SEPTEMBER 2023 EXPENSE REPORT
Introduction
Welcome back!
That message is partially to the few select readers of these expense reports, and partially to me, as it’s been a couple months since I last composed a report. My seventh (7!) expense report covers travels in the month of September, in which I visited Slovenia 🇸🇮, the Netherlands 🇳🇱, Denmark 🇩🇰, Sweden🇸🇪, Finland 🇫🇮, Estonia 🇪🇪, Latvia 🇱🇻, Lithuania 🇱🇹, and Belgium 🇧🇪. At the onset of my year of travels, I probably would’ve told you that September would be my most expensive month of travel. Unsurprisingly so, I would’ve been correct.
September saw me finish a two-week skydiving trip in Slovenia, as well as a group trip to the costly capital cities of the Nordic countries with friends from home. I was overdue for a stay in one place where my only daily agenda was to jump, so no regrets regarding my spend-y two weeks falling out of the sky in Slovenia. Furthermore, my group trip up north was a 5-year anniversary trip with the same friends I explored Italy and Greece with 5 years prior. Alas, what did my most expensive month yet look like?
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Expenses
Transportation - $326.66
The transportation section of my expense reports includes any pre-booked transit journeys from destination A to destination B: these are flights, trains, buses, ferries, and rocket-ships if need be. Excluded are public transportation, metros, taxis, ubers, buses to/from airports, etc.
Notes:
My transportation expense totaled $326.66 in September, which represents a month-over-month (MoM) increase in average daily transportation spend of $5.17 or 84.1%, from $5.72 in August to $10.89 in September. Despite the significant increase in the metric, it actually wasn’t a particularly splurg-y month for travel, considering my activity. I moved around quite a bit (I did visit 9 countries after all) and scored relatively low deals on most of my journeys. Mostly, the lofty transportation total was due to the inflated taxes & fees on award bookings, in particular my business class journey from Slovenia to Amsterdam.
While Turkish Airlines offers incredibly favorable redemption rates from time to time, they’re notorious for their high additional fees. While it’s a tough pill to swallow, it’s still worth it, as they offer the ability to fly a wide-body, lie-flat business class product within Europe. I flew Business Class on the A330 (a plane that would take you across the ocean) from Slovenia to Amsterdam via Istanbul. The cash value of the ticket was over $1,500, and I paid just $142.20 and 20,000 Turkish Miles, so I’m more than happy with that value.
Accommodations - $962.58
This section is inclusive of all nightly accommodation expenses.
Notes:
My September accommodation expense of $962.58 indicates an average nightly accommodation expense of $32.09. This represents a MoM increase of $315.13 from $647.45 in August, or 48.7%.
Given that I visited four of the world’s most expensive cities (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Helsinki), I’m pleasantly satisfied with an average nightly expense of $32.09. My group trip to the Nordic countries was with six of my best friends from home, and we stayed in some not-too-shabby Airbnbs. Further, there’s the added context that we were visiting in the end of summer, which is the most expensive season all year.
Side Note: That Amsterdam hostel was one of the worst hostels I’ve ever stayed at in my life, and we paid $52.49/night. There was a heat wave in the area which didn’t make things better, especially considering the lack of AC. Man, that was a sweat lodge.
Miscellaneous Expenses - $3,221.66
The Miscellaneous section includes all expenses outside of transportation and accommodation. Perhaps in the future I’ll break this up into multiple sections, but for now I’m just lumping these expenses into one section.
Categories are ordered from largest expense to smallest expense.
Notes:
My average daily miscellaneous expense of $107.39 indicates a MoM increase of $73.80 or 220.2%. As ludicrous as this sounds, I was expecting a greater hike in this metric, considering I spent over $1,000 on skydiving alone. In hindsight I should’ve allocated my skydiving expense on a per jump basis across August and September.
Outside of skydiving, my greatest expense of dining was greatly due to the inflated prices of f&b in Amsterdam and Copenhagen. I’ll never forget the experience of searching for cheap eats in Copenhagen, going to a fast food burger joint, and paying $27 for a small burger and fries. I’ve been to many expensive places in my life, but for food and drinks alone, Copenhagen certainly tops them all.
Additionally, I treated myself a little bit by doing some shopping which I haven’t done at all since I left home (!!). Half of my $450 shopping expense was on a new set of microphones, as I left the previous set on the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki.
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Summary
Average Daily Spend (ADS) - $130.36
My average daily spend (ADS) for August was $130.36, which represents a MoM increase of $70.16 or 116.54%. This is my highest ADS yet and was anything but a surprise; I had excitement for this month but also had a tremendous sense of anxiety going into it, as I knew it would be rather costly. In any case, I’m happy to be on the other side of the expensive cities of Europe and onto both cheaper and greener (literally) pastures.
September was undoubtedly my favorite month of summer travels yet. I wrapped up my favorite two weeks of my entire summer in a skydiving trip to the Slovenian Alps with a good buddy from Australia, I visited some of my favorite cities (and established new favorites) in the Nordic countries with some of my best friends from Kansas City, and mostly I was just happy to have the seasons changing. Summer in the Balkans is utterly scorching. Further, in traveling to so many countries, I feel qualified in formulating opinions positive or negative on places. It’s for that reason (amongst others) that I’m not bashful to say that I didn’t care too much for the Balkans. Some of that is the spirit I was in, but in any case, I felt an eagerness to just make it to September, and that I did.
As always, I’m infinitely grateful for my travels and my friends, old and new. I believe the greatest privilege in the world is to see it, and that’s a privilege I enjoy every day. As I write this in December, I look forward to composing the next report, as my career as a D-list influencer has shown some significant signs of progression that I’m excited to tell you about… but that’s for later!
If you’re still here, TE AMO MUCHO — thanks for reading and giving me purpose.
P.S.
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