Trip Budget: How Much We Spent In Spain For 5 Weeks

In November and December, we decided to hit the road and go on a big European adventure to Spain. We were in Spain for just over 5 weeks and this post serves as our budgeting and spending recap. Our goals for this trip were:

  1. Try to work AND travel successfully.

  2. Explore some potential early retirement destinations in Spain. (more on that to come in future posts)

  3. Get out of the rut of the day-to-day monotony we had easily settled into.

I’m here to say that we were successful at achieving our goals, even if it looked a bit different than when we first embarked on long term international travel a few years ago.

Our Long Term Travel Background

To get you up to speed, in 2018 myself and with my now husband quit our day jobs and saved up $30K. We decided to take a “gap year” to find ourselves and what we actually wanted to do with our lives. 

After 2 months into that gap year, I realized I actually enjoyed working, and wanted to pursue freelance gigs. So my “Eat, Pray, Love” gap year ended up looking a lot more like a digital nomad lifestyle. And it was FUN.

However, craving a bit of normalcy we decided to temporarily settle back down in Knoxville, TN in 2019. Shortly after that, COVD hit and travel died for a couple of long years #RIP.

When travel restrictions started easing in 2021, Tom and I were craving more long-term travel. Booking this trip to Spain represented a huge shift back into the digital nomad lifestyle for us. And quite a few things had changed.

For one, our budget and relationship with money. In 2018, our goal was to spend an average $100 per day (or $50 per person) on all things – accommodation, food, ground transportation, flights, etc. 

I was obsessed with sticking to our budget, tracking every penny, and making sure we always got the best deals. I know I drove my husband absolutely crazy.

Fast forward to the present day, I have a much healthier relationship with money, and knew that I didn’t want to track every penny while we were on the road. I wanted us to relax and enjoy ourselves, but to do so sustainably.

Our Budget

Therefore, we decided to create a rough budget before we left on the trip. We planned the outline of the trip and booked accommodation with this budget in mind. Having been to Spain before, we knew the average costs on the ground there, and knew that our budget was pretty generous for how we normally spend.

Here is what it looked like:

Surprisingly for me, we didn’t think much about our budget while we were on the road in Spain. We knew we were living reasonably, so we just enjoyed ourselves within our means.

We knew our expenses would likely exceed our income while we were in Spain because we were still paying for rent, utilities, internet, and insurance back home in Knoxville. Therefore, we expected to be in the red by a couple thousand dollars, and had set aside money in a savings account for that purpose. 

Our Actual Spending

When all was said and done, here is what we spent per day in Spain:

So, our grand total was $4,988 all-in. Yes – that fees like a lot. But, like we expected we were only in the “red” by about $2,000 when compared to our normal monthly budget. The reason for this is that instead of paying for discretionary expenses like groceries, eating out, experiences, etc. in Knoxville, we had simply shifted those to Spain. 

Overall, Spain has a lower cost of living than Knoxville so we were able to spend about the same amount as we normally do on our discretionary expenses, and have even more peak experiences. 

The biggest one was mealtime. We went out to eat tapas daily, and were still able to maintain a reasonable food budget for two people of $25 per person per day. We rarely go out to eat in Knoxville, so this was a huge treat.

Going Over Budget

We did go over budget on a few categories. We went over budget by about $200 on “ground transportation”. This is defined as trains, buses, taxis, and metro fares. The biggest reason for this was our train ride from Madrid to Seville during our first day in Spain. We didn’t buy it in advance, and it ended up costing over $100 per person due to surge pricing.

Another item in our budget that we spent more on was shopping. Inspired by the chic European street style, I bought a few nice pieces of clothing like a winter coat and a new blouse. No regrets there.

Lastly, we spent more on food and drinks then we budgeted for due to eating out everyday and drinking wine or beer most days. However, eating is part of the cultural experience of Spain, and I am so happy that we got to fully enjoy the tapas culture and use meal time as a time to connect, relax, and have fun.

We are planning our next slow travel adventure for May or June. I will keep you guys updated about which destination we decide on.

Would you like to spend over a month trying out daily life in a new country? If so, let us know where!