Our holidays have finished. We are back in Europe and back into our jobs. Luggage undone. Most postcards have arrived to destination. Pictures are still being sorted out to be uploaded onto the web for everybody to see (but of course, there are a lot of them). What else is there to remind us of the trip? Of course, the bills: that huge hole in our savings after spending almost a month abroad, at the other end of the world, living great adventures (well, having lots of fun at least ;-)).
But was the cost of the bill that huge? Well, I did spend a lot of money, but I have to admit that more than one third of all that money was spent in souvenirs, gifts (specially "self-gifts", in the form of items that would be much more expensive or not easy to find at all in Europe, like a taylor made suit and a new mobile phone), and this kind of stuff.
So what was the final budget of this trip? Or what could one expect to need to be able to do something similar? Let's have a quick look at it.
The flight there was some 800 Euro, booking some four months in advance and directly to the airway company website. We were traveling in the peak holiday season in southern/western Europe, so that same ticket could cost about 500 Euro (actually, barely a week after we arrived, it was just 530 Euro).
The cost of living there can vary a lot. Leaving aside shopping, partying and stuff (but including museums and transport), our average daily budget for the whole trip has been just below 20 Euro. Of course accommodation costs in Bangkok are much higher that elsewhere in the country, and you can spend as much as you can possibly imagine and more if you want something extremely fancy, but we did very well for some 8 Euro per person in Bangkok and as low as 3 Euro per person out of Bangkok (you can get even lower prices, in the range of 2 Euro for a very basic bungalow for several people in the beach, but we didn't mind spending this bit more).
About catering, again, it's really up to you. Our most expensive meal was in a rather fancy Indian restaurant in Sukhumvit Rd. in Bangkok, 8 Euro per person, but more often that not, we were paying much less than that for all the meals and water of the day. In fact, our inexperience during the first days in Bangkok have probably raised those averages, and next time we could easily be eating better (meaning only real Thai food in real Thai eateries, not "Thai and Western" restaurants for tourists and expats) for less money.
So, finally, the trip was not as expensive as feared, all the contrary. Moreover, there are so many things that are unbelievably cheaper than in Europe (I should write sthg about that subject on my other blog), that if you use the last days of your trip to do some wise shopping, you can even pay off most of the costs of the journey with what you will save on those items. What type of items? Well, everything, really. Taylor made clothing, for instance, and electronics, obviously, but most things are cheaper, even French Calvados!!. And you can even save some more, by buying fake brand items, but that will be your adventure... ;-)
