Date: 2015-08-30
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The following entry details the sad, sad account of my dwindling bank account. We compiled all our expenses. All the figures here are for TWO people and are converted in US dollars. We had many important purchases prior to leaving. Initial gear expenses amounted to 1,840.47$. This isn¢t that bad as it includes new packs, sleeping bags and pads, the tent, cooking gear, some clothes ¢ basically everything except boots and a few pieces of clothing. I have included the approximate costs for most of our equipment in the ¢Gear¢ section of our journal. The prices are converted in USD and are rounded up. All transportations costs added up to 1,045.77$. This includes 160$ for our passport renewals, ± 600$ for the air fare, 52.50$ for the baggage check-in and 150$ for our shuttle from the Atlanta airport to Springer. For our return trip, we spent 86$ for the bus trip from Bangor to Boston and 170$ for the bus traveling from Boston to Montr©al. There is also an added 20$ for the taxi service we used while in Bangor. We bought health insurance before leaving which costs 780$. We hesitated to buy some initially because of the expense. However, it is the safer way to go and we did end up using it. As for Trail expenses, we calculated that we spent, in total 2.05$ per person, per mile . This seems to be very average. While on the Trail, we spend 1,193.37$ on gear replacement or substitutions. Total food expenses added up to 4,907.13$ (dammmmmn son). If we break that figure down, we spent 3,331.85$ on Trail food (that is, what we carried) and 1,575.28$ on food while in town. Lodging amounted to 2,392.28$. Admittedly, we usually did not stay in hostels but rather opted for places with private rooms which are more expensive. This total also includes campsite fees. If you look under our ¢Stats¢ section of our journal you can see how our nights were divided between stays in shelters, our tent, hotels or hostels. I must say that we did not stay in town that much compared to others; limiting hotel stays is an obvious way to cut down costs. Sometimes however, that bed and shower are totally worth it. The average cost for staying in a hotel room for a single night was around 84$ for two people. EDIT: I forgot to mention that the general consensus is that the South is generally cheaper (for food and lodging) than the North. This statement was consistent with our personal observations (I'm looking at you, IGA of Kent, CT...) However, with regards to lodging, it is important to remember that we were visiting the South during the months of March and April so the prices were probably lower due to it being off-peak season. There is also a total of 318.26$ which we classified as miscellaneous. It includes the costs of shipping gear back to Canada, laundry and shuttles or taxis. Our grand total, including travel expenses and preparations amounts therefore to 12,679.96$ which converts to 16,230.35 in CAD. Seriously, international hikers, watch out for that exchange rate. I did not really factor it in when budgeting for our trip and consequently, I have no leftover money now because of my oversight. Otherwise, I think we were pretty much on budget. Our initial expenses (gear, insurances, etc.) were higher than anticipated, but overall, we are very average. It is painful to see the numbers laid out here but honestly, I don¢t really think that we could have saved more without making big sacrifices. While on the Trail, food was our biggest expense (39% of total sum); gear replacement (24%) was next and then lodging (19%). Justine