Morning all!

This is partly about budgets but partly about big life decisions... I would say I'm at a fairly big crossroads, I've recently (6wks ago or so) split with a long term gf - she wanted to settle, house, marriage etc I didn't - so I've got to sort out flats etc and it seems like a sensible time to take a little break

I'm 26 and have a job/career that pays very well for my age and lots of progression opportunity BUT i'm bored, bored of working my way up a corporate ladder and bored of spending days at the desk dreaming of far away places and bored of people who's monthly highlight is a good game of golf...doesn't help that I've just got back from an enduro trip in the Carpathians which has only made the craving worse

So I'm very much on the verge on resigning - although it's quite difficult to leave knowing it will be a totally fresh start on my return which is where I'm getting hung up at the moment.. - but I wanted to know what sort of daily budgets people had per day? I realise this question is very ambiguous but it's more a 'how cheaply can I do it' question - quite happy to rough it with camping/couch surfing etc. as far as destinations go a rough idea would be to initially go North, up through the Scandi's back into central Europe via St Pberg through the Baltics and then South towards Turkey via the Balkans ultimately aiming for S.E.Asia in some way shape or form...

So advice on all aspects would be appreciated 8)

I am not the best person to answer your question about budget as I tend to start with a certain amount of money or a set income and see how long it lasts, it is difficult to calculated due to different lifestyles and expectations. As for should you do it or not, I have never met anyone who has packed in all in and gone off travelling and regretted the decision, it is a great experience.
It is a bit cheesy but here is a get up and do it video.

Any 'western' country is expensive to travel in.
Most 'asian' countries are cheap to travel in.

Not just a question of 'accommodation' but food too.

If you wan to cut costs ... travel little in 'western' countries, linger in 'asian' countries, don't drink , eat 'supermarket' food. You can cut your expenses a lot.

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The present job ... and savings? Are you eating lunch from things you brought from home? Saving as much as you can? Best to make the most of what your getting now. Sound out your boss on extended leave... travelling 'locally' can be done in normal holiday periods .. it is the far away places that take time to get too and back from that will require the long period of time away that you need to plan for.
What I am saying is .. make the best of what you have now... save as much as possible, and use what leave you have to explore things local. When you do travel to distant places they will want to see where you come from .. have a presentation of your 'local' travels for them to see.

cheers Mark, that's exactly the problem, I've also never met nayone who's said 'I really wish I didn't go on that amazing trip'. Will have a look at the vid. I'm also well aware it's an advert (or rather part of an advert) for the new AT but as far as inspiration goes this one does it for me everytime:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRiK2LZ8n38

the foregoing alcohol might be hard...I'm 26 how else am I meant to converse with the opposite sex?! I can cope with cheap food easily enough though

The present job is in finance, investment specifically. Savings are fairly substantial, certainly enough for a house deposit... I've been doing the 'travelling in holiday time' thing for a few years now and got to some amazing places, it's the returning to work that's the hard part...and I guess the fear that I'll get a few years down the line and be less flexible/have more responsibilities than I do at this point in time

My best advice on Budgets? Don't have one, you will never stick to it anyway ! Get as much together as you possibly can, then go.

As already said avoid western Europe to save on spending. Avoid "tourist hot spots" to get the best prices. You'll be amazed how cheaply you can live on a bike with camping equipment.

I waited a long time before I started this bike travel stuff - my only regret is not doing it sooner. I wish I was 26 again, I feel like I've missed so much already!

A handy site to see global fuel prices which can influence where you go perhaps? Gasoline prices around the world, 02-May-2016 | GlobalPetrolPrices.com

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

I like that idea. Talk to the boss about extended leave and returning to the job. Take sections of the world at a time ... not all in one go.

For Asia, I would not ride my bike there. Takes forever and is fraught with crazy paperwork. FLY to Thailand, rent a bike and do a tour. Do the same for Vietnam, Cambodia et al. Wonderful way to dip your toe in and find your own special "Gardens of Eden" (they are everywhere if you know where to look!)

Keep the money flowing to some extent back in the UK. If you're an investment specialist ... then why not take your own financial advice and invest wisely enough to fund your travels continuously. (and give me some investment advice too!!!!)

In USA, the longer you work the more you get when you retire (Social Security and Pension Funds) so, the smart move here is to try and keep working to some extent for as long as you can stand (I know it's tough!).

Don't forget you are in an extremely privileged position ... as we say ... you've got "White Peoples problems". Boo fricken' Hoo! At 26 you've got at least 40 good years left to travel. But doing it early on, IMO, is best. But don't throw your career away ... you may not get it back.

That leaves me this year and next year. I'd better get a move on. Where did I put that map!

I was 23 when I left to back pack Europe with a pocket full of coin I quit the casino I was working and had a chance to move into management and eventually owning. my GF was literally a porn star I should have married but I was young dumb and had to do my thing, so I did.

I spent far too man nights sleeping on park benches or on cold trains, shivering but happy. I got to see a huge chunk of Europe and have an amazing time, I never should have stopped.
I spent the next few years jumping from shit job to shit job, became self employed and made more in a month than I now make in a year. I had chances to travel more and I did, but not to the extent I should have, being mindful of ninny family members to a point, it's good to keep some close as when you fall, you may need their love. Just not to the point of losing your own dreams
Now at my midlife, having watched my business spiral to hell after 08 I realize I should have just sold everything and traveld more. But what I really realized had I been smart I could have taken a leave from my casino job, came back moved up, married the porn star and lived a dream with lots of travel In between.
It took me another 20 years to meet a woman, while back packing the philippines worth marrying, she is amazing and my child far more amazing than standing on the acropolise and looking out over a glowing Athens. But it took 20 years to find.
Good parteners are hard to find, so is good work and great adventures, but if your smart, you can have all three and look back at a nice full life as you take your last breath.

Good luck kid, you do not know problems, sorrow or fortune yet.
Life goes by in the snap of the fingers, choose your hand wisely as the hand you are dealt is taken away and shuffled for the next all to quickly.

George Kennan, a US diplomat who many consider to have been very dovish regarding US policy toward the former Soviet Union, was considered by almost everyone (including Paul Nitzy - the US policy hawk) to be a policy genius. He predicted almost every major Soviet/US event years before it happened, and advised US Presidents and US Secretaries of State on all major US/ Soviet policy for 40 plus years..... once asked himself:

"What is it I want?" Although rumor had it he once had an extramarital affair with a female foreign service officer while under arrest and confined at a German spa by WWII Nazi, his answer was:

"I want a continued productive affair with my wife and children and I want to do something positive. "

Domestic "productivity" and positive purpose seem, so often, to be cast aside as considerations when making life altering decisions. One overlander who posted here has centered squarly on family, no one - unless I missed it - has focused on the other.

Employment does not mean doing what you hate, it can also be doing what you love. Travel can be a learning, sharing experience that leads to understanding and new opportunities.

Sometimes simply saying I am not yet ready to decide can be as much as a decision as throwing it all in and riding off into an eastern or western sunset. Knowing that there are certain truths, the sun will set in the west and rise in the east is one, having a great relation with a mate and family and having a positve purpose, in my opinion, are also truths for a happy life.

xfiltrate

Did you see the web site i think 2 ride the world, they have made a spread sheet, for dl with there daily expenditure that is as a guide only as there are a coupple.
Notably aisa india, are cheaper than western parts of the world, of course there are some countrys which are the dxception per region

Sent from my GT-P5220 using Tapatalk

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We are the Pilgrims, Master, we shall go Always a little further: it may be beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow, Across that angry or that glimmering sea.

I always thought the authorities confiscated passports past the age of 50? surely by that incredibly old age it's all blankets over knees and comfy chairs? :P

cheers for all the advice, this is what makes this forum great, views and opinions from people of all ages from all regions of the world

and shrekonwheels that sounds like the plot of a good film! last para being the closing scene... 8)

so, with a lot of thought this is where I am now... with a mix of with and without bike I could afford to do a year. as said the difficulty would be coming back to no flat/job etc. so ideal would be to line up another job and see if I can arrange not to work my notice which would give me 6wks or so. not ideal but arguably the best of both worlds...

alternatively it will be an 'extended leave' discussion, or potentially a work remotely for 2/3 days a week for pro-rata pay for a few months. not sure how well that would go down mind....

or I might just crack, sell everything and ride off into the distance with no plan!

An old friend told me after my Europe trip "You cannot tell me two college kids with .50 cents to their name are not gonna have more fun in the Bahamas than two retired millionaires too old to do anything"

There are ways to see the world, which do not sound as romantic as "I quit my job, left everything and came home to live under a bridge, with my name being changed to "Troll"

Teach English, not much money but a chance to see the world nevertheless. The bonus being you get to spend a few months in each country so you really get a taste of what it is about.
If you are fortunate enough to be in Asia for instance, flights are dirt cheap so on your downtime, you can fly to another country and check out things there.

Work on a cruise ship, while you only get to see the ports, that is far more than most ever will. Plus you will have all kinds of women everywhere woot!

IF you ask for leave and they just say hit the bricks, you did not lose anything as you already were wanting to go. However the easiest way to do this is to simply read your employee manual and it discusses such things.
I did try taking leave from a job for three months, they found an excuse and canned me anyhow. Which was good, I should have quit that hell hole the day I walked on.

In the end, whatever you do so long as you get to travel, and do it a bunch is all that matters.

I really feel for people who think sitting on their butts working the same boring job day in and day out to go home to the same boring life is living.
Nonsense

P.S. If you happen to know any wealthy movie makers that want to buy my story I will hit a few countries with you.

I snore, real loud, and I am old so no more park benches....... No more chasing women cause I am married,,,,no more high salt foods, No more late nights cause I fall asleep by ten...

Ok never mind, go have fun.