BootsnAll Travel Community

OK. I admit it, I'm new to this. I've been to 17 countries (18 if you include East Germany), but never on a RTW or low budget. Our average vacation budget looks huge when I compare it to what I see people spending here. Heck, some of you have gone around the world on what I've spent on a week of R&R.

After a recent trip to Costa Rica, my wife finally decided she has the bug too and wants to do a RTW trek with me. I grew up travelling in Europe, with my first paid job as a tour guide, and have longed for such a trip for most of my life.

What I want to know is how much is reasonable to get nice accomadations in each area? When I say nice, I'm not referring to the Hilton, I'm talking about clean, private rooms in relatively safe areas, en suite baths. We're a married couple - I don't plan on spending any time in dorms or insecure settings. A safe place with some privacy to rest our heads after a day of hiking or other activity is what I'm looking for.

I made guestimates [WAG if you know what WAG means] based on former trips. These are much much smaller than I'm used to spending, but seem huge in comparison to what I see on this site. My question is simple - are these figures sufficient to satisfy the requirements listed above, or am I asking too much?

These do not take into consideration flight costs or overland travel costs (between countries), Visas, insurance, shopping, or extra activities. I'd like to keep the trip to about 1 year, and preferably under $50k total if possible.

Country / Cost per day / Days / Total
New Zealand $100.00 14 $1,400.00
Australia $145.00 7 $1,015.00
Singapore $100.00 4 $400.00
Malyasia $100.00 4 $400.00
Thailand $80.00 45 $3,600.00
Cambodia $65.00 7 $455.00
Laos $65.00 7 $455.00
Vietnam $65.00 10 $650.00
China $65.00 14 $910.00
Tibet $65.00 15 $975.00
Nepal $65.00 14 $910.00
India $55.00 45 $2,475.00
Tanzania $100.00 8 $800.00
Kenya $100.00 8 $800.00
Egypt $125.00 5 $625.00
Brazil $100.00 14 $1,400.00
Argentina $80.00 14 $1,120.00
Peru $80.00 14 $1,120.00
Costa Rica $100.00 30 $3,000.00
Chile $80.00 14 $1,120.00
Honduras $65.00 10 $650.00
Panama $80.00 14 $1,120.00
Ecuador $125.00 14 $1,750.00
Bolivia $55.00 14 $770.00

Total Days: 345
Total Cost (lodging + local transport + food): $27,920

Will this cover lodging + local transport + food (we like to eat local grub, NO fancy places under any circumstances). On the food side, my requirements are simple - good tasty food that is safe to eat, filling, and offers a local flare. I like local dives better than posh places, and will take a $4.35 Prince's Hot Chicken (for the Nashville folks, you know what I'm talking about) over a night at The Palm any day of the week.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Hi 'undefined',

What does WAG mean??

Your estimate for Malaysia sounds high, whereas Singapore may be more expensive. I also expect the African countries to be cheaper, but it's ben a long time since I've been to East Africa, and of course you have to factor in the cost of safaris.

Sorry that I can't be of more help, but as I'm trying to drag my husband onto the road, I'll follow this thread with interest!

quote:

Originally posted by whalewatcher:
Hi 'undefined',

What does WAG mean??

whalewatcher - WAG means "Wild A**ed Guess". Fill in the ** with "ss". It's a phrase used by some clients of mine that seemed fitting to the moment.

As for Singapore and Malaysia - would you think $125 for Singapore to would be sufficient for 4 days? My goal is just to wander around the city and take photos for 3 - 4 days. This is also one of the reasons I want to stay in "nicer" places - I will be bringing some relatively expensive camera gear on our trek. This is not optional - I have been into photography since childhood and would not go around the world without the opportunity to capture it on film or disk.

Thanks for your reply - it took me 4 years to stir my wife into RTW. I hope that your husband gears up faster than that!

Edit: The $125 for Singapore (as questioned above) would be per day, not for all four days combined.

quote:

Originally posted by Slip:
undefined.

You can live high on the hog for 50k.

Your allowances for Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania are high.

In Kenya and Tanzania there are quite a few big ticket items (Safari and airfare)

Your budget for China really depends on where in China you go Shanghi, Hong Kong, and Bejing will cost more than the some of the inner provinces and Canton.

surfingdan at neverbecomplete dot com just did a great trip and did a lot of budget work, you may want to contact him.

The trip sound epic....I sure hope you will be blogging it!

Slip -

Thanks for the tips. All I really care to see (on this trip) in China is Shanghai and surrounding areas. There are simply too many places to see, both in China and elsewhere, and far too little time to do it in.

With regards to Kenya and Tanzania - I'd like to do 5 - 7 day's Safari (not counted in daily costs) and climb Kilimanjaro. I'm guessing 16 days total may not be enough...

I'm also thinking about dropping CR down to 14 days and adding some time elsewhere. I'd like to get some time in Europe, as that is home for me, but it's very pricey. We have lots of friends still over there, so perhaps we can do it on the cheap by staying with friends when possible. Cutting out 16 days from CR gives me about an extra month total to spend in Europe, not nearly enough, but good enough for a quick fix.

From my experience, your estimate for Thailand is a bit high. I was there in the low season, but I doubt the rates would get high enough to top out at $80 even if you're there for high season.

Meals were a couple $US per person, and local transport was the same. I actually argued with a tuk tuk drive once because he was charging me double what he should and then I realized I was arguing over 50 cents so I shut up and got in the stupid thing

At a place called Charlie's Huts I got a private, air conditioned, clean, double bed, en suite cabin on gorgeous grounds, right on Chaweng beach for $12/night on Koh Samui (the grounds secluded it from the hustle and bustle of the main drag). I paid about $24/night on Phuket for an 2-double bed, a/c, en suite room in a gorgeous B&B/motel called Casa Brazil which is about 100 yards from Karon Beach.

*edit* Holy Crumb. Charlie's Huts is being closed for a new resort!! That makes me sad Well... I still think the pricing can be matched elsewhere...

quote:

Originally posted by Tracy Ann:
From my experience, your estimate for Thailand is a bit high. I was there in the low season, but I doubt the rates would get high enough to top out at $80 even if you're there for high season.

Meals were a couple $US per person, and local transport was the same. I actually argued with a tuk tuk drive once because he was charging me double what he should and then I realized I was arguing over 50 cents so I shut up and got in the stupid thing

At a place called Charlie's Huts I got a private, air conditioned, clean, double bed, en suite cabin on gorgeous grounds, right on Chaweng beach for $12/night on Koh Samui (the grounds secluded it from the hustle and bustle of the main drag). I paid about $24/night on Phuket for an 2-double bed, a/c, en suite room in a gorgeous B&B/motel called Casa Brazil which is about 100 yards from Karon Beach.

*edit* Holy Crumb. Charlie's Huts is being closed for a new resort!! That makes me sad Well... I still think the pricing can be matched elsewhere...

So, for two people would you think that $60 would be more appropriate to provide lodging, food (including some sitdown), drinks every few days (two or three beers, a couple of times per week. We don't drink everyday) and local transportation in Thailand? I'm hoping to be able to include some entrance fees in this, but we are planning on about $5k for "extras" such as diving, bungee, museums, rafting, etc.

In my experience, yes.

Undefined,
Sounds like a great trip... my wife and I are also currently dreaming of a RTW and a lot of the places you are going we are interested in... would love to hear more and even how you're planning and funding this. We both are thinking about doing this before kids and we currently are starting careers after grad school. By the way I lived in Nashville for 6 yrs. and had the chicken once or twice!

Depending on what you plan to do here, your NZ numbers may be a little to a lot low for 2. Mainly for transport (110-130nz each way- prebooked- for 2 on the ferry) and activities. There may be favorable exchange, but just about everything's still priced like it's 3nz per USD.

All of Africa looks high- unless you're doing safari and whatnot, in which case, you're a couple grand low, and at least a couple days short in tanzania.

j.

The way we approached out RTW 5 years ago was to budget ourselves $80 a day for the entire trip. Of course we spent more than this on some days and considerably less other days (my favorite digs in Thailand cost us $1.75 a night!)but we always had private accomodation. We skipped most of Western Europe and that saved us tons of $.

Congrats on convincing your wife to go RTW. I think it's time to convince my husband it is time to go RTW again...with kids! Wish me luck.

On my trip I spent about $60 per day, which did include some internal flights that I had not previously planned out. I did a mix of all types of logding, but never skipped doing things I wanted to do like the Galapagos, which was by far my most expensive week, but well worth every penny. As a single person I wound up paying more for lodging when I did stay by myself. Like the nice Hosteria I stayed at in Cuenca, Ecuador cost me $15 a night, but would have been the same if I had shared with someone else, so you have an advantage.

As for $ per country, you are probably a little high for Laos and Vietnam as well. And Chile a bit low. It was more expensive than I expected. If you want to do the Galapagos it will also cost more in Ecuador. Hope this helps.

Thanks for this thread. I am planning a trip and feel really lost in terms of putting any sort of budget together! This really helps me at least get some idea of a ballpark. Thanks.

Hey undefined, did I just meet you the other night in Nashville? If so, never mind, but if not, you've got nothing to worry about with these estimates. Overall, where they are off they seem too high rather than too low. Like in Nepal, Vietnam, and Laos especially. And in Peru we got several nice rooms in nice little hotels for $40 or so. Ecuador seems high too, but maybe you've got a Galapagos trip in there, which definitely adds some bucks.

The key is to look for small, locally-owned hotels that are a good value. There are plenty of them out there in all these places. Eat a fair number of meals at basic restaurants that aren't tourist haunts and you'll be fine on this budget. And don't spend every day on the move of course.