Locations: Ohrid, Skopje [North Macedonia]; Belgrade [Serbia]
Week 68 of perpetual travel. Let’s get into it….
Transportation
On Friday, I took a bus from Охрид (Ohrid) to Скопје (Skopje): $8.74. Ohrid was chilly, but nice. It’s a peaceful town next to a huge lake. I highly recommend going if you’re in North Macedonia.
On Wednesday, I took a bus from Skopje to Београд (Belgrade): $23.38. In retrospect, I probably should have gone somewhere closer in Serbia. The 9 hour ride was a bit long, and involved changing buses in Ниш (Niš).
Accommodation
Friday to Tuesday were at the same hostel in Skopje. The differences in price are a result of exchange rate fluctuations, and what kind of deal I could get.
Travel tip: For those of us that are from the US, I highly recommend getting a Charles Schwab checking account. It’ll enable you to pull cash out of ATMs in the local currency at [almost always] the best rates. Additionally, they’ll refund any charges the banks said ATMs belong to add on.
Wednesday and Thursday were in a hostel in Belgrade: $10.95 per night. It appears to still be low season since there aren’t many guests here. I got a whole 6 bed dorm to myself! It also means I don’t have a lot of people to socialize with unless I go out though. So good and bad….
Food
There isn’t much to say here. I’ve been eating out every day since I wasn’t sure when I was going where, and didn’t want to leave a bunch of extra groceries behind. The plus side is once you’ve been somewhere for a while, you know where to get the cheapest good food.
Other
Travel insurance: $5.03 per day.
VPN: $0.26 per day.
Amazon Prime: $0.33 per day.
This blog: $0.31 per day.
Skype: $0.08 per day.
Chase Sapphire Reserve: $0.41 per day.
On Friday, my subscription to Pimsleur’s Russian course renewed. Since there are 31 days in May the price per day went from $0.71 to $0.69. Yay, long months!
On Saturday, I went to Водно (Vodno). It’s one of the mountains surrounding Skopje. The bus was free since it was a weekend. I did end up spending $1.82 for the cable car to the top. The view was spectacular though it was a bit windy so I’d recommend going on a warm day.
On Wednesday, I purchased data for my travel SIM for Serbia: $20.00. The rates here are far cheaper than North Macedonia. If I had a local SIM, they’d probably be about the same.
Summary
| Week 68 | ||||||||
| Category | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Total |
| Travel | 8.74 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23.38 | 0 | 32.12 |
| Lodging | 9.65 | 9.83 | 9.83 | 9.83 | 9.86 | 10.95 | 10.95 | 70.9 |
| Food | 4 | 2.73 | 6.37 | 3.74 | 4.75 | 6.04 | 10.1 | 37.73 |
| Other | 7.13 | 8.95 | 7.13 | 7.13 | 7.13 | 27.13 | 7.11 | 71.71 |
| Total | 29.52 | 21.51 | 23.33 | 20.7 | 21.74 | 67.5 | 28.16 | 212.46 |
So there’s this week’s spending. See you all next week.
