Sydney-London in 9 months....rough budget, does this look reasonable? Thanks!!

[J1mbo]

Hi

I've been thinking about riding from Sydney-London for years and have decided I'm finally going to do it. I'm thinking of leaving July 09 on a BMW650 Dakar and taking around 9 months, longer if the money lasts.

I've been trying to work out if I can afford it...if the below budget is in the right ball park, then I should be able to. They're only rough figures, I just need to know its not way off. Would appreciate any thoughts and if theres anything big i've missed out....

Thanks in advance!!

This is all in AUD$....

Daily spending (incl. fuel) $75 per day average
This is staying in backpackers (cheap but not the cheapest), eating at cafes etc and a few s in the eve, plus any extras.

Shipping/Air $1100
Darwin - Indonesia $300
Thailand - Bangladesh $800

Flights $700
Darwin - Indonesia $200
Thailand - Bangladesh $500

Visas & bike insurance on the road $1000
Carnet $1450
Rego $150
Travel Ins. $750
Clothing, medical kit $500
Bike trousers, jacket, helmet, boots & gloves $3000
Spares & tools $350
Immunisations $150
Off road course $650
Service for bike $500
GPS $800


Totals
Daily spending money (9 months) $20,000
Other on the road costs $1,800
Paperwork & pre-departure costs $9,300

Thanks for your help!!!

[Steve Treloar]

j1mbo,
we did our travelling in late 80 and 90's . also after years gunna do its.....we ended up doing the reverse on a R65 we spent 6 months and a total of $10,000 aus .the bike was a basket case 400 uk pound . Equates to approx. $55 aus /day , though it was for 2 persons including flight shipping etc .Only major prob had to rebuild the g/box in Iran for a meer $25US you'll have a fun time , trust me. my figures are way out on todays rates, but have a c/card ,it helped out when all the t/c's where used up.
travel,food and accom are cheap in asia ,though go up the more you go west

love to do it again ,though have to wait for the lotto win.....

steve

[pecha72]

"Darwin - Indonesia $300"

I dont think you will get it that cheap, even if you send by sea. Double that, and then you probably will get it done (by sea, taking at least 3 weeks altogether to Surabaya).

About a month ago, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best/cheapest way to get our bike the other way round........... and ended up airlifting it from Bali to Perth by Qantas, which cost nearly 2000 usd total. By far the most expensive freighting Ive ever done!!!

Going to East Timor, and using the Perkins line from there to Darwin probably wouldve been roughly 1/4th of that price, but we had plenty of reasons why we didnt want to do that at the time (political unrest, our visas running out, bad weather conditions combined with unseaworthy ferryboats going that way, etc....).

"Thailand - Bangladesh $800"

We sent from Chennai to Bangkok by air (Malaysia Airlines), and it was roughly 600 euros altogether. I would think sending to Chennai or Kathmandu might work better than Bangladesh, but I havent tried that so I dont really know.

[Frank Warner]

Originally Posted by J1mbo

Clothing, medical kit $500
Bike trousers, jacket, helmet, boots & gloves $3000
Spares & tools $350

Off road course $650

GPS $800

These things you can do now - get them out of the way.
In particular the 'off raod course' and the GPS will be of benifit now and you get to practice, so it will be better on the trip. Oh - do a first aid course .. remote area course is best for your kind of trip. The medical kit - some of those things in it have expiry dates .. so may be not untill you are getting ready to go.

[chris]

GPS: not needed. hence aus$0. Buy maps. Ask people. Use guide books.

Off road course: not needed. hence aus$0. Before you go, take it easy on a gentle gravel road at home. Don't use front brake too much.

Helmet and jacket costs: I'm sure you can do that cheaper too.

Bike: ride something Japanese. More reliable.
On my trip (see my website) I was on US$30 a day excluding shipping and having to constantly repair my pile of sh*t BMW. Did meet lots of nice people because of the bike though.

Enjoy,
Chris

[Bjorn]

Friend of mine did London to Sydney in about the same time, going via Kasachstan. He said he was on about US$900 per month. He did it on a F650 Dakar, which was very reliable.
I'm setting off from London to Sydney via Iran and the Stans. Lots of paperwork & visa, but I'm still hoping to be around the US$900/month benchmark. F650 Dakar as well. Check out my website for some info on the trip prep so far.

Bjorn

[KevOK]

Hey bud ,
I did Sydney to Cork (Ireland) last sept, in 99 days. I was on a Gs 650 also. I was in a bit of a hurry but I had a similar budget as yourself. You should be fine with what you got for sure. I went through SE asia then onto Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey ,detoured to Syria and Jordan before returning to Turkey and on to europe, I spent most of the trip on good enough roads. If your going this way you'll be fine without any off road course, you'll pick it up as you fall down.
What route are you taking, you can check my blog out if you like any more info
halfwayround - Â*Â*Â*Â* Â*Â*Â*Â*Â* Â*Â*Â*Â* Â*Â* All Who Wander Are Not Lost Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â* Â*Â*Â*Â*

Ride on
Kev

[TravellingStrom]

Hi

Are you sure only $150 for vaccinations?

It has just cost me that for the first two of Hep A+B and i still have the last shot of that due in August. I still have all the others to go yet as well. I am banking on between 500-1000AU, but I am going for a few years.

What shots are you doing? These are mine

HEPATITIS A+B
YELLOW FEVER
MALERIA
TYPHOID
CHOLERA
DIPTHERIA
TETANUS BOOStER
POLIO BOOSTER
MENINGITIS A,C,W,X
ANTI RABIES

[twentyeightplaceslater]

Hey Dude,

I've started to plan a very simular trip leaving also next year.

Would be good if we could exchange tips and travel information.

Drop me an email

Cheers

J

[J1mbo]

Hey

Thanks for all your advice!! Will wait and see re the GPS and off road course, depends how the savings going i guess. Not sure about the route yet - guess i'll head up to darwin, over to indonesia, up to thailand then fly the bike to nepal. From there, not 100% but definitely want to check out the 'stans and Iran. If I still have time and money will try to check out Ukraine etc and maybe head up to the top of E Europe before heading West. Guess I'll play it by ear.

Good to hear the budgets in the right ball park.....guess its time to start saving now!!

Thanks for those links too...and will email soon!

J

[AussieNat]

Originally Posted by TravellingStrom

Hi
HEPATITIS A+B
YELLOW FEVER
MALERIA
TYPHOID
CHOLERA
DIPTHERIA
TETANUS BOOStER
POLIO BOOSTER
MENINGITIS A,C,W,X
ANTI RABIES

I wasnt aware there were any shots for cholera! Am I missing something? I imagine you mean Malaria plofilaxis (Tablets for prevention) not vaccination shots?
I would suggest you consider a measles/mumps check. If you havent had a full course of the shots as a kid, or never actually had the virus then its a good idea to get a booster. serious stuff for adults.
We decided not to get Hep B as its not 100% effective and less of a risk than Hep A.
I was never informed of Meningitis, we didnt get this one.

All in all I think your budget is quite high. I did 7months Osaka to Barcelona in 2002, LOTS of camping and mostly couch surfing in Europe and I spent a total of Aus$ 14 000. Thats including all gear and motorbike.

This time Im going with my GF 2-up. Once we get out of Oz we plan to be on a Aus$ 30 (total) a day budget. Cooking your own meals can save you plenty, even in asia.
I guess your ride will be a little more thirsty than our CT 110 though.

Good luck.
Nathan

[DNL1200GSA]

Great thread....didn't think about innoculations but will need to check all mine are up to date.

Plus I'm building up the posts to 8 so I can PM someone!

cheers

[TurboCharger]

Originally Posted by AussieNat

I wasnt aware there were any shots for cholera! Am I missing something? I imagine you mean Malaria plofilaxis (Tablets for prevention) not vaccination shots?
I would suggest you consider a measles/mumps check. If you havent had a full course of the shots as a kid, or never actually had the virus then its a good idea to get a booster. serious stuff for adults.
We decided not to get Hep B as its not 100% effective and less of a risk than Hep A.
I was never informed of Meningitis, we didnt get this one.

All in all I think your budget is quite high. I did 7months Osaka to Barcelona in 2002, LOTS of camping and mostly couch surfing in Europe and I spent a total of Aus$ 14 000. Thats including all gear and motorbike.

This time Im going with my GF 2-up. Once we get out of Oz we plan to be on a Aus$ 30 (total) a day budget. Cooking your own meals can save you plenty, even in asia.
I guess your ride will be a little more thirsty than our CT 110 though.

Good luck.
Nathan

Are you serious? 2-up on a CT110 postie bike?!!!!

You're nuts. Even the locals have 125cc bikes you'll be going slower then they are! I guess it's about what you see and not the time it takes to see it.

We're doing 2-up on a GS - that's luxiury but expensive. Putting the cost of the bike and gear aside we're travelling in Asia for about AUD$55-60 per day including fuel, food, accommodation, , tourism and the odd extra expense.

Check out our website Riding 2Up and let me know if you want any notes on shipping or travel planning.

Cheers,
TurboCharger

[Pumbaa]

Originally Posted by AussieNat

I wasnt aware there were any shots for cholera! Am I missing something?

The cholera is not an injection, it is 2 sachets you take. I think you take them at week intervals. Your 'vaccinated' for about 2 years then. It's not too expensive.

We did however spend almost AU$2,500 between 2 people. All our vaccinations were out of date though and we got the the Rabies jab as well.

Cheers

[Pumbaa]

Originally Posted by J1mbo

Hi

I've been thinking about riding from Sydney-London for years and have decided I'm finally going to do it. I'm thinking of leaving July 09 on a BMW650 Dakar and taking around 9 months, longer if the money lasts.

I've been trying to work out if I can afford it...if the below budget is in the right ball park, then I should be able to. They're only rough figures, I just need to know its not way off. Would appreciate any thoughts and if theres anything big i've missed out....

Thanks in advance!!

This is all in AUD$....

Daily spending (incl. fuel) $75 per day average
This is staying in backpackers (cheap but not the cheapest), eating at cafes etc and a few s in the eve, plus any extras.

Shipping/Air $1100
Darwin - Indonesia $300
Thailand - Bangladesh $800

Flights $700
Darwin - Indonesia $200
Thailand - Bangladesh $500

Visas & bike insurance on the road $1000
Carnet $1450
Rego $150
Travel Ins. $750
Clothing, medical kit $500
Bike trousers, jacket, helmet, boots & gloves $3000
Spares & tools $350
Immunisations $150
Off road course $650
Service for bike $500
GPS $800


Totals
Daily spending money (9 months) $20,000
Other on the road costs $1,800
Paperwork & pre-departure costs $9,300

Thanks for your help!!!

We are travelling in a 4x4, and so far to date we've averaged about AU$ 75 per day for the 2 of us. This is excluding fuel. With fuel, it just over $100 per day. In the 6 months on the road, we've stayed in paid accomodation for about 20 days or so. This includes Moscow and St Petersburg where it is a bit more expensive. Almaty is also an expensive city.

Check out our site for useful info on fuel prices and costs of a few basic things. There are also some GPS waypoints for border crossings.

Enjoy