Comments on: Dinero, dinero, dinero

By: And finally, Africa | Lives of Wander

And finally, Africa | Lives of Wander — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:24:33 +0000

[...] the third in our three part budget outline. See Part 1 - South America and Part 2 - Southeast [...]

By: Southeast Asian Budget | Lives of Wander

Southeast Asian Budget | Lives of Wander — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:06:55 +0000

[...] were in the midst of outlining our budget for our trip in three parts (see Part 1 - South America) when a weeklong vacation to South Carolina so rudely interrupted us. So now that life is back on [...]

By: Nomadic Matt

Nomadic Matt — Sun, 25 May 2008 13:15:21 +0000

I say that’s about right, given all the tours you are throwing in there. When you get there, you may find you can make it a bit cheaper buy living locally as much as possible. But you’re on the right track.

By: Theresa

Theresa — Sat, 24 May 2008 00:14:49 +0000

Mitchell, there are definitely some pre-trip costs that add up. My parents have very graciously agreed to house our stuff for the year, so we don’t have to pay for storage, but we will have to pay to transport it to Louisville. We’ll be getting comprehensive travel/health insurance, and I have my eye on a policy right now that also provides two months of coverage back in the States, which will help as we transition to jobs and avoid that dreaded no coverage period. We’ll maintain car insurance to again avoid that no coverage issue, but at the most basic coverage possible, so at a pretty low cost. Immunizations and prescriptions for malaria drugs etc. will set us back a good bit also. As we get more firm numbers on this kind of stuff, we’ll post about it and add it to our budget.

We’re pretty set on our overall continent to continent route. One of the prime decision factors was being at certain locations at certain times—Patagonia when the weather was decent enough for hiking, Machu Picchu when the Inca Trail is available for hiking, Africa when it’s good safari season, etc. However, we’re aiming to hit shoulder seasons in those places rather than high season. And other locations we’re visiting in the low season—avoiding the increase in costs associated with peak season.

By: Mitchell

Mitchell — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:49:25 +0000

What are the hard costs not associated with your travel time; for storage, pre/post healthcare, insurance, etc. It seems the more i work, the more i realize that things are more expensive due to time and travel… i understand qunatifying the trip in travel and stay terms, but will you do an analysis to see if you can modify the trip to save money, i.e. the path, time of year, seasonal expense change.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:15:30 +0000

Thanks for the thoughts Sean, the idea behind the budget is to be quite conservative, so I think we do have a fair bit of padding in there. But like you mentioned with Brazil, I won’t be surprised to find that in many places things cost a fair bit more than in the recent past due to dollar devaluation and other factors. Interesting point about Nicaragua and Ecuador … I guess I’ve learned the “clipped style” because most of my experience with spanish has been in Nicaragua.

Christine, since costs are going to be slightly different in Southeast Asia and Africa and since we won’t be on those continents as long, I won’t speculate on that until I’ve done some more research and run some more numbers. Seems like a good number though, and one I’d be quite happy with =).

By: WanderingSean

WanderingSean — Fri, 23 May 2008 12:18:11 +0000

Your South American budget seems to have plenty of padding for what you want to do, but be prepared for serious sticker shock here in Brazil. The Brazilian economy has been kicking much butt in the last few years–combined with a horrible weak dollar we’ve found it the most expensive country in South America.

Spanish school may be a bit better in Ecuador than Nicaragua (the Nicas speak with a very clipped style). Private instruction in Ecuador is still very cheap and is as clear as an instructional tape.

You will save big bucks by booking your Galapagos tour in Ecuador vs before you leave home. The flights are fixed rate and $400 round trip from Quito if that helps in your budgeting. If you are interested in a good travel agent in Quito shoot us an email and we can give you one we were very happy with.

Have a blast.

By: Christine Gilbert

Christine Gilbert — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:31:11 +0000

This is great information! So what would that put you at for a year? Just over 36000? Not too bad and definitely cheaper than what it would cost you to live at home…

Looking forward to the Southeast Asia one…