Unusual Price Indexes
When you’re going to head off backpacking the overriding limit on your adventures is inevitably the cost. Having money enables you to go places, buys you food and means you can really enjoy yourself without too many restraints. Sure, you can go travelling without a whole lot of money, and particularly enjoy some of the world’s most beautiful natural wonders, but you’ll inevitably have to eat, drink and sleep somewhere. With this in mind there are a few prices that people who go travelling will be interested in, so we’ve compiled it in a list in this article. Be it the price of a Big Mac or the cost of a beer, hopefully you’ll be able to make a few calculations from what’s given.
The Big Mac Index
According to the Economist, the Big Mac index, ‘Seeks to make exchange rate theory a bit more digestible.’ A terrible pun aside, the index measures the cost of a Big Mac in a particular country. Regrettably, McDonald’s is everywhere, so it’s a pretty good way of measuring food costs, and even serious economists have begun to adopt it. According to Wikipedia the most expensive places to buy a Big Mac are in Europe, particularly Scandinavia. Here’s the top three:
- Iceland - $7.44
- Norway - $6.63
- Switzerland - $5.05
With some of the highest GDPs in the world, it’s a little unsurprising that they come out on top. Meanwhile, the three most affordable are:
- China - $1.41
- Hong Kong - $1.54
- Malaysia - $1.57
If you fancy a Big Mac then, head for the Far East!
The Beer Price Index
Are you fed up of the sickening London prices, where a night in the boozer will set you back a day’s pay? If this sounds like you, then you should consider fleeing to some foreign land. Actually finding a good index for this proved to be difficult, as websites like Pint Price have clearly been sabotaged by people putting ridiculous prices into the averages. Apparently, the average price of a pint in Angola is £3366.67 – a likely story. However, we’ve been to some places and used our judged from our own experiences, so here are the prices in three great places to have a beer and the prices:
Sydney, Australia - £2.11
Bangkok, Thailand - £1.76
Prague, Czech Republic - 72p
The Hotel Room Index
You’ll need a place to sleep unless you fancy a bout of camping or sleeping rough. Backpackers normally go for the cheapo option of a hostel or whatever doesn’t cost much, but if you fancy a night of luxury, here’s a quick round up of five different average hotel prices taken from Hotels.com:
Moscow - £192
Barcelona - £100
San Francisco - £81
Bangkok - £76
Cape Town - £55
If you’re looking for bargain travel and cheap flights, take a look at Travelzoo. This website pools together the best cut price deals from across the web to make your search easy. If you fancy a bit of travelling, then make sure you don’t go without travel insurance. Check out Go Travel for some low priced options for backpacker’s travel insurance.
