3BTraveler would like to present our 2020 – 2021 winter travel budget. Travel didn’t happen for us during 2019 – 2020 winter because we were both having surgeries and needed time at home to heal. We feel that giving our readers the budget information is essential to our blog as we are calling ourselves budget travelers. People have asked us how are we able to travel for 5 – 6 months of the year. Our budget is the reason we can travel. We save when we work during the summer months and know how much we can spend.
Duration of Travel Abroad
We left Canada on November 13th, 2020, and return to Canada on May 3rd, 2021, a total of 167 days in all. Both Cindy and I started looking into this trip in June of 2020. As we all know Covid-19 was front and center but we planned on going to one spot for most of our time in a small Mexico town called Progreso, which is located 45 minutes north of Merida in the Yucatan. We had stayed there for six weeks in March 2019, and we felt it was a small enough town that we could spend the winter there safely.
Progreso, Mexico Location
Choosing Progreso as our main travel destination was easy because we had been there before, knew the layout, community, and even the place to stay. We went back to the same place we rented a year earlier as it was right on the beach and 2 km away from the main town. Also, our families were concerned about us being away during the pandemic but knowing the area we were able to reassure them about our travel.
Mexico Excursions
We wanted to do a few excursions before traveling home after staying put for 5 months so we took the last 3 weeks to travel around. Werented a car in Merida (map) and traveled to Valladolid, Izamal, (map) Rio Lagartos, Los Coloradas, (map) Chichen Itza, Ek Balam. We returned the car in Merida, bused to Cancun, and took the ferry to Isla Mujeres, and finally back to Cancun (map) before flying home to the Canadian quarantine chaos.
Travel Cost Budget Breakdown
We budgeted our spending on a monthly basis because we stayed in one location most of the time. As we were gone for 5 ½ months (167 days)
Our travel budget breaks down into the following:
| Health insurance | $1050 |
| Flights and seat upgrades | $ 778 |
| Accommodation | $5317 |
| The daily living expense (break down below) | $6146 |
| Subtotal of Travel Expenditures | $13,291 |
| Covid Quarantine (Montreal & Calgary) | $2723 |
| Total Travel Expenditures | $16,014 |
Flight Itineraries
We flew from Grande Prairie to Calgary; we had two full days layover in Calgary due to flight changes because of Covid, before flying out to Denver and then onto Cancun. We took the ADO bus to Merida and the Progreso bus after that to Progreso. Flights home changed regularly and at one point we thought we were going to have to stay in Progreso longer. People were booking flights into the United States and walking across the border then hopping on a plane to their destination. We felt this didn’t seem to be a viable option for us, so we continued with our plans to fly home.
| Aeroplan (taxes) | $416 |
| Luggage | $158 |
| Seat Upgrades | $204 |
| Total Cost of Flights | $778 |
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is something we had to purchase and found this a little tricky because of Covid-19. We wanted to make sure we had some Covid-19 coverage just in case we had an issue with it. We ended up purchasing travel insurance through a new to our company called Hey Mondo. The cost of travel insurance was $1050 all in. The insurance included regular medical, luggage, cancelation, and Covid-19 coverage.
Daily Budget & Expenditures Breakdown
We had budgeted $6262.50 for the 167 days we were to be away. This budget works out to $37.50 a day for daily living expenses. Our expenditures came in at $6146.00 which works out to $36.80 a day. Amazing that we came in under the budgeted amount. In saying that, we track every expenditure daily. In doing this we can see when we are getting near our budget for the month and then we can change our habits according to our budget.
| Groceries Expenditure | $1765 |
When staying at an Airbnb we generally cook our own meals. As the cost of eating out can drive up your daily expenses. We enjoy cooking, we get to experience all the fresh produce, meats, and seafood that the markets have to offer. We have no issues purchasing from the markets as everything is fresh and people are friendly.
| Eating Out Expenditure | $1273 |
We do not go to high-end restaurants as they are just too expensive. Local flavors from off the streets or hidden places are truer to the tastes of what the locals enjoy and after all that is why we are there.
| Liquor Expenditure | $585 |
We enjoy our beer or a tropical drink. Most times we would enjoy our drinks at home, again costs do play a factor. When we eat out & have a beer with dinner, we add the liquor to this column and food to Eating Out.
| Transportation Expenditure | $584 |
This category consists of car rental, taxis, shuttles, ADO buses, and bike rental.
| Miscellaneous Expenditure | $787 |
This category captures all other items that do not fall into the other categories, souvenirs, misc. clothing as well as any personal products. We also bought a few items for Airbnb so we could feel more comfortable.
| Trips & Attractions Expenditure | $1152 |
This category captures attractions, entrance fees to Mayan ruins, museums, hikes, scuba diving, and anything else that we felt would fall into this category.
Extra Expenses Due to Covid-19
| Covid-19 Expenditure | $2723 |
When we left Canada there were no travel restrictions in place but upon returning Covid-19 was front and center. We had to have a PCR test to even get on a plane to return, quarantine for 3 days at your port of entry (which for us was Montreal), and then finish the rest of our 11 days (14 in total) in a Calgary Airbnb because we couldn’t go directly home (our summer home is our travel trailer, and it was in storage. Also living in a trailer park using common facilities wasn’t allowed).
The Covid-19 quarantine added an extra $2723 onto our spending which we didn’t account for before we left. This consisted of the exorbitant cost of hotel, Airbnb, delivery of eating out, groceries, and extra transportation that we required.
| PCR Test for 2 people | $370 |
| Hotel in Montreal (3 nights) | $1410 |
| Airbnb in Calgary (11 nights) | $525 |
| Transportation (Taxi & Uber) | $68 |
| Groceries (Calgary) | $255 |
| Eating Out Delivered (Calgary & Airport) | $95 |
| Total Covid-19 Expenses | $2723 |
Summary
We spent just over $16,000 for our 5 and a half months enjoying each other’s company, the sun, and not having to work! We don’t regret one minute of our travel. We would have spent way more living in Canada with the harsh cold winter paying for high Hydro & Natural Gas bills in a rental unit.
Support Our Blog And It’s Unique Travel Content
You can support our site by using the links through our travel Essential. If you purchase items using our links, we will receive a small commission. There are no extra or hidden costs to you. These commissions assist us in our travel, so we can provide unique content to you through each blog post. If you enjoy our blog and find it interesting and informative please share it with friends. Subscriber, so you never miss a new post. Thank you.
Recommended Travel Essential
Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic so with this lifestyle, we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.
- Travel Packing Essentials to help organize and make this task less stressful
- Travel Safety Essentials to make your life on the road a little safer, giving you peace of mind
- Living Essentials to make life a little more comfortable, be this resting, working, or playing.
Accommodation Options While Traveling The World
- Booking.com is one of our go to’s when we are looking for a place to stay for a couple of days or longer
- Agoda.com we find is best to use when in Southeast Asia, but hey you never know what you might find
- Airbnb.com used to be our go-to but some of their cancelation policies are reasonable, give them a try as well
Travel Insurance
We always travel with some sort of travel Insurance be it just medical or complete trip coverage. We use Heymondo as we find their costs reasonable. Remember don’t travel and without coverage, the savings are not worth the possible costs.
Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning if you buy a product using our link, we may earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Disclaimer.
