One week of accommodations in Lisbon, Seville, and Barcelona + roundtrip transatlantic flights + transportation between cities = $750 spread out over September to June. SUCCESS, BITCHES. Here we go:
Overall cost timeline of when we made bookings:
- September: $190 on a one-way flight from Boson to Lisbon, followed by a 12 hour layover, and then a flight to Seville late at night
- November: $40 for a place to crash in Lisbon
- November: $135 for four nights in Seville
- January: $170 for four nights in Barcelona.
- January: $115 for a one-way flight home from Barcelona to Boston
- February: $50 flight from Seville to Lisbon. There were cheaper flights but we were restricted to specific Airbnb check in and check out times.
- February: $50 deposit on 3 nights in a Barcelona hostel, with $115 not due until we arrive in June
Total Cost: $750/6 months = $125/month (then $115 not due for 4 months, leaving about $30 to be saved each month until then, Jesus, do your own fucking math)
Here’s the break down:
I went to coffee with a jubilant friend who said, “I want to travel like you — I want to SEE THE SIGHTS” to which ya bish replied, “Ok, lets go to Spain.” Then I texted two other friends, “Spain?” and received two affirmative salsa dancing lady emojis back. Green light. Moving on.
I started my one-way ticket search (still right there in the coffee shop): four college debt ridden adults with full time school and/or work commitments and/or just regular fucking people can’t afford to buy roundtrip tickets up front. The United States does not have affiliations with most major European airports/airlines, and the airlines that do connect you are fickle. Booking one way opens up your options to much cheaper routes of travel once you get there. I have rarely ended up paying more by booking one-way and it is always better for your monthly budget to break it up this way.
I started by looking at flights from Boston to London, Ireland, Iceland, Paris, and Lisbon. Those are usually the cheapest trans-Atlantic hubs, so if we could get to any of those we would just pick up and re-check our bags for a $20 flight to where we really wanted to go. I had Google start tracking about a dozen flights for me because I like to feel like Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada.
Flights:
TAP Airlines had this cheap ass flight to Seville, with a 12 hour layover in Lisbon. 12 hours is more than enough hours to drink away jetlag, and then flamenco on down to Seville. We would just need a place to leave our crap in Lisbon.
Then there were dozens of flights between Seville and Barcelona, and we chose an afternoon flight because we would still be 80% sangria at 5am for anything remotely earlier.
For four months I could not find a flight home that wasn’t over $300, but then Cataluña finally resolved its referendum and the pilots stopped being on strike and I was unfortunately able to get us home. Wouldn’t have been too upset if we just accidently lived in Spain, but whatever. This is a good example why I hate booking roundtrip, I would’ve been stuck with super inflated prices because of the political situation in Spain.
Accommodation:
We found an apartment in central Lisbon to crash, bathe, and leave our things while we explore Lisbon for the day. Seville was littered with sweet fucking apartments for cheap, and we found an amazing one with a rooftop terrace owned by a guy WHO’S ACTUAL GOD GIVEN NAME IS NACHO AND IF THAT WASN’T A SIGN– Ugh. Yes.
Then we were able to really spread out our budget by booking the most incredible looking student hostel in Barcelona, because hostels only need a deposit rather than everything up front. They also have family style dinner every night for $10 with open bar, free daily city walks and bar crawls, breakfast, house keeping (unusual for a hostel), and a free shot upon arrival what the actual tits. Wondrous. In general, we wanted a chance to meet other sangria-enthusiasts and Airbnbs were much more expensive in Barcelona.
Boom
And that’s it. Anyone can do this! You just have to be patient. There will always be flights home and places to stay. This was also a trip planned 6 months out, imagine how much easier this gets if you have an entire year to feel everything out. The budget basically came down to putting away $30/week, and not even looking for things to book until we were financially sound.
Now, fucking, goooooo
Hi lovely!!! I can’t believe I didn’t know you had a blog! Anywho, have you flown TAP before?? I’m going to Portugal after graduation from that place that will not be named, and I’m taking TAP from London to Lisbon. I’ve VERY mixed reviews on it. Thoughts?
TAP is what you can expect with the low prices: you’ll get there, but the seats aren’t tre spacious and there’s no three course meal. It might end up costing the same/more as a nicer airline when you take into consideration whatever their fees are for checked bags and carry ons. BUT it might be easier for you to book the cheaper flight and just put off budgeting the cost of luggage until later for convenience sake. If you also plan on taking stuff home from your trip keep in mind what the weight limits are because they can vary from 40-50lbs across international airlines.