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 US East Coast.
I think a lot of people skip my expense reports, because they are not interested in the financial details of our nomadic lifestyle. But these posts offer a glimpse behind the scenes and show the practicalities of a life on the road; the photos providing a sense of the action. Plus, because I’m so behind with my regular travel posts, these reports are the most up to date about what’s recently going on with the three of us.
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Wonderful views in the Colombian mountains
Congested town centers
Botero Plaza, Medellin
Mural in the center of Medellin
A dogfood dispenser for strays in Guatape, what a concept!
Glimpse of the Guatape reservoir
In February, Mark, Maya, and I continued our Colombian overland explorations in Thirsty Bella, our truck camper disguised as a cow. It was a good month for us. We finally reached our goal of spending less than US$800. Of course, it helped that there were only 28 days. It’s safe to say that this is probably a one off!
Drinks and lunch out with friends in El Retiro
Having dinner with our Guatape hosts Jake and Monica
The grocery and dining out categories have to be seen in conjunction with each other. When we don’t cook, we order food. Because life is much more affordable in Colombia than in western countries, we splurge a bit more on eating out. Usually for dinner; once in a while for lunch. Yet, we still try to keep things under control and did pretty well with the alcohol budget.
Cooking dinner on our grill
Dinner on the grill
Fresh produce in Guatape; total cost: $4
A chunk of money went to fuel, which is also quite cheap here, at US$2/gallon (don’t ask us why the prices are per gallon when everything else is part of the metric system). I guess we covered some miles in February. A negative about doing all this mountain driving is that Thirsty only gets about 8.5 miles to the gallon. Compare that with our (still poor) average of 10.5 miles in the US and it gives you an indication about the road conditions in Colombia. They aren’t pretty! And, they are the reason for our new rule of “four eyes on the road at all times!” Yes, after hours, this gets exhausting.
Typical dirt road
Busy on the backroads
Some of the roads are tricky and tight
Some paved roads have toll booths. But don’t assume that these routes are a breeze! If anything, one has to pay even more attention than on the slow gravel and dirt roads, as sunken road surfaces, potholes, and cracked pavement creep up fast to the unsuspecting eye. And, you get the privilege of paying for those surprises. While $3 for a stretch of semi-decent road might not seem like a lot, for Colombian living standards it is, and after a few a day the amount adds up.
Yes, this is a toll road – don’t drive too fast!
The other side of a toll road
Oncoming traffic
Parking, on the other hand, is cheap at an average of less than a dollar an hour, for a guarded lot in town. After three or four hours, it makes more sense to pay the daily rate. We took just our truck into Medellin once to run errands and go on a guided walking tour. The lots were overflowing, but we pulled into one anyway, being on a deadline. That’s when we discovered you leave the key with the attendants and they will move cars around as they see fit, or as people need to depart. Since the back of our cab had heaps of gear in it (part of the back seat acts as storage), we were a tad worried about handing over our key, but these are professionally-run parking lots, so we needn’t have stressed.
Leaving the parking lot with Thirsty
Parked by the Home Center in Medellin to buy supplies
Let’s talk about Maya. The good news is that we can find her exact (high-quality) dogfood in Colombia. The bad news is that it costs twice as much as in the US. This is probably the only thing so far that has been more expensive here than in the States. We’ll take it…
Maya found her food in a Home Canter in Medellin
Treating Maya’s injured toe
Maya’s paw has to be wrapped for weeks, in order to protect her injured toe.
Taking escalators on our Medellin tour – is this where Maya’s toe got injured?
When we were in Medellin, our girl lost a toe nail. We don’t know how exactly it happened, but this is a painful injury, as the “quick” underneath became exposed. It’s like an open wound. From the moment we arrived home, we disinfected it and kept it wrapped up. Worried about an infection, we involved a vet and received some remedies. But the main healer is time. So, no more decent walks for a while! After three weeks now, we can finally see progress, but her toe is long not recovered. As you can see in the report underneath, vets are not expensive here.
Parked for one night on the town square of Florian
Moved slightly out of the town center of Florian for a few nights – a quieter experience
Free overnight parking at a restaurant in Marinilla, after eating dinner there
Free camping next to a cemetery in Rionegro- finally peace and quiet!
Camped for a handful of nights in El Retiro
Boondocked on a sandspit/gravel pit in Guatape
Parked in Medellin for a couple of nights
Mark and I are still trying to camp for free as much as possible. Because we don’t need services, this is an area where we can save money, as long as our spots are safe. That being said, we needed to do repairs on our camper in February, so stayed about a week in an established campground, where we could take the camper off and fix our issues. We also paid for one night at the Rio Claro.
Camped for one night at Rio Claro
Al Bosque campground in Santa Elena, an hour from Medellin, was home for almost a week.
In Guatapé, we were invited to camp for free for a few days on the amazing property of ex-overlanders, which was a very nice and welcome gesture.
Parked for a few nights on the driveway of a beautiful property in Guatape
Nice detail in the yard
Relaxing on the dock of our Guatape hosts
Maya also has a new friend, Mona
Boat ride on the Embalse (reservoir) of Guatape
In February, we also spent money on fun activities! The entrance fee for the waterfall pool in Florian, which was located on private property, cost about $1 a person, Mark and I joined two “free” walking tours in Medellin, for which we donated the equivalent of $20, we tipped musicians and a dance group, and we climbed the tall rock, El Peñol, in Guatape for $4 each. That gives you an idea about entertainment costs in Colombia.
View of the waterfall pool
Pool at the bottom of the weak waterfall
Our professional, smart, and funny guide German of Real City Tours in Medellin
Group photo Medellin Real City Walking Tour
Piedra del Penol, the rock
View of the Guatape Reservoir
Climbing the 675 steps of the rock
On the way back down El Penol
Comuna 13 tour with guide George of Zippy Tours
Dance group on our Comuna 13 tour
Because there was no payment for Google Fi anymore (our account was suspended), internet was very affordable last month. We buy 80GB (currently doubled for no extra cost, an amount we can’t even use up if we wanted to) monthly data plans for about $20 each. This is similar to “unlimited” internet use. We didn’t pay for other utilities as we managed to fill up with water for free (or at the campground), our propane tank is still quite full, and garbage service appeared at our door. 😊
Time to do some work on Bella
Fixing structural damage underneath the camper
Installing heavy-duty screws to keep the wood panels together
Taking our new fridge out for the tenth time in order to fix its problem
Running a new propane hose
Buying a piece of teak wood
We managed to fix several camper problems without breaking the bank, had to use public transportation in Medellin the second time we visited, needed household items (matching forks, something that Mark had been craving for a while, and a different basket that won’t flip its contents when we hit a pothole or tope), barely drank out, and only paid for one load of laundry (washing). These last savings are thanks to our friends Susan and John, who blog at Latitude Adjustment and also have a series of interesting posts about Colombia. They generously let us borrow their home’s facilities in El Retiro. I washed three loads of clothes and took over their hanging racks – and second floor – for three days in a row! ¡Gracias amigos!
Comfy Maya in Susan and John’s home
Meeting up with Susan and John in El Retiro
Garbage service on “our street”
Pick-up at home… 🙂
Taking the metro to Comuna 13
