$25k Aus for five weeks in Europe??? That's over £3k per week. I'd say your mate got absolutely, totally, truly butt-fcuk'd.

In 2006 I spent about $11,500 on 25 weeks from Texas to Tierra del Fuego, all in. 19,000 miles, so I used roughly 400 gallons of fuel. This includes shipping around the Darien, and sending the bike to Houston by sea from Buenos Aires, and flying home myself. I lived pretty cheap, stayed in a few hotels no girlfriend of mine ever would have, but didn't realy deprive myself of anything. I did a back pack trip, and a couple of mountain bike trips on the way, so the off the bike things I did were fairly inexpensive. I was lucky in that I had no significant bike problems, but I did buy 3 tires. Shipping costs have gone up since then, so be prepared for that. Shipping costs and flights were about 30% of the cost of my trip, fuel about 10%, the rest daily living expenses. Have a great trip.

Nah, you're making the same mistake I used to make and other are still making. Budgets should be calculated door to door. So this includes flights, excursions, knowing this bloke probably plenty of beers. I know finishing my trips in London trying to find a job you spend a lot of money real quick. Especially if you live out of hotels. Do the experiment of adding absolutely everything up down to the 20p toilet fees and you'll be unpleasantly surprised. Few internal flight or the Eurostar and you've lost a few hundred there.

Well there is a HU meeting where you can get info from the people that have done this. It is a bit of a ride but not bad http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/meetings/California2011.php

There is a saying about riding the world it is. Twice as much money as you think, twice the amount of time you are planing but you need but only half the stuff. Some thing like that anyway.

Some place there is a old thread about riding the world on the cheap. You need not do it all in one go. You do not need to go to all the places people list they go. You do not need ride your bike you can fly and rent or buy there. Ride slow and short where it is cheap fast and long where it is not.

Some things you want spend the cash on.
Food! Yes ramen is cheaper but the food and people is some of the reason for going.
Go and walk on the ice. Antarctica is not that far off a boat trip may run $4,000 but when are you ever going to go back?
A vacation from the trip. Riding looks like fun till you do for weeks on end day in day out.
Stop and take some pics. Get a camera and lots of cards for it.

Cost
 

Yes I agree with the above, my wife and I flew our bikes to Egypt and then took about 95 days to get to Kenya including Uganda. It has so far cost us $30000Aus but that included a 4 day Trek in the Siemien Mountains, 4 day Fellucca Trip on the nile (While waiting for ferry) Masai Mara 4 days, Rafting in Uganda, and also a trip to see Gorillas. We did however splash out and stayed at Mena House in Cairo for 1 night ($480) We also included a trip into the Omo Valley for 12 days. Apart from that we stayed at fairly average lodgings and camped, being aussies we were not backward in having a beer either. This also included all flights to get to Egypt and Visas etc along the way. I think excluding extras for a Cairo to Capetown I would allow $100 a day for 2 people 2 bikes, whilst on the road, but I have got the attitude save a little more and do the things you want as it is cheaper than going back, and you forget the price a long time before the memory.

Cheers
Paul:thumbup1:

Is that with the two bikes or are you planning on only one this time?

How much time (months? or better still years?? :thumbup1:) are the costs calculated for?

2 bikes for about 3 months.

Goodness. I've taken a few trips in my life (bike, car, backpack, train, plane, boat....) and never spent near that much. $45k for two for three months is $250/day (and sharing rooms, at that); $25k for five weeks is over $700 per day.

I've calculated expenses door to door more than once--even including the cost of the bike brand new, then writing it off at trip's end, and even including the Antarctic cruise I took last year--and never come close to $250 per day. I'm not saying it can't be done, because obviously anyone with a taste for life's finer things could accomplish this. But I'm sure saying I've never done it...and hope I never will.

I think I'd have to concentrate very hard to spend $700 per day; I guess I could do it if properly motivated and equipped with a shovel, a pile of cash and an open window. But I don't think these figures really apply to the majority of riders....and I'm usually the one scoffing at lowball figures which exclude tires and repairs, flights, touring away from the bike, shipping, or depreciation.

Maybe I'm wrong and there are hordes of riders staying night after night in $150 rooms and eating $50 dinners. Wouldn't be the first time I was out of step with the universe.

Safe journeys!

Mark

$150 for a room doesn't even include taxes and at $50 for dinner? ...no aperitif, no wine? :innocent:

A bit of a sample of costs I've allowed for. This is all for a single person/bike. $8000 for shipping return which allows for flying in because I can't wait around for it and don't want to deal with port changes and the like, flights $3500 return, 4 sets of tyres about $1500 which is based on assumed inflated prices of tyre prices (1.75x) from my normal supplier, $1500 in fuel, $900 carnet (haven't looked into that one), insurance $800, $3000 in hotels (4 night/week @ $60. This is my contingency fund), $1400 in visa's allowing for $100 in visa and border costs for 14 visa's, $4000 food (40 bucks/day). Just these items comes to nearly $25000.

I reckon my spreadsheet will only get bigger, because I haven't allowed for the ferry into Europe nor Egypt or any excursions. Calculating daily costs is misleading.

And people wonder why I don't travel as much anymore. Hitchhiking is heaps cheaper. Last hotel in London I had was a complete dive in the Victoria station area for 50 quid. Living in hotels all day everyday adds up. Especially in tourist hot spots. For tourists from Australia you want to see as much as possible which only adds to the cost. Few cars, museums, theatre, etc.. etc..

Your right it does add up in the end!! Im travelling at the moment, and I am on a 'cheap as chips' budget! The only problem, countries like India have gotten more expensive in the last two years, so Ive gone from thinking I am able to save a bit of money to compensate for the extra spending in Australia and Sri Lanka to not even been able too as I am boarder lining my budget or even some days overing over!

Currently I am traveling 400km per day - that gas is 80% of my budget let alone a 6-9 hotel (with safe bike parking! i could get cheaper but this is a scary option for a girl alone with a 'race' bike (as the indians call it!). Most of the time my food is about $5 AUS per day for all meals (but im a girl and can eat off the street for 20c)

I am hoping once i can start wild camping the cost of everything will come down!! Damn inflation! But saying all of this, I wasnt serious at working out what my budget would be, I just always thought I could fit everything into $1000 AUS per month - im going over this if you include shipping, parts etc up until today!

This would be a great poll, based on a single person.

Big difference between #20 at $100 per day, #25 at $250 per day, and #26 trying without success to stick with $35 per day (A$1000/month).

I would suggest that $35 per day including everything is impossible to sustain on a long trip unless very dedicated to living cheaply and also not moving very fast (so little petrol consumed). It would probably help to be lucky too. You could do this in Venezuela with its 6 cent/gallon gasoline, or in a place where you could couch surf, or if you didn't need to do any shipping, or if you never needed to buy tires....but over the long haul some of this stuff is going to catch up to you and destroy your budget.

I would suggest that $250 per day is far more than most people spend, no matter what you include in your calculations, unless traveling in Western Europe, staying in comfortable hotels, eating well and drinking lots of microbrewed beer. It sure doesn't match my experience, even including the actual cost of buying my bike.

But one obvious difference tmotten is that you're allowing $8000 for shipping (!!!) and $3500 for flights on a relatively brief trip. Apparently, you're looking at a different sort of trip from anything I've ever even considered: one where you pay top dollar for air shipment and flights both directions for a couple of months of riding. I've never taken this sort of trip; instead, I've paid far less for shipping and flights, then rode the bike for a year or longer. Big difference; you've got much higher fixed costs averaged into far fewer days.

Last year, for example, home to Tierra del Fuego and back: $1200 for shipping, $400 for flights, $465 for visas, 11.5 months riding 35,000 miles. My costs for shipping, visas and flights are just background noise in the yearly budget. Even my $4000 Antarctic cruise added less than $10 per day overall. The whole trip came in around $35,000, and I wasn't even trying very hard.

Mark

What shipping costs $8000 - do they send on golden crates?? I payed about 700 euros Sydney-Helsinki one way by sea. And I asked about air as well, was roughly double, or sometimes a bit more. Admit, that was 3 years ago, but prices must have really skyrocketed!

8000 is based on the costs we incurred flying into BA from Brisbane and shipping out from Cusco which was a complete disaster and took 3 months to get back. The actual cost was a lot more.

The plan is to fly into Durban if possible or Jburg otherwise and ship out from Rotterdam. I don't think I'll get much change from 8000 return. I thought I paid enough going to BA but as soon as I landed I was asked to pay all up another 500 to get my hands onto it. Looked all pretty official, so don't think I got ripped. Even getting my hand on them in Brisbane the govment asked me to pay up another 2k. Better to allow for plenty than not enough. Sure, I'll be earning income when I ship it back, but don't want to stick my head in the sand about the costs any more.

Last I checked a flight from Europe to Australia one way was about 1300. Say 1500 with taxes. To Jborg is about 2000 + taxes. So actually I'm a little shy.

Don't think 40 buck/day for food is a lot either. Sure, in Africa I'll probably eat like kings but I'm not going to search for $2 greasy burgers. Those days are well gone. But in Europe a coffee in the morning will eat into it pretty quick. What is a road side panini in Euro's these days?

As I said, the accommodation is my contingency because rather than just adding the typical 10% to the overall I rather control the budget with this.

Besides the costs of shipping, what else do you guys think I've over budgeted for?

Sadly the days of packing my bag, cleaning the rented room and shutting the door to set off in the sunset are well behind me. I could definitely do this (if I'd be single) but the price of boredom at work upon my return isn't worth it to me any more. So sure, I've got time constraints, but I don't think massive holes were torn in my prelim budget from what I've heard. Not at all trying to be a smart arse, but to me it's just reality. Open to suggestions otherwise.

$40 a day on food in Europe is more than enough, much much more.
Just cook your own food and make your own coffee then you can stay on the road longer, simple