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 fourth month of travel we explored Romania (Bucharest, Brasov, Sibiu, Sighisoara), Hungary (Budapest), Austria (Vienna and Salzburg), Germany (Munich), and Slovenia (Bled and Ljubljana). Our month ended with our last day in Ljubljana, making for a perfect cutoff for this summary post.
Our total out-of-pocket spending for the month was about $4,300. This was far under what we expected ($5,680) thanks in part to Romania being quite cheap and us grossly overestimating what we were going to spend at Oktoberfest; even if it was still quite expensive.
This spending includes the following breakdown on a per day average for the two of us combined (in USD):
Accommodation
Food
Sight Seeing
Transportation
Souvenirs
Misc
Romania $38.25 $26.99 $7.92 $9.25 $1.45 $2.60
Budapest $50.82 $43.89 $2.00* $1.00* $1.70 $0
Austria $66.00 $55.25 $40.71 $23.67 $0 $0.88
Munich $90.02 $102.52 $7.92 $10.56 $44.00* $0
Slovenia $37.34 $52.32 $9.05 $5.32 $8.00 $3.62
*Excluded from the above table is roughly $125 in partnerships in Hungary that covered our inner city transportation and some activities in the form of the Budapest Card. We also received one rafting trip (Angie did not go) in Slovenia worth about $75.
In this particular breakdown, we have to note that we hopped around from country to country quite frequently. We often stayed in only one city (excluding Romania and Slovenia), so some of our cross-border transportation costs are not included in the above averages. This includes Romania to Budapest and Salzburg to Bled, worth about $225.
As always, our full spending log is available from our menu under "Plan Your Trip."
RTW Tally Snapshot
If anything, our RTW Tally went up quite nicely this month. Our spending was again under what we expected it to be, we traveled quite a far distance, and overall had a really good time with very few hangups! You can't ask for much more than that.
Days Traveling: 123 (+30)
Countries Visited: 14 (+3)
Dollars Spent (USD): $27,540 ($4,300 due to this month only)
Pictures Taken (Jeremy): 8,793 (+1,919)
Miles Traveled: 11,255 (+1,343)
Planes: 7; Trains: 38
Vehicles: 14; Ferries: 2
Days of Rain: 2 (+0.5)
Sick Days: 3 (+1) Angie had a bad cough and skipped rafting.
Itinerary Changes: 1 (+0)
Arguments: 1 (+0)
Days Apart: 3 (+0.5)
Nights in a Dorm Bed: 17 (+7)
Combined Books Read: 13 (+3)
Bottles of Wine: 24 (+5)
We found a few errors in our RTW Tally from last month that we corrected, so there may be a small discrepancy between this report and the previous one we published. Turns out we double logged a few hotel rooms, once when we booked and once when we checked in, so our pricing was off by $1,000 or so for about a month. Our apologies!
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 4:
- Romania turned out to be quite the fun stop. Getting out of Brasov to the nearby castles is an experience I'll never forget. However, I think the vampire advertising is a bit overblown, as is to be expected thanks to Dracula and all of the other myths that came out of the country.
- But as much as we liked Romania, we liked Budapest even more. With our limited number of days in the Schengen Area we decided early on to do one of the two countries properly and we chose Romania since I always wanted to go there. Although after going to Budapest, I was quite sad that we couldn't do more there as well. Next time!
- Our parents both came to visit us during this month, with Angie's parents coming to Budapest, Vienna, and Salzburg (skipping Munich), and my parents coming to Vienna, Munich, and Salzburg. We shared an apartment for 4 in Budapest and an apartment for 6 in Vienna. Our average hotel costs were brought up because we splurged a bit so we could stay with them. (Side note, $900 for a 4 night, 3 bedroom apartment for 6 is the most expensive room I've ever put on a credit card; even if only paying a third of it!)
- I don't think either of us remember the last time we traveled with our parents. It was likely more than 10 years ago. It was interesting getting 4-6 people ready to go each morning, but was also a lot of fun exploring new places together and drinking (with my parents at least) at Oktoberfest!
- Slovenia's national liquors, a blueberry schnapps called "Borovinica" and a honey liquor, have become some of the favorite alcoholic beverages we've tried on this trip so far. If you like trying new alcohols out when you travel, don't miss the two national drinks in the country!
- We're sick of dorm beds, and had a pretty bad experience with a few drunken roommates in Bled, Slovenia that we do not want to have a repeat of again. We have another dorm in Zagreb booked out of necessity to keep costs low, but we're going to phase out our dorm stays for the foreseeable future.
- Overall our weather has been not great, but not awful. For the most part we've had overcast skies throughout the last month and rarely seen the sun. Compared to the previous month where we never saw clouds, it is a distinct difference. Many days were pretty cold and sometimes would drizzle, but not enough that we'd need an umbrella or would stop exploring. In any case, we're ready for some sun and warmer climates again. Hopefully the Adriatic Coast will be nice to us!
- Our Mystery Destination for January 2014 has been decided! But we're not letting that cat out of the bag yet. You'll have to check out our Facebook page in the next few months to get some hints.
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!
Reflections on a Glass Lake - Bohinj, Slovenia (coming soon)
Regretting Missing More Of Hungary
Repairing A Busted Backpack Part 2 (coming soon)
I Am Starting to Hate Dorm Rooms
International Food Project - Slovenian Cheese Dumplings
Tips for Having Parents Visit on a RTW Trip
Visiting a Restored Church - Matthias Cathedral in Budapest
Castle Hostel 1004 Review - Lake Bled, Slovenia
2014 Mystery Destination Finalists
..and many more!
Follow Along on Social Media
Did you know we update our social media accounts multiple times a day with our adventures from the trip? It is true! We feature special content on our Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest pages that you will find nowhere else. We'd love it if you followed along with our journey at those sites and join in our daily discussions from the destinations we travel to!
So what will month 5 bring? We're on our way to Croatia in the morning, and will hopefully be spending about 2 weeks in the country. From there we will be going down Eastern Europe to Montenegro and Macedonia, and will perhaps be exploring a bit of Bosnia & Herzegovina and Albania as well. At the end of the month (or beginning of month 6) we will be heading to Dubai; finishing the European segment of our adventure and beginning our Central Asia journey!
The exciting end to our European leg of the trip is underway, so stick around as we explore the lesser visited corner of the continent!
Is there something you'd like us to cover in our monthly reviews? Or perhaps something you'd like to see more or less of in our posts? Comment below to let us know and we'd be happy to feature it!