round the world trip, how much money??

travel mad chic

hey, me and my boyfriend are planning a round the world trip going in April. We plan to spend 15 weeks in South America, 10 weeks in New Zealend, two weeks in Fiji, 10 weeks in Australia and 15 in South East Aisa. Im just looking for some advice on how much spending money anyone thinks we would need. I dont plan on takeing any extra flights, we plan on doing most traveling overland. We want to try as many things as we can and do tours and trips like the inca trail. Has anyone done a trip like this before? Any advice would be so helpfull.

Notch000

Loads
get you finger out and start calculating, its not that hard. Iwould imagine 15-20 K would be the minimun. X2

skybluejay

So that's a year, then? I'm expecting my year away to cost about 40 grand (including all flights, accommodation, everything) - but to be honest I don't have the experience of having done this kind of thing before, so I'm not really sure. I may be over-budgeting.

+1 to what the poster above me said - advance budgeting is essential. You seem to have a really well planned itinerary (hell of a lot more planned than mine anyway!) so I wouldn't say you'll find it too hard to start drawing up a rough outline of costs.

darrenh

Me and my girlfriend are going in march for 9 months. We've a budget of €25,000 euro spending money.

€8000 - 100 days in south america
€5000 for 50 days in NZ
€5000 for 50 days in Aus
€7000 for 90 days in SE Asia

I probably have too much for SA and SE Asia so it will come in handy if needed in Aus and NZ.

I've read €60 a day on average will do two in South America.

Neamhshuntasach

you´ll spend on average around a grand a month in all of Latin America and South East Asia. Much much more in Australia and New Zealand. And that grand a month isn´t living too cheaply. It´s going out most nights and doing different stuff. So you can do it for cheaper than that. But what´s the point. If anyone is planning on spending 40 grand in a year you must be planning on staying in 5 star hotels and eating in fancy restaurants. you´d easily do it for a third of that. but Australa will drive up the price so depends how long you stay there.

lady_j

10 weeks for New Zealand?? Do you have relatives there to stay with, because otherwise that will cost you a bomb. New Zealand is only slightly bigger than the UK, so ten weeks is an awful long time there.
I had a similar itinary 5 months in s. america cost about 4,000 euro (though this doesnt include cost of internal flights and we lived very cheaply) If you plan on spending more time in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia your costs will be lower. Argentina, Brazil and especially chile can be expensive. Costs escalated in new zealand approx 2,000 euro for 5 weeks. Not sure how much I spent in Australia as I worked and travelled, but it seemed much cheaper than NZ. That might have been to do with the fact I was earning though :rolleyes:. South East Asia is quite affordable, oddly Laos cost me the most money, but perhaps that was to do with the drink

Have you people been paying attention to the currencies? You are getting a lot of bang for your euro. I've got 8 weeks accommodation in New Zealand (in a 4/5 star hotel) booked and reserved for just over 6,000NZD (split two ways for this accommodation as it's myself and my girlfriend staying in this place).

My reason for being in NZ for that long is skiing.

I have a 2 berth shower and toilet campervan booked for a full month in Australia for 1400 euro all in.

I'm bringing 12K for 7 months. I expect it to be MORE than enough. I'll have access to other funds if necessary but not a chance. I've planned it well.

darrenh

I've booked a camper van for next june in NZ for 40 days for NZ$6000 with my ferry crossing's included in that. I am arranging to pay it in full now as the exchange is nearly at its historical highest. The camper is pretty cool and better than your average. www.wildernessmotorhomes.com

Who did you book you Australia camper with? I'm not sure whether to hire a car or a camper van.

By the way does anyone think the euro will stay this strong for long? found a cool site that gives the exchange history and right now its the strongest it has ever been. Up to a 1/3 of a difference on some currencies compared to one year and six months ago. www.x-rates.com

lady_j

Deleted User wrote: »

Have you people been paying attention to the currencies? You are getting a lot of bang for your euro. I've got 8 weeks accommodation in New Zealand (in a 4/5 star hotel) booked and reserved for just over 6,000NZD (split two ways for this accommodation as it's myself and my girlfriend staying in this place).

My reason for being in NZ for that long is skiing.

I have a 2 berth shower and toilet campervan booked for a full month in Australia for 1400 euro all in.

I'm bringing 12K for 7 months. I expect it to be MORE than enough. I'll have access to other funds if necessary but not a chance. I've planned it well.

Yeah but thats just your accommodation! In New Zealand its very very easy to spend a huge amount of money in a few days due to all the adventure sports!. Its so tempting and you have to be very careful on a budget esp if you end up on the backpacker buses because on the buses you'll have to wait around in some random town while everyone jumps out of a plane. I drove around and really had to pick and choose what to do, because it would be very easy to spend a grand in a few days if you did everything on offer.

Even with the current currency rates? I better be careful none the less!!!

youcancallmeal

Me and girlfriend are currently about 8 weeks in to rtw trip and were already starting to worry we won't have enough money to last us. Our route is 13 weeks in South East Asia, 9 weeks Australia, 7 weeks NZ, 2 weeks Fiji and then depending on how much money we have left probably 10+ weeks in Africa. We both left with around 15k and from the calculations we've been doing its going to be pretty tight. Also we are flying home from Kenya so after exploring around South Africa for a few weeks we will booking an overland tour from Cape Town to Nairobi. The tour is around 3k which is a huge chunk out of our funds!

So far South East Asia has been more expensive than we expected but we can put that down to the amount of flights we've been taking and the fact that its high/peak season and everything costs more. Still though we've only spent around 2000 each in 8 weeks so far

youcancallmeal

Deleted User wrote: »

Have you people been paying attention to the currencies? You are getting a lot of bang for your euro. I've got 8 weeks accommodation in New Zealand (in a 4/5 star hotel) booked and reserved for just over 6,000NZD (split two ways for this accommodation as it's myself and my girlfriend staying in this place).

My reason for being in NZ for that long is skiing.

I have a 2 berth shower and toilet campervan booked for a full month in Australia for 1400 euro all in.

I'm bringing 12K for 7 months. I expect it to be MORE than enough. I'll have access to other funds if necessary but not a chance. I've planned it well.

Who have you booked your campervan with, thinking about doing the same thing from Sydney to Cairns but it might still be cheaper to go by bus after you take into account petrol and campsite fees etc? Also planning on doing some skiing in New Zealand but haven't done any research on it yet, any areas you might recommend? I've heard South Island is much better?

lady_j

Deleted User wrote: »

Even with the current currency rates? I better be careful none the less!!!

Now is definately a better time to go, the rate is way better and if your driving, petrol is cheaper. I had a look at my budget from new zealand to see if I was talking crazy talk. We got a good deal on the campervan which we got for 2,100 dollars for five weeks. We had one internal flight for 150 each (2 of us) and the ferry was about 70 dollars each. Can't put a figure on petrol but it definitely added a few hundred dollars. We cooked ourselves in campsites, so that saved a bit. But obviously 5 weeks food, even if from a supermarket, still costs money. it wasn't always possible to free camp (and you know sometimes you just need a shower :-) ) so some nights (about half the time) we paid into campsites so 10-20$ a night. All in all I would say the basics cost about 2,100 dollars each at the time that worked out at 1,050 euro and now is 856 euro each not too bad. Probably put another 150euro that though when I start counting nights out and we went out for dinner once or twice.

But then theres the skydive $395, the jet boat $115, the swimming with dolphins $120, the rafting $125, the glacier walk $135, Milford Sound tour $120, zorbing $75... and thats when new zealand gets expensive. Are extra money went on activities and I dont regret that for one minute. We did a lot but by no means did everything available! However we met a lot of people on the buses who ended up doing everything available because the bus brought them there so they might as well. You are unlikely to spend $1,000 in a few days as long as you choose carefully. Yes the rate is much better so you guys can afford one or two more adventure sports than me. All I'm saying is bare in mind that each activity you do is costing 40-60euro a go so it really starts to mount up.

Totally worth it every penny though Hope you guys have a good trip!

youcancallme>al

youcancallme>al wrote: »

Who have you booked your campervan with, thinking about doing the same thing from Sydney to Cairns but it might still be cheaper to go by bus after you take into account petrol and campsite fees etc? Also planning on doing some skiing in New Zealand but haven't done any research on it yet, any areas you might recommend? I've heard South Island is much better?

I have found the cheapest site on the internet for renting campervans in Australia (not those "Wicked" hippy vans or those car-vans with a bed in it - not into them!) but check this site out: http://www.campervanhireaustralia.com.au/

If you find a better price! Let me know!

As for skiing in NZ, check this out: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055206036

and also this:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055249072

Bottom Line: Get the early bird passes when they go on sale. They go on sale here www.nzski.com in February some time so keep your ears to the ground!

lady_j

lady_j wrote: »

Now is definately a better time to go, the rate is way better and if your driving, petrol is cheaper. I had a look at my budget from new zealand to see if I was talking crazy talk. We got a good deal on the campervan which we got for 2,100 dollars for five weeks. We had one internal flight for 150 each (2 of us) and the ferry was about 70 dollars each. Can't put a figure on petrol but it definitely added a few hundred dollars. We cooked ourselves in campsites, so that saved a bit. But obviously 5 weeks food, even if from a supermarket, still costs money. it wasn't always possible to free camp (and you know sometimes you just need a shower :-) ) so some nights (about half the time) we paid into campsites so 10-20$ a night. All in all I would say the basics cost about 2,100 dollars each at the time that worked out at 1,050 euro and now is 856 euro each not too bad. Probably put another 150euro that though when I start counting nights out and we went out for dinner once or twice.

But then theres the skydive $395, the jet boat $115, the swimming with dolphins $120, the rafting $125, the glacier walk $135, Milford Sound tour $120, zorbing $75... and thats when new zealand gets expensive. Are extra money went on activities and I dont regret that for one minute. We did a lot but by no means did everything available! However we met a lot of people on the buses who ended up doing everything available because the bus brought them there so they might as well. You are unlikely to spend $1,000 in a few days as long as you choose carefully. Yes the rate is much better so you guys can afford one or two more adventure sports than me. All I'm saying is bare in mind that each activity you do is costing 40-60euro a go so it really starts to mount up.

Totally worth it every penny though Hope you guys have a good trip!

Yeah I can definitely see how it adds up quickly! I intend on buying new ski gear etc out in NZ! I really better be careful and keep the credit card free for NZ!

Galwaaygirl

When you are doing your budget for Oz, bear in mind that hostels will be $20-30 per person per night. I found $23 to be the average on the east coast. West is more expensive again

Just have a look around different websites for the cost of your trips. Look up Peter Pan, I'm not saying use them cos I've heard a lot of mixed reports and have not used them myself but that will give you an idea of the costs of trips like Great Barrier Reef, Uluru

Don't forget to budget for all the extra stuff like sky dives and account for any time you are going to spend in a place not working. Your accommodation is your biggest expense!