chapter 18: my 2023 travels, by the numbers

how much I spent on travel, and what % of the year I was away from home in 2023

Today I’m answering my most asked question: “How do you afford to travel so much?”

If you’ve wondered this yourself, read on because today I’m breaking it down for you with real, exact numbers on how much I spent traveling on 48 flights across 12 countries and 8 states in 2023.

And if you could care less about the granular spending details, skip down to the bottom of this newsletter where I share my general tips and takeaways for how to travel as cheaply as possible, like I did in 2023.

travel ≠ expensive

First, let’s get into this misconception – why do some people assume that travel has to be super expensive?

I’m in a Facebook group where people ask for travel advice and recommendations, and a post the other day made me stop and gasp. Like, I actually audibly gasped.

This woman was asking for advice on how to spend 16 days in either Kenya or Tanzania and then the Seychelles. This post was on par with typical questions asked in any travel advice group.

But, then I hit the part that made me do a double take:

“with a budget of $12-15k USD not including flights.”

All I could think was, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??

People really spend that much money on just ~2 weeks of travel??

I get it – some people prefer luxury travel and have the funds to do so, or prefer to travel just once a year in a very fancy way rather than very often in a budget travel manner.

Everyone has their preferences and can choose what travel style fits their own priorities.

But, most people I know around my age (early-mid 20s) and in the young professional income bracket, are looking to travel as much as possible for as little money as possible.

how much $$ I spent on travel in 2023

The reason why I was so shocked to see someone expect to spend $15,000 on a 2 week trip is… I spent less than that while being away from home for about 28 weeks traveling in 2023.

I counted up where I spent each day in 2023 and the final calculation was that I spent 55% of the year away from my home in LA, with 79 days abroad and 121 days in other parts of the US.

my “life analytics” as I like to call this

And, within all that travel I did go on a safari trip for about 2 weeks in Uganda and Rwanda, where we had a private driver and local guide, hotels that included all our meals, and so many game drives and interactions with wildlife… for just about $3,000.

If only that woman on the travel Facebook group knew how cheaply she could be traveling for 2 weeks in Africa…

my travel style = budget essentials, but splurge on experiences

Some people want luxury hotels, expensive dinners, and first class flights – then sure, if that’s the case for you, your travel budget will need to be dramatically higher.

But to me, I care more about experiences and getting a peek at life in as many different places as possible. I could care less what the room I’m sleeping in looks like, or how much leg room I have on a ~10 hour flight, which ends up being such a small percent of your total vacation time.

I’d rather stay in a hostel but splurge hundreds of dollars on activities that will create once-in-a-lifetime memories. I mean, do you vividly remember the fancy decor of the hotel room you stayed at years ago, or do you remember the experiences outside of the accommodations on your favorite trips?

my 2023 travel spending breakdown

My mantra is travel more, for less.

I’m sharing this breakdown for complete transparency that will hopefully inspire you to take more trips all while spending less money on fixed travel expenses.

• *I will caveat that I do not include food in my total spend for each trip – food preferences vary greatly per person and one can choose to cook or eat out at a higher or lower rate depending on their personal preferences and budget. I personally eat out a pretty equal amount when I’m home compared to when I travel so I include below the key travel expenses that are necessary for a trip - like flights, accommodation, and activities in-destination. I also don’t include small transportation costs like Ubers or small amounts of shared gas money, since these expenses also occur in daily life when not traveling.

• **also – I plan and lead group trips primarily for fun, not for profit. I disclose in the breakdown below the two trips that I got paid to travel for free through a partner company last summer, but likely will not be doing those types of trips in the future… getting to see people make new friends, share experiences with me, and bond through travel is payment enough for me :)

Without further ado, here’s my 2023 travel spending breakdown:

JANUARY

Florida Keys (personal trip) - 2 nights = $461.25

• ✈️ $118.58 for flights

• 🏠 $167.67 for hostel in Key West ($84 per night)

• 🤿 $175 for 2 scuba dives on a wreck, with a dive guide

Big Bear, CA (group trip with 8 travelers) – 2 nights = $331.29

• 🚗 Drove from LA

• 🏠 $137.53 per person for 8-person Airbnb ($69 per night)

• 🏂 $193.76 for snowboard rental, lesson, and share of gas money

San Diego, CA (personal trip) – 2 nights = $36

• 🚅 $36 for Amtrak from LA-SD

• 🏠 $0, slept at a friend’s apartment

• 🌊 $0 for free activities waking around the city and beaches

FEBRUARY

San Francisco & Lake Tahoe, CA (personal trip) - 4 nights = $251.04

• ✈️ FREE flights from credit card points

• 🏠 $110 for 2 nights as a guest at friend’s ski lease + gas driving to Tahoe, free to sleep on her couch in SF (avg. $28 per night)

• 🏂 $141.04 for snowboard rental and one day cross-country skiing pass

New Orleans, Louisiana (group trip with 5 travelers) - 6 nights = $345.32

• ✈️ FREE flights from credit card points

• 🏠 $264.04 for 5-person Sonder apartment ($44 per night)

• ⚜️ $81.28 for voodoo history tour and a Mardi Gras Krewe Ball show

Death Valley, CA (group trip with 4 travelers) – 3 nights = $160.79

• 🚗 $110 drove from LA, split gas and cost of cleaning car from the dirt roads

• 🏠 $50.36 per person for 8-person Airbnb ($17 per night)

• ⛰ $0, totally free to drive around the park for days! (group already had Annual National Park Pass, which you can purchase for $80)

Mexico City & Michoacán, Mexico (group trip with 5 travelers) – 4 nights = $673.08

• ✈️ originally only paid $111.80 for a budget airline one way flight to Mexico, and the return flight free with points – but ended up needing to buy a different one-way flight on day of departure for $301.56 when the budget airline dramatically failed me and delayed my departure by 20 hours 🫠 so, $413.36 in total to get me to and from Mexico City

• 🏠 $57.77 per person for 5-person Airbnb ($14 per night)

• 🦋 $201.95 for day trips to see the monarch butterfly migration, and to Grutas Tolantongo waterfalls

MARCH

Florida Keys (family trip) – 5 nights = $638.65

• ✈️ FREE flight one way with points, return flight $98.90, and roundtrip bus from Miami to Key West (cheaper to fly into Miami than Key West) for $56

• 🏠 $0 with points, stayed with parents

• 🤿 $539.75 for deep diver certification (4 dives) and 3 reef dives alongside my dad getting his Open Water scuba certification

Mammoth Lakes, CA (group trip with 8 travelers) – 2 nights = $322.18

• 🚗 Drove from LA

• 🏠 $156.12 per person for 8-person Airbnb ($78 per night)

• 🏂 $166.06 for 3-day snowboard rental

APRIL

Dallas, TX (personal trip) – 3 nights = $644.88

• ✈️ $345.96 for flights

• 🏠 $0, slept at a friend’s house

• 🎶 $298.92 Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert tickets (face value from presale)

Coachella Valley, CA (group trip with 10 travelers) – 3 nights = $673.25

• 🚗 Drove from LA

• ⛺️ $93.75 per person camping spot cost among 10 people ($31 per night)

• 🎶 $579.50 Coachella Weekend 1 Ticket (face value from presale)

MAY

New York City/NJ (personal trip to my hometown/college town) – 13 nights = $14.60

• ✈️ $14.60 for flight to NYC after applying airline credit compensation from a previously delayed flight

• 🏠 $0, slept at friends’ apartments or stayed with parents

• 🏙 $0, mostly free activities walking around city or hanging with friends

Kauai – 9 nights (family trip) = $0

• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 I acknowledge that I’m privileged to come from a family that prioritizes travel, and my parents are big credit card points/airline miles hackers so they’re able to provide for my sister and I to come on a big family trip every year – this trip is not included in my spending totals

JUNE

Los Cabos, Mexico (group trip with 12 travelers)– 6 nights = $0 (and, made +$700)

• 🤿 💸 My flight, transportation, accommodation, and activities (7 scuba dives) were paid for by the company that organized the trip and hired me as a trip leader! A dream come true :’)

Europe [UK, Netherlands, France, Monaco, Portugal] (personal trip) – 20 nights = $1668.79

this is a big multi—city/country trip so breaking it down a bit:

Europe Part 1: London, Edinburgh, Glastonbury, Brighton – 12 nights = $1,103.65 (66% of total Europe trip spending)

• ✈️ $20.89 for my one-way flight from LA to London with points

• 🚅 $182 for trains to/from Edinburgh and Brighton

• 🏠 $398.39 for 8 nights of hostel/airbnb and 4 nights of camping (avg. $33 per night)

• 🎶 $502.37 for Glastonbury Festival 4-day ticket that included roundtrip transportation and camping pass

Europe Part 2: Amsterdam, Nice, Monaco, Paris, Porto – 8 nights = $565.14 (34% of total Europe trip spending)

• ✈️ $129.77 for 4 one-way flights: London to Amsterdam ($75.41), Amsterdam to Nice ($54.36), Nice to Paris (FREE with points), Paris to New York with a day-long layover in Portugal (FREE with points)

• 🏠 $316.37 for 5 nights of hostel/airbnb and 3 nights sleeping on a friend’s couch in Amsterdam (avg. $40 per night)

• ⛰ $119 for a day trip from Nice to Provence to see mountains and lavender fields

JULY

New York —> LA —> SF (personal trip for my birthday weekend tour to see friends in all the cities I’ve previously lived in 🥳) – 3 nights = $143.98

• ✈️ $143.98 for 2 one-way flights: New York to LA (FREE with points), LA to SF ($143.98)

• 🏠 $0, sleeping on friend’s couches

• 🥳 $0 to host my birthday party in public spaces like parks, beaches, and a bar’s semi-private room with no minimum spend

Tamarindo, Costa Rica (group trip with 8 travelers) – 7 nights = $0

• 🏄🏽‍♀️🤿 💸 My flight, transportation, accommodation, and activities (6 days of surf lessons, two dives, and one day trip to the rainforest/waterfalls) were paid for by the company that organized the trip and hired me as a trip leader! Another dream come true :’)

Seattle & Olympic National Park, Washington (group trip with 8 travelers) – 4 nights = $300.67

• ✈️ FREE with points

• 🏠 $270.67 for 2 nights in Airbnb and 2 nights in a hostel (avg. $68 per night)

• 🚗 $30 to rent a car, split by 8 people, to get to all the free hiking and activities in Olympic National Park!

AUGUST

New York/New Jersey (personal trip) – 3 nights = $124.53

• ✈️ $124.53 for one-way flight LA-NY

• 🏠 $0, sleeping at parent’s house or on friend’s couches

SEPTEMBER

Uganda & Rwanda Safari (group trip with 7 travelers) – 13 nights = $3,661.02

• ✈️ $485.68 for one-way flight NY–Uganda via Egypt (fun 18 hour layover!)

• 🏠 + 🍽 + 🦍🐘🦁 $3175.34 all-inclusive safari tour with local guides driving us throughout the country and staying in hotels that included meals, plus one extra night in hostel at the end of trip ($264 per night, all-inclusive)

Dahab & Cairo, Egypt (personal trip) – 8 nights = $1,590.85

• ✈️ $719.05 for 3 one-way flights (Rwanda-Cairo for $187.53, Cairo-Sharm El Sheikh for $130.22, Cairo-LA for $401.30)

• 🏠 $171.80 for 7 nights in Airbnb and 1 night in hostel ($21 per night)

• 🤿 $700 for 5 days of diving, 10 dives in total

OCTOBER

San Francisco (personal/work trip) - 5 nights = $0

• ✈️ FREE from work trip

• 🏠 $0, sleeping on friend’s couch

NOVEMBER

New York/New Jersey (personal trip) – 12 nights = $0

• ✈️ FREE with points

• 🏠 $0, sleeping on friend’s couch or at parents’ house

DECEMBER

Costa Rica (personal trip) – 9 nights = $261

• ✈️ FREE with points

• 🏠 $142.50 for 2 nights at Airbnb, 7 nights at boyfriend’s family home

• 🌴 $118.50 for activities: coffee tour, waterfall, night rainforest walking safari, pickleball, and beach yoga

New York/New Jersey (personal trip) – 8 nights = $0

• ✈️ FREE with points

• 🏠 $0, sleeping on friend’s couch or at parents’ house

Playa del Carmen (family trip) – 5 nights = $220.88

• ✈️ FREE with points

• 🏠 FREE with points

• 🤿 $220.88 for scuba diving

GRAND TOTAL I SPENT ON TRAVEL IN 2023

In total, I spent $10,443.26 for flights, accommodation, and day trips/main activities during 2023 as I traveled for 200 days, or 55% of the year.

That means I spent about $50 per day to finance being away from home for half the year. If a life of frequent travel is what you seek… I strongly believe that anyone could prioritize travel in their budget, make frugal choices, and cut back on their spending habits in order save up an extra $50 a day to live a similar lifestyle.

Travel does not have to be expensive – if you are willing to play the budget travel game, be smart with credit card points, and book trips 3-6 months in advance for the best pricing.

Breaking down my major spending categories:

✈️ $2,615.30 total spent on 48 flights (not counting connecting flights) in 2023

• Equals out to $54.48 per flight on average, including 4 long-haul flights to/from Africa and Europe

• $2,548.35 in free flights from credit card points 🤯

🏠 $2,421.89 total spent on accommodation for 200 nights away from home

• Equals out to $15.52 per night on average, not counting nights spent in my former homes – at my parents’ home in NJ or with friends in NYC

• My cost per night to rent my apartment in LA is $38 per night based on my monthly rent, as a reference point

• Plus, I was able to sublet my apartment in LA for many months/weeks I was away, so made back $4,720 on rent while I was traveling (I only personally paid $8,841.96 for renting my room in a 3 bed, 2 bath apartment in Santa Monica in 2023!)

🎶 $1,380.79 total spent on concert/festival tickets that required travel and accommodation

• Equals out to $172.60 per day of festival, which is still less than some concerts for a single artist – and the main reason I love festivals!

🤿 $1,460.63 total spent across 36 dives

• Equals out to $40.57 per dive (quite a few were free on the trips I got paid to lead, and diving in Egypt was the cheapest I’ve ever seen at about $30 per dive!)

If I can spend ~$10k per year on travel expenses and be able to travel pretty much as often as I want (and at the upper limit of how much travel I can even physically handle doing, lol)… I personally plan to continue this type of travel lifestyle while continuing to save almost half of every paycheck.

Frequent travel is not reserved for the rich – if you’re frugal, resourceful, and able to plan in advance, then frequent, inexpensive travel can be for you too!

my biggest tips and takeaways for traveling more, for less

• Stack trips back to back – like flying from LA to Europe and then back to NYC before going home to LA, or from LA to NYC to Uganda to Egypt before finally back to LA. This means multiple one-way flights instead of separate roundtrip tickets, so fewer flights overall to pay for, and less time in transit. Doing this also opened up opportunities to sublet my apartment and make money back on rent when I was away for full weeks or months at a time.

• Embrace the layover, and make it fun – flights with layovers are almost always going to cost less money, and if you aim for layovers that are 6+ hours you can turn the pit stop into a fun adventure by leaving the airport and getting a glimpse of your layover location. For example – 6 hour layover in Montreal on the way from LA to London? Go get famous Montreal wood-fired bagels. 18 hour layover in Egypt on the way from New York to Uganda? Hire a guide and driver to go see the pyramids and ride a camel – most iconic layover of all time!

• The early bird, or the night owl, catches the worm – mostly because I try to be online for my remote work days as well as try to maximize exploration time during the day in each new destination, I usually take ridiculously early or late flights. Only “the crazy people” want to take a 6am flight or an overnight redeye departing at 11:59pm… so those flights are often the cheapest, and I gladly volunteer as tribute 🙋🏽‍♀️

• NEVER PAY TO CHECK A BAG – pack lighter and save yourself hundreds of dollars in checked bag fees, and hours of your life instead of always waiting at baggage claim once you land. Plus, never stressing about your luggage getting lost and ruining a trip? That’s priceless.

• Buy the non-refundable cheapest fair – I know people always tell me, but what if something changes?? To me, just commit to your travels as your top priority that everything else in life works around - or, buy the refundable fares 3-6 months ahead of your departure date, when they’re probably still cheaper than if you wait until the last second to book.

• Don’t stay loyal to any airline – this is a hot take, but I don’t have any allegiance to any particular airline. Yeah, if you’re the type of person who wants a free checked bag and occasional seat upgrades, maybe the airline status perks can benefit you. But for me, choosing the best time and the cheapest fare trumps anything else and negates any benefit of being loyal to a particular airline that might end up costing me more money in the long run.

• Use a travel credit card and book plane tickets in advance – experts recommend booking flights 3-6 months in advance for international travel and 1-3 months in advance for domestic flights. I always try to book flights through the portal offered by my Capital One Venture X credit card which racks up points, allows for easy rebooking and refunding if necessary, and is why I earned 2.5k worth of free flights last year!

**If you don’t yet have a travel credit card, feel free to use this referral link to sign up and get 75,000 points (equivalent to $750 in free flights) as a new card joiner bonus!

• Travel in a group to split shared expenses – I enjoy solo traveling, but will admit that it’s often more expensive. I enjoy traveling in a group more than I enjoy solo traveling, so I’ve loved being able to organize group trips with friends and random acquaintances-turned-close-friends in the past year – and the added bonus is that when we travel as a group, shared expenses like accommodation and group tours and transportation often end up costing significantly less than when traveling by yourself or with just one or two friends.

the bottom line

My goal in sharing these numbers transparently is not to brag, but to be transparent and help dispel the belief that travel has to be expensive, or that my type of lifestyle can only be achieved by very rich people.

I do acknowledge that I’m lucky to not have student debt, fortunate to be able to go on one or two family trips per year that don’t add to my overall travel spending, and thankful to the friends who let me crash on their couch for free across the country and abroad!

I’m very grateful that I’ve had the chance to get paid by a partner company to travel for free for two of my trips in the past year. But, this is an opportunity that presented itself to me out of the blue, as a result of my personal brand and being known as a traveler and group trip organizer just for fun. Anyone can achieve something similar if they put their mind to it!

This piece took a long time to put together, so I hope travelers like you appreciate the transparency, and hopefully, gain some inspiration and motivation to travel more, for less.

So… what are your thoughts? Did this travel spending breakdown surprise you? Feel free to hit reply or comment – ask me any questions and share your reactions.

And stay tuned for more group trip opportunities to travel with me on the cheap… I don’t have any upcoming group trips to share at the moment, but this newsletter will be the first place I share updates in the coming weeks!

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• Instagram: @caitlynlubas / @you.are.where.you.go

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That’s all for now…

Remember, you are where you go – never stop exploring the world and yourself! 🌎 🌍 🌏

If you enjoy my writing in this newsletter, you’d love my book called You Are Where You Go: A Traveler’s Coming of Age Journey Through 70 Countries and 7 Continents During College. Feel free to pick up a copy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or reply if you’re interested in me sending you a signed hardcover or paperback copy :)