Around the World Part 2

This trip is slightly different to the first one, in that I will be travelling for about a month and then flying to Asia to either work or try and find work. If it all goes wrong I will go travelling and then come back again!

• Vaccinations: £170.00
• Chest X-Ray (for Taiwanese visa): £112.50
• Passport photos: £5
• Taiwanese visa: £44
• Travel insurance: £277.67
• Train from London to Paris: £57.50
• Train from Paris to Milan (sleeper!): £71.50
• US Dollars: £69.40
• International Driving Permit: £5.50
• Medical supplies: £25.67
• Guide book: £17.99
• Ferry ticket to Split: £37.42
• Belgrade emergency money: £12.63
• Sofia emergency money: £19.40

TOTAL: £926.18

• Number of £200 currency card top-ups: 4

TOTAL: £800

GRAND TOTAL: £1,726.18

Around the World Part 1

I’ve spoken to people who have said that you should budget for £1000 per month, after you have bought flights. I’ve spoken to other people who have said that you can survive for half of that. This is an attempt to record the costs associated with this type of trip.

• Guide books:
  • China (Lonely Planet guide), £13.99
  • Russia (Lonely Planet guide), £13.99
  • Trans-Siberian Handbook, £7.77
  • Poland (Lonely Planet guide), £15.99
  • Russian phrasebook, £4.99
• Laptop:
  • Lenovo, £130.00
  • Case, £8.36
• Passport renewal: £86.25
• Notepad: £9.99
• Injections:
  • Course 1, £137.00
  • Course 2, £137.00
  • Course 3, £140.00
• Travel insurance: £231.14
• Hostel deposits:
  • Beijing 1, £3.74
  • Beijing 2, £3.74
  • Nanning, £1.52
• Visas:
  • Russian visa, £123.48
  • Chinese visa, £108.00
  • Vietnamese visa (express service!), £59.00
• Train tickets:
  • Trans-Siberian, £481.00
  • European, £400.00
• Chinese train ticket cancellation: £37.80
• International SIM card (including $10 credit): £15.65
• International credit card (including £10 credit): £10.00
• Medical supplies:
  • Anti-biotics, £5.00
  • Anti-malarials, £18.00
• Hands-free kit (for Skype): £14.69
• Foreign currency:
  • US Dollars, £170.00
• International driving permit: £5.50
• Passport photos: £15.00
• Lake Baikal spending money: £42.46
• Beijing spending money: £73.94
• Chengdu spending money: £43.02
• Ha Giang spending money: £34.78
• Container ferry tickets: £1,200 (a significant amount of this was paid by my parents. Thanks Mum and Dad!)
• Luang Prabang spending money: £29.90
• Melbourne spending money: £68.09.

TOTAL: £3,900.78

Any costs incurred beyond the beginning of the trip will be recorded as the number of top-ups required on the pre-paid card I will be taking.

• Current number of £200 top-ups: 26
• Current number of £400 top-ups: 3

TOTAL: £6,400.00

GRAND TOTAL: £10,300.78.

This was before I bought my return flights home. When you factor in how much my parents donated towards the cost of the container ship tickets and add in the cost of the return flights, the total cost is around £10,000. As my budget was £10,000, this worked out very well!