Orçamento Diário por País

Daily travel budget by country

A daily travel budget rolls accommodation, food, local transport and activities into a single USD figure per day. Some rough numbers to anchor on: backpacker $30-50/day in Southeast Asia and parts of Latin America, €60-100 in Western Europe, $100-200 in major US cities, and roughly $70 for mid-range Eastern Europe. There's also the Big Mac Index (The Economist, since 1986), which gauges cost of living and purchasing power parity (PPP) by checking the price of one standardised burger from country to country. Keep in mind that converting money through a bank or Visa usually adds a spread of about 4-6% over the interbank mid-rate. So 10 days in Thailand on a backpacker tier works out to 10 × $40 = $400 on the ground, before you've even paid for the flight.

Applications

Mapping out a long backpacking trip, sizing up whether an expat move is affordable, weighing one destination against another, working through a digital nomad's month-to-month budget (Nomad List, Numbeo), planning the finances of a sabbatical or gap year, or figuring out how much parents need to send for a student exchange.

FAQ

Does the budget include the flight? No, it's strictly on-the-ground cost. Airfare is a one-off that swings wildly depending on season and route, so it belongs in its own line.

What is purchasing power parity (PPP)? It's an exchange rate set so the same basket of goods costs the same in every country. Adjust a budget for PPP and you can see how far a single dollar actually goes once you're spending it locally.

How accurate is the Big Mac Index? It's fine as a quick sanity check, but remember it leaves out labour, real estate and taxes. Pair it with Numbeo or a local cost-of-living survey before you rely on it.