On Track! (Sort Of): Our Budget After Asia

Photo by Josh Meister Photo.

Moving into Asia, we had spent more of our budget than we would have liked to, but were pretty much on par with what we realistically figured we’d spend in Europe. We thought Asia would be a cakewalk monetarily since we planned to spend a lot of time in Southeast Asia, a notoriously budget destination.

SEE WHERE WE’VE GONE SO FAR

Early in our time in Asia, we splurged a bit too much in Japan, because – Japan. How can you not? But we also went slightly over budget in China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam and Cambodia – oops. One of the challenges through Asia was food. There’s not a lot of Airbnbs in homes, most of the offering are small guesthouses, no kitchens included, so we had to eat out for almost every meal during our time there.

In Thailand, we came in right on target on budget, and then buckled down in Indonesia, deciding to stick in one general area during our time there to cut the transportation costs, and choosing less expensive accommodation options, even teaming up with another travel couple to share an Airbnb with a kitchen(!!!) so we could cook some meals. In addition to being economical, we had a great time with them. (You can find out more about Sam and Kip and their yearlong trip on their website.)

In total, that comes out to $19,627 for almost five months (19 weeks), which averages out to $1,033/week.

So we’ve got four months left – 17 weeks!, and $11,711 left in the budget, which allows us $689/week, much lower than before. We’re spending that time in Latin America, considered a budget-friendly region. Let’s see if that proves to be true and if we can whip our spending into shape by the end of this trip!

All images TM & © 2017 Josh Meister Photo and Shari Margolin (unless otherwise stated). Please don’t steal or “borrow” – just be cool, be cool.