January 07 2015, 04:12

The fall of the Russian ruble is keenly felt abroad. There are four of us here.

Visiting the San Diego Zoo with the family – 12000 rubles.

Visiting the San Diego Safari Park with the family – 12000 rubles.

Going to Six Flags to ride the roller coasters – 13100 rubles.

Visiting Universal Studio in Los Angeles with the family – 23600 rubles.

Visiting Disneyland in Los Angeles with the family – 24760 rubles.

Almost all of the activities listed take up a whole day, but do not include breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or accommodation.

Going out for breakfast at a restaurant with the family costs at least 3500 rubles. Lunch and dinner are at least that much, often one and a half times more, and sometimes even double, depending on how it goes. You end up spending probably 10000-13000 rubles a day just to eat well in restaurants, plus a few thousand more for snacks on the road at gas stations and supermarkets.

And that’s almost everything.

It’s nice that there are free museums (like Getty), cheap fuel (about 440 rubles per 100 km), relatively inexpensive hotels/motels (about 5000-8000 rubles per night), relatively inexpensive entry to national parks (1300 rubles), and free entry to regular parks and beaches.

So if you’re planning a trip to the U.S., set aside at least 3000-3500 rubles per person per day for food, about 5000 for accommodation, and no less than 3500 for entertainment. That adds up to at least 11500-13000 rubles per day.