October 5: I’ve now been home a week and have crunched some numbers related to the trip.
I arrived in Europe on July 26 and departed September 26 for a total of 62 days. I was on the bike for 39 days and covered 7,416 km for an average of 190 km per day – roughly the same as a trip to Bracebridge. Although there are a couple of longer days hiding in there, the average highlights the fact that you don’t need to travel very far in Europe before the context changes into “something new” worth investigating. This year I included a short loop through Austria and northern Italy which were really enjoyable and accounted for many of the mountain passes I crossed. Although I didn’t count them all, I suspect I tallied more than two dozen above 1500 metres including well-known routes like Val d’Isere, Galibier, and Col de la Madeleine.
I managed to get out for a run 16 times – less often than I had hoped. That happens here too, so I feel pretty good that I actually got out on those days. Strangely, I only ran once during the 10 days I was together with my friends from the Running Room at the house in Velleron and in Paris.
The total cost of the trip was $16,400 or $265 per day. This includes airfare; bike storage, service and insurance; my share of the rental of the house in Velleron; transportation to Paris and back from Avignon; car rental in Velleron; and, daily expenses during the rest of the trip (including hotels, fuel, food and accommodation). With some care, this might have been marginally less. However, I suffer from saying “why not ?” when an attractive hotel or restaurant appears and I feel like a treat. I rationalize this extravagance by thinking that the room or restaurant will be less expensive next day, although it seldom works out like that consistently. That indulgence may also be at least partly to blame for the additional 2 kilos of weight that I am now trying to shed. There is something addictive about baguette that makes it impossible to resist at every meal.
So there you have it: Europe on $300 a day or less. Not cheap, but full of memories that will last forever.