BootsnAll Travel Community

I've a RTW trip coming up and my budget isn't just tight, it almos doesn't exist. I was just wondering what is least amount of money you have started a trip with?

I don't belive in signatures...

The lowest ive heard was 2k USD, which broke down to 600 for flight, 200 for gear, 1200 to live on until he could find a job.

It takes a special kind of person to do RTW this way, since it is less of a vacation and more of struggle.

ServeYourWorld.com
"How to Volunteer"

I can't give you amounts here, just what I think. What you plan is quite cool, that is, if you're willing to work. As LiveNomadic points out: it's not going to be a 'pure pleasure trip'. Which is fine.

What I don't like though, are the 'begging travellers'. I usually don't give money to those tourists who travel without money, because they believe it is a stupid, westernized thing to work. I rather spend that money with locals. I'm definitely not a convinced capitalist, but why should I fight through the times in Switzerland, while others wait abroad untill I arrive with the money I worked for and give it to them? I just don't see why...

The last time in Morroco I met this girl (English I think). She just stepped into the train without paying and expected the other foreigners to pay for her, when the conducter arrived. She got really mad at me, because I denyed her the money she asked for. But I just didn't see my responsibility. Honestly, I didn't care the least what would happen to her, when she would have taken away by the police - it would have been her own, self-caused problem. But it didn't come to this, because there were enough 'good-hearted' people around.

This is only my opinon. There may be people out there who admire those 'beggar tourists' and like throughing their money at them.

Adrian

www.aresthetics.ch/trav
My personal travel website

i left new jersey with $200 and made it, on bicycle to california, where i am now, in process of getting a job to finance the rest of my north america trip. it all depends on how far you want to go before working, what your minimum comfort level is, what your survival skills are, and what your sense of adventure is like. as bare bones minimum, it would be illegal in some way, but you could do it for free im sure. recently, there was a guy who travelled to a south american country, i forget which, and using only materials he gathered, created a 'straw'(wicker) boat, all by himself, and then paddled it across the atlantic ocean... ingenuity it the way to travel cheap. then there was that crazy guy who attatched pontoons to his feet and 'walked' across the atlantic with no food or freshwater supply. he ate kelp and i guess either gathered rain water or desalinated the sea water. or how about the three hippies from nyc who last year i believe it was, finished building a boat(ship) out of found scrapwood and salvaged nails. they sailed across the atlantic and around europe. most of thier food supplies they grew themselves before the trip. there is ALWAYS a way.

I admire travelers who have the ability to stretch their budgets to amazing lengths and still have a fulfilling time, but one thing I can't stand is moochers.

On my most recent trip to SE Asia I encountered a guy who was scamming and begging his way across the world - asking fellow travelers for 10 baht here, 5 baht there, and then sneaking onto buses and through entrance gates to avoid fares and fees. That I have no respect for.

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then there was that crazy guy who attatched pontoons to his feet and 'walked' across the atlantic with no food or freshwater supply. he ate kelp and i guess either gathered rain water or desalinated the sea water.

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What?

Sincerely,
the TP necklace guy!

That was my first attempt at a quote....that's an F!

Sincerely,
the TP necklace guy!

Quick tutorial Bear.

When you press the quote bottom this snippit appears (without the ".")

[.QUOTE] [./QUOTE]

Any text you write/paste between the two boxes is quouted... hope it helps!

It helps alot thanks! I did kinnda figure that after I got an F, but now I now for sure.

Sincerely,
the TP necklace guy!

Well I have no problem with working and I would feel very uncomfortable begging for money. My plan is $2000. 200 for gear, 250 for a ticket, and 1550 to live on.

Has anyone either heard of or ridden on Air India? the tickets are incredibly cheap, like $175 before tax. Irratic flight dates though.

I don't belive in signatures...

If you check out the web site http://pub1.bravenet.com/faq/show.php?usernum=34989679&catid=4476 you will find Peter who I think is European and is walking across the USA with no money. He is totally depending on the kindness of strangers. His website used to be Path to Zen or http://www.naturalcause.org/index.html but goes to the first one I gave.
Up here in Alaska, we do get our share of pilgrims that walk up here. If they get enough publicity, they can get rides out of town from travelers.
I have no problem giving money or food to these travelers that are up front. But I would not give in to the girl on the train. Thats too manipulative for me. Let her hang!

Thanks for the website it was truly insperational. How did you find the site?

I don't belive in signatures...

I found Peter's web site off this one's bulletin board http://www.organicvolunteers.com/
This website is similar to WWOOF but the hosts are in the USA and they have more topics. If I was to walk or bike across the USA, I would just hop from host to host. I am interested in the hay bale construction and met a host from Virginia that was in Alaska visiting. We met for lunch and he invited me to stop by. He is near the Appalachia mountains.

Karin in Alaska

We all depend on the "kindness of strangers" once in awhile--but not to finance an entire trip. My god! I want to walk to blah blah blah, and I expect other people to feed me along the way! That's nuts.

But, yes, you can get by with very little if you arrange your lifestyle properly. Another beer, or breakfast tomorrow...another beer, or breakfast tomorrow...

Jessie

"Whenever I have to choose between two evils, I always like to choose the one I haven't tried before." --Mae West, I believe

I've started long trips that have taken me around the world with less than 2k. Of course I like camping, hitchhiking and I work along the way.

If you plan on working you can leave with way less of course. Another strategy is WWOOFing...working on farms for room and board. If you like the countryside and can get over working without pay it can be a great way to see the world.

Nick O'Neill
http://www.BaliBlog.com
BootsnAll's guide to Bali

I've seen people at intersections with signs reading "travelling across Canada - ran out of money, please help me get home". Although I feel sorry for the guy, I also think that people should be able to fund their own travels.

Maybe I'm just a snob or something, but I don't see why you should have to fund someone else's trips. It's their responsibility to ensure that they have enough money to get home, or to have a credit card they can charge a bus ticket to in an emergency.

I want to do a working holiday or something, using basically enough money to get there and the bare minimum of funds required by the country I plan to visit. It might be a stupid idea... but I have faith!

"Never for me the lowered banner, never the last endeavour." -- Sir Ernest Shackleton

personally, i kind of feel like, if you aren't competant enough to keep going or return on your own, you shouldn't go. running out of money while travelling should mean that you rran out of spending money and now only have enough left for the ride/flight/walk home. if you leave with a small enough amount of cash that you could run out, you should be able and prepared to work. its the difference between being a hobo and a bum.

On that whole, "begging tourist" thing.....
I had alot of money stolen from me in Central America. I made the best out of it by hitchiking home to the U.S. I didn't complain, and I did what I had to do. I managed to get myself all the way from the Southern part of Belize to the Mexico/Yucatan pennisula.....where I was confronted with a "departure fee" Belize wanted which was the equivalent of 10 USD. That is a very small amount of money, of which I didn't have.

I saw a fellow American and decided to ask him if he could lend/give me the 10 dollars so I could cross. The man had the nerve to turn to me and hand me a "Jesus will Save Me tract" and said...."He will help you"....... I was soooo hurt and embarrassed. I didn't ask anyone else for help.

Instead, I found the "local" crossing path which was a swampy, mosquito sucking jungle path to a river where I SWAM across the border. All because some guy wouldn't help out a fellow traveler........and give me the 10 bucks!

Think twice when someone abroad asks for some money. You don't know their cicumstances or what they have or are going through. They could be having a difficult time and just need the 2 bucks to get on the bus to get somewhere. Ask first before turning them away, but always give something! What comes around, goes around people! t

Murdog

I think part of the problem is that we (at least in the US) get jaded to people asking for money, because we've all run into so many scammers. I was a lot more likely to give to people before moving to LA, where I felt that everyone and their dog just needed $1.87 to get on the bus, or whatever. After awhile you have a hard time believing anyone. Isn't that sad?

I was very humbled, though, by how Hondurans deal with that situation. I was sitting outside waiting for a bus in the capital one day when a man came up and gave me an elaborate story about needing to get someone to a clinic and needing bus fare, etc. etc. At this point I had been there long enough to be tired of people equating gringos with cash, so I said no. Long story short, after he moved on from me, EVERY SINGLE HONDURAN at the bus station gave him something, even people who obviously had almost nothing to give. I just about cried realizing how our generosity seems to atrophy as we become more capable of using it.

--Jessie

"Whenever I have to choose between two evils, I always like to choose the one I haven't tried before." --Mae West, I believe

Jessie's Honduras story shames and upsets me. I'm a naturally generous person and felt that I had to be hard with myself when travelling as I know there are so many beggars and scam artists waiting to clip a mug like me.

Hell, I wish there was some easy way to tell the difference between genuine need and scams. The girl on the train would lose out with me though. I agree with enginebad. Why should we scrimp and save for a world trip and feel obliged to pay out for someone who did NOT go through the same process or prepare for what is obviously an expensive indulgence?

Cheers from Oz,
Yamba