How Much was 15 Weeks in Madrid and Holga Pictures

Ahhh, the time has arrived to tie up the last little bow on my Madrid adventure package.  My Holga scans have returned to me just in time, too!

Toledo

This is going to be one of those posts that I personally seek from others when I’m trip planning because I like to have an idea of what shit costs where I’m going.  I want to know things like, how much was that excursion, how much did you spend on public transport and how much was that museum?  I especially like to know how much people spent on long trips vs short trips.  Not only do longer trips showcase the trend of someone’s spending, but I also find those stories more enjoyable to read because those people find the freebies and get pretty creative when they’re on a budget.

Well, side note, I’m being a bit lazy about getting all the monies together by not going through receipts, particularly for my cash only expenses, but I want to get this post up before it loses relevancy.  (It’s almost February already, you guys!)  I’m going to trust that the recent research I’ve done through my bank statements and what I can remember about spending the cash I had on hand is noted to the best of my fiscally analytical abilities.

So, what is that number?  **drumrolllllllll**
Approximately $9,500 for 15 weeks abroad – or $2,375 per month. 
This certainly made a dent in my savings, but if you asked me would you do it all over again pretty much the same way?  My answer is going to be a resounding, hell yeah!

Breakdown:

The missing $400 ish dollars from the table above is cash I had on hand that I’m pretty confident I spent mostly on food and drink, but since I can’t more accurately recall that spend allocation, I didn’t include it above.

I’m going to further explain the details of the sort of things I bought and my expenditure preferences.  My hope is for you to find something helpful here for your own trip planning.

Airbnb’s and Hotels:  $4,075.77
Rent costs are why things like live-in au-pairs and couchsurfing exist.
The roofs over my head were my biggest expenses by far, accounting for approximately 45% of my entire spend abroad.  It is definitely doable to bring that down closer to $400 a month in Madrid with enough advanced planning and without need for some of the luxuries that were must-haves for me.  The uncompromising requirements for my Airbnb apartments were:  a private bathroom, washer access, wifi, kitchen access and desired location. 
When we break down the Madrid rent further, though, it comes down to $34 a day.  That’s pretty fucking sweet when I look at all of the amenities that came with it.

Restaurants, Bars and Groceries: $1,763.64 (+ maybe $400)
I allotted $900 per month on food and spent waaaay under that.  It is ridiculously cheap to eat and drink well in Madrid. 
I ate out for 1-2 meals every day, but splurged only a handful of times. 
Breakfast out was typically a muffin or tosta with a fancy coffee that set me back around $7.  Lunch was most often slightly cheaper with one beer equaling half the cost of a fancy coffee and the need to order less food since a drink order is automatically served with a plate of olives, cheese, chips or sausages.  I rarely had leftovers, so what I paid was perfectly priced for how much I ate. 
My quick and filling lunch on the go recommendations are the 3 euro calamari bocadillos that can be found near Plaza Mayor, almost anything from Takos Al Pastor and a fat-ass ice cream cone from almost any gelateria.
My average grocery store haul was about $10 for a couple days’ worth of meals and snacks.  Produce, eggs, soups, meats, certain cheeses and pre-made sushi and pizza prices were pretty similar to what you’d find in the states.  Yogurt, bread, pastries, pre-made salads and sandwiches, deli meats and wine were gloriously cheap.

Leaving for Munich

Flights:  $1,244.83
This was my third largest expense overall (and includes a super awesome $104 fee from Norwegian Air for being over my weight limit on the flight home). 
There wasn’t much I could do to save more money on my flights to and from Houston.  I used the Norwegian savings trick which saved me about a hundred dollars, but the fact is it just doesn’t get much cheaper to fly overseas from the middle of the US.  The European flights I purchased, however, as you may have noticed from the budget table, were incredible values.  In fact, the best deal I snagged abroad was a $15.36 red eye flight to London.
The thing that will help you most on airfare prices is the ability to be flexible with dates and times.
Skyscanner is my go-to for price checking flights and I love their everywhere feature (that’s where the Ibiza trip came from).  I also like Expedia because I actually have been able to take advantage of their occasional hotel/flight discounts (and I had a $50 credit I was able to use on my Ibiza hotel, score).
The cheapest prices I’ve been able to find for hotels were actually direct from their websites.

Oktoberfest: $Too Much
Yes, I wanted to discuss how astronomically more my trip to Munich was next to all of the other 2 night trips I took.  Unfortunately, this is one of those things that can’t be avoided.  Planning as much in advance will always help you find better rates for things, but Oktoberfest is an expensive time to visit Munich.  Having said that, just fucking go anyway.  It’s worth it.

Templo de Debod

Education: $757.87
Can’t put a price tag on that!  I thought the Spanish classes were very reasonably priced at about $11 per hour for an 8-person classroom setting.  I did my intensive courses at Inhispania and my nightly courses at LAE.  I liked LAE more because of the pace and the more appropriate age of the classroom.  However, Inhispania catered to the students better by offering weekly activities and excursions. 
The painting classes at Academia de Pintura DeCinti Villalón cost about $13 per hour and that did include the use of a few supplies.

Souvenirs for Myself: $360.09
Half of this expense was the tattoo.  The rest was used on books and jewelry. 

Miscellaneous:  $292.19
This includes really random things like, renting a bike for $22, seeing a podiatrist (yep, that happened) for $40, and a seriously fabulous haircut for $33.

Transportation: $269.15
With the exception of England’s atrocious train fares, I feel like I spent very little on local transportation.  This included trains, metro, the one Uber I had to take and out of city buses (that averaged $10 roundtrip, including places like Toledo and Cercedilla). 
The beautiful thing when you’re living near the city centre of Madrid is you can walk to just about everywhere.  But for those times I was a bit tipsy, or I was actually travelling too far to walk, I used my metro card which cost $13.50 per 10 rides and included an unlimited number of free transfers as long as I didn’t exit to the street. 
I paid the airport surcharge about half a dozen times which added an additional 3 euros per trip.  The best deal to get to the airport is to use Bus 200 from the Avenida de America stop.  It’s the same price as a single trip metro ride and the first bus leaves for the airport at 5am – this was a godsend when I thought I would have to pay for taxis for those 6:30am flights I booked.  If you find yourself in a similar predicament and can’t easily get to Avenida de America, then you can use the Cibeles airport shuttle (from Plaza de Cibeles) which runs all night long and costs 5 euros one way.  Still cheaper than a cab.
Although the metro lines are closed from 1:30am – 6am, the city is working on implementing a 24-hour service to start this year.

Matadero

Museums and Galleries: $45.80
I spent the least amount of money on museums, which is unbelievable to me.  And then I remembered how many amazing free art and cultural things there are all over the city.   
La Casa Encendida, Retiro Park, Fundación Juan March, Andén 0, Museo Sorrolla (well, 3 euros is basically free), Tabacalera, Matadero, Museo del Romanticismo (free after 2pm on Saturdays or 3 euros which is still basically free), Museo ABC, Museo ICO, Casa Árabe and like, a bajillion more places.

Unaccounted Expenses: $87.91
I have no fucking idea what these credit card transactions were for.  There wasn’t enough information in the descriptions to figure them out, but if I have to guess, they’re probably all food related.

Well, you guys, that about wraps it up.  I wish some of you out there could have lived this experience with me, but I hope the Madrid chronicles were intriguing enough to invite you to plan your own trip there! 
Feel free to reach out to me through Instagram or Facebook with any follow up questions about anything! 
Til the next post!

New Year Outlook and Helpful Articles

Still sorting through that last Madrid post…  Anyway!  When will there ever be a better time than now to write about a new year outlook? 
Next year is too far away, smarty pants.

I officially started both of my new jobs this past week.  I’m not allowed to say much about one, but what I can say is that it’s my first retail gig.  None of the office jobs I applied to over the last few weeks got back to me for an interview.  Honestly though, this job is exactly what I was hoping to get while I’m temporarily here in Houston.  Oh yeah… surprise!  I don’t plan on being in the city by year end.  Temporary work for a temporary home that pays just well enough to cover my current expenses is plenty fine for now. The other job, because I did say jobs, doesn’t pay anything, but I think it’s going to teach me the most and bring me the most joy. 
I am volunteering one day a week to lead an art class with toddlers.  I actually pictured wanting to try this exact kind of work when I had all that time abroad to think about myself and desires.  I mean, I pictured teaching older children and getting paid for it, but I will not dismiss the synchronicities that led me to find this opportunity that is essentially what I thought about as a potential career shift.  Besides, the more exposure I get to different jobs, the easier I will find what truly fits me. (Something I highly recommend doing in your 20’s, but later is, of course, better than never.)

The outlook of 2020 feels good, but I’m not positioned in a constant high of empowerment.  Since I let go of my apartment last summer, I am staying in my old, childhood home with my folks and baby sis, which is a bit weird.  If you’ve ever had to move back in with your folks, then you probably understand what I’m feeling.  Besides the strangeness of living with my family as a 34-year-old woman (just had a birthday…), it’s weird living away from the neighborhoods and things I was surrounded by for the last 8 years.  I can still get to those places and things, which is great, but it’s not even close to being the same. 

A friend of mine asked me if it felt like a step backwards being there, but I completely disagree with that.  Honestly, it feels like these life altering decisions I made have brought me back to a kind of ground zero where I probably need to learn some shit and/or release some shit and/or help someone else with some shit before moving to the next platform. 
Nothing speaks more to that thought than when I came back to the states last month. I spent my first night in Boston to break up the flight time and save a little money on airfare and awoke the next morning to a blanket of snow covering the metropolitan area. It was like, a beautiful, sparkling clean slate welcomed me back home (and I totally frolicked in it).

An old colleague of mine used to say, “this is just a stepping stone,” whenever I became distraught about something I couldn’t change at the office.  From where I’m standing, this is a stepping stone on a path leading me somewhere else. 

Every day is a chance for change and possibility, but sometimes we need a little encouragement.  To kick off the new year, I decided to share a list of articles I found inspirational and supportive since my unravelling in 2018.  I hope you, too, find a spark of light from the following:

Accepting Loneliness
Desire to be Elsewhere
When You Feel Disconnected

(my favorites below)

7 Truths of Personal Growth
7 Questions to Finding Purpose

Happy New Year, everyone!