How Much Did We Spend in 2023?
We're full-time nomads. These are the numbers behind our annual finances.
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Every year, I provide some hard numbers about the finances behind our lives as digital nomads. Last year, I reported that we spent a grand total of $56,000 — all our expenses except for taxes — as we traveled the world.
And yes, I’ve repeatedly pointed out how surprised we initially were that our cost of living was so much cheaper outside of the United States. (Keep in mind, this is the cost-of-living for privileged Westerners like us. For locals, wages are usually much lower than in America, and the economic situation is completely different.)
It’s worth pointing out that I am also very, very good at stretching a dollar.
Last year, I reported that our financial advisor had told us that we could be spending more than we are. You only live once, and it seemed silly to be pinching pennies when we didn’t have to, so we resolved to spend more in 2023.
So how did we do in 2023? Did we succeed in spending more money?
As with last year, I will look at the different spending categories one by one, then give the overall total at the end.
Lodging
Some dates overlapped, so months are used for purposes of clarity only. All figures are in USD.
January
London house-sitting (26 days, utilities only): $400 USD
Reykjavik hotel (three days): $320
Seattle transit hotel (one day): $132
February
Seattle area time-share condo (21 days, cleaning fee only): $75
Seattle transit hotel (one day): $146
Kuala Lumpur hotel (six days): $295
March
Penang, Malaysia, Airbnb (30 days): $1830
April
Bangkok, Thailand, Airbnb (30 days): $1,225
May
Bangkok, Thailand, informal rental (30 days): $1450
Bangkok transit hotel (one day): $35
Siem Reap, Cambodia, hotel (ten days): $380
June
Chiang Rai, Thailand, hotel (6 days): $112
Chiang Mai, Thailand, hotel (21 days): $720
Chiang Mai transit hotel (2 days): $67
July
Bangkok transit hotel (3 days): $60
Seattle transit hotel (1 day): $112
Various Seattle-area hotels and guest rooms (27 days): $310
August
Various Seattle-area hotels, guest rooms, and Airbnb (13 days): $400
Vancouver, Canada, hotel (3 days): $302
Back-to-back Alaska cruises, Norwegian line (14 days): $1300
September
Vancouver, Canada, Airbnb (25 days): $2,800
October
Trans-Pacific cruise, Princess line (28 days): $5400
Sydney, Australia, hotel (4 days): $400
November-December
Cronulla, Australia, Airbnb (30 days): $3,318
Blue Mountains, Australia, friend-visit (14 days): $0
Blue Mountains, Australia, Airbnb (9 days): $628
Sydney transit hotel (1 day): $87
Christmas cruise to New Zealand, Holland America line (12 days): $1908
Annual Total: $24,212 (or $2018/month, or $66/night)
Some observations:
Prices on Airbnb seem to be climbing very fast. The “Covid discount” is long gone, and true bargains are much harder to come by now — at least in rich Western countries. By comparison, lodging in Southeast Asia is still very affordable.
We spent almost $7637 more on lodging this year than we did in 2022. Last year, our average monthly rent was $1381/month, or $45.50/day. This year, it was $2018/month, or $66/day. This compares to our pre-nomad, pre-2018 Seattle-area costs of $2700/month (mortgage + utilities), or $89/day.
But some of the increase in our particular lodging costs also comes from the fact that we took four different cruises over the year, for a grand total of two full months at sea. The numbers cited here are for everything — food, entertainment, transportation, etc. — but I’m putting them in “lodging” even though they affect other numbers too. For the longest cruise, 28 days, we had a balcony; the other cabins were interior. The quoted prices also include all taxes and gratuities.
When examining our annual lodging costs, we think it’s important to point out that, as nomads, our “vacation” costs are now $0 (since we’re basically always on vacation). What were our annual vacation costs before? $3000? $4000? If we subtract this amount from the annual total, that means our lodging costs are still only a little more than half what they were in Seattle way back in 2017.
We once again traveled rather fast this year, often staying short-term in hotels, and also staying in hotels while transiting via various flights. Breakfast buffets at American hotels absolutely suck — but they’re usually fantastic in other countries.
In addition to Airbnb apartments and hotels, we also had our usual mix of other unconventional lodging: my dad’s time-share condo for a month (where we only paid the $75 cleaning fee); house-sitting; and staying with friends, especially when we were back home for my father’s funeral in July.
We spent more money on lodging in 2023, which was the plan, but were the accommodations actually better? They were great in Southeast Asia, but honestly, even with the sky-high prices, we were fairly disappointed by our accommodations in Canada and Australia. Lodging in Western countries seems to have become really expensive, and we’ll apparently have to spend even more to be truly dazzled.
Food
Groceries: $5076 ($423/month)
Restaurants: $7476 ($623/month)
Annual Total: $12,548
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