North America trip costs

[CountPacMan]

Before starting my trip I was curious as to how much it would cost me. This cost breakdown might help others:

This leg of my trip ran exactly 5 months(154 days) from Jun 9 - Nov 9 in 2003 and I traveled all over the USA, Canada, and 10 days into Northern Mexico(for the HU Rally). I already owned the motorcycle(Kawasaki EX500) and all related equipment (camping, photo, etc...) so they are not included in the cost of the trip.

I spent:

$496.69 - bike parts, oil changes, repairs
$747.04 - gasoline (est 1500 liters)
$903.56 - food
$408.77 - entertainment
$713.38 - lodging
$685.59 - misc (laundry, insurance, fees...)

Total - $3955.03

this comes to an average of $25.68 per day
and of that $25.68 per day here is the breakdown:

$3.23/day on the bike
$4.85/day on gasoline
$5.87/day on food
$2.65/day on entertainment
$4.63/day on lodging
$4.45/day on misc

I'm sure some people can get away with spending less, but I can't. Most people would spend more. Here is how I kept the costs to these relativly low levels:

BIKE - I did all of my oil changes and only changed the filter every 3rd oil change. Almost every gas station outside population centers will let you change your own oil if you buy oil from them. One of them charged me $1 for oil recycling but the rest didn't.

FOOD - breakfast was a light meal of granola bars, or fig bars, or similar. Lunch was a heavy meal of either canned food/beef jerkey/bagels/etc... or restaurant food. All you can eat buffets run for $5 - $7 usually in the US/Canada and will definetly fill you up. I usually ate in a restaurant 3 times a week. More where it was cheaper. Dinner was usually canned food cooked over my stove. Helps keep costs REALLY low. I'm also very thankful for people I stayed with along the way - they never left me hungry.

LODGING - Most of my nights were in my tent and more then half of those nights were not at a pay campsite. In much of the US/Canada it is very easy to find a place to pitch the tent without beeing seen from the road. Good maps will show goverment land (National Parks/Forests/Grassland/Shoreline, State Parks and Forests, BLM land, etc...) The trick is usually to find a side gravel or dirt road and take it for a couple KMs or so until you're out of sight of the main road. You don't need a dual-sport to follow most of these roads for short distances if you take it slowly. My fully loaded Kawasaki EX500 is anything but a dual-sport.

Finding places to sleep without paying becomes very dificult in heavily populated Eastern USA/Canada and I was forced to pay often there. A tip about SHOWERS - find a pay campsite where there is no front gate guard and just go to the shower building, pay your 25 cents, and shower away. If you are near a major Interstate Higway find a truck stop on your map and drop in. They all have showers. Another really good way to keep costs down and make new friends is to keep in touch with HU Communities when you are getting close to an area where they exist. I've had many great motorcyclists help along the way!

MISC - all kinds of unexpected fees/tolls and other costs came up in my trip and there is no way to keep most of them low, but I can say that hunting for the lowest rate on motorcycle insurance can really help. I spent $20/month on full coverage insurance for USA/Canada and $35 for two weeks liability insurance in Mexico (thats how short term insurance rates go I'm afraid...)

I hope this helps give an idea on costs and ideas on keeping costs low. The lower you keep your costs, the longer you can stay on the road and not in a cubicle at work. Even if this means slowing down your trip - there were many days that I just sat under a shady tree near my tent and read a book and relaxed. A day spent like that costs me around $3 in food and that is the only cost when camped for free!


------------------
Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius - William Blake

[PanEuropean]

An excellent, informative post, thanks very much for taking the time to write it.

It sure gives me food for thought - my expenses average about USD 100 a day when on tour in Europe, and that does not include getting the bike there.

I think I might consider taking some of your suggestions.

[Goetz]

I agree with PanEuropean.
I rode some 26.000 km in northern and eastern Europe and Sibiria within 80 days. Spent 4.000 € which eqivals to 50€ a day.
Bike and tent etc. not included.
With hindsight an expensive trip.

Some general hints work everywhere:
- the faster the dearer (see my example)
- my experience: accomodation can be a third of a trip. Go for free camping. Enjoy the countryside. If you hit a big town entry early to get cheap accomodation (paying 70U$ at 11 pm whilst raining cats and dogs in Irkutsk is not cheap)
-maintenance: depends on the wage per hour. If a pro is able to change your steering bearings for 2 U$ an hour, let him do it. On the other hand I can change my oil myself in Europe or N america.
-chow: the higher the BIP, the more U gotta cook yourself. I cannot afford to dine out in a norwegian restaurant.
But I can in Russia or India or S America.

Just some thoughts

Goetz

[Goetz]

I forgot
MISC: depends where U R from and where U go
I had to pay a good 500€ for my visas (RUS+UA)
So one more time: the longer U stay the cheaper

Goetz

[maysmor]

cheers, thats really informative. Ill be travelling in mexico, and c.america and some pple are telling me to expect around $50 a day and Im wondering how on earth you can spend that amount of money in countries like that. I am a budget traveller- bread and tuna 3 times a day if i have to, so to know you can do under $30 a day in north america, my dreams of being cubicle less for at least 5 months is nearing!!

[PanEuropean]

Well - I think USD $50 a day would probably be a more reasonable budgetary figure. Count PacMan is, without a doubt, a wizard at keeping costs down. I live in Canada - grew up here - and I think I would have a very hard time travelling around on USD $50 (CAD $60) a day, even without any lodging expenses.

Although it is possible to 'camp rough' in Canada - meaning, pitching your tent on undeveloped land, rather than in a designated campsite - it can be quite difficult to accomplish this near the heavily populated areas. My guess is that if you were travelling on a moto with an out-of-country licence plate, you would probably encounter more hospitality than hostility if you camped somewhere that you shouldn't be using for camping - but, that's a pretty lonely existence, camping by yourself every night, and I'm not sure if the cost savings would justify what you give up so far as meeting fellow travellers in public or private campgrounds.

If I was seriously parsimonious, and really watched the nickels and dimes, I could probably go across Canada and/or the USA on USD $40 a day all in (assuming my fuel burn was that of a 500cc motorcycle) - but, it would require quite a bit of discipline, and some serious budget control. My budget suggestion for this continent, assuming you are camping and preparing your own evening and morning meals, would be somewhere around USD $40 a day PLUS FUEL. The reason I phrase it that way ('plus fuel') is that food, shelter, etc. is pretty much the same for everyone, but fuel burn will vary greatly depending on what kind of moto you have.

[Vaufi]

Interesting thread!

In most countries in Europe I don't see any problems in free camping outside urban areas. Of course this does not apply to in and around Greater London.

Visiting Romania last fall also cost me somewhere around €25 a day for food, lodging and fuel. No repairs except for a puncture which I fixed myself :-)

Southern Africa and South America should be much the same 25 - 30 €/day although in Rep. of SA I'd prefer to stay on campgrounds. All other countries no probs with wild camping.

I enjoy this "lonesome" camplife. I always met interesting people on the road .

[Gipper]

On a 2 Month Trip around Europe on a Yamaha TTR 250 (yes I am Mad) On a Tight Budget. I kept the costs down by travelling out of season (March-April) Bit cold in the Pyrennees - any camp sites I stayed at were generally closed and after knocking on doors I Camped for free !
For a meal, head into a bar or cheap diner and wait until someone has finished there meal and left some, then ask if you may have it - slightly cheeky, but several times the staff would even go and microwave it for me !!! Not everyones style though....
Oil changes were done in Motorbike shops - id buy the oil from them and use there tools.
You are blessed in North America with cheap Fuel and camping, - In Canada Camping is about half the price of Europe is well thought out and equipped - the National Parks are simply stunning, and fuel is less than half price of Europe, so your money goes much much further, like the guys say, the faster you go the more it costs.....
When I sold the TTR 250 it had done 75,000 KMs and never missed a beat !!! - though it was a little slow....
Always talk politely to people and they will look after you....a Roof, Meals, Laundry and a shower !!!
Cheers
Grif


------------------
Ex RAF Regt, Ex Dragoman, LRE Instructor,
LR 90 300 Tdi Overlander
Suzuki DR650 Overlander
..and Bloody Nice Bloke!

[ct_miller13]

There is a camping guide for the U.S., it can be found at Amazon.com and borders.com. It covers all the camp grounds in all fifty states. They also have a free camping guide, one for the eastern U.S. and one for western U.S. If planning a trip through the states its definately worth picking up. Various National Parks, Conservation Areas and Army Corps of Engineers have free camping avaliable. Most are considered primitive, no toilets, showers, however there are usually ones nearby at the day use areas. Although with the advancements with outdoor gear more and more people are using camp grounds, therefore the prices are ever increasing.

[This message has been edited by ct_miller13 (edited 24 February 2006).]

[bentbikernz]

thanks for the info i leave for the usa los angeles on the 20th april to do the old route 66

Originally Posted by CountPacMan

Before starting my trip I was curious as to how much it would cost me. This cost breakdown might help others:

This leg of my trip ran exactly 5 months(154 days) from Jun 9 - Nov 9 in 2003 and I traveled all over the USA, Canada, and 10 days into Northern Mexico(for the HU Rally). I already owned the motorcycle(Kawasaki EX500) and all related equipment (camping, photo, etc...) so they are not included in the cost of the trip.

I spent:

$496.69 - bike parts, oil changes, repairs
$747.04 - gasoline (est 1500 liters)
$903.56 - food
$408.77 - entertainment
$713.38 - lodging
$685.59 - misc (laundry, insurance, fees...)

Total - $3955.03

this comes to an average of $25.68 per day
and of that $25.68 per day here is the breakdown:

$3.23/day on the bike
$4.85/day on gasoline
$5.87/day on food
$2.65/day on entertainment
$4.63/day on lodging
$4.45/day on misc

I'm sure some people can get away with spending less, but I can't. Most people would spend more. Here is how I kept the costs to these relativly low levels:

BIKE - I did all of my oil changes and only changed the filter every 3rd oil change. Almost every gas station outside population centers will let you change your own oil if you buy oil from them. One of them charged me $1 for oil recycling but the rest didn't.

FOOD - breakfast was a light meal of granola bars, or fig bars, or similar. Lunch was a heavy meal of either canned food/beef jerkey/bagels/etc... or restaurant food. All you can eat buffets run for $5 - $7 usually in the US/Canada and will definetly fill you up. I usually ate in a restaurant 3 times a week. More where it was cheaper. Dinner was usually canned food cooked over my stove. Helps keep costs REALLY low. I'm also very thankful for people I stayed with along the way - they never left me hungry.

LODGING - Most of my nights were in my tent and more then half of those nights were not at a pay campsite. In much of the US/Canada it is very easy to find a place to pitch the tent without beeing seen from the road. Good maps will show goverment land (National Parks/Forests/Grassland/Shoreline, State Parks and Forests, BLM land, etc...) The trick is usually to find a side gravel or dirt road and take it for a couple KMs or so until you're out of sight of the main road. You don't need a dual-sport to follow most of these roads for short distances if you take it slowly. My fully loaded Kawasaki EX500 is anything but a dual-sport.

Finding places to sleep without paying becomes very dificult in heavily populated Eastern USA/Canada and I was forced to pay often there. A tip about SHOWERS - find a pay campsite where there is no front gate guard and just go to the shower building, pay your 25 cents, and shower away. If you are near a major Interstate Higway find a truck stop on your map and drop in. They all have showers. Another really good way to keep costs down and make new friends is to keep in touch with HU Communities when you are getting close to an area where they exist. I've had many great motorcyclists help along the way!

MISC - all kinds of unexpected fees/tolls and other costs came up in my trip and there is no way to keep most of them low, but I can say that hunting for the lowest rate on motorcycle insurance can really help. I spent $20/month on full coverage insurance for USA/Canada and $35 for two weeks liability insurance in Mexico (thats how short term insurance rates go I'm afraid...)

I hope this helps give an idea on costs and ideas on keeping costs low. The lower you keep your costs, the longer you can stay on the road and not in a cubicle at work. Even if this means slowing down your trip - there were many days that I just sat under a shady tree near my tent and read a book and relaxed. A day spent like that costs me around $3 in food and that is the only cost when camped for free!


------------------
Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius - William Blake

[kbikey]

Good going Count!
My first motorcycle trip in 1974 had a buget of all the money I could get my hands on $115.00.I rode through 5 states camping under a space blanket tied to the bike lean-to. I visited realatives in North Carolina and Georgia and got luckey with a girl in Ga. I had gone to school with, I took my 1st. plane ride in N.C. and drank alot of .
Ah yes the good old days. A couple of days ago I filled the tank on my KLR and it cost $18,50.

[Namron]

As per the above cost break down I am sure you will have to at least double the cost for 06 due to inflation.
Norm

[LittleJoe]

Originally Posted by Namron

As per the above cost break down I am sure you will have to at least double the cost for 06 due to inflation.
Norm

Are you kidding - I can't wait till I hit north america your gas prices are 1/4 of what they are here!

[Namron]

Originally Posted by LittleJoe

Are you kidding - I can't wait till I hit north america your gas prices are 1/4 of what they are here!

Only the point of Bentbiker was paying .49 for gas and it is now over $1.00 and every thing else has got up the same since 2003! This is for Canada
Norm

[loxsmith]

Count, can you point me in the direction of where you got the cheap insurance for Canada and US?
Thanks
Glen