Six weeks in and still going strong!

I wrote that at the beginning of the week… Now it’s Thursday evening and I’ve gone over my 1000rmb budget already. This is for 3 reasons: I had to pay off my credit card from Christmas spending in Johannesburg (2766.96rmb/£315); putting money in the bank account to pay for bills for the next couple of months (1000rmb/£114); and taking a friend who’s leaving China out for dinner (483rmb/£55). If I take those costs off then I’m well within budget! (584.1rmb/£66.50 spent so far this week.)

The next three days are definitely going to start getting more expensive. Friday I finish work for the Chinese New Year holiday and catch my flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco, so that will include the cost of getting to the airport and dinner when I get there. Because of the time difference, I leave HK at 11.40pm on Friday and arrive at 7.40pm – on Friday. It’s a very weird experience to go back in time! I’ve done it once before. Flying to the States from HK means you gain a day on the way there and lose a day on the way back; when I fly back I’ll leave on Thursday, arrive on Saturday and miss Friday out completely – which really throws your knowledge of what day it is!

After one night in a hotel near the airport, I’ll be flying from SFO to New Orleans where I’ll meet my best friend who’s flying over from the UK for this holiday. I’m so excited to see her!

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Now it’s Friday evening and I’m waiting to board my flight from HK to San Francisco after a lovely meal and a couple of glasses of wine at Pizza Express (HK$432.20/348.3rmb/£40). Let the time travel begin!

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I’m in San Francisco! Still feeling really excited as this evening I meet up with my best friend from the UK, E. In this blog I’m going to focus on spending and my no shopping challenge. I’ll be writing other posts about my adventures in New Orleans and Costa Rica.

I ended up spending US$30 on a taxi to my hotel last night as I’d had no email confirmation from them about getting their airport shuttle. Slightly annoying as that would have been free, but ah well, I just wanted to get to the hotel by that point. The hotel cost $90.19 plus a $100 deposit; it’s lucky I got cash out at the atm in the airport as they wouldn’t accept my Chinese credit card because it doesn’t have a chip, it just swipes. I have a feeling that may become a problem here!

After being sat on a plane for 12 hours, and feeling a little peckish, I fancied a walk so I went for a stroll to the nearest store, which was a few blocks away. I picked up a drink, a chocolate bar and a large packet of salt & vinegar crisps (yay!) for just under $5.

A good night’s sleep (helped by a sleeping tablet to get me into the right time zone) was followed by a delicious breakfast of banana pancakes topped with strawberries with a hash brown on the side and a cup of tea (total $17.37). Free shuttle to the airport, a short wait chatting to my sister on WhatsApp, and now I’m boarding my flight to New Orleans. Can’t wait to see my best friend this evening!

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My estimation of more expense this weekend was not without merit. Due to factors previously mentioned, plus the first couple of days of a new trip, I went way over my estimation, as follows:

Total Week 6: 760.5rmb + credit card + bills + Nat’s dinner + HK$432.30 / 348.3rmb / £40 + US$310.36 / 1957rmb / £224 = 3065.8rmb / £350.

Despite this, I have still not bought any ‘stuff’, despite other people trying to convince me otherwise!

The first couple of days in New Orleans have been amazing. Hopefully they will continue that way while I continue my no shopping challenge.