Sunday, 9 December 2012
Air India Flight 182 - World Travel Statistics For Vagabonds
And basically put your life on hold, take out a large loan from the bank, so many have been led to believe that in order to take a year off and travel the world you have to sacrifice everything you've worked for. This is the intersection where dreams and reality collide.
And that's if they've even dared to dream of world travel.
Let's take a look at my own world travel statistics, in order to help you understand the hurdles (both real and imaginary) involved in traveling.
To do what we did for 30% less, though not recommended, it is possible. But not uncomfortably, we lived modestly. Traveled by rail (and occasionally bus or boat) and ate mostly street food (which tends to be healthier as its cooked in front of you), we purchased a one way ticket to Bangkok. India and Nepal, my wife and I recently took a year off and traveled through Southeast Asia. A brief background on the trip, first.
These are out world travel statistics:
You should budget one to two dollars for each drink in this part of the world, if you plan on drinking. As the relative value is ridiculous in third world countries (a beer costs more than a bungalow in southeast Asia), alcohol was limited. Or have a nice dinner, perhaps once a week we would take in a show. And a whole lot of street food, sometime with air conditioning, this included private rooms for two. Living expenses: $1300.
Though several (including Nepal and Vietnam) are quite expensive and include additional fees for entry into certain areas, several places such as Thailand and SIngapore don't require a visa for Americans. Visa fees: $80 each month.
400 was too much money to pay upfront (we worked along the way), the problem was that $5. We could have received a round the world ticket with eight to ten destinations, for this same amount. Which drove the price up considerably, and a one way return from Moscow, we purchased a one way ticket into Bangkok. Flights: $2700.
You could easily spend half this amount, rather than take the train from Beijing to Moscow as we did, if you were to stay in Southeast Asia. As we did not keep receipts for all our travel, i admit this is an estimate. Trains: $2000.
And hit the road, try to eliminate all monthly expenses back home! But the lesson learned is this: you won't know until do the numbers, or visit Africa or South America for slightly more, you could go to Europe and spend twice this amount, sure. I hope these world travel statistics help you realize that seeing the world is not as expensive as you might think. We were able to do what most people only dream of, 000 a month per person, for less than $1. Not too bad. 260, total amount spent for two: $21.
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