February introduced our first country entry fees (thank you Argentina) as well as the start of our amazing Antarctica adventure (hence the delay in getting this post out). For the month we spent $2,240 but since there are only 28 days in February our daily average was the highest to date at $80. We actually expected to do much better this month since we had prepaid for our Antarctica trip which meant that 6 nights of accommodations and meals were already covered. However, some unexpected expenses drove the total up: $280 in entry fees for Argentina, $150 in VERY well-earned tips for the Expedition staff ($300 split between February & March), and over $250 in clothing expenses (rental and new clothes) needed for Antarctica. While we could not avoid these charges, it sure was a big hit to our monthly expenses.
Total Spending through Feb 2011: $8516
Overall daily average: $56.77
Expense Breakdown
Lessons learned
- Buy alcohol in grocery stores when possible - alcohol can quickly blow your daily budget, especially at bar prices. For our cruise to Antarctica we carried 6 bottles with us onto the ship and saved over $75. We did buy wine on the ship, but it was nice to save a bit of money. Of course we could have just not had any wine, but what that would just be silly.
- Learn the bus system - when we first got to Lima we took a cab home one evening. The cost of that one cab was 10 times the cost of the bus/combi. Once we figured out the system we used only local buses and combis to get all over town.
- Buy groceries more frequently, locally if possible - while in Lima we shopped almost daily in local shops and grocery stores. By shopping frequently we only bought what we needed ensuring we did not waste any left over food. Plus, since we only walked to shop we got great exercise…especially with all the wine.
March is sure to be interesting as we wrapped up our Antarctica trip and are gearing up to take a long boat trip…details coming soon. As always, thanks to the team at BudgetYourTrip.com which we use to track all our expenses and help in the reporting process.
About Warren
Year long boat trip? Does this mean no chance to meet up again in Mendoza?
Unfortunately, we are going to miss you in Mendoza this time around. However, if you are heading to Europe then we would love to share a pint or 2 with you. Anxious to find another great bar to spend an evening enjoying.
Yeah, the entry fees are something I’m looking into for where we travel..we’re still thinking of Chile but for Canadians (and Americans) it’s like $150 each or similar; apparently it’s a ‘reciprocity fee’ because the Visas for them to come here are just as bad…sigh.
If you are like us, you will save far more than the entry fees on the cheap wine here. We are doing our best to make up the difference as fast as possible by consuming our share of $4 Argentinean reds. I am shocked at how good they all are and the prices are amazing.
Are these spending figures correct? I thought it cost you guys $10k to go to antartica?
Hey Rob,
Good question. You are correct that the total price was a bit over $10,000. We wrote about this in an earlier monthly update and our decision to exclude these from the figures. We paid for the Antarctica tour before we left for our RTW trip and paid for the entire thing using separate funds that we earned as part of our website development business. As a result we decided to exclude the trip cost from our RTW expenses.
I’m surprised that your monthly budgets are so low. We are budgeting about 50K for our RTW. We’ll be gone a year, though hopefully longer if the money lasts. It is a pleasant surprise to see that your most expensive months are about $2400, but that doesn’t include plane tickets, does it?
Kim, you are going to love the prices in most of South America. Of course, Chile and Argentina are more expensive so if we had stayed here longer you would see the total climb to $3,000. However, I certainly believe you can do this continent on less than $36,500 for a year.
The total amount here does not include flights since we bought our initial tickets and flights to Ushuaia since we bought these with miles. However, all the fees and change costs are included.
Kim, I’m curious to know where you’re going on your trip. I personally think 50k is more than enough. Our year was around 25-30k. Warren and Betsy’s budget is very realistic in my opinion. Like he said, you’ll love the prices in South America (and in many other parts of the world.)
I don’t have a RTW trip planned any time soon (although would love to do it!) but these monthly updates are so useful. I do plan to visit South America in the next year or so (but only for a month or so at a time) so this is helpful for budget planning. Thanks guys!
Glad we could help. We do our best to provide as much detail as possible in hopes it will help you in your planning. As you get closer let us know if there is anything we can do to help.
One suggestion, check out Kuelap and northern Peru. The experience is amazing and the site will blow you away.
fantastic information! thanks a ton, warren. these budget details are extremely helpful.
by the way, our house is being rented (not sold) and we start out on the road june 1st, 2011. first stop, most likely, an apartment in vienna for 30 days. however, that’s fluid, but thanks to you guys in large part for providing part of the template.
happy travels, and if you’re in europe over this summer, chances are good we could cross paths.
sincerely,
russ
Russ,
Glad to know that sharing these details is valuable. As it happens we actually are going to be in Europe this summer. We will be announcing the details later this week on the blog. We would love to get together while we are both there and do a bit of wine tasting!
Oh Warren, I love charts and this post made me really happy! I keep a detailed, very detailed, spreadsheet of all my spendings during my trips abroad. People make fun of me sometimes but it’s a great way of keeping track of my spendings and what I can cut back on should I need to make my budget last longer. Thanks for sharing a bit of your geekiness with me!
Connie, happy to fly my geek flag anytime! I find that my penchant for Excel is not shared by all so knowing that there is at least one other person that understand how fun it can be is very good to know. I actually look forward to the end of each month just to use Excel more and try out new charts and the much beloved….pivot table. Oh the fun I have;)
Glad to hear you guys made it back to solid ground…and now you’re going back on a boat! Can’t wait to hear all about it.
Keep well and keep posting!
Hey Rhonda,
Wonderful to hear from you. We are happy to be able to relax a bit from our travels and get caught up on some projects. Plus, we have a lot of work to do to get ready for a LONG boat ride. We will be posting later this week all about the boat trip and sharing the exciting details.
I just found this blog, and I must say that posting this budget is such a great idea! It makes the whole thing seem more do-able. I think it’s really awesome that this blog is basically an in depth look at taking “baby steps” by breaking goals down into small parts. I’m really excited for you guys to have such an amazing experience!