Firefighter, slightly less dangerous than teaching these days

I managed to do a 12 month UK to Oz trip when I was "only" 33 and like others have said it involves a great deal of work and sacrifice. It took me four years to save up during which time I rented out my spare room, worked 50-55 hour per week, I was allowed to work holidays and get paid at the end of the year for what I hadn't taken and only bought genuine essentals. Before leaving I sold my flat which just paid off the mortgage and sold just about everything else I wasn't taking with me.
Was it worth it and would I recommend it, emphatically yes but if in a relationship you obviously have to both be committed to it. I have met a few Americans who have done similar although they are not as common as Europeans, Aussies, Kiwis or Canadians but it shows it can be done.
Incidentally I have never met anybody who has done similar, packed in the job, sold everything and gone off travelling who regretted it.

I try to save say 10% of my salary. No set figure, just a mindset. Used to scrounge together 3000 quid to roam on (no bike) and went whenever I raised it. About once a year I think. Longest I made that last was about 9 months, although that included some credit card debt for the end of it. But not to much though. Now I set a target amount of funds, give it a few years to suit the job and divide it by the years I've got to raise it. I reckon if people can survive on the minimum wage, it has to be possible to save a reasonable percentage whilst still having a life. With or without mortgage.

Poor Bloody Yanks....
 

That's me, a poor Bloody Yank. Got that a lot in travels over the years, especially living in Ireland a year - the bloody Yank - can I buy you a pint?

And I aplogise for all my loud-mouth, arrogant and aggressive countrymen....they embarrassed me as well.

I did South America and parts of Central America in a 1 1/2 year meander, missed Brazil, and spent a total of 8,400USD which included buying a 4000 dollar moto in Costa Rica and 1 return flight to US....yep I camped a lot. Brought a pressure cooker with me on moto. Lived cheap, no bars...no hookers.

That was 2 years ago, now I take off (I hope if my Dr says I can) this January for around the world. Have $800 a month budgeted which is my social security, and about $10K USD in bank. I'm planning to go 3-5 years, hope to work black in OZ, and a few other places to supplement.

One can travel cheap, just can't party it up.

the bloody Yank.....Zig

Folks, I'm an American, and I have NOTHING to apologize for:thumbup1:

A mate of mine who was in India recently, choose to say he was from New Zealand rather than Australian due to some problems happening back in Aus at the time. I think our countries of birth will always do things we or others disagree with. I think the important thing is not wear your citizenship as a badge of honour that must be defended to any person that has a different point of view. You are representative of that land but not a crusader for national truth.

Anyway back to the RTW trip, I find my self in a similar position at 33yo and having done a few trips which I thought would be enough. I look at this forum almost daily and dream of where I could go. Sell everything and go ? I don't know if I could. Maybe that means I never will ? Doesn't stop me dreaming about it.

Can we have a conclusion to this from Raven? the last we heard was that your house was on the market and that was two years ago, what happened and have you been anywhere? :scooter:

in the budgeting proccess too... another ADV checking out HUBB

... reading this made me scratch my head a little. There is absolutely no way that you need 20,000 USD for a trip like this.
I have been travelling by motorcycle for the past 11 months in South America (Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay) and I average an 15-20 USD per day. There is days I don't spend anything, because I get invited to live with some family and they give me food and everything, other days I just stay somewhere where I like it. Put down my hammock, go to the next Carnicera, get a half a kilo of meat and some bread and thats all I need for the day.

I am only 21 though, started when I was 20 years old and I intend to travel another year and then see where or if I can go to university somewhere.

I wrecked my "first motorcycle" and am about to buy another one in a couple of weeks. The one I have been travelling with was a XT 550 and the one Im about to buy a little bit smaller... but it'll do.
And saying that its "allright but certainly not better" is not really true either... I remember about 2 weeks ago, driving down the Ruta 40.... in the last parts that are actually still "ripio" (gravel), I dont know how many BMW and V-Stroms I overtook, and Im not sure if it mightve just been that they didnt know how to ride, but they werent going faster than 30-40 km/h and I had no trouble going 60-80 km/h with my lighter bike.

I am no mechanic by the way and I don't really have a plan, but what I found to be most important is simply staying calm. Something breaks and its not one of the few things I can fix, I just wait by the side of the road and EVERYTIME someone stops to help. I had the bike on the back of a pickup about 6 or 7 times, rebuild the engine twice, and even though I had to sell the bike (or what was left of it after the latest ****-up) its all going well.

Just do it, and thats not just a cool thing to say, but the truth. There are good people in every country and to me it seems that the less they have the more they're willing to share. Just because someone says that to take a ship somewhere with the bike on it costs that much, doesnt mean it actually does, if your willing to just wait a bit and actually talk to people.

I also got here speaking not a single word of spanish, 11,5 months later Im translating for the few tourists I meet. I made a lot of friends that I can always go back to and thats worth more than anything, it also would most likely not have happened if I never had any problems or wouldve straight away called "the proper authorities".

A couple of pictures for anyone that has FB and is interested....

(https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...0643236&type=3)

Oh Im german btw..... haha.... ;)

Lots of admiration for the way you are doing your trip. You've taken up residency on the "less money=more time end of the spectrum (although the combination of bragging about going fast while saying you wrecked your bike shortly afterward makes me wonder how that affects your budget). However.....

Just because people--especially poor people--give to you freely doesn't mean you should give nothing back. In fact, if you've got more than they do (which you do), maybe you should give back more than you take. That's the way it's meant to work, and that's the way most cultures do it all over the world.

This doesn't necessarily mean money, but it often means things you purchase with money: tools, food, clothes, furnishings. I don't mean to denigrate the value of intangibles you may also bring--labor, news and stories of the larger world, whatever. But poor people are poor, and you're not.

Just something to think about.

Enjoy your trip!

Mark

I actually am, what makes you think I'm not?

Oh and I certainly give what I can, but I don't carry a whole lot, especially nothing that I don't need. So what is it that you suggest? Me not travelling or me having more money? I don't really see myself as the bad person here, as I really don't cost them a lot. They dont give me their guest room that they would've otherwise rented out to someone, I sleep in my hammock in their backyard or on the couch/ floor. And if they really couldn't share then they wouldn't. Really only proved that you don't need to have a lot to share, and as soon as I don't need something or I can help them out somehow (which has happened quite a few times) I do what I can.

Sadly having a german passport doesn't instantly make me one of the rich. :)

/edit: Oh and I didn't wreck it as in having an accident, but rather breaking the engine block ... from the inside you could say. Also I didnt mean to be bragging. I wouldnt say I was going fast, I'd say the BMW were going slow, as even though everyone tells you they are THE Adventure Motorcycle (which is a pretty important tag to be on all expensive travelling tools) and that the BMW GS 1200 is just made for this job, it simply isn't. I had trouble picking my bike up with the winds on the road here and I don't want to imagine picking up a BMW here.

Thanks for replying though, hope you get my point. Last thing I want to do while travelling is exploit anyone.

I think some of this is about language uncertainties, which makes me glad we're not conversing in German! Glad to hear you are keeping on the positive side of the ledger.

One of the main differences between people who claim cheap trips and people who report expensive ones is the price of fuel. Riding a lot of miles, I used a lot of fuel--I'm guessing I spent 6 or 8,000 USD in a year in Latin America. Riding fewer miles, you're spending less on fuel. That's a big part of why you're traveling more cheaply than I, and most other, riders. A fast trip is expensive; a slow one can be much cheaper. No mystery there.

Another major difference is lodging. Staying places for free or very cheaply will save a lot over the course of a year or two. If I spent $20 per night more than you, that's another US$7300 on a yearlong trip. Most riders spend more than you, and mostly they do it willingly, by choice. No mystery there, either.

Another difference is the bike. I used a KLR, leaving home with almost 50k miles (80k km) on it and returning with 95k miles (155k km). I'm still using it. Blowing up, crashing, selling or abandoning the bike is a real cost of the trip. Buying a new bike in order to take a long trip, or buying a new one halfway through is a real cost. Needing an engine rebuild or having a final drive shipped to who-knows-where is a real cost. Etc.

FWIW, "everyone" tells you all sorts of stuff, including about BMW's. Ragging on them is a good way to start a pointless argument and render this thread useless.

enjoy,

Mark

Um, well...

Concerning the first four paragraphs:

I don't remember writing that I don't understand why I spend less. It's quite obvious that you'll end up spending less when you spend less, isn't it?!
Simply pointing out that I do.

And concerning the last paragraph;

I don't have a problem with anyone spending more money on whatever they choose to, including doing the trip with a different/ bigger bike and I don't have anything more to say on the BMW Topic, simply that it is my opinion that the only thing that makes BMW's popular among travellers, is that it rarely breaks down.
But you're right that this is not the place for this discussion, especially as it's mainly a matter of preference.

Have a good day !

I took this: " ... reading this made me scratch my head a little. There is absolutely no way that you need 20,000 USD for a trip like this." to mean "I don't understand why anyone thinks it's so expensive." Probably another language thing.

So ok, never mind.

Mark

I don't think it's a "language thing". I think you simply don't want to understand it. But helpful as I am I will make one last attempt to clarify, as it's unlikey, though possible, that you're not the only one who didn't understand.

need - definition of need by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

"1. A condition or situation in which something is required or wanted"

In this case "required" is probably the best synonym.

So let's try and read the sentence I wrote with "require" instead of "need".

" ... reading this made me scratch my head a little. There is absolutely no way that you REQUIRE 20,000 USD for a trip like this."

Could this possibly help?
You're very much welcome.