A different type of slow travel expense report

Last Updated on October 25, 2024 by Ellen

Our standard monthly spending summaries usually reflect total expenses for living in one foreign locale; rent, food, entertainment, health care, etc. However, this is not a standard slow travel expense report.

This 30-day period is comprised of five different locations as we begin a six-month tour of India.

Mumbai homestay #1 – $276 / 8 nights
Mumbai homestay #2 – $232 / 8 nights
Alibaug apartment – $154 – 5 nights
Pune homestay – $93 – 3 nights
Udaipur apartment – $120 – 5 nights

Weekly Airbnb stays come with smaller discounts. Cooking was rare. And we chose a few ‘home-stays’ (private rooms with ensuite bath in a hosts home) to save money in Mumbai (a high rent area) and help ease us into Indian culture.

Still, despite inflation, overall prices in India remain extremely affordable by western standards. And as you will see below, we were able to stay close to our $2,000 monthly budget goal.

Slow travel expense report

1 month in India

$875 – Housing
$483 – Restaurants
$204 – Groceries & Beer
$121 – Excursions
$107 – Travel
$95 – Local transport
$87 – Gifts/Charity
$74 – Supplies
$69 – Health
$24 – Laundry

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$2,139 total for 2 persons

As always, a few explainers:

‘Local transport’ is local rickshaw taxis, Uber rides, buses, metro trains. ‘Travel’ is long-distance, inter-city train/bus tickets.

Excursions include admissions for tourist attractions: museums, hop-on-hop off bus, island day-trip, walking tours.

Supplies is ‘usable goods’: shoes, gadgets, cords, underwear, toiletries.

Thankfully, we recently completed our slew of annual medical checks (and emergencies ). Health care expenditures should remain low for the medium term.

We have yet to see a western style ‘laundry mat’ in India. We’ve used drop-off laundry services as needed. (We hand wash and dry, too).

Slow travel … a little faster

To sum up, in coming months, we plan to combine similar ‘week-long bursts’ of touring with our standard month-long stays as we further explore and enjoy India.

Either way, it seems highly likely we will be able to continue our on-budget vagabonding even as the cost-of-living skyrockets around the world.

Hopefully, our monthly expense breakdowns will help readers see that slow travel — immersive, authentic, self-planned travel — remains an affordable, safe, and fun option for retirees and ‘snowbirds’ even in worrisome financial times.