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.

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.

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

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...

By the French inland waterways, which cover the whole of France, there are free govt funded 'Halte Nautiques' which are small parking for camper vans with water, electric hook-ups (for a small fee to local agent), waste disposal and showers. They are by locks, bridges, villages and very quiet and rural.

Realistically ..... No! Your choice of vehicle is completely wrong for your budget, as others have said. Of course you can do anything if you put your mind to it, but in general, The Mog is a rich mans toy.

Either do it on a bike, or if you need a roof, any Mercedes......or a Landy.

Fuel is the killer. I am in my 5th year in a Merc based motorhome, and a budget bigger than yours. Fuel is the number one consideration. Everything else is secondary. Of course you can stop, work, stop etc ......

However, in the spirit of being positive, may I suggest that you try a shakedown trip to Morocco and the Western Sahara. Fuel there is cheap, it's a paradise for a Mog, and you will meet lots of others and learn loads. Head for Dakhla for starters.

Good luck!

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

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

Something great for sure. I am only doing a short 6 month trip and have been on the road for 3 and love it more than anything I have ever done and wish I could carry on forever.

GO FOR UIT and hell 500 a month is plenty, beaurocracy unforeseen bike troubles and visas will cut a chunk out of this but camping and cheap counties will make up for that
ENJOY and write a blog so we can all follow your adventures

At 500 GBP a month, money won't be an issue. Only your will to carry on will be what starts or stops you. Get on the road and just keep going... if you love it, keep doing it, if not try something else.

I think that 500GBP per month will be enough for you to travel around the world, excluding The Scandanavian Countries and North West Europe, Netherlands etc. Plus Switzerland (plus avoid Europe in the peak summer months, everywhere is expensive then). Also excluding Australia, it won't last you there. To cut it short, check out this map and avoid anywhere with dark red tags World Map of Consumer Price Index (CPI) for 2012

Get on helpx, couchsurfing and you will be ready to go.

__________________
www.thegreatgallivant.com - video blog of my current year long trip around Europe on the F650GS Twin

Dear Major!

Just remember that 'the joy is in the journey' and once you find the right pace for the available funds it'll all fall into place.

Do it mate and remember that you're a long time dead!!

Enjoy

You could make a compromise. A smaller car with the possibility to sleep when wanted or necessary combined with small cheap hostels where available. In warm climates, even in southern Europe, you don't need a big mobile "house", just a bed as you can live outside the car all day.

I have a 1999 Ford Galaxy with a camping bed in the rear, a small folding table and a folding chair. A water can with electric pump, that can be placed on the roof for showering. Auxiliary battery and 12V to 230V inverter and a solarpanel. Contrary to just a mattress, the camp bed gives you a lot of storage space underneath it.
I have a small gasstove, a spirit stove(its so silent) and a folding barbeque.

The big advantage of a totally normal looking car, is that nobody will send you away, as they just see a parked car and NOT a camper car or mobile home. In France it will go under the 2meter "gates" they have erected on most parking places.

Driving normally it goes 16km/liter, driving maximum economy it'll do 21km/liter on diesel. Thats as good as many bikes but you'll have the comfort of a car.

The Galaxy has an option of "offroad" springs, that will give you about 8 cm more ground clearance.
There is also a 4WD model(it might be the VW Sharan, which in the diesel version is the same as the Ford)

__________________
Poul
May you enjoy peace and good health !

My cousin sold a house he had been doing up at the beginning of this year. he bought a camper van and him and his missus are travelling around Europe following the sun. They have been on the road 6 months now. They live on 450E a month and at that rate they can keep going for as long as they want. He has worked out the Spanish writing on drain covers so he knows what drains he can empty his waste into. He has made an attachment to fit onto the shower heads on the beach for fresh water (although they say not drinking water, it comes out of the same pipe as the drinking water fountain next to it!!). They have solar panels so are completely self contained.

you just have to be a bit creative.

Their camper is of course a lot more economical than a unimog, and costs depend on how many miles you cover in a month and how long you stay in one place, but they are in Europe. Get into Eastern Europe, Africa or India and fuel is dirt cheap.

Go further afield where the cost of living is less and yes, you could easily live on 500E a month

You would need to keep a contingency though for unexpected expenses and mechanical problems.

Personally I wouldn't take a mog, I would convert an old Mercedes truck. When it's your home and your life depends on it you won't be doing the sort of offroading a mog can do and a truck can take huge fuel tanks so you can fill up where it's cheap. A good sized truck tank will easily give you a range of over 1000miles.

Something like this maybe
http://suchen.mobile.de/wohnwagen-in...eatures=EXPORT

or
http://suchen.mobile.de/wohnwagen-in...eatures=EXPORT

I'm not sure I would be able to do it, certainly with a camper, that is sure to eat up a huge part of your budget. Traveling the world is one thing, doing it on 4 wheels (or more) is quite another.
I would suggest to make a list of why specifically you want to do it on 4 wheels, and even more so with a camper, while balancing the advantages and disadvantages. Saving on accommodation will only work in the western world, not in the developing world.
Perhaps look also at alternative 4-wheel transport, like a small van with 4WD (like Subaro) or a jeep-annex-tent. Even with a motorbike, shipping and admin costs (carnet) can be steep, so with a 4-wheeled vehicle it could be prohibitive.
If you have all the time in the world, the easiest form of transport would certainly be a simple bicycle. No border restrictions, no driver's license restrictions, easy repair/replacement, etc. While in the beginning you might crawl along at 40-50 km per day, you'll gradually build strength for larger distances.
Actually, the slower you go, the more you get connected with the worlds you are traveling in. What you loose on speed/range, you win on experience. And if you ever get stuck, or just want to skip a certain part or country, it's never a big deal taking a bicycle on a flight, or bus or train trip.
If you set your priorities right, and manage to choose the right mode of transport for your budget, the dream could become a lot more achievable.