First blog on travel expense. Oh. Ok. T_T

I always talk and write about Japan but never really had a plan to go there unless for a school admission. Japan is too expensive, I always tell myself.

Submitting a bank statement for a travel visa gave me enough worries. What about the budget I have to save to experience Mt. Fuji, Skytree, Harajuku, Shibuya and Sushi? All money topics related with travel always give me second thoughts on pushing the travel.

And I am not the only one.

“So….how much do I need to have in my bank account?”

“How much should I expect to spend?”

How much more if it is time to exchange my peso to dollar at the bank? The silent feel of withdrawing my money and handing them over to a bank teller never fails to make me feel so helpless.

Pocket Money. Bank Statement. Payments on bookings. Airfares. BUDGET.

Worries will never go away for people whose vice is wandering.

Budget. A big word for all of us. Regardless of how many travel or inspirational writers, infographic artists or bloggers encourage you to “Just Pack Your Things and Travel”,  you know you just can’t.

So all these years I have been traveling, I never followed the idea of “resign and travel”. Because the truth is, our work provide the cash.

So…is there even a chance for me to travel and not sabotage my savings?

Of course.

You need to be smart before you travel, during your travel and after you travel. It is the same as in PDCA. You know, the famous Plan Do Check Act.

And to do that, it requires effort.

But hey. If you really want to, I can help you in any way that I can.

I never thought I would pass the visa application. But I tried and prepared a lot. Too much, I guess, that I was so pressured when we were already traveling in Japan.

“Let’s do all of these!” I told my friends. Do everything. Eat everything. Visit them all. Because Japan is expensive so might as well experience everything our time can allow at the cheapest possible amount we can afford.

And still, there were many mistakes. Mishaps. And then I thought, I should share what I know. I don’t want you to waste money because you also did what I did. We can “strategize” your money together. I will share with you the things I did and learned from my travel in a series of blog posts.

First off, here is a summary of all the expenses from the October trip.

For 10 days, I spent a little more than P50,000 for everything. And when I say everything, all I had to be concerned about was how much I should spend on the book my sister was asking to buy for her.

The total amount is for 10 days in most popular cities in Japan for foreigners: 4 days in Tokyo, 3 days in Osaka and another 3 days in Kyoto. This also included the visa, airport tax and airfares for international and domestics flights that we need to pay before we head off.

So the succeeding posts will show you the tips and tricks I did. My next blog post would be about Food Survival. So stay aware! haha =)