Scrimp on the slack; splurge on the sparkle – Hamster core philosophy.
At this point you have established a budget for durables and, crucially, understand and minimized fixed costs. The last step is to figure out where and what can be achieved with the money that is left over. Simple.
I divide my variable costs into lodging, transport, food and entertainment. While there are other expenses – laundry bill, pharmacy purchase, gift, haircut – they total to a relatively minuscule amount. I look at the balance of spending across the four categories dynamically. Some months I will fly more and stay in cheaper places. Some months I will take more tours but eat much more frugally. This is how I approach the categories:
Lodging: In the last two years my cheapest stay was $5/night (La Paz, Bolivia) and the most expensive was $160 (Meroe, Sudan). Both were pretty extreme outliers. The average of all my nights was $65. I look at my expenses roughly every two months, and what has been a huge surprise to me was how consistent this number has been. From Stockholm to Sardinia, Argentina to Mauritania, through rich countries and poor, hotels come in at $65 plus or minus $5.
A caveat is in order. Hotels in the US are insanely expensive. A grotty Econolodge can easily run to $120, the price for two nights in a perfect place in France. I did a run down the West Coast that was beautiful and stimulating in every possible way. But it set fire to my credit cards, so much so that I jumped the border to Baja California for quiet time to allow them to cool off. More recently I descended the East coast and the hotels averaged $170 per night.
For this average price I have stayed in some appalling places – mostly because in many (especially African) countries there is only ‘awful’ and ‘Sheraton Grand’. But at the other end I have stayed in places that I never wanted to leave. A glorious place in Stuttgart; a magical gem in Levoca, Slovakia; a delight in Antigua, Guatemala.
Transport: I do much more walking than the average bear. I get in to a taxi or a car rental perhaps a dozen times a month. I, for the most part, like long distance buses. I positively love trains and take them whenever it makes sense. I fly, on average, once a week. When I launched on this project I predicted that I would be doing much less ‘transporting’ and much more ‘staying’, but that has not turned out to be true. Summing all these modes of transport I have spent about $50/day on motion.
Additional note on air travel. Many flights are in the ‘too far (or politically impossible) to take a train’ category, but at least once a month there is an intercontinental leg. There are amazing bargains to be had, but there are also the ‘bite the bullet’ no option flights. I cannot understand how New York-Tokyo is the same price as Addis Ababa-Djibouti. Averaging all my flights: $140 per leg, which is included in the transport cost above.
Food: This expense varies dramatically depending on my mood or mode. Some days and weeks are streetfront pastries and pizza (North Macedonia), some chicken and rice in cafes (Peru), a few cook at home pastas (Beirut), occasional white tablecloth game and Pinotage (South Africa), and some are pate and champagne (um, Champagne). My biggest ‘food’ line item is beer and, for a glass, ranges from $1 in Albania, to $7 in Djibouti, to $10 in Helsinki. Two month totals have averaged from $20-40 a day.
Entertainment: When I launched I thought that I would be enjoying plays and favorite bands around the world, visiting festivals. I just have not figured out how to succeed at this (and would certainly appreciate any advice). So entertainment for me is a modest expense, encompassing museum fees, the (very occasional) guided tour, a ballet. Before I get to the front door I play the ‘what do I think this will cost?’ game. Still surprised by the $22 Faberge Museum in Baden-Baden and the free day at the Historical Museum in Mexico City. In my two month accounting periods this has averaged from $5-15 a day.
As you can see, if you sum the high ends of each of the categories full time travel can be very expensive. But to keep expenses down it is as simple as stopping moving. Transport expenses drop to only local tram fare. The peer-to-peer medium term apartment rental will have a hefty discount. The kitchen cuts out the premium for restaurant food, and in my case eliminates bar profit on beers.
As indicated in the header line to this page, I really like the concept of ‘king for a day’. Instead of living at a consistent quality of life, I enjoy being pretty rough for a while, then absolutely reveling in some hedonistic time. For me, this manifests mostly when someone joins me for a while.