Around-The-World Trip Update and Expenses: Hong Kong, China

If you haven’t read any of the prior expense reports from our trip, check them out below:

• Scotland
• Ireland
• Morocco
• London
• Berlin
• Munich
• Chiang Mai
• Luang Prabang
• Vientiane
• Chiang Rai
• Hanoi and Ha Long
• Da Nang, Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh
• Kuala Lumpur
• Siem Reap and Phnom Penh
• Hua Hin, Ao Nang, and Ko Lanta
• Bangkok

This was our very last stop on the trip, bringing the 23 weeks of travel to a close! The time really flew by, and it was bittersweet heading back to the United States. We spent 6 days and 6 nights in Hong Kong, China, arriving on the evening of December 13th from Bangkok, Thailand, and leaving on the morning of December 17th headed back home to the US. Hong Kong is one of the most modern cities I’ve ever been to and a very expensive place to live. We saw some two bedroom condos for rent for over $9,000/month! I saw the biggest number of expensive cars in Hong Kong of any city I’ve ever been to. It’s really crazy to see Bentleys and Rolls-Royces driving around, and I got plenty of car pictures.

Stay tuned for Whitney’s next post about all of our adventures on this part of the trip, but for now I’ll focus on the expenses incurred while in Hong Kong. Keep in mind that all of the expenses that I’ll talk about below are my expenses only, since Whitney and I have quite different spending habits. We split all shared expenses evenly, so I calculate the numbers below with my half of the shared expenses and then my individual expenses.

Accommodations: We used credit card rewards for all of our accommodations while in Hong Kong. The first night we redeemed Marriott points from Whitney’s account to stay at a wonderful hotel on Hong Kong Island. It was a boutique style place and very uniquely decorated with great staff and amenities. The next 5 nights we stayed at a Hilton hotel using Hilton points and taking advantage of the 5th-night-free perk. Both hotels were in good locations and included free breakfast, so I had no complaints.

• Total for my expenses: $0

Food and drink: Since both hotels offered free buffet breakfasts, we ate a big breakfast each day with an early dinner, and that was all of our food for the day. This way we kept food costs low even though food is much more expensive in Hong Kong than in SE Asia. We made sure to eat at a couple local places including my first ever “Michelin Star” restaurant (1 star but I’ll take it :D) which was surprisingly affordable compared to many of the other restaurants around the city. We did make a couple stops at the “local” McDonalds as well, though ;).

• Total for my expenses: $35

Transportation: Transportation costs were higher on this leg of the trip due to the flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong being more expensive than most of our short, low cost flights around SE Asia. I also included the taxes and fees for our flight back to the US (which we booked with Delta skymiles points, so the only out of pocket expense were the taxes and fees), since this will be the last actual trip expense report before doing a final recap. We used the buses and trains to get around the city which were confusing at first but very similar to the public transportation systems in big US cities. There is a high speed train to and from the airport that we chose to skip due to the high cost, opting for cheaper buses instead.

• Total for my expenses: $200

Activities: My only cost for activities on this leg of the trip was for an audio guide at the Hong Kong history museum and for a round trip ticket on the Peak Tram up to Victoria’s Peak. The Tram was cool and the views at the top were incredible. We walked dozens of miles around the city visiting temples and markets. We were able to see the Christmas light show two of the nights we were there which was a great free activity. There are tons of things to do and see in Hong Kong that are either very cheap or completely free!

• Total for my expenses: $14

My total expenses for 6 days and 6 nights in Hong Kong, China including accommodations, transportation, activities, and food were approximately $249!

This brings the grand total for the entire 23 week trip through 11 different countries to: $5,766 for my expenses.

This total cost doesn’t include the discounts that I got from buying AirBnB gift cards that we used to book the vast majority of our accommodations. I plan to take that discount into account as well as various other expenses like travel insurance and souvenirs in my trip recap post, which I’ll publish in a few days.

Thanks for following along on the trip with us! It was a wonderful experience and I’m so glad that we took the leap and did it. We’re already starting to plan a similar trip for next year which will probably be 3-4 months staying mostly in Europe. If you have any feedback on this trip or suggestions for next year then let us know in the comments below!