SimonUribeConvers, don't worry to much. Oz, New Zealand, Europe and Western Turkey are expensive, but Eastern Turkey can be done on 10 Euro's a day (excluding Bus's) the huge added bonus there is that hitching is pretty easy! Pakistan, India, Nepal and parts of China can all be done on $10 a day. Thailand was about $15 a day, because I went out a lot.

I just got back from a trip that started in Indonesia and went by land (with the exception of two short flights) through S.E. Asia, Asia and Europe, where I ended up in Biarritz, France. The whole trip, 22 months, costed just over $9,000.

Have fun brotha...

WOW Bear, you really did give me hope. I´planning my trip with a 8-10.000 € for 10 month , as I said before. I´ll try to do it all by land or at least what it can be made. Just a question though, the 9000$ include Visas, airfare, transport etc..??? If it does
I´m willing to do anything in my power to do it as cheap as it can be made.
gracias

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Originally posted by subnubilus:
Skimax, you really think $2,000 in Western Europe is necessary? I'll be in the United Kingdom later this year and I hope to stick to my budget.

I haven't been to the UK, so I cannot really comment. But from what I have heard from all the English I have met on the road $2000 USD/month in the UK is a reasonable estimate.

If it gets too expensive, you can always run east to cushion the budget.

quote:

I think it'll be easier to live cheaply (or at least more comfortable to live cheaply) abroad than it is here in the US.

Sort of, but that 20% EU sales tax adds up quickly. And the high price of fuel raises the price of everything.

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Originally posted by sueai:
Yep, I'd agree with you, subnubilus. If you're willing to do things the non-customary way in a homogeneous society (like Japan) then you can often get by for much cheaper. It's been painful to readjust to living in the states where it's a hell of a lot harder to find corners to cut w/ respect to expenses, they've already been cut by so many other people that the price goes up! Harder to learn cheaper ways to do things as a traveler too b/c it takes time to learn what corners there are to cut.
Something that also figures in is how long people are willing to search for the cheaper routes to take as opposed to coughing up some cash and just enjoying trip. It took me a while to realize that not all societies are accommodating to squaters who are willing to pup their tents anywhere for a free nights sleep (perfect if your touring on your bike..). Stubborn me finally stopped searching for the squat spot and decided to abide by norms in some places, just put down the bills for cheap accommodation.
I have to admit, I wonder how long those who make it by on super small budgets spend looking for their bargains...wish I could fess up to living off of $5/day in the states! that's a feat.

For me, I spend a lot of time before my trip acquiring some of the critical info. I actually enjoy planning for my trip, but since I don't plan what I'll be doing when, it mostly amounts to getting the BEST airfare and taking notes about hostels I read about or phone numbers I have, tips and tricks I've heard mentioned, anything like that. I don't use most of the info later, but it's there if I need it.

Once I'm in the country, it's easy to be cheap. Even if I stay in a hostel every night of the month, that's usually going to be less than $600.00. By making sure I live a variety of ways on my trip, appropriate to the setting, I save up to half that money. If I'm in London, for instance, I might stay a few weeks with a friend I knew beforehand or a friend I meet once there (it pays to be sociable and interesting). If I'm in a rural city, I might take my cloak (or find a blanket) and see if staying the night outside works. At worse, I save $20, and at best, I find a neat way to camp and save hundreds. There are so many possibilities, and just be exploring those, you save money. Sometimes it will work out and sometimes it won't, but it'll even out down the road. As for food, I don't overindulge. I enjoy the simpler foods (so easy in Japan, where all the food is wonderful), I take my time with my tea and really enjoy it. By slowing down and doing what you feel like doing instead of following a calendar, you naturally spend less. You just have to acquire some discipline with some of your habits, that's all. It pays off enough that you can STOP WORRYING ABOUT MONEY and splurge with the comrades you meet on some weekends. Some of my best memories were in "cheap" restaurants in Japan which ate a considerable chunk of my wallet, but it was worth it and I could afford it because I was otherwise frugal.

As for getting around, that's an adventure in and of itself! I love trains and planes and boats and stuff, so I take those sometimes, and sometimes I don't feel like paying for a quick trip to the next city so I'll find another way. The options here are so open-ended that I better just leave it at that.

The only thing I foresee being a problem is alcohol. It can be expensive, but it can be nice. When I go to the UK later this year I'll have to try and save the pubs and my flask for mirthy times with newfound friends... USUALLY. You can't make rules like that, you just have to adapt. Exceptions are what makes things interesting.

Morning, working abroad is not as easy as it sounds. I don't have much experience abroad (sorry if I come off like I do, but I'm just a wee lad and getting my feet wet), but I've researched it quite a bit. It really depends on what kind of person you are (same deal with hitchhiking), what city you're in, what country you're FROM, what your skills are, if you're "educated" (I'm not), and so on. I think it's a great idea but I'm just saying it's not quite as simple as it sounds. It takes some doing. For my UK trip, I'm not going to work at all. It's illegal and I have my reasons for abiding by those laws at this time (especially if I want to move there one day). It'll be a relatively expensive trip for me, but I'm boosting my funds by spending the Summer living cheap in San Diego with a job.

I just PMed a guy about my -$5 a day experience so I don't want to get into it again, but it was not me looking for bargains, really. That was just living on the quirky border between misery and tranquility. It was generally an unpleasant experience, but as a means to an end and not an end itself, that's ok. Oddly enough, though, it did turn out to be an end in itself, but that was not the original purpose.

I don't know, I wish I could have said all this more concisely and have made some sort of point. This is a complicated issue, but simple at the same time. I just know what I want to do, then I see if I can do it and how, and if not what am I going to do instead, and at the end of it all you end up do something completely different based on your choices. It all works out no matter what, even if your trip is cut short, it'll affect your character. If fun is all your after, I guess that doesn't mean much, but if you're out to better yourself as well, then anything goes. You have to love happiness AND suffering, and more practically, you have to stop worrying about money. Never, ever worry about it. If you spend a bunch, lose a bunch, get robbed, whatever... it happened, it just changes the circumstances a bit (or a lot). You can't let it get to you. At the same time, if you want to save more, that's great! Find a way, find a way to do it without making yourself miserable or frustrated. It's easier to do when you're not stressing out about the possibility of spending more than you want.

quote:

Just a question though, the 9000$ include Visas, airfare, transport etc..???

Yup, and I like travelling that way. That's what feels comfortable/fun to me...

I was in India for about 7 months, Nepal for 4, and Pakistan for 3 though, so that really brought the average spending down. Depending on where you are in the those countries, you can't spend $10 in a day, but there are plenty of spots where you're money can still go like water.