GoBackpacking

The 6-part series on saving for a trip around the world will close with this post on the topic of developing a budget. While it may have fit better after we discussed establishing travel and financial goals, I wanted to save the best for last.

Truth be told, I did not begin to seriously research a budget until last summer, three years into my saving. I had begun to participate in the BootsnAll message boards, and came across a common type of Q&A where a member posts a budget, and requests feedback from everyone else. I decided it was time to write out a rough itinerary, and figure out how much my dream travels were going to cost.

First, I acquired a copy of Microsoft Excel from a coworker so I could easily organize and edit ideas and costs. Second, I picked up Rough Guide’s First-Time Around the World (A Trip Planner for the Ultimate Journey). Though the first edition I bought was written in 2003, it was a great starting place with a wealth of detailed daily living cost estimates for much of the world, as well as sample transportation prices for popular routes, and Visa info. I used this information, combined with people’s feedback (based on experience), to associate a daily cost per day with each country on my itinerary. I also assigned time frames (in weekly increments) to spend in each location. I bolded the “must see” countries on my list, and ordered them in a west to east direction starting with New Zealand and ending with the west coast of the United States. I posted the spreadsheet on BootsnAll, and received good feedback on my estimates (and it also lead to my first TV interview with NBC, to be posted shortly).

I then turned to the rest of the expenses I would accrue, such as start-up costs (which for me include travel insurance, medical insurance, and storage). I did not include immunizations as I intend to use my employer sponsored health coverage. I received a new digital camera as a Christmas gift, and will buy a used or inexpensive mp3 player within the next few months. I did some cost estimations on airfare for the major legs of my trip (continent to continent) using Orbitz as I do not intent to buy a RTW ticket. I started a list of activities which I wanted to do in each region. And then using formulas, I established the total cost of my trip, my net savings (gross assets minus debts), and remainder left to save.

I added a second worksheet dedicated to tracking my progress toward meeting the total trip cost, and broke the goals up into 4 timeframes. I added a third worksheet to track my pre-departure task list. And lastly (for now), I wrote up a list of my belongings, seperating what I intended to keep versus sell/store/donate.

David’s ‘Round the World Plan

As I continue to play with Google’s Docs & Spreadsheets application, I think I may use it to track my spending (vs budget) in real time as I travel. I believe this would help me greatly, and may also prove valuable to others in the planning stages. I could also use it to track the carbon offsets I buy along the way. As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome!

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Further Reading - Besides guide books, the Internet has opened up information sharing to us all. A good starting place is the BootsnAll message boards where you’ll find a knowledgeable and helpful audience for your questions. Blogs are the newest way for travelers to share their budgets and actual trip costs. The 3 Lost Girls kept meticulous records of their year long travel expenses, and posted them recently in a 3-part series. This is the kind of detail which is very rare, mostly because it can be a rather boring proposition to keep track, then present back, such detailed data. Saving for Travel is a website with a calculator for establishing a budget to one or more countries. Estimates are in British pounds.

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If you want to budget for a trip you’ll need to keep track of lots of different credit card offers with travel miles. Not all airline credit cards have the same offer, and sometimes the miles you earn using your card are blacked out for certain periods. Make sure to research all the top credit cards before making a decision!

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