It has been over ten months since we left Virginia (time flies when you’re having fun) and we are rapidly approaching the end of the trip, but we’re not done yet! Amazingly, we haven’t spent all of our savings yet, and if we continue our good luck, we won’t be skipping meals because we can’t afford food at the end either. Amazingly, we have been able to continue under budget, mostly thanks to friends and family around the world that have helped us out, letting us stay a night or two (or more!) with them or sharing expenses as we travel together. I am having a harder and harder time looking at our accounts when I pay bills as the bank account is MUCH lower than when we started, and I have always been conservative when it comes to savings and having a cushion in the bank. We are still doing great in sticking to our plan though, so I just have to remember that it is okay!
So on to the cold hard numbers:
Total Spent: $41,932.03 (as of April 1, 2017)
Average per day: $119.33 (this is our spending as of April 1, 2017, we have some pre-booked things like plane tickets that are included in the amount spent above, but those will get rolled into the daily average as they are actually used)
Days since we left the USA: 287
Difference in 'Budgeted' vs. 'Actual Expenses": $2,161.80 (we have spent less than budgeted for)
In order to finish the trip within our planned spending we have to average less than $133 a day, so we are doing really well. New Zealand will raise this average some, but we should bring it back down a little while in Peru. We don’t have too many stops left, and provided we don’t go crazy and we manage to avoid any major expenses, the total trip will cost right about what we thought when we left the States. Pretty cool considering we didn’t really know how much things would be when we left and we only had the first few months of travel planned.
So what is left? New Zealand, Hawaii (more time with Chip and Marie (of Swedish, Italian, and Vietnamese fame)), Peru, Atlanta, Pensacola, and the Bahamas, maybe with a little more time somewhere between Peru and Atlanta, depending on flight prices as those will dictate when we leave Peru.
The end of the trip is still scheduled as the first of July, as we will be returning from the Bahamas after spending some time with friends there as the close of the adventure. We will be back in the USA for a little while before that, visiting my sister in Atlanta and some friends in Florida in June, but that is still a part of the trip as we won’t be settled anywhere.
So what’s next? We don’t know where exactly we’re headed when we come back from the Bahamas, and I guess Cara and I will have to find jobs and replenish some of the money we have spent in the last year… Know anyone that is looking to hire a couple engineers?
Flashback to May 2016- when we had money (and muscles)!
-Jeff