Budget

How it all began for us...

Once the idea of traveling for a year was born, we started our plans with a world atlas pinned to a cork board mounted on the wall in a place we could see often.   In the case of our tiny two bedroom house it was on the wall in the kitchen/dining/living room where we spent most of out time.  With a tin of colorful sewing pins we started placing them in counties we wanted to see, alternating terns.  I said Africa, he said Poland.  I said Italy and he said Australia, so we continued along with dreams far apart of places we both wished to see and taste.   It took us a while before me met again at the map, this time to connect the dots with all the potential routes and directions we could imagine.  Both loving warm weather made it easy with the choice to follow the summer, but where to begin and which direction would we travel?   How long could we afford this fantasy after all and how much time would we want to spend in each country?   How would we get to each country; around the world ticket, land and sea travel, buy as you go?  And once we got to these destinations what on earth did we want do there?  Once one question was answered two more arose.   We had loads of time to plan and save so didn't rush anything.   I did endless hours of research through blogs,  books and magazines from the library and websites on world travel, packing, destinations and anything that had to do with it.  

One year and 5 or so months after making the decision to leap, we flew from Indianapolis to Auckland, New Zealand on a one way ticket.  We finally ended up running across a great deal in Queenstown NZ on an around the world ticket through Star Alliance.  This alone has saved us thousands of dollars on flights.  $3500 each, 16 flights to use in 12 months.  No fees for change of dates within 24 hrs from scheduled flight (we've used this a lot) and small fees to change destinations after purchase of ticket.  There are mileage brackets and allowances for all sorts of trips and different travel plans but this one worked best for us.  At the time we purchased the tickets we looked into our flight from Capetown to Johannesburg alone which would have cost us $1200/person.  Now they're included in our tickets.  It's almost unbelievable when I think of it.  (I priced a similar ticket at a lot higher if I would have bought it in the US before we left.  The rate of exchange worked in our favor). 

After being on the road for around eight months now we've learned a thing or two about travel, still however, realizing that there is an endless well of  knowledge and experience ahead of us.  Much like life in a way.  No matter how much planning we do based on other people's travel experience, there are always the priceless lessons we get to learn for ourselves.

A few people have emailed me recently asking just how exactly we went  about planning a trip like ours.  The two most common questions  thus far:   What do you pack?  How do you plan the budget?  So the next two posts will be dedicated to these two questions. 

THE BUDGET

This is of course the first question at hand because how on earth are you going to start a journey of this length and depth without the funding?  Unless you are sponsored by a lucrative company you can benefit through your travels somehow (not a bad idea if you can think of a way, and if you can then you deserve it), then it takes some planning and potentially sacrificing some of the things you're accustomed to spending your money on.

Determine how much time you can take off or if you can afford to quite your job  for longer term travel.

There are details of each day that have to be planned, but the key is to start broad and then work your way in. There is no possible way you can plan details of every single day for the whole trip that far in advance.  So start with the basics.  Where to go and how long can you afford to stay, eat and enjoy the place you're seeing?    

When planning a budget ask yourself these questions:

*Where do I want to go?

*How do I want to get there?

*What do I want to do while there?

*How and what will we eat?

*Where will we sleep/stay, e.g.  hostels, Couch Surfing, camping, hotel...

*How much can you afford with a generous buffer for incidentals?

but most importantly...

*What kind of traveler am I?

The internet is a great resource to find average prices for accommodation, meals, travel tickets, activities, etc in specific locations.  Estimate the amount of time you wish to stay and this should be a relative gauge for your individual costs.  For instance we have found the $30-40/day in most S.E. Asian countries is more than enough for both of us to have a wonderful time and stay in private rooms.  (I have a list of helpful links at the bottom right of this blog)

If you're going to spend 10 months in South East Asia then it's going to cost far less than spending 10 moths in Europe, or Australia and New Zealand.  However one budget traveler could spend the same amount in Europe for 10 months as a high end traveler would spend in South East Asia for 10 months.  So it all depends on what you're willing to save money on.  Can you sleep in a hostel with 10 other people and share a bathroom while couch surfing or do you require a hotel room to yourself with Air Conditioner and internet all the time?  Can you buy your own food from local markets and cook in your hostel kitchen, eat street/local food and not go out every night?  Or do you have to eat at restaurants every night not wiling to sacrifice the little luxuries you love at home?  Are you willing to take a local train for 30 hrs rather than a luxury sleeper?  Are you willing to take a bus rather than fly?

Now I admit that we are not at the extreme end of budget traveler and afford ourselves treats every now and then.  But no matter what, there is always a way to save more money and travel just a little smarter.