Four and a half months in Asia, Australia and New Zealand flew by bringing our year-long adventure to a close, and we cannot believe it is already over. Our budget lady is not too pleased with this phase, but we had a great time! Here is our summary of Phase 3:
- # of Days: 135
- Total Cost: $16,267
- Transportation: $4,576 – 28%
- Food: $4,519 – 28%
- Entertainment: $2,944 – 18%
- Accommodation: $2,720 – 17%
- Miscellaneous: $1,313 – 8%
- Bribes: $195 – 1% (we did not actually pay any bribes, but we classified fees to use the bathroom or bus terminal, visa fees, exchange rate fees etc. as bribes)
- Average Cost per day: $120.49
We took the extra money we saved from Phase 1 and Phase 2 and added it to the budget for Phase 3 bringing our daily allowance to $120.30. We finished $22 over budget for this Phase.
- # of Countries: 7
- Indonesia (Bali) – 5 days – $557
- Singapore – 4 days – $688
- Vietnam – 29 days – $3,146
- South Korea – 22 days – $1,831
- Japan – 29 days – $3,397
- New Zealand – 20 days – $2,684
- Australia – 24 days – $3,220
Two of our days were travel days in the US during which we spent $95.75.
- # of Border Crossings: 9
- # of Passport Stamps: 6
- # of Night Buses: 4
- # of Flights: 13
- # of Unique Night Locations: 61
- Average # of Nights Per Location: 2.2
- # of Days WWOOFING: 15
- Country that surprised us the most: South Korea
- Top 3 Destinations:
- jjimjilbangs in South Korea
- Phong Nha, Vietnam – caves!
- Azumino, Japan – Takaosan’s farm
- Places we didn’t love:
- Takayama, Japan – we are a bit biased but we did not have our favorite experiences there. We liked the Hida Folk Village and Hida Furukawa, but Takayama felt like a ghost town and most of the restaurants seemed to be closed. We might just have been there at a bad time.
- Hoi An, Vietnam – People rave about Hoi An for its historic beauty, vibrant culture, and textiles. While it is a beautiful city, it was so overrun with tourists it was hard to appreciate it.
- Things we learned to appreciate:
- Countries that do not require visas
- Strong flavored food
- Stoplights and crosswalks
- Sidewalks you can walk on
- Being able to buy reasonable quantities at the market
- Clean air
- Things we will miss:
- Delicious variety in food
- Super fast trains
- Awesome bike routes in South Korea
- Things we will not miss:
- Mopeds parked and driving on the sidewalk
- Being quiet