Hey guys

So I'm a few months away from my RTW and I'm trying to get the budget sorted out. I'll be staying in hostels, eating out once a day in reasonably cheap restaurants, using public transport but also doing lots of stuff that could cost money (entrance fees to museums, hiking, adventure stuff) and I'll probably have a couple of drinks most days.

So onto the budget estimates:

New Zealand: US$65 per day
Chile: US$50 per day
Argentina: US$50 per day
Brazil: US$50 per day
Europe (Western): US$85 per day
Europe (Central): US$85 per day
Europe (Mediterranean): US$85 per day
Europe (Eastern): US$60 per day
Israel: US$50 per day
Thailand: US$30 per day

So: what changes would you make to that budget?

Thanks

Daniel

Daniel- that is way over my budget so you are going to be fine I think. But that is just my $.02

Europe is the big unknown. you can easily spend $20 per day or a $100 on a cheap backpakers budget. I highly recomend to keep a good record of what you are spending and adjust it every day if you are spending to much... From what I hear you will live like a king in Thailand on $30 per day.

quote:

Originally posted by Moto:
Daniel- that is way over my budget so you are going to be fine I think. But that is just my $.02

Europe is the big unknown. you can easily spend $20 per day or a $100 on a cheap backpakers budget. I highly recomend to keep a good record of what you are spending and adjust it every day if you are spending to much... From what I hear you will live like a king in Thailand on $30 per day.

Hey, those figures I put up there are not how much I want to spend but what I've been told it costs to live reasonably in thos respective places. If you think I could spend less tell me what budget you'd recomend and what that would buy me (in terms of travelling style) and I'd be VERY happy to be able to spend less and increase travelling time.

And yes, since Thailand is the end of my trip I do plan to live like a king there. That US$30 will be supplemented with any savings I can make along the way. Hopefully, if I travel thriftily I'll be able to stay on resorts and eat in expensive restaurants every day to end my big trip in style!

Daniel

OK: I've figured out which countries (particularly Europe) that I want to go to now so I have a more specific budget estimate for you guys to comment on.

New Zealand: US$65 per day
Chile: US$50 per day
Argentina: US$50 per day
Spain: US$60 per day
France: US$60 per day
Italy: US$120 per day (yes, I want to live it up a little here)
Greece: US$60 per day
Czech Republic: US$30 per day
Germany: US$60 per day
Netherlands: US$70 per day
London: US$70 per day (I have accomodation sorted with family so this is probably a little high)
Israel: US$50 per day
Bangkok: US$40 per day

for this approximately 10 month trip I'll have about US$23000 including airfare, european rail passes, equipment (backpack, boots etc) and visas.

Comments? Too much, too little?

Daniel

Daniel, I wish I had your budget. You'll be living well from what I can tell, unless you spend all your money in bars on mixed drinks. There is one standard facet of travel, and that is this: A diet of mixed drinks in expensive bars can get you broke very fast, no matter how much you bring.

You should be more than fine:

Read this.

And read through the profiles on this page to get an idea of what others spent.

You should be fine on that budget. I would expect that Argentina will cost a good bit less than that. Brazil should as well depending on how much beach time you're putting in. Czech Republic will cost more if you are spending much time in Prague, but $30 a day is probably okay if you get out of the capital for a good while. Israel could come in below $50 a day if you're not on the move constantly.

On the other hand, the western Europe estimates depend a lot on how much you're moving around and where you are within countries. Rural Spain is not all that expensive, for example, but the cities can be.

Keep track of what you are spending, but look at your budget based on a week or month at a time though. Individual days will spike up and drop down a lot but will smooth out to an average over time.

You should be fine on $50 in Chile and Argentina. You'll definitely need it if you go all the way to Patagonia--it's more expensive there than in other parts of Argentina.

I used a helpful budget method set up by the guy who wrote World Awaits, which I can't find right now. But anyway, I added up my money every day (sounds monotonous, but it became kind of a soothing daily ritual!), and kept a running tally of where I was vs. my total budget and my total actual. There were definitely days I was way over budget, some days way under, and it all evens out in the end.

I was gone just under 9 months and figure I spent about $15,000 including pre-departure expenses, storage for my stuff at home, transportation, etc., but I was in much cheaper countries (Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and a brief expensive stop in London) most of the time.

And what do you guys think about eurail vs busabout for my situation in Europe?

atm I'm leaning towards busabout as I'm travelling solo and this seems a great way to meet people.

I think your budget for London is probably about right, but keep in mind that London is an exrtremely expensive city.

Little tip for travelling around in london, you are best not to buy daily travel cards try and buy a weekly or monthly (if you are there for a month) it will save you a lot, and if you do buy daily travel cards try and buy them after 9am (much cheaper)

have a fab time

x

Booked my tickets today!!! Route below: (if you've got any major suggestions I can change destinations without cost in the next week or so)

- Perth->Auckland (via Sydney) on 3rd January 2006
Explore New Zealand
- Auckland->Santiago on 17th February 2006
Explore Chile
- Santiago->Buenos Aires
Explore Argentina
- Overland to Brazil
Explore Brazil
- Sao Paulo->London
Explore London
- London->Barcelona
Explore Europe ending back in London
- London->Bangkok
Explore Thailand
- Bangkok->Perth (via Sigapore)
Rest at home and then start university.

The dates aside from the starting date and the flight from Auckland to Santiago are not set (ie I'll change them as I go) but I needed to set the first date and because of Carnival in Brazil all the flights from NZ to Chile were booked and 17th feb was the only one I could get so I can't really change it.

All for an airfare cost of US$2100 including taxes through STA Travel (GREAT service btw).

Daniel

quote:

Originally posted by dani.k:
I think your budget for London is probably about right, but keep in mind that London is an exrtremely expensive city.

Little tip for travelling around in london, you are best not to buy daily travel cards try and buy a weekly or monthly (if you are there for a month) it will save you a lot, and if you do buy daily travel cards try and buy them after 9am (much cheaper)

have a fab time

x

I'll be in London for a week so I'll probably get the weekly travel card. Any idea how much they cost?

So you think US$70 is about right even though I'm staying with family (large apartment right in the middle of the city!) so I'll have accomodation sorted and probably most dinners too.

On second thoughts, is a travel card really needed? As I'll be in the city so I can probably walk most places or when I can't the people who I'm staying with can probably give me a lift (or I'll borry one of their cars).

Daniel

Would US$50 be appropriate for Czech Republic?

hey daniel

well i would definitly recomend that you get a weekly travel card, you can't walk everywhere and you don't want to rely on other people, trafic in london can be bad, so taking the tube is the fasties easiest way to get around, i think a weekly pass is about £21.

if you are staying with family and are going to be eating at home most of the time then i would say you could get away with about $50 a day (also depends on how much you drink and how often, alcohol in london is mage expensive)

anything else you want to know just let me know

An update: decided on doing countries at a slower pace and changed destinations a bit. So comments on new budget estimates:

New Zealand: NZ$100/day
Chile: US$50/day
Argentina: US$50/day
London: 40 pounds/day
Spain: 60 Euros/day
Morrocco: 40 Euros/day
Portugal: 60 Euros/day
France: 60 Euros/day
Italy: 60 Euros/day
Greece: 60 Euros/day
Turkey: 40 Euros/day
Thailand: US$50/day

Hoping those budgets will leave some slack for if I go over-budget in Europe.

Daniel