Expenses: Canada
All in we spent a total of $3,421.89, $126.74 per day, during the 27 days we were in Canada. We had been warned that Canada was expensive but we hadn't foreseen needing vehicle repairs, which amounted to $400.67. While this doesn't seem like a huge amount, we weren't in Canada for that long so it skewed the numbers quite a bit. Without the repairs, our daily average would have been closer to $112. We were fortunate that the exchange rate was in our favor, fluctuating between $0.80 and $0.75; all of the numbers here have been converted to US$.
We felt like we spent a lot of money on living expenses in Canada because we stayed in campgrounds the entire time we were in Banff and Jasper, but looking at the figures, it didn't amount to as much as we had thought it would. Other than the 6 nights in the Parks, we only paid for camping on two nights, once at Liard Hot Springs so we could enjoy soaking on two days and once further into Canada when we weren't yet brave enough to disregard the "No Camping" signs clearly posted at each and every highway pull out. We definitely used the Canadians' tolerance for free camping to help offset some other costs.
National Park entrance fees are charged per day in Canada, so we opted to purchase the annual pass which cost us $110.80. We could have saved a couple dollars by purchasing two individual passes instead of a family pass, but we decided it was worth the convenience fee to only have to carry and show one pass. We were able to use the pass to enter multiple parks so it was definitely cheaper than paying per park per day.
Our fuel expenditure was a whopping $986.56. The van averaged roughly 15.5 miles per gallon for the 4,100 miles of roads we traveled. Diesel averaged out to be $3.75 per gallon. Fuel was expensive in Canada, especially as we headed further north. The most expensive fuel we purchased was $4.86 per gallon in Fort Nelson, NWT, on the Dempster Highway.
Food is definitely the budget buster at $1,027.88, $38.07 per day. John has a disease he manages with diet and I have a sweet tooth. We thought we would be able to keep our food costs quite a bit lower, but it is what it is.
The pie chart and expenses table are programmatically added to this page. Meaning, if we update our expense information then those will automatically reflect the change possibly creating a disparity between the textual breakout and the actual expenditures. This information has been provided to assist others in planning a long-term trip so use accordingly, by all means contact us to ask any questions or to point out any errors so we can remediate them.
And thanks for leaving all that tax money behind in Canada. It helps pay for the free health care and all that...
Anyway, my $1.50 gift didn't get here yet but I'll let you know when it does. :D
Thanks for sharing, guys. I'm glad you are doing well.
Where are we now
Look Rock, TN
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