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6 Apr 2012
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Hi,
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveK
you could budget £1000 a month
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Wow i traveled Southamerica excluding Flights for €200 per Month (one Year) and around Africa wasnt much more expensiv (Visa insted of flights + €1000)
Selling the house is not an option aslong as you cant live in a tent. Hotels are to expensive...
Motorcycle trip through Venezuela and Brazil - part 5
Just my opinion, Tobi
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6 Apr 2012
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just my two penneth
i dont think that there is any formula for working out if £500 a month is enough to live on ?
as month to month situations change from one extreme to another and the same is of people some will naturally spend more than others .
i am about the same age as you single and thinking along similar lines bike + Landrover
Rent your house give it a go, nothing to lose ( except time )
put an emergency fund by to get you home
personally i would be putting more time into the reliability of vehicles.
going to india next year overland on motorcycle maybe ill see you about.
Good luck on your decision
__________________
Of All The Places in the World to Get Stuck
Up Youre own Arse has to be the worst 
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11 Apr 2012
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Reality
Interesting thread. We just returned from 14 days on the road, from near A Coruña, Galicia,Spain to Alicante, Valencia Spain Pais Valenciana and return.
We kept exact records of expenditures. We ride 2 BMW G650-GS , traveled exactly 2,200 K each and spent almost exactly 300 euros on fuel (150 euros each) , and exactly 25 euros a day each by camping 10 nights and staying at hotels like Gaudi Hotel in Astorga, Spain for 65 euros breakfast included for 3 nights.
We ate at moderate restaurants once a day - campground cafes in Spain
are excellent...
We have a small wood stove plus a gas mountain stove for coffee and tea and toasting bread or melting cheese and heating meat... we eat almonds and dried fruits for snacks - we drink water from fountains en route.
Total cost 14 days on road 2,200 K for 2 BMW 650 - GS = exactly 1000 euros or approx 1,300 USD (total) that is for 2 people and 2 motorcycles!!!
We (a relatively young, attractive, very educated female and me -male - now 65 years old) have also recently ridden 6 countries in South America 34,000 K each on 2 NX400 Honda Falcons and expended about the same on fuel and about half for lodging and food. We frequently bush camp in South America - sometimes with cocoleros , bandidos, narcotrafficantes and even with the rural police. Never had a problem , zero tolerance for being ripped off and it never happened. I carry a boludometro , (my invention) and about 20 inches of a very thick broom handle tucked obviously under the straps of my tail bag.
Good Roads and Fair Weather xfiltrate
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15 Apr 2012
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Europe By Camper: Touring Europe for a Year - What does it cost?
This couple drove 23,044 miles around Europe from April 2011 to March this year. 66% of the time wild camped in their campervan, ate out 101 times.
£28.83 per day for them both total cost.
Their fuel cost £4k. Fuel for the same trip in my Unimog £13k.
So £500 a month possible for a trip? Maybe.
In a Mog? No.
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28 Apr 2012
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Yes but no but......
Stop worrying, the worst case scenario is you stop off and get a job for a month.
I'd sell my soul to do the same/ £30 a month and a bicycle if the choice was available.
Yes the MOG is a great vehicle though thirsty.
Good luck..... 
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29 Apr 2012
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I second to what Road2Manchester said ... you might want to think about ditching the Mog.
My personal favorite would be getting a clean Ford Connect van and transfer it into a mini camper van. We run a Connect at our business and I have nothing but praise for it. Easy on fuel (8 liters / 100 km), fits in every parking lot, does not stand out.
You could either slap a roof tent on top and use the transportation compartment for your gear and as a living room, or you could relatively easily convert the van to live and sleep in it. It is a bit on the short side (1.8 metres) but that can be overcome by pushing the drivers seat to the front once you stop for a night´s rest.
Our van is euipped with a trailer hitch and it tows quite well. So even a small camping trailer or a gear trailer would be a possibility.
The drawback is of course, it is not a 4x4. But then you could take a C90 along and use the van as a base camp while you run the dirt roads with the light bike.
Just my two (€) cents ...
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2 May 2012
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rtw
Well, I am doing a similar thing later this year. I will not mention numbers, as it is easy to spend as much or as little as you want.
First off; I am selling up completely, and doing the trip open-ended. The points which reduce my costs are that I will be wild camping 5 to 6 days per week; I already have a motorcyle; I do not plan to do "big miles", but just drift along and stay a few days at a time in the tent; I'm "veggie", so low food costs; Oh, and I'm a rabid minimalist.
No GPS, no fancy camera, no computer.
Also, there are not many sure things in life, but taxes, old age, and death are worth betting on.
I would prefer to try it than not to, but it is really up to each indidual.
Oh, and remember Ted Simon. He set off with costs planned, and then the Middle East war kicked off, and petrol went through the roof. He still went, and the rest is history.
And finally, I have become careful of too much advice, so just best to ignore me, and go with your desires!
Slightly off the original cost question, but hope it helps.
OK, everybody can shout at me know!! Oh, I'm cutting off all subs as the days tick away, so only on the e-mail on library visits; thus my replies are quite slow.
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2 May 2012
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I met a nice guy with a LandRover 101 in Senegal who was carrying 200kg of spares, but of course not the ones he currently needed to mend the gearbox. He'd been stuck there for several weeks waiting for a DHL delivery which--like Billy Bunter's postal orders--never arrived.
To borrow an expression from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the Unimog could become an albatros round your neck. Too valuable to leave behind, no way of transporting it.
The Unimog is also waaay too heavy on fuel at 18-20 litres/100km. Pete3's suggestion is good and 8 litres/100km is a great saving but this is still more than double the fuel cost of many sub-800cc motorbike.
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and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)
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2 May 2012
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For free camping in France with a camper you need francepassion, google it, €20 membership and hundreds of places to stay, same idea in Spain and Italy...
Lastly howabout down size property to a one bed flat, still on the property ladder and maybe can realise some cash from the sale...
What ever you travel with, make sure you love it - the rest follows...
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8 May 2012
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Location: On the road, Homeward bound :-(
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£500 a month??
Quote:
Originally Posted by Road2Manchester
Stop worrying, the worst case scenario is you stop off and get a job for a month.
I'd sell my soul to do the same/ £30 a month and a bicycle if the choice was available.
Yes the MOG is a great vehicle though thirsty.
Good luck..... |
£500 ... IMHO No!!
Stopping somewhere to get a job that pays enough to get a Mog moving .... You'll be parked up in Asia or Sth Americas a looooong time!!!!
A few other considerations -
Rice and beans every meal .. could you live on that?
We rent our house out while we are away. In the last financial year we had 3 months where the house was unoccupied, unforeseen repair bills i.e. Central Heating Boiler replacement = £4000 plus other day to day costs which left not a lot to go towards the trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by letsdo1
I am not sure if this is strictly allowed or not but i took 250 liters or red diesel in the back of my landy last trip away. I didnt use any of it until i got out or the UK as i know that isnt allowed but once i wasnt on UK roads i couldnt see the problem. It saved me a few hundred on fuel costs to get out of Europe too.
I dont know what other people think about that? Try and find a co pilot though it will half your costs.
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Taking a stock of Red Diesel with you could cost .. You could be charged by Customs for importing it into whichever country if it was discovered. You would also have problems with Customs and Excise back in the UK if you got a pull for a fuel check, Red Diesel leaves a trace in your tank which takes a long time to dissipate and would leave you with a lot of explaining to do. They do pull private vehicles.
Apart from that, even if you were allowed to carry Red Diesel you would need to be towing a 40' tanker to make it worthwhile.
Just a few thoughts, not intended to put you off.
Good luck to you however you end up doing it.
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7 Jun 2012
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Traveling is not expensive, traveling at speed is, if you can sit around and let the fund build when you need to then get on the road man!! Europe would be hard work on that kind of money and I'm sure America would also, but you get to buy super market food and have no accommodation costs, so i really think you will have enough cash.
But you might find 2/3 years on the road and you want to head back for a bit, i know Big Tom went back after his first year and a half for a bit then came back out and he's well into year 3 now.
Either way good luck to ya!
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2 Jul 2012
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More than 600 €...!!
What a luxury life are looking into?? 
I'm travelling more than 3 months now, and spent 2 in Italy (one of the most expensive countries in Europe! in living and gas...  )
With 10 - 15 Euro I come along very easy, but I'm sure your car will have not a good milage, then my bike  3,8 litre/ 100km 
But considering a world wide health insurance for 500€/ the 1st year and around 800 for the following and the insurance for your vehicle and Visa and some unexpected parts and so on... I still think 600 €/ month is a very good value for travelling, considering by leaving Europe expenses drop down tremendously!
I'm looking for work along the road, whenever I get the chance! So i spent 2 weeks in Italy working, what got me 600 Euro and now I think I'll make it to Greece and look further there... 
My suggestion is: "Stop thinking about the maybe's and what if's and just go! Because you will make it work somehow down the road, for sure..."
Ciao and a good take off!!
Greetings from Croatia
Alex
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5 Jul 2012
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unimog camper
The unimog camper is a serious investment, both for initial outlay and running costs, and it will eat up your budget big time. On the plus side it is an outstanding machine and you will have plenty of room and load carrying capacity, so living in it for an extended period will be comfortable enough. Now for the bad news, if you want to use campsites in europe your budget will evapourate,so wild camping is the order of the day, and finding a suitable place with a large truck has it challenges and becomes a real pain, a mog is not discreet, and if you hurry through europe, you burn your budget in fuel. What I'm trying to say is, do you really need a mog ? how often will you need the off road capabilities ? on surfaced roads it will be slow and thirsty. Using a car/van based camper could save you a fortune over the term of the trip but will not be as capable on the rough. For our next trip I will be looking to use a landrover/hilux or somthing similar with a box on the back for living space. Vehicles aside if I were you, I'd just go and do your trip, the worst that can happen is, you dont like it so you come back ! don't worry about setting objectives etc you will automatically do this as you go (places to see things to do etc). Whatever you decide I hope you have the time of your life......cheers
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5 Jul 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by _CY_
been leasing houses for 20+ years in USA. laws are different but principles are the same.
for instance it's much better to find tenants that are not helpless. state up front you are looking for tenants that are able to fix minor issues like leaking faucets, etc. in return lease house for a bit less than market value.
write it into the lease that tenant is responsible for the first $75 of every repair. major repairs will costs you no matter what. most can be taken care of before you leave. drawback is tenant gets lazy and maintenance gets deferred until you get back. leasing at below market value means tenant are more likely to stay long term.
think about this... if house goes empty, not only are you paying to put house back into lease-able condition. you are losing rents while it's being repaired. then add down time until a suitable tenant is found. average downtime could be 1-3 months rents lost forever. makes giving a good tenant a break in rents look down right cheap.
besides not losing any rents from being empty... another huge advantage of receiving a 90 day paid notice. one is able to show the house before current tenant moves out. an occupied house if it's not torn up will almost always show better and be easier to lease. another tactic is to have new tenant take house in "AS IS" or with a limit list for you to take care of. keeping in mind that you are leasing house for market rates, so you are expecting a few things in return. New tenant will LOVE it, because house is offered at below market rates.
be very careful at only offering above to a quality tenant that you have thoroughly checked references on.
all my leases contain a requirement that tenant give a 90 day paid notice before moving. otherwise lease will auto renew under same terms and conditions. this takes the work out of renewing leases. since house is being leased at below market value. highly likely they will stay anyways.
only use lease forms that an attorney specializing in real estate has given blessings to. feel free to PM if you have questions that need to be off line.
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Some good advice here, I have lowered the rent to encourage a good tenant to stay. Somethings are different in the UK depending on what type of tenancy you have but usually after six months the tenant has the right to give a months notice and leave.
I am not sure that you can make them liable for the first amount of any maintainance, only damage that they have caused, I have had tenants who have gone ahead and made repairs themselves without bothering me and others who have screamed down the phone at me to fix something that they could do in 30 seconds but won't, good luck with that one.
As for your basic question, £500 a month, I think you can live on that in many parts of the world if you freecamp and find cheaper places to lay up, but it will be things like shipping, does your uni fit in a standard closed top container by the way? travel and motor insurance, the carnet which will have to be renewed every year and other expenses which will cost more.
If you have not already, just go and see what happens, it is the only real way of answering the question.
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9 Aug 2012
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£500 per month
A couple of points:
£500 a month in Europe/North America would be fairly tough in Unimog, depending on mileage, but elsewhere you should be ok, shipping would be the budget buster..
&
Better to be a "when I" than a "I wish I...."
So
JUST DO IT!
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