Bacciagalupe

I'm just idly curious to see if I'm a miser or a spendthrift compared to y'all when on tour. And yes, I know that everyone tours in different ways, but no matter how you go or how long you're on the road, you are spending an average amount per day....

axolotl

To get a useful response, the question should be asked according to destination. For example, in Thailand I spent about $15/day and was living quite comfortably. In France, I spent $76-$100/day for similar amenities. In both countries, I had a pleasant but not fancy room with a private bathroom with a hot water shower. I ate a delicious dinner in both countries. Breakfast at the guesthouse in Thailand, at a bakery in France. A roadside noodle place for lunch in Thailand, a picnic lunch in France.

jurjan

like axolotl says, i think it's not very useful to do this this way.
last year we went to Scotland, and i guess we spend about 60 / 70 euros per day (2 persons), while camping
we didn't keep really close tabs on the money, so it's a bit of a guess.
next year we're going to Indonesia and i think that for 20 / 30 euros per day we are going to be in hotels, guesthouses and eating in restaurants.

have a nice day
jurjan

Sebach

On my way across Canada, I spent probably around 75 Canadian per day while camping. That translates to about 65 US. Of course, there was some huge variability between certain areas when it came to costs. This is always living pretty comfortably though; generally eating good food and having a shower every night.

Edit: now that I think about it, it's probably more like 60 Canadian per day. Its hard to know. One day could be like 20 bucks and another day, the next week, could be 120.

Bacciagalupe

And do what, adjust for each nation based on cost of living and current exchange rates? Not to mention you'd have to select for unsupported camping touring, supported camping, unsupported credit-card touring, full tours etc. You'd end up with a 500 question survey... which is kind of beyond the scope of a simple web forum poll.

Thankfully, I'm not doing market research for Adventure Cycling, I'm just curious as to how much people typically spend when the go on tour. That's useful to me.

Machka 

Touring Australia: about $30/day
Touring North America: probably more around $40/day

stokell

I tend to spend somewhat less than $50 a day Canadian. Some days I stealth camp and cook all my own meals which costs almost nothing, but when I need a bath or it's raining I splurge on a hotel and restaurants. It seems to even out but usually I spend about $20 on average on beer. Before you think I'm a big drinker remember that in some places (like Toronto) that is two beers with a tip.

Peaks

I'm sure that average costs are way over the place.

For what it's worth, my daughter and I averaged about $24.00 per person per day for the Northern Tier in 2004. We tented 2/3 of the time, and motel 1/3. Average cost for a tent site was $12. Average cost for a room was $62. We spent about $9/per person per day on groceries. We spend another $5/per person per day on meals.

outashape

If your cost of sharing accommodations were based on one person, your average would be $43 per day using the data you provided. I think your average of $5.00 a meal was on the low side as coffee or soda alone is $1.50 to $2.00 leaving only $3.00 for a meal. $3 a meal is feasible at a fast food joint, but not a diner which usually includes tipping the server. Now, if you spent $9 a day on meals and $5 per day on groceries, it is believable but still results in a cost of $43 per day if touring solo.

BostonFixed

If I free camp, and cook or mooch most of my meals..easily under US$20/day..Eating on us $10/day isn't that hard at all if you don't buy prepared foods and stay out of restaraunts. The $20/day average includes some splurges like an ice cream or a pizza every so often..

gpsblake

$12 a day and if I didn't drink so many darn 20oz sodas at the gas store along with candy bars... half of that.

Convenience stores will suck up your money faster than anything.....

BigBlueToe

I've always been on a tight budget while touring. Lack of money was one reason I started bicycle touring! It won't change anytime soon, since I have a daughter entering college this fall, and a son who'll be starting in two years. Ouch!

My touring has always been in the U. S., and I've always stayed almost exclusively in campgrounds - hiker/bikers if possible, KOA's if necessary, even stealth camping a few times.

I average $30/day. I can get by on less, but not comfortably. Like most of us, I eat prodigious amounts on tour, and usually eat my 2nd breakfast and lunch in restaurants. I'd rather get by on $40/day, with some reserve cash for motels. Maybe someday.

I read journals of people who stay in motels, or lodges, or bed and breakfasts every night and wonder what it would be like. Of course, I think I'd still prefer hiker/biker campsites where you meet such an amazing variety of people. And I really like to camp. But if it's pouring down rain, or I'm tired and want a hot bath, a cheap motel would be a luxury!

Miles2go

We stay in hotels most of the time but it depends. The driving reason we do this is it helps us better experience the towns. It's much more expensive this way of course.

We always carry one of our tents, sleeping bags, stove, food and all. Every tour we come across a place we really want to camp in. Sometimes we meet fellow tourers going our way and if they're camping we'll often trade the town experience for the extra hours with our new friends.

That said, we usually meet fellow tourers in town that aren't camping for the night either. This past summer while Nancy and I were walking to a cafe in Freibourg Switzerland we met a couple on touring bikes in the process of finding their hotel. We spent the entire next day with them off the bikes exploring the old town.

After I retire we may need to reverse the split between camping and hoteling. It depends on what I do after leaving my current career.

Happy Holidays,

Chris L

I'd guess it would be around $30 a day in basic terms, but that varies depending how indulgent I feel in a particular place. I don't really keep tabs on it that much. My view is that I've spent all year keeping tabs on my money to save for the tour, I'm not going to ruin my holiday by worrying about it now. The last thing I want to do is miss out on something memorable simply because I was worried about "spending too much". I was quite content to spend $320 on the glacier flight in New Zealand thankyouverymuch.

Peaks

Meals were not $5.00 each. We didn't stop every day for a dinner. Often, we cooked it ourselves. Food, both meals and groceries, ran about $14.00 per person per day. But, if we were to have a dinner once every 3 days, that means that a good dinner cost around $15.00 per person.

I'm not sure where snacks and drinks along the way fit in. It's probably in the grocery total. We didn't buy many drinks, but sure bought a lot of snacks. We usually stopped somewhere for a mid morning break every day, and usually stopped mid afternoon for another break most days.

Roughstuff

No you are right Biaccia, since in any ONE location any ONE biker may spend more OR less depending on conditions. In Italy I paid to camp but found the local breads, cheeses, and pastas available for a song. In the USA I usually wild camp, to save money, but end up paying more for things in semi-convenience stores.

If you feel you must stick to a budget to keep costs down---which I do, as an adjunct I don't earn much--I take a certain amount of cash per week and try and stick to it as much as I can. Watching the green stuff go down is more noticeable than say, ATM based purchases or withdrawals.

roughstuff

Rowan

In some ways, I think you need to take a look at what you spend on the basics in everyday life.

If, in your everyday life, you eat mainly in restaurants or eat mainly takeaway foods (ie, do very little or no cooking), then the costs are going to be similar while you are touring. If you cook at home, take your weekly grocery budget, divide it by the number of people in your family, and use that as a guide. Let's say US$60 a week per person.

So sticking to the PER WEEK budget, that's around $60 if you do your own (basic), or around $120 if you eat out (extravagant for the purposes of this discussion).

On a recent trip across the continent and back again, we paid an average of US$25 a night per unpowered campsite in state parks (sometimes up to US$35 for crappy commercial sites), which figures out to $175 a week. If you are paying that per week in rent, then figure on that as a budget. Add to that shower and laundry costs of, say, $5 a week. Triple the accommodation costs if you want to stay regularly in moderate quality hotels or B&Bs (ie, $525).

So we now have a weekly food, accommodation and cleaning budget of around $300 (basic) or $650 (extravagant).

We go on tour to see things. If we pick the right destinations, there are many things to see for free, but not so much in North America where entry fees rule EVERYTHING. So let's say three visits a week to a natural or human-made attraction at an average of US$10 per site. Let's toss in some entertainment -- if you like drinking, it could be $60 a week (extravagant), and if you like books, maybe $10 a week.

So with accommodation, groceries, cleaning, and entertainment, we are up to $330 per week (basic) or $750 (extravagant) .

Put aside another, say, US$20 a week for contingencies such as replacement parts for the bicycle and camping equipment (although that depends on the standard of equipment you use and it could be much more to replace a Dura-Ace wheel Fed-Exed out to a remote town, so let's bump the extravagant budget up to $80 for this).

So now we are at $350 a week (basic) or $830 (extravagant). That works out to $50 a day (basic) to just under $120 a day (extravagant).

Finally, you might need to have a reserve fund for emergencies. This is, I suppose, a fixed cost, so can be added on at the end, and if you don't need to use it, you either go home with some change, or you have a really good party at the finish. But let's say $200 is a good amount to cover land (maybe even air) transport *with* your bicycle. On top of that, if you are travelling outside your home country, there are other fixed costs, such as travel insurance, air travel and so on. It's hard to treat these costs on a day-by-day basis, but let's say the average tour is three weeks, so divide the $200 emergency fund cost by 21 and round up to $10 a day.

So our costs now look like $60 a day (basic) and $130 a day (extravagant).

Essentially, the costs will depend on you as a person and your disposition for comfort, preparing your own meals, sharing your own company, and need for entertainment.

Personally, I start with a piece of string and an Excel worksheet, and go from there