Jump to: gear
& cost intro | more details
| airline
tickets
We think of our expenses in several categories:
1) transportation (flights, trains, buses, ferries, rental
car, etc.)
2) daily expenses (accomodation, food, activities)
3) splurges
The main culprit in the transportation
category is air travel. For details on this, see our section
on airline
tickets. After we arrive somewhere, sometimes we just
stay put - this is obviously quite cheap in terms of transportation.
Sometimes we take buses and/or trains from place to place
within a country - that still doesn't cost much. Sometimes
we fly internally. That costs more. Infrequently, we also
rent a car. When we do this, it's quite expensive. Sometimes
it can make all the difference, however, in seeing more
things easily. All told, our transportation expenses come
to about $1000/month, on average.
For daily expenses, we try to keep to
about $100 US/day for the two of us combined. Still, our
costs fluctuate greatly, mostly depending on location. For
example, daily living in Vietnam and Bangkok is much cheaper
than Japan or Paris. A lot cheaper. So we spent a bit less
time in Japan, and we stayed in as cheap a place as we could
find. On average, we have kept below our $100 budget.
Every couple of months we splurge on something
(e.g., staying in a nice hotel for a night or two, or taking
a helicopter or balooning trip). This can throw off the
price of a country disproportionately. In general, splurges
usually cost somewhere between $300 and $500.
So all told, our actual cost is just shy of $4,000/month.
Here are a few of the ways we keep out costs to a reasonable
level:
 |
- Long-term rentals: We can usually get a cheaper
price for a longer-term stay. In Cape Town, for example,
we rented an apartment for the whole month. It cost
us less than $1000 US, which helped subsidize our rental
car. |
|
|
- Accomodation location: We try to stay somewhere
that has easy access to the things we want to see/do.
This means that we can walk instead of taking a bus
or a taxi. Sometimes, obviously, proximity can increase
cost, so we try to strike a balance. |
|
|
- Kitchens/eating in: As mentioned above, we often
rent a small apartment instead of a room. If we do rent
a room, we look for one with a shared kitchen, or at
least with a shared refrigerator so we can cheaply prepare
our own meals. Once in a while we stay in a hotel, but
usually these cost more, not to mention having the least
do-your-own-food facilities, so we're also forced to
eat in restaurants (or unattractively out of a grocery
bag). Note that in some places, like Vietnam and Turkey,
eating out is cheap enough that we didn't worry so much
about having a kitchen. (Note: if you're traveling solo,
renting apartments is probably not cost effective; look
for rooms with shared kitchens instead.) |
|
|
- Breakfast: On a related note, we almost NEVER eat
breakfast out. We figure out some way to buy our own
breakfast even if we have no facilities - a yogurt and
some Muesli usually does the trick (but don't forget
to keep a spoon handy). |
|
|
- Picnics: Even if we're not eating in, we often use
the grocery store or a local market to get cheap food
and set up our own picnic. |
|
|
- Tourist attractions: We don't do them all everywhere
we go, no matter how famous or "must-see"
they are. Sometimes they're expensive, so we choose
what we'd like to see carefully to avoid overspending
our budget and burning out on sightseeing. (Note that
in some countries attractions cost much less, so we've
learned when to skimp.) |
|
|
- Staying with friends/family: We're calling in favors.
We're going out of our way to visit friends and family
that are living somewhere interesting (of course we
make every effort not to overstay our welcome). Even
staying a few days helps with the finances, not to mention
being fun! |
We are absolutely certain that we could survive on considerably
less (many people do). For comfort reasons, we have decided
not to, but it wouldn't have been difficult. The big things
to change, if you need to spend less, are:
|
- Go to cheaper places. |
|
|
- Go to less places. |
|
|
- Take buses and/or trains instead of flying. |
|
|
- NO rental cars: They just cost too much and gas
is like gold these days. |
|
|
- Stay in hostels, or cheaper accomodations: This
is easy. If you're willing to stay in dormitory-style
accomodations or camp, you can save a fortune. |
|
|
- Buy and cook your own food: Try to stay in places
that have a communal kitchen so you can cook for yourself. |
|
|
- Seriously limit (or eliminate) splurges. Duh. |
Hopefully this is helpful to all you aspiring (but not
necessarily wealthy) world travelers out there!
Jump to: gear
& cost intro | more details
| airline
tickets
|
