Switzerland - $80.00
We had always planned on spending about a week and a half on a mini summer break from our worldwide adventure with Sarah’s parents in Switzerland. In the end though we took almost one full month off of traveling to recharge our minds, readjust our remaining travel plans, and rehab our bodies in Zurich. This pivot to a longer summer break did come with its downsides as it meant we lost some time in a few destinations, and dropped Kenya altogether. Yet on the other hand, it helped us put more cash back in our travel bank since our spending here was much lower than any other destination. We had no spending on Lodging, Visas, or Flights while in Switzerland, as we spent our entire time in the country at Sarah’s parents house.
Food & Groceries accounted for almost all of our spending in Switzerland, averaging over $64 per day. While we didn’t often eat out, when we did it was always expensive, as prices in restaurants in Zurich are comparable to those in New York, Los Angeles, or Singapore. For example, when we went out to a casual Ramen restaurant in central Zurich, we paid close to $100 for one starter to share, two mains, and two non-alcoholic drinks. This meant that even eating out just a few times each week quickly added up to an expensive bill. All things considered though, we were able to balance eating out and eating at home pretty effectively and still enjoyed almost all of the food we wanted to.
Our other categories of expenses were quite cheap compared to what they have typically cost us in other destinations. We spent about $6.50 per day on Other Transportation, mainly consisting of 24-hour transport tickets as the public transportation in Zurich is terrific and eliminates much of the need for Ubers or taxis. We also spent a little over $4.50 on Miscellaneous expenses, which in Switzerland included our eSim costs, pharmacy visits, and parking costs. While we didn’t need to rent a vehicle in Switzerland, we still needed to pay for petrol for the car we were borrowing. Luckily we didn’t do that much driving and spent just a little under $100 in four weeks on Gas. Finally, we spent just over $1 per day on Activities and this entire cost came from buying tickets to see Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters. Zurich is a terrific destination for free activities like swimming at the lake, floating down the Limmat, or simply exploring altstadt Zurich.