New Zealand doesn't have to be (that) expensive.

Worth the price of admission

Top experts agree, New Zealand is frikkin' rad, but there’s no getting around the fact that it isn’t the cheapest place in the world to visit. It's a couple of small islands located a billion miles from anywhere, with a tourism economy and excellent education, healthcare and welfare systems funded, in part, by taxes waged on the masses of visitors that find their way there annually. 

After about two and a half years of life and travel there, I would estimate that costs on the ground are generally similar to those in Canada and the pricier parts of the US, which is actually slightly less than most other island countries in the Pacific. But if you tack on the price of a flight to get there, a trip to New Zealand quickly starts to seem cost-prohibitive for budget travelers from the English-speaking world. 

Personally, I feel the pain of that fact intensely. New Zealand is my favorite place for a whole bunch of reasons. Angel and I lived there during a formative time of life, in our early 20's, and fell in love with the people and the landscape. We visited again in our early 30's when we were in the best shape of our lives for outdoor pursuits, and saw hundreds of miles of stunning trail that we hadn't previously explored, whetting our appetites for more of the country's infinite beauty. And we visited again last year in our late 30's, and were overwhelmed by waves of nostalgia and desire to spend more time there. But like a beautiful night out at an expensive restaurant, it may be well worth the cost, but the cost is undeniable. 

The last several years, we've made month-long trips to Mexico a winter routine, but this year we replaced that trip with a two month visit to New Zealand. I haven't broken down the cost comparison meticulously, but roughly speaking, on a per day basis, we spent twice as much per day in NZ as in MX, and the cost to fly there from the West Coast of the US was three times as high. In addition, in MX we definitely live more high on the hog - eating out most meals and staying in hotels and Airbnb's the vast majority of nights. In NZ we camped as much as we could (about half the nights we were there), and most frequently bought our food at groceries. 

But I just love New Zealand so much, and it's totally worth the cost, so I want you to go there. So, since the trip, I've been putting together this brief guide to navigating finances on a visit to the country. I want you to have a sense of where costs lie, and where you might save money. New Zealand is a relatively expensive destination for a budget traveler, but if you plan correctly it doesn't have to be that expensive. You can totally figure it out.

(All costs listed are in $US and are approximations based on our most recent trip, in December 2018.)

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Things that cost a lot, in the grand scheme of things

New Zealand is a long way from everywhere else, and is an island in a big ocean. There are some things that just will cost a lot of money there, inevitably. To give you a picture, here's my rough list of pricey things:

1. Flights. Unless you're reading from Australia (or to a lesser degree Hawaii), if you can find a round trip flight to NZ for under $1200, you're doing pretty well. We tend to find that our LA to Auckland leg is in the range of $1000 round trip, with connections adding another couple hundred dollars (we live in Seattle, and typically skip through Auckland to the South Island.)
2. Gasoline/Petrol. Taxes are high. Gas has to be transported there overseas. It costs 2 - 3x as much there as in the US. 
3. Restaurants. Costs in restaurants also are usually a few dollars higher than we're used to in the US.
4. Intercity buses. Buses in NZ are high quality and functional ways to travel, but it isn't unusual to shell out $30 - 50 per ride between cities that are only a few hours apart by road. 
5. Hotels. A decent, cheap hotel is hard to come by in NZ, and we've spent $80 - 100 on some real stinkers.
6. Soda. I think they tax sugary drinks extensively to try to dissuade their consumption, because a Coke can easily cost $3 even in a grocery.
7. Alcohol. Ditto above. Drinks out, after the exchange rate, usually cost probably $1 more than we're used to, even in Seattle, which is itself a pricey place to go out. Drinks in groceries cost significantly more, and if you like Microbrews like me, expect to pay about 1.5x US prices. It's sad, but probably better for everyone that booze is pricey in NZ.
8. Gear. If you need outdoor gear, it will almost definitely be more expensive in NZ. It's a long way from everywhere, and a small economic market. If you want to save money, buy your gear before you go if you're from anywhere that locals would describe as "the mainland".
9. Day trips/tours. They know you are there to spend money. They want as much of it as you'll give them.  Tours are quick and easy ways to get to nice places. They're also a killer if you're trying to stay on a budget.
10. Great Walks. One of my key reasons to visit the country is for the hiking, and it is varied and plentiful, with great options for all four seasons. But it is possible to spend a lot of money even for this seemingly cheap activity. Their "Great Walk" system highlights a bunch of their most beautiful, well-supported trails, and you should totally explore them. But they all operate on a permitting system, and feature huts that are relatively expensive to stay in. It's not difficult to spend $150 just for hut permits for a 3 - 4 day walk in the woods. Totally worth it, but not cheap. (Pro tip: you can day hike on any Great Walk for free, and many of them can be fully completed in a day if you're fit and intrepid. And even if you're not, on the upside, NZ if full of great walks that aren't "Great Walks," so if the price bums you out, this is a great list of alternatives!)

Kiwis are the budget traveler's best friend.

Places to save money

After all of that bad news, there is plenty of good, and there are ways to avoid breaking the bank on a trip to New Zealand. The country is a tourist economy, it's true, but for decades it's also been a top destination for backpackers and budget travelers, so there is well-developed infrastructure and cultural support for this kind of thing. Kiwis are awesome, frugal people themselves, and they have made it possible to travel like an awesome, frugal person when you're there.

So here's a list of the places where you can save money while traveling in the country.

1.  In country flights. Much like in Europe, once you're on the ground it's actually relatively cheap and easy to fly. Individual legs in country usually cost less than $100, and can be even cheaper than busing. Check out Air New Zealand's Grabaseat and Jetstar for budget options. If you're going to be there for a while, book your flight into Auckland or Christchurch, and then buy in-country flights once you're on the ground.
2. Staple foods and takeaways. New Zealand is a long way from everywhere else, but it is also a massive agricultural powerhouse. So, in season, staple foods from groceries and farmers' markets are a great, affordable, high quality way to go. It's hard to find bad dairy or veggies there, especially if you buy local, and prices can be lower even than the US if you buy what's in season. On the opposite end of the spectrum, corner store "takeaways" are the cheapest fast food option, and tend to give out massive portions of fish and chips or Asian options for dirt cheap prices. Not healthy at all, but cheap calories in a pinch.
3. The sharing economy: hitching, couchsurfing, and Airbnb. I have never been somewhere more hitchhiker friendly than New Zealand. We were walking down the road on the North Island, and without even sticking out our thumb a guy pulled over to pick us up. Kiwis make friends easily, they tend to be seasoned travelers themselves, and life on a budget is the most common way of being there, so I always find them to be amazingly helpful. The same is true of couchsurfing culture - Couchsurfing.com will get you to the official places to crash for free, but if you're there for any amount of time, you will almost definitely be invited to stay at someone's house for free. You meet people on the street or in the pub, they're super friendly, and they invite you to stay. Follow your instincts of course, but it's normal there in a way that it isn't most places. Airbnb is also in widespread use there, and you can find a huge range of options that are very frequently a better value than hotels, and a great way to make new friends.
4. Car rentals. For some reason, it's easy to get a cheap ride in a basic, utilitarian car in New Zealand. We rented cars on two occasions on our last trip, and in each case the cost was about $20 US/day, including insurance. Petrol is expensive, but this still made for a much cheaper option than busing for two people when we wanted to visit a variety of locations. There are multiple options, but check out Rent a Dent for an example. You won't get anything new or fancy, but you will get a functional car to drive for a surprisingly low price. In my opinion, road tripping is the best way to travel in NZ, and it doesn't have to be particularly expensive.
5. Buying a vehicle (including camper vans). If you're going to be in the country for months at a time, you might consider buying and reselling a vehicle. While #vanlife is an activity usually reserved for the relatively privileged in the US, NZ has to have more campervans per capita than any other country in the world, so up front costs are much lower than I personally would have expected. (Think about $4000 for a decent, functional camper van that can be resold to another backpacker for the same a few months later.) The country has a massive stock of old, well-maintained cars that travelers can buy and resell reliably to bring transportation costs down (functional cars for under $1000 are not unusual). This is a great guide to the buying and selling process, and it can be well worth the hassle if you're going to be in the country for a couple of months or more.
6. Camping. On that note, if you have a camper van, there are hundreds of "Freedom Camping" sites where you can park for free. There are fewer places to pull over and put up a tent, but they exist as well if you do your research. Wikicamps NZ is a helpful app to guide you to the right spot. In addition to these free spots, New Zealand has an extensive network of "holiday parks" - commercial campsites that are affordably priced - in almost every town. We paid about $20 a night for campsites with access to kitchens, bathrooms, and indoor lounges. (Pro tip: These are a great option when the weather is bad but you don't want to spring for a hotel.) Also, a pro-tip for the Great Walk system is that a camping pass is much cheaper than a hut pass - both are permitted and limited, so book ahead, but if you want to do the walks but don't want to shell out quite as much money, take your tent.
7. Public transit in cities. While intercity buses can be pricey, in cities public transit costs tend to be totally sensible. If you're staying in a big urban area (which you probably shouldn't because the wilderness is so freaking amazing), you will save money if you just ride the bus.
8. DOC Huts. And one of New Zealand's greatest resources for the outdoorsy budget traveler are the 950 Department of Conservation Huts spread throughout the country These range from lean-to's in the mountains to impressive drive up cabins that can house 40 people at a time. Almost unbelievably, a six month pass for unlimited nights in these huts is only $90 NZ, or at time of writing about $65 US. There are significantly fewer of these on the North Island than the South, and there are some huts where you can't use the pass (notably, at all huts in Northland), but you could spend months in the New Zealand back country, traveling by foot and staying in generally really comfortable structures for essentially free. (While the North Island is a bit of a different story (which I plan to write sometime soon!) this is essentially what Te Araroa trampers do on the South Island.) Even if you're only there for a few weeks, a hut pass is likely a great investment.
9. Hostels. New Zealand is also dotted with an expansive network of backpacker hostels where you can book shared accommodation for $20 - 30/night. They're a great place to meet other budget travelers, and are in the vast majority of cases clean and friendly. Hostel World is a go-to site for reviews and options.
10. National Parks and Museums. New Zealand is smarter than most of us, so their public National Parks and Museums are very frequently totally free to visit. Te Papa, the national museum in Wellington, is one of the best museums I've visited anywhere in the world, and it's free. And the South Island is completely covered in spectacular National Parks that you can spend days exploring at no cost for entry.

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New Zealand really is one of the world's great places, and that reputation has gotten around. While the infrastructure is in place now for luxury travel, and that does have the potential to blow your budget, it really doesn't have to. Budget travelers can absolutely figure it out. The culture and scenery are worth the cost of admission at virtually any price, but you can travel for long periods of time on $1500 - 2000 a month if you plan correctly. I hope you do!

If you're the type of person who believes that even if the best things in life (like New Zealand) aren't free, but can be figured out on a budget, you're going to love our new book, "The Dirtbag's Guide to Life: Eternal Truth for Hiker Trash, Ski Bums, and Vagabonds." It's kind of like this article, but is aimed to help you figure out an entire life of adventure on the cheap. Check out the webpage, or if you prefer buy it on Amazon.

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