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Money - how can you possibly afford an international overland motorcycle adventure?
“How much will this cost?” and “where do I find the money?” are the first questions people generally ask. This was the primary question we had about other people’s long-term, overland trips. “How much and how did you pull it together”.
We will explain what we did. Keep in mind the budget component is different for everyone. A trip like this can be done on the super cheap (a high percentage of wild camping, couch surfing, and cooking your own food) or the more expensive (stay in the best hotels every night and eat out for every meal) and of course everything in-between. The best answer to how much – It Depends. To begin, let’s start with the question how much money do we need? The second is how to get it? How much do we need for our motorcycle trip around the world? We learned a lot from Life Remotely as their website is a wealth of information and I suggest everyone read it in the beginning of their planning. I used their budget template as a place to develop a baseline budget and then I had fun with excel tweaking and manipulating. I will admit that I am a bit of an excel nerd and enjoy making interactive/assumption driven spreadsheets. Below I have included my own spreadsheet along with instructions. The budget is driven by assumptions, so first you have to ask yourself a series of questions and attempt accurate answers. As the plan develops assumption/answers will likely change and this is normal, you have to start somewhere: Living Expenses 1. Are you traveling alone or as a pair or in a group? a. We are traveling as a pair along with an 11-pound dog. We have learned that the number of people traveling together has very clear budget implications. For example, in Mexico it is generally less expensive to get a bed in a hostel if you are traveling alone but less expensive to camp if you are a pair. 2. How many days in each country? 3. How much camping versus hotel versus couch surfing? What type of camping (wild, official campgrounds, a mixture)? a. For us the answer was about 50% camping and 50% hotel. You need to assess your own comfort level with the different options you have and try to be honest with yourself. If you really don’t like to camp then don’t plan for it or only plan to camp as an emergency. We assumed that the majority of our camping would be official campgrounds because we wanted some of the amenities (internet, flush toilets, access to electricity, places to meet other overlanders) as well as the additional security. We will wild camp later in South America once population density thins out. 4. How much will you cook versus eat out? What will your average spend be per day? If cooking for yourself, how much will you shop in the local markets versus grocery stores? a. For us the answer was that we will cook about fifty percent of the time and have a mix of shopping between local markets and grocery stores. 5. How many miles to drive and what is your average miles/gallon? One-time expenses 1. What type of special excursions will you make? Will you go on an Antarctic cruise, visit the Galapagos islands, or go for a zip-line adventure? 2. One-time expenses such as border and visa fees, insurance requirements per country, etc. 3. Shipping expenses. Are you shipping your vehicle between continents? Will you drive/ride your vehicle home? 4. Vehicle maintenance? Will you ship yourself tires or will you use what is locally available? Oil changes? Are you bringing spare parts with you or will you need to purchase along the way? After we answered these questions our next step was to make assumptions concerning how much those items would cost on average. I found detailed information about average and one-time expenses from Life Remotely as they provided their original budget numbers as well as expense reports per country. I am providing our average expenses per country as well (Expense Reports). There are no ‘wrong’ answers in preparing your financial assumptions. Overland travel is unique to the individual and costs should be based on your thoughts and research. Now – put it all together Please download: S&M Boiler Works Budgeting Spreadsheet Template This is a very simple spreadsheet and has some formulae built in so that it is easy to change assumptions. The information in the spreadsheet is from our initial assumptions for the Americas. Remember this is all based on 2 people. Step 1: List the countries you will travel Step 2: Make assumptions for percentage time camping, hotel, and other Step 3: Estimate number of days in each country Step 4: Estimate costs for the four primary categories for each country (e.g. hotels are more expensive in the US than Mexico) *Food per day inclusive of grocery and restaurant – for two people we estimated $20/day in all countries but the US. A more accurate accounting would be $25/day. If you are a big drinker then take this into account. *Camping – for two people we estimated generally $15/night (higher for the US and a bit lower for some other countries) *Hotel – this ranges per country with the US being the highest. *Additional – this is a catch all category and for us includes things such as communication costs (SIM cards, data plan), pet costs (food, vet, treats), incidental shopping, etc. – this is based on $10/per person so $20/day. Step 5: Fuel estimates. Fuel is not dependent on number of days but on number of miles (kilometers driven) so you need to estimate number of miles per country. The formula for fuel is based on cost/gallon, miles expected, and average miles/per gallon of your vehicle. We estimated two bikes, at 45 miles per gallon. The miles per country were purely a best guess based on country size and anticipated route. What we learned from our initial spreadsheet that focused on North, Central, and South America is that we would require $75/day for all day-to-day living expenses ($27,000/year for two people so $13,500 per person) plus funds for start-up (equipment, bikes, etc), borders and visas, excursions, shipping, repairs, additional/replacement gear, and re-occurring expenses (medical insurance, storage, student loan payments). We planned a 3-year trip. I then lowered our day-to-day living budget to $24,000/year ($12,000 per person) that equates to $65/day. I track all our expenses (living, one-time, and re-occurring) and evaluate our spending based on averages. We spent above our $65/day average in the US but since our average expenses in Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala have been lower our overall living expenses are within the $65/day goal. We have allocated funds for the one-time and re-occurring expenses but I also hope that we can keep as much of those within our goal daily budget too. But, it is not required. This type of spreadsheet can let you play with how answers affect how much money you need. For example, what happens if you change camping to 10% of the time? Therefore this type of analysis can help you plan and choose. Equipment – start-up expenses There are also decisions about equipment and again the answer for what to get is – it depends. It depends on some of the same things you asked yourself for the budget. Will you be camping and how much which will then have you think about gear for that activity. If you only plan on camping as an emergency then a very small tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad will likely do just fine. If you don’t plan on cooking then you will not need to bring/buy a stove and kitchen tools. We knew that we each wanted our own motorcycle and that it would be best if the bikes were the same make and model. By having the same bike we have one pool of spare parts, tools, and know-how needed to keep both bikes healthy. We also knew we wanted dual-sport style motorcycles and because of our height differential there was really only one bike that was easily modifiable to fit both of us and was within our budget. We chose lightly used Suzuki DR 650s. We also knew having less expensive bikes would cut down on costs for a carnet and import duties. We were able to find Shannon’s bike (Zippy) for a great price, the base cost from Craig’s list was $2,900. Mike’s bike was more expensive $4,900 and then we outfitted both bikes (gas tanks, suspension, bags, etc) this work is all detailed in Mike’s bike prep post. We knew we would be camping at least half the time so we invested in a good quality, large tent and other high-end camping items (many of which we purchased solely for our comfort). See gear post. Our camping kit is fairly extensive and we could get by with a lot less but we choose not to. The important point is that your travel kit should correspond to your comfort level and activities/type of travel. For example, we do not plan on being professional photographers so we did not invest in high-end camera equipment. Our camera is mid-range without additional lenses and kit but it does everything we need it to. For some people this camera would be too basic. The goal during this step in your budget development is to list out what items you will need to purchase for your trip and how much it will likely cost. You may have most of the items already so this list/expense could be quite small if you have been overlanding for awhile already. Our requirement was probably somewhere in the middle with the highest expense being the bikes and bike preparation (tires, crash plates, bags, suspension, etc). Re-occurring expenses There are re-occurring or at home on-going expenses that will be different for everyone. I have student loans that I continue to pay so that monthly cost was taken into account in our savings goal for the around the world trip. Our other on-going expenses are insurance for household goods in storage and medical insurance for both of us. We also own a house that is rented out and it currently covers its own costs (the rent covers the mortgage, insurance and property management) but we were sure to set some money aside to pay our mortgage directly if the home goes unrented. Medical insurance: Yes, we have it and yes, the cost adds up. We have full medical insurance that includes medical evacuation and will cover us for accidents and diseases. The plan we chose covers us worldwide including the US up to $5million USD per person. We also chose a plan with a very high deductible ($10,000) because we knew if we are actually taping into our insurance something major has occurred (accident or disease) and at that point $10k will be a drop in the bucket and we will charge it to a credit card if needed. We purchased our insurance through IMG Medical Insurance Group and our insurance plan costs about $1,800 a year for both of us. I found Life Remotely's discussion on insurance companies very helpful and then reviewed all the options myself and made some phone calls. If you are a US citizen the plan that we have doesn’t meet the US requirements but if you are out of the country the majority of the year you are exempt. We are of an age and maturity in our lives that will not allow us to take the risk of being uninsured. However, this was not the case when we were younger. You know how much $$$ you need – now how do you get it? We did this the old fashioned way – we saved our money. We did this by making a plan about our day-to-day lives while both working at our careers. There wasn’t a magic bullet for saving our nest egg but again this can be done many different ways. Some people sell everything, take a loan, work along the way, and others use pensions, trust funds or inheritance. Step 1 – How much do you need: Our first step was deciding on our goal amount that was based on our budget and that we proposed to do about a 3-year trip. We listed out the annual/daily expenses, the one-time expenses including additional excursions we might want to do, and reoccurring expenses (medical insurance, student loan payments, etc), and some buffer. We also listed out gear costs such as new bikes (new to us), bags, camping equipment, etc. Step 2 – Save your money: Then we looked closely at our current expenses against our income to figure out what was the maximum we could save every month. We also listed items we could potentially sell (we sold three motorcycles which ended up paying for the two Suzuki DR650 motorcycles). We set up a separate savings account at an entirely different bank with a great interest rate (Capital One 360) where we transferred money every pay period. That account was hard to get money out of because once you initiate a transfer it takes 3 business days for the funds to reach your account. We thought of funds in that account as deep storage and untouchable. Then we saved. During the years it took to save the money we planned and schemed about where we would go and did other background research. Step 3 – Pick a date: The other key factor for making this trip possible was picking a date we would leave. Once that date was in place it made everything much more real and that gave us more discipline to save. At this point, we really cut out any extra expenses (no more cable tv, no new clothes, pack lunch to work, no coffee out in the afternoon, etc). We both had decent jobs so we lived on one salary and saved the other but our jobs were at non-profits so we weren’t getting rich fast and saving for this trip took a considerable amount of time. Step 4 – Items to sell: We did sell many of our belongings as well – anything that had value which included our car, truck, most of our motorcycles, and some of our furniture. We sold most of our books and I even sold some shoes (this was hard for me but I needed a new pair of motorcycle boots). We carefully went through our “things”. We do have a storage unit that includes artwork, photographs, tools, and other items. But, I would say that we let go of at least 90% of our crap. Once we started shedding our worldly possessions it was liberating. Step 5 – Rent or sell your house (if applicable): We chose to keep our house. We purchased the house over twelve years ago and knew that it was a great investment home in Seattle. Furthermore, we knew that it would be unlikely we could afford to purchase a home in Seattle again and that the money we could potentially earn from a sale wasn’t worth it. Our goal was to rent the house so that it would cover all its own expenses (mortgage, insurance, taxes, and house manager) and we were lucky enough that that happened. If the home goes unrented at any time then that is something we will have to cover from our travel/contingency budget. We just hope it doesn’t occur. Step 6 – Lower your current expenses: In order to help save money we actually moved out of our home five months before we left on our trip. We did this to help save but also we knew that if the home went unrented for more than the planned month (so we could paint and clean) it would be easier to cover the mortgage and rent while we were working. We found a great place through AirBNB where we lived for five months and it also lowered other monthly bills such as water, sewer, electricity, etc. because it was all included in our rent. As we sold vehicles that lowered our insurance costs which meant more money to save. Saving money can be daunting but it is doable. I think the important piece is to keep your eye on the prize. I often would think to myself do I really need this right now or would I rather have another few days on the road. I also kept myself out of shops so I wouldn’t be tempted. This was originally posted on our website: S&M Boiler Works | Promoting our vision of sustainable unaccountability |
Welcome!
I've read your blog a bit and reports on ADV Rider. You guys have a rather "enthusiastic" accounting approach to tracking expenses! Works for some, not for all. Nice first post! bier Good to see CURRENT cost break downs for Mex, Cent. and S. America. So much of what we see is "older" information. :thumbup1: KUDOS! I wonder what your jobs are in "real" life? You'll find a wide range of input from HUBB'ers on how folks afford to travel from various points of view and back grounds ... DO check out the big thread on this topic that has been active from 2004 until NOW! It's a good one! http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-lifestyle-458 |
Wow...well written piece.
We sold everything including our house... Flea markets/Boot fairs, Ebay, Auction houses etc etc.. It was amazing what sold...stuff we would have thrown away. Kept a few things in a very small storage unit.. Mainly artwork which we have hit lucky with or had a good eye for depending on your point of view. ( Banksy etc ) all worth good money which we may need in the future. After being away for a year we have been offered work already, but feel its too early in the trip to be bothered. ( As an example house sitting on Crete pays 300 euros a month....not exactly working!! ) At the moment we are wild camping, so am willing to spend cash on good local food at restaurants.. When we have to pay for camping we get our food and beer from supermarkets/shops... Thats about as far as our accounting goes. As for the future..People always ask " What about when you finish/run out of money ??" Truth is we don't care or worry about it..Something will happen, it usually does. |
the secret of making something work in your life is, first of all, the deep desire to make it work, then the faith and belief that it can work, then to hold that clear, definite vision in your consciousness, and see it working out step by step, without one thought of doubt or disbelief.
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Very comprehensive study that should serve as a solid foundation for anyone needing to plan the financial side of their trip.
Best bit of the article is "We did this the old fashioned way – we saved our money." Should be in bold red type as it answers a fundamental complaint of many would-be overlanders that it isn't fair that they can't just hop on/in a shiny new vehicle and ride/drive off into the sunset like everyone else can.. |
The Boiler Works folks laid out a very organized plan and it will certainly work for some. But I'm not sure this approach fits many younger potential travelers.
:innocent: Both had good jobs for years, owned a house, owned lots of vehicles, had good medical insurance (you have to pay A LOT in USA for this), and had family support. I asked in my first post (over a year ago) what jobs they had ... they never answered or posted again on HUBB. This couple were able to rent out their house, which obviously financed most of their trip. Nice, if you own a house. But how many young, novice travelers own a house AND ... have years of savings, 401K's, investments built from years of steady employment? Answer: Very few. Yet somehow young, nearly broke travelers DO manage to travel. NO, they won't have full cover insurance when on the road like out Boiler Works folks, nor will they have the ability to fall back into their steady job at any time. Or start on new bikes and fancy gear. Nor will they have medical and evac cover. I wonder if Boiler Works know most countries in S. America have free medical care ... (or very low cost), even for foreigners? Guess not. Young travelers often rely on family to Top Up their depleted funds from time to time. That's what I did back in early 70's. (I paid the money back) But I took off with about $1200 and made it 10 months in Mexico, Cent. Am. and S. America. I was topped up $1000 to finish my trip and finance my business. I started a business in Guatemala and got a job in Argentina to help finance further travel/survival. To me, a more interesting thread would take a look at what poor people and students do ... how do they manage to go anywhere in today's world? You can work and save ... but most won't have the head start the Boiler Works couple had ... and most don't want to wait into their 40's to travel. :help smilie: So, how do the kids do it these days? (not the rich ones) :mchappy: |
Always trade up never trade down...
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...tes-zona-84884
If you are discussing marriages or motorcycles this is good advice. Always trade up, never trade down" I posted twice on the above thread - perhaps a little off topic, but appropriate.... explaining a way to legally ride South America by motorcycle and at the end of your journey have more money in your pocket than you spent on your motorcycle. As noted in my post, insurance, gas, camping/lodging/food and play money are more difficult to recover unless you work while traveling, or camp out a lot and finally lose that 10 kilos you really don't need anyway. xfiltrate |
So Mollydog, young people who haven't spent 20 or 30 or 40 years (or even ANY years) working hard and making sacrifices to achieve financial independence and the means to travel resent those who have.
What's new! "Young travelers often rely on family to Top Up their depleted funds from time to time." Again, what is new but surely that must detract from the pride felt at doing things the hard way. |
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Just because many "older" or more established folk are too chicken-shit to head out to far off lands without financial security, insurance or medical cover, doesn't mean students and youngish travelers won't do it. Some are lucky enough to have family help, others go with nothing and wing it. I don't see resentment ... just a fair assessment of reality and typical gap of understanding between generations. But nothing new here. Quote:
Maybe you never traveled when young and broke, and now you're too old so will never know what it takes to head out solo with next to nothing. I know lots of folks who worked hard, saved, sacrificed and waited ... and waited ... to make that dream trip. Are they now happier than everyone else? Really more secure? Are they "proud" of themselves for their blessed hard work? ... (and can't shut up about it at the Pub! :rofl:) Or do they feel bitter, feel they got burned for working some dead end job they hated most of their lives? And for what? Sadly, I see WAY more of this later example. :( Some value family (or creating one), job and security as Number One priority. But values vary across the spectrum, no "Right" way. Most kids jump straight from high school into Uni, not really having any idea what they want to pursue or why they're there. Parents are usually behind this decision. Travel is great for helping to focus, maturation, figure out who they are and what it is they want to do. I say: "go travel now" ..(or join the military) until they've grown up and have some "real life" experience. Then come back, study or work at what really interests you, not what you were pressured into going into. Real adventurers fly by the seat of their pants, take risks and live life at Wide Open Throttle. Are they happier? Dunno, but they've got a lot better stories! And YOU are buying the Beer! (cause they're stone broke!) bier |
I think you "youngsters" misunderstand where we oldies are coming from. Apart from the illusory invincibility of youth, the younger travellers have the huge advantage of having nothing to lose. Can't get broker than broke so what the hell. Need medical attention then just use whatever is available and accept the outcome and rely in the quick healing of the young. Broke and need food or accommodation - then just bludge or work a bit or eat and sleep rough. Part of the adventure afterall.
So having been there and done all of that already when young, the wrinklies have then had a lot of years getting used to a normal life with attendant responsibilities and a more conservative outlook on all sorts of things so aren't all that fussed about reverting to a less comfortable lifestyle. Many also have the resources to buy a vehicle almost from spare change that would be just a dream for most under 25's. That is tough for the "Me Now" generation to accept, but hardly the fault of the baby-boomers or whatever is the generation or two or three older. All a bit academic anyway since the vast majority of teenagers follow the usual path of education -Maybe a short gap year travel - job - career - marriage - house ownership - kids - owing lots of money - and then if they are lucky and more to the point actually want to, they can go traveling in their retirement. Those who extend their gap year to many years or even forever are an even more minuscule proportion of their cohort than we old travellers are compared to our age group. AND of course the vast majority of oldies sit at home or down the club waiting to kick the bucket. Young or old, we travellers are a pretty select group. Quote:
Could it be they are stony broke because they spent it on beer instead of tap water. ;-)))) God help us. Mention "b e e r" and the bloody forum has to convert it into a animation so the readers can understand it. |
Not sure if 31 is young or not any more, but 3 years ago, I left everything and spent 1,5 year riding across South America. I had had a fairly decent job and some (about 5000 UK pounds) savings, didn't own a house though. Ran out of money in Argentina, found a job on a horse farm, carried on a few months later.
It was the best time of my life. Lots of wild camping, cooking my own food and so on, very minimal comfort, but it was the best thing ever. Right now I'm back in the UK, planning the rest of my round the world bike journey. I'm stuck in a regular 9-5 job; my salary is pretty average, so I can afford to save about 600 pounds a month. That means I'll save about 7000 pounds a year; I'm also going to need a new bike, probably something like a Kawasaki KLE500, that's about 3000 pounds, so in the end I'll be left with about 4-5000 again. And here's the weirdest thing: I am worried that it won't be enough to get me going. I want to go around Africa next and I always thought, I started off in South America with more or less the same amount, so that's what I'll do now as well-just go and wing it, find jobs on the way, volunteer, whatever. That's how I did it before, anyway. Why shouldn't it work this time around, right? But suddenly, I'm not so sure. I also find myself a bit worried about safety in some countries as a solo female rider; I'm worried about visas and the carnet, and insurance (didn't need any of that in South America), and I'm worried about what will I do when I come back-I will probably have to start all over again, explain my CV gap, somehow find a job, to save money for Asia, Australia and so on...This is so NOT me, I didn't care about any of that before-I just left! What the hell happened to me?..I was 28 when I left for South America, so I can't say I got very much older; I only spent 1,5 years back in Europe, so surely it isn't our Western cultural conditioning which tries to tell us the world beyond our borders and our 'safe' jobs and life insurance and mortgages is dangerous and unpredictable?.. So here I am, all worried and unsure, and at the same time going absolutely mental because I miss travelling on my bike so bad it drives me nuts sometimes. I find it ridiculous for human beings to spend 8 hours sat at desks at 'work' everyday, I find it absurd to waste my time on such trivial, meaningless activity - I'm talking about your average office/managerial jobs here mind you, not work that's actually meaningful like medicine, science etc-I feel caged and just barely able to breath sometimes, and when I remember a sunrise in the Peruvian Andes, or cooking spaghetti for supper over a camp-fire somewhere in the caretera Austral in Chile I just want to curl up in a ball somewhere and cry. I wonder what happened to my balls - or rather, ovaries-of steel and how come it's so much harder to leave this time? Not like I have a family/kids, or debt, in fact I have absolutely nothing to lose, and yet I'm stalling. Sorry for the long rant! I know I will eventually leave for Africa, and I'm 100% sure I will regret spending so much time on a silly office job, but wow it's difficult to get unstuck... |
Very thoughtful and beautiful post! :D
I think many travelers feel this anxiety ... plus female hormones may be reeking havoc as well. doh Many women in your age range are about pushing prams and decorating the house. Domestic bliss and all. I hope you can resist going down that path and get back on the road ... and get happy! But doubtful your S. American nirvana can be repeated. But once on the road I'm sure things will calm down ... but it will be a completely unique experience ... nothing like your first trip. Africa (by accounts I've read ... never rode bikes there except Morocco) is tough in places. You've read Lois Pryce's book on her solo trip? Maybe start off with "easy" countries first? Work up to Class V zones later. Join up with some riding buddies? It can work. As we age I believe it's fairly "normal" to (GENERALLY) become less adventurous, less bold and more conservative when operating out of our comfort zones. Same happened to me mid 30's. I ended up teaming up with riding buddies for security ... but now am back solo again at age 68. (going crazy as I age!) I would look to save money on buying a bike. Is a used KLE really 3000 UKP? Maybe start in S. Africa, buy a bike there to avoid Carnet fees. A nice 250 may be cheaper (and lighter) than the KLE. Or ... go back to S. America and buy this bike: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ipa-peru-86755 !Que le via muy bien! bier |
Haha Mollydog, fair play to you riding the world at 68!:)
I'm sure me being a wuss at the moment has nothing to do with female hormones though - I have zero interest in settling down and having babies! That's way, WAY scarier than Africa to me. And like I said, I got older, yes, but not much, so it can't be that either. I guess I mostly blame the Western cultural conditioning: I travelled alone but never felt lonely on the road, whereas back home I'm not just lonely, I feel like a freak because nobody gets me-most people think I'm a weirdo/hobo/nutter for wanting to ride around the world instead of being stuck in a 9-5 in the illusional safety of a regular salary, shopping at Tesco and staring at all sorts of screens for most of the time. Apparently wanting to see the world for real, NOT through a screen, is not only weird but in fact quite mental, odd and best not to even be thought of/talked about because hey, look at that discount on ebay, let's go to the pub, turn the TV up, and just keep hibernating, right? I feel like a complete alien. But back to the topic: as I said I'm not going to be able to save much for my journey around Africa, so I'm hoping to work on the way. I've changed colours quite a few times, so my skill set is somewhat flimsy-journalist/horse whisperer/sales executive; I'm also pretty good at teaching languages. That's not much, but since I'm thinking about farm/ranch/hostel/bar jobs I reckon I should be fine. Has anyone toured & worked in Africa? Is it relatively easy to find temp jobs there? |
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He posted up a brief biography recently and it would seem that the passage of time has seen off his "40's", "50's" and most of his "60's". Whether his brain is fried from "drug use" or just from going over the handlebars once too often in Baja is something only he will know. :rofl: |
LOL.
They deleted my post but left Molly's chicken shit one posted. "Welcome to the HUBB, sponsored by the drug using liberal crowd . . ." I'll go back to ADV. Wah! :scooter: :cool4: :censored: NC |
Numbercruncher, Perhaps if you'd carefully read ALL of it, and moderated your attitude somewhat your post would still be there.
You came off as trolling in a big way, and a couple of people commented to me that it was all over the top. Disagreement is one thing, but the political rant / labelling wasn't on. And "sponsored by the drug using liberal crowd"... err, no, that would be incorrect. And mollydog gets a demerit for the chicken shit too. |
Thanks Pin! I'm not British, I'm actually Lithuanian, just living in England for the time being:)
Thank your for a very inspirational post. The more posts like this I read the more obvious it is I should simply leave instead of overthinking everything! Bought a very detailed map of Africa, a tent and a sleeping bag, and did some bike repairs. I think I'm good to go:) |
If a person doesn't want to do that type of desk job then why do it? If you, or I, want that professional meaningful job then make it happen. It doesn't matter whether you want to ride a motorcycle around the world or have a meaningful job. You have to make it happen or it won't. Nobody ever got anywhere just sitting around hoping/wondering/wishing. And if those jobs weren't meaningful to the company that offered it to you or I it wouldn't be there in the first place.
Sounds like you are going through a mid-life crisis but you are awfully young to do that. I hope you are able to ride to your heart's content. I do wonder about all those folks that just seem to sell of everything and hit the road. How do they ever reintegrate into society? They may not be materialistic and not want to own a house, a car, or have high speed internet but then they'll have to go back to a subsistence lifestyle. Here in the states I laugh at all the people who are anti-material item, anti-wealth and anti-just-about-everything-else-in-life-you-have-to-work-for. They are the ones who are always looking for help. Help which is a euphemism for money which of course they despise and won't work for but ask others for it all the time. I can pretty much do what I want financially and the last thing I EVER do is HELP someone who has chosen to just take it easy and just kinda get by in life. Riding a motorcycle around at 25? Go for it! But since I was working my butt off in life at 25 don't expect me to share any of my wealth with you. I made sacrifices to get where I am if don't get to share in that adventure I won't pay for it. I'll see if this post gets banned like my last one did. NC Quote:
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As you said its so easy: just lower your livestyle and use your head. Live is not about worrying about a CV gap or consuming something and wasting your limited lifetime in an office to pay for the rates of the newest iPhone or "coolest" BMW. Therefore intelligent people just buy used phones and bikes etc. so they dont become a slave of the bank. Politics at home are wasting tax money anyway to make war and pay their own pension so no i dont want to sponser this too. Doing so you can travel the world only working/bloging or programming a few months per year as a digital nomad and be free. Thats what is really cool: Motorcycling around the world - 50.000km across Africa Quote:
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There is no single answer to this question that suits everyone. To each their own. I went on my first big trip when I was single, no kids, no dog, no house, age 28, had never done any real adventures. I realized that if I saved all my money, acted like an "adult", waited until my house was paid for and had a lot of money, I would never travel except for tours or go to resort locations where I would mingle with like minded Americans for a few weeks at a time. Wisely, I sold everything I owned and hit the road-came back dead broke. No one gave me any money. I have never had a middle age crisis when I would realize what I had missed. I have a lot of friends who woke up one day and realized they had let their life pass them by. When I travel I try to eat where locals eat, stay where locals stay. IMO no one can predict the future, know what their financial situation/health/family ties will be tomorrow. Even if you only go a little way and have to turn back, you will have more of an adventure/experience than someone who just plans for a future that may never come. I would rather have memories than money, or worst, neither.
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I think the title is very wordy. For most people things need to be simplified. It was clear in my mind that I wanted to travel to live. I worked 16 to 18 hours a day 7 days a week for 6 to 12 weeks in a year. It worked great for me for 10 years.
I took an early retirement with no saving. Got rid of everything. Our motorcycle carry all our belongings. We travel on peanuts. We don't rush. We cook, we eatout we do some volunteering. We want to do that as long as our health will allow it, may be 10 hopefully 15 years. |
My wife and I have been on our RTW trip since June 2014. Leading up to our departure we spent 10 years saving, paying off all debts (OK we only had a mortgage) and not buying loads of crap we didn't need. To make trips like this happen you have to be pretty determined and really want to do it. If it's "just an idea" you will always make excuses as to why you can't go.
Anyway, having spent that 10 years preparing financially we now rent our house for a good sum each month (we're from the UK) and travel 2-up on our Tiger 800. We have more money than when we left home but that's entirely down to planning and good fortune with excellent tenants. By the way, I'm 55 and my wife 51. So that's how we afford it. For what it costs, I've created detailed expense reports for each country we've visited. We're currently in Colombia and there will be an expense report for here when we leave. If interested, you can find the reports here Expense Reports Archives - Two Brits and a Triumph Tiger 800 Round The World We have an Access database for recording the data and a spreadsheet for data analysis and reporting. Now the database and reporting is set up it only takes a couple of minutes every day to record the data. Reporting takes a few seconds. Our on the road expenses are for two people. We don't travel on a really tight budget, nor is it extravagant, take a look for yourself. Any questions, just shout :-) Saludos Steve and Janette Tiger 800 RTW - Two Brits and a Triumph Tiger 800 Round The World |
That is brilliant Steve and Janette
Thanks for posting |
A round the world trip for several years or without ending takes a different approach than a shorter trip like a year or something like that.
When we were 26/27 we were able to do a trip of one year (including buying an old Landcruiser and stuff) after my girlfriend finished her study, and I had been working for two years as a software engineer with a normal starting salary. My girlfriend was also working next to hear study saving money, and we had a cheap rental apartment. Friends who didn't understand how we could pull this off were also saying that we became boring for not going out with them in the weekends (for the period up to the trip). I guess they didn't always get it. After that, we have been working again like everybody else. Now we are going to do our new trip. Half a year, so manageable in terms of saving. But we have also come into a position where we can rent out our house with some profit. For the times that we are travelling cheap (only costs being diesel and food) it is already sufficient to keep on travelling. In the end, this is what you want. A steady income to fulfill your needs (whether at home not working, or travelling) But when it comes to travelling, it is impossible to determine a generic level of costs. Having long visas or visa-free travelling, travelling slow in areas where food is cheap, fuel is reasonable and you camp everywhere for free, you can keep travelling for ages with little savings. But yeah, you can also travel in a different style. Much more hotels, visiting national parks (for example in Africa it is expensive), a lot of shipping, or just travelling fast (more fuel and visa cost) I see people with a huge 4x4 truck with quad and bikes, shipping that huge thing everywhere, visiting several areas twice. Good for them, I think they have an awesome time. But I won't be surprised if that costs like $50k or even 80k per year? Then you have young people living in a simple van, who barely go out for dinner even though it is cheap. So many different styles of travelling. Having a pushbike and a tent and a small stove is probably the cheapest way of travelling. |
Money, horrible stuff but essensial for a RTW trip
I'll throw my two pence worth in here as i get closer to my intended travel plan and find myself browsing HU more and more often looking for tips and prompts...!!
Basically if you keep one eye on the OP and its sub heading then you only have to focus on one solitary thing..... SAVING YOUR MONEY folks...!! You need a substantial amount to launch the trip. I haven't read in full all the links in this thread but i will go back and browse them. How you earn enough money to facilitate a healthy savings rate can be a reflection of your pre-trip life and what you put into it from the start of your working life. That's not a slant on anyone by the way, I kicked off as a humble tradesperson and stuck with it to date although what i have ended up doing within my trade is a million miles away from the early days. Everyone will have to save like mad and time scales will vary immensely. There has been some mixed feelings and comments within this thread also, It bottoms out with some very basic beliefs from individuals but i think you can't get away from one brutal and simplistic point of view, "You only get out of life what you put in" and if your wants, desires or dreams involve travel by motorcycle then you are going to need a wedge of cash to start the ball rolling and to get that involves HARD WORK and DEDICATION. One final comment here, I don't agree or share the free view of total abandonment when setting off. Ok sell up if you have NO kids or ties with your homeland but at least have some 'Plan B' for your return whether that's a chunk of money or a promise by friends or family of somewhere to live upon arrival. That's just my view by the way. Anyhow, I look forward to any other threads that are a positive influence as my time comes closer.... :mchappy: |
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No finer example for your kids & grandkids. Quote:
Coping with old age [for example] in second-hand caravan in the corner of someone else's field is no-way to end your days. Not good enough for me anyway. |
Hello Evergreen! I know exactly how you feel, I call it PTM (post travel melancholy). I recently returned home from south america after two years of travel and it is like a syndrome: i always catch myself reminiscing about my trip and I am planning the next one: AFRICA!
Africa or bust! I am hoping to start either by early to summer of 2019. im so excited!! Are you traveling already or where are you now? |
Ta-rider, when did you do the african trip? I am planning something similar and i wanna plans details, especially with finances! Any addtional info you wanna contribute about your african trip??
thank you! |
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Back in bricks & mortar now albeit way up North... :stormy: |
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Emmet fraid , wouldn’t insult the locals by pretending to be ‘a local’..!! I take it by your comment you are a ‘none emmet’ Keith..?? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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:no: Me? I'm as Cornish as they d'make 'em. Always start to get a bit nervous up pass Bodmin. Dunno why I'm 'ere on this forum really! :confused2: :helpsmilie: |
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......”errr because you I intend to go global travelling of course”...!!! You can do it, deep breath...... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Good info, plan-save-hit the road
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it is wonderfull to read all this easy planning, makes you somehow wanna start poacking right now, and then you realise , almost 90percent of planners, rtw riders and people posting, are uk, us , europe some sorted countries, people being payed well for their knowledge , having some nice free strong passports, renting whatever they can and then heading out, hmmm what about the rest of us from some smaller crappier placies, where you have average salary of 250 till 350 eur, live with odl folks, can get a loan, pay the bike for 10 years , and then just head in and out for some short trips ? nobody know your country, no papers can be done freely and easily, most of the visa PIA to obtain .
Lets get some topic going on for that how to ? ;) Now i am a world traveler by any means , dont care as long as i move, foot, bike, motorbike, car, plain, train, really dont care, been struggling to do that rather successful in the past 15 years, but i always see same , need to work illegal, whatever you do, whenever you apply for a job thats it your passport get rejected for some USA or UK one, and so on and so on...... for me its funny to read these topics a bit, no offence meant, but by the time i was adult i went to see whole Europe, and changed 2 passports, by getting in surround countries for visa for every single EU place, waiting and non sleeping in lines for days, getting rejected repeating progress and so on, because we where scary war Yugoslavs at the time....bs.....and after all that i listen to my friends, yeah i just by ticket go somewhere work a bit at restaurant continue wherever, for f sake man, i want that , then i wouldnt need any planning or sorting out, just head and work along the route , the cost of that is always waaaay cheaper than what it is in our heads , and we as a human beings are design to survive and fight, every time you get your ass in some "cosy and safe environment " you start to get weak and soft and harder to move ......you all are one crazy lucky lot, so stop thinking and overthinking just go, mile by mile , expand and prolong, and make a plan by the time you are wrinkly and old and dead see whatever you wanted to see . at least when you get back home you can find a job, where i am good luck you are done begging living with parents or 200euro waiter thats it.............. Expectations are something you can rely on, i cant and i still do it ,so as bob marley says get up stand up and hit the road ;) now this all makes no sense but i needed a valve , i was raised to grab the life by horns and struggle it and fight it , but if you ever feel in doubt about cost , issues, problems whatever , there is a bit of my story to get you going, since it can be done for some way easier then for other, yet others do it ;) so can you, it will cost you way less then us by any means |
very well spoken mate.
Thanks for your comment.
You hit the nail well on the head. Cheers Rusty |
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