cost for 12 month rtw trip

Fortunately you are stopping in the least expensive countries first. There are many forum Q&A's that answer the question as to how much it costs on average for room and board in almost every country you have listed, and depending on your individual entertainment, local transportation, and shopping expenses, you should be able to adjust to live within the 14,000 budgeted.

By adjusting, I mean that if you find that you are over budget and can't reduce your average costs, then you could shorten your time by just a little in each country and still get a lost out of your time there. For example, while I dearly love Thailand, I think that you could see and do almost everything in much less than 5 months unless you worked or volunteered for several months.

As for time in each country, don't forget about visas. You will be limited as to how long you will be permitted to stay: e.g., if you fly into Thailand you can stay 30 days without going across the border to renew your visa...if you arrive overland the maximum is 15 days. This may dictate your itinerary..using Thailand as a hub and taking trips from there to Laos and back, and the Cambodia and back, and to Vietnam and back.

As for the expensive countries at the end of your trip, you will need to reassess your remaining funds when you are ready to leave Thailand to see how much time you can spend in those places. However, "doing" the U.S. in less than two weeks is difficult. It's cheaper than Oz so cutting a week in Oz would be enough to pay for 10 days in the U.S. I live in the U.S. so if you need further advice on an itinerary let me know. Reply to this

In response to: Msg #136486

Hi, thanks for your reply. Regarding the visa situation in Thailand, I wasn't aware if arriving overland your visa only lasted for 15 days ( I assume this is only if you apply for it a the border)?. You are right about us using the border crossings to renew visas. From what I understood you could stay for 60 days and this could be renewed twice by exiting and re-entering the country. Therefore allowing us to stay up to 6 months. I got this info from the Thai embassy website, this is what I understand of it anyway.

I hope I am correct as it looks as though we could apply for visa prior to leaving the UK, it is then valid for 3months once received. We only plan on a month in China so would arrive in Thailand in plenty of time.

Then use it as a hub to visit Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Any advise welcome.... Reply to this

Hi Val and Pete

Me and my bf start our 13 month trip in Sept. I have asked alot of questions regarding budget on here and other forums. It might be of interest to you.

What Did You Spend?

I decided that £30k was needed for the whole thing. Allowing, like you, £10k for flights, gear etc. After alot of research on here and other forums, I think this amount is just about right for us but I still have panics about not having enough. If we were to run out of money, the worst that would happen is coming home early (as long as we make sure to keep enough aside for flights home that is!)

I also had a bit of advice that starting in the more expensive countries makes it a bit easier staying to budget, as you tend to overspend at first. So we start in South America onto NZ/OZ then onto the cheaper SEA at the end. Reply to this

Hi Guys,

Obviously the way you conduct your trip (Standard of accommodation, amount of time you spend on the road versus staying put, activities you take part in etc) will dictate to a huge degree how much you are going to spend on the road.

We are into the last 2 weeks of a 12 month RTW trip so i can let you know how it went for us. Background info though, we travelled as a couple, mid 30's, stayed in private rooms almost exclusively, but in hostels, ate out almost exclusively in typical restaurants (except for some nights in small places in Central America with no restaurants). We bought a RTW flight ticket for flexibility, but bought a few flights on the way where it was appropriate (Flying in Asia is cheap). We had quite a few expensive visas to incorporate as we hit Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazkhstan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos.

Our route: Start in St. Petersburg - Train to China (Which we booked through a company called Vodkatrain) - 6 weeks China - 1.5 months Malaysia & Thailand - 2 months India - 1 month Nepal trekking - 3.5 months Vietnam / Cambodia / Laos - Tokyo & LA 1 week - 3 months Central America - 2 weeks Colombia - 1 week Buenos Aires.

Our total spend for the year is going to come in somewhere around £30k for both of us including everything. I would definitely say though that we haven't roughed it too too much, although we have kept on the go for most of the year.

Other budget bits we have learned: It will be cheaper if you stay put somewhere and volunteer for a bit, it sounds silly but travelling is far more expensive than staying put.

We like to eat and it is a huge part of our travel experience. Therefore, we ate out as much as possible. In Asia, many hostels don't have kitchens, but that doesn't matter too much as you can eat really cheaply there. In Central America, there is a bit more of a benefit cost wise to eating in, especially in Panama & Colombia.

India is by far the cheapest country we visited. Any visit there will drop your average spend hugely. As we have moved South in Central America, costs have gradually crept up.

But most important I think is to have a contingency (treat) fund, something you maybe don't plan to spend but don't mind spending if something comes up. Some of these places you may only visit once, so why miss out on an amazing experience or activity for the sake of saving $20 / $50 / $100? The thing you are missing might be the best thing you do all trip and live with you far longer than the cost.

Don't sweat the costs too much, it won't be the most important thing you remember 2 or 5 years after the trip is done. Your lifestyle will adapt in each country based on the costs and the standards you are prepared to put up with. If a country is proving far too expensive for you, you probably won't enjoy it anyway as you can't relax properly and so will probably move on. We have met people who have travelled for much less that we did.

I hope in some way this helps. If you need any more detailed breakdown, please let me know.

Mike Reply to this