One Week From One Month In Spain And Italy

Here's how much it would have cost to spend 27 nights in San Francisco

In one week, my girlfriend and I leave Los Angeles to spend one month in Spain and Italy.

The itinerary—Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, Rome, Naples, Barcelona.

In today’s post, I detail how much it cost to plan the trip compared to 27 nights in San Francisco. I have written about these expenses piecemeal here and at Medium, so I figured it makes sense to put them all in one place along with a few thoughts.

But first, a quick review of what’s on tap for the Never Retire newsletter when we’re gone and when we return in March. Most of the 40 posts I write in February and March will go behind the Substack paywall so now is an excellent time to subscribe.

For the month of February, I’m currently planning a month-long series of 20 Never Retire newsletter posts in 28 days.

Each post will include the following (in no particular order)—

• Photography from the cities we visit.

• Thoughts, observations, highlights from the cities we visit.

• A breakdown of what we spent each day to compare the cost of living in Spain and Italy to the United States and elsewhere.

• A Never Retire checklist item. A total of 20 practical money/work/life-related boxes you need to check to live the semi-retired life you wanna live now and for the duration.

Then, in March, I’ll do 20 posts in 31 days, meticulously detailing each of the 20 items.

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Throughout February, we’ll detail what we’re spending—on the ground—in five Spanish and Italian cities on incidentals, mainly food, drink, and transportation. We’ll compare the cost of these expenses to what they would typically cost in America.

Today, I break down the cost of what we’ve already paid for—transportation and lodging.

After the breakdown, a few thoughts.

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Roundtrip, nonstop airfare from LAX to Barcelona: $971.74 total ($485.87 each)

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Four nights in Barcelona’s Gracia neighborhood: $468.67 / $117 per night

Train from Barcelona to Valencia: $57 for two people

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Four nights in Valencia’s Russafa neighborhood: $337.83 / $84 per night

Train from Valencia to Madrid: $30 for two people

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Six nights in Madrid’s Malasana neighborhood: $454.79 / $76 per night

Flight from Madrid to Rome: $62 for two people

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Four nights in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood (outside of our Airbnb pictured above): $291.68 / $73 per night

Train from Rome to Naples: $26 for two people

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Five nights in Naples’ Spanish Quarter neighborhood: $282.28 / $56 per night

Flight from Naples to Barcelona: $68 for two people

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Four nights in Barcelona’s Eixample neighborhood: $578.87 / $145 per night

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Total to plan the entire trip: $3,629

A few thoughts—

• I use San Francisco’s Hayes Valley neighborhood as the stand-in for the Spanish and Italian neighborhoods we’re staying in. Because it’s basically the equivalent.

• Here’s a sampling of Airbnb costs for 27 nights in Hayes Valley:

• I used Airbnb’s pay half now, pay half later feature for all bookings. So I won’t be charged for the second half of two of the apartments until February.

• More important, we started booking this trip in July, 2022. I used my checking account cushion and travel fund to pay cash for all expenses.

• I kept an eye on my checking account cushion and travel fund balance for the first six months of 2022.

• Spread out over six months, the trip total—$3,629—comes out to $605 a month.

• As noted, I haven’t paid the second half of two Airbnbs yet, but you can see that some methodical saving—or just watching over a couple of accounts—makes it easy to pay for a trip like this over time.

My checking account didn’t feel a thing.

And my travel fund served its purpose. To cover the cost of travel with zero budget concerns or surprises.

Now, I’m in replenish mode, making regular contributions to my travel fund for whatever the next trip is.

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I’m looking forward to all 40 posts in February and March.

Together, they’ll help illustrate many of the things we discuss in the Never Retire newsletter:

• The beauty of Spanish and Italian cities, captured mostly via my girlfriend’s excellent photography skills. Which directly relates to the importance of place when you decide first where you can afford to live, prioritized by the type of setting you want to live in.

• Our motivation for ultimately wanting to settle in Spain.

• The day-to-day cost of living in Spain and Italy versus the U.S.

• The steps you have to take—from initial thought to final actions—to live the semi-retired life now and make the idea of Never Retiring the favorable alternative to traditional retirement.