Budgeting for the Road

Money, money, money.

Money makes the world go 'round. Unfortunately, that is true. Need a car repair? Money. Rent? Money. Emergency trip home to see a sick family member? Money. Even life's most basic necessities require some sort of transaction. Traveling is no different. It seems like every decision we make will involve some sort of financial exchange, from breakfast to a bed to sleep in to watching the sunrise over the Pyrenees mountains. Managing your budget will be a daily (or more) endeavour.

But where to start? Maybe you are new to traveling or it has been a few years since you've been on a long trip, and you are not quite sure what to do about your travel budget. Fortunately, you are not alone. Every traveler before you has been through it, and one day you will be teaching new travelers yourself. While daunting at first, managing your money on the road doesn't have to be a stressful distraction. With a little bit of forethought and a healthy dose of discipline, you will be traveling on a budget with ease in no time.

Daily Budgeting: Micromanaging Your Money

Getting started with budgeting starts with you and your bank account. How much money do you have, and how does that line up with costs? Everything you spend money on will come down to this one limiting factor.

The best way to determine what you think your budget can handle is to look at your per-day costs. At home, people tend to think of things in monthly budgets. Rent, utilities, insurance, groceries, they are all dictated by our pay schedules at work. On the road, you have to get into the nitty gritty details. At home, you probably don't factor your $1,500 rent to be $50 a day, your $600 grocery budget to be $20 per day, or your $60 phone bill to be $3 per day. On the road, that is exactly how you need to think.

Depending on where you go in the world will determine what your daily costs will be. Spending 50 USD a day in Mexico will let you eat out every meal, check out cenotes everyday, stay in a super cool hostel, and maybe even get you a few drinks at night. That same budget in Germany means you will be cooking your own meals, staying at a decent to so-so hostel, and enjoying as many free things as possible. The same budget is going to give you vastly different experiences in different parts of the world for the same amount of time. Regardless of where you are in the world, though, you will still need to track and allocated each individual dollar you spend.

It can be a bit daunting (and stressful!) at first, but eventually micromanaging your money to this degree will become second nature. It is especially easy in cash-based countries, because you can physically separate out your money to make sure you don't overspend.

Accommodations: The Largest Daily Draw

The single largest expense (usually) on your daily budget is going to be your accommodations. Even if it isn't, where you lay your head at night will be a constant budgeting consideration.

Every long-term traveler is familiar with hostels. These are low-cost, single-bed accommodations that are famous for being cheap alternatives to hotels. "Cheap alternatives to hotels" being the operative clause here, because that is relative. If you want to stay in a good hostel in Paris in the summer, you're probably going to be paying 30+ USD per night to stay outside of the city center. If you only have 50 USD per day, that's a substantial investment just to sleep, not to mention the metro costs of getting to and from the things you want to see.

Couchsurfing is another option. Advertised as a free couch to sleep on for a few days, this can be a real money saver. However, buyer be warned, Couchsurfing is never truly free. To be a good guest, you'll end up buying or cooking your host a meal or paying for a few rounds at the bar to show your thanks. Depending on how it goes, you could come out the same as paying for that decent hostel.

The same story plays on repeat for other options. AirBnBs, staying at a friend's place, getting a hotel room, they all come with their own costs, not all of which are first apparent. When you're looking at your daily budget, really put some effort into where you stay and for how long. A little bit of research can go a long way to stretching your money as far as possible.

Moving Around: Handling Transport Costs

Traveling is great for your fitness, because you will put it in two-foot drive 90% of the time. That means you're going to be walking, and walking a lot. And that is great! But sometimes walking just isn't feasible, fun, or something you want to do in the moment. In those instances, you will likely turn to grabbing some sort of transport.

The good news is most of the world has decent transport of some kind. From collectivos in Mexico to trains in Europe to buses across Morocco, getting from point A to point B is typically pretty easy. The trick is to do it the cheapest way for your budget.

Something to remember when it comes to transport costs: easier/faster generally means more expensive. You can buy a metro ticket from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport for a few Euros, and it will get you into the city center. It'll take a bit longer than a taxi, but if you're not in a hurry and don't mind lugging your luggage on a train, it's a great option. That same trip in a taxi will easily cost you 70 Euros. It's faster, for sure, but you just blew all of today's, tomorrow's, and the next day's budget after you factor in accommodation.

Keeping with the Paris theme, let's say you got that hostel outside of the city center. Taking the metro in will cost you just under 2 Euros. Taking it back for lunch will cost another 2. And then you go back out, then back in for dinner, and then back out to see the city and night, and finally back for the night. That's about 10 to 12 Euros in transport costs for the day, which can be substantial on a shoestring budget.

This story will play on repeat throughout your travels, so it is important to think through how you'll get around. The more you are willing to walk, the less moving around will take a toll on your budget. Where that isn't a feasible option, opt for the longer, slower, cheaper option. You are traveling after all. Use the extra time to take in the sights, people watch, and enjoy living life like a local!

Food and Drink: The Easiest and Hardest Decisions

Everybody's got to eat, right? Right. You will eat a lot in your travels, so it is worth putting in some thought when it comes to your budget.

The budget-friendly option, of course, is to buy your meals and supermarkets and eat at the hostel. You can get decent-sized, good food for relatively cheap. Pasta, charcuterie, breakfast cereal, sandwiches, chicken, they are all staples of a true budget traveler's diet. At meal times, you will find hostel kitchens packed with people cooking and enjoying their meals.

But we all want that one experience. Liters of beer in Germany, sipping morning coffee at a French bakery under the Eiffel Tower, that Michelin Star meal in a random town in Spain, they are all things you want to experience. And that is perfectly fine! All these mean is you need to make decisions about where and what you're going to eat.

In Europe, the plentiful restaurants and cafes will be extremely alluring, especially at lunchtime when you're between museums. The sobremesa in Spain will drag on and on well into the night. A large morning breakfast in Casablanca will entice you to take a seat and enjoy it like a local. Nonetheless, you have a budget, and you need to stick to it. It is easy on the plane to say "I will eat every meal in the hostel to save money." It is much harder to actually do that when hunger calls and the hostel is a 20 minute metro ride away. That is why food will be both the easiest and hardest decisions you will make: easy to plan, hard to follow through. Every traveler has experienced this, so don't worry too much about it. Just have some self-discipline to pack your lunch and some snacks in your daypack before heading out for the morning, and you will be fine.

Immersing Yourself: Museums, Tours, and Excursions

So you finally made it to your destination. You've got a hostel that keeps you within budget, and you've got your lunch in your daypack as you drink your hostel coffee while scrolling through Instagram getting ready to start your day. You're ready to set off and see everything the influencers and vloggers have shown you. Get ready, get set, go!

Not so fast.

How's that budget doing?

That sounds abrupt, and it is. Better to see that now than in the moment! One of the worst feelings in the world is to finally get to somewhere you've always dreamed of seeing only to find that you don't have the money to get in. Like the rest of this article, we have all been there. The good news is, you can really stretch your dollar if 1) you are willing to make some sacrifices and 2) you do some research in advance.

For example: the Eiffel Tower. People love to dream about seeing the city from the top of the tower. It is an amazing view, for sure, but you know what isn't in the skyline from up there? The Eiffel Tower! From up there, you get a first-hand view of Paris's ordinance restricting building heights, so it is a lot of rooftops as far as the eye can see. To get to the top for this view will cost you 22 Euros if you take the stairs and 28 Euros if you take the elevator. Yikes! The nearby Arc de Triomphe, on the other hand, will cost you 13 Euros to see. Inside are exhibits showcasing the Arc's fascinating history, and the rooftop views show you the expansive city with roads radiating out in all directions and the Eiffel Tower in the background. At half the price, it is a great alternative to get the views and pictures you have been dreaming of.

You will find scenarios like this all over, and many of the cheaper, lesser-known alternatives will end up being some of the coolest parts of your trip. If you do some research, you'll find plenty of free options in many cities across the world (some are: first Sunday of the month museums in Venice, all museums in London, Deportation Martyrs Memorial in Paris, Topography of Terror in Berlin, Wednesdays at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Auschwitz after 16h30 everyday, and the Villa des Artes in Casablanca). There are also some online audio tours of city and museums that you can download to minimise your costs even more (the Rick Steves Audio Europe app is a must-have for Europe).

Excursions are something else to consider. Some of them are expensive tourist traps, but others are great budget-friendly options. A three-day Sahara tour from Marrakech will cost you 968 Dirhams (about 95 USD), and will include nightly accommodations, two breakfasts, two dinners, and transport. At 32 USD per day, that is pretty good for your daily budget! You can find trips like this all over the world if you do your research and are willing to get off the beaten path a bit.

Parting Thoughts

Budgeting is a difficult, but vital part of traveling, especially if you are on the road for weeks or months at a time. You will be thinking through money decisions on the road that are casual swipes of the credit card at home. From food to accommodations to enjoying the sights, what you do and how you do it will determine whether you blow your entire budget in one week or manage to stretch your one month trip into two or three. With a little bit of research and a healthy dose of discipline, budgeting will get easier and easier as the days go by. Eventually, you'll be just as good with money on the road as you are at home, and you won't even have to think about it.