Planning a 2022 RTW trip. Rate my basic budget?
 

Disclaimer: title is wrong, plans is to leave in June 2022.

Hi all!

Planning to leave for a 2022 RTW starting in Switzerland and hopefully ending in Canada one and a half to two years later. I've got a rough idea of the route and the costs involved but I thought I'd ask what you guys think to be sure it's doable.

A bit of context: I'm 33, I don't mind camping, couch surfing and hostels but I also think there'll be a few hotels here and there to recharge (once every month maybe?). I also like to have a few drinks at night and party once in a while. So I'm guessing I won't be roughing it out as much as some of you budget wise.

Route starts in Switzerland, will go through Iran, the Stans, the China pass to Pakistan, India, Myanmar, Thailand (hopefully) then all the way to Indonesia where I'll be shipping the bike to S-America and go up north to N-America.

Basic budget: below (bike cost/vaccines/equipment costs etc are not included as this will be paid before the departure from a current account and not my savings for the trip).

• Eat/Drink/Sleep/Repairs/Misc: 24'000$
• Fuel: 4'000$
• Shipping (Indo to Chile): 2'000$
• Shipping (Colombia to Panama): 1'000$
• Shipping (Canada to Europe): 1'500$
• Flights tickets: 1'200$
• China Crossing: 1'300$
• CDP: 500$
• Visas: 500$
• TOTAL: 35'000$ or so

So that's what I have for now... Would you think it's reasonable enough ? Can I last 500 days on that? Or that would mean camping everyday and saying goodbye to my 6 O'Clock coldbrew? beer

Thanks a ton!:mchappy:

To compare the travelling costs is unfortunately not very satisfying.

Each traveller has his own habit of spending the money abroad. One eat just the best meat/fish who is available, others are happy with cheaper noodles at the menue.

To stay more days in cheaper countrys, be speedy in expensive countrys - can shift your costs extremly.

Shipping, Visa, Insurance, fuel is given for the same route others did - the rest is so much "up2you"

But I`m shure other bikers can help you a bit. For the car worldtrippers often an amount of 80 USD a day is to read in the blogs and websites.

For me that is not very valid - with the reasons adressed above.

I wish you a nice trip anyway! Greetings from zurich :cool4:

Surfy

I'll agree that the basic, most valid answer is "it depends." Beyond that, I'm just noticing that where you've been specific about easily-quantifiable costs (visas, fuel, shipping, CDP, flights, etc.), you're either underestimating or counting on everything going just about perfectly. With my US passport, I'd spend a lot more than this on visas--if you're Swiss, this might be different for you. I've definitely spent more on fuel in just a year. A CDP would cost me quite a bit more, as have flights.

Plus: your budget doesn't appear to include many of those optional extras which sometimes turn out to be the real point of a trip--special tours and activities, or the times when you leave the bike behind in order to, say, go to Antarctica, take a dugout up the Sepik, sail through Guna Yala, or learn to [choose any three of the following: rock climb, kite sail, scuba dive, ski mountaineer, go spelunking, speak another language, mountain bike, kayak amongst whales, paraglide, bungy jump, play the kora.....and more like this].

Caveat: I've not done an actual around-the-world trip, and I don't tend to track expenses very closely. I definitely leave a considerable margin for error when budgeting for long journeys, and I'm usually glad I did.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

Very much so, thanks!

Agreed that some of the costs where wild guesses or usually taken from other websites/travellers diaries etc.


I've read that any budget you come up with, double it.
And although I'm sure there's some truth to that, I sure hope I don't need 60K for this trip :).

I've been researching like hell for the last 2 months and I'll continue to do so until the big day comes. I'll try to refine that budget as much as I can by then.

Cheers!

In general, I've found that my trips do average out to about 100 EUR a day whatever I do. In your budget, however, markharf is right - some things you are hoping for will get more expensive.

E.g. you've budgeted for crossing China - and that amount is low, it's realistic if you happen to join an existing largish group and share costs, but that assumes you will find one that works with your schedule.

You have not budgeted for crossing Myanmar (definitely needs a guide) and Thailand (may or may not need a guide or extra paperwork, depends on how their government is feeling that week).

Have you researched the shipping from Indonesia to Chile? I'm not entirely sure that's a high-traffic route. Finding a cheap space in a container may be complicated. Not impossible, but talk to freight forwarders there and find out in advance...

1200 dollars to fly yourself both from Indonesia to Chile AND from Canada to Europe is optimistic. Looking right now at tickets for July 2021 on Skyscanner, quotes from Jakarta to Santiago start at about a thousand euros.

Hello

That's what it will come to in reallity.:(

Try to calculate from your previous trips to figure out what you need on food, sleeping, fun etc.
On your next 3-5 week trip write down every cent you spend and make categorys on what you spend it.
Once you know your spending habits you can fill in prices of those costs in other parts of the world.

Only you can figure out what you need to feel happy.
I met riders on a budget that I got a little jealous and others when I thought how can you live like that.

As said above, flights and shipping are low calculated, maybe 50% more.
Shipping by air is fast but expensive, sea is cheaper but takes longer and has hidden costs.
Check out the database here on the HUBB.
One way flight are only a little bit cheaper than round way flights.

Don't forget insurances; medical, accident, rescue, etc. ,also liability for the bike in every country where you need it and can buy it.

Also, costs for storing your stuff at home, depending on your situation.

As a swiss, if your away for more than one year, don't forget to pay the minimal fee for AHV, not a lot but makes a huge difference one day.
Also check out about unemployment regulations for your return.
Starting live again is also easier if your not totaly broke when you come home.
If riding with swiss number plate, pay insurance and taxes back home or give the plate back and ride with a selfemade plate like many cars do, just remenber that then you ride illegal and might face problems with locally bought insurance, especially in USA/CND.

Also a big amount is to break out of the system, paying all bills, tv, gas/elektricity, taxes and many more...
That was a bad surprise for me, didn't expect that much.


And many more little things...

sushi

I did not track it on any trip, transafrika yes, south america not.

If you like a detailed writeup nachodrive is not beatable - very detailed :thumbup1:

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PnlIZ2MZ6...verlanding.jpg

You can look deep as you like into, even any day per country:

http://www.drivenachodrive.com/2015/...und-the-world/

Good to see which country is cheaper, which cost more. And what he spend for more unusual stuff like repairs.

It is for 4x4 travelling, but guess it could be helpful too?

I`m shure there is a biker blog around who did spend the same time for a detailed writeup of the cost?

Surfy

Lots of good advice so I'm not going to repeat it. My perspective is that- yes, it depends. If you visit a lot of National Parks this may cost a lot (e.g., for us (2) to enter Serengeti NP, camping in a public campsite, was USD 380 for one day... ; on the other hand some parks are free). Museums can add up. If you go to special exhibitions they can be USD 50 per person. In some countries museums are free.

You would eat if you stayed at home, so we don;t think about the cost of food (or drink), although obviously if you want to know what your bank balance needs to be to start then I guess this is an element. AS markharf says - if you go to Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef for a couple of days, or stay in an upmarket lodge in Patagonia, then this will be expensive. Australian campgrounds are expensive (I know you don't plan to visit Australia, however it illustrates the variability).

We plan on USD 100 a day as a guide, then add shipping costs, flights (you may want to fly somewhere for a couple of days instead of 6 days on the road to get there and back). Visas can be expensive, although you'll have to check with a Swiss passport (one of our visas for Europe cost USD 1140 !). Repairs and maintenance vary (inexpensive in Africa, costly in Europe, etc.).

So, my reactions to your budget:

Eat/Drink/Sleep/Repairs/Misc: 24'000$ - should be OK
Fuel: 4'000$ - depends on how far you go - assume that your "Exploring Distance" will be double the most direct route distance.
Shipping (Indo to Chile): 2'000$ - seems low - the freight cost may be less, but there are a lot of "hidden" charges.
Shipping (Colombia to Panama): 1'000$ - probably not bad (although we haven't done this)
Shipping (Canada to Europe): 1'500$ probably not bad (although we haven't done this with a bike - with a 4x4, some while ago, it cost USD2500)
Flights tickets: 1'200$
China Crossing: 1'300$
CDP: 500$ - no idea for you - we've spent as much as USD 2000 with a deposit of USD 1800 (included) which was returned, and as little as USD 250, with a USD 200 deposit returned, so a net cost of USD50 to 200.
Visas: 500$ - see above - could be a lot more. I would assume USD 100 per visa and so for 30 borders this could easily be USD 3000.
TOTAL: 35'000$ or so

NOTE - some border crossings may be problematic: Myanmar, Pakistan, perhaps others - you need to do the research.

Our caveat - we don't track costs either, although this doesn't mean we don't take care to ensure we're spending wisely. Haven't done a round the world trip as such, however we've done long trips (South America, Africa, Australia) and lots of shorter trips (Canada, USA, Central America, Europe, Asia).

Its totally impossible to tell or advise totally about budgets as its totally individual and depends of so many factors. However I can see that a few things are missing on your budget suggestion and that is insurances, travel insurance for yourself in case of medical emergencies and bike insurance as in most countries around the world its mandatory to have at least third party coverage.

Shipping Colombia - Panama with Sthalratte was 1200 USD 2 years ago and its probanly more now. But there might be other alternatives of course.

In general I would say money goes out faster than most travellers think so its better to calculate a budget a little more than you think at first. Theres always some expences that comes that are not planned. Dentist, forgot your gloves at last hostel and need to buy new ones etc etc just to use some of my own examples.
Then - if you make a budget - stick to it! Write down all your expences and calculate each and every day and week.

Rule of life - it will cost more than you think.

My travels by motorcycle for 6-8 months at a time over the last few years have ended up costing me about $60-70 a day for everything except major freighting activities. Major air freight never seems to leave much change from $2000.

I don't try and skimp and do it at minimum cost, but neither do I spend up big (more camping and hostels than hotels, mainly locals meals, one beer a night etc). Even with this lifestyle for two years I would expect to spend around $50,000.

I reckon you could do it on your budget but it would be very tight and you might end up running out of money early. Good luck with your planning.

Sent from my moto g(8) plus using Tapatalk

What's the old saying..?
Put everything you think you'll need on the bed before you pack it...
Now, pack half the stuff and twice the money!

Thanks a ton for all your messages and wise words.

Indeed it's always best to be cautious and plan lots more money that I might think is sufficient.

Getting to around 35'000$ will still be my ultimate goal before leaving as I don't think I can save much more than that in the next 2 years and I don't want to postpone the trip until 2023.

All in all, I might only get to Australia in a year which is already a great success in my book. If money is short by then, I'll know it's time to come back. I still think 35K in pocket the day I leave should last me quite a bit. I did 9 months backpacking trip when I was 20 in SE Asia with 10K or so I believe and that's without any camping/couchsurfing and with plenty of drinking/activities and a few flights. So we'll see.

If I manage to still have some funds, I'll evaluate then what to do and where to go.

But the message is indeed clear: prepare for the worst, hope for the best :)

Cheers everyone!

I saw a pretty detailed breakdown by one couple who had travelled from Europe to SE Asia, more camping than hoteling. Their rough cost (a few years ago) was $60 a day. Last year I did a couple of months round southern Europe last year and I was spending more like £60 a day. Make of that what you will.

Honestly, the plan is to leave western Europe as soon as I can. First I know the place quite well already and fuel/food/hostels/camping are way more expensive.

Getting to Turkey/Iran/Stans fast and take my time there onwards. I don't see how I'll be spending more than 40$ a day camping in Tajikistan if I don't have any breakdown (and 40 is pushing it).

But then again, I'm basing that on videos/blog/web research. Never been there.

If you need any help in Pakistan, do let me know. I will do my best to help. I can share my whatsapp number in your inbox if you want