I often travelled at night and used the cheapest local transport, and sometimes also used hitchhiking (especially in Patagonia, Alaska and Canada). Similarly with the accommodation - as the cheapest I could. So here it is hard to minimize costs. For eating, however, there is no reason to save, we have only one health. For admission fees, souvenirs, communications and other expenses, this is the individual needs and capabilities, these costs can be stimulating in both directions. Cost of visas which I paid before departure I calculate as a costs during the travel.

Here I present the cost of travel, prices are quoted in Euro. Described in detail the situation in each country, exactly how was it in 2004. Of course, prices, inflation, and some data may already be changed. Although I bargained a lot but not always I was well orientated in the situation, so some cases can be surely get better, cheaper, or simply, different.

a) The expenses before travel: 115 € (with the exception of visas)
medicines for malaria - Daraprim - 5 €; medicines, vitamins - 5 €; health insurance - 25 €; Lonely Planet "South America on shoestring" - 30 €; souvenirs for local - 5 €; trips to embassies in Warsaw - 30 €; phone calls - 5 €; passport photos - 5 €

b) The expenses during the trip: 4893 € (including a visa to the U.S. and Canada purchased before departure)

c) Other expenses: 120 €

Bank commissions, as well as losses for frequent money exchanges, about 120 €.

Photography - I was sponsorred by Kodak Poland in the form of professional slides Ektachrome E100VS.

The total sum of the nearly 7-month journey across America is 5128 €, which is about 177 € per week. From the Tierra del Fuego, average daily cost was 14 € (for food, accommodation and transport).

I paid for 81 accommodations in hostels, 9 times I slept in a tent at the organized camp, 25 nights I spent in the transport, 60 nights in the wild, 21 times I was invited as a guest, and 6 nights I stayed with Guatemalan family during Spanish school.

I travelled through 19 countries in 202 days, a total of 47,159 km (including sea and river 3,283 km). I did also a lot of trekking trips for about 800 km.

Detailed Cost calculation

South America

In South America average daily cost was 11 € (for food, accommodation and transport).

I paid for 51 accommodations in hostels, 8 times I slept in a tent at the organized camp, 17 nights I spent in the transport, 25 nights in the wild (beach, hammock, tent, train station), 11 times I was invited as a guest (once I paid from my own will) .

I travelled through 9 countries in 112 days, a total of 24,148 km (including sea and river 2,468 km).

Central America

In Central America average daily cost was 19 € (for food, accommodation and transport).

I paid for 29 accommodations in hostels, 8 times I slept in buses and trains, 3 nights in the wild and 3 times I was invited as a guest. 6 nights I spent with local family during the Spanish course.

I travelled through 8 countries in 49 days, a total of 11,808 km (including sea and river 675 km).

North America

In North America average daily cost was 15€ (for food, accommodation and transport).

I spent 1 night in hostel, once as well I paid for organized camp and 7 times for tent place during trekking in national parks. 5 nights I spent in the car in the parking, 20 nights in the wild (tent and once bus station), 7 times I was invited as a guest.

I travelled through 2 countries in 41 days, a total of 11,203 km (including sea 140 km).

Average

Is to estimate the costs of travelling. I try to give the most relevant data reflecting the current situation of budget travel:

Average for 1 night accommodation - I give the average amount paid for the accommodation which I used (not included the free nights). I had to spend a minimum of 3 nights in the country to take this information to the statistics.

Average for transport per 100 km - average price which I pay per 100 km of public transport - only by bus or train (that is without minibuses, taxis, or water transport) to non-touristic places (the statistics don't include destination like the ruins of Tikal, the Torres del Paine NP, etc., because these routes are charged more expensive than normal price). In the calculation I include only long distances - in South America more than 100 km and in Central more then 50 km. In United States, Canada and Patagonia I travelled by hitchhiking - also did not consider these regions.

Average daily food expenses - including all meals, sweets and soft drinks. In my case, daily meals, for example in Nicaragua and the United States was in financial terms very similar. This does not mean, however, that the prices in these countries are similar, because of course the U.S. is much more expensive than Nicaragua. The difference lies in the fact that in US I was buying from the supermarket, and in Nicaragua the low prices in shops and restaurants have caused that I ate much more then I should. Similarly with Guatemala and Belize. I didn't give the average in Brazil due to eating on the cargo boat or walking in the jungle. I had to spend at least 3 days in the country to give the info.

Daily food cost in US and Canada was around 8.6 €

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