So How Much Did Our Trip Cost?

So the post that many of you have been waiting for:  How much did our year of traveling with 2 kids really cost?  Well the dust has finally settled enough for us to do the final number crunch (being the daughter of a Chartered Accountant, I can be a bit obsessive about number crunching).  The results surprised us.

First of all, I want to clarify how we came to our numbers.

Throughout our trip, we diligently recorded 99.9% of all our expenses using an app on our iPod Touch called ‘Expenditure’.  We did this because we were curious ourselves what story the numbers would tell.  The app was really easy to use, you could customise your own category labels, and best of all, you could export it all in Excel format by email to yourself.  It can keep a running total, a monthly total, and a category total all at once. On past trips, we used the paper-and-pencil method, but this was ‘cleaner’ and much easier to use and to interpret the data.

We then compared our total as recorded in Expenditure with our actual bank records for ATM withdrawals (our primary means of accessing money), credit card transactions and we also took into account cash we started the trip with.  The results were surprisingly accurate, with the Expenditure amount being $200.02 more than the actual bank records.  Not bad.

Also in the months prior to our departure, we purchased many of our flights, as well as paying for costs such as travel insurance, home insurance, and stuff we thought we’d need for the trip (clothing, etc).  Spreading it out over time and while we were still working allowed us to ‘absorb’ these costs so we didn’t really factor them into our ‘daily budget’ figure.  Nevertheless, they are still part of the ‘cost of traveling’ and these items have been included in the ‘Expenditure Statement’ table.

Excluding our pre-trip expenditures, we had aimed to achieve a daily budget figure of $50 USD once we got underway.  This figure was based in part on our previous travels, factoring in extra for the kids. This figure would be for all four of us and would include everything from accommodation to food to entry fees to ice cream to water and toilet paper (although we did get a bit sloppy with the water entries).  Extra flights (ie to Canada for Christmas as well as our flight home to Australia) also needed to be purchased, which would be in addition to this figure.

We had hoped that our expenses during our trip would be around $35,000: $18,150 for daily expenses plus pre-trip expenses and ‘additional extras’. 

SO HOW DID WE DO??!

Our total expenditure during our trip was $24,591.32, which worked out to $67.74 per day.

When you add the pre-trip expenses, the over-all cost of the trip was $46,678.08, for a daily budget of $128.59.  

This figure surprised us, at first anyway.

     

EXPENDITURE STATEMENT
Total Days Traveled		363
Total Spent DURING 363 days		$24,591.32	based on actual ATM withdrawals, credit card transactions, and cash on hand; versus *total as recorded on 'Expenditure':  difference of $200.73
PLUS Pre-Trip Expenses:
+Total FLIGHTS		$10,374.76	19 flights, including rtn Hong Kong to Vancouver (4ppl) @ $4576
+Travel Insurance		$1,406.00	Southern Cross Travel Insurance for 4ppl, coverage in SEA/India only (not Canada)
+Home Insurance		$1,510.00	Building Insurance for house, and contents insurance for items in storage (Suncorp)
+Vaccinations (pre-trip)		$506.00	the balance were completed in Thailand ($453.88) and India ($147) and included in their costs; total vaccination expenditure=$1,106.88
+Passports		$565.00	2 Adults (10yr expiry), 1 Child (5yr expiry) only
+Pre-trip Gear		$463.00	including 3xLonely Planet Guide Books (purchased used)
+Interest		$5,806.00	re our Line of Credit
+House Rates		$1,456.00
ACTUAL COST OF TRIP		$46,678.08
Daily Average		$128.59

SO WE WENT OVER-BUDGET?

Yes.  SEA and India were much more expensive than on our last visit in 2003.  And Sri Lanka and the Philippines were more expensive than we'd hoped they would be.  

We also purchased 2 new cameras and a laptop along the way.  There  were the hospital expenses too (which have been recovered through insurance).


And our trip to Canada to spend Christmas with family and friends cost us $8,096.27 (but also included the cost of a new DSLR camera and laptop).  Mind you, had we not gone to Canada, we still would have incurred some cost for that same time period, where ever that may have been.  

So really, we didn't do too bad given our original optimistic estimate of $35,000.

Country No Nights Total Expenses,       In-Country Daily Average Living Costs Visas/Departure Tax (4pp/) Bali 25 $1,969.52 $78.78 $185.00 Cambodia 43 $2,423.49 $56.36 $120.00 Hong Kong 6 $767.86 $127.98 $0.00 India 82 $3,934.27 $47.98 $219.00 Malaysia 32 $2,382.75 $74.46 $0.00 Philippines 19 $1,078.50 $56.76 $55.80 Sri Lanka 27 $1,674.60 $62.02 $0.00 Thailand 75 $4,583.87 $61.12 $0.00 Vietnam 29 $1,697.12 $58.52 $180.00 Vancouver, Canada 23 $3,520.27 $153.06 $0.00 overnight plane 2 Totals 363 days $24,032.25 ($77.70/day) + $759.80 = $24,792.05 Totals per Bank  $24,591.32

Here's Some Examples of Our Costs In Each Country:

-Room and Food costs are total per day for 4 ppl
-All other costs are total spent during entire time in country

Country	Av Room	Av Food	Bottle Water**	Attractions/Entry Fees	Travel Costs	Metro/Bus/Taxi	Hire Car Expense	Computer Use	Note
Bali	$34.32	$24.27	$15.97	$46.46	$0.00	$24.05	$220.28	$0.00	both visa and departure tax required
Cambodia	$17.86	$21.63	$13.20	$135.50	$242.75	$73.00	$34.75	$0.00	taxi costs include Angkor Wat tour; Misc includes Visa x 6@$20
Hong Kong	$47.92	$17.91	$0.00	$29.90	$0.00	$90.45	$0.00	$0.00
India	$17.67	$15.88	$19.35	$227.65	$150.85	$83.65	$50.20	$30.25
Malaysia	$20.64	$20.22	$0.00	$23.35	$114.70	$180.22	$0.00	$2.35	includes new camera ($451) & hospital expenses ($374)
Philippines	$18.72	$24.95	$1.15	$33.05	$139.20	$26.05	$0.00	$0.45
Sri Lanka	$21.43	$21.79	$21.95	$215.00	$55.00	$80.45	$0.00	$19.10	includes Yala National Park Safari ($100), refresher dive (x2 @$50)
Thailand	$17.13	$16.64	$17.93	$123.41	$466.99	$147.58	$164.03	$6.11	includes vaccinations $453.88
Vietnam	$15.66	$14.17	$10.52	$393.20	$149.53	$14.80	$69.20	$0.00
Vancouver, Canada	$0.00		$0.00	$157.90	$0.00	$15.00	$32.50	$0.00	stayed with relatives (no accommodation, minimal food); purchased new camera and computer
*Sample Expenses; other expenses include massages, toilettries, personal purchases/clothing, and gifts
**Figures not exact (approx 75-100% of actual) So there you have it.  Maybe it could have been done cheaper, but if you've been following our blog, you'll know how we travel.  Mostly due to the kids and the fact that we have 4 people in 1 room, often sharing a bed, we tended to get a double room with air conditioning at guest houses or 1-2 star hotels.  When traveling through a country, we'd primarily use the local bus network although sometimes we took the trains too.  In a town and when possible, we hired scooters/100 cc motorbikes to get our family around; otherwise, we took the local bus, shared taxi, and occasionally hired bicycles.  We also walked ALOT.  As someone put it, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being homeless and 10 being Beverly Hills, we were probably a 4.5.  Our style before kids was probably more like a 3. What surprised us most was the final figure but once it was broken down, it was pretty much what it should have been.  The other thing that surprised us a lot is that our perception of a country and that often it's 'value-for-money' wasn't necessarily the reality once you looked at the numbers. This is where the figures don't lie or get distorted like perception!  But we do have terrific memories of our year away--well worth it!  The value of travel with children is unmeasurable. So what do you think?  Feel free to ask if you have any questions about our numbers. We'll have more tips on how we actually financed this trip coming up soon...stayed tuned.