Travel STATs

One of my all time favourite posts to go back and read is this one so re-creating it for this trip seemed like a no-brainer. Over the stretch of nearly five weeks that I was away I collected all kinds of information so I could put it here for you, and also for future me.

Lets start with the places..
- I was in 25 cities/towns/areas
- 3 Canadian provinces
- 6 European/UK countries
Not including Canada I have now been to 16 countries!

Being in these places also meant that I crossed between 5 time zones including my home.

Getting to those places was no small task..
- I was on 11 flights
- 7 trains
- 5 ferries
- 12 buses
- 50 metros
- 1 taxi
- 2 airport shuttles
- 2 airplane shuttles
- 1 rental car
- 1 borrowed car (Thanks Mum!)

The distance covered is only approximate, but it gives me an idea of the ground I covered..
- Driving distance = 1782 km
- Flying distance = 23, 400 km
- Train distance = 879 km
That's 26, 061 KMs covered!

I didn't keep track for the whole 4.5 weeks, but the distance travelled ON FOOT in Europe only is..
- 367,000 total steps
- 264 total KMs
For anyone who is interested, my longest day was in Paris where I walked 36,000 steps and 26 kilometres.

I imagine it isn't all that exciting for many people but I visited 4 geographical "extremes" during this trip. Look for a separate post about those!

By now you should know me well enough to understand how much I love beaches, islands and lighthouses, so I visited plenty of them, mostly in Nova Scotia..
- I was on 5 islands
- 18 lighthouses
- 12 beaches

The budget. I've had a few people ask what a trip like this costs and I'm more than happy to share my exact numbers with you!
My original budget was - $4727
The actual amount I spent is - $4320.88
I certainly spent more than I though I would, but still $406.12 under budget so I'm really pleased! I could have been more significantly under budget but things always come up. I rented a car unexpectedly and also needed a new flight last minute, those two things alone cost me about $535.

Here is the spending breakdown vs. my allotted budget..
Accommodation - $538.91  -->    ($800)
Eating - $612.02   -->   ($480)
"Big" travel (flights, trains, car..) - $2521.47    -->   ($2000)
Daily travel (bus, metro, ferry..) - $337.75    -->    ($320)
Spending/admission - $310.73   -->   ($640)
I also spent $278.85 before leaving home, but I didn't count that into the budget.

As you can see, I was significantly over in some areas and significantly under in others. If you recall from this post I said I planned for a $1000 buffer and this is why. I thought I was over budget but I didn't need to worry to much because of that buffer, but knowing that not only did I not have to use it but I was actually under budget is a really great feeling.
For anyone who sees these numbers and thinks its A) terrifying, B) frivolous, C) irresponsible or anything else, just remember that money is money. You can always make more. Time, on the other hand is not guaranteed and the time we do have will not always be free to spend in any way we want.

I'd love to know if there is anything I missed on this post so please let me know what else you'd like to see!