💰 What I Spent Traveling to 18 Destinations (2025 Update)

In the past three years, I’ve traveled to 18 countries across five continents, with daily budgets ranging from $59 to $307. Here, I share my travel costs for each destination and expected daily budgets based on research and personal experience.

About My Trips

To give context to the expenses below, here’s what you need to know about my trips:

• 🗓️ Recent years – I visited all these destinations post-pandemic, starting in 2022 and continuing until today.

This is a living document, so I will continue updating it as I visit more places in 2025.

• 💵 USD – I live in the United States, so all costs are in US dollars, converted from the destination’s local currency.
• ☝️ Per person – All costs are per person. Except for Spain, I’ve traveled to all destinations with at least one other person, which allowed us to split costs, such as housing.
• 💰 Mid-range budget – Most of my travel expenses are between budget and mid-range budget. I don’t aim to travel on a tight budget, but I’m intentional about my spending.
• 🍀 Self-funded – I finance my trips and don’t receive sponsorship.

My Daily Travel Budgets

Below is how much I’ve spent per day on all the destinations I’ve visited so far. These amounts exclude the cost of round-trip flights to and from the United States.

Destination	Continent	My Budget
🇮🇸 Iceland	Europe	$307
🇨🇷 Costa Rica	North America	$235
🇺🇸 Hawaii	North America	$209
🇿🇦 South Africa	Africa	$200
🇧🇿 Belize	North America	$186
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	North America	$182
🇪🇸 Spain	Europe	$155
🇵🇪 Peru	South America	$144
🇯🇵 Japan	Asia	$145
🇮🇹 Italy	Europe	$131
🇰🇭 Cambodia	Asia	$123
🇸🇬 Singapore	Asia	$122
🇵🇹 Portugal	Europe	$116
🇹🇼 Taiwan	Asia	$102
🇻🇳 Vietnam	Asia	$89
🇹🇭 Thailand	Asia	$77
🇸🇻 El Salvador	North America	$59
🇳🇮 Nicaragua	North America	$59

For detailed budget breakdowns, click on each destination above.

Expected Daily Budgets by Region

Countries vary in how accessible they are to travelers with a wide range of budgets.

Below is my estimated daily budget range for a traveler at each destination. The range takes into account approximate spending on food, transportation, accommodation, and entertainment (e.g., excursions, entrance fees).

How I Determine the Ranges

• Lower end – I calculate the lower end of the expected budget based on research and firsthand experience. I ask questions like: How much does it cost to stay at a hostel? What budget do I need to eat at local spots? What’s my spend if I primarily do free activities?
• Higher end – I calculate the higher end of the daily budget primarily based on my experience. I adjust them by doing an educated guess on whether my travel choices reflect those of other mid-range budget travelers.

The higher end does not reflect the maximum spending of a luxury traveler; I suspect they can spend beyond my imagination.

Asia

Destination	Expected Budget	My Budget
🇸🇬 Singapore	$70–$140	$122
🇯🇵 Japan	$60–$120	$145
🇹🇼 Taiwan	$45–$90	$102
🇰🇭 Cambodia	$40–$90	$123*
🇹🇭 Thailand	$35–$80	$77
🇻🇳 Vietnam	$30–$65	$89

Europe

Destination	Expected Budget	My Budget
🇮🇸 Iceland	$90–$250	$307
🇪🇸 Spain	$90–$200	$155
🇮🇹 Italy	$75–$150	$131
🇵🇹 Portugal	$60–$120	$116

The Americas

Destination	Expected Budget	My Budget
🇺🇸 Hawaii	$95–$250	$209
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	$85–$200	$182
🇨🇷 Costa Rica	$55–$200	$235
🇧🇿 Belize	$50–$160	$186
🇵🇪 Peru	$40–$130	$144
🇸🇻 El Salvador	$40–$130	$59
🇳🇮 Nicaragua	$35–$100	$59

Africa

Destination	Expected Budget	My Budget
🇿🇦 South Africa	$60–$180	$200

How I Label Trip Costs

In each destination’s cost breakdown, I label whether the trip is expensive or affordable. The label is based on the lower end of the expected budget range:

Trip Cost Label	Expected Budget
Very Expensive	>$90
Expensive	$70–$89.99
Average	$55–$69.99
Affordable	$45–$54.99
Very Affordable	<$44.99