Deciding on a daily budget for my trip to India was more difficult than expected. The inconsistency in information found on the web didn't help; some were saying you could no longer travel India on less than $60/day while others reported traveling on less then $10/day. The range in travel costs seems to be from the regional variance in prices along with personal standards of living. Looking at Mumbai, which is where I will be flying in and out of, prices are similar, if not higher for accommodation, then seen in north american cities.
Not having any sort of itinerary planned out has made the task of picking an average daily budget that much more difficult. I ended up taking the middle ground of the many recommendations found on the internet and in guidebooks, settling on $30/day. I have nothing against spending a couple nights in places that others may consider 'unacceptable', for living conditions, if it's necessary to balance the budget part way through the trip. Overall, I plan on staying in decently clean low end non-air conditioned hostels/hotels with a small private room and eating where the locals eat.
I hope that tracking the details of my expenses while abroad and publishing them online will help others who are traveling to India in the future.
Note: I included 15-20% 'surplus fund' in my savings plan in case I run into problems in India and need the cash. If it's not needed during the trip it will stay in my bank account and be used as a cushion for the first couple weeks when I arrive back home.
1 comments:
Eating with the locals, and eating in the street, will probably save you tonnes of cash. And as long as the food is hot when you consume it you shouldn't have much to worry about in terms of health.
Also, I'm not sure if it will be the same in India given different attitudes toward alcohol, but I found most pubs in Rwanda to have rooms for rent in the back. The washrooms were sometimes questionable/communal but otherwise all was usually well.
P.S. Don't forget to carry TP!
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