The Economics of Slow Travel

It’s 12.12 pm. I’m writing this from the balcony of my house in Bir.

Lately, I’ve been loving sitting outside, so I’ve moved my work desk to the balcony. Throughout the day, I keep shifting it depending on where the sun is or whether it starts raining.

This is my last newsletter from this house in Bir.

I’m vacating this place on 1st of July and leaving Bir soon after.

I’m in that strange phase where I suddenly love everything about this home even more. The large glass windows with a perfect sunset view. The open space outside to work and hang out with friends. The endless fields I see from every corner of the house. And the silence, despite being just a few minutes away from Bir’s busiest tourist spot.

When I first moved here, I had just spent six months living with my parents and then two weeks surrounded by my first travel group. I thought I’d enjoy the solitude but it felt intimidating. Slowly, I started enjoying it. And now, three months later, I’m completely in love with living alone.

For the first time in five years of changing homes every few months, I feel attached to a house. Not just the house. The life I built inside it.

I feel I’ve grown more in these three months than I have in a long time. I can feel it in my body and my behaviour — how I think, how I respond to situations, how I work. And I’m loving who I’m becoming.

Leaving feels bittersweet.

I’m also feeling excited about what’s next. Building another life from scratch somewhere new.

Every time I write about life here, someone asks me a version of the same question:

“This sounds amazing... but isn’t it expensive?”

Fair question.

If you’ve only experienced travel as vacations, this lifestyle does sound expensive. But slow travel is not a vacation. It’s simply living somewhere else.

So today, I thought I’d show you exactly what it costs me to live and work from Bir.

I moved to Bir in March, which is peak season, and rented a furnished 1BHK close to the landing site but tucked away in the fields.

Rent = ₹20,000
includes electricity & WiFi.

I live alone, but two people could comfortably share this house, bringing the cost down significantly.

I find cleaning therapeutic, so I haven't hired any house help. If you do, add another ₹2,000-4,000 per month.

I cook breakfast and lunch almost every day and usually go out for dinner.

Food expenses = ₹10,000
groceries and eating out have an equal split (5k each).

I haven’t rented a vehicle here. Bir is very walkable and I love long walks. When I don’t feel like walking, I hitchhike.

Transport = 0

Bir has plenty of workshops, community events and gatherings. I attend the ones that interest me or help me meet people.

Social Life = ₹2500

Software subscriptions, skincare, random purchases. These aren’t location-specific. I think of them as expenses I’d incur regardless of where I live.

Location independent expense = ₹5000

Rent: ₹20,000

Food: ₹10,000

Transport: ₹0

Social life: ₹2,500

Other expenses: ₹5000

Total: ₹37,500/month

Accounting for miscellaneous or unexpected expenses, I’d say a comfortable budget for one person is somewhere between

Rs 40,000-45,000 per month.

If you’re two people sharing accommodation, it drops to roughly ₹30,000-35,000 per person.

Of course, this assumes you’re renting a place and cooking some of your meals. If you’re staying in hostels/homestays, changing places every few days and eating every meal outside, your costs will be very different.

For comparison, when I lived in Leh last year, I spent around ₹50,000 per month, mostly because I didn’t have a kitchen and almost all my meals were outside.

I think this is a good estimate for living anywhere in India other than tier 1 cities. Under 50,000 a month, you can get a much better quality of life, beautiful experiences, and peace of mind.

When I moved here three months ago, Bir was already a special place.

But now, it’s the place where I learnt to enjoy living alone again. The place where I hosted my first two slow living experiences. Where I became close to a local family who now feel like my own. And where I saw myself evolving beautifully, yet again.

The ₹37,500 I spent every month didn’t just pay for rent, food and WiFi. It bought me three months of a life I’ll remember for a very long time.

In a few days, I’ll pack up my stuff, take one last look at these fields, lock the door behind me, and start building a new life somewhere else.

That’s the beauty of this lifestyle. You leave places you love even when you’re not done with them because you’re curious enough to fall in love all over again.

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