Budget – General
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008Well since we haven’t actually departed yet, we are uncertain of what the costs will actually be. That still hasn’t stopped us from guestimating what they will be, I would rather overestimate than underestimate. Hopefully while away we get an administration in the US which will help lift the falling dollar! It is the reason we are staying away from Europe for now.
Basically we are hoping to keep under $40k per year for both of us. Since all of the first year will be spent in Asia that should be plenty. Whatever is left over will go towards year two (giving us more financial freedom) which will include Australia and New Zealand. My hope is to keep it under 80k, but we will see. This will include all food, transportation (pay as we go flights, buses, trains and tuk tuks), lodging and tours (admission costs to museums, parks, etc).
With this budget it will be about $100 dollars a day. Luckily for most of Asia will be tough to even get close to this amount, however we plan to do a fair amount of diving along the way. Our accommodations might be higher than most as we will be looking for private rooms with own bath 95% of the time (5% in case we don’t have a choice). Also might have to need AC, Maryanne really doesn’t sweat so might be tough for her with only a fan to regulate her body temp in the summers. So we will have to base rooms on how she copes in the heat. Also as we get into Micronesia and Polynesia costs will go up we are sure, even if we took ferries as opposed to flying from island to island.
We really don’t want to limit ourselves to much however would like to save where we can but just not go crazy by being frugal. So if we can great, but if we want to splurge and enjoy that Starbucks coffee or Bungee jump in NZ knowing we can will help make this trip even better. For most of the trip we hope to be out of our comfort zone, but for those of you that know us, it will be hard to always do that! Damn Starbucks why do you have to be so good!!! Also it will be tough to watch a sunset without a beer or gin and tonic!
Like others on Bootsnall have said once you get out of the vacation mentality and into the long term travel mode, costs will come down. We may even find that the money spent on Starbucks is not worth it *GASP*!! In packing up all of our stuff, we have already realized how much money we waste buying “stuff”. Hopefully this trip teaches us more about the differences between wants and needs! Mom and Dad would be so proud! YES I am kissing up in case my parents read this 🙂 Yes I am a guy and I love to shop and spend money! So this trip hopefully will be like one long AA meeting for me. Others we might go through 80K in 6 months, just kidding, I am not that bad!
Okay back to the budgeting! OZ and NZ budget will be interesting for sure. We haven’t decided on transportation methods yet. At the moment we are leaning towards Grey Hound for OZ, maybe doing car rentals for a few days just to explore and area before taking the bus to the next city. We will probably fly to/from Perth, as it would be a really long bus ride. I usually can entertain myself for hours (just ask Maryanne), but that trip might be tough even for me! There are so scenic train trips we are looking at but damn if they aren’t expensive! So we will see. Also I am sure we will be in Sydney for New Years at some point. We will probably stay somewhere nice again like the casino. So that will blow the budget out of the water completely! We stayed there last time and it is such a nice hotel in the quieter Darling Harbor! Now for NZ we are looking at renting a car/van to explore both islands. Mostly because there are so many little out of the way areas that are beautiful and you can’t get to them all by bus. When we met my folks there in 07 they were doing it by car and loved it. Well we wont be in OZ or NZ till around the end of 2009 so we will cross that bridge when we get there.
Yes I talk a lot, I know!!
This is about as close as I am probably going to get for a budget, however I hope to keep a more detailed accountant type record while we travel and will share them as we go.
I will say one more thing though! Most of the places we have looked at staying that do have private room, own bath and AC average about $30 a night!! So more money for drinks, I mean cultural experiences! 🙂
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