Ok I should clarify I think it's too expensive at the moment because of the shipping the bike there, the plane tickets etc. I have been looking at flights, I actually was offered a job there and do currently have a visa for Australia but one way was $1,500USD, I didn't even check on the bike. It's also not attached to anything, not like shipping to Africa and then going wherever. I'm not saying I don't want to go there, I just want to go to as many new places as possible on a budget. I'm also don't care so much about hitting the 1st world countries, for one expensive, and two I think in the coming years they aren't going to change as rapidly. Would like to see everywhere at some point though! I've ridden all over the US, and camped everywhere, mostly for free. If you're ok with sleeping in hay fields, church lawns work well(seem less likely to yell at you) etc., then it can be done. Campgrounds are too expensive most of the time, when all you're looking for is a place to sleep not showers etc., why not sleep in a field?

Thanks for all your figures. Any insights help so much to try and figure a realistic budget!

Europe to India to Australia (in Oct07-Apr08), six months, 34.000kms, 2-up on one DL650. Had no tent with us, first had a cooking device, but sent it home after around 1/3 of the way.

Generally, Europe (from Germany to the Balkans and Greece) was the most expensive, but Turkey wasnt far off. Iran, Pakistan, and especially India were a lot cheaper (India was dirt cheap), Thailand and Malaysia possibly a bit more expensive than India (but still very cheap compared to Europe!) and Indonesia was about on par with India, so highly recommendable to move fast through Europe, and stay longer in that region (between India & Indonesia) to keep the costs down. Camping could make it considerably cheaper in Europe or in Oz, but in many parts of Asia I simply wouldn´t bother, accommodation is so aplenty and so cheap.

Australia felt very expensive right after Indonesia, but I think was in fact a bit cheaper than Europe. (We did another trip to the western side of the US in 2009, and I think it was a tiny bit cheaper there than in Oz, but remember we come from the Euro zone, so the picture might look a bit different depending on exhange rates - Euro to dollar has changed a lot from that time already!)

Freighting the bike and flying ourselves is something most people end up doing a lot on that trip, because first of all the difficulties to get into China or Burma, then the sea between Asia and Australia, and then finally to get out of Oz (getting back home in our case).

The estimated breakdown of freighting and flying on this trip:

- Chennai->Kuala Lumpur->Bangkok, Jan-08, Malaysia Airlines MASKargo, on an open crate, about 600EUR +total 400EUR for our own flight tickets.

- Malaysia to Indonesia, the bike on an onion boat and us on a speedboat... can´t remember exactly, but it´s pretty cheap over there, so I guess about 200EUR probably got us all into Indonesia.

- Bali->Perth with Qantas, March-08 (this wasn´t planned, but needed to be done, because all hell had just broken loose in East Timor, from where we could´ve shipped the bike much cheaper to Darwin by sea, but were running out of time, so couldn´t wait for that to settle down, and couldn´t wait 5 weeks for seafreight from Bali either)... the bike on a closed crate, about 1200EUR (the plane on the direct route couldn´t swallow a package this big, so it had to make a nice detour via Melbourne, flight time went from 3 to 10 hours!) And again we payed about 400EUR for the direct flights for two.

- Sydney->Helsinki, bike by sea on a closed crate, forwarded by Tradelanes in Melbourne, only about 700EUR. Our own flights home via Tokyo were about 1000EUR each (probably possible to get 200-300 cheaper, but with more stops on the way, and taking much longer).

(So as you can see, we spent a bit less than 3000EUR for the above mentioned transport over the seas between India and Oz, and then again about the same amount, to get the bike and us home from Sydney).

All visas, the carnet (mandatory on this trip), and other required papers probably cost in the region of 700-800EUR total. And we didn´t spend a whole lot on entrance fees to sights, didn´t participate on many tourist trips while staying somewhere. And weren´t looking for classy accommodation (but also stayed out of the worst ratholes!) and we usually ate in local places. Especially in Europe & Oz, we often bought something to eat in the evening from the shops.

The "grande totale" of this trip, including all those mentioned above, and our costs of living + bike maintenance + fuel = everything, was about 15000-16000 EUR (or 7500-8000 per head).

And we stayed away for 182 days, so that means we spent about 41-44EUR per head per day, when including all freighting, flying, papers and everything.

Or if leaving everything else out, and calculating only our costs of living + bike maintenance + fuel, it looks like we spent about 24-26EUR per head per day.

And you probably could bring that figure down a bit by camping and cooking your own food, especially in Europe, US and Oz.

You don't mention !!!

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www.travellingstrom.com

I have been to Europe the last two years and yes you can eat in a restaurant in Paris cheaper than you can eat in a pub in Australia now.
Locky

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Happyness is not around the corner, happyness is the corner.

LOL. I think 1/4 or my budget was on and I still lost weight!

Over 11 months travelling from Sydney, Australia to Oslo, Norway, 2up on 1 bike back in 2009 all included the trip cost too much to tell here. Not that I have any regrets, quite the opposite but I don't like to discuss big $$$ on public places. Call me old fashioned...

What I will say is the the 44,000kms we travelled we spent Approx AUD$2,666.88 only on fuel (approx because of the exchange rates). We kept log of every time we filled up the bike to track how expensive fuel was in each country.

On average all expenses included we spent for both of us AUD$100 per day. RBTL.

When I say all it includes EVERYTHING. Parts, accommodation, , food, tourism etc.

Oops did I just contradict myself??

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

UK-India-UK 270 days (150 days in India)27000 miles, 2 people, 2 bikes, cheap hotels, street food or cafe's, 1 set tyres each and chain sprockets sets. flight and shipping 1 bike from north Pak to Goa. Oh yeah both big drinkers! spent much more on than on food.
£75 ($120 US) per day for the 2 of us.

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Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand 2016
Buenos Aires to NYC 2012-2013: www.facebook.com/curryhunt
India and back 2009-2010:

For Developed countries and 'touristy countries I would budget euro150 a day just to cover petrol and miscellaneous costs. Less developed countries 100.

You also need to have some contingency for breakdowns and replacement parts. If you are off the beaten track then you might well have to ship parts in and this will easily take a week so that's another say 500euro in subsistence -not counting parts shipping and labour. For South America, I remember reading about a traveller having to ship their bike to BA to the dealer and then having to wait for parts to arrive in. Similarly parts are sometimes only shipped to major cities so you might have to travel hundreds of miles to check if parts have arrived and/or collect them. This is hard enough without adding the extra worry of not having the funds to get the bike fixed.

Given the choice, I would save and have a generous budget rather than goining sooner and counting every cent all the time. If you know you have the money, you will relax and enjoy yourself more. When you're short of cash, you spend the whole time trying not to spend money.

Enjoy