5 months, 18 countries, 28 cities later - How much it costed me

So. I'm at home in Sydney.

I'm calculating my finances for the 5 month trip I took from the 1st of June to 14th of November.
I thought it would be interesting for those interested in budgeting for long term travelling to know.

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There are different travel styles.

My travel style would be under the flash-packing category.

Ie. Not budget backpacking, but not luxury. Somewhere in between
I save where I can save and spend when I want to spend.

TRAVEL

I took economy flights on budget airlines if short distance and on flag carrier if long distances.
I only took flights when I needed to, when I saw the time was worth the flight.

Else, I took buses, overnight buses, trains and overnight trains. (also because I was booking last minute, you can find many plane tickets much cheaper than the buses sometimes if you book early enough. However do note the cost to travel between the city and the airport - the time and money there could not be worth it at times)

I took a total of 8 flights

Thai Airways - I always make the layover a stopover to get an extra country on the trip
Sydney - Bangkok
Bangkok - Moscow
713AUD

Ryan Air - had a deadline so took the budget airline
Copenhagen - London
81AUD

Ural Airlines - budget airline that I would not have been able to book had I not use a friend's Russian card
Moscow - Kazan
50AUD

S7 Airlines - the biggest Russian budget airline
Kazan - Moscow
81AUD

Aeroflot - Russia's flag carrier
Moscow - Hong Kong
380AUD

Air Asia - Malaysia's budget airlines
Hong Kong - Kuala Lumpur
158AUD

Malaysian Air - Malaysia's flag carrier
Kuala Lumpur - Sydney
332AUD

Trains and buses averaged 20 Euros a trip with the cheapest being 5 Euros from Krakow to Warsaw and the most expensive being 40-50 Euros 12 hour overnight bus rides between Strasbourg and Munich, Munich and Krakow, London and Amsterdam, and Latvia and Moscow.

ACCOMMODATION

As a solo traveler I'm out to make new friends and meet new people, so generally I went with hostels to make friends.

Another goal of mine was to meet locals in every city.
You don't know the true experience until you know how the locals live in their city.

So where do you meet locals who want to meet you?

One of those options other than meetups was to use Couch Surfing.

Not only was it free, but I got to meet a local who wanted to hang out and share their knowledge and experience.
(Having said that, do exercise caution and be picky when it comes to picking a host. Check all references and go with your gut feeling)

Whilst many people opt for couch surfing purely because it is free, I only went for this option when I found a host that I was willing to spend time with as well.

You won't get along with everyone in the world and if you got hosted by someone you were not comfortable with, it could end up being an awkward few days. Plus, you deny yourself the opportunities to meet other travelers or locals, had you stayed at a hostel.

Cheap cities I could pay hostels for even 2 Euros a night, however, my priority is not cheap first, it is cleanliness, comfort and social atmosphere.

The cheapest hostels I stayed at hovered around 5 Euros a night, whilst the most expensive being in Paris was 43 euros per night.

I'd say I averaged 20 Euros a night over the course of the 5 months.

I managed to Couch Surf a total of 6 times.

Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Stockholm, Strasbourg, Munich x 2.

Each time was positive due to the research I did beforehand, and not just looking for a free place. However in a few of those cities, it did save me hundreds of dollars with some places looking at 200 euros a night had I not found another option.

There are also the option of Korean Minbak guesthouses (I believe they are not legal, but they operate almost everywhere in the world.) They usually provide you breakfast and dinner as well. In Paris, they saved me from paying 100+ euros a night to only paying 30.

FOOD

I love eating. However, as a solo traveler I found this one of the hardest.

1. I don't know where the local food is
Often you'll find there are a lot of tourist traps.
"Local cuisine" is basically telling people they are targeting tourists. Often overpriced and not very high quality.

However there are some cities, where even food aimed for tourists are generally still quite tasty (eg. Japan)

2. Wanting to eat local food and not other international cuisines.
I go to the city to eat the food that is produced there. Too often, I found when I asked locals where to eat, they would reply with
"I know a good Italian place" or "a good burger place"
This is not their fault, for most people eat the local food straight from their mother's cooking at home and they would not pay money at a restaurant for that kind of food.

3. Overcrowded, sold out or closed
I found myself in this situation quite often too.
I'd travel to a restaurant only to realise it required booking, or that it was closed for some reason.

This was quite frustrating as I ended up starving a bit

4. Portions for more than 1
Some cultures it maybe strange to dine by yourself, or in some cases impossible.
Whether it be the portion of the food is at least served for 2 (Eating things like king crab, or Ddakgalgi[chicken on hot pan] in Korea)

This limits your options as a solo traveler.

There are now apps for those who want to find other people to dine with, quite handy. I haven't tried them myself but I have been advised to.

So generally I found myself starving and getting food from the convenience store or fast food, then splurging on food at a fine dining setting. This was an unhealthy pattern of eating that I could not avoid.

In some of the cheaper cities like Bangkok I could get a Pad Thai for 50 Baht (2 AUD), or Hong Kong a bowl of Beef Brisket Noodles for 19 HKD (3 AUD)

Meal in Hong Kong

And the cheapest in Europe region I had was probably in Poland or Lithuania where I could have a meal for roughly 3-4 Euros (6-7 AUD)

Meal in Vilnius, Lithuania

Russia was another country where I could get a meal for 200-300 rubles (4-6AUD) Moscow being slightly more expensive however.

The priciest being in Scandanavia where I had standard meals for about 45AUD or 300 Swedish Krona, Denmark and Norway were no different. Paris I found to be quite similar in price as well hovering around 25-30 Euro mark (40-47AUD)

Meal in Stockholm, Sweden

I do recall Switzerland to be quite similar as well, but I often opted for the most basic Rostii dish which still set me back 35AUD or 25 Swiss Francs.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

This really depends on you.

Some people love to go to museums, some of which can really set you back a lot of money with entrance fees of up to 20 euros I've seen.

Castles and Palaces also tend to have entrance fees, but if you do research, you'll find some museums have free days and some are just free all together(most of the museums in London).

If you've seen a few Palaces already, you might opt to see the gardens or fountains instead (I did that for Peterhof Palace)

Some places you'll realise that the price to pay is worth the experience because chances are you'll never go back again.
For example I went to the 148th floor of the Burj Khalifa during peak time (Sunset) for a hefty 500AED or (187AUD) even though the cheapest option was 135AED (50AUD) for the 124/125th floor in off-peak time

I figured it was worth going to the highest man made point in the world.

I gotta say that is when you really feel like you're on top of the world!

Sunset 148 floors in the sky

Having said that, some of the best tourist attractions are free. Picnic under the Eiffel Tower, having a drink next to the Tower Bridge, chilling on the Citadel overlooking Budapest, there are so many and I can vouch that they were the best times of travelling.

Picnic under the Eiffel Tower

SHOPPING

When you travel for a short period of time, perhaps you want to do some shopping.

Souvenirs for friends or something for yourself.

For long term traveling, you want to carry lightweight. So I did not shop until my final 2 destinations where I just bought simple consumables and some t-shirts. Anything that is small and light are generally good.

Don't make the mistake of buying something then having to lug it around all of your travels if you don't need to.

The best souvenir for me are my memories, and I solidify them by taking videos and photos.

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So after all that.

How much was this trip?

5 months
18 countries
28 cities

It all costed me roughly 11000AUD all up including flights.

I actually budgeted it would cost around 12000AUD but I was willing to spend more for whatever I needed.
But for those who have followed my adventures, you'll know I ran into problems with my bank HSBC and also other theft issues, which forced me to stay in some countries longer than I had anticipated.

So if I had followed my plan, perhaps I would've spent my 12-13k as I expected.

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So there you go.

You don't need a fortune to travel.

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For 2 months travelling in Japan alone I spent around 4900AUD haha

No regrets