Economic meltdown and cost of trips.

Last august september we spent 27 days on the road.

Petrol and lpg was 30-40cpl dearer than currently.

Average cost of the trip was $1 per kilometer. That included vehicle running costs, accommodation, food, attractions.

All up it cost us $6500 for this time so $240 per day for two people.

But the first 10 days of this trip accounted for $4000 as we stayed in motels/hotels and ate in restaurants for every meal.

The return 17 days we had the camper, which was part of the reason for the trip, and those days averaged out at $147 per day.

It really depends on what you want to do, we did not go cheaply, eg lunch or dinner at a pub/restaurant whenever we felt like it. Stay at a hotel/motel if the weather is really bad or we did not like the caravan park in the town.

We did 4 - 500 kms on the days we traveled but we did not travel every day.

Major costs were fuel and accommodation, but then we used about 33l/100km on lpg (better now (28l/100km) that it's been tuned properly), so something more economical will obviously cost a lot less. Accommodation was expensive when we stayed in hotel/motels ($65-$249 pn) but free at some of the places we camped.

My suggestion is just get out and do it, if you worry about the cost then it will never happen. There is heaps of work around if you really need it, every pub and restaurant we went to needed staff. So a good idea to get a responsible person card before heading of. Also woolies, coles etc are always looking for staff as well.

Cheers
Ross

It all depends on how far you plan to travell , fuel + camp fees are the biggest cost , food costs ect are basic as if staying home , working on $1 per klm to start with is a fairly common costing .

2008 Domestic Living and some trips away worked out at $51.21 per day


Being on a pension makes sure that you budget correctly. It takes 12 months or thereabouts to save for the annual trip.

2009 Trip

8000km @5kml average =1600 litres @$2.00lt average =$3200

Accommodation $0Bush camp all of the time

Entry fees to places.. Maybe $100

Food & drinks =$100 week x 13 weeks = $1300

Total $4600 for + - 90 days = $51.11 per day

You need some back-up money just in case Murphy comes along for the ride

Just go travelling. Maybe you can pick up some work along the way.



Cheers

Some suggested a while back that they would continue to travel but would try to be more independent, take it a bit easier, free camp or stay at low budget camp sites, stay a little longer at each stop and see more of the area at the places they stay. Fuel, being the biggest cost daily is saved and allows them to stay away longer. Sounds like a sensible approach. Michael

Hi Wild Dog,

We are currently travelling Oz with two hungry kids!!! - we are still of working age and stop every couple of months to re-build the kitty - whilst on the road we free camp a lot, eat in all the time and see only the attractions that we want to see.

Cheers

I,ve just worked out that I can afford it thanks to the input so far.
Looks like between $1 and 50c per km.

Assuming of course the price of fuel doesn't go silly but you can't calculate everything to the last cent.

The American comedian Steven Wright said, quote

" You don't know what you've got till it's gone so I gave everything away to see what I had" unquote

I may adopt that idea.

Look at this site - www.nomadiclife.com.au - they currently have a couple of good articles on this subject - i.e supplementing your income while travelling - the actual cost of the increase in petrol etc - good site for lots of info - it also has a graph with average percentages per day of costs - anyway - check it out. Interesting reading.
jules

There are plenty that travel on a pension and has been said, take your time, if you need to stay somewhere to let the kitty rebuild to buy the next tank of fuel then that's the way to do it. We've met plenty of older folk doing just that, leave the southern parts in Feb/march as the weather starts to cool then meander slowly north, returning in Oct/Nov to catch up with grandkids etc.

The way we approach it is that the only additional costs involved from normal day living is fuel and camping (national parks)/caravan park fees when/if you stay at these places. If we do stay at a caravan park we get an unpowered site as we are fully independent.

We prefer to stay at v/parks in the small towns they are cheaper and seem to be better maintained on average than the big parks.

Generally we prefer to camp out a majority of the time free bush camping or in national parks etc.

While you're away there's a saving on electricity and going to the shopping centres and spending!!

Hi Wild Dog
Last year we left Perth on 4/5/08 and got home on 30/10/08. We travelled approx 22,000km, bush camped a lot apart from 10 days in Darwin with our son and spent $556 on accomodation. Total cost including fuel, food, accomodation, tours and the bit for "Murphy" was $12,300 all done on the pensionexcept for about $2'000 we took with us. I should also add that a further 1500 was left in Perth to pay the inevitablle bills that come in.

We eat out only very rarely and don't do a lot of tours preferring to see more of what we call the real Australia. Overall we only spent about 40 nights in paid accomodation.

Now just go for it!

John

Hi Wild Dog,
In 06 I did a 3 and a half month trip east to west and back from Sydney. Cost $2500 in Fuel and approx $750 on food and bourbon. $136 in camp fees...... (need a shower every now and then)

Hi Wild Dog,

We depend on a retirement income. Last year we travelled about 17,500km over 3 months. Fuel (petrol) came to about $5,000, plus another $2,500 for unexpected repairs. We spent about $1200 on camp fees, another $2000 on flights, tours etc (some of the "must do" things). Food and grog cost about $2,500 on the road plus another $500 worth that we set out with. We did not eat out and bush camped as often as we could.

So all up cost of about $13,500 or 77cents per km, which would have been less if Murphy had not come along for the ride. Despite that it was a wonderful trip, which even a diving stock market couldn't spoil. As others have said, tailor your travel to your available funds and you will still be able to get out there and enjoy your trip.

Have a great time,

Cheers