Alaska to Patagonia - Budget?
 

I know it`s a difficult question to answer as it depends upon lots of factors, but can anyone give me an idea of how much it would cost to do this trip and spend a year on the road? Plus how much is it to ship/air freight across the Darien gap? It would just help to have a rough idea of how much I need to raise before next June!

Cheers

I am also planning for a June departure. Here is my cost sheet:

The Americas Trip 2010

As far as the Darian gap shipment costs. I have seen rates vary from $250 to $750. Depends on how much hassle you want to go through

Rough idea. (After you've bought the bike!) 10,000 pounds minimum, 20,000 luxury.

Thanks folks! By the way Atlas Rider - that`s a very detailed cost sheet! I`m planning on scribbling a couple of things down on a sheet of paper!

Hi Motivator,

The actual vs. budgeted costs can vary widely, based on a number of factors including litres of beer consumed per day:)

I've heard the figure of $100 per day bandied about so that is probably one of the veeerrry rough estimating methods you can use to get an idea. Bike purchase and outfitting costs, flights, and shipping costs obviously comprise a large portion of the budget and these are somewhat fixed costs so your ability to manage the budget to a reasonable level depends on your traveling style and how you manage your daily spend. How you travel, your preferred style of accomodation, etc. can greatly alter the final price tag.

If you are really trying to manage your costs, one big factor is to plan your time and trip in North America well. Comparatively, you can spend a lot more there than in South and Central America. If you are really keen, it may make sense to have a North America budget and then the rest of the countries budget. Once you see how much it costs per day in NA comparatively, it'll be extra incentive to spend most of your time down south where you can get a lot more out of your pound.

In regards to Darien Gap, last summer it was about $800 USD by air. I'd hazard a guess that the majority of people use this option. Some go by boat, but even those costs have gone up to ~$500+. One guy recently did it using a combination of small boats to various islands for pretty cheap and it sounded like great fun, but IMHO only a small percentage would be willing to go through the time and effort to do that.

Have a great trip, when you get close to getting over, feel free to drop me a line regarding routes or anything.

I like the spreadsheet, but it comes in a bit scant compared to my calculations (which are more along the lines of endless scratching on the backs of envelopes and napkins). For example, I'd allow far more for visas, import fees, insurance, etc. For another thing, I spend more on souvenirs and keep far more money in reserve for emergencies.

But I think $100 per day for a year (i.e., $36k) is quite a lot unless you're going to Antarctica or Easter Island, or maybe cruising by sail to the Galapagos....or maybe calculating in Australian dollars. Perhaps I'll be proven wrong about this in the end, but I'm aiming for $50/day and allowing for somewhat more if necessary.

Note that I'm not including the cost of buying and outfitting the bike, and I'm assuming a lot of camping where hotels are expensive (USA and Canada) and budget accommodation elsewhere.

Hope that helps.

Mark

The question of what is it going to cost has a lot of variables but IMHO the biggest factor is how much time you have. Given a year to do it costs will be less per day. When time is limited you will not have time to find the best deals or look up the free bed here and there (if you travel through western Washington you have a free camp site here and probably a bed).

I did 9000 miles in six weeks, Chile south to TDF then north to BA, the falls, southern Brazil and Uruguay. on the road most days some long days which left little time for finding the "good spots" and it cost m/l $100 US a day.
Will go back in 6 weeks and head for home but I going to take 3 1/2 months so I can smell the roses and find those good spots, would still be better if I could take 6 months to a year.
RoadHog:scooter:

Yes, that's certainly true. Sitting tight for a couple of days each week can cut average costs considerably, and rolling into town late, in the dark, cold and wet and desperate for whatever lodging can be found will tend to increase costs almost exponentially (done my share of that!).

For whatever it's worth (or not), I was responding to the OP, who asked about costs for a yearlong trip. And I didn't mean to cast aspersions on anyone's $36/day calculation--I merely wanted to say that mine came in somewhat higher.

Onalaska makes us neighbors. How are you handling the heat this week?

Mark

Harf,

Are you spreading dissension among the troops again?:) If so, thankfully that is offset by your willingness to ride a few hundred kms to drink beer with other riders. Any chance you are going to make it up to Nakusp for the HU meeting in August? No late night border crossings required this time.

And to the original OP and his question about budget, to clarify, I'm much too lazy to actually track numbers but on average over the course of a year I roughly spent an amount around the $100 per day figure.

In my case, that included the upfront and fixed costs such as bike and gear and shipping and the more variable costs of daily travel. As posters have mentioned, there are many aspects to consider and importantly a portion of the upfront costs that are controllable can make a big difference (eg. KLR650 vs. 1200GS ADV) as can a portion of the daily travel costs that are also controllable (eg. hotel vs. camping).

How long your trip is impacts the length of time of time you are spreading the fixed costs over. Travelling in developed countries is typically more expensive than undeveloped countries on the variable cost side. Where your actual cost end up depends on your actual trip. I don't know if that is of any use to you, but perhaps through looking at the various inputs you can put together a range of numbers that allow you to plan for how much you need to save. And then you hit the road and the whole trip changes anyways:)

Dissension? (Looks over each shoulder in turn trying to figure out who's being addressed here) Moi?

I'm not going to make it up to the HU meeting next month; I might squeeze in a short jaunt at some point (maybe Vancouver Island -> Bella Coola), but I'm mostly trying to rent my place so that I can afford to hit the road again. Still struggling to learn some Spanish, too. Sad to say, my entire neural network is otherwise occupied, so finding nooks and crannies into which I can stuff vocabulary and grammar is a losing battle....but I'm still trying.

"And then you hit the road and the whole trip changes anyways:)"

Don't know whether to find this prospect encouraging or terrifying, but it's certainly the truth.

Hope you're surviving the heat with aplomb and dignity!

Mark

Haven't done that trip yet, but 10 months southern Africa plus most of OZ cost me roughly 20k Euros.

Naturally a lot depends on your way of travelling. The whole of Chile and Argentina is sparsely populated, so there I often camped in the wild, if possible next to a river to be able to wash myself. Esp. Patagonia is empty country - ideal for wild camping.

Cost for travel to central and south america
 

Hi Riders... check my blog do you have many informations about the central and south america road and trip. Definitivly the cost day by day is 150 USD for couple ;included, breakfast light, lunch, diner, Gasoil, hotel ( depend of each country), Not included Flight from panama to Bogota or Medellin , 750 USD or 850 USD depend of airline cie....for one way and you ticket flight 450
USD for each one
Good trip ...
Regards from Morocco