Behind the Scenes of a RTW Trip - Month 15 Travel Review

Another month has passed by just like that, and with it ends our 15th month on the road.  This is a particularly interesting month for us as we have just passed our predicted number of days on the road (455)!  Will we make it to 500?  Well, you'll just have to stick around and find out because this post is all about recapping our last month on the road!
As with our last report, each month we feature a travel review of the highlights, lowlights, and spending we had during the course of our adventure.  These are provided as a snapshot of what our RTW trip is like for your reference, although we know that every trip is different.  
Spending

During our fifteenth month of travel we split our time between Costa Rica (San Jose and the Osa Peninsula) as well as Mexico (Valladolid, Merida, Tulum, and Playa del Carmen). 
Our total out-of-pocket spending for the month was about $2,400, or $78/day.   As we were on a press event in Costa Rica for a week out of the month, it is a bit hard for us to breakdown our spending much further.  But what I can say is that even though our targeted budget in Mexico is around $75/day, we are exceeding it by about $10/day (curse you Tequila!).   Other than this, our overall spending for the month has been a welcomed break when compared to our spending from South America!
This spending includes the following breakdown on a per day average for the two of us combined (in USD).

Accommodation Food Transportation Sight Seeing Souvenirs Misc. Purchases

Mexico $34.07 $26.45 $11.48 $9.48* $2.21 $1.41

*Notes:  Our sight seeing spending has been decreased by about $20/day as we worked with companies for a cooking class (for two) and a whale shark expedition (for one).  Unfortunately, exploring the Yucatan can get very expensive when taking these activities in to account!
As always, our full spending log is available from our menu under "Plan Your Trip."
RTW Tally Snapshot

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, we're really happy to have passed our original target days on the road of 455!  This is the milestone we've always hoped to reach with our RTW Tally, and now that we have I can say I'm really happy with how it all worked out when comparing the rest of the data to it.  Our spending was right on par, we went to just about every place we've planned (except Antarctica and Egypt, sadly), and overall have made some pretty good numbers so far!
One of the most interesting things to note this month is that we had nearly a week of hard rain!   Normally a week of rain in a month is no big deal, but considering in the previous 14 months of travel we only had nine days of rain in total, the fact that we almost doubled that is pretty impressive.   But even still, this was low in our opinion considering we went into the jungle of Costa Rica and visited the Yucatan during the rainy season!
 
Days Traveling: 458 (+31)
Countries Visited: 38 (+2)
Dollars Spent (USD): $74,601 (+$2,403)  
Pictures Taken (Jeremy):  28,609 (+1,065)
Miles Traveled:  53,399 (+2,630)
   Planes: 30; Trains: 45
   Vehicles: 95; Ferries: 5
Days of Rain: 15.5 (+6.5)
Sick Days: 12.5 (+1)
Itinerary Changes: 4 (+0)
Arguments: 11 (+0)
Days Apart: 10.5 (+3)
Nights in a Dorm Bed: 39 (+0)
Combined Books Read: 49 (+4)
Bottles of Wine: 49 (+0)
Random Thoughts

As with the last RTW trip covered on this site, these monthly updates are a great place to put in the little random details that we found interesting in the countries we visited that may not find their way into a full blog post.  The following are some of our favorites from the countries we visited in Month 15:

• San Jose, Costa Rica, was an incredible let down.  It did not seem like there was much to see in the city itself (it is all day tours), and what was available was ridiculously over-priced ($15 for the small Jade Museum- no thanks!).
• The yoga retreat we visited in Costa Rica, Blue Osa, was probably the first time in all of my travels that I had a forced break on everything- and it was absolutely amazing.  Between the daily yoga, relaxing at the pool, and only having minimal obligations, I can safely say it was the first time I truly relaxed in a long, long time.
• The Yucatan region of Mexico is incredibly expensive compared to what we thought it was going to be.  The most notable expense in this part of the world is bus rides, which can cost up to $7/hour!  Compared to South America ($1-$5/hr), this is an incredible rip-off and our wallet is hurting pretty good!
• In just 16 days in Mexico, we rolled over 100 tacos in our official Mexican taco count.  So far the cheapest taco we have found was around 6 pesos (46 cents) and the most expensive 13 pesos ($1).  If we had to give one recommendation when it comes to tacos, it would be to try and find tacos al pastor whenever you can.  They're the best!
• The tequila in Mexico has been better than almost every single tequila I've had at home, and that makes us sad since it means our preferred choices just go much more expensive.

Future Posts

Since each month is limited on the number of days, we cannot write our posts fast enough to fit them all in!  But don't worry, we've got ideas for a lot of great posts for after this trip ends (if it ever does).  The following are a selection of some we're thinking of!
The 100+ Tacos We Ate in Mexico
Snorkeling With the Largest Fish in the World - Whale Sharks!
Blue Osa Resort Review in Costa Rica
San Jose Just Didn't Do It For Us
Screw Chichen Itza, Go to Uxmal Instead!
The Differences Between Tequila and Mexcal
Our Most Luxurious Hotel Yet
An Honest Opinion on Dolphin Encounters
Rio Secreto - The Yucatan's Top Attraction
Waterfall Rappelling in Costa Rica - Adrenaline at Its Finest
...and more!
So where will Month 16 take us?  We just made it back to Cancun to attend the travel blogger's conference, TBEX, where I am a speaker!   After that we're splitting up for separate press trips with TBEX for a few days before heading over to Chiapas to continue our exploration of Mexico!