It has been quite some time since my last travel budget roundup! But now that I’ve been traveling for the better part of a month and a half, and a new month is officially upon us, I thought it was time to share it once again.

This travel budget won’t encompass all of September, just from the 23rd of the month, which is when I arrived in London. I didn’t keep great track of my week in California (whoops), so I figured it would be easiest just to start with my international travels.

England

I have been in England the entire time I’ve been abroad, and have plans to be here through the middle of November.

That’s 39 days of living in a very expensive country, where my American money is pathetic in comparison to the British pound. Seriously the exchange rate is just sad. Everything costs the same here, but in British pounds, so you then have to half the amount and add it to the price to get the US dollar amount (i.e. that £3 smoothie actually costs you $4.50). It’s rough, and sometimes hard to remember that the price you’re looking at isn’t in US dollars. Because the prices are what you’d normally pay at home, so they just look…well…normal. And you sometimes forget about that pesky exchange rate. Not good.

But alas, house sitting to the rescue! My travel budget would have taken a significantly bigger hit than it has if not for house sitting.

However, interestingly enough, accommodation was still the most expensive part of the last 39 days!

Accommodation

Total cost: £294, or $453 ($11.62/day) - I spent 15 out of the 39 days I’ve been in England in a hostel. Just 15! And I spent $453, which is the biggest category in my travel budget thus far. Like I said, house sitting is amazing, because without it, there is no way I would have been able to afford to stay in England, and especially London, for this long.

Food

Total cost: £216, or $333 ($8.54/day) - This is another area where house sitting came to the rescue. All three of my house sits so far have offered me free range of their pantries and refrigerators, which cut down on the amount of groceries I had to buy. Also, having a kitchen and a place to store groceries long-term cuts down on my food shopping as well. And again, the other times I was staying in hostels, which have their own kitchen. I don’t eat out often at all, as this is one of the main areas in which I can control how much I spend. I’d rather cook my own food and save some money to do other cool things.

Sightseeing

Total cost: £162, or $250 ($6.41/day) - I haven’t done a whole lot of sightseeing since coming to England (and especially London) this time around. I did a lot more in the spring, when it was my first time here. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know London on a deeper level, instead of just passing through. I have my favorite neighborhoods, parks, coffee shops, and markets.

The only sightseeing expenses here refer to the theater shows I’ve been to whilst in London, 2 of them being Hamlet at the Barbican (staring Benedict Cumberbatch).

Transportation

Total cost: £148, or $229 ($5.87/day) - Transportation in England is notoriously expensive (I’m looking at you London Tube). I’ve tried to limit the amount of travel I’ve done, either by train, bus, or subway by walking everywhere I possibly can. But walking isn’t always feasible, so I grudgingly top up my Oyster card and jump on the Tube. Though to be fair, a good chunk of my transportation costs so far have come from the train rides from Brighton to Dover and Dover to London. Oh and the round trip train ride between Horsham and London during my first house sit so I could see Hamlet.

Other

Total cost: £33, or $51 ($1.31/day) - The ‘other’ category is always a smorgasbord of everything else that doesn’t fit into the previous categories. Movie tickets, shampoo refills, vitamins, etc. Nothing too exciting here.

Grand Total: £853.88, or $1315 ($33.72/day)

For a place as expensive as England, I’ll take it! It’s still not a small chunk of change by any means, and I spent this much time in Nepal and my travel budget was almost half that amount. But like I said, I’m very much enjoying living the local life in London at the moment, so it’s a price worth paying to me. And I’m at my current house sit until November 12, so that’s over a week more without having to pay for accommodation (and I’ve already bought most of the groceries I’ll need for that time period). Therefore I don’t expect to be shelling out too much money before leaving the UK.

But I didn’t expect to get a last minute ticket to see the final performance of Hamlet either, so I guess you never know.

So what do you think? Did I do alright for over a month spent in England?

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