46 Days of Full Time Travel: Post Camp Trip Spending Diary!

Michigan, Nashville, Florida, New York, Antigua, Tulum… woah best post camp trip ever!!! And last year I did a two week New England road trip followed by two weeks in Italy. I had a 30-day travel period off the back of my J1 visa for camp that I wanted to take full advantage of. Then with nothing in the calendar until the end of September, I decided to head down to Central America and finally explore a little bit.

Plus it gave me chance to put my almost-2 year Duolingo streak to good use 😂

But how much did I spend on my post camp trip? Let’s break it down…

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Flights = £1014.96

Ooof hello! Started off with the biggest category. 6 flights (3 of which were domestic US flights) for over a grand. My route in the US was a little bit all over the place as I was visiting friends. So I didn’t have a lot of control over the dates and transport type. Hence I spent a little more on individual flights than I normally would but made up for it with a low accommodation costs.

I did have one win in the flights category on this trip when I bagged a flight from NYC to Guatemala for just £65. I found and booked this flight on Trip.com and it was actually the best flight out the whole trip. My ticket included baggage and on the flight I got a drink & snack. Plus they had the latest season of Young Sheldon which I’d refused to pay $25 for only the week before. Felt like such a win!

Accommodation = £321.86

Whilst a big chunk of the budget went to flights, my accommodation costs were super low. Between staying with friends and a 10-night housesit in NYC, I had a month of free accommodation. When I left the US, I did a 2-week Spanish Immersion program in Guatemala where I stayed with a host family. This was a super affordable scheme with the 2-week homestay coming in at $350. Working out at $25 per night for a private double room, breakfast and dinner. Incredible!

Then I found a super affordable hostel in downtown Tulum which came in at just under £11 per night. This included a yummy breakfast and free daily yoga classes. So between all of these for 6 1/2 weeks of travel I paid just £321.86 for accommodation. Averaging out to £7 per night which is crazy good.

I use a site called Trusted Housesitters to find all my housesits. Use code JESS25 to get 25% off any membership!

Food & Drinks = £990.46

I’m not surprised that food took up almost a 1/3 of my budget on this trip. I ate out a lot and drank way more regularly than I usually do. Tried a margarita for the first time in Antigua and it immediately became my drink of choice! But I think that’s more down to the salt rim than the drink itself. Antigua also has an incredible coffee shop scene so a good chunk of this went to them.

So for 46 days of travel my food & drink spend averages out to £21.53 per day which isn’t terrible. Especially if you factor in the crazy expensive prices in the US.

Activities = £157.27

I did a bunch of cool things on this trip, a lot of them were free but some came with a cost. I went to a water park, go-karting, kayaking in a clear boat in Florida, saw a couple live performances in Nashville, a street food tour in Antigua and explored some Mayan ruins in Tulum. Amongst a bunch of other things!

Trying to do majority free activities so I could splurge a handful of experiences I didn’t want to miss was my game plan on this trip. And it worked out pretty well!

Insurance = £75

I definitely overpaid for insurance on this trip as I didn’t realise that the insurance I had for my summer job covered the 30-day travel period too. The policy I had through my agency last year only covered me till the last day of my job. However, AmeriCamp cover the 30-day grace period too. Something I didn’t realise. So in hindsight the policy could have been so much cheaper but being double covered is better than not being covered at all, right!?

Plus, I made sure to go through TopCashback so at least I’ll be getting some of it back.

Thinking about spending a summer at camp? Use code JESSP30 to get £30 off the AmeriCamp fees!

Sim Card = £50

Pre-trip I started researching eSims and not going to lie got super overwhelmed and abandoned the search. But I was smart enough to get something lined up with my British phone provider. The network I’m with offer international roaming packages which you buy online and then they just work. Over the 6 1/2 weeks I bought three top ups, one for the US, one for Guatemala and then a final one for Mexico. Coming to a grand total of £50 so just over £1 per day for texts, minutes and data.

Spanish Lessons = £107.12

As part of the Spanish Immersion experience I did in Guatemala, I had 2 hours per day of Spanish lessons. For the sake of this travel money diary, I’ve broken out the cost of the lessons and homestay. I paid $140 for group classes, which works out to $14 per class as they were Monday to Friday.

Cash Out = £81.49

All my research suggested that cash is king in Central America and that I should be prepared. So just before I boarded my flight at JFK I took out $100 from a cash point. With fees this converted to £81.49. I was then able to convert the cash into the local currency when I arrived. Yes, it was handy to have some cash on me but I don’t think it’s essential. I mostly spent on my card in both Guatemala and Mexico but I was in touristy areas so maybe that made a difference.

Toiletries = £50.87

The only downside of travelling carry-on only is not being able to cart around full sized toiletries when flying everywhere. So I tend to buy products when I get to a new place and then top up my travel size containers as I go. This is kinda spenny but definitely cheaper than paying to check a bag.

Tax = £31.39

I had to pay an unexpected foreigner tax when checking into my flight to Mexico. This was £31.39. I also had to pay an environment tax when I checked into my hostel in Tulum but I paid cash for this so it’s classed under the “cash out” category in this breakdown.

Grand Total = £2987.68

Drum roll please… 6 1/2 weeks of travel across 3 different countries came to a grand total of £2987.68. Breaking down to an average daily rate of approximately £65.

I’d set a maximum budget of £3k to cover a post-camp trip. Initially it was ear-marked to last another month but things at home cropped up so the trip got cut short. And considering I only came in £12 under budget this was for the best as I made the absolute most of this budget.

Looking back I did so much over the 6 1/2 weeks and have memories to last a lifetime from this trip. So on the whole I’m super happy with how my post camp trip turned out and more happy that I kept my spending below £3k.

What do you think? Did you expect the total to be more or less?