Budget Synopsis: Costa Rica

Days in country: 29

Food: $375.00

Lodging: $203.00 (23/29 days involved Couchsurfing, house sitting or Workaway)

Transport: $214 (buses-international and local)

Other: $317.50 (entrance fees, travel guidebooks, white water rafting, cocao butter)           

TOTAL: $1,109= $38.24/day for 2 people

And to think I thought an $11/night private hostel room back in Guatemala was expensive! Costa Rica is a whole other level of budget mayhem, which is why our guidebook listed a daily basic budget as $30/person and a splurge budget as $75/person. Buses are costly, lodging is through the roof ($24/night for 2 dorm beds is "cheap" here) and park entrance fees and food quickly add up (even at the stands in the market we spent $5/person for a meal, when we're used to paying at least half that). We were constantly amazed at how prices here are on par or sometimes more expensive than those at home, especially for consumables.

Luckily, however, we were able to secure some couches, a cush house sitting gig and a few Workaway opportunities, all of which allowed us to stay here for a while, see some incredible sights and enjoy our rafting splurge and somehow still keep our costs low in this money-draining country. I'm quite pleased at how we beat the system on this one and managed to have our second best cost/day ratio so far on this trip!

Looked at in a different perspective, we were paying $925/month in San Diego to rent a tiny one bedroom duplex, and of course that doesn't include internet or electric bills, let alone groceries, car insurance, gas and other incidentals. For us, it was cheaper by at least half to spend a month in (expensive) Costa Rica than it would have been to stay in California. Here's to traveling!