Budget travel, overland.

Sometimes I get a little frustrated with the other overlanders. Just like backpackers they seem often to be in competition to see who can travel the cheapest. 

When I was a backpacker I remarked that I often heard a backpacker, in places like Guatemala, Peru, Asia, say something like 'the locals think we're all rich, but I'm not!'. I'd reply with something like 'fact of the matter is that you've spent so much on getting here, money that they'd love to have for practical purposes .... so, of course you are rich compared to them'. 

Likewise I see overlanders spending thousands on vehicle shipping, adding airfares, and then constantly complaining that things are expensive. 

At Christmas, many complained about paying 150 Argentine pesos ARS ($16-23USD depending on how you changed your money) for a campsite, but I believe it was worth it for the common area with fireplace to chat the evening away and the lovely hot hot showers. 

Then there were the overlanders waiting to sneak into 'Tierra del Fuego' national park after 8pm. When we said we were going to the park the next day we were asked 'why not go in with the others tonight?'. I replied that I didn't think it was unreasonable to be charged 110 ARS per person (a price that allows 2 nights free stay). We had identified 3 vehicles waiting in the municiple campsite (free, but no facilities) to go in after 8. The next day we entered the park and I smiled when we discovered that the others had all been caught and ordered to pay, and by waiting they'd missed the first day or part of it (whereas we entered in the morning and could still have 2 nights, they'd entered late and had that night and one more).

The other common gripe is just the price of general expenses: fuel and groceries. Fuel is cheaper in Argentina than Chile. And groceries are cheaper too if you converted dollars at the better (dolar blue) rate. But the prices aren't expensive, especially with the extremity of things considered. I think to buy fuel (diesel) for 70c - 95c per litre at 'the end of the earth (Ushuaia)' is in itself a 'wow'. Even to pay $1.25 on the Chilean side isn't horrendous, it's actually surprisingly good. 

Then consider produce. This isn't the best climate for growing much fruit and vegetables, so much of it is brought in. Yet I bought (in Punta Arenas, Chile) tomatoes for $1.60 per kilo, a lettuce for $1.90, a mango (from Peru) for 70c, minced beef $9.50 per kilo and wine is really cheap, starting at about $3 for a bottle. So, again, it's not terribly expensive. 

And to those travellers complaining that the entry price of some attractions is three times what the guide book says (published a few years ago, and no doubt  researched before that...), well, we can go home if we don't like it. BUT, imagine being an Argentine and living with 25-35% inflation each year. Argentine friends tell me that their price of bread is now 10 times what it was a couple of years ago. At least we've got choices, I'm sure it's harder on the locals. 

$ indicated are converted to USD.