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A hostel manager in Lisbon told me to quit planning my whole trip day by day, and my food budget dropped by $200
Two summers ago I did 10 days in Portugal and I had every single meal mapped out in a spreadsheet, like down to the exact restaurant and what I would order. About day three I was eating at some spot in Alfama that cost me $22 and the guy running my hostel asked why I looked so stressed on vacation. I told him my food budget was already blown and he just laughed and said the good stuff in Lisbon is the $5 bifana and the $1.50 pastel de nata, not the places tourists look up before they land. I got a little defensive honestly because I had put real work into that sheet. But the next morning I ditched it and just followed where the locals were eating near the market. By the end of the trip I had eaten better and I came home with about $200 still in my food envelope. The lesson was that a plan can sometimes cost you more than it saves, and I still wonder if I just got lucky with that trip. Does anyone here make a loose daily budget instead of tracking every single meal?
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