Cost of going travelling

edna krabappel · Jun 18, 2013

I'm hoping to pick the brains of anyone who's gone off & done the whole travelling thing in the last few years, as I'm vaguely exploring the idea at the moment and even starting to work out how much it will cost is hurting my brain.

What sort of daily budget is realistic for the Far East (including the admittedly more expensive Japan), Australia, New Zealand? There are of course loads of sources online, but they all seem to be so different, I just thought I'd see if anyone here has recent experience. I'd be looking at hostels & other cheap options etc rather than hotels. Hopefully finding myself in Australia round about the same time as a couple of the Ashes tests are on.

PS: I realise "going travelling" is essentially a pretentious way of saying "having a bloody massive holiday", but as usual, the wisdom of NSC is a sought-after commodity, so I thought for a brief and probably foolish moment, that it was worth asking :thumbsup:

StonehamPark · Jun 18, 2013

I spent 2.5 years between Aus/NZ/South East Asia.

There's so many factors/variables but a 'safe' bet if you want to do things cheapish, is around £50 per day (Aus/NZ) for food, drink & accom. All events/excursions/flights/travel add extra $$$.

£50 turns to around £25 per day in South East Asia.

NZ is slightly cheaper than Aus but not massively. You'll also notice booze over in Aus/NZ is horrifically expensive in bars & pubs.

8ace · Jun 18, 2013

Test match tickets are cheap in Australia - about $30 cheapest.

edna krabappel · Jun 18, 2013

8ace said:
Test match tickets are cheap in Australia - about $30 cheapest.

Or cheaper still here if you have a decent contact :wink:

jemwillett · Jun 18, 2013

Doing the same in 2014 so will be keeping an eye on this one. SE Asia, NZ, South America. Have been looking at options for NZ and reckon campervan hire and camp sites will be a good way forward (there are two of us going). Reckon on about NZ$ 30-50 per day for hire (roughly 2 $ to the £). STA good bet for info. Went in last weekend for a chat and some interesting info around booking flights and saving money.

hybrid_x · Jun 18, 2013

£25 a day in the far east?

one can get by on around £8 a day no problem.

he must have been on the whores.

cloud · Jun 18, 2013

Edna you might want to check out this website, which tells you how to get to anywhere in the world by train and ferry http://www.seat61.com/

Could be useful if you need to get from B to C, and need to know the most practical way of doing it

Mellor 3 Ward 4 · Jun 18, 2013

My niece, who is 24, has just (3 weeks ago) come back from 9 months 'travelling' in the far east, Australia and New Zealand. She had an amazing time, but spent a lot of money, as unlike some who travel, she didn't work at all apart from a couple of weeks in Melbourne when she signed up for a house sitting service - basically free rent for looking after someones house whilst they're away.

She pre booked flights, and stuck to them - this worked out cheap, and meant she could pre book several tours, like the east coast of Aus in a group of a dozen people, trip round South Island in NZ for three weeks in camper vans etc.

She said Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are cheap - Thailand not so much so.
Australia is expensive because of the exchange rate.
She didn't go to Japan - Her grandmother (my Step mother) is Japanese, and travels back and forth a lot is always saying how expensive Tokyo is now. Be careful what time of year you go re the weather -April time for the Cherry Blossom I believe.

I don't know if you're thinking of travelling alone, but she did - and made loads of friends, several of which she met up with a few times during her time away.

edna krabappel · Jun 18, 2013

cloud said:
Edna you might want to check out this website, which tells you how to get to anywhere in the world by train and ferry http://www.seat61.com/

Could be useful if you need to get from B to C, and need to know the most practical way of doing it

Cheers...that site has a mind boggling amount of information on it, it's always been impressive. Would love to do the Trans-Siberian railway, the one that goes to Beijing & Mongolia, but not sure I'm brave enough yet. Or rich enough, come to think of it.

StonehamPark · Jun 18, 2013

hybrid_x said:
£25 a day in the far east?

one can get by on around £8 a day no problem.

he must have been on the whores.

When was the last time you were in Thailand? I first went in 2003 and it was dirt cheap. I've been back multiple times since and worked there in 2011 and costs of pretty much everything have more than doubled!!

jemwillett said:
Have been looking at options for NZ and reckon campervan hire and camp sites will be a good way forward (there are two of us going). Reckon on about NZ$ 30-50 per day for hire (roughly 2 $ to the £).

For DIRT cheap car/caravan hire in Aus & NZ bookmark this website:
Car Relocations

The website advertises cars which need to be relocated to another City at short notice so near enough give the car away for free as long as you get to the destination before the deadline. They chuck in free fuel occasional as well. I've used them multiple times, most recently drove a Land Cruiser from Perth to Darwin for $1 per day with $500 free fuel chucked in! Ace!

Barrel of Fun · Jun 18, 2013

Will you need to work whilst out there?

edna krabappel · Jun 18, 2013

Mellor 3 Ward 4 said:
My niece, who is 24, has just (3 weeks ago) come back from 9 months 'travelling' in the far east, Australia and New Zealand. She had an amazing time, but spent a lot of money, as unlike some who travel, she didn't work at all apart from a couple of weeks in Melbourne when she signed up for a house sitting service - basically free rent for looking after someones house whilst they're away.

She pre booked flights, and stuck to them - this worked out cheap, and meant she could pre book several tours, like the east coast of Aus in a group of a dozen people, trip round South Island in NZ for three weeks in camper vans etc.

She said Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are cheap - Thailand not so much so.
Australia is expensive because of the exchange rate.
She didn't go to Japan - Her grandmother (my Step mother) is Japanese, and travels back and forth a lot is always saying how expensive Tokyo is now. Be careful what time of year you go re the weather -April time for the Cherry Blossom I believe.

I don't know if you're thinking of travelling alone, but she did - and made loads of friends, several of which she met up with a few times during her time away.

Not really looking at working, especially not in Australia, as I wouldn't get the necessary visa (too old...) so yes, it is all going to have to be budgeted for. I will be going alone, yes, but I'm looking at that as all part of the fun

wardy wonder land · Jun 18, 2013

If going for over 12 months, get 2 round the world tickets,
London Asia oz NZ Fiji London.

Have 2 weeks back in uk to see mum & chums

London us Mexico brazil arg Hawaii london

Halve the clothes, double the money

Footsoldier · Jun 18, 2013

hybrid_x said:
£25 a day in the far east?

one can get by on around £8 a day no problem.

he must have been on the whores.

Whores are are no more than £4 - £7 for 24 hours or just feed them. You must of been mugged off mate.

edna krabappel · Jun 18, 2013

Barrel of Fun said:
Will you need to work whilst out there?

See above re visas, probably won't be able to (legally...) though I don't mind doing something if it comes down to it.

Barrel of Fun · Jun 18, 2013

edna krabappel said:
See above re visas, probably won't be able to (legally...) though I don't mind doing something if it comes down to it.

There are some great projects in South America you could work for. I spend 6 months out there and lived quite cheaply, but became embedded in the communities.

edna krabappel · Jun 18, 2013

Barrel of Fun said:
There are some great projects in South America you could work for. I spend 6 months out there and lived quite cheaply, but became embedded in the communities.

I would love to do South America as part of the trip, but it seems to add so much on to the cost of flights, I'm not sure I'll be able to squeeze it in.

Barrel of Fun · Jun 18, 2013

edna krabappel said:
I would love to do South America as part of the trip, but it seems to add so much on to the cost of flights, I'm not sure I'll be able to squeeze it in.

Abandon the far east and head west.

edna krabappel · Jun 18, 2013

Barrel of Fun said:
Abandon the far east and head west.

I'm still open minded about destinations, but I do want to catch some of the Ashes, which necessitates being in Australia around Christmas time :thumbsup:

Mr-N · Jun 18, 2013

Depends on what part you go, but I'd say 50-60 would be the bare minimum in Oz.

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