Comments on: Is $5 a Day Really Enough?

By: manjit,Rishikesh-IIndia

manjit,Rishikesh-IIndia — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:43:13 +0000

Yes you can do so as a tourist in India.Go to any tourist destination,there are Sarais/Dharamshalas(resting places),where u can get a (single)bed in a dormn.for US$0.1-0.8 per night.Such facility may be availed in youth hostels,kisan bhavans,govt run holiday-homes(pwd/forest/pub health/festival-commitees).
However, Temples/Gurudwaras offer it free of cost,besides free food.It is considersed auspicious to spend a night or two here by most indians.Here u can enjoy a 100% security + pious ppls company.
To get cheap food, local foods are best.You provide raw-mat.(rice-lentils-vegetables) to any family,half an hour before u want to dine & get it cooked & served with honour.(This mode is more hygenic than most way-side eateries).
You just have to locate a religiuos flag in India,when u r in a need of shelter/food,I am sure you will get it free,if you can spare your western(hippy) way of life for a night.(drugs/whisky/loud-music/dance/sex).

By: airportdrunk

airportdrunk — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:50:08 +0000

To be honest I’ve never really understood this competition between backpackers to see who can scrape by on the least… I’d rather save up a bit more a few more creature comforts on my trip.

By: NewWrldYankee

NewWrldYankee — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 09:24:12 +0000

Ok, that makes sense. I live in Europe, and I cant think of a conceivable way to live on $5 a day. And I skimp and save a ton. But I love any money saving tips, and maybe I can apply some to Europe, too. I get it now – Yes, of course when you live with someone, it is cheaper. And if it is a significant other, then you can share a room, or even a bed. So that makes it even easier to save money.

By: Phoenix Lawyer

Phoenix Lawyer — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:27:02 +0000

I can’t imagine living on $5 a day – maybe $25 a day, I think that would go a long way to getting you by even in 3rd world countries. I’ve never tried it, but I could see doing it.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:22:52 +0000

Interesting post — easy to do if you sit at home all day eating fried rice day in day out.

I met a guy back in 2005 who’d travelled extensively — he covered 32 Thai provinces in fact — on 250B a day for three months. Now that’s an achievement!

By: pam

pam — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:20:27 +0000

When I did backpacker travel in India, Pakistan, and the Middle East, there was this sort of competition amongst the travelers you’d meet – how cheap could you be? How far could you get and on how little money? Meh, I’m glad to not be doing that anymore.

That aside, because we’re a mixed nationality pair and are, from time to time, aggressively friendly expat types, we have friends everywhere who will put us up for free. Man, are we lucky. And hey, there are institutionalized ways to get a free bed, too, what with Couchsurfing and the like. But we’d be crappy guests if we didn’t bring our hosts more than a 5 dollar bottle of wine.

Geography matters too. Cheap digs exist everywhere, but cheap in Vienna isn’t the same as what’s cheap in Hanoi. Though it might be equally as seedy. Heh.

Also, while you can sleep and eat for five bucks, what about getting around? Is that part of the equation? Hitching is free, but not for everyone and even then, isn’t it good karma to toss in $$ for gas, buy coffee for the driver, etc…? If you’ve figured out how to sit in one place for 5 bucks a day, are you still a traveler?

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:57:01 +0000

Good point Debbie. Health insurance is an interesting one, and it’s one of those things a lot of people would not leave home without. I haven’t asked Andy or some of the other perpetual travellers out there what they do about health insurance, but it would certainly add onto their costs.

By: Debbie Dubrow

Debbie Dubrow — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:51:32 +0000

I don’t worry so much about the creature comforts. When we’ve done extended backpacking in the past, those things just weighed us down… yes you need new clothes every once in a while, and shoes are expensive, but by and large you don’t need much.

The expensive part is health insurance, and if you’re traveling to more remote locations evac insurance. I don’t consider that a luxury. Plus there’s phone calls to family back home, internet access, and the occasional plane flight to visit family.

So yes, I believe that the actual travel can cost $5 per day, but there’s a non-zero cost above and beyond the necessities of food, shelter, and clothing.