Okay, so it should be obvious that I am not even attempting to do a day-by-day blogging of my travel experience. The reasons for this include my aversion to the pressure of having to produce content on a regular basis and my revulsion of monotonous writing. However, even when I “give up” on the daily journal writing of my travels, I still meticulously track my expenses, and as my notepad is getting full, I want to upload those notes here for public accountability.
As fun as it is to watch the exponential decay of the plane tickets as they become amortized, I’d rather omit it for now to have a more realistic picture of the day-to-day costs of living/traveling in South America.
Day 3:
| Breakfast at hostel | 210 |
| Water and crackers | 60 |
| Deodorant and contact solution | 238 |
| Tacos | 250 |
| Beer | 100 |
| Total: | 858 ARS (104 RMB) (USD 14.74) |
Day 4:
| Breakfast | 225 |
| Empanadas | 200 |
| Total: | 425 ARS (51.5 RMB) (USD 7.3) |
Day 5:
| McDonalds (coffee and croissant) | 85 |
| Empanadas | 88 |
| Hostel (4 nights) | 235 RMB |
| Water | 25 |
| Beer | 125 |
| Total: | 274.2 RMB (USD 38.86) |
Day 6:
| Breakfast | 225 |
| Freddo’s Helado (“medium”) | 180 |
| Snacks | 70 |
| Craft beer happy hour | 150 |
| Beer at Language Meetup | 170 |
| Total: | 795 ARS (96.4 RMB) (USD 13.71) |
Day 7:
| Breakfast | 220 |
| Tacos | 245 |
| Beer | 230 |
| Burger | 320 |
| Total: | 1015 ARS (123 RMB) (USD 17.5) |
Running Total: 1128.7 RMB (USD 160.55)
Daily Average (for first week): 161.24 RMB (USD 22.94)
For the record, the guidebook estimates 30 USD/day for budget traveling. I’m a little disappointed that my expenses are so high considering how absolutely little I have done this first week.