1

I forgot to add that we're budget travelers - cheap accommodations, cheap food. I want to do a lot of hiking and other nature excursions, and eat delicious (though not necessarily expensive food). Nothing fancy.

2

Eastern Europe - you might struggle with $4,000 CAD. This works out at about $50 a day assuming that you're there from the beginning of May. Whilst Eastern Europe is cheaper than Western Europe, you might struggle to get by on what you're proposing.

The first SE Asia proposal is fine. Your budget could be blown in Malaysia depending on where you intend going. For example, Borneo would blow your budget out of the water. Another 800 CAD for an extra month and a half is pushing it somewhat mind.

NZ - 3,000 CAD would be the absolute minimum in my opinion for 1 month.

Italy and France you could struggle big time. Never been to Greece so can't comment on the budget but I'd be very surprised if you could survive on what you're proposing for the length of time and actually do much.

3

I can't see insurance in the budget.

NZ - you have NZD 3700 at the moment for 30 days, say $120 a day. Accommodation will be about $70, then you need transport, food - and you might want to do a few things. It's tight.

Not enough money for Western Europe, I'm afraid. Also what is your Schengen visa situation?

sorry...

4

Tight for italy and France (and very tight if its going to be a month in Paris).........tight for NZ as well....and not easy to stick to that for Moscow and St Petersburg either,but I think its possible.

Spending much less will be hard work....

5

wow, thats expensive.... hahaah gap year im planning costs 6000 euros xD

6

#5

Where are you going?

7

I may be missing something but... wondering why you are doing eatern europe at start of your trip and then ending back at western europe for end of the trip. 45 days from cape to Nairobi is very rushed you will spend most of your time on the truck driving 8 hour days. If you are going to go all the way out to africa i would at least do closer to 10 week trip or pick a smaller segment.

Your budget looks lacking in some places but $35K for the year should be fine. Im not sure how flights and immu is getting upto 10k that seems pretty crazy (might have something to do with going back to europe again?) Should be more like 3-5k for flights if you organise it well.

If your budget is getting tight on the road potentially forget about NZ and visit burma and borneo/indonesia?
Good luck

8

This budget is per person, so they are talking about $70,000 altogether, which is more than most people on here plan to have for their gap year trips. Can't comment on other places but I think NZ is easily doable on $6,000 for 2 people for a month.

9

2000CAD is more or less €1500...no?

€1500 a month for Italy or Paris is €50 a day....per person.That is doable but not a huge amount...if you want to stay in a hotel and eat in restaurants as well as see the sights,its not enough.

2 Hostel beds,street food and supermarkets,local transport and admission fees and that €100 a day (2 people) will be tight.....

10

Apologies I missed the per person part, thanks libbyh. You should be fine then.

11

Thanks for all the helpful responses!

Yup, the budget is per person... so, about $70,000 altogether. If I spend less, that would be terrific, However, if I have money left over, then so much the better! I'd rather have a safety net, money-wise, than being broke in Lesotho. I'm hoping in some areas I'm overbudgeting and the leftovers can bulk up where I'm woefully underbudgeting.

The $10,000 is for insurance, too (forgot to note that down). So, about $5,000 - $6,000 flights, $1,000 immunizations, $1,000 insurance, $1,000 visas, $1,000 incidentals (such as stuff to buy pre-trip). Again, I'm hoping that's generous and that I have money left over.

I'm banking on Europe (Greece & Italy) being a bit cheaper because it's off-season. At least according to the LP guide, accommodation on the Greek islands should be up to half as cheap in the off-season (March-April). Fingers crossed. However, I'll shuffle things around to make sure there is more money for Europe!

And, Eastern and Western Europe are split up, time-wise, to make sure we don't max out our Schengen (and also it looks like cheapest flights to and from Toronto tend to go through Europe).

JimBurns, thanks for the advice on the Africa portion. Right now I'm leaning towards just doing east Africa independently (rather than a tour) for a month and a half, and sticking to Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya, Uganda. (Or else, just the south: Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana).

NZ is a big question mark right now... Seems like it's the priciest thing on the menu.

12

OrangeSoda,

Looking at your itinerary again, you might want to reconsider the countries you see in SE Asia if you only end up spending a month and a half there. You could easily spend that time in Thailand or Vietnam alone.

13

I think that Lonely Planet may be more than slightly off the beam with accommodation prices. Cheaper off season, yes. Half the price, no. Times are hard in Greece and while your visit will be most welcome, the owners do need to make a living.

It's a bit like the British government's daft idea that accommodation providers offer a 20.12% discount off their prices. To coin one of my favourite Antipodean phrases...'yeah, right'

14

Indeed neverwinter, you'll get the 20.12% discount after a 25% mark up!