I am planning a RTW trip beginning in August 2007.

Me
I am 23 now, which would make me 24 when i head out on the trip. I am planning on working and saving up enough money so that in August 2007 I will have $30,000 and enough money to be okay when i return home. I feel like i have a fairly decent knowledge of motorcycles, i have owned a 85 nighthawk a 2000 r6, and a 2003 r6, all of which i have maintained to some degree by myself, and i am in the process of rebuilding the transmission on my r6 (damn 2nd gear). So i think i have a decent idea of how a bike works, and how to fix it if i need to.

My route
I live in Charlotte, nc and from here i plan on heading (in rough approximation) to Alaska, and then through canada for a couple weeks while it is still warm, then down through central and south america, with no particular route planned. After that, I will head on to Australia, or Southeast Asia, wherever i can get cheaper plane tickets, and not necessarily with my bike.

After a few months in asia, and when it starts to warm up, i will hit eastern europe and then west europe for the summer, returing home towards the end of the summer 2008.

My bike,
I have not settled on a bike yet, but i am going to look for a cheap honda, or maybe a bmw if i find a good deal, but in all likelyhood i will be riding a ~10 year old honda nighthawk or similar between 400 and 1000cc with a good bit of mileage on it, but in good working order, under $2000US.

So my question is this

is $30,000 enough money to get around the world the way i want to????

what can i expect for daily expenses in the various parts of the world which i intend to travel to (North America, South America, Asia, Europe)??

Can anyone tell me how much they spent on a RTW and how far they went?????

any other advice you have for me would be greatly appreciated..


thanks,

funklab

Dude,

I will leave it to others to say how much they spent and so forth, but IMHO $30k is a heap of money and should be enough to keep you on the road until you are well and truly homesick!

I'm planning on heading out in early 2007 and I won't have nearly as much. Living in third world and developing countries is a lot cheaper than living in the west. As long as you don't expect 5 stars, you should be fine.

Have fun!

Nick

send me the money and i will definately let u know when and wher and how long it took to finish. just a thought.

You could skip the segment thru The U.S., and spent the travel time elsewhere.
You'll need to set aside money for the Carnet, air freight for the bike, medical insurance, medical emergency flight home insurance, extra costs for down time when things go wrong, added costs for shipping parts from home, ect.
If I had this budget, I would ride to the southern end of South America, and then ship my bike to South Africa, and head North along the West Coast of Africa. From Spain I would head north to Rotterdam, and travel to Iceland by boat.Although this is not a trip around the world, it would still be a trip of a lifetime.

refering to what baxter said,

i am not planning on having the bike with me when i go out of this hemisphere. and i dont plan on shipping the bike anywhere, i dont even want to fly anywhere myself if i can avoid it. I was under the impression that in most of south america you could get away without a carnet.

refering to the guy 1st person who posted a reply, i do not expect 5 stars, and i am not afraid to camp (even most of the time), but i do want to see a lot of the US and canada, so some money will be spent there, also i do plan on going to europe for the summer (you know classic backpacker college student style). So theres another big chunk of money, but besides europe and america (and maybe a short holiday in japan seeing as how i speak the language) i dont plan on lingering in any expensive countries.

You DO NOT NEED a Carnet for North or South America, or Europe.

You DO NEED a carnet for Africa and Asia.

You CAN USE a carnet for Australia and NZ.

You CAN USE a carnet for South America. BUT you do NOT NEED IT!

See the Carnet page, link on left.

------------------
Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
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One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Sorry to argue with you Grant but you do NEED a carnet (or cash bond at customs) to bring a bike in to Australia

From the Aus Customs website (importing a motor vehicle)

Concessions for tourists and temporary residents

As a tourist or temporary resident, you may bring a motor vehicle or a motorcycle and attached trailer or a caravan to Australia for a period of up to 12 months (or longer under certain circumstances) without paying duty on them, provided they are subsequently exported from Australia.
For this concession to apply, you will need one of the following:

• a Carnet De Passages en Douanes issued by an overseas organisation which has a reciprocal arrangement with the Australian Automobile Association, or
• a cash or bank security, equal to the amount of duty and GST and, where applicable, LCT otherwise payable.

If your vehicle is stolen, damaged or destroyed whilst you are in Australia you should notify Customs as soon as possible at your original port of arrival.
All fittings and accessories imported with your motor vehicle, motorcycle, trailer or caravan must also be exported with that same vehicle.

__________________
2000 Africa Twin
http://two-up-ona-twin.blogspot.com

last year I managed to spend 7 months riding trough Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and back to my hometown in Argentina with a budget of U$s3000. Mostly camping, but not much cooking, not a single dollar spent in spare parts. The bike (jawa 350) had no issues al all.
So with $30.000 you should be able to spend a really long time in the road.
Good luck and just choose a simple and reliable bike.

america en jawa 350

My wife and I on our 1150GS traveled from South Africa (Cape Town) to United Arab Emirates (Dubai) in nine months, 28,000km. It cost us ZAR40,000 ($5500) 2 years ago. Camping and cheap hotels all the way. We funded this trip by selling all our posesions, except the bike, and decided to go and explore the world by traveling and finding jobs on the way. My first job was a 3 month contract in Malawi, wife did some volentry (free) work at a local church in Blantyre.
We are planning and saving up for our second leg of our RTW any time from next year shipping our GS to USA or Canada, drive to Alaska and down to Argentina (10 - 12 months), from where we will ship and fly to Oz, and tour NZ and Oz for 4-6 months.Our budget is similar to yours, $35,000.
When we run low on money, or out of money it is time to find a job (like we've done in Dubai) or go back home (South Africa for us).

Maurizio is right, it's all to do with your attitude, rather than your budget. The lower the budget, the more interesting the adventure!

Happy travels.

Johan & Charmaine

Funklab, it looks like you're about a week away from heading off!! Excellent move to head out sooner rather than later. You probably won't regret it. Good luck, you'll probably pass me going through S. America. I go slow. $30,000 could probably last me almost three years and I'm in an old Chevy van, and you know how much petrol they consume! The trick in my case is to hang out longer in places so as to not use so much gas. I'll probably be in Equador a while if I can find great camping because gas is only $1.48 a gallon and food is cheap. We'll see. Don't like planning too far ahead, who knows what life will toss in front of me. ;-)
Lorraine

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You might be able to cut down on your North American expenses by contacting HU communities on your route and camp/stay for little to no cost.

Also I spent several months in Central America with a family of 4 and came nowhere near your figure. Always in hotels c/w insurance, fuel, repairs, meals the whole 9 yards so I am going to be more interested to see how much you have left as opposed to how much you spend.

Just a thought.

Have fun

Rick

Funklab, if you think you can ride 'round the world on 30 grand, you're in for dissappointment. It ain't about money, it's about attitude. What's in your mind, your heart and your guts.

Please allow me to explain.

I could provide you the names of people who toured the world on the ultimate bike of the day, got bogged down in a little mud, and left it there to fly home. Spoilt brats.

Then I could mention those sportsmen who toured the world with a van and a movie camera filming every second of their ride, so they could flog it on TV when they got home. Rich spoilt brats.

But I'd rather give you the names of those who did go around the world, on a budget, and budgeted their expenses by working a few days or maybe a week here and there, small jobs to earn enough to get by for another month or two. One of these guys rode a Vespa from Italy to Japan for the Tokyo Olympics in 1960, another decided he was bored with life and rode from Italy to India and got back two years later, sober as a Quaker and with more money than what he left with. Then there was that journalist who left London under pouring rain, and wanting to RTW ended up in Egypt the very day the 1972 Yom Kippur war broke out... he survived that, ejoyed the Sudan, explored Ethiopia... his name was Ted Simon, and he wrote a wonderful book, "Jupiter's Travels", I highly recommend it. Read "Investment Biker" by Jim Rogers, a highly entertaining read (he and his girlfriend rode two BMWs RTW twice!)

One good piece of advice, stay well away from spaceship technology, R6, 12000rpm japanese bikes in general. You want something that you would be comfortable with changing a tire at the roadside, or asking the local mechanic (in Chile? Guatemala?) to change piston rings or a distribution chain. So my advice is a good 1-2 cylinder dual sports .
Another piece of advice is, don't ride something that, fully loaded, you could not pick up just because it fell off the sidestand.
Last, nothing that looks too expensive. Never mind what's cool and what's not, you want something that won't attract too much attention as you enjoy a well deserved , or that won't draw bribes at border checks.
From a "foreigner's" point of view (I'm Italian), one major setback you have is your Passport, you're American, you come from the richest Nation in the world, be proud but don't flaunt it.
Bikes go by personal preference, I've always ridden mid-sized Moto Guzzis or BMWs, they're tough as tractors and will pound the highway 24/7 if they have to, and never overheat. Ever. If that sounds too expensive, remember, a good quality air cooled engine is better than a mediocre water cooled engine, and shaft drive (or belt) is 1000 times better than chain.

OK, 'nuff now, else I'll be hogging the thread. Feel free to PM me if you want to visit Europe, and remember, the juiciest bits are always off the beaen track!

8^)

Maurizio from Rome, Italy

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Maurizio

PLEASE tell me where it is.... I wanna dig it out and ride it home!

Hes right though, its more about attitude and the way you are as a traveller than what you ride and how fat your wallet is.....although sayin that I wouldn't mind havin 30,000 Dollaz in the bank....... I would be out kitting my 18 yr old XT600 out with new spokes n rims and some panniers and Vrrrooooomm!! Dakar here we come! ( for starters)

Martyn

sorry, I must have misunderstood your question. I thought that you were looking at a multi-continent motorcycle trip , using the same bike for the entire journey.If this were the case you would have to factor in shipping, repairs, possibly a Carnet,ect. anyway the point was that their are many extra costs, besides just food, fuel, and lodging.

Hello,

I am brand new to this site and I have never done a RTW. I am interested in your journey because I plan on doing something similar around Aug 2007. As you get closer to your trip let me know. (Around Oct 06 I will have a better idea on my money situation.)

Who knows, maybe we could hook up on the road? I have also read about people who travel with the same type of bikes. That way in case one breaks down they have swappable parts. I currently do not own a motorcycle but hopefully soon.

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Bought a 2002 Yamaha 650 Classic
Drove the Blue Ridge Pkwy from Tennessee to Virginia

XANADU!