Blog du Wren

Financial Recap of Europe 2022-23

Like I do, here is a recap of the cost of my recent trip to Europe. Overall, it was more expensive (per day) than many of my trips (for reasons we'll touch on below), but still quite reasonable. I share it here not only as an entry into this ever-growing data repository of my life, but also to perhaps be* helpful to others who might be looking to travel and want tangible financial data to help inform them.

A few notes before we get to data:

Money was harder to track this trip than previous ones. For one, Della and I used to keep a dedicated financial journal with every penny we spent traveling. I was tempted to bring that same journal with me this trip but feared losing or ruining it. As a result, my records are less precise.
Also adding to the "harder to track" column was this was the first trip I relied so heavily on my credit card. Bopping between 5 different currencies made this much more convenient. Online booking of lodging which I sometimes used PayPal with also led to more dispersed records.
I actively tried to penny pinch less on this trip, occasionally treating myself to hotels instead of hostels, public transit instead of walking, and indulging in food opportunities more than I have. That said, I'm still a super cheapo, but I'm less of a cheapo than I used to be.
For purposes of categorization, I split up the 7-day Danube cruise ($825 total) into lodging->45%, food->30%, transportation->15%, and entertainment->10%. This was the easily largest expense of the trip (outside airfare), accounting for ⅓ of [non-airfare] costs yet only being ⅙ of time. (I'm still glad I did it, though.)

Flights	$1233	Seattle->Krakow, Prague->London, London->Seattle. Had I bought a simple rountrip, I could have shaved $500+ off the cost, but the flexibility one-ways give was desirable this time around*
Lodging	$832	13 nights with a room to myself (average $45/nt), 9 nights in free volunteer dorms, leaving 15 nights in shared hostels (average $16/nt).
Food	$750	Average ~$22.5/day when accounting for board provided when volunteering. That number probably skews high from cruise portion of food. Also of note, very few hostels/hotels had included breakfast.
Long Distance Travel (excluding flights)	$270	Trains/buses around Europe, portion of cruise (as noted above), ½ of my bike rental (with the other half going in entertainment)
Short Distance Travel	$55	Public transport, including to/from airport state-side, 3 all-day passes (Vienna, Budapest, Prague), Heathrow->London round trip ($15!), etc.
Entertainment, etc.	$450	Stonehenge, Vienna circus, cinemas, castles/museums, salt mines, other ½ of bike rental, souvenirs, postcards/stamps, cruise entertainment portion, public baths
Other	$50	Money exchange fees, public toilets, leftover currency, laundry
Total	$3640

Like I mentioned at the top, the per day cost of this trip (~$93) was higher than many trips ($65/day for Camino/Africa 2021, $96/day for both Della and I combined for Indonesia 2019, $70/day for a transatlantic cruise/Portugal/Morocco 2013). I suppose when you account for inflation, less penny pinching, and the not having the travel partner "discount"*, it's not too bad. And for what I got—6 weeks in Europe, a chance to volunteer, a cruise down the Danube, some perspective on my life, a much needed escape—it's a bargain.

Sunday January 29 2023

File under: travel, data

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