Comments on: Question for experienced backpackers/travellers?

By: jouri1

jouri1 — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:36:10 +0000

are you serious…7000 USD is nothing nowdays and you are going for about 40 weeks….i would spend this much in the one week you staying in bali…its 300 dollars a night hotels there

By: traceylill

traceylill — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:33:34 +0000

I think it is always safe to double what you are expecting to pay then you can spend a bit more one day and maybe even a bit less another day. I have never been to any of the places you are talking about but think when you go on a holiday for weeks say. Do you not always spend about twice what you were planning to spend?

By: Angela W

Angela W — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:27:51 +0000

I live in Australia but have travelled to a lot of the places that you have mentioned and you are TOTALLY underestimating. Especially for Australia, NZ, Fiji & Samoa. The main problem with Fiji & Samoa is that although you might be able to get accomodation, the cost of food is very high as they’re islands - you just don’t have a lot of choices. However, in SE Asia, the food and accomodation is amazingly cheap and you can eat a meal easily for less than 1 pound.
Your internal flights estimate will just cover a return ticket between two cities in Australia. I spent more than that buying 3 one way airfares in Vietnam.
Also, your Visa expenditure is way too low. I recently came back from Vietnam and the Visa for there was about 50 pound. The visa on arrival for Indonesia is about USD$25 for up to one month.

I honestly think you would be better off reducing the amount of time that you’re travelling and then you could travel more comfortably. Also - if you work in Australia as a backpacker, you probably won’t get paid more than about 6 pounds per hour.

Good luck! Sounds like an amazing trip.

By: Schnurrbart

Schnurrbart — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:30:13 +0000

Just saying “double it” as if it’s some sort of standard traveling rule doesn’t take into consideration that he might’ve actually figured out nearly exactly what it will cost rather than that he’s just guessing. How could “double it” be correct when several people suggest he could do it cheaper? I say plan it as best you can, and then have a credit card for backup if things get desperate and if you find you’re in danger of going over budget, then it’s time to head home.

By: qprfan

qprfan — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:34:05 +0000

Dont do it, i always hear about gap yeat students being killed or being eaten by wild bears while travelling.want my advice:stay at home and experiment with heroin,it sounds a lot safer

By: Xenie X

Xenie X — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:49:54 +0000

Australia and NZ will probably want more money because the accomodation will cost more - depends on whether you are camping or hostels, then you have food and presumably beers? And souvenirs or telephone calls home or sightseeing, little things like that are going to bump the price up, eg are you hoping to do the Barrier Reef - then you need to budget fro a boat trip etc Also there will be things you want to do which you can’t anticipate here - when I was travelling sightseeing was a big expense that I didn’t anticipate but its silly to get all the way there and then not see something major and half of the stuff we saw we had no idea about until we got there. How about taking a credit card for unexpected costs and asking your mum to cover it and promise to pay her back? Just for emergencies so you don’t get caught short somewhere with no food…?

By: Dan B

Dan B — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:05:29 +0000

Hi, sorry but I can only chip in on your travel insurance costs but think I can reduce them massively!

I just got a quote for 2 months worldwide backpacking travel - £45.10

I know it’s not a great saving on your total trip but it may provide a bit more slack for other areas!

Have fun!

By: wang eyed lil

wang eyed lil — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:57:53 +0000

Ive done what your planning and that was in 99 and i would say that your around 20-25% down on you daily costs. NZ, Aus and Singapore can be expensive, the cheapest digs i could get in singapore was 30 a nite. Try and use buses and trains and boats for travel around. use the places where the locals eat, really watch alchocol intake as i paid £9 for a bottle of beer in singapore and that was happy hour price so always ask the price first. Thailand was the cheapest to do my padi but ive now heard that vietnam is now. well it ended costing me around £12,000 for a years travelling and i was really doing on a budget but i did spend the first month having a bit of a blast. my best advice would be invest in a lonely planet or two, ask other travellers when your wandering and change your monies when you in whatever country when your there, i made £2000 by not changing sterling into baht here and doing it in thailand, as you will always get a better rate for sterling or dollars over there, hope that helps a little. have fun when your travelling you will never regret it.

By: Preykill

Preykill — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:53:55 +0000

it all depends on what you want to do.

I know Cambodia is much cheaper then Vietnam and those are much cheaper then Thailand, maybe you should balance that a little more.(those are the only countries on your list i been)

By: Super G

Super G — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:45:34 +0000

Travis W is exactly right. Take your conservative estimate and double it. that way you’re covered.