiday travel costs? Set financial boundaries with your family and friends early on. Having these conversations can be intimidating, but there are ways to make compromises that keep the holidays feeling special without derailing your goals.

ACCEPT THAT TRAVEL ISN’T ALWAYS POSSIBLE

As you add new commitments to your life, it can get hard to maintain the same holiday travel routine. Younger millennials may find themselves moving farther away from their families for job opportunities, like Audrey Peshkam, who moved to New York earlier this year from her hometown in Southern California to work for a nonprofit organization.

“For the first time, visiting my parents for Christmas is going to be a pretty significant expense,” Peshkam says. “If I stay in New York long term, I’ll have to justify the cost of a cross-country flight every year.” She hopes that as she progresses in her career, the financial strain will decrease.

Antoinette Myers Perry, who lives with her wife and dogs in the Washington, D.C., area and is currently earning her third postgraduate degree, has been balancing these trade-offs for over a decade.

“When I was in the early parts of my career, I couldn’t always afford to fly home,” Perry says. “Holidays also meant picking one parent and sibling over another, which was often a heartbreaking choice.” (Perry’s family is split across states.)

“Now that I’ve gotten older and established my own family, it’s even harder,” she adds, explaining that she now has to take into account her...