Thrifty on Cape Breton: $5.66 per Day
A thrifty road trip is all about the per day expense. On a 27-day trip, if you spend $100 per day, well, that’s too much—at least for us. So we’ve been working on decreasing the per-day expense in our own special way.
Remember how this trip was supposed to include ‘extra thrift’? Well, to be honest, sometimes thrift just isn’t an option. For example, when in a Halifax pub, should it start to thunder just as you are about to leave, well, you order another round. And sometimes thrift is a compromise—ordering the $60-for-two prix fixe menu instead of a la carte. My husband can get out of control with ordering off the menu (he’s been known to order two appetizers and soup and an entrée—and three drinks!) And sometimes thrift is all about division.
In the last three days, we’ve spent a total of $17.00, or $5.66 per day. That entire $17.00 was for one meal—lunch on Friday, when we shared a scallop platter at The Rusty Anchor in Pleasant Bay. Since then, we’ve been hiking (free) and stopping at scenic overlooks (free) and packing our lunches (the cost of the food doesn’t count, as we’d be grocery shopping at home. And anyway, we purchased said groceries four days ago.) Our cabin has a tiny little kitchen, so I make dinner every night and my husband has a bagel in the morning (I eat the leftovers from the night before.)
Are we suffering for it? You decide. The photo above is from today’s lunch. I’d call that a serious meal with a view. I just tried to post a photo from dinner last night, but it keeps freezing (this wifi is very sketchy) so stay tuned for a ‘road food’ post when we return.
In short, we are definitely not suffering—and despite all of the hiking and climbing up waterfalls we’ve been doing, I’m not starving. Two weeks in Paris on a cup of gazpacho a day this is not.
It is our hope that the last three days will help bring down the overall total per-day cost of this trip. Let’s see if we are able to keep up the thrift.
Next stop, Prince Edward Island!
Please note: Cape Breton is the most beautiful place we’ve ever been. I’ve taken copious notes and a ridiculous amount of photos (though photos take way too long to upload here–those dinner photos are all I can manage right now!) I promise many photo-filled posts upon our return. If you’d like to read more about my pseudo-philosophical thoughts on this trip, check out this post on my other blog, Existential Midlife Twitch, wherein I compare a hike to a life plan (it’s a pretty bad metaphor, I know. I promise that at no point do I quote Frost.)