Malena loves candy. And travel. And both together. And thus, this site was born.
Here you can find some information about the trip expenses, to be filled in as I travel.
Pre-trip Expenses:
| Descriptions | Estimated | Actual | |
| Transportation: | Road Trip: Boston-NO | $500 | $243.65 |
| Airfare: New Orleans-Mexico City | $220 | $220 | |
| Medical: | Health Insurance (World Nomads) | $900 | $720.00 |
| Vaccination: Yellow Fever | $130 | $203.32 | |
| Vaccination: Typhoid | $75 | $217.80 | |
| Medication: Malaria Pills (3 months) | $75 | n/a | |
| Travel Clinic Consultation Fee | $0 | $129 | |
| Contacts: 1 year supply | $500 | $330.00 | |
| Gear (Insurance): | Laptop/Camera Insurance | $400 | n/a |
| Gear (Electronics): | Laptop: HP Pavilion TX1000 | $1100 | $940 |
| Laptop Accessories | $50 | $34 | |
| Ipod Nano (8GB) and Accessories | $170 | $170 | |
| DSLR (Nikon D40) | $450 | $450 | |
| Lens: 18-200mm Nikkor Lens with VR | $700 | $705 | |
| Camera Accessories | $75 | $65 | |
| Headlamp | $35 | $19.95 | |
| Gear (Clothing): | Lightweight fleece jacket | $40 | $30 |
| Lightweight Rain Jacket | $50 | $47.93 | |
| Hiking Shoes | $75 | $81 | |
| Clothes | $500 | $270 | |
| Miscellaneous: | $200 | $65 | |
|
Totals: |
$6245 | $4921.65 |
Please note that I already had a backpack, messenger bag, P&S small digital camera (Canon SD400 Elph), towel, silk sleeping sheet, and watch. I elected to wait until Mexico to purchase malaria pills and am passing on the camera/laptop insurance in lieu of World Nomads baggage insurance at this time.
Ouch, medical expenses were considerably more than I’d budgeted and my insurance doesn’t cover any of it! I saved money on clothes by getting some cheaper items at Target and using kids clothes when necessary. Miscellaneous included purchases of toiletries, laundry supplies, and packing cubes. Also, a late addition of 20 dollars towards notarization of my will and power of attorney forms!
The road trip cost was relatively cheap as I spent most of my nights living with relatives and managed to get decent gas mileage out of my car. Phew!
Mexico
Next stop, Mexico! My estimated budget for Mexico is $30-45 per day, with an additional $600 budgeted for “splurges” (to include Spanish classes and surfing lessons, hopefully!)
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I ended up going way under budget for Mexico, largely due to the fact that I had my grandmother traveling with me for the first portion of the trip. Because of that, I’ve divided my daily cost into “Traveling with Others” and “Traveling Alone” sections, with the splurges I took listed separately.
Daily cost (with others): $10.97
Daily cost (by myself): $30.78
Splurges:
1 week of language classes - Oaxaca: $149.53
Mountain Biking (4 hours) - San Cristobal: $29.91
Belize Expenses
I spent $35 USD a day for 12 days on food, lodging, and the basic expenses. My breakdown was:
- Lodging: $10.70 USD
- Food: $5.89
- Transport: $5.38
- Alcohol: $1.02
- Activities: $1.00
- Misc: $2.58 (includes $3.75 USD to leave Belize from Punta Gorda.)
That included 4 nights at an all-inclusive research farm where I didn’t spend any money on food or transport, and this does not include my splurges.
I also participated in 3 expensive activities: Lamanai Tour ($35.00 USD), Caye Caulker snorkeling ($37.50 USD), and Placencia whale shark snorkeling ($90.00 USD.)
I spent a total of $617.50 USD in Belize.