car costs – Roaming About

Tag: car costs (page 1 of 7)

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – September 2025 (Brazil & Paraguay)

In September, Mark, Maya, and I covered long distances across Brazil before slowing down in Paraguay in our home on wheels, Thirsty Bella.

(As always, click on or hover over photos in photo galleries to read their captions.)

Driving through Minas Gerais state in Brazil

Brazil’s interior is quite mountainous

Driving south in Brazil

Lots of truck traffic and narrow lanes in Brazil

Inland Brazil can get hot!

Steep hills and black fumes on the highway in Brazil

Following the red roads in Paraguay

Driving towards the border with Paraguay

As usual, the car category topped our list of expenses. We might have set a new record, spending $642 on fuel, which made up almost half of our total monthly costs. Add $50 in tolls—mostly in Brazil—and the road budget was definitely the winner. We also bought a bucket for our sixth oil change on this continent in three years.

Filling up with fuel in Brazil

Oil change in nature, near Ouro Preto, Brazil

Mark performing yet another oil change

Another fuel fill-up in Brazil

Toll booth in Brazil’s interior

Time for more gasoline at $5 a gallon

One of the $4 tolls in Brazil

It’s not so easy to find a fuel station where we fit in Brazil – the last fill!

Some lanes at the gas stations are too narrow – or low – for us, so we need to cue in another lane.

And, we needed to top up with fuel again, but this station only had low entry gates! We had to find anther fuel station.

Toll booth in Paraguay

Groceries came to $331, about average for us. Produce in Brazil was cheaper than in Paraguay, while other items were priced similarly. We remembered Paraguayan stores being cheaper during our previous visit, but that must have been because we’d just come from pricey Argentina five months ago.

Stocking up on food before leaving Hernandarias, Paraguay

Homemade pan pizza on a store-bought crust

Stir fry dinner at home

Simple pasta dinner

Grilled ribs and potatoes with homemade coleslaw

Grilled dinner

Vegetarian pan pizza and a salad – easy, tasty, and relatively healthy

Cooking and serving eggplant parmesan for us and a couple of single friends

Chicken fajitas with corn chips – I was a bit late taking this photo…

Fresh bakery goodies in Hohenau, Paraguay

We treated ourselves to a few meals out in Brazil last month, though most of our dinners are still cooked and eaten at home. Once we settled in Paraguay for a couple of weeks, we didn’t dine out—there weren’t any restaurants within walking distance!

Enjoying a fantastic lunch at the Maria Maria Cafe in Buzios, Brazil

A pina colada splurge with a celebratory dinner in Buzios

Local buffet restaurant in Tiradentes

Buffet lunch for $7 per person

Many hot and cold choices of food

Outdoor seating

The grill restaurant of our choice before leaving Brazil

And meat falling off the bone at this churrascaria

Buffet dishes

The restaurant menu at our campground – Larry treated us to a dinner here, but brought my meal back because I had a massive migraine and was not able to join him and Mark.

Our alcohol costs continue to hover around $80 a month, covering a new bottle of rum (our favorite hard liquor), beer for Mark, and wine for both of us.

Hanging out with Larry in Hohenau

Another gift from Larry – This multi-functional knife is incredible!

Starlink internet costs went down a bit, since the Argentine peso finally weakened against the dollar. Half of our subscription (now $30 instead of $40) is covered by our business. Our account is registered in Argentina; we switched it from Peru—where we bought the antenna two years ago—after costs there became too high. We filled with potable water for free each time.

Filling with water at the free campground of Hernandarias, Paraguay

Before leaving Brazil, I couldn’t resist using their amazing self-serve laundromats one more time. Four cycles—two wash and two dry—cost $12, paid by credit card. You don’t find laundromats like these elsewhere in South America; they are drop-off only, with mixed results. I’ll miss doing laundry myself in state-of-the-art machines! In Paraguay, it was back to hand laundry…

An efficient, affordable, and clean self-serve laundromat in Brazil

We did our last Brazilian loads of laundry at this laundromat in Foz do Iguacu at the border with Paraguay.

Doing laundry by hand again in Paraguay

We also renewed our annual email hosting subscription ($10) during a sale before prices went up, and paid $9 in entrance fees for a private waterfall in Brazil and a small national park in Paraguay.

Raulino Waterfalls in Brazil

Private waterfall visit for $3 per person (Mark and Maya didn’t go)

We spent a day and a night at this national park – Maya was allowed, despite the “no dog” signs

Maya needed one of her yearly vaccinations, which we got done in Hohenau, Paraguay, for a very reasonable $7. We might return to the same vet for her next round of international travel paperwork.

Maya at the vet for another shot

One night in Búzios, Brazil, Mark and I went out for a drink ($7), and we spent $6 on a replacement switch to repair our broken water pump—Mark was thrilled to find a compatible part in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, and modified it to fit!

Fixing our freshwater pump

Other small costs included $3 for medicines and $3 for a campground night in a Paraguayan national park. We actually spent more time in campgrounds in September, but our current site’s fee won’t be due until we leave in October.

Camped in the Paraguayan jungle for one night

Taking the camper off allows us to clean and work on both vehicles and to use the truck for pleasure and running errands.

Most of the month, we boondocked for free, parking in nature or on the edges of towns—with mixed results for sleep quality.

Our free camping spot in Buzios, Brazil

Camped at a loud truck stop

Camped for free in nature near Ouro Preto, Brazil

An enjoyable urban camping spot in Tiradentes, Brazil

Our remote and quiet camping spot by the river

Free camping at a municipal park – We were here three months prior as well.

Boondocked at a park in Mambore, Brazil

Parked at this free campground in Hernandarias, Paraguay, for two weeks

And finally, after my old computer corrupted a batch of photo files, I gave in and switched to our “new” spare laptop, which we’ve been hauling around for over a year. I’m still getting used to it, but at least my photos are safe again!

Despite all the driving, we managed to stick close to our average monthly total of $1,300.

(It might be easier to read the table when turning your device in the horizontal position.)

Find all our expense reports here. To learn what other full-time nomads spend, check out the blogs of our nomad friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

Next up: Back in Paraguay!

If you are enjoying these posts, please consider donating to Roaming About in support of our website and lifestyle. A big thank you to all our readers who have helped out in the past!

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – August 2025 (Brazil)

September 7, 2025 / Liesbet / 17 Comments

In August, traveling around Brazil in Thirsty Bella, Mark and I tried an experiment: we wouldn’t worry about money and would freely spend on whatever we wanted, just to see how much of a difference that attitude would make compared to our usual frugal approach.

Quick stop at a waterfall along the coast

Ironically, that month turned out to be the cheapest of 2025 thus far—but for unexpected reasons. Our sedentary two-week stay in Rio for work meant the business covered camping and we drove less than usual. A generous friend treated us to a dinner. And, frankly, we weren’t that tempted by most of the food options on offer.

Groceries Take the Lead

For once, groceries—not fuel—were our biggest expense, at nearly $400. That’s on the higher end for us, especially since produce in Brazil is very affordable. My best guess? We did a big stock-up after Mark returned from the US, bought fresh seafood, and went overboard at bakeries, splurging on whole wheat bread and pastries.

Fish store where we bought unpeeled shrimp and sushi

Sushi as an appetizer for $4

Kombi vending machine at a mall in Ubatuba

Buying multigrain bread at a fancy bakery in Ubatuba

These green coconuts can also be bought in grocery stores in Brazil.

A full fruit basket makes me happy!

Some of the bounty from a grocery store

A wonderful grocery store in Sao Pedro de Aldeia – and we fit in the parking lot!

A Belgian-style treat from a bakery in Rio

Produce store in Arraial do Cabo

Fuel and the Car

Fuel came in under $300, which is low by our standards. We drove the coast in short stretches, did another oil change (our sixth in three years on the continent, and likely the last), and easily found the right oil. We also paid small amounts for parking and a bridge toll.

Doing our most recent oil change

Mark catching the old oil

Dining Out

We expected dining out to spike with our “permission to indulge.” While we did enjoy a few restaurant meals, the total—$114—was still relatively low compared to other travelers in Brazil, or folks back in the Western world.

A fish dinner out in Paraty, which Larry (adamantly) paid for

A fantastic ramen dish for lunch

A set lunch out at one of the affordable restaurants in Rio

Fish lunch for me and meat for Mark

Larry treated us to a bowl of shaved corn on the beach of Arraial do Cabo

We treated Larry to an acai bowl in Arraial do Cabo (Photo courtesy of Larry Tofler)

A delicious and filling acai bowl

As usual, we cooked and ate most of our meals at home.

Peeled and deveined shrimp ready to be cooked

Mark made a wonderful jambalaya dish with the shrimp

Fried potatoes and a salad

Happy hour at the beach

Cauliflower fritters

Philly cheese steak lunch at home

Vegetable stir fry dinner

Making vegetarian spring rolls at home

Fries in our oven with a salad

Happy hour at our “grassy beach” in Sao Pedro de Aldeia

Alcohol

Our alcohol expense was average at around $80 with the purchase of a cachaça chocolate and hot spice liquor being the odd duck.

Some of our alcohol bought in August

Utilities

As usual, utilities covered half of our Starlink subscription, with our business paying the other half, and propane. We managed to refill our propane tank in Ubatuba, a rare opportunity since American-style tanks here require the gravity-fill method, which comes at a premium fee. We managed to fill our water tank for free at a campground in Rio and at a utility facility in Paraty.

Getting our propane tank topped up in Ubatuba

This propane store does the effort to gravity fill foreign tanks

Filling up with water at Fritz House in Rio

Maintenance

In Rio, we bought primer and spray paint for Mark to sand, tape, prime, and repaint our camper ladder and electric jacks—a major project—while I focused on work.

Spray painting our camper ladder

Newly painted camper jacks – the black touch at the bottom is new

Transportation

Driving through Brazilian cities, especially Rio de Janeiro, has been tough. So, we’ve stationed ourselves on the outskirts and relied on Ubers to reach attractions. With Maya, it’s trickier, but about one in four drivers accepted her once we sent them a message that she “was calm, clean, and well-behaved and would lie on the floor of the car.”

Boat ride from a beautiful beach in Arraial do Cabo back to the town – Larry paid for our ride. (Photo courtesy of Larry Tofler)

Boat ride back to town from the beach

Camping Costs

Our 11-night campground stay in Rio counted as a business expense, but we also paid for two additional nights in parking lots—once in Paraty and once in Rio. Both were safe, convenient, and within walking distance of the action.

Parked for 24 hours in Paraty

Home for two weeks at Fritz House

Parked for a couple of nights by the Lagoa in Rio

The rest of the month, we camped for free in nature or on the edges of towns or beaches.

Free camping spot in Caraguatatuba

Free camping spot at Mococa Beach

Free camping spot at Estaleiro Beach

Our favorite beach spot in Ubatumirim Beach

Our wild camping spot for one night in Mambucaba

Our wild camping spot for one night in Coroa Grande

Parked for a few days in Sao Pedro de Aldeia

Free beach front living in Cabo Frio

Entertainment

Speaking of Paraty, Mark joined a “free” walking tour there with our friend Larry and tipped the guide about $10.

One of the historic buildings in Paraty

The house of a former prince was part of Mark’s Paraty walking tour

Laundry

In between translating legal communications at Fritz House in Rio, I did two giant loads of laundry in the machines of the campground. That took a big chunk of two days.

These machines were big, but very slow

Drinks Out

Our drinking expenses were almost laughable: just $6. That covered a few coco gelados (fresh coconut water served in the refrigerated nut) along the coast and a single caipirinha cocktail in Rio. Not bad!

Preparing the green coconut as a drink

Being treated to excellent juices by our friend Ana, the owner of this café

Enjoying a drink at Copacabana Beach in Rio

Refilling my water bottle with free, potable water in Paraty

The Bottom Line

At just under $1,100 for two adults and a big dog to travel around Brazil, August was a fantastic month for us financially. September, however, is shaping up to be much higher. It seems we committed to this “spend what we want” experiment one month too early. But that’s the nature of our lifestyle—circumstances change everything.

(It might be easier to read the table when turning your device in the horizontal position.)

Find all our expense reports here. To learn what other full-time nomads spend, check out the blogs of our nomad friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

Next up: Rio de Janeiro

If you are enjoying these posts, please consider donating to Roaming About in support of our website and lifestyle. A big thank you to all our readers who have helped out in the past!

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – July 2025 (Brazil & USA)

August 7, 2025 / Liesbet / 19 Comments

July was different than other months. Mark, Maya, and I reached the coast of Brazil in Thirsty Bella on the first day of the month. That week, we looked for a campground where Maya and I could stay, and on July 7th, Mark flew to the US for almost three weeks to visit doctors, family, and friends in Massachusetts. Maya and I stayed put in Bertioga. Once Mark returned, we slowly headed north along the coast.

Reaching the coast in Bertioga on a rainy day

The coastal road north

Camped in pretty Jureia

Happy hour in Jureia; the beach is located behind the grassy field.

For once, the car category was not the highest one, because Thirsty stayed put most of the month. Groceries came in first at a low total of $253. Mark’s mom supplied food while he was there, and I was consuming whatever we still had in the camper, only buying the absolute necessities like bread and produce.

Stocking up at a local grocery store

Local grocery store in walking distance of the campground

A bunch of bananas, two apples, and four buns (I’d eaten two already) cost under US$2 at a local store.

Bella Casa, the best bakery in town!

The interior of this giant bakery

The rustic baguette was delicious

And my vice: fresh pastries and pudding

Brazil produces one of my favorite pastries in their bakeries, a boule de Berlin!

We did do a decent stock-up in early July, and Mark brought back “specialty items” from Trader Joe’s and Walmart, like spices, maple syrup, hot sauce, and rice paper (yay, we can finally make spring rolls again).

Edible goodies from the US

We had looked forward to visiting this European chain store in Campinas, Brazil.

To reach the parking lot of this store, you have to clear these arches. There was no other parking availability, so we asked a fuel station if we could park along their curb for an hour.

As always, most of our/my meals were homecooked dishes.

A simple dinner of brown rice, broccoli, and chicken

Another simple dinner at home

Being plugged into power meant I could make little pizzas in our 12V oven.

Grilling dinner got a bit crazy

A lovely lunch of good bread and homemade hummus

More homemade pizza and coleslaw

French toast for my Sunday breakfasts

We still spent over $200 on fuel — one fill-up here in Brazil and for gasoline put in Mark’s rental car in the US. He also needed to pay $19 for hospital parking lots in Boston, and we purchased a new engine gasket and toll tickets.

Accommodation was a new and high category (we usually camp for free), because Maya and I stayed in a campground for almost three weeks and Mark went on a weekend trip with a friend and needed one hotel night in the US. The rest of our camping was free.

We decided to go with this campground in Bertioga for Maya and me

The beach entrance of my campground

Home for three weeks

Parked in Caraguatatuba for the last night of July

Transportation was a rare and high category, because Mark took two Ubers to get to and from the airport of São Paulo, which was a two-hour drive. At under $40 each way, this price was manageable.

Mark waiting for his Uber driver to get to the airport of São Paulo

New lights installed just for us

The high fee in the transportation category came from the airline company Avianca, which charged $120 for one checked bag! We usually only travel with carry-ons, but spare parts needed to come back to Brazil to repair and maintain our camper and truck, which allowed us to add other items, like engine parts for a fellow camper and special foods.

One (expensive) checked bag

Our new hosting company, Easy WP, is raising their prices in September, so we had to bite the bullet and fork over more money for a cheaper two-year promo plan. This cost us $100, as we used $40 of earlier donations for blog support. It would be nice to have the total amount covered by donations to only put the required time and effort into these posts, and not the money. 🙂

We also needed a case for my new tablet and a new headphone plug for Mark, for his new smartphone — welcome gadgets we received from a family member (see later).

Happy 18th anniversary to us!

Dom Miguel restaurant in Bertioga

A wonderful, tasty, and special appetizer: salmon carpaccio

A main course of shrimp, rice, and French fries with the typical Brazilian topping of farofa

No mayonnaise or ketchup in sachets here, but red wine vinegar, olive oil, and parmesan cheese instead.

The evening before Mark left, we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary at a nice restaurant in Bertioga ($40). The other “dining out” money went to a buffet lunch for me, another one for both of us ($5 per person), and for Mark’s meals at restaurants in the US. Our American friends and family enjoy eating out; that seems to be a thing when meeting people, but it adds up.

Brazilian buffet options

More Brazilian buffet options

Buffet lunch out for $5

Buffet lunch out with Mark and Mark

Mark brought back $68 worth of gifts for me; all accessories for the fabulous and fancy camera that came into my possession upon his return (see later).

My husband managed to get all his health check-ups taken care of (with great results) in Massachusetts and only needed some meds, but since I didn’t go to the US this year, I have to focus on my healthcare in Brazil. While Mark was gone, I received a teeth cleaning for about $50. My dental hygiene is still excellent (according to dentists), so I can stick to one cleaning every six months.

My dentist in Bertioga

The Argentine peso is doing a little bit better, so our monthly Starlink subscription dropped under $80. Our business pays half of that, so the bill of this report for internet is $36. Mark also brought back household supplies for our camper life ($27). Potable water was free in July, but because my campground only had well water, I had to be super careful with what was in our tank.

The gym building of Barra do Una provides a spigot with free fresh water

Topping up with potable water after being extremely careful for three weeks!

Furthermore, we spent $24 on Amazon for camper repair items like strong tape, a sink drain, and a cap for a faucet. Mark brought back much more gear, but because we are Amazon Vine members, we received all that for free.

New faucet for the kitchen sink after dealing with a leaking one for six months

Seven dollars went to laundry last month (I managed to do most of it for free at the campground) and $1 to a jewelry set. After not wearing my “daily pearl” for a year and a half, I finally have a string to turn it into a necklace again. Yeah, I’m not sure why that took so long.

A very convenient laundromat

I am getting used to doing laundry in machines again!

The laundry room at the campground

The laundry needed two days to dry in this cloudy, humid weather

A better day for laundry

Last load of laundry before Mark returned

Mark and I did spend money on alcohol ($16) and drinking out ($11) in July, but the last of our donations evened this out to zero. Our gratitude goes to all the people who have supported our blog and journey over the years.

The end of our favorite wine from Argentina

Having a drink at the beach with fellow overlander Mark from England – and his dog, Fran

The only thing left to mention is a generous gift from my uncle last summer in Belgium. We saved this amount to buy three items we’ve been wanting for years. When the purchase prices were right and we knew Mark would be in the US to receive the gadgets, we spent the entire sum.

Our new gadgets!

We managed to order a “used, as good as new” Sony RX10 III camera for me (something I have never been able to afford), a refurbished tablet for me, and a refurbished smartphone for Mark. We are super happy with these items and lucked out with the quality of them when placing bids and orders. Thank you, Uncle P!

How we saved money in July

I was extra careful those three weeks Mark was away, enjoying the game of spending as little as possible. If it wasn’t for the dentist, I would have gotten away with a $30 bill for groceries, one lunch, and three drinks. And that includes treating a camper neighbor to a caipirinha on the beach. Still, I spent well under $80 for three weeks of living — not including the camping fee.

Free Amazon Vine items – Can you tell I’m ready for the beach?

Because we are Amazon Vine Voice participants (a by-invite-only membership), we order most of our gear for free within the US, in exchange for leaving honest reviews. This, however, depends on which items become available and their quality, shape, or color isn’t often what we like or want. But it’s still a great deal and has saved us thousands of dollars over the years.
I managed to negotiate a nightly rate at the campground of R$50 instead of $RS60 ($9.50 instead of $11).

Our total for the month of July was over average again at $1,373, but at least we both earned enough money to cover that amount and not dip into savings. 🙂

(It might be easier to read the table when turning your device in the horizontal position.)

Find all our expense reports here. To learn what other full-time nomads spend, check out the blogs of our nomad friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

Next up: The Brazilian Coast – Part One

If you are enjoying these posts, please consider donating to Roaming About in support of our website and lifestyle. A big thank you to all our readers who have helped out in the past!

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – June 2025 (Paraguay & Brazil)

July 10, 2025 / Liesbet / 24 Comments

In June, Mark, Maya, and I traveled two weeks in Paraguay and the rest in Brazil in our truck camper, Thirsty Bella. I hopped into Argentina again for a day trip, but didn’t spend anything in that country.

(Hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)

Focus on the road, always!

Following our tour guide into Passo do Lontra was not a good idea! We didn’t fit, so took a better route after backing up.

Crossing the bridge into Passo do Lontra

Driving the potholed roads in the Pantanal region

Always watch the road!

Approaching Campo Grande, a real city and a big contrast with our nature exploits the previous weeks

Well, our expenses for June were on the higher end of the spectrum once again. This time, the culprits were the long driving distances, ordering camper, truck, and dog items online in the US for Mark to bring back after his visit, a very expensive boat tour to see jaguars in the Pantanal of Brazil (no luck), our annual bank card fee, and Mark ordering a new driver’s license.

So many trucks!

The roads in Brazil are decent, but packed with semi trucks

The Pantanal is huge!

Boat tour on a grey and chilly day in the Southern Pantanal

Here is the detailed breakdown:

Every month, we reach a new record for fuel expenses. For June, this was really insane and surely an all-time high! We spent over $600, just on gasoline, to drive 1,600 miles. Instead of heading directly from eastern Paraguay to the São Paulo area (700 miles), from where Mark would fly to the US, we made a 900-mile detour to explore Bonito and the southern Pantanal area in Brazil. To reach the northern Pantanal with better wildlife viewing possibilities, we would have had to drive another 1,200 miles. Too much and too expensive. Yup, Brazil is big.

Visiting a fuel station in Paraguay

These prices come to about $1 a liter or $4 a gallon

Gas station guard in Paraguay

Last fill up with gas in Paraguay, where the fuel is cheaper than Brazil

Filling up in Bonito before heading into the boonies

Gasoline costs about $1.25 a liter, which is $5 a gallon, in Brazil.

Time to get more fuel in Aquidauana, before driving remote Anteater Road

The prices for fuel are getting a bit better…

On top of that, we bought an extra air filter and grease on Amazon for the truck ($41), and we handed over $21 for toll roads, which turned out to be a very time-consuming hassle. The first toll booths we passed in the middle of Brazil didn’t accept credit cards (unlike every other imaginable store or business). This surprised us, especially since we never took cash out, based on the ease and ubiquity of card use here. So, we had a problem.

One of the dozens of tollbooths we passed

This one was affordable at $1.25 for a car

A quick online search told us that our bank, Chase, doesn’t charge fees for using our debit card internationally, so that was the route to go. Except the toll attendants needed a special machine for this type of card. Long story short, it took a few more stops to figure out the correct procedure with our debit card and, furthermore, the process never went smoothly.

The special reader needed for our international debit card. Apparently, it was new and fancy.

Toll booth receipts for two out of the three driving days

The booth attendant either didn’t believe us, didn’t know if they had the special machine, couldn’t find it, couldn’t operate it, or, in one case, it was broken. Once, a friendly employee actually paid our toll fee and shared her Pix account with us to refund her the money. But, foreigners can’t open a Pix account. Since a laundromat owed us a refund after the machines ruined some of our clothes, I arranged for them to transfer that much bigger amount to the friendly toll booth attendant, who received a 60% tip on top.

Trying this credit card machine with our debit card, in vain

They found the machine and it worked!!

The price is going up: almost $2 per passage now

Needless to say, our toll road experience on awesome paved roads wasn’t as pleasant as it could have been, especially since there was a booth – with all the described hassles – every twenty minutes! The ride from the Pantanal to the coast took three days. On the last one (July 1^st), which coincided with a new price increase as well, we avoided toll roads altogether.

In Holambra, we finally took cash out of an ATM machine – we still haven’t used any.

Three weeks into our time in Brazil, we finally learn what cash looks like in this country. 50 reales is about $9.

Our entertainment category was unusually high. The main reason people visit the Pantanal is to go on a boat tour and look for wildlife. On this private tour out of tiny Passo do Lontra, we were allowed to take Maya and motored around for almost ten hours in total. Cost: $190.

Parked for a couple of nights on the family property of our guide

Observing giant otters ashore

And then, there was one of the highlights on this continent: Iguazu/Iguaçu Falls. I’ll create a separate blog post about that soon. We planned to just visit the Brazilian side of this natural world wonder, but then I stumbled upon an unexpected chance to witness the Argentinian side as well, which is very different.

Iguaçu Falls in Brazil

Mark and Liesbet at Iguaçu Falls

The entrance fee in Brazil was about $20 per person. We skipped the elevated parking fee by camping nearby for the same price. In Argentinian National Parks, foreigners usually pay a very steep $45 per person. As a student (with proof), you get in for $7. I should add the transportation cost here as well, since I shared a taxi with four other people in order to cross into Argentina and experience that side. This was $19 per person, including a credit card fee of 5%. Not bad for a day trip of this stature.

Iguazu Falls in Argentina

Hiking trails at Iguazu Falls in Argentina

Liesbet getting wet at Iguazu Falls

We did well with our grocery bill ($202), thanks to affordable Paraguay and cheap produce in Brazil. The annual fee for our Chase credit card was due as well, at $95. The number of points we collect is usually worth that.

Affordable groceries in Paraguay

A really cool and affordable grocery store in Foz de Iguaçu

A decent grocery store in walking distance of our free camping spot in Aquidauana

Mark and I love food and eating out, but we kept this reasonable in June with an expense of $65. This included a buffet in Paraguay, joining new friends for dinner in Bonito to celebrate Wayne’s birthday, one ice cream for me, and a really terrible pizza (with cream cheese!) as a take-out dinner one evening.

Our first Brazilian-style fuel station buffet took place in Paraguay

Lots of vegetable choices

We thought this was a cool service, but didn’t realize there was an extra fee for the extra meat, doubling the cost of the buffet.

Big selection of dishes, starch and meat

The parilla chef

A big and tasty lunch on the road

Dinner out with new friends Jo and Wayne

A tasty chicken burger and roasted vegetables in Bonito

My first caipirinha, Brazil’s national cocktail, in Bonito

In general, Mark and I cook all of our dinners at home, where we stick to a plant-based diet.

A simple stir fry dinner with kimchi on the side

Dinner prep for homemade ramen soup

Our first attempt at cooking ramen from scratch

Falafel dinner

Number of dishes after a normal home-cooked dinner

Making pizza at home with a store-bought crust

This was so easy!

A grilled dinner of eggplant, green pepper, onion, veggie burger, and sweet potato

Another stir-fry dinner

Mini pizzas in our mini oven!

Maya needed another yearly supply of Heartgard medicine ($50), which we ordered online, and because of the weird rules of South American countries that her rabies shot can’t be older than one year (in the US and Europe, a three-year vaccine does the trick for… three years), our pup needed yet another injection. This dog has had more rabies shots in her life than all the loose and stray dogs on this continent combined! Luckily, at under $10, the vaccine was cheap.

Mark needs a new Massachusetts driver’s license soon, so he ordered it online to receive at his mom’s address while he is there. We have to plan around expiration dates of all our documents to deal with this when we are in our home countries. These days, renewed licenses cost a whopping $50! We needed copies of his Brazilian visa as well for the border crossings ($1).

Our paid campground in Foz de Iguaçu

Entrance sign to Cerro Cora National Park

Camped for two nights at the affordable but basic Cerro Cora campground within the park

Prices at Cerro Cora Park

And we splurged on a couple of campgrounds in Brazil – for convenience/ logistical reasons to visit Iguaçu Falls and as an alternative to the pricey excursions in Bonito – and a cheap one in Paraguay for peace.

We wish we could have stayed longer in this campground, but the cost and rainy weather chased us off.

A splurge of a night and day in Rio Formoso Campground

Maya taking a dip in the clear river at the campground

As usual, most of our nights were free, on the edges of towns or in nature.

Home for a couple of weeks

Our camper couldn’t hook up to the 220V electricity grid, but we did manage to connect our fridge and charge our devices with it, which helped with the lack of solar energy.

Camped on a patch of grass heading north in Paraguay

Our first night in Brazil was at a noisy truck stop.

Camped for a couple of nights by the pond of Aquidauana

Our first night of wild camping along Anteater Road

Our second and third night of wild camping along Anteater Road

A free, but noisy, night in the city of Campo Grande

Camped in the Dutch-inspired town of Holambra, before reaching the Brazilian coast

Camped at a truck stop along the highway, heading to the coast

After leaving a noisy truck stop in the dark, we settled for the night in this municipal park. Much better!

Our utilities contained $40 for our monthly Starlink subscription (the other $40 is paid by our business) and $4 to top up our propane tank in Paraguay before crossing into Brazil, where filling US tanks is rumored to be difficult, if not impossible… Free potable water was acquired at campgrounds and fuel stations.

Filling with free water at the gas station of Aquidauana

Getting a bit more water, before the long drive east.

Topping up with propane gas at a good price

We ordered a bunch of caulk online to have in the camper (we ran out), and two more water filters to hook up to our freshwater line at the kitchen sink. This should hold us over until the end of our South American journey, later this year.

One of the highlights in Brazil so far for me is their laundromats. Yup, you read that right. After doing laundry by hand in icy river water for a year, or dropping off “more difficult” pieces at pricey laundromats in the rest of South America, I am delighted to report the ease and efficiency of 24-hour all-automatic laundromats in Brazil!!! And, in Bonito, we managed to wash and dry two big loads for $10 in total. I am a happy camper!

Our laundromat of choice in Bonito – good service, despite the little issue we ran into

Easy payment system

The joy of working. self-serve washers and dryers!

I still did a bunch of laundry by hand as well. When we have unlimited water available, because, why not?

Hand laundry in Paraguay

When I have unlimited fresh water, I can’t resist catching up on laundry.

In reality, we also spent $11 on alcohol, but thanks to a generous follower of this blog, MD, we didn’t have to pay out of pocket for the two bottles of wine we purchased in June. Obrigada!

At $1,559, our total for the month was well over our usual average of $1,300, despite our frugal nature and approach. Maybe it’s time to reconsider our goals and realize every country is getting more expensive than it used to be. Of course, the dropping value of the US dollar is not helping us…

How did we save money last month?

We cut Mark’s hair and cleaned Maya’s teeth ourselves, we took some secondary roads to avoid toll booths, we bought needed gear online in the US (after monitoring their prices for months and waiting for the best moment) instead of in South America, where imported goods are expensive or unavailable, we always make sure to know the price of EVERY item before purchasing, and we were extra careful with our expenses toward the end of the month (no splurges) after realizing we broke the bank yet again.

Paved – but still bouncy – roads in Brazil

Driving through towns and cities means traffic jams again.

Teeth cleaning for Maya

(It might be easier to read the table when turning your device in the horizontal position.)

Find all our expense reports here. To learn what other full-time nomads spend, check out the blogs of our nomad friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

Next up: Iguazu Falls!

If you are enjoying these posts, please consider donating to Roaming About in support of our website and lifestyle. A big thank you to all our readers who have helped out in the past!

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – May 2025 (Argentina & Paraguay)

June 8, 2025 / Liesbet / 26 Comments

In May, Mark, Maya, and I traveled throughout Argentina (one week) and Paraguay (three weeks) in our truck camper, Thirsty Bella and we enjoyed a ten-day break from the road with our friends Duwan and Greg, who rented two Airbnbs and generously shared their space with us.

Thirsty Bella parked by our first Airbnb

It was another expensive month with our car leading the charts again. Fuel still cost over $400, but the real culprit was a maintenance job that we performed ourselves: we replaced the transmission oil in the engine for $323.

(As always, click on or hover over photos in galleries to read their captions.)

Fuel prices by the liter in Paraguay – PYG 8,000 resembles US$1

Our first fuel fill-up in friendly Encarnacion, Paraguay

Fuel pump in Encarnacion

Fuel pump in Aregua

To our pleasant surprise, we not only found the correct Ford oil in Encarnación, Paraguay, but the filter as well. And that in a country where our truck is not produced or sold. While hoping that labor was cheap, as we’d never performed this job before, we bolted at the extra $400 this project would cost at a Ford dealer. We picked a quiet parking lot and a dry afternoon to swap the oil and dropped the used liquid off at Ford for recycling.

Quiet (but littered) parking lot for car maintenance

Mark changing the transmission oil

We paid for toll roads in Argentina as well as Paraguay, but we also made a few detours on lesser roads to save money. I’m happy to report that the condition of most paved roads in Paraguay so far has been great! Worth the tolls. 😊 We also paid a dollar to park at the botanical gardens of Asunción.

Avoiding a toll road by following a dirt track around the booth. We weren’t the only ones trying to evade paying high tolls…

Massive tree at the botanical gardens

Our monthly grocery bill fluctuates between $300 and $400 in South America. We ate out quite a lot in Paraguay, but we cooked many meals as well.

Dinner at home with our friends

Chicken and spinach ravioli with tomato sauce

Whole wheat spaghetti with vegetables

Cooking ingredients for pizza night

I was a bit late with this photo!

Pasta dinner

Shopping is much more affordable here than in Argentina and we found specialty foods that we’d been craving a while, so we are okay with our total of $331. As you can see, we buy and eat a lot of bread!

Bakery in Yapeyu

Bread bins at a Paraguayan grocery store

Baked goods produced by a German baker in Hohenau

We finally found crunchy, thick, one-ingredient peanut butter in Paraguay.

Most stores in this area have armed guards – We found some goodies in this Japanese-influenced supermarket.

A beautiful and tasty sourdough bread

We couldn’t wait to enter Paraguay, because we’d been looking forward to its international cuisine and we knew the cost of living was much lower than in its neighbors. So, we took advantage of the many restaurants, diverse meals, affordable menus, and friendly service. It made us happy and satisfied our taste buds to splurge on sushi, ramen, Korean and Mexican food, and some local dishes.

Sushi boat in Encarnacion

Parilla lunch

Parilla or BBQ lunch in Encarnacion = We bought food to eat for dinner.

Arabic food and fries

Local empanadas for 30 cents a piece (and bread we gave to Maya)

Popular Argentinian ice cream chain in Paraguay

The famous king mojito for Mark!

A strange cold spell in Paraguay

Greg had a beer and Duwan and I shared a pitcher of tasty sangria.

Mexican dinner

Awesome, tasty, and affordable Japanese restaurant in Yguazu

Ramen at a Japanese restaurant in Yguazu

The current US political climate and reciprocal policies introduced the necessity for Americans to apply for and purchase a visa for Brazil, starting this past April. Right in time for Mark to follow the application process and hand over $81. While we thought this step would take five business days, in actuality we waited two weeks in total, before we could cross the border.

We paid $70 for alcohol in May (wine, beer, rum), which seems average. We drank more than usual during our friends’ ten-day visit and we bought a couple of bottles of local rum in Paraguay, which we haven’t tried yet.

Mark with a local beer

The utility category was similar to last month. The other half of our Starlink subscription is paid by our business, so the $40 underneath represents only half of the total cost. Getting propane before leaving Argentina proved to be a hassle and unpleasant, which I wrote about in the previous blog post.

Getting our propane tank topped off for another 45-minute wait

Weighing our propane tank

A bit of thought, planning, waiting, and creativity had to go into obtaining another international permit for Maya, with crossings into Brazil in mind. While the cost is not that high at $16 for a health certificate at a vet (who never even looked at or touched our dog) and a mere $2 for the agricultural department to make it official, the time investment and inconvenience every 60 days has been taxing. And the cost adds up after a year.

Mark bought a discounted Seresto flea & tick collar for our dog online as well ($32), which he will pick up in the US soon. This should give Maya protection for another eight months.

Once we reached Paraguay, we spent a few nights at paid campgrounds just to be able to sleep. We had a great experience at a German-owned facility and a blah one in a city park.

Paid camping in Encarnacion

Our unofficial camping spot at the campground

Pool at the pay campground in Hohenau

Most of our camping in May was free and “wild”, as always.

Camped in Bonpland

Camped at Yapeyu

Camped in the center of Posadas

Camped by the naval base in Encarnacion

Camped in San Cosme y Damian

Camped in Sapucay

Paraguay doesn’t have high-profile or famous sights, but it does offer a few interesting attractions, like its mission district, waterfalls, and museums. Entrance fees remain affordable, so we enjoyed visiting every site we had in mind. More about that in the next blog.

One of the three main missions in Paraguay

San Cosme y Damian Mission

An armillary sphere in action

Trinidad Mission at night

Trinidad Mission during the day

Sign for the Trinidad Mission

Church ruins at the Trinidad Mission

Sign for the Jesus de Tavarangue Mission

Jesus de Tavarangue Mission

Local knowledge about the old and fascinating church in Yaguaron

Old train in Sapucay

Train museum in Sapucay

Also on the to-do list once we crossed into this country were a few non-car projects. We bought a new mirror for the camper, which a company cut and installed for $12. We had our outside ladder repainted for $20. And Mark found a switch and resistor for a couple of dollars to adjust our fridge temperature.

Before – the old mirror

After – the new mirror

Before – the rusty ladder

After – the repainted ladder

Electronics store where we had our resistor wired to our new switch

Our new fridge switch and resistor

At one of the missions, our astronomy guide showed us reproductions of celestial instruments which he creates out of metal. We couldn’t resist buying our own armillary sphere.

Our own souvenir armillary sphere

I needed more birth control pills and we bought a couple of souvenirs when visiting the information center of a Japanese town, ran by a super friendly lady. She had allowed us to camp in the back the previous night, which we were thankful for.

Camped behind the information center in Yguazu

Our last expense bill of the month goes to transportation. I took a train back into Argentina to pick up Maya’s permit and we used an Uber with our friends to go out to dinner one evening.

Train between Paraguay and Argentina

Waiting for my ride back to Paraguay

I would like to mention two free categories as well. No money went to laundry in May! The reason: I did most of it by hand in buckets and one of the Airbnbs our friends rented had a washing machine. I spent two days running loads of clothes, linen, and dog paraphernalia and hanging everything to dry outside.

Washing machine at our first Airbnb, in Encarnacion

Hanging laundry in the driveway of our first Airbnb

Laundry line in the backyard of our second Airbnb

Laundry line after some hand washing at our second Airbnb

Mark and I did go out for a few drinks, at a beach bar in Encarnación twice and with our friends at a trendy bar in Areguá on our last evening together. This totaled $15, but a donation of our follower MD took care of that. And we have some of those funds left for this month. Thank you!

Sharing this liter cocktail with Mark

A giant caipirinha cocktail in Encarnacion

Back to the beach bar in Encarnacion with our friends

Cold night out!

(It might be easier to read the table when turning your device in the horizontal position.)

Find all our expense reports here. To learn what other full-time nomads spend, check out the blogs of our nomad friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

Next up: Paraguay!

If you are enjoying these posts, please consider donating to Roaming About in support of our website and lifestyle. A big thank you to all our readers who have helped out in the past!

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – April 2025 (Argentina)

May 2, 2025 / Liesbet / 23 Comments

Mark, Maya, and I traveled throughout Argentina in Thirsty Bella for the entirety of April. The last week, we mostly stayed put to save money, as the numbers were adding up quickly again! This way, we managed to keep our expenses within budget, despite a massive splurge, for which we used some donation money. 🙂

Approaching Capilla del Monte

Maya is doing better again in the car, after a tough period.

A good paved road goes by the big city of Santa Fe

Crossing the busy bridge over the Santa Fe River

Line of traffic in one of the bigger cities we drove through

Previously, I mentioned the dollar was getting stronger against the Argentina peso, but that was short lived. After a week or so, both presidents, the local one and the US one, made changes that decreased its value. Argentina is becoming cost-prohibitive for us, so we are wrapping up our stay in this country.

Paved road with funky cloud formations

Bouncy gravel road

Following our friends to the next camping spot

Because of the uncertainty of the US economy thanks to the one in charge, we – as well as most Americans – have lost a bunch of our savings, causing more insecurity. The ripples are felt internationally, of course. On a personal level, we are working more than usually to make up for some of the losses. My blog updates might become less frequent, since there will be less to report and we’ll be stationary for longer periods of time.

On to the expense report of April. I will add some ways we try to keep our costs down. Fuel is the highest category once more. We drove about 1,700 miles (2,700km) in a month, which is a lot for us. We are ready to leave Argentina, so tried to cover ground north and east. Because of the lower exchange rate, the increased price per liter, and our crappy fuel economy of 10 mpg, our gasoline cost for this stretch was $524. Insane.

Pavement and pretty scenery

Time to fill up on gasoline again, in the province of Entre Rios

Still in the car category, $19 went to toll roads. Due to the height of our truck camper, we get charged twice as much as a normal car, which adds up at $4 a toll. We tried our best to avoid the booths as long as the extra distance wouldn’t be more costly in gas or the dirt roads wouldn’t become too annoying or time consuming. For our fifth oil change on the continent, we bought a $2 bucket.

Taking a dirt road to avoid the tolls – Apparently, we are not alone doing this!

Paying a hefty toll for the tunnel under the Parana River

The toll for the tunnel cost us around $8.

We tried to be careful in the grocery stores, only buying items on sale and produce that was affordable.

Entrance to a big, warehouse-style grocery store

Interior of a Carrefour

Even the Carrefour in Argentina has become pricey

A bounty of fresh produce, bought at a relatively affordable (for Argentina) vegetable stand. This pile adds up to $12.

Two factors influenced our $364 food cost in April: together with our friends Heather and Jon, we bought heaps of meat ($100 worth) and ingredients for side dishes when visiting European friends in Maipu, near Mendoza, for two nights. We wanted to give our ex-overlanding friends a break, culinary and financially. Unbeknownst to us, there was another (hungry) couple staying on the property.

Richie cooks the meat on his grill, Argentinian style

A perfectly cooked asado

On the second night, less meat was consumed.

Having two asado dinners al fresco

Camped on the property of our friends with Heather and Jon. This area will become a real campground soon.

And, our budget was relieved a bit by food items given to us by Heather and Jon, before they stored their camper in Mendoza and flew to the US for the summer. I am still enjoying their cheese, butter, and mayonnaise!

A three-hour lunch at Zonda

Our first (and last?) Michelin restaurant – We feel the selection standards for those are lower in South America than in Europe

The welcome drink was a Vermouth cocktail

Ready for the eclectic lunch menu

Our big splurge for April was a fancy lunch out at a Michelin-star restaurant (Zonda) in Luján de Cuyo with our friends. We figured it would be our only chance to ever eat in a star-rated place, so we decided to celebrate everyone’s anniversary early. Ours would be the end of April and theirs sometime in May.

The open kitchen

First course with foie gras; not something we encourage to eat…

One of the wines produced in house

Sorbet course

Empanadas are an Argentinian staple

Zonda was an exclusive affair and we enjoyed the different courses with wine pairings, but, since all of us have eaten in similarly renowned establishments before (Mark and I in the US, Belgium, Peru, and Bolivia) and could compare, we found the portions meager, the menu slightly uncreative (three dishes involved sorbet), and the service less professional than expected. That being said, the food and wine were tasty and of excellent quality and the company and fabulous time together trumped it all!

Group photo

The small main course with perfectly cooked beef

Desert course with sorbet

Happy early anniversary!

This seven-course meal set each couple back about $300, including tips. In our case, we finally used the generous Christmas donation from our supportive and kind follower HR and another donation of MD to set off the expense. All donations have now been used up.

I also treated myself to a three-scoop ice cream ($2) following the lead of Jon and Heather, which, believe it or not, had not happened since last September. It had been six months since I grabbed my previous ice cream treat from my mother-in-law’s freezer! Ice cream is still affordable in Argentina. Now that I know this, I might repeat this experience.

How did I not know about Grido?

These two showed me the pleasure and affordability of ice cream cones in Argentina.

Big ice cream splurge

Just like in March, we only ate out once, also for a special occasion, which means that our other meals were cooked at home; it’s healthy, tasty, and affordable.

One of our home-cooked dinners together

Quinoa, grilled chicken, and salad

Vegetarian noodle dish

Homemade onion rings and coleslaw for dinner

Down to simple meals: a veggie burger with quinoa and butternut squash

Finishing our packed sandwich lunch after a city walk in Cordoba

Vegetarian spaghetti dish with garlic bread

Regarding alcohol ($76), Mark and I bought wine from grocery stores – we enjoy red Malbec and white Torrontés the most in Argentina – and had a little “stock-up” at our favorite winery of all times, Giaquinta in Tupungato.

Stop at our favorite vineyard in Argentina

Lunch stop by the vineyard

Our delicious wine bounty from Giaquinta

The utility cost went up because of the worse exchange rate. Our Starlink antenna for internet is registered in Argentina, so this affects our total. Half of the monthly subscription price is reflected here, since our business pays for the other half. We topped up our propane tank as well, for $17. All the water we added to our tank in April was free.

Topping up our freshwater tank

A plethora of gas tanks

Gravity filling our US-style propane tank takes 30-40 minutes.

Most of the month, we camped for free in nature and on the edges of cities, which was a mixed bag between noise and peace.

Wild camping in Chos Malal

Free camping in a gravel pit in Bardas Blancas

Camped with our friends in Pareditas

Camped for free in Manzano Historico with our friends

Parked for a loud night in Lujan de Cuyo

Camped by ourselves in San Martin Park in Mendoza

Our first night heading East, at Sierra de las Quijadas NP

A quiet camping spot at the reservoir of Capilla del Monte

Our decent camping spot in busy Alta Gracia

A least favorite camping spot in Rio Primero

Camped for a handful of nights at the free municipal campground of Sauce la Luna

Two nights, however, we stayed at a campground called Valentin Storage to see our friends again and to focus on chores like an oil change, cleaning the car and camper, and laundry.

Getting ready for another oil change

Separating the camper and truck for easier cleaning

I was out of birth control pills, which I usually get for free in the US or buy abroad for $1-$2 a month. Not in Argentina! When I finally found a pharmacy that carried the medicine with the correct balance of ingredients, I was charged $8 for one strip. I bought it, thinking I wouldn’t find it elsewhere. After checking one more pharmacy in Córdoba and being quoted $5 for the same thing, I bought it and returned the other pack by walking another mile. Yes, we do those things to save a few dollars. Don’t get me started on the hassle involved when we discover the supermarket receipt is incorrect! 😊

At 2pm, my load of laundry at the pay campground was finally finished! Luckily, it was a sunny afternoon.

Unlimited free water means more laundry!

After soaking a load of clothes for one night, we hand wash them the following morning.

Mere dollars went to laundry (I did one load of sheets, towels, and heavy clothes at the campground and washed everything else that month by hand), sending a fax to a health institution for Mark to get Power of Attorney for his mom, and a museum visit for me. More about that one in an upcoming blog.

I walked to the museum about Che Guevara in Alta Gracia by myself

One of the rooms in the house where Che grew up

Che on a bench in the yard of his childhood home

So, all in all, we kept it manageable in April, but we really tried hard to stay under our $1,300 average. We are now heading to Paraguay, counting on a cheaper cost of living. Stay tuned!

(It might be easier to read the table when turning your device in the horizontal position.)

Find all our expense reports here. To learn what other full-time nomads spend, check out the blogs of our nomad friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

Next up: Completing our year-long travels throughout Argentina

If you are enjoying these posts, please consider donating to Roaming About in support of our website and lifestyle. A big thank you to all our readers who have helped out in the past!

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – March 2025 (Argentina & Chile)

April 7, 2025 / Liesbet / 24 Comments

In March, Mark, Maya, Thirsty Bella, and I left the Carretera Austral in Chile and explored the Lake Districts in that country and in Argentina.

Our free camping spot at the north side of Caburgua Lake after a day’s worth of driving on awful roads

Camped for free at a red volcanic beach for a week in Conaripe

Camped at the south side of Caburgua Lake

We hopped back and forth between Argentina and Chile a couple of times.

Leaving Chile

Potholed road in Argentina

Welcome (back) to Argentina

Waiting for the gate into Argentina to open

Border formalities to leave Argentina

Approaching the Chilean border

Welcome to Chile

Entering Argentina one last time?

Before I get into our expenditure details of last month, I want to say something about our income. Throughout my blog posts, I mention that we both work on the road. Yet, some of you are still surprised about us trying to make a living, not being retired (will we ever?), or the extra challenges that come with the need to earn money.

Mark and I have been nomads for 20+ years and we have had several jobs during that time. (I elaborate on those in my sailing memoir Plunge.) Otherwise, we couldn’t have traveled this long and this far. And, no, we don’t have rental income or a property anywhere. Our camper – and whatever it holds – is all we own, apart from a few boxes of memorabilia, stored with family in Belgium and the US.

At the moment, since my translation and proofreading jobs have dried up, Mark and I both work as freelancers, completing different tasks that aim to improve AI. While Mark’s work is straightforward, steady, and poorly paid, my projects are sporadic, specific, complicated, and with a higher hourly rate. Rarely, our monthly income covers our expenses. We still have to dig into savings to support ourselves. That’s the reason we need to spend less money. We always try…

Which brings me to our expenses of March, during which we did not succeed to live frugally. As a matter of fact, it was an expensive month. But if you look at the details, it is easy to understand why our total reached $2,000; many hundreds of dollars above our average.

Potholed road in Argentina

Paved roads again!

We are not done with crappy roads yet!

Driving among monkey puzzle trees as we leave Chile

As you’ve come to expect, the car category is the highest again. We actually left Chile to cover a substantial distance in Argentina, where the gasoline is cheaper, before returning to Chile. Still, we spent $419 on fuel. Since motor oil (as well as any imported products) are cheaper in Chile than in its neighbor, we bought enough for our next oil change (7 liters), at a price of $49. The rest of the “car money” went to tolls ($4) and a parking lot for a hike ($3).

Filling up with gasoline in Argentina

The extra category that made our total “jump” was an occurrence that we usually attend to in April or May: Mark’s annual summer visit to Massachusetts for health care and family reasons. He and I were loosely chatting about where in South America he should leave from in July, while Maya and I stay behind. I’m confident we will be in Brazil by then, so he looked into plane rides from São Paulo (more affordable than Rio de Janeiro), and, before I knew it, he had booked flights, because the price was right. Indeed, $435 for a return journey between São Paulo and Boston is a good deal!

Our grocery bill went up again, because we bought a few things in Chile that are not available, or twice the price, in Argentina. We do feel $400 a month for food shopping in third world countries is on the high side. To be honest, we can’t wait to reach cheaper countries again after more than a year of expensive shopping.

European-style bakery in Villa La Angostura

Amazing sourdough bread from a bakery in Villa La Angostura

An empty fridge, because importing fresh food into Chile is prohibited.

Happy to reach a Lider grocery store again in Chile

Stocking up our stores!

Look at that full food cupboard!

Affordable and good-looking produce in Chile

Let’s go shopping!

Returning to our favorite produce store

Look at the size of these vegetables!

Unfortunately, this $1.50 head of lettuce would not fit in our fridge.

And, since we would leave Chile indefinitely in March, we stocked up on Maya’s dog food ($200) as well, for reasons mentioned above – it’s either not available or more expensive elsewhere in South America. Unless Brazil surprises us! Now, she can keep eating her high-end, salmon-based, chicken-less kibble for another six months or so. We needed a new international health permit for her to cross into Chile as well.

The vet in Futaleufú creates Maya’s paperwork

In Futaleufú, the vet works out of town hall

More dogfood for Maya

Mark and I went rafting in Chile, which you might have read about in my previous post. Yes, for the privilege of almost drowning, we paid $188. Other than that unfortunate glitch, it was a lot of fun. I’ll mention here that the US dollar kept devaluating against the Chilean peso. So, while a year ago 1,000 pesos amounted to one USD, this was not the case anymore in 2025. Another reason the scales are shifting towards Argentina again, where the US dollar is becoming stronger.

Our rafting company

Starting our rafting trip

Fun on the Futaleufú River

Mark celebrated his birthday on March 1^st, so we could potentially have added all our activities for that event under the gift category, but we didn’t. The rafting trip is mentioned above and other related expenses below. Because we changed plans, we arrived in Futaleufú that day, allowing us to enjoy a fabulous, fancy dinner at an excellent restaurant. The cost was $80. The other $11 for “dining out” went to empanadas and a portion of French fries bought at street stands.

Our amazing restaurant in Futaleufú

The homey and comfortable interior of the restaurant

Lamb tomahawk

Appetizers on the house

Gnocchi entrée for Liesbet

Ossobuco entrée for Mark

Birthday dessert on the house

We only ate at a restaurant once in March and that was for a special occasion. All the other dinners were cooked and consumed at home.

A big salad for dinner

Veggie burger, carrots, and frittata for dinner

Fresh mushroom burgers

Homemade pizza in our tiny 12V oven

Another delicious dinner at home: grilled burger on ciabatta bread with potato salad

Blackberry pancakes, with fruit from our surroundings

My usual cereal bowl enhanced with red berries

A bottle of Bacardi rum and a myriad of Malbec, Carménère, and Chardonnay wines constituted our $56 bill for alcohol. Thanks to a donation from MD, this number wasn’t higher. 😊

Dinner al fresco

While we were heading north on the Carretera Austral in Chile (where no facility fills propane bottles), we were running low on propane gas, causing us to be super careful using the heater. We often felt cold inside the camper. This precaution allowed us to reach Argentina, where American tanks can be filled, either at depots or by the gravity-fill method. Unfortunately, the facility we planned to get our tank full again didn’t have crew on Saturday morning to help us out, despite the depot being open…

This meant we had to make it to a bigger town before noon (when businesses close for the weekend), namely Bariloche. Three attempts later, we found a man willing to sell us propane… at the crazy price of $5 per kilo (or $45 for a full tank). Since we were in a bind – our tank was utterly empty by then, because we had confidently run the heater in the morning, thinking we’d get propane an hour later – we had him fill half our tank. Only to repeat this cautious and stressful procedure a month later. Our next camper will NOT have a propane system.

Getting propane gas

Blackberry-banana pancakes – we need propane to cook

And we paid the usual monthly subscription to Starlink for our satellite internet ($36). Our business takes care of the other half. A better exchange rate in Argentina saw a slight drop in this fee.

Mark never wants anything for his birthday, so we went rafting and I bought him some goodies – Belgian-style beer and homemade jelly – in a small grocery store. This year, I didn’t even have access to a Western-style supermarket to spoil him.

On his birthday, we also went out for a drink at a brewery in Futaleufú, something we rarely do. It was nice to just listen to music and relax on a patio with Maya. Until it got too chilly.

Brewery in Futaleufú

Cheers!

Anyone who follows us on Facebook might have seen multiple series of photos of us doing laundry in the icy Patagonian rivers. We continued that tradition in March, since laundromats are, really, very expensive.

Doing laundry every day in the warmish lake water

Not the best day for laundry, but it had to be done.

Sun and wind are a great combo for handwashing clothes.

Another load of laundry to stay on top of things

One shop charged $1 per piece of clothing; sheets, sweaters, towels, and jeans didn’t count. Well, those are the exact items that are difficult to hand wash! Luckily, lake water is warmer than river water! We eventually found a shop where we dropped off our sheets and bigger items for a total of $10.

Expensive laundromat in Esquel

Hidden and affordable laundromat

The last two categories were peanuts. We bought more painkillers, since the container of Tylenol we brought back from the US is going fast, due to my frequent headaches and migraines. And, we needed a new spray bottle for a bleach solution to attack the mold created by condensation and frigid weather.

Every night in March, we camped for free. We enjoyed most of these quiet places in nature.

Decent free camping in Futaleufú, Chile

Free camping in a municipal park in Esquel, Argentina

Camped along the Rio Azul, Argentina

Camped in Villa La Angostura, Argentina

Argentinians like to park on top of other campers.

Incredible camping spot in Argentina on the last day of the month

First camping spot back in Chile

Camped by Volcan Villarrica, Chile

We had to move campsites at the northern end of Lake Caburgua, because of heavy winds.

In April 2025, we will still be driving a lot – this continent is big – but we will do our best to stay within our budget.

(It might be easier to read the table when turning your device in the horizontal position.)

Find all our expense reports here. To learn what other full-time nomads spend, check out the blogs of our nomad friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

Next up: The Life of a Prehistoric Nomad – a guest post by author and blogger Jacqui Murray

If you are enjoying these posts, please consider donating to Roaming About in support of our website and lifestyle. A big thank you to all our readers who have helped out in the past!

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – February 2025 (Argentina & Chile)

March 9, 2025 / Liesbet / 24 Comments

In February, Mark, Maya, Thirsty Bella, and I explored an attractive part of Patagonia. The first week, we drove north in Argentina and the rest of the month, we bounced on the gravel, potholed Carretera Austral (Ruta 7) in Chile.

Driving through pretty Patagonia National Park

A sunny day is reason for a smile

A decent gravel road

Border crossing in the middle of nowhere

Arriving in Chile again on another rainy day

Maya is getting used to the roads again

Following the Carretera Austral southwards in Chile

While it is still summer in the Southern Hemisphere, the rainy weather has made our time here less pleasant. But more about that in future posts.

A windy and particularly bumpy part of Ruta 7, aka the Carretera Austral

Crossing a wooden bridge

Road construction worker reading a book!

Driving inland to check out a couple of lakes

Driving north on the Carretera Austral in Chile

These bridges look narrower than they are.

Beware of falling rocks!

Crossing a pretty river in Chile

Can you pick out the dog? He’s there to keep pumas at bay.

Tunnel along the way

Yes! They are grading the road…

This expense report could well be the most straightforward one ever. Nothing complicated, unexpected, or weird happened. And, despite fuel being at an all-time high (I say this every month) at $670 (!), we stayed on budget. This record amount accounted for more than half of our expenditures in February! Blame all the driving, the awful roads, and the high fuel prices in Chile ($6/gallon).

This town’s gas station ran out of gasoline, so we needed to buy it elsewhere…

The only place in town to buy gasoline!

These five gallons held us over until the next town with a gas station.

Another visit to another Copec fuel station along the Carretera Austral

Prices at the Copec gas station in southern Chile: $1.60 per liter.

Our grocery bill is back on track at around $300. We didn’t come across “real” supermarkets, so have been buying our bread at bakeries, our produce at vegetable shops, and other necessary goods at convenient-store like establishments. We buy what we need, rarely what we want.

Finally! A decent-sized produce store in a decent-size city, Coyhaique

Our healthy bounty for $15

Once we reached Chile, we ate out again! Empanadas in Cochrane that consist of ground beef, boiled egg, an olive, and a raisin (beware of the pit in the olive; yes, many dishes containing olives down here, like pizza, still have pits); a tasty fish lunch in Tortel; an incredible pizza in Puerto Rio Tranquilo; and a set lunch menu in La Junta. None of this was cheap, but the total remained under $100.

Salmon lunch out!

Our restaurant of choice in Tortel didn’t open for lunch until 1pm.

Dinner out in Puerto Rio Tranquilo: : Mark’s (vegetarian) pizza

Dinner out in Puerto Rio Tranquilo: my pizza

The set day dish in La Junta consisted of a stew topped with egg and a side salad

The restaurant we ate lunch at in La Junta

Maya rests under the table of the La Junta restaurant.

As usual, most of our meals were cooked and eaten at home. I’ll never tire of Mark’s cuisine, but when he’s busy, working, or tired, I take over.

Pizza in our little oven! This is only possible when we have excess power.

Couscous, falafel, and eggplant with a bun

Eggplant dish with egg noodles

Pasta with corn and pepper, anyone?

An appetizer of crackers and artichoke dip

Maya’s dinner is augmented with vegetable compost whenever possible

Vegetarian lentil dish

Fried eggplant with quinoa, fish, and cucumber salad.

And when I cook, our meals are simple: quinoa, coleslaw, fried potatoes and a veggie burger (for me) / chicken thigh for Mark

Back to Mark: spaghetti with a cherry tomato sauce

Hamburgers on the grill, French fries in our oven, and coleslaw

We also paid for excursions in February. An intended highlight was a boat tour on stunning General Carrera Lake to the famed Marble Caves ($54). The trip didn’t really go according to plan, but we still enjoyed the experience. And, the three of us walked up to Las Manos in Cerro Castillo, to observe rock art in the form of hand paintings ($6). I’ll report on these Chilean attractions later.

Boat ride to the Marble Caves

Part of the Marble Caves

Las Manos in Cerro Castillo

Our engine still contains two generic injector coils that we purchased new in Bolivia over a year ago and that we ideally replace with OEM ones. Mark ordered one on Amazon (he always waits for the best available price – one more to go) and, when discovering that an unopened tube of caulk had gone off after we separated our camper from the truck for a repair, we had to hunt for caulk locally. Again, we only found a temporary solution. These two items brought the camper repair category to $58.

General store in Cochrane, where we bought our new caulk

Re-caulking some seams

Life is more enjoyable with a glass of wine, so we spent $54 on alcohol: some local beers for Mark and a few bottles of wine for both of us. The $39 for utilities went to our monthly Starlink subscription. The exact amount depends on the exchange rate for Argentinian pesos. Our company pays the other half. Filling up with potable water was free.

Because the line was so long for gas, we filled with water first.

More potable water is needed.

Topping up with potable water at a gas station

For once, we needed to stay at a campground, because we had to wash the car, take our camper off, and fix parts of the box. We managed to keep it to one night.

The owner begrudgingly let us wash our car.

We took the camper off to fix something underneath.

This is why we don’t like official campgrounds – they are often busy and loud.

In general, we wild camp and avoid official campgrounds for several reasons (just like marinas when we sailed). Boondocking/wild camping is free, offers privacy, flexibility, and natural surroundings; you don’t have to reserve or register; and there is no check-out time. So that’s what we did the other 27 nights in February. Although we were rarely alone then, too!

The very popular free camping spot in El Chalten, with Mount Fitzroy in the background

We camped here by ourselves to be protected from the insane winds. By evening, we had a lot of company!

Camped across the border, in Chile, since the check-in procedure took much longer than expected.

Camped by one of the many rivers in Chile

We loved our river camping spot in Tortel.

A rare moment of being able to sit outside for happy hour

Camped by the Rio Baker, one of our favorite rivers in the world!

Cerro Castillo on a sunny morning

The afternoon we arrived, it was sunny at Lago Paloma. But this was followed by two days of solid rain.

Another rainy day and burs in the grass, so we only stayed one night here.

Meeting Swiss overlanders at Puente Piedra

Another nice river campsite

We hoped for beautiful weather in Puerto Raul Marin Balmaceda for Mark’s birthday, but it was not meant to be.

The last item of this month’s expense report is laundry ($10). Mark and I have been washing, rinsing, and drying our clothes and linen in nature most of the time. The river water in Patagonia is extremely cold, but the sense of accomplishment – within our own time and space – after finishing a load, or three, is immense. That being said, we do wish laundromats get cheaper as we head north, especially since it has been raining non-stop, lately. This means lots of dirty clothes and no option of drying anything out.

Hand laundry by the river

Mark rinsed the clothes in the river, after I washed them in a bucket.

Without trees around us, we connected our washing line to a parked truck on a Sunday.

Of course, the truck had to leave for a few hours…

The grand total for February was $1,307, so right on track. But we do need to start spending less on fuel!

(It might be easier to read the table when turning your device in the horizontal position.)

Find all our expense reports here. To learn what other full-time nomads spend, check out the blogs of our nomad friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

Next up: The real Patagonia!

If you are enjoying these posts, please consider donating to Roaming About in support of our website and lifestyle. A big thank you to all our readers who have helped out in the past!

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – January 2025 (Argentina & Chile)

February 17, 2025 / Liesbet / 24 Comments

My apologies for posting two expense reports in a row, but we have been very busy driving, sightseeing, and dealing with the demands of life on the road. I returned from Antarctica a month ago and I still haven’t had time to organize my 1,000 photos and videos. That highlight post will take days to create and it’s already the second half of February, so first: our expenses for January 2025!

Protected from the wind in Puerto Almanza, Argentina

Camped by our familiar river spot with Jeff and Sheri in Ushuaia

Camped at Beaver Pond near Ushuaia

Mark, Maya, and I spent January in Thirsty Bella, split between Argentina and Chile. The first part of the month, we explored the bottom of the world. Then, I “cruised” to Antarctica for ten days. From the moment I disembarked again, we left Ushuaia and traveled north, crossing Tierra del Fuego and entering Chile. We finished back in Argentina. During these exploits, we paid $500 for fuel.

The YPF gas station in El Calafate, Argentina

A full tank (97 liters) in Argentina cost $90 – Our tank holds 120 liters

Gasoline is more expensive in Chile than in Argentina.

Following the “End of the World” road back north

The car category was the highest, as always. In addition to fuel, we handed over $10 for a self-serve carwash in Ushuaia after driving on wet gravel roads for weeks and 7,000 CLP ($7) went to a tire repair center when entering Chile. It was the exact amount of cash we had left from a previous visit. Lucky!

A needed and deserved car wash for Thirsty in Ushuaia

Getting our tire fixed for $7 in Chile. I wonder how much this would have cost in Argentina.

Mark installs the patched front tire.

What was not lucky was how we happened upon this tire puncture… I swear, you can’t make this up. On that first night after leaving Ushuaia, we camped along a remote dirt road in Tierra del Fuego. All the rattling had loosened a screw from our camper, which had fallen on the ground and landed in our track. You guessed it… We backed up onto the screw and discovered a flat front tire in the morning!

Back on the road – camped along a dirt track on Tierra del Fuego where we caused a flat tire!

Flat tire on my first night back!

The tire repair kit didn’t work…

Installing the spare tire

The tire repair kit we purchased in the US didn’t work. We had to solve the issue before the strong Patagonia winds started, which would make it unsafe to jack up the car. Mark succeeded in putting the spare tire on in an efficient manner and after an hour (30 minutes wasted on trying to insert a plug first), we were back on the road. Good thing we didn’t have a ferry reservation!

Mushrooms cost half the price of Argentina. Yay!

Look at all these bananas – and much cheaper than in Argentina.

Groceries cost the same as last month ($366) – we finally discovered decent produce in Punta Arenas, Chile, and its cost was half than in Argentina – and we cooked pretty much all our meals as per the usual.

Mark’s amazing mushroom burgers from scratch; my favorite homecooked meal.

Mark made a yummy frittata one evening

Freshly made English muffins…

… for an eggs Benedict breakfast

A hearty soup with pan-cooked bread

We managed to find another bag of Maya’s special dog food (salmon-based without chicken) in the same city. That stuff is pricy at $100, but it’s a big bag (18kg/40lbs), which should last two to three months, depending on us adding brown rice to her diet. We embraced this particular bag, since it was the last available one in the city!

Dog food store in Punta Arenas

The last “Pacific Stream – Taste of the Wild” bag in the city!

Our utilities category was higher than usually. The monthly Starlink subscription ($40; the other half is paid by our business) and propane gas ($13) were similar to other months and all our potable water was free, but I spent an extra $35 for internet access on the MV Ushuaia to communicate with Mark. This was a high fee, since I only planned to send one WhatsApp message per day, but it was the lowest amount of data I could buy. This service was through Starlink as well, which meant Mark and I were chatting solely via satellites.

Topping up with free potable water at a gas station in El Calafate

Parked briefly to obtain more propane gas

Ushuaia has the best propane gas company we have ever encountered: fast, professional, and affordable!

We had medical expenses of $79, since we were both due for teeth cleanings. It was easier spending this money than planning around dentist schedules, as we were both sick and camped at a lovely spot across from the spires of Torres del Paine in Chile. We had to postpone the appointment once.

Our dentist in Puerto Natales, Chile

Camped for almost a week along the river across from Torres del Paine National Park, Argentina

Evening light over Torres del Paine

I believe our alcohol cost ($64) was similar to last month, except, this time we focused on liquor instead of wine. Punta Arenas in Chile – a shopping paradise after dealing with little food availability and high prices for months in Argentina – has a duty-free area, so we stocked up on special booze like coconut rum, Amarula, Tito’s vodka, and 7-year-old Flor de Caña rum. Each of these bottles cost less than $14 apiece. If you know anything about rum – and our favorite brand – you’ll agree this is awesome. Ironically, Mark and I stuck to a mostly “dry January,” which means we still have all of this alcohol! It’ll last a while. 😊

Enjoying one of Jeff’s amazing gin & berry cocktails for our postponed New Year celebration. Can you tell who’s on his shirt? 🙂

Camped by Laguna Margarita with friends

Our alcohol bounty in Punta Arenas, Chile

There was a “drinking out” category for January as well. All me. I treated my roommate to a shot of old-fashioned, Argentinian “Old Smuggler” whisky, enjoyed one traditional, Chilean pisco sour, and shared a bottle of red Malbec with table mates on the ship. This added up to $25. You only live once!

Old Smuggler whisky

The bar tender pours shots of Old Smuggler

A very tasty pisco sour – Dare I say the Chilean version is better than the Peruvian one?

And it was a tasty Malbec!

Our last meal aboard deserved a bottle of red wine

Mark, Maya, and I took a $20, 30-minute ferry with Thirsty Bella, leaving Tierra del Fuego to return to mainland South America. We managed to just drive on without waiting. Thanks to that time spent on our flat tire, probably.

Taking the ferry back to mainland South America

It’s a tight squeeze!

As is becoming habit, we washed most of our laundry by hand in January. And, while it is summer here, I can assure you that the glacial river water is freezing cold. Sheets, towels, and jeans were dropped off and picked up clean and fresh in El Chalten, Argentina, for $15.

Doing laundry at a river in Puerto Almanza

The wind and sun (if present) in Patagonia dry clothes quickly

More laundry in river water

Ready to drop off laundry (which failed in Ushuaia)

Mark and I paid entrance fees ($13) for Glacier National Park in Argentina, to witness the incredible Perito Moreno glacier. That will be for a future blog post. Other hikes and excursions were free.

A spectacular backdrop!

Perito Moreno glacier

The Lasifashaj falls near Ushuaia were a free attraction

The last category is “gifts.” I bought myself a magnet with our route through Antarctic waters when I was on the expedition ship. I couldn’t resist.

My Antarctica magnet; the only souvenir I bought on this trip.

Actually, the three of us enjoyed two take-out dinners as well, both from the same place, a “bakery” in Puerto Natales, Chile. Their burgers and seafood empanadas were delicious! We used the last of our donation money (except for a special occasion one we are still saving) for these splurges.

Our favorite restaurant – bakery in Puerto Natales, Chile

Amazing burgers and fries from a place in Puerto Natales

Another take-out meal from our favorite restaurant/bakery in the city

Oh, and we camped for free everywhere in January. It was a mixed bag of quiet and not-so-peaceful nights.

Camped near Punta Arenas, Chile – There is a story regarding this small boat…

Camped by a river along our route – it was much louder with traffic than expected.

Our preferred campsite in Puerto Natales, Chile – It was relatively quiet for a city.

Moving spots due to heavy winds in the Torres del Paine region – protection was needed!

Camped by a lake for the night

Camped for one night near El Calafate, for an early visit to the nearby glacier

Camped in El Chalten, Argentina

And that wraps up a decent month, financially. We stayed under our average of $1,300, probably because I left for ten days and Mark stayed put in Ushuaia during that time.

Early drive through Torres del Paine National park – a freebie

(It might be easier to read the table when turning your device in the horizontal position.)

Find all our expense reports here. To learn what other full-time nomads spend, check out the blogs of our nomad friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

Next up: Antarctica! (Hopefully.)

If you are enjoying these posts, please consider donating to Roaming About in support of our website and lifestyle. A big thank you to all our readers who have helped out in the past!

Annual Expense Report of a Nomad – 2024 (Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, USA, Belgium, Uruguay)

February 3, 2025 / Liesbet / 32 Comments

Our first yearly expense report (2016) can be found here, the report of 2017 is here, the one for 2018 here, our 2019 expenses are located here, our total costs for 2020 are documented here, those for 2021 are detailed here, 2022’s financial summary hides here, and you can find our full expense report for 2023 here.

In 2024, Mark, Maya, and I drove from Bolivia to South America’s tip, passing through Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina in our truck camper Thirsty Bella. We also took a three-month break from the road in Massachusetts, USA and Belgium.

A break from the road for Maya

Happy hour with friends in Belgium

Enjoying the Belgian delicacies

On vacation with my cousin and her husband in Germany

Mussels and fries in Belgium

The use of a decent-sized oven in Belgium!

Going shopping by bicycle

On this multiple-year South American overland journey, which started in November 2022, so far we visited Colombia for six months, Ecuador for three, Peru for five, and Bolivia for a month and a half. We continued with a couple of months in Chile, a month in Uruguay, and about eight months in Argentina. That’s a lot of driving.

The incredible Los Caracoles road

Driving in Northern Argentina

Welcome to Argentina

Welcome to Uruguay

Crisscrossing Uruguay

Awful fuel mileage in the mountains

Chilly drive in the countryside

So, it is no surprise that the biggest expense category for last year was, once again, our vehicle ($6,248!), with $3,587 going to fuel.

Filling our fuel tank with jerrycans

The most affordable fuel station in Argentina

Fuel prices in Argentina

Buying fuel in Argentina

In Chile, the fuel is 1/3 more expensive than in Argentina

Buying more fuel in Argentina

Getting very expensive fuel in Uruguay

Another fuel top-up in pricey Uruguay

Maintaining the F350 truck cost over $2,000, since we had a $600 spark plug issue in Buenos Aires, we bought four brand-new tires in Chile, and we keep on buying new ignition coils, generic ones in Bolivia and better ones in the US.

Replacing worn-out ignition coils in Bolivia

Two new tires in Northern Chile

Our spare tire had a leaking valve

Doing our own oil change at a shop in Chile

Buying extra oil for a future oil change in Argentina

Getting our tires balanced and rotated in Chile

More new tires in Santiago, Chile

Needing professional help for a seized spark plug issue

Hiring someone to separate a seized brake caliper pin

Furthermore, liability insurance for the MERCOSUR countries, obtained in Argentina, tripled within four months ($412) and we paid $123 in parking fees and $68 for tolls. Yup, Thirsty drank a lot of money in 2024!

Toll booth in Bolivia

Toll booth in Northern Argentina

Another toll booth in Argentina

Toll booth in Uruguay

Expensive tolls in Uruguay

More than $3,000 went to groceries, which was a couple of hundred dollars more than last year. I guess we can blame the insane inflation in Argentina for that. Although, because of it, we only buy necessities. We hope that wherever we spend the bulk of our time this year, life will be cheaper.

One hundred dollars worth of Argentinean pesos

Counting Argentinian pesos

Vegetable market

A decent grocery chain in Argentina

Another decent grocery store in Argentina

Typical bakery in Argentina

Massive “Jumbo” grocery store in Chile

Vegetable stand in Santiago de Chile

We really like this Chilean grocery store

The travel category was a big one ($2,357), because the three of us flew to both our home countries, an extremely rare occasion. We enjoyed this break from the road, since we’ve been roaming about fulltime for 21 years now. This amount bought us return flights from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Boston, MA, and from Boston to Brussels, Belgium, plus one checked bag for the last leg.

International flights

A real, comfy bed for Maya

Gathering with friends in Massachusetts

Maya had her most expensive year as well at over $1,200. Not because she got sick, however. All those international health certificates and export permits added up, especially when two of them had to be obtained in the US. Our little family flying “home” is not only logistically challenging…

Vet visit after Maya got bitten and needed stitches

Maya’s vaccination sheet

Vet visit before entering Uruguay

Agriculture department at the airport of BA to get Maya’s paperwork

Stuffing Maya’s pathetic dog bed

More paperwork needed for Maya’s border crossings

In 2024, Mark and I also purchased high-quality dogfood for $300 and pet supplies for $134, and gave vet clinics $130.

Waiting for Maya’s online dogfood offer to kick in

Pricey dogfood for Maya

More dogfood for Maya in Chile

Our alcohol expenses remained similar to 2023 at around $600. We mostly bought decent, local wines at $4 a bottle.

Chilean wine

Stocking up on affordable and amazing wine from a small vineyard

Affordable and tasty Dada wine in Argentina – our trusted brand

How about some chocolate wine?

Celebrating New Year’s Eve with a homecooked meal and a reserve wine

Money spent on gifts ($554) went up a bunch, because there was a wedding present involved, on top of the usual birthday and Christmas gifts. And, Mark and I offered my parents thank-you tickets for a musical as well, because they were super generous over the summer.

Belgian beer as a gift for Mark’s birthday

Dinner out with Jo and Tom as their wedding gift

Day trip to spot wildlife for my birthday

The cute and breeding Rockhopper penguin

Computer costs ($548) include keyboards and hard drives, a new tablet for the car, another router for Bella, hosting fees, and software. Leave it to Mark to find the best deals for all of this.

Dinner out with our friends, Heather and Jon

Yummy pizza out in Bolivia

Amazing and affordable empanadas in Northern Argentina

Parilla (BBQ) in Cafayate, Argentina

Pizza out

High tea in Gaiman, Argentina

We spent only 1/3 of last year’s amount on dining out ($478). You can definitely blame the insane increase of prices in Argentina for that. Plus, we received donations for this splurge as well, some of which I am saving for 2025. I have to admit that because of our frugal attitude towards restaurants, our quality of life feels like it has gone down. Way more cooking and dishes and fatigue!

Argentinian pizza with fries and eggs

Take-out pizza

Take-out sushi for Mark’s delayed birthday dinner in Buenos Aires

Our last pizza out in 2024

Expensive empanadas in Argentina six months later

Utilities, camper repairs, clothing, and household supplies were on par with 2023.

A new spoon/ladle was needed.

New faucet for our bathroom

Every year, we need a new non-stick pan.

Shopping in a hardware store

Fixing the water heater

Internet, propane gas, and water are necessities in life. For our interior, we could use a new DC-DC charger and a bathroom faucet, as well as household batteries, poop bags, sheets, and wine glasses. We also bought a jerry can to carry extra fuel.

Gravity filling our propane tank, something we are familiar with from the boat life

Filling our tank with potable water

Time to get more propane gas

Bringing the empty propane tank to a filling station

Friendly service in Argentina

Filling with water from jugs, via our pump

Getting fresh water the old-fashioned way

Our propane tank was accidentally filled with butane, which caused issues in the freezing weather!

Topping up with propane

Getting free water at the fire station of Ushuaia, Argentina

Filling with potable water, a bi-weekly chore

The entertainment category wasn’t high, at $234, since we’ve been avoiding the steep national park entrance fees in Argentina and Chile and focused on free activities, like hiking, and more affordable visits. The most expensive excursion we booked in 2024 was an amazing day trip on the Salar (salt flats) of Uyuni, Bolivia.

Day trip to the Salar in Bolivia

Visiting another salt flat in Northern Argentina

Visit to a fort in Uruguay

Historic site of Villa Epecuen, Argentina

The oldest Welsh house in Gaiman, Argentina, built in 1874

As far as yearly clothing for two people, we didn’t go overboard. New hiking shoes, shorts, and jeans for Mark and two pairs of pants for me cost $134 in total. The only reason the “Health & Fitness” category went up was our increased awareness and actions towards improved dental hygiene. We bought a water flosser, an electric toothbrush, and better toothpaste.

Carrying extra, smelly fuel with us

New jeans for Mark!

Transportation covers the use of Uber, cable cars, and taxis when we were camped on the outskirts of cities and our annual bank charge was a bit higher than before, because of a mistake with a (usually free) ATM fee.

Cable car ride throughout La Paz, Bolivia

A colectivo or minibus in La Paz, Bolivia

Cable car ride in Santiago, Chile

I’m not sure if $100 a year for laundry is expensive, but, since drop-off prices in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay are super high, we have been washing more and more clothes by hand, saving a lot of money. Self-serve machines in South America are very rare.

Hand laundry in Uspallata

Checking out laundromats in Central Argentina

Laundry by hand at the beach

Ice cold, but free water to do a bunch of laundry

This is the most clothes I’ve ever washed by hand, I think.

Cheap laundry in Rio Gallegos, Argentina

Mark and I only paid for camping once in 2024, which is hard to believe. Ten nights of fees went to Zapparancho ($83) near Buenos Aires, Argentina, because we needed a base to get ready for life on the road again after our summer break. And, we needed to fix a few things in a convenient location. This was also a good place to donate a lot of clothes and gear we didn’t use anymore.

Fixing the engine at Zapparancho

One of our favorite campsites this past year, in Bolivia

Camped by “The hand in the desert,” Chile

Wild camping in Northern Argentina

Great boondocking spot along the coast in Argentina

Beautiful camping spot on Tierra del Fuego, Chile

Pretty camping spot in Ushuaia

Mark and I had bloodwork done in Bolivia, which makes up the $74 for medical costs. The miscellaneous category includes things like a voluntary contribution for being towed out of the sand in Northern Chile and an assortment of copies.

Getting towed out of the sand after a frightful twelve hours in Northern Chile

Another amount that has decreased a lot in 2024 is “drinking out.” Again, with current prices in bars and restaurants soaring, we are just as happy to have a drink at home. Especially since, surprise, decent bottles of wine in Argentina have remained very affordable.

Wine tasting in Central Argentina

Wine tasting at our favorite vineyard

Wine tasting with friends in Argentina

I want to mention two more things in this expense report. First, thank you to everyone who has contributed a donation. We really appreciate this. Not only does it lower our annual costs, but it makes us smile and realize that you appreciate these blog posts and following along with our adventures.

Our only dinner out (with a friend) during our five weeks in Ushuaia

And, to be completely transparent, there was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and cost for me, Liesbet, at the end of 2024. I paid for a ten-day trip to Antarctica in January, which I will report on soon. It was super expensive, but as cheap as possible. I spent $5,752 on the “cruise” ticket with money I had saved up in Belgium, which is why it’s not reflected in our annual budget. This includes a $15 bank fee and $37 for mandatory insurance.

Visiting with the chinstrap penguins in Antarctica

One of my favorite photos of the Antarctica trip

In Antarctica with penguins and our ship, Ushuaia, in the background

In conclusion, our 2024 total of $16,661 is a little bit higher than our $16K average of the last two decades. This boils down to just under $1,400 a month. Let’s see what 2025 brings!

2024 Overview:

Car (fuel: $3,587; maintenance: $2,057;

insurance: $412; parking: $123; tolls: 68):

Groceries:

Travel (plane tickets):

Dog (permits: $658; food: $299; supplies: $134; vet: $130):

Alcohol:

Gifts (B-days, Christmas, wedding):

Computer (hardware: $355; hosting: $127; software: $66):

Dining out:

Utilities (internet: $336; prop.: $73; water: $13; Skype: $5):

Camper:

Entertainment:

Health & Fitness (haircuts, vitamins, teeth hygiene):

Household:

Clothing:

Transportation (Uber, taxis):

Bank fees (Chase visa card):

Laundry:

Camping:

Medical:

Drinking out:

Miscellaneous (towing, copies):

TOTAL:

Donations:

GRAND TOTAL:

(It might be easier to read the table when turning your device in the horizontal position.)

And that’s a wrap! If you are enjoying these posts and would like to help out with our expenses maintaining this blog, please click on the donate button underneath, in the side bar, or in the menu bar on top. I promise Roaming About will remain an ad-free website. Thank you!

Find all our expense reports here. To learn what other full-time nomads spend each month, check out the blogs of our vanlife friends Duwan and Greg at Make Like An Ape Man.

Next up: Antarctica! (Or the January 2025 expense report.)

Donate to Roaming About to help maintain this website.

Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: car costs (page 1 of 7)

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – September 2025 (Brazil & Paraguay)

Like this:

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – August 2025 (Brazil)

Like this:

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – July 2025 (Brazil & USA)

Like this:

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – June 2025 (Paraguay & Brazil)

Like this:

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – May 2025 (Argentina & Paraguay)

Like this:

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – April 2025 (Argentina)

Like this:

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – March 2025 (Argentina & Chile)

Like this:

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – February 2025 (Argentina & Chile)

Like this:

Monthly Expenses of a Nomad in South America – January 2025 (Argentina & Chile)

Like this:

Annual Expense Report of a Nomad – 2024 (Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, USA, Belgium, Uruguay)

Like this:

Buy My Book "Plunge" here:

Roaming About – Liesbet Collaert & Mark Kilty & Maya

Where Are We Roaming About Now?

Liesbet’s Amazon Author Profile

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Like Us on Facebook

Copyright Notice

Blog Archive

Recent Posts

A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: car costs (page 1 of 7)

Sharing is caring:

Like this:

Sharing is caring:

Like this:

Sharing is caring:

Like this:

Sharing is caring:

Like this:

Sharing is caring:

Like this:

Sharing is caring:

Like this:

Sharing is caring:

Like this:

Sharing is caring:

Like this:

Sharing is caring:

Like this:

Sharing is caring:

Like this:

Roaming About – Liesbet Collaert & Mark Kilty & Maya

Where Are We Roaming About Now?

Liesbet’s Amazon Author Profile

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Copyright Notice

Blog Archive

Recent Posts