Tag: vacation

Devils Throat Waterfall Argentinian side

Why is long time travelling different than a vacation? Those 8 subtle differences…

So we just came back from South America and everyone is envying us because we had such a loooong vacation. But guess what... we don’t feel like we were on vacation. Long- time travelling is a lifestyle that changed our life completely and it’s not comparable to a vacation. Here is why we feel our journey is different than a vacation:

  1. No time limit or anyway not a close one and no plan…

On vacation I always had a list of things to see, try, do. Every minute I was busy or I was thinking about what I’m gonna do next. Now we have a sea of time. We can talk to people without thinking we will be late for something, we can read about local culture and we can go with the flow. When we were in Argentina next to Iguazu Falls it was raining insanely for 4 days. Everyone had one or two days to see the waterfalls so they had to go but we could wait for the perfect weather. We also end up seeing more  of the "not so touristic" places.

Devils Throat Waterfall Argentinian side

  1. …But we do have money limits…

Let’s face it we are not really millionaires. So we have to be selective. We sleep in dorms with many other people, we volunteer, we keep track of our expenses, we think before we spend. And we cook mainly ourselves. On vacation we were normally more willing to go a bit crazy, go for nice dinner, stay in a nice hotel.

  1. … and limit of stuff we take

Packing for vacation I always wanted to have options so I took a dress for this, a dress for that, shoes for this, shoes for that and make up and maybe even some hair products. Then I would sit on my suitcase to push something more in. On a RTW (Round The World travel) I have to drag all that stuff the whole time so I took only things I really needed. So one pair of shoes, one pair of slippers, two pairs of socks (ok that was a mistake) and obviously not too many cosmetics. Only the absolute basics. Our backpacks are around 11-13 kilo each depending on the amount of food and spices we drag around (yep we almost have a kitchen in there)

Palomino, Colombia

  1. Travelling we can’t go home…

Simply cuz we don’t have one. We left everything. So we can’t really unpack for long. And there is no privacy. We always share something, if not a room then a bathroom or a kitchen

  1. …so we miss things

Our friends get married, celebrate their birthday, get sick and we are not there. Ok there is skype but it’s not the same. Not even nearly.

  1. It became our whole life…

Earlier we woke up to go to work now we work on being good in our passions – JD in programming, me in photography. It’s not like I think National Geographic will hire me but I love it so I want to learn and I never know what’s gonna come handy when I’m going to search for a job.

  1. …even though sometimes it’s tough…

On vacation it’s all fascinating and we never had time to get tired with the “new”. But after such a long time we long for a washing machine, hot showers, toilet where you can flush toilet paper. And generally stuff that work. And the food!! Omg European food!!

Choquequirao, Peru

  1. …we meet the most inspiring people ever

Maybe it’s our mind set or where we sleep but we meet amazing people that we would have never met on vacation. People that make us realize that everything is possible if you really want it. They open our minds and hearts and make everything worthwhile. Both travelers and locals make us see how different life can be and how we are the ones deciding about it.

Salt Flats

Open post

How much does it cost to travel in Uruguay? Our budget and tips

Uruguay is definitely not a cheap destination especially in high season so between December and the beginning of March (busiest month is February). We were there in May/June so in a bit of a dead season when accommodation is cheaper and the beaches are empty. In total we spend 1538 euro (so 46 363 pesos, 1 euro was 30.15 pesos for us) for us both during 29 days so 26.5 euro per day per person.

Where did we go?
We went through the whole coast of Uruguay starting in Montevideo and ended in Chuy. We visited Colonia del Sacramento for a day trip and later we stayed in Punta del Este, Punta Rubia, Cabo Polonio and Punta del Diablo.

Where did we stay?
Mostly dormitories in hostels except for Cabo Polonio where we stayed in a double room (it was 700 Uruguayan pesos and bed in a dorm was 300 per person) and Punta Rubia where we had a double room with a private bathroom (35 euro per night).
Bed in a dormitory: around 300- 450 pesos (10-15 euro) per night

What did we eat?
 We mostly ate meals prepared by ourselves but we didn't save on ingredients (so no instant noodles!:)). Generally fruit and vegetables are cheap compared to western Europe. It gets more expensive when you want to buy processed food and chocolate is like gold among all the sweets. We also didn't deny ourselves a nice bottle of Uruguayan wine from time to time.
Good uruguayan wine: 200-300 pesos (7-10 euro)

How did we travel?
By bus with joy! Buses in Uruguay are comfortable, punctual and cheap. Often they even have WiFi. Our budget includes also our tickets to Brasil (also by bus).
For example: bus Montevideo to Punta del Este (130 km)- 489.83 pesos (16.25 euro)

What else did we spend our pesitos on?
Entrances fees, tip for "free" walking tour, laundry. Definitely nothing fancy.

Our tips to save money in Uruguay
1. It's better to travel out of season when accommodation is at least half the price and you can actually travel without booking it in advance (often we were booking hostels one or two days before).
2. Wash your own clothes. Laundry is really expensive, in Montevideo we spend 480 pesos (16 euro) on one quite big bag of laundry(!) In Punta del Este for a small bag they wanted to charge us 250 pesos (8 euro).
3. Travelling out of season be prepared for things to be closed.. Uruguay doesn't have many citizens and most of them live in Montevideo so going further in the coast most of the houses are empty and supermarkets closed. There is also no possibility to withdraw your money so unless you don't want to travel for an hour only to get to the ATM make sure you withdraw all you need in Montevideo or Punta del Este.
4. Not only booking.com, hostelworld.com and airbnb are handy! if you want to go to Cabo Polonio you won't find many hostels on those. Go to Portal del Cabo. There you find more options and for all the budgets. It's better to contact the hosts by phone as they don't have easy internet access.
5. Try to pay by card - in many places you get small discounts for paying by card. Always nice to have some spare pesitos:)

If you have any questions or you would like to take a look on our spreadsheet, let us know:)