Exiting the rat race?
Discussion
I'm getting pretty fed up doing a job just to tread water, can't afford a house, throwing money away on rent every month making someone else a profit.
I follow a few blogs of explorer types, off cycling the world, immersing themselves in other cultures and I wonder how much seed money you need to go out there and not just starve to death?
I follow a few blogs of explorer types, off cycling the world, immersing themselves in other cultures and I wonder how much seed money you need to go out there and not just starve to death?
Justin,,,gosh old chap cheer up....
I'm estimating 1.5k a month whilst you're in Europe..as you head east or south this will drop to around 0.5k- 1k a month...when you hit the US or Australia / NZ up to 2k a month...back down to 1k a month in South America.. Keep an emergency contingency of at least 10k. Get good travel insurance...
Could be the best thing you ever do...do bold things and bold things happen to you...
I'm estimating 1.5k a month whilst you're in Europe..as you head east or south this will drop to around 0.5k- 1k a month...when you hit the US or Australia / NZ up to 2k a month...back down to 1k a month in South America.. Keep an emergency contingency of at least 10k. Get good travel insurance...
Could be the best thing you ever do...do bold things and bold things happen to you...
It really does depend on how basic your comfy with. you could do it on the cheap but you need to be young and foolhardy.
For person past the age of hormonal change then you need a little comfort.
Lots would go on a pushbike and sleep in a tent and I suppose if your happy doing it on the cheap it would cost around £5 a day food with the odd night in a campsite/b&b to shower/shave.
Thats the cheapest way
The right way to do it long term is a campervan.
So cost a campervan....
fuel every day
food and drink..
add on extras like your phone/wifi costs, any site/hookup costs
So realisticly your looking around 7.5k for a basic bare min lifestyle per year not including the cost of the campervan.
For person past the age of hormonal change then you need a little comfort.
Lots would go on a pushbike and sleep in a tent and I suppose if your happy doing it on the cheap it would cost around £5 a day food with the odd night in a campsite/b&b to shower/shave.
Thats the cheapest way
The right way to do it long term is a campervan.
So cost a campervan....
fuel every day
food and drink..
add on extras like your phone/wifi costs, any site/hookup costs
So realisticly your looking around 7.5k for a basic bare min lifestyle per year not including the cost of the campervan.
AndrewCrown said:
Justin,,,gosh old chap cheer up....
I'm estimating 1.5k a month whilst you're in Europe..as you head east or south this will drop to around 0.5k- 1k a month...when you hit the US or Australia / NZ up to 2k a month...back down to 1k a month in South America.. Keep an emergency contingency of at least 10k. Get good travel insurance...
Could be the best thing you ever do...do bold things and bold things happen to you...
ha I'll cheer up when all I have to do is pedal my bike and work an odd job here and there I'm estimating 1.5k a month whilst you're in Europe..as you head east or south this will drop to around 0.5k- 1k a month...when you hit the US or Australia / NZ up to 2k a month...back down to 1k a month in South America.. Keep an emergency contingency of at least 10k. Get good travel insurance...
Could be the best thing you ever do...do bold things and bold things happen to you...
Your figures aren't far out from what I've spent in the past on multi day rides, but I see a few people who go off and do 3-4 years of exploring they can't all be minted?
stupidbutkeen said:
It really does depend on how basic your comfy with. you could do it on the cheap but you need to be young and foolhardy.
For person past the age of hormonal change then you need a little comfort.
Lots would go on a pushbike and sleep in a tent and I suppose if your happy doing it on the cheap it would cost around £5 a day food with the odd night in a campsite/b&b to shower/shave.
Thats the cheapest way
The right way to do it long term is a campervan.
So cost a campervan....
fuel every day
food and drink..
add on extras like your phone/wifi costs, any site/hookup costs
So realisticly your looking around 7.5k for a basic bare min lifestyle per year not including the cost of the campervan.
I think we have very different view of bare minimum For person past the age of hormonal change then you need a little comfort.
Lots would go on a pushbike and sleep in a tent and I suppose if your happy doing it on the cheap it would cost around £5 a day food with the odd night in a campsite/b&b to shower/shave.
Thats the cheapest way
The right way to do it long term is a campervan.
So cost a campervan....
fuel every day
food and drink..
add on extras like your phone/wifi costs, any site/hookup costs
So realisticly your looking around 7.5k for a basic bare min lifestyle per year not including the cost of the campervan.
lived on this for 11 days last year;)
but being a france/italy trip it was still fairly costly without an income
Edited by JustinF on Wednesday 14th June 01:47
Cycle around the world you say.Our very own Neilski did just that,there is a thread somewhere.
The hardest thing is stepping out of your comfort zone.Society dictates that it's not normal to bugger off for 4 years,seeing the world and not working.
There are some good websites,toms bike trip,cycling about and of cousre crazy guy on a bike if you want some inspiration.
The hardest thing is stepping out of your comfort zone.Society dictates that it's not normal to bugger off for 4 years,seeing the world and not working.
There are some good websites,toms bike trip,cycling about and of cousre crazy guy on a bike if you want some inspiration.
I did a few months europe in the car/tent.
Sold a BMW, quit boring job, albeit being paid well enough relative to my age and life at that time. Bought a diesel hatchback, loaded it up and off I went.
I had a rough idea of where I was headed but nothing hard and fixed so I just went in the direction that felt right at the time.
Several thousands miles later, many many great memories and met a girl I could have married but she was Ozzie and I'm not struck on the culture there although I also met a solid life long mate who is also from Oz that ended up joining me and a friend who flew in to meet us in Budapest for a hedonistic weekend. I'm catching up with him in Thailand in a few weeks actually.
People often say yes just go for it, nothing to lose etc etc.
Remember you have to eventually do something with your life and when/if you come back to the UK, then what? The travel can give you some great perspective on life though.
For me, I love to travel but what I love more is other people paying for my travel... - I decided to aim for a career that I can combine the love of travel that also pays a decent wage.
Maybe think along those kind of lines and if you can figure out what works for you then you've got it made.
Best of luck.
Sold a BMW, quit boring job, albeit being paid well enough relative to my age and life at that time. Bought a diesel hatchback, loaded it up and off I went.
I had a rough idea of where I was headed but nothing hard and fixed so I just went in the direction that felt right at the time.
Several thousands miles later, many many great memories and met a girl I could have married but she was Ozzie and I'm not struck on the culture there although I also met a solid life long mate who is also from Oz that ended up joining me and a friend who flew in to meet us in Budapest for a hedonistic weekend. I'm catching up with him in Thailand in a few weeks actually.
People often say yes just go for it, nothing to lose etc etc.
Remember you have to eventually do something with your life and when/if you come back to the UK, then what? The travel can give you some great perspective on life though.
For me, I love to travel but what I love more is other people paying for my travel...
- I decided to aim for a career that I can combine the love of travel that also pays a decent wage. Maybe think along those kind of lines and if you can figure out what works for you then you've got it made.
Best of luck.
JustinF said:
ha I'll cheer up when all I have to do is pedal my bike and work an odd job here and there
Your figures aren't far out from what I've spent in the past on multi day rides, but I see a few people who go off and do 3-4 years of exploring they can't all be minted?
You just answered your own question you might see / hear of them buggeribg off for 4 years living the highlife but they will be working the odd job on their way cash in hand. If you can earn £500 a month your cash goes a lot further! Your figures aren't far out from what I've spent in the past on multi day rides, but I see a few people who go off and do 3-4 years of exploring they can't all be minted?
Every inch of the way is a good book on doing it very cheaply washing in rivers camping every night befriending nomads. Great book but it's not going to be enjoyable.
JustinF said:
I'm getting pretty fed up doing a job just to tread water, can't afford a house, throwing money away on rent every month making someone else a profit.
I follow a few blogs of explorer types, off cycling the world, immersing themselves in other cultures and I wonder how much seed money you need to go out there and not just starve to death?
My experience has been that wherever you go in the world it tends to be full of people just treading water and not being able to afford everything they want, just like you.I follow a few blogs of explorer types, off cycling the world, immersing themselves in other cultures and I wonder how much seed money you need to go out there and not just starve to death?
These exotic places you are looking for largely exist in your own mind.
My advice would be to count the positives in your life now, worry less about the negatives and don't waste your time looking for what really doesn't exist.
JustinF said:
I'm getting pretty fed up doing a job just to tread water, can't afford a house, throwing money away on rent every month making someone else a profit.
I follow a few blogs of explorer types, off cycling the world, immersing themselves in other cultures and I wonder how much seed money you need to go out there and not just starve to death?
Have you thought of helpx,work your way around some of the world,cycle the bits inbetween.I follow a few blogs of explorer types, off cycling the world, immersing themselves in other cultures and I wonder how much seed money you need to go out there and not just starve to death?
t holes- Romania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan a lot more stan's, china etc... you can live like a king in these places on £5 a day. 
I did this a few years ago (travelling on and off 2008-2012), it was a bit cheaper then though admittedly. I went with about £10k before hand from sale of car and redundancy package (I was going to go anyway but volunteering for redundancy moved plans forward 6 months).
I topped up my money as I went along from writing a travel blog and getting paid for accepting advertising on there. The only problem with that is Google changing their search algorithm occasionally which meant advertisers all pulled out suddenly which was a dream killer for me. You can increase your income as you go along and the blog gets more popular. I was charging on average US$150 for a guest post that stayed on my blog for a year, and was then deleted or they paid to renew it. I got all sorts of different rates for sidebar advertising too.
South-east asia is easy and cheap to get around, a few countries had 30 day tourist visas, so you can't just stay there as long as you please, you do need to move which is probably one of the most expensive bits in those parts. In Thailand (central Bangkok) I could get my own room for £3 a night with shower, fan (not air con) and WiFi, a lunch/dinner of Pad thai would cost 50p or so, so day to day costs were cheap. A bucket of vodka/red bull was around £2. Yes, a small bucket.
I lived in Australia for a year, 7 months in a campervan. Campervan was OZ$3000 (about £1500 at the time) and was a converted 300,000km 1985 Toyota Tarago, I had to get the alternator (on Christmas eve!) and starter motor rebuilt during that time, but never bothered replacing the crap battery as I could push start it everywhere. Other than that it was fine, I got my purchase money back when I sold it on after. Hint: Buy a campervan registered in Western Australia if you can (for reasons I won't go into here). The country is great for campervan living, lots of parking spaces for overnight stays, free BBQs everywhere to cook your food on to save stove gas, etc.
You need to house share to live in Australia though as rent is quite expensive. Think I was paying £400 a month sharing a small room with a friend of mine, and £800 when on my own in a shared house. I had to get temp jobs to afford that. A pint of beer was advertised at 'only $8!' when I arrived there, it left an impression on my on how expensive Australia is. That was £4 at the time, which is a good exchange rate. I imagine you'd be paying something more for a pint there these days. A box of wine (called goon) was a lot cheaper and lasted longer. I have Australia to thank for me becoming a wine drinker.
I then spent a few years in Japan, started off in Fukushima as a hotel receptionist, which paid well enough to start saving cash. But a nearly nuclear reactor exploding killed the tourism industry somewhat at the time. The hotel is still going and employs foreigners though. After doing some volunteer work there, I moved to Tokyo and shacked up with a girl who brought my living costs down for a bit as I lived with her, but eventually had to start teaching jobs to pay my way.
I never really got to travel Europe or America, but would treat them similar to Oz/Japan in terms of finances needed. I.e. you won't last too long without an income or starting with a big pot.
Anyway, I have rambled a bit too much, but hope it's of use. I am now back in the rat race. I have missed out on cheaper houses (were they ever cheap compared to my salary?) but at least managed to get in a small one now and have my family relying on my modest income so it's a lot more difficult to jump out now. Do it while you can.
I topped up my money as I went along from writing a travel blog and getting paid for accepting advertising on there. The only problem with that is Google changing their search algorithm occasionally which meant advertisers all pulled out suddenly which was a dream killer for me. You can increase your income as you go along and the blog gets more popular. I was charging on average US$150 for a guest post that stayed on my blog for a year, and was then deleted or they paid to renew it. I got all sorts of different rates for sidebar advertising too.
South-east asia is easy and cheap to get around, a few countries had 30 day tourist visas, so you can't just stay there as long as you please, you do need to move which is probably one of the most expensive bits in those parts. In Thailand (central Bangkok) I could get my own room for £3 a night with shower, fan (not air con) and WiFi, a lunch/dinner of Pad thai would cost 50p or so, so day to day costs were cheap. A bucket of vodka/red bull was around £2. Yes, a small bucket.
I lived in Australia for a year, 7 months in a campervan. Campervan was OZ$3000 (about £1500 at the time) and was a converted 300,000km 1985 Toyota Tarago, I had to get the alternator (on Christmas eve!) and starter motor rebuilt during that time, but never bothered replacing the crap battery as I could push start it everywhere. Other than that it was fine, I got my purchase money back when I sold it on after. Hint: Buy a campervan registered in Western Australia if you can (for reasons I won't go into here). The country is great for campervan living, lots of parking spaces for overnight stays, free BBQs everywhere to cook your food on to save stove gas, etc.
You need to house share to live in Australia though as rent is quite expensive. Think I was paying £400 a month sharing a small room with a friend of mine, and £800 when on my own in a shared house. I had to get temp jobs to afford that. A pint of beer was advertised at 'only $8!' when I arrived there, it left an impression on my on how expensive Australia is. That was £4 at the time, which is a good exchange rate. I imagine you'd be paying something more for a pint there these days. A box of wine (called goon) was a lot cheaper and lasted longer. I have Australia to thank for me becoming a wine drinker.
I then spent a few years in Japan, started off in Fukushima as a hotel receptionist, which paid well enough to start saving cash. But a nearly nuclear reactor exploding killed the tourism industry somewhat at the time. The hotel is still going and employs foreigners though. After doing some volunteer work there, I moved to Tokyo and shacked up with a girl who brought my living costs down for a bit as I lived with her, but eventually had to start teaching jobs to pay my way.
I never really got to travel Europe or America, but would treat them similar to Oz/Japan in terms of finances needed. I.e. you won't last too long without an income or starting with a big pot.
Anyway, I have rambled a bit too much, but hope it's of use. I am now back in the rat race. I have missed out on cheaper houses (were they ever cheap compared to my salary?) but at least managed to get in a small one now and have my family relying on my modest income so it's a lot more difficult to jump out now. Do it while you can.
Roofless Toothless said:
My experience has been that wherever you go in the world it tends to be full of people just treading water and not being able to afford everything they want, just like you.
These exotic places you are looking for largely exist in your own mind.
My advice would be to count the positives in your life now, worry less about the negatives and don't waste your time looking for what really doesn't exist.
This might be the most pessimistic post I've ever read on PH. Have you actually been outside the UK? Jesus Christ.These exotic places you are looking for largely exist in your own mind.
My advice would be to count the positives in your life now, worry less about the negatives and don't waste your time looking for what really doesn't exist.
DoubleTime said:
Roofless Toothless said:
My experience has been that wherever you go in the world it tends to be full of people just treading water and not being able to afford everything they want, just like you.
These exotic places you are looking for largely exist in your own mind.
My advice would be to count the positives in your life now, worry less about the negatives and don't waste your time looking for what really doesn't exist.
This might be the most pessimistic post I've ever read on PH. Have you actually been outside the UK? Jesus Christ.These exotic places you are looking for largely exist in your own mind.
My advice would be to count the positives in your life now, worry less about the negatives and don't waste your time looking for what really doesn't exist.
If however you want an adventure - that's something else. There's lots of adventure type people in my family, but not me, paradise for me is control over my environment, routine, physical excercise, mental challenge and a few well chosen luxuries. I've been around enough poverty to know how uneasy I am with it.
DoubleTime said:
Roofless Toothless said:
My experience has been that wherever you go in the world it tends to be full of people just treading water and not being able to afford everything they want, just like you.
These exotic places you are looking for largely exist in your own mind.
My advice would be to count the positives in your life now, worry less about the negatives and don't waste your time looking for what really doesn't exist.
This might be the most pessimistic post I've ever read on PH. Have you actually been outside the UK? Jesus Christ.These exotic places you are looking for largely exist in your own mind.
My advice would be to count the positives in your life now, worry less about the negatives and don't waste your time looking for what really doesn't exist.
That's not to say that travelling isn't worthwhile, just that places that may look perfect rarely are.
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