The World According to Sydney

Welcome to part 1 in an ongoing series I plan to do, where I will breakdown exactly how much my trips cost me, and what that money is spent on. The beginning of this series will be trips I’ve taken in the past, so inflation and rising costs will mean these prices may not be accurate anymore. However, I believe they provide a great starting point to give you an idea of how much something like this would cost you, and can be interesting to compare how much prices have changed over a period of time. I want to make clear, this is not to brag or showoff in any way, but to show the realistic cost of traveling and how affordable (or expensive) it can be. Obviously, it heavily depends on your travel type – whether you like budget, luxury, or something moderately in between – and also depends on where you’re traveling and what experiences and activities you’re paying for. Personally, I like doing activities on my trips, and I consider myself a moderate traveler – I’m not staying at a 5-star resort, but you’ll never catch me in hostel either (nothing wrong with hostels – I just can’t get over sharing rooms with strangers and also I’ve read some horror stories online that I can’t shake!). But also, I’m a middle class worker, so I don’t have loads to spend, especially with the cost of living in Canada being so high right now, and most of the early trips, I put on credit cards because I couldn’t afford to take them but I went on them anyway. So with all that being said, let me tell you guys what my trip to Puerto Vallarta and Dallas cost me back in 2022.

Trip Specifics:

All prices have been converted into Canadian Dollars.

This trip was approximately 2 weeks. I spent 10 days in Puerto Vallarta, 3 days in Dallas, and about 4-5 days traveling between cities.

Cost Overview:

• Travel – $1137.39
• Accommodation – $481.28
• Food – $479.75
• Clothing – $151.54
• Activities – $47.60
• Local Transportation – $40.20
• Souvenirs – $46.75
• Mobile Phone – $12.00
• Miscellaneous – $235.10

Total Trip Cost – $2631.61

Cost Breakdown:

Travel – $1137.39

• Multi-city Flights Vancouver-Puerto Vallarta-Dallas – $856.19
• Round trip Flights to Vancouver – $237.55
• Priority Pass Airport Lounge Pass – $43.65

This was the most expensive category for me on this trip. I had booked the flights for the trip early in 2022, then ended up moving away from Vancouver a few months later, so then I had to book 2 more flights just to get me to and from Vancouver. Talk about convoluted and expensive! And then due to having to spend an extra few days away from home, this added to my hotel, local transportation, and food costs for the trip. However, I did enjoy myself, as I got to have essentially a 3-in-1 vacation, and see friends and family in Vancouver between the flights!

While the airport lounge pass might not technically be travel (it’s probably more miscellaneous), I tagged it a travel cost, and these categorizations happened in real time back in 2022, so I want to keep to what 2022 Sydney was thinking.

Accommodation – $481.28

• Hotel in Vancouver – $74.75
• Hotel in Dallas – $348.53
• Hotel in Vancouver – $58.00

I was really lucky to have kept my accommodation cost low on this trip. I still had access to an employee/friends and family discounted rates from my job at Hilton, so I was able to stay at their properties for reduced rates. (I miss my discount so much – Dear Hilton, if you’re reading this, please let me have a discount again!) I also got to stay with my friend during my 10-day stay in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Her and her family live there, so that portion of the trip had no accommodation cost for me.

On my stay in Vancouver before heading to Mexico, I was supposed to stay with family for 2 nights, but it ended up not working out after the first night. I ended up being able to book a room with a king bed at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown hotel for night 2, which was great as I got to get an actual good night’s sleep before my flight the next day.

In Dallas, my friend and I stayed at the Hampton Inn Dallas-Irving-Las Colinas, as it was the only hotel I could get with the discounted rates for the time we stayed there. We were technically only there for 3 nights, however, I booked 4 nights since my flight into Dallas arrived at 5:00am, and I knew I would want to take a nap before getting on with the day. The room here was clean and great for a quick weekend trip, and Hampton Inn hotels always have free breakfast so that was an awesome way for us to save on food! The cost ended up being $87.13 per night for the room, including taxes and fees, which I feel is a great deal to stay near Dallas.

My second stay in Vancouver on my way home was at the Hampton Inn Vancouver Airport hotel. I love this hotel when I’m flying in and out of Vancouver because they have a free airport shuttle for guests, which means I don’t have to pay for a ride-share.

Food – $479.75

• Vancouver – $72.42 (about $24.14 per day)
• Puerto Vallarta – $198.35 (about $19.84 per day)
• Dallas – $127.78 (about $42.59 per day)
• Airports/In flight – $81.20 (about $20.30 per travel day)

For food, this is every meal, snack, and drink I bought, whether it was at a hotel, restaurant, airport, or on the plane. Obviously, that’s a lot to breakdown individually, so I’ll just offer the breakdown of how much I spent in each city.

Clothing – $151.54

• Ross – $151.54

Clothing is not normally an expense I have on my trips. That being said, I find it hard to resist a trip to Ross. They always have amazing deals, especially on dresses! While in Dallas, I bought 4 dresses and 1 pair of ankle boots – working out to about $30.31 per item (as I have since lost the receipt breaking down exactly how much each thing cost, let’s go with this average).

Activities – $47.60

• Dallas Escape Room – $47.60

This was the only activity I paid for on this trip, and in my opinion, it was so worth it! 5 of us went and did a Bonnie & Clyde inspired escape room at The Secret Chambers, and we had a blast! It was my very first escape room ever, and honestly, I would love to do another one at some point!

Local Transportation – $40.20

• Lyft in Vancouver – $36.24
• Parking in Puerto Vallarta – $3.96

Again, I was very fortunate to have friends and family drive me around on this trip. My family dropped me off at the airport, and my friends drove me in their vehicles around Puerto Vallarta and Dallas. I only paid for a Lyft when I first got into Vancouver, and I chipped in for the cost of parking at one of the restaurants we went to in Puerto Vallarta.

Souvenirs – $46.75

• Souvenirs in Puerto Vallarta – $46.75

I didn’t keep track of how much each souvenir cost me, so I’ll just go through what I got, and all these souvenirs were bought from local vendors and markets. I bought 5 bracelets and 2 keychains (as gifts for friends and family), and then for myself, I bought an anklet, a shot glass, and a silver ring with a blue fire opal. Overall, it was a great deal to get all that for under $50, especially since I still have all the items I bought for myself.

Mobile Phone – $12.00

• Phone Roaming – $12.00

There was an issue with my credit card, and so I had to turn on my cell service to call my Dallas hotel. Luckily, this was the only time I had to use my phone while outside Canada on this trip, so I was only charged $12 for the day.

Miscellaneous – $235.10

• Nails in Vancouver – $140.50
• Massage in Puerto Vallarta – $15.85
• LAX Airport – $62.83
• Walmart in Dallas – $15.92

While I was in Vancouver, I had a day to kill, so I decided to get my nails done. I got an acrylic manicure and a gel pedicure, the cost here was including the tip as well. In Puerto Vallarta, my friend and I were having lunch on the beach, and a local couple was offering neck and back massages, and it was one of the most relaxing and best things I did for myself that trip! The LAX airport was some snacks and a hoodie I bought, and the Walmart in Dallas I bought tights and snacks. These last 2 purchases I should’ve split into the appropriate food and clothing categories, however, I didn’t think to do that at the time.

Final Thoughts

I hope you guys enjoyed this first cost breakdown, and I hope you come back for each new part of the series. Some trips are like this one, where I am able to stay with friends, get rides from friends and family for free, or use points to lower the cost, so the cost of my trips may not be accurate to how much it would cost you to do the same trip. However, I hope it can offer an estimate, and maybe even some ideas on how you can make your own travel more affordable in the future!

If you want to stay updated, you can join my mailing list and follow me on social media @theworldaccordingtosydney. Leave a comment below or message me on social media to let me know what kind of posts you’d like to see in the future!

– Sydney