Not long back me and Tim took our first overseas, budget holiday together. In this blog I'm going to show you how I spent 4 days in Palma De Mallorca using one weeks worth of tips from my hospitality jobs...
Day 1...
We took the bus to Birmingham airport from my Mom's house, which is very nicely situated about 6 minutes away! Once at the airport we had a weatherspoons breakfast (has to be done) and Tim got some snacks from duty free. Then we were ready to board our budget flight...the budget holiday was underway!
Disclaimer- everything I'm going to list now is my personal spending and is in EUROS.
Return flights cost me 15.30, including fees and VAT etc. We, of course, did not pay the extra the check in early or pick a seat. This meant we didn't sit next to each other on either flight but we did have the entire row to ourselves and it was quite possibly the comfiest flight I've ever had!
Once we landed we made our way out to the bus stops where I paid 5 euros for a one way ticket from the airport into the city centre. This was much cheaper than private transfers and so easy to locate, navigate and get into town!
With some help from Google maps, we found our hostel and checked in. It was a pay cash at check in hostel (not my favourite as it eats into your physical money) but I had budgeted for this. For 3 nights (one night slightly more expensive than the other two) I paid 44.73. Tim had to pay extra as he is aged 30 meaning he had to purchase a special card which now allows him to stay at youth hostels all over the world.
From here we was straight out to explore and we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. I always purchase a white t-shirt from Hard Rock Cafes when I visit. This cost me 28.95 BUT I have not included this in the overall breakdown as this is optional (with this included, the overall cost is 186.57 euros).
We stayed for a while, indulged in the awesome music memorabilia and had a late lunch. I had a plant based burger and a FREE REFILL pepsi max! We stored this information for later, free refills on soft drinks is a very budget friendly option. My food, drink and tip (always tip the waiter and bar staff) cost me 20.
Tim had to chase the people who were sat behind him out into the street as they left behind a shopping bag, isn't he lovely?!
Anyway, from here we took a nice evening stroll around the harbor and then into the small streets of the old town. As it was later in the day the popular tourist places were quieter so we didn't feel like sardines in a tin, ya'know?
We walked back to the hostel (as it was walking distance from the town, budget friendly!), stopping off at a local shop on the way for our packed lunch supplies (9 euro for all my supplies) and attempted to get some sleep (first night in a hostel can sometimes be difficult).
Day 2...
Up nice and early to help ourselves to the free breakfast at our hostel! This was an absolute bonus, we didn't know this was included until we got there. After we had sufficiently stuffed ourselves, we sorted out our packed lunches, adding some freebie breakfast muffins and headed off to the sightseeing bus stop.
The sightseeing buses are popular all over Europe and I love them, I think they are a great way to explore the local area. My top tip for them is to do the bus tour on either your first or second day and do the entire route first, this way you can spot places that look good and plan them into your day. These buses allow you to hop off and on through-out the 24 hours after you first use your ticket. 48 hour tickets are also available. I paid 17.66 for my ticket, in advance.
We hopped off at the castle and paid 4 euros entry.
Unfortunately I started to feel unwell at this point, the post period cramps were kicking in (if you know, you know) which then triggered my anxiety (I didn't want to ruin the day for Tim by being unwell) which then triggered feelings of over stimulation (my hair was touching my face and annoying me, it wouldn't sit right in a bun, the crowd were too loud, I was too hot with my jacket on but it was raining so I wanted the hood, I was sweating) it was just a proper dilemma for me in my little head. I took myself off to the bathroom and did some slow breathing, 4 things I could see, 3 things I could touch/feel, 2 things I could smell and 1 thing I could taste. I'm sharing this because this is the reality of travelling and mental health. Not all days are good. 2 paracetamol and a gallon of water later I was ready for the castle!
I absolutely love a castle, I'm a proper history nerd and I can't get enough of places like these. We spent a lovely couple of hours exploring and reading about the history of the place. After we had explored to the fullest we sat down on top of the castle to eat our packed lunches, mine was a cheese salad, the stolen breakfast muffin and some biscuits. Perfect timing to hop back onto the bus!
We hopped back off in the old town, I needed to see some more of the Cathedral, and then took a gentle stroll back to the hostel. Here we had some much needed (for me anyway) downtime. I scrolled through the pictures while Tim napped in my arms, I napped a little bit on Tim's chest while he watched YouTube videos. Just general relaxing, no pressure to do anything or entertain each other. I'd set up my trusty privacy sheet so my bottom bunk was cool and dark. Just what I needed, and I'm grateful Tim was so understanding to this.
It's important to remember that just because you're abroad doesn't mean you need to be on the go all the time!
Woken by our hunger we got changed and headed into town, I was in the mood for some proper pizza so we nuzzled our way into the bending, twisting old town streets until we found an authentic pizzeria. Having only just opened his doors, there was just us and one other table in the restaurant. A tiny place full of character. There was one chef and one waiter/bar man/server who where both excellent. The kitchen was open so we could see our food being made, happily flicking between watching the chef and watching the street come alive outside.
We shared a starter of garlic bread, had a jug of water to share, a soft drink each and a pizza each. I paid 12 euros for my share, including a tip (have I mentioned, you should always tip?!). Feeling full and happy we wandered around the old town, admiring how different it looked in the evening light.
Palma is a very easy town to while away a few hours, there's always a side street leading to somewhere new. I found myself instinctively heading back to the cathedral which cut a beautiful silhouette against the darkening sky. The call for something sweet became too loud to dismiss, so I spent 3.90 on some ice cream and enjoyed that on our walk back to the hostel.
Day 3...
Awake and ready for breakfast we headed down and filled out stomachs. We also acquired some more breakfast muffins to add to our packed lunches, which we made after breakfast. I was still using the supplies we purchased the other day but knew I wanted to go to a shop and get something nice to have for dinner that evening, as we were staying in.
Day bag packed and we were off to the bus stop via the local shop as I needed change for the bus (rookie error, god damn!). 1.24 spent on a soft drink (I'd been using my water filter bottle all trip so hadn't needed to purchase any drinks while out exploring), change for the bus acquired (4 euro, 2 euro each way), time to go in search of the beach. The weather wasn't the best but the views were spectacular, as we'd travelled east along the island and out of town, so when looking over from the beach we could see the Cathedral in all her glory, the harbor and the fancy boats!
On the way to the beach I found a local park that was home to a massive group of feral cats so obviously we stopped there for a bit before making our way down to the sea. There was an amazing coastal path to follow, adjacent to a nature trail. So despite the weather, it was still a very nice morning and afternoon at the beach.
I also accidentally fell into the sea and completely soaked my shoes, I had to rip the insoles out as they were soaked and Tim donated the very socks off his feet to me making me much more comfortable for the walk back to the bus. He was so good to me on this trip, genuine true love.
We sourced a Lidil right by the bus stop and went in to grab something for dinner, we both opted for a pizza again and got some snacks. My total was 3.79 which got me a pizza, a large yogurt drink and some doughnut type things!
Back to the hostel, shoes dried out and socks exchanged we had another couple of hours just relaxing on my bunk. There was, of course, lots of communal areas we could have used to sit and relax in, but we felt more relaxed in my bunk with the privacy sheet up so we opted for that. No shame.
Refreshed and ready for the evening we headed back to the Hard Rock Cafe, because we knew we could get free refills on the soft drinks. I fancied a little treat though and got myself a brownie sundae, but did not expect it to be quite so large! We spent a lovely evening at the HRC, enjoying our free refills and watching some episodes of our favourite TV show on my phone (there was also free WiFi there!). The staff were really nice one again and we never felt pressured to spend more money or leave. My total for the brownie, drink and tip (you've gotta tip!!!!!) was 14 euro.
Day 4...
The last day! Once more we made the most of breakfast before sorting out what was left of our food supplies (not much, just some mayo and a veggie patty). We left these in the 'free' section and then checked out. We went into town to check off some of the last few places we wanted to see, all free.
One last place of interest for me was the Arab baths which we found nestled in one of the stunning side streets. I paid 3 euro entry and it was completely worth it! It was beautiful in there and full of history.
We started to make our way back to the airport bus, stopping at some shops on the way as Tim was after a certain flavour of chocolate bar that he had in duty free and had now fallen in love with. We got some crisps to share (1 euro) and then paid the 5 euro bus fair to get us back to the airport.
The flight home was very similar in that we didn't pay to sit next to each other and ended up with the whole row! We had to wait ages to disembark from the plane as they were waiting for ground crew, I dunno, but while everyone was stood, huffing and puffing, I sat down and started looking for cheap flights somewhere else! The plan was to get a bus back to my Mom's house (where we'd left the car) but after waiting over an hour it became clear that something had gone wrong (we found out later that the road was closed causing diversions and delays, as well as an unexpected road closure). So we got an UBER back instead (an expense I didn't want, but I was cold, tired and hungry).
Overall...
So I haven't included the costs of things in the UK (the bus, taxi and airport food) and as mentioned above I have left out the cost of the t-shirt...
Breaking it down we have:
Food (eating out)- 51.14
Food (supplies for packed lunches/staying in)- 12.79
Accomodation- 44.73
Travel (buses and flights)- 29.30
Activities- 24.66
TOTAL- 162.62 euros
So if you added on the HRC shirt I bought it brings it to 187 euros (rounded up). This is obviously an indulgent extra that didn't need to be purchased, but like I said, I've made it a tradition and it's one I'd like to keep. This is my choice, and I feel it is justified by the budgeting we did elsewhere.
That's how I manged 4 days in Majorca using only the tips I earned during Cheltenham Gold Cup race week. And that's why it's important to tip your wait staff, even if you're budgeting. If it's your last day just empty out your coins, you can't exchange them back so tip them. Be a nice human, wherever you are.
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