I feel like we keep making excuses in each country for why it cost more than we thought it should. South America was because of the sights (Machu Picchu and Salt Flats) and Spain was because of the food and drinks. However, I did say in the last post that this next month would be the hardest in terms of expenses and Ireland was the first stop in this expensive stretch. Take a look at our costs below:
Lodging - Ireland was really hard! I started booking lodging at least a month in advance and it was damn near impossible to find places in our price range (we have been trying our best to not spend more than $50/night on lodging). This is what led us to staying in a 6 person hostel room. Northern Ireland was a bit easier but the pickings were slim as it pertained to AirBnb.
Food and Drink - I knew it was going to be harder to eat out about 60 minutes after landing in Ireland. We went out for a traditional pub meal with a couple of beers and the bill came in around 55 Euro ($62). That’s a pricey lunch when your budget is supposed to be about $110/day. It’s kind of vicious circle because if you stay in a cheaper place without a kitchen then you are eating out and not saving money. The last couple of stops had kitchens so we made meals when we could and would buy beers at the store when we wanted a drink (Guiness was usually around 5 Euro for a pint and you could get a 4 pack/pints at the store for 7.50 Euro). Obviously, when you are in Ireland you have to get out and enjoy the pub scene it is famous for, but be careful because those prices will sneak up on you real fast.
Transportation - I will have to sit down and crunch the numbers on whether or not renting a car would have been more economical. We decided to go with public transportation because getting an automatic car for a couple of weeks was going to be an astronomical amount. Not going with our own car of course meant a lot of busses.
Activities - I would venture to guess this category for sure would have been cheaper if we had our own car because a large part of our activity costs revolved around tours. With that said, there are advantages to tours that don’t show up on a cost sheet. They are able to get you into places that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to, cheaper entry fees, and knowledge you wouldn’t otherwise get. These tours are tricky though because they get you on the bus for let’s say 30 Euro per person and then they will take you to a farm with sheep herding dogs and that’s 10 Euro per person. If you eat lunch at the place they take you, that’s 10 Euro per person. Lastly, if you go into the “authentic Irish village” with Irish wolf hounds, that’s 5 Euro per person. So if you were to do all of that (we didn’t) then you could be looking at a nice little 100+ Euro day).
Summary - I know I keep saying I feel good about how we did even though we don’t hit our goal but saving while also trying to do as much as possible is tough. Considering Ireland and all that it has to offer, I do feel good about where we ended up. We definitely had a different experience then our friends who have come before, but that’s the “sacrifice” of traveling for a year. We won’t be able eat, drink, and do what we normally would if we were traveling for just a couple weeks.