20 Days in Central America for less than $2,500
One of the most common questions I receive from friends and readers alike is how do you afford it? The assumption is that a 16-20 day trip abroad must be terribly expensive. People commonly expect the trip expense to be somewhere in the $5,000-$10,000 USD range. Which, given the structure and cost associated with most of the vacations Americans take, isn’t unreasonable. When I tell them that my average trip costs me less than $3,000 most people are surprised, and more than a few don’t initially believe me.
I recently wrote a post explaining how I’ve managed to save for/budget the ~$6,000 I need each year for two 16-20 day trips abroad in my blog post, “Tallying Up the Cost: How I Afford to Travel“. My goal with this post is to share with you my real world application of the techniques I outlined previously.
A few things to keep in mind: I could have done this trip for several hundred dollars cheaper. I splurged on food on a regular basis, opted for mid-tier budget accommodation, and took a number of tours which I could have done solo/on my own for half the price. I was also traveling during Central America’s peak season (December/January) which resulted in a significantly more expensive flight ticket and increased prices for the tours I did.
What It Cost
A round trip ticket from Phoenix to Cancun with travel insurance: $530 USD.
Total Credit Card expenses: $280.29.
Total ATM Cash Withdrawals: $1,461.99.
Misc. expenses (ATM Fees/Reserve USD): $87.
Total price: $2358.81 for everything.
Evaluating the Real Cost
That’s not the end of the story. It’s important to put that figure into context. Keep in mind that I was gone for 20 days. An extended period during which I would have had a number of basic expenses regardless of where I was located.
In a given day at home/work I spend at least $20 on food. That means that my average food expense had I stayed at home would have been at least $400. I also go through about 1 tank of gas a week at an average cost of about $40 per tank. At nearly 3 weeks on the road, I would have spent around $100 on gas in total. Then add a conservative projection of about $150 total for entertainment expenses (bars, movies, etc.).
The end result is about $650 in expenses that I would have spent anyway, had I been at home.
This drops the real added expense burden down well under $2,000 to about $1,710 for the trip.
Is it cheap? Not necessarily, but is it significantly cheaper than you were probably expecting? Most definitely. Is it doable for most people? Most definitely, IF you’re willing to prioritize and set some money aside.
Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Leave a comment or shoot me a tweet @AlexBerger. I look forward to your thoughts!
