Hi all ,

Im in earlish stages of sorting a trip from uk to New york to Ushia then home , i was wondering if anyone had any ROUGH costs ie day to day or overall costs of doing this . and rough costs of living ,petrol etc in central and south america.I do have a very rough idea of border costs and monies for unforseen problems .

i will have the bike sorted and equipment so thats not an issue and have had cple of quotes to fly the bike to new york for £ 700 crated.

im planning on leaving around november 2010. Any help would be fantastic .

Cheers all .

For central and south america 30 dollars every day is okey

Damn. Just when I'd resolved not to post on this thread.

I must differ. US$30 will not even buy me gasoline for a day's riding in Argentina or Chile. In high season, $30 will buy a dorm bed in a lot of hostels in the south (Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego). Maybe if you camp a lot, look for the cheaper hostels for occasional stays, do your own cooking, and don't ride very often or very long.....but that doesn't sound like most of us, does it?

US$30 per day will cover you in the cheaper countries if you like to travel on a budget. If, like lots of riders from North America and Europe, you like a bit of luxury, it'll be a big stretch at times. In the more expensive countries, it's not going to get you very far.

Hope that helps.

Mark

I (as is always the way) agree with Mark. On the same-ish trip (substitute Vancouver for NYC), I reckon $60 a day for Latin America and double that for the USA. That includes everything - a mountain of booze, almost no camping.

More camping and less booze = lower budget. But we're still talking cheap hotels north and south.

$60 a day in Nicaragua will mean you live like a prince. It's an average, OK? And it's based on a 20 month BA/Ushuaia/Vancouver trip. (Only 18 months BA to Utah so far, but you get the idea.)

$30 - no way. Unless you stay in Bolivia the whole time.

Gotta differ with whoever said $30 was OK for Central America (other than Nicaragua maybe). Panama - forget it. Costa Rica - ha! try $90. Honduras - that's your bribe money (don't pay it). Guatemala - you can have a fantastic time in Guat for 50-60 a day.

Mexico - well, I spent 2 months there at the end of 2009, and I reckon $60 a day is plenty. Most days you'll spend less, but Mex City and some touristy places will hoist up the average.

*cue bleating from vegan paupers*

DISCLAIMERS:
Your mileage may vary. I drink and will happily stay in shit hotels. All motels in the US are relatively good and cost 35 to 45 dollars. Camping, for me, is an emergency situation. My figures include emergency stuff and insurance, as well as all bike maintenance etc. It's MUCH better to over-budget than the other way round.

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Simon

London-Cape Town 2004-06
Buenos Aires-Vancouver 2008-10:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/fitzpatrick

Many thanks guys for the heads up on costs this has helped alot for my budget.

I will be doing as cheap as poss (not a luxuary guy lol) ,so i reckon $50.00 a day would be sufficent.

Thanks again ,

Ben

700 pound seems to be a good price for airfraight!
can you give me the name of a company?
I am planning the same trip, leaving from NY on 10 October.
I did this trip already 2 times.

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R1200GSADV

i will dig the email out for you , it was a year ago i got the price from uk to new york . £700 , think it mite of been james cargo but that was for a drz 400 which has now changed lol .will find it an mail you it asap .

Ben

I took a different approach for my journey (New Hampshire to Ushuaia to Bs As). Instead of an average per day, top down approach, I tried a bottom up. I estimated total mileage (gas costs, mpg), daily food and accomdations, recreation, parts/repairs, etc. Try this approach and see how it works for you. I haven't calculated all my actual costs (not sure I ever will). Live large and the money goes quick. Be thrifty and it lasts a while. It depends on what you want and what you're looking for. Have a great trip!

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Motorcycle Mexico - The easiest way to prepare for your first ride south of the border.
USA to TDF Blog

If it is any help, I worked out a budget for $70US a day, that was everything included, so after a month ti would average out and included tyre changes and oils etc. I spent around the $100/day in the states and Canada, but this went down to around the 50-60 in some parts of Central and South. Mexico was cheap, Chile and Argentina are expensive.

I drank a fair bit of so my budget was always going to be higher and that was the way I wanted to travel, I could have done it cheaper, but I may not have enjoyed it as much.

Cheers
TS

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www.travellingstrom.com

Staying with people along the way will make things cheaper and more interesting Check the tent space on Advrider. You are also welcome to stay with us in Mex City for free and for a small fee with my daughter in Playa del Carmen.

Use your resources, like couchsurfing.com, advrider.com, and here. You can find places to stay on the cheap, meet people to stay with, and camping is always an option. When I was on my trip I camped a lot. I also went to farms and asked to camp on their land and people were always friendly. I averaged about $30 a day and could have gotten away with much less but thats how I travel, it really depends per person. Have a good trip!

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keep your front wheel ahead of your rear wheel
www.mototheworld.com

[quote=cruthas;284342 I averaged about $30 a day and could have gotten away with much less but thats how I travel, it really depends per person. Have a good trip![/quote]

Ok, now I'm really stumped. I spent more than $30 on gas today; I'll spend more than $30 tomorrow, and the next day. That doesn't leave much left over for food, lodging (even if free, don't you try to buy something for the house, or take the owners out to dinner or bring some ?), repairs, parts, activities off the bike. Last week I spent $200 on visas for two (2) countries; on your budget, that's a week's travel. And I'm not even mentioning Travelingstrom's consumption!

I could get by on your budget if I stopped riding most days, learned to love couchsurfing, and stopped drinking . Oh, and it wouldn't hurt if I skipped Argentina, Chile and Brazil while I was at it, became a vegetarian ectomorph, and walked my bike across the Darien Gap....but if I remember correctly the question was about travel to Ushuaia, and if you can get there without repairs, gasoline, paid lodging or visas you're living a far more agreeable spot on the circle of life than I.

So what am I missing? Has anyone out there actually taken a bike from New York to Ushuaia and back to B.A. for $30 per day, all included?

Mark

(from Foz do Iguazu, a mere $32 in gasoline from the place where I slept for free last night....where I also happen to have dropped several hundred dollars on necessary repairs)

What is it going to cost? The biggest variable is how fast you plan on doing it. I did 23000 miles in 4 1/2 months. Lots of gas, not a lot of time to spend on looking up cheap places to stay, higher cost per day for visas, shipping bike etc. IMHO if you have the time to do it the way it should be done (6 months to a year) $75 a day in US (camp a lot) and $50 south of the boarder is doable. If you don't have the luxury of time then plan on $100 day to cover expenses.

Swing north to Washington State and I will put you up free for a couple of days to help out the budget. If you get this far you can run to Alaska and back in two weeks (6000 miles).

Bob

Depends on if you need to pay the Gringo tax or not. $30 a day can be done but not if you ride all the time. I can get $10 a day in the USA but not riding far. 200 miles in a tank full and about $15, ride 50 miles and eat what you can get and you can to. Not much fun but you can do it.
Still think it will run around $10k or so, less if use a boat around the gap and camp and eat cheap. Going vegan in SA and no bahh id stay home.

I traveled from BA's to Santiago, then south to Usuaia, north on Ruta 40 to Medoza then back to BA and averaged $120 a day excluding the Navimag Ferry.