Saturday, May 08, 2010 at 22:57
Costs? This is so variable and everyone will be different. Sorry my answer is so long Monaro, and tells you very little when it comes to jotting down actual costs, but it should be used as a formula for working out your costs, which will be different to
mine, or other people who have answered.
As a rule of thumb -
If you can live on $100 per week at
home you will probably do similar on the road, and if you live on $1,000 per week, you will most likely keep up the same lifestyle. It does cost a bit more for food; no
home grown vegetables, no bulk buying and keeping a chest freezer full and costs in remote
places will be higher, particularly for fresh produce. Work out what it costs you, and allow a bit more. Your shopping trends will be similar for food, extras and drinks as when you are at
home.
Do you eat out a lot? Or do you always make your own lunch? These will be known factors and you will probably continue to do as you do at
home. An occasional meal out at a local pub or restaurant can be a good way to reward a town which provides good free or very low cost camping so make allowance for this as often or as infrequently as you choose.
Fuel and vehicle costs: You will know your vehicle’s fuel consumption rate when towing. Work out how far you intent to travel, and again add on a generous extra allowance as there will always be extra trips and side trips worth taking when you find out about them. Research the cost of fuel in the remotest
places to give an idea of these costs. Double the fuel figure as the same amount again should cover maintenance such as regular servicing and tyres with the occasional unforeseen repairs. This makes no allowance for vehicle replacement. Your caravan may also need maintenance from time to time for regular things such as brakes, wheel bearings and possibly water delivery hoses. Factor this into your budget. Freight costs of obtaining parts will be higher in more distant and remote locations and you may have to pay caravan park fees whilst waiting for parts if it is a
breakdown that has immobilised you. How competent are you at doing your own repairs? Mechanics and technicians in remote locations will charge more to cover their costs in these locations, but doing your own repairs if you are not suitable skilled may
well be more costly in the long run.
Regular costs such as insurances and licences will be the roughly same as when your rig is at
home. Your regular bills at
home such as rates and power will continue unless your have sold your
home or someone else becomes responsible for any of these costs. Renting out your
home is a whole story again – with alarm bells ringing, and tenure of rent cannot be guaranteed.
Camping fees: Depending on your camping style and opportunities for
free camping, this again will vary hugely from person to person. Remember it will work out cheaper and easier to stay at a none-to-cheap caravan park at the site of the feature you want to spend a few days touring, than commute daily from a
free camp some distance away. For example last year the dearest fee we paid was at
Carnarvon Gorge in Queensland at $38 per night. Overall we paid a total of $1460 for camping, including caravan parks and national parks, over 65 nights. That is $22.50 average per night. In most cases we paid for powered sites if in a caravan park whether we used it or not, but sometimes opted for unpowered, particularly if there was a significant price difference. The remaining 83 days were spent in free spots, including a number of designated free camps in or near towns that welcome caravanners. Some we drove quite some kilometres to get to, so that is also a cost. We chose to drive the distance to
camp for example by a lake
well away from the highway, than in a crowded
rest area by the edge of a busy road, or even a caravan park in a noisy town. Different areas have different priced camping fees so it depends where you are travelling as
well. We were travelling in areas where we would choose to visit an inland National Park rather than a coastal resort town. Our rig is set up for remote and independent
bush camping as this is our chosen way of holidaying.
Entrance fees, flights, cruises: Again you are in control. It is nice to occasionally visit a small museum in a small town, as
well as high profile ones in bigger towns – just pick a selection to suit your interests. Entrance fees are variable and the cost of high profile
places that you will want to visit can be researched. Cruises and flights – the sky is the limit. What you take will be tailored to match your budget. Park passes and permits are usually only small additional costs. Getting a state wide parks pass can be a saving on park entrance fees if you are visiting lots of national parks.
Souvenirs and gifts for the family: You can decide ahead of time how much you plan to spend in these areas.
Always have a bit to spare for unforeseen, or even a flight back "home" if needed for urgent health or family matters.
Lots of issues about no fixed address, including licences, insurances and electoral role.
Motherhen
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Follow Up By: Member - John and Val - Sunday, May 09, 2010 at 14:33
Sunday, May 09, 2010 at 14:33
One small but significant cost that is easily overlooked is the cost of washing clothes etc - unless you have your own washing machine, or are prepared to do a lot of hand washing.
Bigger van parks and touristy
places charge $3 to $4 a load, while smaller council run parks are sometimes still on $2. If you need to use a dryer that can be a fair bit extra.
And as Motherhen says, the cost of food will almost certainly be higher - you are rarely able to take the opportunity of buying stuff on special and storing or freezing it as we do at
home. So you can pay double what you normally would for some items. Also the range of food, especially meat, fruit and veges can be quite limited in smaller and more remote
places.
Cheers,
Val
| J and V
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