Is €18,000 a good Backpacking Budget?

Glacier

I have never done a bacpacker thing, is €18,000 a lot to get around on? Over a year say, what kind of places would you be able top visit & go and what kind of things could you do? Does anyone know?

PCPhoto

18K should be enough - but you should also try and do some work while travelling - gains experiences better than just travelling alone.

As long as you watch your budget you should be able to survive a year or so.

Glacier

Would this be in ****ty thirs world places or anywhere?

darrenh

I'm heading on my rtw trip next week with my girlfriend for nine months. we have budgeted €12500 each after all our flights, injections, dentist, rucksacks, inca trail etc etc are paid for. we are going to South America, NZ, Aus and SE Asia. we are not going to work as it is only for 9 months. from my research our money should get us around just fine but we'll definitely have to watch it. www.travelblog.org has a good forum and reading other peoples blog's help too. better than any guide book. our budget for 2 people is as follows: SA- 3 months €8000, NZ- 50 days €5000, Aus - 40 days €5000, SE Asia - 3months €7000. It should be easy to budget though because when you know you've spent too much you just need to take a week or two handy. This is all great saying it now but everything will probably go out the window when we hit the road!

ps this time next week I'll be on the Copacabana!:)

breadmonkey

I spent about 11k all in for 7 months in India, Nepal, Thailand, Australia, NZ & Canada. That was tight though.

dory

Glacier wrote: »

Would this be in ****ty thirs world places or anywhere?

If you have that attitude to the countries I hope you don't plan on visiting them. Western arrogance/ignorance is rarely welcomed.

pickarooney

4 grand did me for 5 months in South America, including flights. But yeah, we're talking ****ty third world places. It's hard enough to travel around the gobe without going through a couple.

Glacier

I didn't mean to be condescending, I was just asking would this be enough to take you through any decent places or would it be a real budget trip?

breadmonkey

You must have some ideas on countries you'd like to visit. Personally, I think it's loads of money.

Glacier

I'm just saying over a year, if you were to budget yourself by spending a few months in some 'cheaper' place in order to spend another part of the journey in the US or somewhere, could you get around? If you were just taking in the sites basically, moving from place to place, could you get by?

sammyv

:eek:...me and my boyfriend is heading off soon, only 6,000 between us, we tend to slum it and then work....should we rethink this budget???

breadmonkey

Glacier wrote: »

I'm just saying over a year, if you were to budget yourself by spending a few months in some 'cheaper' place in order to spend another part of the journey in the US or somewhere, could you get around? If you were just taking in the sites basically, moving from place to place, could you get by?

In short, yes. But I still think your questions are too vague to get any meaningful answers. I spent about €35-€40/day in NZ, for example, and that was living pretty much as cheaply as is possible and not including money spent on major activities like skydiving etc.

Orls81 wrote: »

:eek:...me and my boyfriend is heading off soon, only 6,000 between us, we tend to slum it and then work....should we rethink this budget???

Depends, where are you going? On 6k I reckon you could get by in India for five months or Australia for maybe three.

sammyv

We are going to Austraila, we are gonna slum it and enjoy ourselves for 2 months, then start to work!!

Glacier

If I wasn't working though, would I survive?

breadmonkey

Glacier wrote: »

If I wasn't working though, would I survive?

It DEPENDS!

Come on man, a bit more info required. Sure you could survive but then again you could survive on half of that, possibly less!!!

If you're just wondering is €18,000 sufficient for you to start planning your trip then the answer is yes. It's loads and you could visit many different places.

AARRRGH

breadmonkey wrote: »

Come on man, a bit more info required.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Glacier's posts.

He'll repeatedly ask the same questions over and over. Sometimes I think he might actually be a computer program.

I'd bet money the guy will still be in Ireland this time next year.

Glacier: 18k is enough money. Just book the trip and go.

EDIT: I see he is being just as difficult on askaboutmoney too: http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=104909

AARRRGH

Actually, I'm going to change my opinion somewhat.

Glacier, I've read over your old posts. I'm going to advise you not to go backpacking on your own. I don't think you are ready to do something like that. I sense (and I'm sorry if this sounds bad) that you have difficulty looking after yourself/making decisions, etc.

Would you consider going on some sort of tour instead, like the Oz Bus

sammyv

Do i get in trouble for laughing right now???


You can come away with me and my B'f ,we'll look after you, we can pool our 6,000 with your 18,000...sounds like a pretty good deal???

Wanna go for it???

darrenh

AARRRGH wrote: »

Actually, I'm going to change my opinion somewhat.

Glacier, I've read over your old posts. I'm going to advise you not to go backpacking on your own. I don't think you are ready to do something like that. I sense (and I'm sorry if this sounds bad) that you have difficulty looking after yourself/making decisions, etc.

Would you consider going on some sort of tour instead, like the Oz Bus

How incredibly obnoxious and arrogant your reply is. Glacier only wants re-assurance about his travel plans and not to be belittled here. Was the thread entitled 'can you make me feel stupid in 1 post?'. I love reading boards and peoples opinions but far to many people turn it into insults if they feel anyways more intelligent or knowledgeable than others. IF Glacier posts to much and asks too many questions it is of no concern of yours. Every topic on this site turns into a who knows best/insult fest. Check out the thread entitled 'who here uses thorn-tree?'. Also to the person who said his western arrogance/ignorance would not be welcome, Glacier to me sounded maybe a little excited about his plans and spoke without meaning to insult.


Glacier, I think with €18,000 you will have a great time and those ***ty third world countries are the best places to go and your money goes a lot further. The people there are the nicest and the most welcoming and generally there is a lot more to see and do.

AARRRGH

darrenh wrote: »

How incredibly obnoxious and arrogant your reply is. Glacier only wants re-assurance about his travel plans and not to be belittled here.

Read his previous posts. The guy obviously has quite a few personal problems. He is unable to handle basic things like college, working, socialising or pretty much anything which involves general cop on, so I am genuinely worried he will end up in dire straights when he's alone in some poor, unforgiving country.

Just read his posts and you'll see what I'm talking about. It seems he's had some kind of nervous breakdown and is unable to perform normal tasks (e.g. apply for a job), so I really don't think something as challenging as backpacking is the right move at this stage in his life.

No offence meant. This is genuine concern.

Glacier

Sorry, thought it was just a simple question. Would anyone with Backpacking experience know?

AARRRGH

You do this with every thread you start. Have you even bothered to read any of the answers? Multiple people have told you 18k is enough.

darrenh

AARRRGH wrote: »

Read his previous posts. The guy obviously has quite a few personal problems. He is unable to handle basic things like college, working, socialising or pretty much anything which involves general cop on, so I am genuinely worried he will end up in dire straights when he's alone in some poor, unforgiving country.

Just read his posts and you'll see what I'm talking about. It seems he's had some kind of nervous breakdown and is unable to perform normal tasks (e.g. apply for a job), so I really don't think something as challenging as backpacking is the right move at this stage in his life.

No offence meant. This is genuine concern.

Your genuine concern does not come across. Why do feel you have to insult him. I dont want to fight some else's battle but this is actually online bullying if that exists! leave it off. your comments are unwelcome and unhelpful. Some people like to ask questions. I find if you don't reply they get bored and stop.

TutuKaka

Orls81 wrote: »

:eek:...me and my boyfriend is heading off soon, only 6,000 between us, we tend to slum it and then work....should we rethink this budget???

Short answer would be yes.
I assume you have already paid for tickets, insurance, vaccinations etc? Is this €6,000 in total or each?

In Oz to do the tourist trip up the east coast you will need about €2000 each per month. This should cover food, accommodation, transport (Use Premier or one of the other bus companies) and should cover the usual trips; Whitsundays, Fraser etc.
It will cover a beer or two as well but not getting hammered 24/7.

Kazu

Originally Posted by AARRRGH View Post
Actually, I'm going to change my opinion somewhat.



Glacier, I've read over your old posts. I'm going to advise you not to go backpacking on your own. I don't think you are ready to do something like that. I sense (and I'm sorry if this sounds bad) that you have difficulty looking after yourself/making decisions, etc.

Would you consider going on some sort of tour instead, like the Oz Bus

your right rofl

looks like this person was spoon fed as a child

a quick search quite entertaining

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055125272


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055124954

breadmonkey

Come on lads, this is getting way too personal.


Glacier,

I think you can conclude from this thread that you have plenty of money to go travelling for a year. You will absolutely not starve anywhere but to make the best of your budget and your trip it's probably a good idea to throw in a few third world countries. I, and I'm sure many others who have posted in this thread, have heaps of experience backpacking so what we're telling you isn't misleading. Now get planning!

Best of luck.

tuff1

:eek: im going to SE asia for 3 months in the summer and am planning on bringing 3,000. is this being naive or is it possible? i have done a lot of travelling around before in cheaper third world countries and can skimp out very easily on by going to cheap restaurants, hostels, etc.

dory

darrenh, you clearly haven't been following his threads like myself and AAARGH have. Not so long ago he wanted advice on volunteering, not to help people, but to be able to tell people in Ireland that he was doing something great. And now he's calling the countries he wanted to work in '****ty'. I work in overseas aid and I would hate for him to go to a developing country, I've seen this before, people with issues should do what they can from home. They end up causing a lot of trouble abroad.

I agree with AARRGH, Glacier, you should not go backpacking, I think an organised tour would be a good idea.

darrenh

Point taken. I was only commenting on what i saw. I'm a big fan of boards.ie but a lot of the time threads descend into slagging matches. It's really annoying. I keep my post count down because of this.

By the way Glacier, have you nothing to say for yourself? I find it strange that you have let me fight your battle without you even commenting!

breadmonkey

tuff1 wrote: »

:eek: im going to SE asia for 3 months in the summer and am planning on bringing 3,000. is this being naive or is it possible? i have done a lot of travelling around before in cheaper third world countries and can skimp out very easily on by going to cheap restaurants, hostels, etc.

It's plenty, don't worry.

Kama

im going to SE asia for 3 months in the summer and am planning on bringing 3,000. is this being naive or is it possible?

Completely possible, all depends on what your desired standard of living is, degree of comfort etc. If you want to try and take your home standard with you, you'll need to pay for it, whether accomodation, food, etc. Personally, I take the 'being hellah cheap' thing as a fun and enjoyable part of the backpacking adventure!

Glacier, rather than 'is that enough', try and think about what it is you want to do. 'Is that enough' = 'how long is a piece of string' tbh. But for anything I can imagine, you're fine, and doubly lucky to have 20k to blow in our current climate...

dory

darrenh wrote: »

By the way Glacier, have you nothing to say for yourself? I find it strange that you have let me fight your battle without you even commenting!

He won't, but he will ask again if anyone knows how much money he'll need.
Anyway, onwards and upwards. Tuff1, 3000 will be tough if you're a big drinker. I could easily survive in South East Asia for that long.

Glacier

Would you really survive anywhere for 3 months on 3,000?

breadmonkey

Glacier wrote: »

Would you really survive anywhere for 3 months on 3,000?

Yes in certain countries you could easily survive 3 months n €3k. In some you could even survive on a lot less. Really, I think you have plenty of info at this stage. Time to go and find out for yourself!

jank

Glacier wrote: »

Would you really survive anywhere for 3 months on 3,000?

You could survive a year on 3 thousand. But you will have to eat only rice and sleep on a dirty floor with a few others. Lao for example.

Can you lay out your plan or are you running away from someone/something?