surviving on a budget

[will]

Hi guys,
I'm landing in Oz in December to start a 7month round trip, starting in Sydney and running clockwise around (for now). I'm hoping for camping, hostels and the odd cheap motel. I'm thinking about budgeting $1500 a month for the trip. Is this sensible? I intend to cook alot of my own food aswell and hopefully not get too drunk,

cheers,
will

[MountainMan]

Hey Will,

$50 a day on just living and traveling expenses is possible, especially if you camp a lot and cook a lot of your own food. Depends though on the usual factors, ie. your personal style of living, how many miles are you putting on per day, are you hanging in the big cities or small towns, etc. The biggest challenge in industrialized countries though is that there are many things that can blow your budget easily as they are accessible and usually expensive. Goes without saying that in developing countries it is easier to stick to a lower budget and not feel like you are doing without. You might be a bit lean for Oz though, you'll hear estimates from some higher than you have estimated.

Many great things about Oz though, plenty of wide open spaces if you want to camp which will bring down your average spend on accomodation. Also the countrywide system of backpackers/hostels is a great way to travel, stay at decent digs, and meet a lot of fellow travellers. A lot going on though and the temptations to go out and spend your budget on will be a tough struggle at times. Oh well, it's not such a bad battle to lose

[Kiwi-videos]

Hello
I,d say A$50 a day riding would be easily a attained by my Own methods of travel in Australia. That is my own methods.

I consider Australia to be the Backpackers Paridse for those with their own wheels, and maybe a work visa,
don,t know your have plans there.
Check out the internet site WWOOF Australia if you have seven months.

I meet a english guy on a bike who spent nine months in Aussie who didn,t spend a single night at a backpackers. Instead met locals and did freedom camping.

Freedom camping is just camping for free prefreably hidden.
Beyond the Eastern side of Australia you can camp off the side of the road in bushland or desert nearly everywhere within reason.
Biggest personnel problem is just feeling clean.
I,ve often just splashed around in a few litres of water in a tarp or inside a tent were the ground liner isn,t yet full of holes.

Removing where possiable any trace of your night helps others in the long term.
In New Zealand some local councils are cracking down on tourists doing freedom camping because of the rubbish etc they can leave behind.

I once had a tiny little spring break in my gearbox that left me stuck in fifth gear in a European country.That cost me A$750.

Water and Fire are problems to be careful of in Australia.

[will]

Hey lads,
cheers for the replies. well I'm hoping for 7months without working. The plan (for now) is to pick up a bike in Sydney and slowly make my way around clockwise, taking a few weeks off around easter when my gf comes over. So I'm budgeting for cooking my own food, camping alot, backpacker hostels and fuel.

That's the plan for now, altho if I see myself running out of money quick I will cut the trip short by a couple months. All I'm hoping is to be able to camp 4/5 nights, hostel for 2/3 nights and then a motel at least once a month to get my bearings.

I can stretch up to $2000 a month but I dont want to go above $1500.

cheers for the tips

will

[monkey boy]

i travelled with 3 guys from israel who managed to do it for about $15 a day ?

[olyflyer]

try getting on

CouchSurfing - Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch At A Time

usually stay for free and you can get local knowledge

I've hosted a heap of people at mine

[thecanoeguy]

well israelis are the biggest tight arses ever ,but with fuel at $1.20 odd a litre that might work if you do 3 miles a day and eat noodles ,but travelling on a bike is impossible on that range ,you will find your $50 being swallowed real quick when you consider a bit of maintenance thrown in, oil, tyres, chains ,etc etc a lap of oz is in the region of 20,000 km, hostels are $20 -$30 per night ,even campgrounds are exy if you camp alone,you dont mention if you have done much bike travel before but it aint that cheap in oz, as we have a lot of ground to cover but it is awsome all the same just bring your cash spend it and then leave with all your happy thoughts.oh yeah couch surfing or global freeloaders is the way ,i am in albury, your welcome to my caravan in the back anytime,i even have an old gsx 400 to be had for a bargain
dave

[will]

Well I don't intend to be on the bike everyday, I'm gonna take it easy and find plenty of cheap or free campsites. Foodwise I guess if I can cook myself or find cheap backpacker specials I should survive ok?

If I get into any money troubles I'll just cut the trip short, there's no problem with that. thanks for the offer for caravan thecanoeguy might be taken that offer up!

As for the bike I'm looking for 600cc min, klr, dr, cbr, fazer, zzr, zxr, f650gs etc etc with a budget of $5000 to $5500. Not much but this is a budget trip

cheers!
Will

[ALPMONKEY]

Plus the exchange rate 1.85 AU to the pound isn,t going to help you much as it is now .aussie is the best and on a bike aswell ,enjoy it .
take your time , you have plenty of it ,and lots of space to camp wild
ps , no night riding out in the sticks .

[KevOK]

I'm on a trip right round now
been on the road for the last 5 weeks,
In the NT expect to pay as much as $1:80 a litre for fuel. I spent an average of $ 70 a day on fuel from mt Isa across the north and down to Perth on the west coast but I was averaging about 600km a day on a gs 1200, Stay away from roadhouses as much as possible, they'll rape you without even offering lube. It's a big island, you only find out when you ride around it

[usl]

i like drinking coffee and to minimize my expenses i used to

toke my cup,
walk into a any place who might have hot water,
showing my cup in one hand and showing change money in my palm in the other and
saying "hot water please" ...with the cutest smile ...

no one till now has taken money for it ....

5 cups a day X 1€ per cup of coffee X 50 days = 250 € ...

thanks to all those gracious people .... *