Nothing exciting...

Jar this week: 20.90 USD

Planning, planning and more planning.  There is nothing exciting on the trip planning front this week.  We are just on correspondence and retrieval and information gathering mode.  Soon... there will be an announcement. =)

Where We Are...

Logistically  

We have a few things sort of hammered out.  We are at the planning stages right now where everything is reconnaissance.  We are asking around, reading, emailing, talking to various families who have done RTW trips.  There are quite a few out there.  I have my sponsor list almost done and pretty soon will be executing the emails, inquiries, and phone calls.  I am at the hunting and gathering stage and I only have some simple ingredients.  

The trip itself has a few kinks in it we have to figure out and we should have the itinerary finished in a few months.  There are a lot of things to factor- transportation, availability of routes, roads etc.  And this will be a very rough, rough itinerary because we won't really know what it will be like in 2011.  A week before each change we will have to confirm everything.  For instance, there is only one ferry from Tunisia to Sicily, and it only leaves weekly, which I didn't know.

Financially, I am not too worried about this.  Luckily, our every day expenses are simple.  (there will be an entire post on budget coming up).  We are going to be very dependent on saving literally nickels and dimes, fundraising, and sponsors.  Also, I start my quest for the publishing aspect of it soon.  We have a very simple life, with one small car, and home made lunches.  I think also, we are at the point in our life where we don't possibly need anything else. This is through the generosity of our parents.  We make enough money to sustain ourselves with very little savings, but I always think something as common as money should never get in the way of your life.    

Theoretically:

We are at the part where we are still dreaming up this trip, and it isn't quite real to me.  The thought of it is real to me.  The thought of being with my kids and my husband for 4 months sounds like a dream.  To be able to share these sole, precious moments of their life, together as a family makes me want to work harder than ever to get to this goal.  I am already a busy person, but having this as a goal has really changed my step in terms of work and the everyday grind.  Trips always do this to me.  I feel like when stuff gets hard, I have this to look forward to.  Not to say, I don't enjoy my family when there isn't a trip planned, I just feel in my total element when I have a trip planned somewhere.   Overall I think travel is good for you.  So other people should do it too.  

I spent my college years starting things, finishing some, and then starting other things and not finishing those.  I traveled in between those, and the only regret I have is that I wasted my time spending it in the classroom.  Don't get me wrong, I understand the value of education, and that alone is a journey in itself.  But I also understand the value of life, and precious, precious time.  I can always go back to school.  I can always go work somewhere and make money, but I will never have Myla be 3 and Emily be 2 ever again.  

Anyway, enough of this sap.  I thought I would close today's post with my favorite travel quote...

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. 

- St. Augustine

Our budget...just numbers.

In case you are wondering...

Here is a breakdown of what a trip like this might cost...and of course, I estimated an overage of EVERYTHING by about 50 USD, and I also made everybody the cost of an adult.  Some of the things, like rail passes and airfare and such the kids might still be free.  As things get weeded out we will deduct or add from this list.  I kept in mind inflation in two years also.  This is based on a 120 Day Trip... 

1. Daily Allowance accomodations 100 USD = 12,000

2. Airfare (round trip for 5 passengers) 4000 USD = 20,000

3. Rail Passes/Ferry Tickets 900 per passenger = 4500 USD

4. Emergency Money 10,000 USD (in the form of a credit card)

5. Travel Insurance 400 USD per person = 2000 USD

6. souvenirs 25 USD a day = 3000 USD

7. Museum/Attractions/Events Admission 50 USD = 6000 USD

8. Baby/Kid Supplies 20 USD a day = 2400 USD

9. Food 50 USD = 6000 USD

10. Local Transport 20 USD = 2400 USD

11. phone/internet 10 usd a day = 1200 USD

12. laptop 1100 USD

13. cameras 1100 USD

14. Travel Gear = 600 USD

15.  entry/exit fees = ???? varies by country

16. Visas = ???

17. Passports/Pictures 100 per person = 500 USD

18. Toiletries 50 USD per per person = 250 USD

19. Change Money Fees/ ATM Fees 5 USD a Day = 600 USD

20. Misc. 20 USD a day = 2400 USD.

A Grand Total of 76,050 USD.

WAAAAAIIIIIIIIT!!!  Don't leave!  There are adjustments to be made... remember I estimated the MAXIMUM of what something could cost.  Automatically, 10,000 on the credit card is just there, not an expense.  It's a bill I would have to pay later.   Let's say, I never use it.  

66,050 USD

Travel Insurance only costs 340 per person, so we save 300 USD there...

65,750 USD

souvenirs at 25 dollars a day?  Too high!  If we spent an average of that much... it would be too much... so let's bring it down to 20 USD a day, subtract 600 USD.

65,150 USD

Let's face it, there isn't going to be admission tickets to something EVERY day.  So let's bring that down 20 USD a day... subtract 2400

62,750 USD

laptop and cameras... sponsored or use the ones we have...

60,550 USD

Travel Gear, sponsored or use what we have...

59,950 USD

Accomodations, subtract the days we will be on the road, in a couchette or traveling (estimate about 20 of these...2000 USD saved.

57,950 USD

I didn't even go through what things could have been sponsored only because I don't want to jinx anything.  I will update this and the cost will predominantly adjust as time goes on and sponsors get wind of this.  So we brought this down predominantly, and haven't even skimped while we are there.  I think the key is just your daily budget and also planning a little bit ahead as you go, so that you aren't driving yourself crazy.  For instance, if we are in Southeast Asia and a week later we find out our family has only spent 800 for 9 days, we are totally under our weekly budget for when we go to the more expensive cities, like Paris.  

If it was just Andy and I traveling, we would do more camping and more outdoorsy, sleep in the train station stuff to save money.  But since we are taking the little ones, accomodations will have to be a little more than the typical low budget traveler's ideas of saving money.   Also throughout the year there are little things you could do to budget.  I have a jar method.  Which I will talk to you more about in length later.