Around-The-World Trip Update and Expenses: Scotland

We were in Scotland a total of 5 days and 4 nights. We arrived on 7/17 after an all night flight, which was pretty hard on us but we handled the jet lag fairly well. We left on the night of 7/21 headed to Dublin, Ireland.

Whitney regularly spends quite a bit more than me on most things. Therefore all of the expenses that I’ll talk about in these updates will be my half of the expenses, not taking into account hers, as she is much less interested in keeping costs low. We split any mutual expenses and keep any individual expenses separate.

Accommodations: We were fortunate and stayed for three nights with family of a friend we met in North Carolina who is originally from Scotland. Because they were so generous and hospitable, we bought them dinner, some groceries, wine, and left some money to compensate them for letting us stay at their place. The final night we stayed at a hotel in the middle of the city which was free using Hilton hotel points that I had accumulated.

• Total for my expenses: $56

Food and drink: We took advantage of free food at an airport lounge in Atlanta as well as free dinner and breakfast on our flight into Edinburgh. We also got free breakfast at our hotel and free food at the Edinburgh airport prior to leaving for Dublin. The rest of our meals we kept fairly cheap, trying out some local take out places and our hosts made dinner for us one night which was very nice. I’ve also practiced intermittent fasting off and on for the past 5 years or so, which I find to be a huge benefit while traveling due to not having to eat meals as frequently. Finally, we did have a couple of beers at a local pub on our last night in Edinburgh. After all of the above, my food and drink costs were pretty low.

• Total for my expenses: $45

Transportation: Our flight from Virginia to Scotland was paid for using Delta Airline miles that we accumulated earlier this year, so the out of pocket cost was only $5.50 for taxes and fees. Getting around the city we walked and took buses. The public transportation was pretty good overall, and we definitely didn’t feel like we needed to rent a car or get taxis. We also took a 2 hour bus ride each way to go see beautiful St. Andrews one of the days.

• Total for my expenses: $30

Activities: We found plenty to do walking around the city without having to pay for any activities, except for the cost of the bus ride to St. Andrews. There are many free museums, portrait galleries, parks, and sights which we took full advantage of. We did buy some post cards and paid for postage to send them back to the US. We aren’t really buying any other items or souvenirs because we don’t have space to pack anything to bring along with us for the 5 months duration of our trip. If we do buy any souvenirs, we will likely have to mail them back home.

• Total for my expenses: $4

My total expenses for 5 days in Scotland, including accommodations, transportation, entertainment, and food was approximately $135!

We head to Dublin, Ireland next, so stay tuned for my next update!