Colombia. Just the name evokes strong emotions, good and bad. For travelers who have been there in recent times Colombia often tops their list of favorite places in South America, if not the world. For your Aunt Ester, Colombia means cocaine crazed gangsters passing out Colombian Neckties with FARC rebels kidnapping everyone in sight.

The truth is mixed. Palmira and Cali are still in the top 10 for most murders in the world but the violence is way down from the civil war period in the 1940s and 50s and the drug wars of the 1980s and 90s. While cocaine is still a part of Colombia, it was more prevalent in Peru and Bolivia in my experience. However, I’m with most of the backpackers, Colombia is an amazing country and I’m counting the days until I can return someday.

One of the marvelous things about Colombia is the price. Thankfully most American and Canadian tourists haven’t discovered Colombia yet so prices remain low. Unfortunately, I spent just six days in Colombia, all in Cali. Let’s look at the numbers:

Due to the fact that it was the end of my South American leg and that I met some very cool other travelers, I really enjoyed the nightlife. I spent $32 on beer, or $5.33 per day. Beer costs $1-$2 per bottle at most places.

I spent $30 on accommodation ($5 per day (PD)), which included five nights in a hostel and one night on a red eye flight. Although it was a six-bed dorm, it felt like a private room as I bunked with three other travelers I had met on a bus in Ecuador.

The next biggest cost was other which included a departure tax of $15 at the airport and a souvenir. I usually don’t buy souvenirs because I don’t want to carry them around but since I was going home for Christmas I did. Overall, I spent $24 ($4 PD).

I spent $20 on cabs ($3.33 PD) of which $15 came on the ride to the airport. That is another reason I hate to fly. The hidden cost of getting to and from the airports that are usually not close to the city center.

Oddly, I spent exactly $17 on lunch ($2.83 PD) and $17 on dinner while adding $2 on breakfast ($.33 PD) and $8 on snacks ($1.33 PD). The less than $6 a day average for breakfast, lunch and dinner combined may seem like I was starving myself but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I gorged myself several days and could have got by on far less.

I also spent $2 on water ($.33 PD) and $3 dollars on tours ($.50).

Overall, in six days, I spent a total of $155 or an average of $25.83 per day.

Ecuador is a much underrated country. My original plan was to burn through it as fast as possible to have more time in other places like Peru and Colombia. Once getting there I knew I couldn’t do it and spent almost two weeks there (13 days), you could easily spend more.

It is an expensive country as compared to most of Latin America partly because they use the US Dollar. The bills are all from the US and the coins are a mix of Ecuadorian coins and from the US. It is also fairly modern with a big time draw to people with money, the Galápagos Islands. The lion’s share of the tourists come to Ecuador for that reason alone. However, the Republic of Ecuador is so much more.

Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to Darwin’s lab on this trip. The cost was just too high for my way of traveling, I didn’t talk to anyone who did it for less than $1,200 (7 days) and I talked to several who spent much more. Technically, I could have bit the bullet and paid the money but I decided to save the cash for other opportunities down the path. If nothing else, long term travel is about decisions. Due to the fact I lived in Hawaii, the islands didn’t have a huge draw. Plus, now I have a reason to come back someday.

Ecuador was near or at the top in most budget categories:

The big expense was housing. I blew past the previous leader for most expensive (Brazil) by more than $4.50 a night. I spent $192 or an average of $14.76 a night. I definitely splurged in this area. I stayed in hotels for five nights, hostels for six while also couch surfing and sleeping on a bus one night each. The hotels could have been avoided but after no hotels in Bolivia or Peru I spent a little more. The couch surfing was actually at the hostel. When I wanted extend my stay in Guayaquil it was booked, but the manager offered me to take the couch at the front desk for free. I gladly accepted. Due to the small size of the country, overnight bus options were extremely limited so that also contributed to the high cost.

The food cost was also high. I spent a staggering $86 on dinner and $28 on lunch ($8.76 per day (PD)). Part of the problem here was due to some remote locations with limited dining options. The dinner cost was again the highest on the trip, by just over $2 per day. Due to the high food cost, I also snacked more spending $10 ($.76 PD), this was also the highest in Latin America.

Getting around in Ecuador was reasonable but not cheap. I spent $63 on buses ($4.84 PD) and another $43 on cabs ($3.30 PD). I got as free ride with a lady I met on the bus from the border to Cuenca so that helped, but the short bus rides with lots of switching buses added up. Also, I found the people in Ecuador a lot less willing to bargain on bus and cab costs. I also used the metro bus in Guayaquil a few times, which was only $.25 per ride for a total of $2 ($.15 PD).

I enjoyed the night life in Ecuador, particularly in Guayaquil. I spent $41 on beer ($3.15 per day), each beer hovered around the $2-$4 range. It was the second highest average for beer behind Peru.

I also dropped $8 ($.61 PD) on other, which included laundry service. For those that helped me, I spent $11 ($.84 PD) on gifts. Although Ecuador was surprisingly not that hot, due to elevation, I spent $7 ($.53 PD) on water. I also spent $2 ($.15 PD) on tours, accounting for admission to Quilotoa Lake. Ecuador had many free parks, interesting streets and beaches to explore without cost.

Overall in 13 days in Ecuador, I spent $493 for an average of $37.92 per day. This was the most expensive country I visited in Latin America other than Brazil.

I have gotten a positive response on these budget breakdowns so I’ll keep them going.

I had a really great time in Peru and I think it was because I mixed a lot of down time with world class attractions. In Cusco and Lima people often recommended various sites that I never heard of. I didn’t go. I’m not saying just because I haven’t heard of it, it can’t be good. What I am saying is when you are traveling long term you can’t pack everyday with sightseeing. I’ve done 1-4 week trips were you have a packed itinerary and by the time you get home you need a vacation from your vacation. My time is unlimited and I’m trying not to burn out.

This take it easy approach is not only good for your mental and physical health but your budget as well. So here is what I spent during my 18 days in Peru.

For the second time on this trip the top cost was food (Bolivia). I heard good things about the Peruvian food before I arrived and it lived up to the billing. Some days when I was laying low I would just walk around and eat, and in Peru, that can be better than sightseeing. I’m a creature of habit even when I have no schedule, once I found a place I liked I kept going back. I went to three different places three times each. I spent $80 on dinner ($4.44 per day (PD)), $45 on lunch ($2.50 PD) and $6 on breakfast ($.33 PD) for a total of $131 or $7.27 per day. That was the second most per day on this trip after Brazil.

Accommodation was another big cost, I spent $107 on 16 nights in a hostel for an average of $5.94 per night. I was able to save a little with two overnight bus rides.

I moved around Peru a good bit and spent a pretty penny on buses. On four long haul bus rides I spent a total of $98 ($5.44 PD). I traveled a total of 1,843 miles across Peru, seeing a good bit of the country. I took a much nicer bus, which was about 40% of the total bus cost, for the long trip to the Ecuador border. I’ve learned to take better buses to the borders because there will be other English speakers on those buses and it will help in the crossing. In country, I still go for the cheap buses that the locals take.

I spent $64 ($3.55 PD) on beer. Most of that was in Lima on back-to-back days. I found an American style sports bar so I posted up and watched football all day Saturday and Sunday, after all, you can’t just sit there and not buy anything. It was my first games of the year on TV, I was in heaven. The beers in Peru are around $2-$3 per bottle.

I dropped $61 on tours ($3.38 per day), most of it on the Machu Picchu trip. My package including transport, three meals and lodging but for the purposes of my budget I broke it up. I estimate $56 of the total price was for admission to the site, admission to Machu Picchu Mountain and a tour guide (for an hour and a half). I spent a few other bucks on a hot spring, the Nazca Lines observation tower and a museum in Nazca.

To get to Machu Picchu I took a shuttle from Cusco to the hydroelectric plant (in the middle of nowhere) where the road ends. From there it was about an eight mile walk to Aguas Calientes where I spent the night. The shuttle ride was hellish, windy, dusty mountain dirt roads. For much of it we were feet from certain death hugging the side of the mountain with no guard rails. This cost $26 ($1.44 PD) but better that than the train which will run you at minimum $60. I then walked to Machu Picchu the next day which saved a further $24 over the lazy people who took the bus.

I also spent $19 ($1.05 PD) on other which included renting towels as I lost mine somewhere in Cusco. It also covered $10 in gambling losses in Lima. I won some and lost some, in the end it was hours of fun for cheap. Only $10 ($.55 PD) was spent on cabs as I felt good walking around. In addition, I spent $5 ($.27) on gifts, $4 ($.22) on water, $2 ($.11) on local buses, and $2 ($.11) on snacks.

Overall, 18 days in Peru cost me $529 or $29.38 per day.

I know I haven’t posted these in order, but I am caught up now. So when looking at the Panama expenditures it is important to note that it was my first country of the trip. As the first place on a long term trip I was especially careful, okay fanatical, with the budget.

Panama uses the USD as its currency so there is no crazy exchange rate. Also, Panama seems to have made it on to the radar of mainstream travelers from the US. For whatever reason, Belize, Costa Rica, and to a lesser extent, Panama are the destinations in Latin America for travelers from the U.S. Most of these visitors have a week or two, and more importantly, a wad of cash. Because of this prices have gone up across the board.

I saved money by staying in one place and quite frankly going without in some situations. I was in Panama for the shortest time any country with a total of only eight days and I stayed in Panama City the whole time. Let’s look at the breakdown:

I spent the most on accommodation, naturally. I spent $78 on six nights in the hostel but saved with two nights sleeping on planes. The hostel was actual very expensive compared to what awaited me in South America. Overall, I averaged $9.75 per day on housing.

A side note on my hostel philosophy, I go for the cheapest hostel with decent reviews. I look for the least expensive room with at least a 7/10 rating on hostleworld.com. I don’t care about how many people are in the room, the more the cheaper it is. I’ve gone as high as 15-bed dorms on this trip. I look for two main things in the reviews: hot water and WIFI. Sometimes it works out, sometimes I can’t be picky.

I spent $31 on lunch ($3.87 per day (PD)) and $8 on dinner ($1 PD) for a total of $38 on food or $4.87 per day. While food is a good bargain in Panama, if you go local, it is worth noting that during the two days that I was on planes I did not buy any food. There was no way I was going to blow the budget on obscenely priced airport food. I am not opposed to a little fasting. Thanks to my friend Mark who took me out to lunch during a layover.

Frighteningly, I spent almost as much on cabs as I did food. I dropped $36 ($4.50 PD) on taxis, most of that came on the ride from the airport to the hostel. That is another reason I don’t like to fly if I can help it. Bus stations are typically in the heart of the city and much closer to where you are going.

Fresh off of quitting my job, I enjoyed some beers. I spent $21 or $2.62 per day. The beers ranged anywhere from $3-$5, not much different from the U.S.

The Panama Canal was the only tourist activity that I paid for which cost me $15 ($1.87 PD). I found Panama City quite walkable and enjoyed exploring on foot for free.

I also spent $10 ($1.25 PD) on an airport shuttle and $13 ($1.62 PD) on other. In this case other included a switch blade knife ($6) which is illegal in the U.S. but perfectly okay to have in Panama. I just couldn’t resist.

In the end, I spent $212 over eight days in Panama for an average of $26.50 per day.