Estimating money, time with a budget calculator

The length of a trip usually depends on how much money you have to spend. And that usually depends on how far it can be stretched. But how do you figure out how much you’ll need per day?

Instead of cracking open guidebook after guidebook to check prices, you can check out the budget calculator on Solotravel.org.

You’ll be prompted to enter your personal preference for things like eating, sleeping, and drinking, from a choice of three to six options. Then the calculator will whip up a total based on the number of days you’re in a place.

The point is: it’s all dependant on the individual person, as much as the individual country. My perfect experience (i.e. budget hostel, 1 drink/day, self-service eating) won’t tally up the same as yours (cheap hostel, 2 drinks/day, budget restaurants). And if I want to split my trip between hostels and hotels it’s simple—I just plug in the info for one, then switch to the other, and split the difference.

It’s interesting to see how options change based on a place: Laos and Vietnam not only have 2 hotels, but 4 types of guesthouses (budget, cheap, mid-range, top-range). Australia figures in camping. And most of the European countries offer Bed & Breakfasts for overnighting.

You can check out prices in any of 33 countries. I do wish that the calculator listed more countries and got city-specific. But at least it includes the heavy-hitters.