Six Months Retrospective

Wow. Six months. I didn't think I would make it this far. When I began my journey this past May, I never would have guessed I'd be where I am now. Originally, I had counted on my budget lasting just through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Well here I am, eight countries in, with plenty of steam left. Not only have I been to some places I hadn't originally counted on, one of those countries is an expensive one!

The past 30 days were spent in India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, though mostly in the latter two. I've already talked about India at length (and will do so more in the upcoming month), so I'll focus on the Maldives and Sri Lanka. 

The Maldives was awesome! People usually just think of it as a bunch of tourist resorts. Honestly, those do exist, but the country is much more than that. It has a very laid back vibe, delicious food (it's Heaven if you love tuna), and a really cool shipping port. On my last day there, I walked through the port and enjoyed a joyous atmosphere, where everyone was buying and selling overseas imports!

Sri Lanka has a rather large tourism industry, and is therefore very easy to travel in. While the food was a bit of a step down from Indian cuisine, it is still pretty good. The country has many beautiful beaches and tourist resorts. Honestly, though, the place where Sri Lanka excelled for me was its hill country. The area outside Nuwara Eliya is simply gorgeous: green rolling hills and tea plantations abound. The area feels different from pretty much everywhere else I visited in Sri Lanka.

Next month will be spent in India. I have slightly more than one month left in that gargantuan land, and intend on making the best of that time. While the first leg of my Indian trip was spent in the country's south, the second leg will take place in the center and north. India has so much to see, that I'm sure I will require revisits to the country. For now, though, let's see where the road takes me. 

The three currencies I used during my sixth month: Indian and Sri Lankan Rupee, and Maldivian Rufiyaa. My week in the Maldives took a sizable chunk out of my savings. But you know what? It was worth every penny. 


Accommodation - $385.95. Average of $12.87 per day. Accommodation was by far the biggest expense from this month, mostly as the result of my Maldives adventure. Although I managed to find accommodation for roughly $30 per night, it came with plenty of tacked on taxes and island fees. I averaged about $7-8 per night in Sri Lanka.

Food and Drink - $215. Average of $7.17 per day, or $2.39 per meal. Food in Sri Lank and the Maldives was more expensive than in India. However, it was still very cheap. I'd say the food costs about as much as in Southeast Asia. 

Alcohol - $16.14. The Maldives is an Islamic country, so alcohol is not readily available (at least on the local islands. I didn't drink much this month, even in India and Sri Lanka. However, a beer usually costs between $1-3 in both countries.

Transport - $121.99. More than half of this expense came from an $85 speedboat I took in the Maldives. Local ferries usually cost about $5. Unfortunately, they do not always run every day, so you might have to take an expensive alternative. My advice is to arrive at a time where you can take local transport. Sri Lanka, however, has ridiculously cheap transport.

Miscellaneous - $88.87. Includes things such as  toiletries, laundry, ATM fees, souvenirs, etc. 


Total amount spent - $827.95. Average of $27.60 per day. This was by far my most expensive month. However, I think I did pretty well, seeing as I managed to comfortably include a trip to the Maldives!

Once more, thank you to Simon and Erin, the creators of Trail Wallet. Their app continues to be my #1 budgeting tool. If you feel so inclined, check out their journey at neverendingvoyage.com.