money- how do you do it
 

How do you finance it? I'm still trying to find a way to do it cheaper- aren't we all
I have been reading up on many people traveling far and getting lots of info from their blogs- Thanks all! but I got a question for a girl called Tiffany who confuses me totally. If you are out there can you please tell me your secret is?
I've read all your blogs, forums posts here and other sites and would just love to know exactly how you manage to travel to so many countries but nowhere can I find out how you manage to pay for all this over so long.
OK OK in advance I apologize as maybe I am being nosey and it's not my business I know but as I travel I keep running out of dosh struggling to keep to £600 a month - I find odd jobs to top up.
I read that so many people all over the world have fixed your bike and given you stuff and parts for free, hosted you etc etc so I guess that takes some of the pain out but what job or what else on earth can give you all those resources, (shipping alone is so expensive) over so long and give you the time to do it too? Or is it the bank of mom and dad? (if it is I'll be quiet!)
I struggle to make ends meet on the road so I would love to know your secret. Thanks

Most people sell up or rent out their property or save up or work on the road. Others do it on credit and pay for it when they get home.

jeiger

While you are waiting for your specific request to be met you could refer to this sticky thread:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-lifestyle-458

Post 3 more times and you could even send a PM to your particular "person of interest".

ah ok I did not know that. thanks for advice

hi planet
check out ian coates he traveled around the world for 14 years and he's 69 now and was doing it for £10 to £20 per day

That is a cool 70 grand right there, before buying the bike etc etc.....

ouch that's a lot of money to have- thanks guys- I am still hoping the very popular Tiffany lady will come and explain how she does it- all the blogs I read and count the cost just don't seem to add up. :0(
It would be so nice to get a real 'how to do it' especially if you don't have a house to sell or rent, not a lot of savings and are running on almost fresh air.

It's not hard to find a few clues...

Contact and Events | Tiffany Coates Travels the World

Globebusters.com | The GlobeBusters Team

Unless you're good enough/interesting enough/determined enough to turn travelling into your 'day job' (and I don't even know if it *is* Tiffany's main job - I'm sure she'll speak for herself if she thinks it's any of our business), then I think you may be disappointed to find that the answer is...

"go to work and spend as little as possible until you do have enough savings"

Even those who have managed to turn travelling into a self-financing venture will, I suspect, have sunk plenty of money acquired by other jobs into travelling before they've made enough of a 'name' for themselves to make it pay for itself.

Hi,

Rent the cheapest room you can get, work hard, save 5000 Euro for two years around Africa insluding bike, visa, petrol and food etc, dont waste it on expensive smartphones or cars and then go. Sleep in your tent while traveling to keep costs down. Give talks and write articles for magazines when your back and start from the top again:

www.adventure-travel-experience.de/index.php?report=en_transafrika

Travel save, Tobi

finance
 

OK here is the solution #1 you can make a fake charity like many others do or did and collect plenty of money and use it for yourself, option #2 make a great video intro and a good back up story and collect fund to help with the movie ( but don't really do the movie)
For me it was hard work and saving for my first RTW and the next one coming I will most likely have to sale my house .

PS: should I :ban::ban:myself for this post

Certainly, you should not be banned for raising this issue; in the UK it has concerned me for a long time and it seems there are similar issues in the States.
There are all manner of issues with charitable donations in the UK, not least of which is accountability for where the cash goes after it is put into a collection tin - and that is small beer compared with the charitable aims of some groups.

ride
 

I do volunteer locally and did many missions abroad (all for free and all travel expenses paid by myself ) and I am always a bit concerned to see people doing a ride for... or that ... without a clear plan and also a report after the trip . I worked in Africa and Asia and riding along and telling people about cleaning food or boiling water is pretty much a waste compare to people who go there and build water well and similar usefull and realistic project. I know it does look great to come and claim I am riding arround the world against or for something but in reality what is the effect after the trip. Or maybe its just to get sponsors...

I actually think that most of the people who do the rides for this cause or that cause fall into one of two groups:

1. The rip off artists who scam the money to fund the trip
2. The 'middle class guilt syndrome' lot who just feel guilty and can't ride for enjoyment or it's own sake and need to 'have a cause'. It would be interesting to see how much money donated gets spent on the trip even in this case.

I don't have a lot of time for either group and wouldn't donate, but that's just me....

UK regulations/rules and laws for charities
 

I am a long, long way from having expertise in this but I have been informed, during this kind of conversation, that it is quite legitimate for those who collect for charities to deduct their expenses from those donations before passing on the collection to the cause.
That immediately raises the issue of what are "reasonable" expenses.
Certainly, folklore here in the UK refers to "professional" tin-rattlers in the streets of Britain who have every right to open up the tin at the end of the day, count the contents, deduct expenses and pass on the balance, no questions asked and with no receipts or other statements of account.

An exception to this that I do know of is the Royal British Legion - I know from personal experience that those collection tins are passed on through the system without first being opened at the point of initial collection.

Perhaps someone can explain how this all works out in practice.

Hello...the money question
 

Hi Planet Muncher
Apologies for not responding sooner, I got your PM, started a reply and then realised that I wanted to think about my answer a bit as I know sometimes people are quick to judge and pass comments. And then couldn't find this thread again! Here goes...

When you look more closely you will find that there are a lot of people managing to travel for long periods of time on little money. I think we all have different stories for how we have managed to do it.
Basically I'm cheap!!
There is no-one financing me, it is all my own money which has been hard earned cash and carefully saved over long periods of time. I also pick up jobs when I'm travelling. I have a pretty normal job when I'm in England- I'm a youth and community worker, but in the past I have had other jobs.
So to begin with I prioritise my saving - I live pretty cheaply at home, I have no vehicle except my motorbike, Thelma. I bought her second-hand 15 years ago for £3000 (quite a bargain when you think how much travel I've done with her since) and in fact I had to only pay half the cost then as I was sharing all costs with my best friend Becky and we were two up on the bike. Again, that's another way to travel more economically is if there are two of you.

When I'm on the road I live cheaply as well- it's a question of priorities again, some people feel more comfortable in nice hotels with parking etc, I'm more likely to be in my tent halfway up a mountain somewhere, but that's mainly because I love camping and being outdoors.
Fuel is always the biggest expense for me when I am on the road- though one of the "benefits" of being from Britain is that almost everywhere you go, you can say
"oooh, the fuel is cheaper here" :smiliex:

Living in Europe means that shipping is minimal as we can get to every continent except the Americas and Australia/New Zealand without having to ship.
My travels have taken place over quite a number of years, which may give the impression I'm always away travelling (I wish!), when actually I've been at home a lot saving up in between these journeys. And yes, although people have at times helped me out on my trips, for example with some help on bike repairs (it's always an on-going effort as my bike is not a new one) I actually pay full for most things- those people just don't necessarily get a mention.
Free hospitality is something that is given as well as received, I host a lot of people when I'm at home- and sometimes send people to stay even when I'm not at home!
There is no magic secret to how to travel on little money- it's the passion to travel and explore that drives me, and I've found that the slower I travel the cheaper it is per day.
But I'm not a strict budget type person who has worked out exactly how much they can spend each day. I head off :scooter: with a finite amount of money, a clutch of travel dreams and come home when the money runs out....or sometimes a bit after that point has been reached and have a big credit card debt to pay off!!
It's always been worth it:D

I hope that might answer your questions a bit.