I need to budget some money for 6 months travel and I have no idea how much or how little it is going to cost (on average.
I need to budget some money for 6 months travel and I have no idea how much or how little it is going to cost (on average) per month. I am spending 1 month in Europe, 2 months in Asia, 1 month in Oz and 2 months in North America. What sort of allowance should I give myself for the trip to make sure I don't end up sleeping on the streets and how much will it differ by continent? Any advice would be gratefully received!
Reply to this Well, those are some pretty broad generalizations. "Europe" "Asia"??? There is for example a huge difference between staying and traveling around Germany and France than say Romainia and Bulgaria and such. Same thing with Asia if you are planning travel into Japan.
You should read up on the Travel Guide Ali has created. It has been said that the conservative traveller could make $10,000 US$ last a year.
There is a lot to consider, and some planning to be done to determine how much you'll need. If money matters, then plan out a route now to help figure your expenses. 2 months in N. America is going to dent your budget by the way, unless you have friends/family to stay with.
Reply to this Here are a few figures - based on my experience and gut feeling; please chip in if anyone thinks differently.
Based on being a budget traveller (hostels/cheapest hotels), daily allowances (food, local sites, a little socialising) - but not long distance travel/flights, major attractions - which you'll have to add extra for.
> 1 month in Europe
Eastern Europe: $25
Western Europe: $50
> 2 months in Asia
South-East Asia: $15
India: $15
Japan: $50+
> 1 month in Oz
Australia: $35
New Zealand: $25
> 2 months in North America
USA: $40 (junk food or supermarkets)
Canada: ? - ($30?)
Mexico: $25 - more in Mexico City(DF)
If you take those figures times them by the number of days, add on flights and long distance travel - you'll have a budget, add 10% to stay safe and you'll have some money spare for special treats - like sky diving or scuba diving 😊
Reply to this Depending on how you want to live/eat in each place, I'd say Ali's numbers are a decent rough guide.
On experience, you could bring Japan down to $40 or less if you eat noodles at the hostel, and eat Bento boxes for lunch. But once you step outside Tokyo, you'll take a decent hit on transportation costs unless you take the bus.
Hey Ali, remember that American kid in Rome that'd been living in London and came to Rome with 50 quid for like 2 weeks!?!?! All he did was sit in the Hostel and do nothing!! hehehe
Reply to this > Hey Ali, remember that American kid in Rome that'd been living in London and came to Rome with 50 quid for like 2 weeks!?!?! All he did was sit in the Hostel and do nothing!! hehehe
I was a little annoyed with him 😊 - It didn't cost anything to visit the Roman Forum or Pantheon... finding the free things to do can be really rewarding as well. But each to their own 😊
South East Asia is currently averaging about $20 a day for me... but I've so far only been to the touristy parts of thailand... it will go down.
Reply to this I was a little annoyed with him 😊
I thought annoyed was your theme for the trip? :-p
Reply to this Don't forget to figure in gas expenses in your US travels, especially if you travel out west. Unless you stick with the US cities that have good public transportation you will need a SUV or car to get around. I usually overnight park in places where it is free and stay in budget hotels every few days but have found that the cost of gas exceeded most of my other expenses. Almost everyone who has not travelled the US much underestimates the size of the country. It is a big country and the size of the country, weather, construction delays, mountains, getting funneled by traffic away from a turn and having to find your way back will add considerably to your budget. Out west when traveling rather than staying in one place I usually spend $55 to $65 on gas per day. It is usually the biggest portion of my budget.
Usually buffets, such as Ryans, The Golden Corral, etc that have a salad bar as well as an all you can eat buffet can afford the opportunity for a chance at a variety of food to eat at a reasonable price. When one is available I usually just have coffee for breakfast, then pig out at the buffet, then if I get hungry later I will just have some cereal.
A stop at MacDonalds will afford the opportunity of coffee at a cheap price with refill free and free wireless internet. And they usually have clean restrooms.
Most SuperWalmarts are open 24 hours and will allow free overnight parking if not posted otherwise. And you can usually stock up on supplies while there and their bathrooms are clean.
I usually average around $2400 a month in my travels in the US.
Reply to this heya, i'm in aust and i think you'd be lucky to find accomodation for less than US$25 a night...probably more around $40 for a few people in a room backpackers. $90 would be the cheapest for a 2 star hotel.
Really tourist things will cost anywhere between $10 to $50 but there are heaps of free stuff as the guys above have mentioned. eg. the sydney opera house and daintree rainforest are both free if youre happy to stand outside and look at them...the cost money to go on tours. Similar to europe we have heaps of 'free on a monday' museums etc that are worth a look.
For food if you buy your own from a shopping centre then maybe $10 a day would do you... you could eat in foodhalls for dinner or lunch but you'd be lucky to get something less than $10 even a kebab or subway. Even a coffee and muffin for bfast would be $6.
Transport is going to cost a bit in Australia...unfortunatly airlines arent that cheap so the best is probably to buy a greyhound bus ticket or look out for specials.
hope all that helps
tam
Reply to this Tam what side of Aus are you on? Here in WA we have the highest cost of living - to give you an example one parking space in the city generates 75K a year, more than New York.
The absolute lowest backpacker dorm i could find was $16 for a 16 bed dorm. After reading some of the reviews you would want to be a happy to be friends with insects and drunken brawlers type person. Hotel rooms start at $109 per night all the way up to $645 for this month.
The cheapest place to eat in Perth is either McDonalds or Hungry Jacks - even if you ate three meals a day at McDonalds with a $4.95 breakfast deal, the $2.95 lunch snack pack and a $7.95 medium cheeseburger meal you are looking at $16 a day...if you can survive on junk food that is.
Id suggest the cheapest thing to eat in perth is Ramen noodles cooked at a hostel.
Its an expensive place. On this coast I would suggest you would need an absolute minimum of $50AU per day but $80 to $100 per day would be more realistic unless all you want to do is sit in a hostel and cruise in and out of the nearest walking distance McDonalds.
If you wanted to see some of the remote wild north west or Ningaloo or Broome be prepared to budget around $500 a day - its a huge place and distances are massive so transport is a huge cost. A return flight from Perth to Exmouth (jumping off spot to dive Ningaloo and see whale sharks) will set you back anywhere from $536 to $991 - and we are not in high season. A 2 night flights and accom package to Broome at the moment is on sale for $448, in high season expect that to triple.
Western Australia is an awesome place, but very expensive..hope this helps and I havent scared everyone away from visiting us - we are nice really 😊
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In response to: Msg #146387
hey cindy, i'm in perth too! hehe i wrote a blog item about travelling from perth recently and also had that it was soooooo expensive. I guess thats the downside of the mining boom and no pokies.... its a pity they cant do cheap flights to the pilbara or nigaloo to help encourage tourism 😞
one idea for cheap food anywhere really in australia or asia would be food halls....you can always find meals in there for around the $10 or less mark...
tam
Reply to this Hey Tam 😊 LOL you must be an eastcoast import with the Pokies reference - we also have the fun police here!
You are so right about the mining boom changing the way we travel - when I was a kid it was pack up the car and drive the 1700ks (half dirt then) to Ningaloo or the big one - driving across the nullabor!
I suggested a roadtrip to my teenage sons and the looked at me with horror and said..what do you mean? thats what planes are for!
Reply to this Interesting that this topic got resurrected 6 years on 😊
Australia is not the country now I traveled back then, it was something around AUS$1.8 = USD$1- now it's even, that alone is huge for the backpacker.
The only currency that has dropped further than the USD over this time is probably the GBP (British Pound).
Really - 75K for a parking space? - it sounds as though despite the strength of the currency, local costs are sky-rocketing.
Reply to this Exactly Ali - we have a two speed economy here thanks to the mining boom. If you are in mining or related industries you can expect a healthy salary to pay for that hefty cost of living....unfortunately if you are not in mining or related, people are really suffering financially. Perth has the third highest cost of living in the world according to some stats I saw recently.
I guess that is what happens when we have the three richest Australians living here and cleaners on minesites can start on 90K salaries.....thats right, cleaners!.
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