Every month, I post a report of our expenses to show that it is possible to live a comfortable, exciting, and adventurous life without breaking the bank. The less money you spend, the less you need to make. 🙂
This report includes ALL of our expenses, in US$, for two adults and one 60-pound dog (we adopted Maya on June 4th, 2019). Under groceries we incorporate food, produce, and non-alcoholic drinks predominantly bought in supermarkets. Toiletries belong in that category as well. Dining out means eating at a restaurant/event or purchasing take-out food. The health category covers non-prescription medicines and vitamins/supplements; medical contains prescription drugs and doctor’s visits. Because of our income level, Mark and I are eligible for free health care within the state of Massachusetts. For check-ups and extensive care, we return to the East Coast.
Even though the three of us have been “stuck” in Cartagena for over a month, November went by fast. For once, we didn’t care, because the sooner we would be reunited with our camper, Thirsty Bella, the better. Guess what? We are still waiting. But the end of that is coming near.
This is where the RORO car carriers dock in Cartagena Harbor
Mark, Maya, and I flew from Houston, Texas, to Miami, Florida, on November 7th. From there, we continued on to Cartagena, Colombia, the following day. Since the 8th, we have been apartment hopping in this hectic, dusty, hot, and humid city, not spending a lot of time in tourist areas but immersing ourselves in the noisy and affordable Colombian way of (city) life.
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Landing in Cartagena, Colombia
Rush hour traffic near Airbnb #3
Buying our breakfast bananas at a fruit stand
Visit to the panaderia
Pastries from the panaderia (bakery)
We booked our plane tickets in early October, using credit card points (valued at US$590) and we managed to do the same for our airport hotel in Miami (US$112) and five Airbnb rentals (the equivalent of US$945 in total, so far). The estimate was to be here for three weeks (an important factor for packing our belongings, toiletries, and food for Maya, all in carry-on luggage), but we will have been here over five weeks by the time we pick up our vehicle at the port. I will elaborate on the why another time.
Airbnb #1 – outside
Airbnb #1 – inside
Airbnb #2 – outside
Airbnb #2 – inside
Airbnb #3 – outside
Airbnb #3 – inside
On our last week in the US, we bounced between uncomfortable overnight parking lots and parks, meeting up with friends and preparing our vehicle for leaving the country.
Spending the night on a Home Depot parking lot in Houston
Spending the night on the parking lot of Cracker Barrel in Houston
Figuring out where everything can be stored and hidden
Lifting the camper a bit to wedge items underneath once it’s lowered again
Parked in the driveway of our Houston friends for the last three nights
The last weekend saw us finalize everything at and in the convenient house and driveway of friends.
Drilling holes in the plywood to attach the tension bars inside the rig
Sorting through our stuff: what comes for the flight, what doesn’t?
Packing dog food for Maya
Lots of paperwork and photo copies to figure out
Tension bars and wood installed on the cabover part
Every cabinet was rearranged and stuffed.
The food cabinet holds items usually stored elsewhere.
Empty fridge for the ship journey
Dinette area boarded up
Bella boarded up
Totally empty truck cab – nothing stayed behind
What’s going on?
Then, camper drop-off and moving day happened, followed with the rest of the month living in Cartagena. We had a lot of extra expenses in November, yet we managed to not go too far over our average budget.
I am now reporting on camper costs as well, because the basics of our conversions, improvements, and upgrades were finished in October. I will post a separate report about buying and equipping Bella in the near future. This camper category was the highest by surprise, because, you know, nothing goes as planned…
A lot went wrong when Mark finally dropped our camper off at the port of Galveston, which caused added stress on an already logistically stressful day, but I will just elaborate on one episode for now.
There are quite a few rules if you want to ship a vehicle abroad. One of those, regarding campers, is that the propane tank has to be empty and a certificate to prove this is required. We called the issuing company in League City to inquire about the certificate and were told those are only provided for fixed tanks. We had a portable 20-pound tank, so should be fine. Our tank was empty. Our tank was newish. We taped the purchase receipt to the tank, just to not get into trouble.
Nope. Not enough. We needed the certificate. It was 2pm in the afternoon. The port closed at 4pm. Our plane left that evening. We didn’t see an option for Mark to leave Galveston port, drive to League City 40 minutes away, get our tank certified – or buy a new one with a certified receipt – and get the vehicle cleared for shipment, plus visit Customs, before four. Oh, and the escort to guide you through the port costs $50 per hour and once you’re ten minutes over that, a second hour is charged…
Phone numbers of port escorts on the day of our drop-off
Mark called me (I was waiting in a public park with Maya and all our luggage) and we concluded we only had one choice if we wanted to catch our plane: remove the tank from our camper and leave it at the port. This was a huge problem and complication: our tank had US fittings, fit snugly in its compartment, and all our cooking and heating facilities (including hot water and grill) depended on this particular set-up, which we would not be able to find and reproduce in Colombia (different fittings and tank sizes).
Waiting for Mark in a Galveston park
We were screwed and almost gave up on this whole journey (for the first time). Employees, including Mark’s escort Kaylyn, understood, but there was nothing they could do. Mark continued the drop-off and clearing out procedures and joined me in the park. We felt defeated – and homeless – without even having left the US.
Thirsty Bella in Galveston port
Thirsty Bella in line to be loaded on a cargo vessel… three weeks later!
On that picnic bench in Galveston, we brainstormed. We had another hour to kill before airport focus was upon us. A crazy idea emerged, one that would be hard to pull off…
Mark called his escort Kaylyn, asked her if she would be able to deposit a new propane tank inside our camper if we had someone deliver it. The answer was surprising, but music to our ears: “Yes.” Question #2: “Would you be willing to pick one up if we order it? We will pay you for your help, of course.” Another “yes” followed and life looked up again.
Dealing with the propane tank disaster
Over the next half an hour, we called the propane place in League City and paid for a new tank and its certification, emailed them Kaylyn’s information, and copied her on any correspondence with Baygas Propane. Our angel called us three days after we arrived in Cartagena. She had picked up the tank and needed instructions about where to put it – and how to get there. We walked her through storing the new tank safely and securely inside Bella, made sure she locked our home properly again, and sent her $100 as a thank you. Hence our high propane cost last month…
This is where Kaylyn wrapped and stored our new propane tank (we think)
The other amount paid for the camper went to protection (wood to board up the windows and tension rods to keep them in place) and gear to potentially fix our fridge issue. It was our goal to have a fully-working (brand new) fridge before shipment, but that failed.
Buying cut plywood at Home Depot and storing it for a few days – back and forth from the bed of the camper to the back seat of the truck
To bring Maya into Colombia, we needed an international health certificate and a couple of extra shots. That required a vet visit of multiple hours and approval by the USDA; an expensive ordeal. The temporary import permit for Colombia was only $11 and took an hour of red tape.
Vet visit in Texas City
Temporarily importing Maya into Colombia
Back in Houston, we treated our generous and hospitable friends John and Harriet to a Thai take-out dinner. The rest of the eating out category was spent in Cartagena – one “expensive” meal and drinks for my birthday ($60 for two people) in a nice restaurant and the rest on local food.
Birthday dinner out in Getsemani with new friends Sheri and Jeff
Hearty dinner at a local restaurant
The grocery category was low – we needed to eat everything up before leaving the US and Colombia is cheap. We still cooked most of our meals to save money and eat relatively healthy. After we recovered from being sick the first ten days, our Venezuelan friend Nathalie, who lives in Manga, Cartagena, invited us over for a yummy salmon-pasta lunch.
Preparing sandwich lunches for two days of plane travel
Dinner rich in vegetables (at home)
Making French toast with crappy Colombian (sweet) bread
Another dinner at home, with take-out chicken
Lunch at Nathalie and Danny’s place
We didn’t spend a lot on fuel last month, only enough for dock workers to move our truck on and off the boat(s). Your gas tank can only be 1/4 full. We had a last-minute tire alignment and rotation done two days before we left.
Fueling Thirsty for the last time in Texas
This amount differs from the one in the report, because we received credit back from our fuel app Upside.
The front tires were wearing down in an uneven way
Taking the camper off yet again; this time to deal with the truck tires
Transportation was another extra category. The Uber from Galveston Island to Hobby Airport in Houston cost a whopping $50 and we have been getting around Cartagena in local taxis. The price for the port escort was also $50.
Cab in Manga’s flooded streets
Our monthly amount for internet went up. We finally retired our amazing unlimited AT&T data plan that was $35/month for years (we sold it on) and switched to a Google Fi worldwide plan, sharing an account with our friends Duwan and Greg. After the initial set-up fees incorporated in this report, the new monthly amount should be $50 for 50 gig of data.
The only other thing worth mentioning is that I finally spent the second half of Mark’s birthday gift for me from last year (November 2021) on goodies at Trader Joe’s. I totally forgot I had some “credit” left for that! As I write this, I’m eating my final dark-chocolate-covered almonds from the US…
The food bag – just now am I finishing those chocolate-covered almonds!
We are all resting and waiting!
