May budget and final trip costs

Deena here with one last budget report. Everyone wants to know what the whole trip cost; so here are the numbers:

Our May average came in at $144 per day.  We were in the very expensive New Zealand and the supremely expensive Hawaii.  All hotels in Hawaii were free except for a $30 per day resort fee that is unavoidable.  We did everything we could think of to lower our costs in Hawaii, but we still spent more than we intended.  Hawaii certainly lives up to the hype, and we want to go back as soon as possible.  We need to take more money next time.

We visited 25 countries

Flew 38 flights

Stayed in 18 hotel rooms, 1 hostel, and 51 Airbnb homes

5 car rentals, 3 trains, 10 ferries, 9 buses, and countless subways, taxis, ubers, and trams.

The monthly average ranged from most expensive at $145 down to $90, which was our cheapest month.

We started with a budget of $45,000 and came home with $6,000.  Our entire ten-month adventure cost $39,000 for a family of four, not much more than the cost of a new car here in the US.  Our daily average came out to $33 per person, $17 less than Nomadic Matt’s How to Travel the World for $50 a Day, the book that started all of this.

When we created our monthly budgets loosely based on conditions in the area we were scheduled to visit, we still had no idea how the figures would work out even though our research was thorough.  It was a big thrill to sit down every night and write down the actual expenses we incurred during the day and see the numbers come in under budget almost every time.  Even on days when we blew up the budget on a big excursion like Petra or Hobbiton, we knew we could make it back up in a short time by sticking to our usual routines.

In conclusion, I would say the whole trip was easier than I thought it would be.  Once we had a few days under our belt, I saw that we could keep our expenses under or at budget.  Once we had a few months under our belt, I could see that the other shoe was not going to drop, and we did not experience any catastrophes that could have sent us home.  We basically lived like the locals and were able to see the sights that we always wanted to see, and surprisingly, we did it for less than we spend at home.  Now, off to plan our next adventure…...