How to Budget a Trip Without Guessing

Published "daily cost" figures for a country are close to useless, because they average a backpacker in a dorm with a couple in a resort. A budget built from your own actual plans is both more accurate and quicker to produce.

Break it into buckets

1. Flights — the one genuinely fixed number, and usually the largest.
2. Accommodation — nights times a realistic nightly rate for the areas you actually want to stay in.
3. Intercity transport — trains, internal flights, buses. Price the real routes.
4. Local transport — a modest daily figure per city.
5. Food — think in meals, not days: a cheap breakfast, a mid-range lunch, a variable dinner.
6. Activities — list the specific things you want to do and price them individually.
7. Buffer — around 10–15%. It is not optional, and it always gets used.

Research real prices, not averages

Open the booking sites for your actual dates and the actual neighbourhoods on your list. Twenty minutes of this beats any published average, because it prices your trip rather than a hypothetical one.

Pay particular attention to dates that fall in a peak season or a public holiday — the same room can differ severalfold.

Track as you go

A note on your phone each evening is enough: date, rough total, anything unusual. It takes thirty seconds.

After one trip you have your own baseline, in your own travel style, which makes every subsequent budget both faster and far more accurate.

Where the savings actually are

In rough order of impact:

• Accommodation location. One station further out is often a large saving for a small commute.
• Lunch instead of dinner at the restaurants you want to try — often the same kitchen at a fraction of the price.
• Public transport over taxis, in cities where the network is good.
• Free attractions, which in most Asian cities include the best temples, parks, markets and viewpoints.
• Travelling either side of peak season, which affects flights and hotels simultaneously.