Everyone travels differently and put emphasis on what they find important to their trip, especially working within a budget of any kind, you will have a criterion that often takes priority to you whether it accommodation, food, activities or the destination.
Myself, I would rather put experiences or activity at the top, then accommodation and last food. Activities are something I love doing and something I will never forget, and I have a habit of trying to fit too much in one day, but I’ve never regretted it and think that’s a standard trip for me. Accommodation wise, I do love camping and I do love luxury places to stay but I find the cost of paying out for luxury a waste, especially when all I am doing is sleeping and using the bathroom facilities, by the time I get back I’m that exhausted I wouldn’t care less where I was sleeping, with this in mind I do choose hostels or cheaper bed and breakfast, checking the reviews for cleanliness.
Food on the other hand is my lowest priority, with excitement and being on the go all the time, I find food a bit of a hindrance. I don’t like filling up and feeling lethargic all day, therefore I do enjoy a good breakfast, a light snack over lunch and dinner often with a light starter; drinking on a social part can be a big part for someone too, pushing ‘food costs’ up, however I am not a drinker and tend to be a happy solo traveler when on my own. Transport obviously features and can be a high cost, but I find you cannot really argue and make many decisions over this as it depending on what you want to do and your restricted to what is available.
Looking at my recent trip to Iceland, I heard it was quite expensive country, being a big birthday trip yet trying to save for future plans it felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but my heart was committed to going, and this is how I did on my 11 day/ 10 night holiday:
- Flights: £144.95 10%
- Transport: £617.38 42%
- Accommodation: £273.88 19%
- Activities: £252.73 17%
- Food: £92.10 5%
- Communication: £10 1%
- Mementos and gifts: £86.39 6%
- Total spend: £1477.43, Per day: £134.32
Breakdown-
Flights, I added hold luggage to my flight on top of cabin luggage. Holding 10% of the costs of the trip, I found that very reasonable.
Transport consisted of the car hire; this was a small city car with all collision waivers. The fuel at £179.09 spent, got me right round the island totaling 2785km with parking only taking up a tiny portion of £8.29 for two landmarks sights (that could have been avoided), otherwise there is great parking dotted around Iceland free of charge if your happy with a little walk. With by far the highest hold of 42% of the trip, it was pretty steep, but in fairness is was the heart and soul of the trip, with very few alternative options it is well worth the high expense.
Accommodation in Iceland was infallible, especially after traveling to a few other European countries only a few weeks prior, I would have paid double for what it was worth. I am very happy with 19% stake of the overall costs, definitely worth it in quality given.
I went a little overboard when it came to food and did find eating out was rather expensive with two meals out costing around £15, being a simple meal with a cool drink that was a little steep, spending a total of £48.35 in restaurants and £43.75 on groceries. An overall of 5% on a human’s basic needs is probably a bit low, but very reasonable cost wise. To keep the costs low, I did take with me meal supplement shakes to have as my main meals, buying fresh groceries, coffee, water and snacks along the way.
Activities, I did a few big tours like lava tunnel tour and three whale watching trips. At 17% of my budget on activities I found I did not spend a lot of money in this area. Since this was the reason why I visited Iceland I found that very low, it definitely helped that many of the waterfalls and natural landmarks are free of charge and can be visited at your leisure which was extremely rewarding and friendly on the pocket.
Communications was a top-up used to keep in touch.
Yes, it was a very expensive trip and it was worth every penny. I found Iceland very reasonable compared to what I had heard, though I am glad I did take on some extra precautions to insure I didn’t spend too much, especially when traveling alone costs can sometimes snowball. The big question to ask yourself, “Would I do it again?” My answer would be yes and that’s all that matters.
Side note: Revolut is a currency card I have been using lately it is easy, efficient and pretty amazing with good exchange rates.
