/* eslint-disable */ // ─── Hero ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── const BudgetHero = () => (
); // ─── Lane card ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── const BudgetLane = ({ lane }) => (
{lane.num} {lane.badge && {lane.badge}}
{lane.topic}

{lane.title}{lane.titleEm && {lane.titleEm}}

{lane.desc}

{lane.count} · {lane.read}
); const BudgetLanes = () => (
I

The eight cost tiers.

Same destination, eight completely different budgets. Pick the tier and the planning becomes concrete — what you book, where you sleep, what you eat, what you skip.

All tiers
{BUDGET_LANES.map((l) => ( ))}
); // ─── Essay ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── const BudgetEssay = () => (
II

Field notes on travel money.

From the desk that has read every "budget breakdown" post and found most of them wrong. The pattern that actually holds.

Read the essay

"A budget is not a constraint. It's the shape of your week. Get it wrong and you spend three days anxious about the bill."

Celia Hartmann
Senior Editor · Budget Desk

Most travel budget guides quote a number and stop there. Eighteen dollars a day in Thailand, they say — as if that number is a fixed law, as if Thailand in 2026 is Thailand in 2016, as if a hostel dorm in Chiang Mai is the same experience as a guest house in Bangkok.

The number is not the point. The tier is the point. When you understand which tier you're actually in — not which tier you wish you were in — the planning gets honest. You stop comparing yourself to itineraries you're not actually going to recreate.

The most common mistake is underestimating by one tier. People planning for $70/day end up spending $110 because they didn't account for the restaurant they chose when they were tired, the taxi they took because the bus was confusing, the attraction they hadn't priced. Budget for who you are on your worst travel day, not your best one.

The second most common mistake is not separating per-day spend from total trip cost. A six-week trip at $60/day is still $2,520. Add flights, travel insurance, pre-trip gear, and one visa — and the actual outlay is closer to $4,800. Do both calculations. Always.

$2,100
Average 14-day trip
underestimate
73%
Travelers who exceed
their first-draft budget
1.4x
Actual vs. planned spend
median multiplier
8.7
Reader rating,
budget essay set
); // ─── Daily-Spend Index (replaces Roundtrips section, same dark structure) ─── const BuilderPanel = ({ p }) => (
{p.tag}

{p.title}

{p.desc}

{p.stat} {p.statLabel}
); const DailySpendSection = () => (
THE DAILY-SPEND INDEX

Where the moneyactually goes.

Five categories account for 100% of daily spend. Most people track two of them. Here's the real breakdown — by category, by percentage, and by what happens when you stop watching one.

{BUILDER_PANELS.map((p, i) => ( ))}
The categories don't change by destination. The percentages do — dramatically. A street-food city and a restaurant city look nothing alike when you run the numbers.
Explore the Budget lane Back to Plan
); // ─── Decide ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── const tierResult = (picks) => { const [accom, food, length, occasion] = picks; if (occasion === 3) return BUDGET_LANES.find((l) => l.id === "luxury"); if (accom === 0 && food === 0) return BUDGET_LANES.find((l) => l.id === "under-50"); if (accom >= 2 || food >= 2) return BUDGET_LANES.find((l) => l.id === "100-200"); if (accom === 1 && food === 1) return BUDGET_LANES.find((l) => l.id === "50-100"); if (occasion === 2) return BUDGET_LANES.find((l) => l.id === "100-200"); return BUDGET_LANES.find((l) => l.id === "50-100"); }; const BudgetDecide = () => { const [picks, setPicks] = React.useState([1, 1, 1, 1]); const result = React.useMemo(() => tierResult(picks), [picks]); return (
III

Not sure? Pick four answers.

Four small questions. We'll point you at the right tier. Useful when you're honest with yourself about the answers.

90 sec · No email
YOUR TIER

Four answers,one number.

Click an option in each row. The recommendation updates as you go. No submit button — the result is just a starting point.

RECOMMENDATION
{result.title}{result.titleEm && {result.titleEm}}
{result.desc}
{BUDGET_DECIDE.map((q, qi) => (
Q{String(qi + 1).padStart(2, "0")}
{q.q}
{q.opts.map((o, oi) => ( ))}
))}
); }; // ─── Reading ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── const BudgetReading = () => (
IV

The reading list for the money desk.

Six essays from the budget and finance section. Each one is a method, not a manifesto.

All essays
{BUDGET_READING.map((r, i) => (
{String(i + 1).padStart(2, "0")}
{r.title}{r.em && {r.em}}
{r.tag}
{r.duration}
 ))}
); // ─── FAQ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── const BudgetFAQ = () => { const [open, setOpen] = React.useState(0); return (
FREQUENTLY · BUT QUIETLY · ASKED

What peopleactually askabout money.

Reader letters from the budget desk, lightly edited. The ones that came back more than once.

{BUDGET_FAQS.map((f, i) => (
setOpen(open === i ? -1 : i)} >
{f.q} +
{f.a}
))}
); }; // ─── CTA ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── const BudgetCTA = () => (
PICK A TIER · BUILD THE WEEK

Set the number.Plan everything else.

The tier is the frame. Everything else — where you sleep, what you eat, which train you take — follows from it. Choose yours and the rest gets easier.

Back to Plan Explore the Budget lane
); // ─── Root ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── const BudgetApp = () => ( <>