$$$$$
Most travel accounts leave you with two unanswered questions, how much did it cost and how did you get that amount and the free time to fund the venture. I have plodded through the details of trip and only really wanted to know how the heck they did it, the big picture, how did they get the time and cash for such a wonderful experience? Did they win the lottery, have rich parents, or save diligently for years to collect the cash and set off. I generally sarcastically assumed that it was rich parents and I would have to find some other option. I understand why the question is oft left unanswered, it is both difficult to give an accurate answer, and most tactful people are hesitant to talk cash. but I’ll give it a shot.
It makes me feel better if I group the costs in 3 categories, living expenses, Shachagra, and travel costs.
Living costs are those things we would buy regardless of where we were, like food. These obviously vary with location, you can live for week in Turkey for the expense of a meal in Norway, but I’ll give averages for the year.
Shachagra is a purchase, not an expense, because it is an asset we will keep, I believe it to be worth much more than we put into here, and we will use her for years to come. I have included only what Shachagra cost us, not labor. I’ll talk a bit more detail about her later.
Travel expenses are those big dollars items that just disappeared.
The largest cost was Shachagra, then getting her and us to Europe and back.
Shachagra- $171,000
Travel costs Shipment to UK- $6400
Shipment to US- $10,000
Air Fare- $5300
Insurance- $800
That’s $193,000 without seeing a single sight, depressing, but that was the expensive part, once we were in Europe our costs averaged $4000 a month. For a family of five, that’s Europe on $30 a day per person. Obviously the longer you travel the more cost effective the initial costs, but that’s always the case. The biggest chunk of that $4000 was spent on fuel, $1400 a month, Diesel is very expensive in Europe and once in Europe, we lived comfortably on the income of our retirement pension. We could have continued our journey indefinitely, actually at less expense than it will cost us to live back in Jacksonville, with our mortgage, and the cost of life.
If I had to put a dollar amount on the entire trip it would be $237,000. Ouch....
Buts its not as bad you think. We still have the RV and we would have spent the $44,000 in living expenses regardless. As the eternal optimist, I figure I had to have 200K to pull this off, but that’s only good for retirees with a pension, otherwise we would have had to save the 250K to accomplish the trip. Does the RV make fiscal sense? Depends, it did for us. I think you have to factor in the flexibility, set pre-paid costs, and the relative luxury for travel. 330 nights of lodging+ transportation costs came to $68 a day. I don’t think that can be beat. I am going to be bold and not include Shachagra’s purchase price, If you were to rent an RV, we spent $2500 per week in Spain for a 28 foot model that was clearly too small and not worth the $130,000 a year you’d pay to rent it. I am sure you could work a better deal, but we didn’t consider it. clearly not
Often on the trip we were asked how much Shachagra cost. This is what everyone really wants to know but most are too tactful to ask, how much did that rig cost? Again, Its hard to give a single reply. I once asked a rancher in Montana how many cows he owned, not knowing that this was a taboo inquiry in cattle country, its like asking someone how much money they have in the bank. He responded with “Quite a few.” That’s basically the response I gave to requests about Shachagra’s cost. I wasn’t ashamed at how much I had spent, but in most of the areas we traveled, the locals would have a hard time understanding the amount that we spent on an RV, most would never see that amount in a lifetime. I believe the fact we had built her ourselves did much to dispel the envy a local might have otherwise felt for the “Spoiled American.” We had to be sensitive to the conditions our hosts lived in and would discourage visits inside in some areas where the inside of our truck was nicer than any dwelling within miles. Once parked amongst the mud “beehive” houses of Harran Turkey, the same type dwelling that Abraham lived in, Shannon gave a group of wives a tour and felt that they were more depressed than impressed.
It makes me feel better if I group the costs in 3 categories, living expenses, Shachagra, and travel costs.
Living costs are those things we would buy regardless of where we were, like food. These obviously vary with location, you can live for week in Turkey for the expense of a meal in Norway, but I’ll give averages for the year.
Shachagra is a purchase, not an expense, because it is an asset we will keep, I believe it to be worth much more than we put into here, and we will use her for years to come. I have included only what Shachagra cost us, not labor. I’ll talk a bit more detail about her later.
Travel expenses are those big dollars items that just disappeared.
The largest cost was Shachagra, then getting her and us to Europe and back.
Shachagra- $171,000
Travel costs Shipment to UK- $6400
Shipment to US- $10,000
Air Fare- $5300
Insurance- $800
That’s $193,000 without seeing a single sight, depressing, but that was the expensive part, once we were in Europe our costs averaged $4000 a month. For a family of five, that’s Europe on $30 a day per person. Obviously the longer you travel the more cost effective the initial costs, but that’s always the case. The biggest chunk of that $4000 was spent on fuel, $1400 a month, Diesel is very expensive in Europe and once in Europe, we lived comfortably on the income of our retirement pension. We could have continued our journey indefinitely, actually at less expense than it will cost us to live back in Jacksonville, with our mortgage, and the cost of life.
If I had to put a dollar amount on the entire trip it would be $237,000. Ouch....
Buts its not as bad you think. We still have the RV and we would have spent the $44,000 in living expenses regardless. As the eternal optimist, I figure I had to have 200K to pull this off, but that’s only good for retirees with a pension, otherwise we would have had to save the 250K to accomplish the trip. Does the RV make fiscal sense? Depends, it did for us. I think you have to factor in the flexibility, set pre-paid costs, and the relative luxury for travel. 330 nights of lodging+ transportation costs came to $68 a day. I don’t think that can be beat. I am going to be bold and not include Shachagra’s purchase price, If you were to rent an RV, we spent $2500 per week in Spain for a 28 foot model that was clearly too small and not worth the $130,000 a year you’d pay to rent it. I am sure you could work a better deal, but we didn’t consider it. clearly not
Often on the trip we were asked how much Shachagra cost. This is what everyone really wants to know but most are too tactful to ask, how much did that rig cost? Again, Its hard to give a single reply. I once asked a rancher in Montana how many cows he owned, not knowing that this was a taboo inquiry in cattle country, its like asking someone how much money they have in the bank. He responded with “Quite a few.” That’s basically the response I gave to requests about Shachagra’s cost. I wasn’t ashamed at how much I had spent, but in most of the areas we traveled, the locals would have a hard time understanding the amount that we spent on an RV, most would never see that amount in a lifetime. I believe the fact we had built her ourselves did much to dispel the envy a local might have otherwise felt for the “Spoiled American.” We had to be sensitive to the conditions our hosts lived in and would discourage visits inside in some areas where the inside of our truck was nicer than any dwelling within miles. Once parked amongst the mud “beehive” houses of Harran Turkey, the same type dwelling that Abraham lived in, Shannon gave a group of wives a tour and felt that they were more depressed than impressed.