It’s time for a second report on the nitty-gritty of my frugal budget. During the middle five weeks of my trip, I once again averaged well under my $500-a-week (about $70 a day) maximum. Here’s how it breaks down, including transportation costs this time.
Week 5, northern Peru: $457, with $88 for lodging and $253 for transportation, including a $91 flight from Arequipa to Lima.
Week 6, southern Colombia: $461, with $149 for lodging and $167 for transportation, including a $59 flight from Loja to Quito.
Week 7, Santander, Colombia(with friends Jon and Doug): $589, with $110 for lodging and $160 for transportation, including a $75 flight from Cali to Bogotá. (I’ve talked about this budget-busting week in a piece on traveling alone vs. with friends.)
Week 8, in Nicaragua (with my parents): $376, with $81 for lodging and $117 for transportation.
Week 9, Guatemala: $363, with $113 for lodging and $82 for transportation.
Overall, that totals $2,246, still $254 under budget. Over the total nine weeks, I’m still more than $700 under budget, and averaging $60 a day. Thank goodness – I may need some of that dough. During the final two weeks of my trip, I’ll be traveling through the United States.
(Notes: Not included in the total is an outrageous $500 flight from Bogotá to Managua that I was forced to take because no buses cross the Darien Gap from Colombia to Panama, and alternative routes by water simply took too long. Also not included is one night in an expensive new hotel in Colombia that my editors asked me to review for a non-frugal article that will appear this fall.)