Found this article in hacker news today, interesting read
http://blog.alexmaccaw.com/how-to-travel...or-a-year/
http://blog.alexmaccaw.com/how-to-travel...or-a-year/
Quote: (06-22-2013 04:50 AM)avantgarde Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 02:53 AM)RichieP Wrote:
1 - have money or earn it as you go
2 - book flights
Nah that article isn't a bad overview actually.
It takes a while to earn money to travel like that unless u got a high-paying job.
Quote: (06-22-2013 05:27 AM)RichieP Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 04:50 AM)avantgarde Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 02:53 AM)RichieP Wrote:
1 - have money or earn it as you go
2 - book flights
Nah that article isn't a bad overview actually.
It takes a while to earn money to travel like that unless u got a high-paying job.
Agreed. Like he says though, $15k for the whole year, and he had a blast. Pretty reasonable.
Quote: (06-22-2013 08:53 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:
15K + 7K for the round the world ticket makes 22 K which is a lot. Anyone can travel on that money.
For me a round the world ticket disqualifies you from being a round the world traveler. You're just taking airplanes to reach your destinations. There probably taking a taxi from the airport to their hotel too.
How hard is that?
Take local buses, trains and boats/ferries and sit local people,chickens and goats if you want to brag.
Quote: (06-22-2013 05:27 AM)RichieP Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 04:50 AM)avantgarde Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 02:53 AM)RichieP Wrote:
1 - have money or earn it as you go
2 - book flights
Nah that article isn't a bad overview actually.
It takes a while to earn money to travel like that unless u got a high-paying job.
Agreed. Like he says though, $15k for the whole year, and he had a blast. Pretty reasonable.
Quote: (06-22-2013 09:16 AM)Vorkuta Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 08:53 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:
15K + 7K for the round the world ticket makes 22 K which is a lot. Anyone can travel on that money.
For me a round the world ticket disqualifies you from being a round the world traveler. You're just taking airplanes to reach your destinations. There probably taking a taxi from the airport to their hotel too.
How hard is that?
Take local buses, trains and boats/ferries and sit local people,chickens and goats if you want to brag.
I disagree. There are no rules about how you should travel. You like to do it on a budget and do the local bus thing and that's cool but your way is no more valid than doing it in a private jet and staying in the Peninsular or the Raffles. It's just different. After all how did you get to South America? I'm guessing by air plane in which case by your reasoning you're not a real RTW traveller in comparison to someone who did the journey by boat.
Secondly you said that anyone could travel for a year on $15000. That is just under $300 a week. I could not do that. I spend $100 a day on drinks and food alone. My budget is about $1000 a week and I'm not even that extravagant.
Quote: (06-22-2013 09:16 AM)Vorkuta Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 08:53 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:
15K + 7K for the round the world ticket makes 22 K which is a lot. Anyone can travel on that money.
For me a round the world ticket disqualifies you from being a round the world traveler. You're just taking airplanes to reach your destinations. There probably taking a taxi from the airport to their hotel too.
How hard is that?
Take local buses, trains and boats/ferries and sit local people,chickens and goats if you want to brag.
I disagree. There are no rules about how you should travel. You like to do it on a budget and do the local bus thing and that's cool but your way is no more valid than doing it in a private jet and staying in the Peninsular or the Raffles. It's just different. After all how did you get to South America? I'm guessing by air plane in which case by your reasoning you're not a real RTW traveller in comparison to someone who did the journey by boat.
Secondly you said that anyone could travel for a year on $15000. That is just under $300 a week. I could not do that. I spend $100 a day on drinks and food alone. My budget is about $1000 a week and I'm not even that extravagant.
Quote: (06-22-2013 10:13 AM)pitt Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 09:16 AM)Vorkuta Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 08:53 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:
15K + 7K for the round the world ticket makes 22 K which is a lot. Anyone can travel on that money.
For me a round the world ticket disqualifies you from being a round the world traveler. You're just taking airplanes to reach your destinations. There probably taking a taxi from the airport to their hotel too.
How hard is that?
Take local buses, trains and boats/ferries and sit local people,chickens and goats if you want to brag.
I disagree. There are no rules about how you should travel. You like to do it on a budget and do the local bus thing and that's cool but your way is no more valid than doing it in a private jet and staying in the Peninsular or the Raffles. It's just different. After all how did you get to South America? I'm guessing by air plane in which case by your reasoning you're not a real RTW traveller in comparison to someone who did the journey by boat.
Secondly you said that anyone could travel for a year on $15000. That is just under $300 a week. I could not do that. I spend $100 a day on drinks and food alone. My budget is about $1000 a week and I'm not even that extravagant.
1000$ a week on drinks and food? I wonder what type of food you eat every week and how much you drink, also what city are you based? That is a lot of money, even in NY that would be a lot of money just for drinks and food. You must be swimming on money.
Quote: (06-22-2013 09:17 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 05:27 AM)RichieP Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 04:50 AM)avantgarde Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 02:53 AM)RichieP Wrote:
1 - have money or earn it as you go
2 - book flights
Nah that article isn't a bad overview actually.
It takes a while to earn money to travel like that unless u got a high-paying job.
Agreed. Like he says though, $15k for the whole year, and he had a blast. Pretty reasonable.
"So the net cost for the trip was about $22k. I paid for the vast majority of this with one month’s consultancy beforehand"
Average *yearly* salary for an American is 50K.
WIA
Quote: (06-22-2013 09:58 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:
Of course when you have only 2 or 3 weeks of holiday a year it's understandable to drop a lot of cash but how many people are there who travel a year with a 1000 a week? That's 52K a year. You would need some serious income to do this.
Quote: (06-22-2013 11:22 AM)RichieP Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 09:17 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 05:27 AM)RichieP Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 04:50 AM)avantgarde Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 02:53 AM)RichieP Wrote:
1 - have money or earn it as you go
2 - book flights
Nah that article isn't a bad overview actually.
It takes a while to earn money to travel like that unless u got a high-paying job.
Agreed. Like he says though, $15k for the whole year, and he had a blast. Pretty reasonable.
"So the net cost for the trip was about $22k. I paid for the vast majority of this with one month’s consultancy beforehand"
Average *yearly* salary for an American is 50K.
WIA
So what's your point? He paid too much, or that it's out of reach for most people?
Quote: (06-22-2013 11:57 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 11:22 AM)RichieP Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 09:17 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 05:27 AM)RichieP Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 04:50 AM)avantgarde Wrote:
It takes a while to earn money to travel like that unless u got a high-paying job.
Agreed. Like he says though, $15k for the whole year, and he had a blast. Pretty reasonable.
"So the net cost for the trip was about $22k. I paid for the vast majority of this with one month’s consultancy beforehand"
Average *yearly* salary for an American is 50K.
WIA
So what's your point? He paid too much, or that it's out of reach for most people?
You said it was reasonable and quoted the wrong #.
I'm saying it's actually pretty expensive and out of reach for most Americans in the jobs they work.
- most don't make that kind of money
- most don't have location independent jobs
Doesn't mean it's not doable.
People can save.
They can learn to code.
They can learn to land big consultancy jobs.
It's unreasonable.
WIA
Quote: (06-22-2013 08:53 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:
Take local buses, trains and boats/ferries and sit local people,chickens and goats if you want to brag.
Quote: (06-22-2013 04:22 PM)travolta Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 08:53 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:
Take local buses, trains and boats/ferries and sit local people,chickens and goats if you want to brag.
Every country has rich people- Cambodia, Laos, Burma, etc. Rich people living in 3rd world countries aren't getting from place to place on local chicken buses.
Not that there's anything wrong with traveling on an extreme budget (I've done it before in SEA- paid USD $1.25/night for a guesthouse in Laos and traveled on overnight 3rd class seats on trains in Thailand), but I'd much rather travel like the rich people living in these countries.
I think you'd have way more bragging rights if you can afford to travel the world NOT on a budget, and took jets and taxis from place to place. You'd probably pull better looking ass too.
Quote: (06-22-2013 04:57 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:
Backpackers like to hate on those that have the money to travel the way they want. Rolling broke doesn't make you special. It just means they don't have the skills or gumption to make money. Sad really.
Backslackers don't bother me though. They are huddled in the hostels and shitty bars that offer specials. The rest of us will be on respectable airlines, staying in apartments, and chilling in better drinking establishments that attract women who shower and shave.
Quote: (06-22-2013 05:00 PM)speakeasy Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 04:57 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:
Backpackers like to hate on those that have the money to travel the way they want. Rolling broke doesn't make you special. It just means they don't have the skills or gumption to make money. Sad really.
Backslackers don't bother me though. They are huddled in the hostels and shitty bars that offer specials. The rest of us will be on respectable airlines, staying in apartments, and chilling in better drinking establishments that attract women who shower and shave.
I think the backpacker low-budget way definitely makes for more interesting life stories. I've done the backpacker thing as well as stayed in nice hotels. They both have their advantages, but the stories you get from slumming it in shithole shacks in Bolivia are way more interesting to recant to people than your week at the W hotel.
Quote: (06-22-2013 11:37 AM)Vorkuta Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 09:58 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:
Of course when you have only 2 or 3 weeks of holiday a year it's understandable to drop a lot of cash but how many people are there who travel a year with a 1000 a week? That's 52K a year. You would need some serious income to do this.
Yes absolutely Neil. My trips usually last a week so a grand for a week is affordable to me. If I did a long trip then I'd have to find ways of lower my costs because I don't have 20 or 30 grand to spend.
Not to nitpick with you but you said you're way is the way of the 'adventure traveller' and I agree however I'd say that flying around the world in a private jet, staying in the world's best hotels, hitting the best clubs etc. would also be an epic adventure and hence you could say those moneyed types are adventure travellers too. What will be interesting Neil will be if ( fingers crossed for you bro ) your Hollywood dream works out and you make some big $$$ how your travel style will be affected. Would you still go local buses and hostels or start upgrading? I expect you to answer that you'd still do the Neil Skywalker way of doing things however I suspect you might enjoy the luxury more than you think.
Quote: (06-22-2013 04:22 PM)travolta Wrote:
Quote: (06-22-2013 08:53 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:
Take local buses, trains and boats/ferries and sit local people,chickens and goats if you want to brag.
Every country has rich people- Cambodia, Laos, Burma, etc. Rich people living in 3rd world countries aren't getting from place to place on local chicken buses.
Not that there's anything wrong with traveling on an extreme budget (I've done it before in SEA- paid USD $1.25/night for a guesthouse in Laos and traveled on overnight 3rd class seats on trains in Thailand), but I'd much rather travel like the rich people living in these countries.
I think you'd have way more bragging rights if you can afford to travel the world NOT on a budget, and took jets and taxis from place to place. You'd probably pull better looking ass too.