4 Months of Travel – How Much Did it Cost?

How Much Did It Cost?

How much did it cost for our nomadic adventure? We did a test of traveling full-time for 4 months. It was initially a 6-month plan, some things needed to be addressed in the US so it was cut to 4 months. We needed to determine the cost of travel over a longer period than we had done before. Hopefully, this will help us determine a nomadic budget for the future.

Although our trip was cut short and we were doing a mix of tourist and nomad life, we got a better idea of the costs involved for nomadic full-time travel. In addition, we wanted to determine where we could cut costs if we were not moving around every 3 or 4 days. Therefore, we would try to stay places for more than a week for the most part. You can usually get better deals on apartments for longer stays of more than two weeks.

Where Did We Go?

Below is a rough list of the places we visited on this 4-month trip. Istanbul, Turkiye was our transit point for all flights since we flew on Turkish Airlines. Therefore, you will see it listed multiple times. Some places were day trips or stops between locations where we stayed for a few nights. We visited Africa, Asia, and Europe in the 4 months.

USA
Atlanta, GA

Turkiye
Istanbul, Turkiye

Georgia
Tbilisi, Georgia
Rustavi, Georgia
We may have crossed into Azerbaijan
Udabno, Georgia
David Gareja Monastery
Sighnaghi, Georgia
Telavi, Georgia
Gudauri, Georgia
Georgian-Russian Friendship Monument
Mtskheta, Georgia
Gori, Georgia – Stalin’s Birthplace
Kutaisi, Georgia
Poti, Georgia
Batumi, Georgia
Shekvetili, Georgia, and other sites around Batumi
Batumi, Georgia
Sarpi, Georgia – Border crossing into Turkiye

Turkiye
Sarp, Turkiye – Turkish side of the border
Rize, Turkiye
Trabzon, Turkiye
Uzungöl, Turkiye
Trabzon, Turkiye
Istanbul, Turkiye
Fethiye, Turkiye
Kayaköy, Turkiye
Kaş, Turkiye
Antalya, Turkiye
Fethiye, Turkiye
Bodrum, Turkiye
Didim, Turkiye
Ayvalik, Turkiye
Çanakkale, Turkiye
Istanbul, Turkiye
Şile, Turkiye
Istanbul, Turkiye

South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa
Strand, South Africa
Agulhas, South Africa
Strand, South Africa
Aquila, South Africa
Bonnievale, South Africa
Paarl, South Africa
Tulbagh, South Africa
Strand, South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa

Turkiye
Istanbul, Turkiye
Antalya, Turkiye
Istanbul, Turkiye

Romania
Bucharest, Romania
Brașov, Romania
Bran, Romania
Brașov, Romania
Bucharest, Romania
Ruse, Romania
Bucharest, Romania

Turkiye
Istanbul, Turkiye

USA
Atlanta, GA

Expenses By Country

To compare the costs for each location, I provided the average cost per day, week, and month (for 2 people). The numbers are based on my credit card statements and other items we paid in cash. I may have missed a few cash purchases here and there from the local markets but it should give a good idea of the costs. However, the missed items would not have exceeded the ATM/Misc amounts as that was the cash I used. Also, the monthly cost is based on the daily average multiplied by 30.

Overall Expenses

We spent approximately $18000 over the 4 months of travel. However, I did not include airfare as we did use miles for some of the flights and most were one-way tickets. Also, we did splurge on the trip back to Atlanta with a one-way business class flight from Bucharest via Istanbul. Therefore, that would have thrown our numbers off and would not have been realistic of the actual costs. With that being said, we spent just under $3k (and 77k miles on Turkish Airlines) for all flights excluding the return flight to Atlanta. That is fairly reasonable considering we took 9 flights (plus the 2 flights to get back to Atlanta) and it is for 2 people so about $1500 each. Please don’t ask me about the cost of the one-way business class flight back to Atlanta, you don’t want to know.

The ATM/Misc Expenses were for the cash purchases used at markets, for haircuts, and other expenses where cards weren’t accepted. We also had some dental and medical expenses that I did not include.

Did We Live Like Kings or Locals?

We did not live fancy on the trip. Most meals were what the locals would eat, not at Michelin-star restaurants. Our lodging was basic for the most part. We typically had one or two-bedroom apartments with a kitchen area and one or two bathrooms. Not all places had a designated desk/workspace so we used the kitchen table for our office. We had basic requirements, a comfortable and affordable place with a washing machine, and good internet since we would be there for extended periods and working. As with many rental apartments, the furniture can be outdated (like leftovers from grandma’s house) but usable and comfortable enough.  For reference, the place we stayed in Fethiye for 18 days was one of our favorite places. It was a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath, and 2 balconies with plenty of space for work and relaxation, it was about $30 a night.

Where Can We Improve Our Expenses?

If you look at the table above, you will see the majority of the expenses were in three categories. Lodging took the gold medal for wallet-emptying, then Dining took the silver, and finally, Rental Cars got the bronze to round out the top three. We did add insurance to our rental cars, I am glad we did since we needed to use it in Turkiye after a small incident in Ayvalik. Other than the top three expenses, all others were under $1000 each. The top three were responsible for over $15k of the money spent. That has to be our area to concentrate on in the future.

We have begun house and pet sitting, this should allow us to cut the lodging expenses dramatically. Therefore, we should be able to reduce our monthly expenses by $1k with house and pet sitting 40-50% of the time. However, our lodging averaged about $64 a night over the 4 months, which is not unreasonable for staying in apartments (under $2k per month average). Our stay in Antalya during “Turkiye 2” was the most expensive daily average at about $76. It was peak season in Antalya, so prices were higher than normal. However, we did have a much higher nightly cost in Istanbul, but that was for 4 people, not 2.

As I mentioned in my post about South African expenses, dining out is not the issue. We usually had larger groups, and the bill was paid by one or two people (splitting when possible and/or taking turns paying for the meals). Therefore, the South African dining out was almost double what we spent in “Turkiye 1” if you look at the daily average.

What Was I Expecting to Spend?

Before leaving on the trip, I had budgeted around $25-30k for the 6-month nomad test. We would have been at about $28,700 based on the average monthly cost above. This was our first test of full-time travel, and we were within our expected budget. However, I want to try to reduce our monthly costs by $800-1800. That would be in the preferred range of around $3000-4000 a month. Please remember that some locations will be more expensive than this, so we need to plan accordingly and have a healthy mix of budget and more expensive destinations.

If you look at it from an annual cost to travel (excluding airfare), we would have been at $57400 in living expenses. There is room for improvement on those numbers, so we could theoretically get under $50k. That would be for housing, dining, a car, and our basic necessities. It might even be cheaper to travel than to stay at home.

This may seem like a lot to spend on travel. However, consider that a family of 4 will spend $5000+ for a week (equivalent to $20k+ for a month) at Disney. In my opinion, this is a much better deal and a hell of a lot more enjoyable.