Monthly cost of a RTW trip??

[Gotan]

Hi,

Firstly my apologies if this has been already discussed (I would appreciate to be directed to those discussions). I have been looking for two days and I only found old information and I'm running short of time.

Let me tell you that my girlfriend (10 years been together, kind of wife) and I have been dreaming with a RTW in a bike for the last 4 years, we have been saving and the idea was to do it in 2015.

Well, I have been retrenched, our Australian visa is about to end (we are both Chilean)... and we have some money (good redundancy package ) . And this is the perfect time to make the trip, in our 30s but still no kids . Her job is not too great, she already quit because we have to leave Australia.

Normal people would say we are doomed: no job, no house, no debts.... but you know that's a blessing.

The problem: Instead of having a year to plan the trip , we have like three months.

I'm doing the maths, the dream is to travel a year, mainly Europe, Russia, Mongolia,China (China is a problem apart, I already read about all the problems and cost, we will see when near china) South East Asia, if money allows Africa and then Americas.

After buying the bike (probably a klr650) and some flight tikets and equipment, we have near 30.000 USD for travelling itself.

My plan is to try to spend 1800 USD per month (900 Each), we will travel 2 up, camping, using couch surfing, cooking ourselves (she does de cooking to be honest ). Avoiding restaurants and hotels. I even thought in limit my speed to 80 or 90 Km/h to save in fuel. If we can accomplish this budget we will have some spare money in case something goes wrong or to travel for more time.

So my questions are:

do you thing my math is ok? or I will spend the 30k in the first 3 months?

Considering the way we are planing to travel,

how much should I expect to spend monthly? (I know some places are more expensive than others, any "world average" or regional info will be highly appreciated.


The last month or two have been really crazy, we have to decide if look for a new job or hit the road... HIT THE ROAD was the answer, but I don't want to have to stop travelling after 2 or 3 months, at least a year is the target.

Is real fun all the planning, but doing it running short of time is stressful too.
Talking about that, in one week we planned our trip across Australia in a little car, to see Australia before leaving, locals say we are crazy, but I think it should be quite easy do it in a car.
Here the map:
http://goo.gl/maps/4GDrS


Again, my apologies if there's another recent thread about this.


Cheers and thanks.

[chris]

Don't take this the wrong way, but have you used the search function at the top right of this page?

Also try Budgeting | Horizons Unlimited

[Walkabout]

I think you can definitely do it, because, from what you say, you have made the key decision already; to travel the world.
There are many ways of achieving what you want to do and, IMO, you have a healthy budget in place, to the extent that many others would like to be in the same situation.


You could spend a bit of time reading a selection of blogs that are "stored" in this website for general ideas about costs (yep, some people have kept detailed cost records in spread sheets for instance). You would also get inspiration for where to go and even how to do it: personally, I have been reading this one most recently:-
Chasing the Sunshine

If you really do need to reassure yourself about how far you can travel on your proposed budget then this thread has some useful/interesting input:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...00-month-61216

Personally, I would start the trip in one or other of those parts of the world where the cost of living is better value than some other, westernised, countries with a very high cost of living - such as Australia!

Best wishes for your plans!

[Gotan]

Originally Posted by chris

Don't take this the wrong way, but have you used the search function at the top right of this page?

Also try Budgeting | Horizons Unlimited

O yes, but I din't saw the page you linked, thanks!

cheers

[Gotan]

Originally Posted by Walkabout

I think you can definitely do it, because, from what you say, you have made the key decision already; to travel the world.
There are many ways of achieving what you want to do and, IMO, you have a healthy budget in place, to the extent that many others would like to be in the same situation.


You could spend a bit of time reading a selection of blogs that are "stored" in this website for general ideas about costs (yep, some people have kept detailed cost records in spread sheets for instance). You would also get inspiration for where to go and even how to do it: personally, I have been reading this one most recently:-
Chasing the Sunshine

If you really do need to reassure yourself about how far you can travel on your proposed budget then this thread has some useful/interesting input:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...00-month-61216

Personally, I would start the trip in one or other of those parts of the world where the cost of living is better value than some other, westernised, countries with a very high cost of living - such as Australia!

Best wishes for your plans!

thanks for the advice!!

cheers

[Oo-SEB-oO]

1500€ or 1800USD is perfect for two up. Avoid China and places where you will spend too much money on paperwork and visa. If you only have one year do the cheaper places and you'll have way more fun and at least you will be able to afford a decent place to sleep from time to time.

We've always been on multiple month trips and in total never spend more than 1500€ per month. Camping half the time and the other half a bit of free places and paid places. We don't cook as we don't fancy it and we can "easily" make it on 1500€ a month.

In june we go for 4 years RTW on 1500€ a month, some places will be a lot cheaper (will stay longer) and other will be more expensive (will go faster/stay shorter amount of time).

I don't think you would have any problems at all. You can always contact me for more (detailed) information.

[Gotan]

Originally Posted by Oo-SEB-oO

1500€ or 1800USD is perfect for two up. Avoid China and places where you will spend too much money on paperwork and visa. If you only have one year do the cheaper places and you'll have way more fun and at least you will be able to afford a decent place to sleep from time to time.

We've always been on multiple month trips and in total never spend more than 1500€ per month. Camping half the time and the other half a bit of free places and paid places. We don't cook as we don't fancy it and we can "easily" make it on 1500€ a month.

In june we go for 4 years RTW on 1500€ a month, some places will be a lot cheaper (will stay longer) and other will be more expensive (will go faster/stay shorter amount of time).

I don't think you would have any problems at all. You can always contact me for more (detailed) information.

Hi Oo-SEB-oO:

thanks a lot!!, this are really good news!!

and good luck in your trip!!

cheers

[Blader54]

There is a couple who left Canada on a KTM, and made it down into Central Amcerica (RTW is their goal) but then had an accident and the bike was wrecked so they went back to Canada, rebuilt the bike, and started again. This time they rode East in Canada but a week or 10 days ago they were in southern France heading for Portugal. Okay, my point is that their trip is very similar to yours. Two people, one KTM, and they do almost all wild camping and couch surfing. The good news is that Rocky is an engineer and is very good about keeping track of all of their costs. He has recently posted a very nice breakdown of exactly what their expenses are and he has also done a pie chart showing the categories and their relative proportions. They post their ride report here, but it because their information on expenses was posted as a response to a question on ADVrider I have to suggest you go over to the ride reports on ADVrider.com and look up the report of "Rockwell" that has the title "not all who wander are lost.....2 travel the world." I think it would be easiest to start with latest posts and work back or search his thread for the words "expense" or "costs". I hope this helps and I hope that you and your girlfriend/wife have a wonderful trip!!

[othalan]

Reality is that there is no way to know how much money you spend per day until you have been on the road for a few months. Everyone has different needs for level of comfort. Everyone has different travel rhythms. Everyone has different things that are important in the trip. I have seen many times that sticking too close to a budget made before the trip can lead to unhappiness when the expected style of travel doesn't meet personal needs to stay happy while traveling.

Here is how I budget: Any time I spend money I ask myself, "Would I rather spend money on this or travel a little bit longer?" Or if I am unhappy I ask myself: "Is there something I should be spending money on to be comfortable?" Then I go back and ask the first question as I am about to hand over the money.

I find that philosophy keeps me spending minimal money yet still feeling like I am traveling in comfort.

That said.....your budget of $1800 USD per month would allow me personally and a passenger with similar travel style to travel comfortably anywhere in the world if we cook, camp, and couchsurf as you describe.

[Walkabout]

Originally Posted by othalan

Reality is that there is no way to know how much money you spend per day until you have been on the road for a few months. Everyone has different needs for level of comfort. Everyone has different travel rhythms. Everyone has different things that are important in the trip. I have seen many times that sticking too close to a budget made before the trip can lead to unhappiness when the expected style of travel doesn't meet personal needs to stay happy while traveling.

Here is how I budget: Any time I spend money I ask myself, "Would I rather spend money on this or travel a little bit longer?" Or if I am unhappy I ask myself: "Is there something I should be spending money on to be comfortable?" Then I go back and ask the first question as I am about to hand over the money.

I find that philosophy keeps me spending minimal money yet still feeling like I am traveling in comfort.

That said.....your budget of $1800 USD per month would allow me personally and a passenger with similar travel style to travel comfortably anywhere in the world if we cook, camp, and couchsurf as you describe.

"Spend the cash on experiences before buying objects".

[Gotan]

Originally Posted by Blader54

There is a couple who left Canada on a KTM, and made it down into Central Amcerica (RTW is their goal) ....

thanks, I will give it a look

cheers

[Gotan]

Originally Posted by othalan

Reality is that there is no way to know how much money you spend per day until you have been on the road for a few months. Everyone has different needs for level of comfort. Everyone has different travel rhythms. Everyone has different things that are important in the trip. I have seen many times that sticking too close to a budget made before the trip can lead to unhappiness when the expected style of travel doesn't meet personal needs to stay happy while traveling.

Here is how I budget: Any time I spend money I ask myself, "Would I rather spend money on this or travel a little bit longer?" Or if I am unhappy I ask myself: "Is there something I should be spending money on to be comfortable?" Then I go back and ask the first question as I am about to hand over the money.

I find that philosophy keeps me spending minimal money yet still feeling like I am traveling in comfort.

That said.....your budget of $1800 USD per month would allow me personally and a passenger with similar travel style to travel comfortably anywhere in the world if we cook, camp, and couchsurf as you describe.

Very wise, thanks!

We will try to apply four philosophy

cheers

[Gotan]

In case there's anyone following this tread, we finally started our RTW trip, here I posted this start:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...327#post473377

bast regards,

[Bones667]

Hi Gotan

Wishing you both a great time on the road. Ride safe and enjoy . Keep us posted on ur travels and sent some pics to

Bones

[Gotan]

Hi Bones667

Thanks!!... Y will be posting some pics if time allows

Cheers