Check out this post — Expense Report: Pre-Trip Costs — for a better understanding of other costs associated with a RTW trip, as well as a definition of my travel style and how it impacts my budget.
Here’s what I spent in U.S. dollars over 4 nights in the Philippines:
- Accommodation = $78.20 … $19.55 per night
- Food = $40.27 … $10.06 per day
- Groceries = none
- Coffee = $16.33 … $4.08 per day
- Activities = $27.60 … $6.90 per day
- Cell & Wifi = none
- Transportation = $20.81 … $5.20 per day
- Miscellaneous = $13.63 … $3.40 per day
And the grand total for 4 nights in the Philippines is…:
$196.84 USD, which works out to $49.21 per day.
Here’s how that number compares with other countries I’ve traveled to:
- My daily average in Cook Islands: $157.05
- My daily average in New Zealand: $88.56
- My daily average in Australia: $83.37
- My daily average in Singapore: $78.86
- My daily average in Indonesia: $51.34
- My daily average in Malaysia: $117.09
- My daily average in Palau: $160.91
- My daily average in Philippines: $49.12
Wahoo!!
While the Philippines is known as a budget-friendly destination, I think wherever I went after pricy Palau would’ve been marked by a significant decrease in spending. My wallet was on lockdown. And yet I still got to enjoy site seeing, like on our free walking tour of Old Town Manila.
A few notes…
- I used xe.com in late-September to calculate the exchange rate and at that point in time, 1 PHP (Philippine Peso) = .0230 USD.
- I did not receive any blog discounts in the Philippines.
- I did not include my flights into or out of the Philippines, since I will note international flights on a separate RTW airfare budget at the end of my trip.
- I did not purchase a local SIM card for this country since I only stayed four nights and the hostel had wifi. I continue to use the Viber app to communicate for free with my friends and family back home.
- I continue to use my Charles Schwab debit card to avoid international ATM fees.
- I still have not purchased any souvenirs on this RTW trip.
- One of the miscellaneous items is the departure tax ($12.65 USD)
- I spent three nights at Our Melting Pot hostel and then elected to pay more for a hotel room adjacent to the airport for my final night, in anticipation of an early morning departure to Osaka. This was a mistake. While each night at the hostel was only $14 USD, that final night cost me $35. My fear of missing my flight was unfounded as the roads were totally clear at 4am. I thought I was helping myself out by booking the room but it would’ve been cheaper and more relaxing to simply stay put at hostel for my final night instead of moving to a new accommodation.
- You may notice I paid $4/day for coffee. This is because there’s a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf located across from the hostel. And Starbucks is just a 10 minute walk down the street!
- Spending an average of just $49.21 per day, the Philippines noses out Indonesia ($51.34 per day) as the cheapest destination on my entire RTW trip.
