Obama Vacations and Trips

Obama has traveled to 41  countries from January 2009, when he took office until now--July 21, 2011.
Obama to 41 Countries

41 countries in 31 months!  Keep that in mind when you hear that other presidents took as many trips or more because we are just a little over half way through Obama's FIRST term and already the Obama's have spent upwards of $18 million on trips and vacations.  Of course, most people realize to count a trip as a "business" trip, one must only do SOME kind of "business" on that trip.  Even if it's just reading a teleprompter for 15 minutes.

Does a  pattern begin to emerge in all these travels?  It seems to be a very strange coincidence that whenever some major event happens in this country, Obama is either getting ready to leave or is already out of the country. Another odd thing I discovered while researching this article was that the cost of all these trips is not being disclosed.  For much of my research, I had to rely on comparative costs based on the trips that OTHER presidents disclosed and then try to adjust a little for inflation, since gas alone has gone up 30%.

When considering the cost of a presidential trip, some things are not commonly considered.  Like the price of the planes carrying Obama's vehicles, sometimes even a helicopter, the people who drive them and fly them, the Obama staff which ranges from 30-100 people depending on if they both go together and of course a huge contingency of Secret Service agents, including the ones sent in advance to set things up.  Naturally, all these people require accommodations and meals for the duration as well.  So when a president takes a trip, there's a little more to it than just hopping on the plane.  He practically takes a small city with him everywhere he goes, including reporters (who pay their own way of course).

Obama intercepts Military Supply Operations to use for his trip to Europe (April 2009) 

Obama decided to take his first trip to Europe at the same time as the military was ordered to do a major operation in Afghanistan and Iraq.  So the large delegation traveling with the president in Europe (where Obama hugged the Queen and apologized for Bush ad nauseum) required moving several transports, including jumbo C-5s and C-17s, from sorties ferrying supplies to Afghanistan to European bases for the presidential visit, said two military officials familiar with the issue.  It would seem that the whims of a president take priority over the needs of the troops.  But not to worry because private contractors were hired to take care of the troops. The final estimated cost of this trip, including the unnecessary use of private contractors to do the job the military was intended to do:
$ 2 million

The day after the shooting death of 12 soldiers in Fort Hood Texas, by what we now know was a Muslim extremist  Obama Takes 8 day Asia Tour (Nov 2009)   What was rumored to have been one of the most extravagant trips ever undertaken by a president, turned out to be slightly overblown, nonetheless it seems our president and his traveling companions enjoy the high life.
Estimated Cost: 2.5 million

 In December of 2009, Obama headed off to Copenhagen to encourage nations to work together to stop global warming (actually, it's just an excuse to create a global tax, but that's a different article) at about the same time it was being revealed at the University of East Anglia that the global warming data had been skewed and faked all along for political purposes.  Obama was also out of the country as the Democrat led Congress was trying to push through the massive and historical Health Care Bill, which is often referred to as "Obamacare".  Plausible deniability.
Estimated Cost. $675,000

When the  Gulf Coast Disaster hit, Obama headsed to Maine (Spring 2010)  for his vacation because every one knows he is under a lot of stress all the time. Video below.
Estimated Cost: $750,000

Then, what seemed to most like it came out of the clear blue sky, Obama decides to offer up our troops for the conflict in Libya without even asking Congress.  As soon as the US Enters Libya Conflict "O'Bama" jets off to Ireland (March 2011)
Estimated Cost: $550,000

On March 10, 2011 Japan is forever changed by an earthquake and tsunami of an epic nature.  One of our most important allies in the world is brought to its knees by a natural disaster and what does Obama do? 

Japan's Earthquake-- Obama and family do in Rio (March 2011)

Estimated cost: $1.1 million

In May  one of the single most devastating tornadoes in American history leveled Joplin, Missouri.  Did our president even do a flyover?  Why no, he was very busy in Europe, screwing up a toast to the Queen and embarrassing us once again before he had to hurry back to appear on Oprah Winfrey's final show.
Estimated Cost: $460,000

Some of Obama's Vacations:

(since Obama does not allow such things to be public, the expenses of these vacations are being estimated based on a per diem rate calculated from past presidential holidays, inflation and known behaviors of the Obamas "tastes")

4 days- Yellowstone/Grand Canyon August 2009

$750,000

Asheville NC Vacation Apr 2010
$525,000

Martha's Vineyard 2010

$825,000

Michelle Safari June 2011 
$800,000

Michelle Solo to Africa

Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard 2009 - $825,000


Upcoming Martha's Vineyard 2011

Earth Day Trip April 2011 

Campaign Trips

American Thinker Comments

Other trips:

• A four-day holiday weekend in Chicago in February where the president played some basketball and treated First Lady Michelle Obama to a Valentine’s Day dinner date.
• Estimated cost $200,000
• An 11-day stay in Hawaii where the president and his family celebrated Christmas and New Year’s Eve
• Estimated Cost $675,000
  

The First Lady and her extravagance. . . 

. . .came at a time when the economy was still struggling. One blogger went so far as to brand her a modern-day Marie Antoinette.
 New York Daily News columnist and blogger Andrea Tantaros likened the President's wife to French queen Marie Antoinette, who was famously extravagant with her spending.

Tantaros wrote: 'To be clear, what the Obamas do with their money is one thing; what they do with ours is another. Transporting and housing the estimated 70 Secret Service agents who will flank the material girl will cost the taxpayers a pretty penny.'


She accused the Obamas of hypocrisy for preaching the values of sacrifice and austerity to Americans while seemingly refusing to heed their own advice.


She said: 'Instead, Michelle Obama seems more like a modern-day Marie Antoinette... than an average mother of two.' 

A breakdown of one trip:

Averaging out the salaries of Michelle's personal staff (the ones I could find, seems some of those are super secret too), it works out to $197 per day, per staff member.  So if Michelle took just half her staff with her on this trip that would be 11 people getting paid on the average of $197 per day ($17,336) to be on vacation with Michelle

The exact cost of the trip is unclear as Mrs Obama, 46, and her friends are footing personal expenses themselves - which is just as well.
They paid for the 60 rooms booked at the 129-room Hotel Villa Padierna. With basic rooms starting around $620 each, the nightly bill will be no less than $37,270 ($186,350 for 5 nights). Meals will also be picked up by the Obamas and friends.

Whether or not the taxpaying American will be paying for meals, they will definitely be footing the bill for the First Lady's 68-strong security detail, her personal staff - and the use of presidential jet Air Force Two.

The per diems for the secret service team runs at around $280 each, which amounts to nearly $97,890 for the length of the summer break.


Use of Air Force Two, the Air Force version of a 757, comes in at $150,000 for the round trip. This does not include time on the ground.


Mrs Obama's personal staff, of which there are an unknown amount and who might cost considerably more per day, also have to be taken into account.


The American public will also cover the cost of the only official part of the holiday, a visit to the Spanish royal family on the island of Majorca.


This will involve transport there and back for the entourage - as well as travel, accommodation, food and expenses for all while on the island.


Conservative estimates already put the total cost at $244,695  With Majorca to come, the bill will be more like $407,825.
There have been trips to Los Angeles in June, a visit to the Florida's oil-hit Gulf Coast,  and a ten-day trip to Martha's Vineyard.

'It's the extravagance of Michelle Obama's trip and glitzy destination contrasted with President Obama's demonisation of the rich that smacks of hypocrisy and perpetuates a disconnect between the country and its leaders'



This is just one example of the way Team Obama takes advantage of the American Taxpayer.  A conservative estimate of the cost of this trip was roughly $472,000 for five days or $94,400 per day.  This was a medium priced trip for the Obamas and it did not include most meals or shopping expenses. Some of their other trips have cost more and others have cost less.  So just to give you an idea, for the purposes of calculating what they spend on "relaxation", I will be using $94,000 as an average per diem cost depending on whether it is one of them alone or both together.