How Much I Spent While Traveling

Transparency is cool and I want to be honest about where my money comes and how much I've spent since I left home. It can be a huge limiting factor on travel and I think by sharing this maybe I can inspire people to go on adventures of their own!! Numbers at the bottom.

Where It's From

My money is mostly accrued from working during my time in college and during summers. When I left home I had roughly $8000 in my bank account, with the idea that I would travel till it was gone and then find a money-making job.

How I Traveled

During my travels I partook in work exchanges through various platforms, including WorkAway and HelpX (others like WWOOF and WorldPackers can be good too). At those experiences I worked a certain number of hours per week in exchange for housing and food. In this way I spent very little money, occasionally buying things from local shops and spending money mostly on transportation. When I went to cities, I stayed in the cheapest accommodations. It was not glamorous, but I didn't care. For reference, not-glamorous looks like cold showers (if any shower at all), the occasional mouse/cockroach in the rooms (dorms of 8+ people), funny stains you don't want to look at too closely, and taking the cheapest transportation possible. I'd take two-day busses for $20 instead of a two-hour flight for $200. I didn't do certain main tourist attractions because they are expensive, and to be honest, most times they're not what interest me. Most of the time I would rather hang out and make friends with locals or random people than pay $30 to see a temple. That said obviously there are some things you really should see and I would go do most of those. Not all.

I drank cheap beer and ate street food at the risk of getting food poisoning, although I never did, which I don't take for granted. The closest I got was a stomach ache for a day after eating an egg from a street vendor in a village in Nepal. I went to one hospital in ten months and it was expensive, but as of now I think my travel insurance will cover it, or else I'm screwed. I learned to bargain, ate lots of instant noodles, and sought out the cheaper local food spots. I had one dinner that I consider really nice and it was like $15.

Budget

I am not a budget kinda gal. I know that some days I will spend less and some I will spend more, and that's ok. I trust myself to live my best frugal lifestyle and try to spend as little as possible most days, within reason.

Some people need to create a budget, but I can't really help you there because I don't know how. I'm sure there's plenty of resources on the google and the interweb.

I also want to once again disclaim my privilege. With an American or European passport you can get almost anywhere with little difficulty. I understand how hard it can be for people from other nationalities. What I've heard is that if you have a tough passport for travel, the best thing to do is to accrue travel experiences in the countries where it's not so difficult to go and you can build up a stronger passport that way. But all in all, it is simply unfair as all heck.

I wrote a blog post previously acknowledging the privileged space I occupy as I travel and I would like to relink that here. Everyone's experiences are different and I can say I worked really hard to do what I did. Anyway.

What I Spent

First, my travel is self-funded. I paid for my flights, my insurance, housing, food, etc. But I want to disclaim that when I went to Cambodia, it was to meet my dad and my sister and her friend as a makeup family trip from when it was canceled due to Covid in 2020. Because of it being a family vacation, I had few expenses out of my own pocket and won't count that in my narrative. I would not have gone there if not to meet my family, as it was very out of my way, and I wouldn't have experienced it in the same way because I'm frugal and wouldn't have spent the money. Anyway. Some places are more expensive than others. If you don't have a lot of money for travel you can go places where your money will go a long way as opposed to somewhere expensive.

I also want to add: being a woman in the countries I've visited can be incredibly difficult. That's a risk I had to assume and I understand that not all women want to do that, but it does factor in to my costs. Men did buy me drinks because I am a woman. But I try to pass it along even if I don't pay those people back directly. People have bought me a beer, I buy others a beer, it all comes around eventually. When I'm older I hope to be the type of old lady that travels and is young travelers' sugar mommy for a day, paying it forward.

Breakdown:

This website domain and storage for two years: $140

Travel Insurance for 1 Year (WorldNomads): $500

Mongolia

3 months

Flight Denver to Mongolia: $950

Visa: Free 90 days

Domestic Transport: $100

Accommodation: $100

4 Days of horse trekking: $150

Food/drinks: $213

SIM Card: $60

Other costs: $40

Total (not including flight): $976

Total (including flight): $1926

Daily Average (not including flight): $11.50

Daily Average (including flight): $22:67

India

2 weeks

Flight Cambodia to Jaipur: $350

Visa: $25

Domestic Transport (taxis/rickshaws/buses): $65

Accommodation: $31.90

10 days of block carving instruction: $35

Food/drinks/scams (aha...): $140

SIM Card: $10

Other Costs (gifts, things, etc.): $60

Total (not including flight): $366.9

Total (including flight): $732

Daily Average (not including flight): $26.20

Daily Average (including flight): $51.40

Nepal

6 months

Bus from Delhi to Kathmandu: $42.69

Visa: $473

Domestic Transport: ~$300

Accommodation: $230

Food/drinks: $800

SIM Cards: $40

Other Costs: $50

Dolpo 1 Month (transport, permit, housing, food, gifts to locals): $650

Langtang 10 Days (transport, permit, housing, food): $200

Manang 6 Days (transport, permit): $70

Total (not including treks): $1936

Total (including treks): $2856

Daily Average (not including treks): $11.38

Daily Average (including treks): $16.80

My Flight Home: $1100

My Income from Remote Work over the 10 Months: +$1681.62

My Grand Total Expenses for 10 Months of Travel: $7,254

Daily Average over ten months: $25.10

This post is in part to say: I financed this trip myself. I never asked anyone for money. I feel fortunate for these experiences and I recognize that the USD is powerful. I am headed to France with a 1-way ticket in July to look for a job. I choose to travel, I can go find a job when I need, and that's why my privilege is stark and I will not at any point ask for donations. If you have money that you would like to donate, I would like to redirect you to my friend Bunnet's fundraiser. Thank you.