Really, a family affair?

I just read an article on Michelle Obama's trip to Africa and she has with her, besides her 2 children, her mother and a niece and nephew. It seems she has spent quite a bit of time travelling around the world with her family and husband. I hope that the American people are not forking over the money for this extravagance and paying for not only her indulgence to travel but to also take along family members at our expense. I wonder if she is just using her role to take this opportunity to travel, one that she might not have done has her husband not been elected president. I also read where she demanded she stay in expensive places.