After asking, “Where do we want to go?” the number one question about a Grand Adventure is, “How much will it cost?” I like keeping track of the numbers (it’s genetic) and I’ll share them with you, because I like to think it could be useful.
Okay, so the total was 25k. Whew!
| miscellaneous | 500 | postage, fees for border crossings and WWOOFmemberships |
| museum etc. | 1,250 | admission to museums, tours and sites like Petra |
| health/necessity | 2,000 | vaccinations, toiletries, replacement pants, warm layers etc. |
| extras | 2,000 | shopping for less-than-necessary things and gifts |
| hotel | 5,000 | hotels and hostels |
| food | 6,000 | groceries, restaurants and drinks |
| travel | 8,250 | airfare, trains, buses, and local transportation |
- miscellaneous
- Most of this was border crossings (visas and exit taxes) and the rest was WWOOF memberships ($120), phone calls and postage.
- museums etc.
- This was less than I might have expected. The largest costs were for windsurfing ($220), the guided day in the Sahara ($145) and three-day passes for Petra ($170). Those were also three memorable highlights!
- health/necessity
- 75% of this was on pre-trip vaccinations and travel insurance. In retrospect we didn’t need all the meds, because we didn’t WWOOF in Thailand or go far off the beaten path. As a quick public service announcement, hepatitis A is the most common vaccine-preventable disease among travelers. Don’t skip it!
- Between wearing things out and changing climates a lot, we had to buy a lot of new pants, sweaters, gloves, socks.
- The same Bausch and Lomb contact solution was about $25 in France and $3 in Malaysia…
- extras
- This was gifts and non-essential shopping. Almost half of it was on Jack’s tailored clothes in Hong Kong. They look great and hopefully they’ll last a long time!
- hotel
- When booking for two people, hostels weren’t much of a bargain and having a private room was worth the extra 5-10 bucks. Though we stayed at the low end of the price range, I did draw the line at bedbugs (Rome) and hotels with hourly rental rates in a country with legalized prostitution (Singapore).
- We spent 88 nights in Europe. 49 of them were on WWOOF farms or staying with friends, 3 were couch surfing, 3 were on trains, 2 were on planes and 1 was on a ferry. That left 31 nights of paid lodging that cost an average of $82 (62€) per night.
- The most expensive night was $177 for a last minute booking in Iceland when our first attempt at couch surfing was a disaster and everything affordable was booked. Reykjavik is a small town and there’s nothing else around, so book early!
- We stayed a week in Paris ($88 per night) and week in Florence ($83 per night) and in both cases they gave us nicer rooms than we had booked, maybe because we stayed a whole week. It was great!
- The best bargain was 6 nights in Istanbul for $34 per night. The breakfast was also tasty and consisted of more than just bread!
- For 13 nights in Morocco (Casablanca, Marrakesch, Essaouira, Rabat and m’Hamid) the average was $37 per night. It’s not as cheap as you might think, especially Rabat.
- In Singapore, we averaged $45 per night. Hong Kong cost $41 per night.
- Jerusalem was $44 per night.
- The cheapest lodging was in Kuala Lumpur for $18. Next was Jordan, where we stayed in Amman for $25 and in Wadi Rum (Petra) for $33 per night.
- food
- This way more than I would have guessed. Accounting for the time we spent WWOOFing, I estimate that we averaged $50 a day. If I wanted to be (even) more meticulous, I would have separate alcohol from food. In Europe, wine and beer were very cheap, but we definitely had some expensive, fortifying drinks in the Middle East and Malaysia. We also made a point of eating lots of vegetables and a steady supply of chocolate. Clearly the daily food cost in Europe was higher than this average, but it’s too much work to figure it out.
- We WWOOFed for about 10 weeks out of 181 days of the trip. When WWOOFing we usually did spend some money on food on the weekends.
- travel
- 70% of this was on airfare.
Consolation
If you’ll permit me a cliché, the trip was … priceless.
Nevertheless, I have two justifications for the spending. First, I estimate that the minimum we would spend in six months of regular life is about $16,000. Monthly that’s about $1225 for rent, $200 for zipcar and MBTA (transit), $100 for insurance, $500 for food, $200 for phone/internet/utilities and about $150 for shopping and events plus 1400 for four domestic flights. That means we spent $4,500 extra per person.
Second, I got a job, so we’ll soon be refilling our coffers!
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