2018 Expenses: Cost of Travel

As we mentioned in our 2018 year in review , we visited 9 countries, took 24 flights, 13 trains, 13 long distance buses, 5 ferries, 1 cruise ship and slept in 51 beds. How much did this adventure cost us in 2018?

All of our costs are included with the exception of health insurance since that varies so much based on age. We detail what health insurance is costing us here. That total for 2018 was $8700.

Note that we assigned costs when they were consumed, not necessarily when we paid for them. As an example, sometimes we needed to book an Airbnb, airfare, etc. months ahead of when we actually used the service.

A couple could travel, and certainly live, for less, because our travel included some tourist splurges (more in some countries), and we tended to eat lunch out quite a few days. Our accommodation costs were higher because we were using short-term rentals. In addition, we often spent a bit more to get certain creature comforts. A further way to reduce accommodation costs would be to house/pet sit.

Countries are presented alphabetically.

Summary by Month

As a point of reference, when living in San Diego and supporting the house, we had trouble keeping our monthly outflow below $6000 a month. If not for health insurance, we would have cut our expenses almost in half by traveling, which was one of our original goals. Part of the saving comes from embracing a somewhat minimalist lifestyle, and part from traveling in less expensive countries. For comparison, our 2017 average monthly expenses were $3306 so we did better in 2018 than we did during our first five months of travelling. For the details of 2017 expenses see here.

Summary by Country

Costs Breakdown per Location

Bosnia – 11 Days

Bosnia was the least expensive country that we visited this year, especially the city of Sarajevo.

Colombia – 21 Days

We ended 2017 and started 2018 in Colombia, so these are only the expenses incurred in 2018. The 2017 numbers are included in that year’s breakdown <link>. Colombia was a good value, coming in as our second least expensive country.

Croatia – 25 Days

The only reason that Croatia came in as low as it did was because we spent time in Zagreb, which was much less expensive than the coast and where we ate out less.

Cruise Transatlantic – 14 Days

While not exactly a destination, the cruise was our most expensive landing-place. We could have saved money here by forgoing wine, but what fun would that have been? It was also our transportation across the ocean.

Mexico – 91 Days

While Mexico might look relatively expensive, the numbers are skewed because we spent six weeks in resorts rather than apartments, and we spent so much time at the beach. The weeks we spent in the interior were much less expensive.

Poland – 20 Days

We were pleasantly surprised by the low prices in Poland. Especially considering that we stayed in the two most expensive cities in Poland, Warsaw and Krakow.

Romania – 39 Days

Romania was another pleasant surprise. This beautiful country came in amazingly close to Colombia, which we kept saying was so inexpensive.

Spain – 60 Days

We were surprised that Spain’s numbers came in as high as they did. Part of the reason was that we spent some of our time there in the most expensive cities, i.e., Barcelona, Madrid, and Seville. We also did a lot of travelling from one location to another, plus more activities that required entry fees.

USA – 94 Days

We spent more days in the USA during 2018 than we originally thought. Bear in mind that the USA numbers are skewed because we had almost no accommodation cost since we were either mooching off family and friends or staying in our seasonal rental house while it was vacant. If we put in a reasonable amount for the USA of $50 a night ($1500 a month), it would be our most expensive country.

International Transport

All costs for transport between countries are broken down here. If we took a train, bus or flew within a country it is included within the totals for that country.

Next up: Jericó, Colombia – A Refreshing Break from Medellin

Ian & Ann