Budget Roundup - AKA How Much Did We Really Save?

by Tasha in Pre-trip, Budget

 

The Goal:

We set out with the goal of saving a base of $35000 total approx. At the time we started saving we had a personal debt (credit cards/uni/wedding) of approx $13000 which we intended to pay off in full (eliminating any necessary future payments) before we started putting aside money for actual travelling. So from that base goal of $35000, we planned to leave ourselves with approx. $22000 to travel with.

photo by: 401(K) 2013

For an average daily spend of between $50-100 (depending on country) - this could keep us going for anywhere from 8 to 14 months before we would need to stop and work again.

So...how much did we save?:

The End of the World

by Alex in Pre-trip, Epigrams and Interludes

We're living in the End Times.

The end of the world. After months of planning, years of saving and lifetimes of dreaming, Tash and I have reached the endzone of our plans. In less than 2 short weeks, our lives as we know them will change permanently. Our world is ending, about to be replaced by a whole new world of airports and hostels and backpacks and bus tickets. This change has been a long (long!) time on the horizon, but now it's finally here. And it's exhilerating - and terrifying - and awesome.

The change from a plan into a reality isn't a smooth one. Not by a long shot. It doesn't flow like a river, swift and sure and inevitable. It moves more like a zombie - in slow, shuffling lurches punctuated with long pauses and occasional missteps. But sooner or later, it will catch up to you, and your once-far-off dreams of travel become an immediate, shambling reality - a reality that you have to face before it knocks you down and eats your brains.

That similie may have gotten away from me a bit. 

photo by: aeviin

Holes, Hills and Hamster Balls: The Great Ocean Roadtrip Part 3!

photo by: rkimpeljr

by Alex in Australia, In Transit

Have you ever been pushed down a hill in a giant hamster ball? No?

Have you ever wanted to? Don't lie, yes you have.

Then I would like you introduce you to the most childishly awesome extreme sport in the world: Zorbing.

Zorbing is what you get when you ask a room full of 8 year old boys to design a sport for you. You get driven up to the top of a steep hill with a bumpy 'track' carved into it, strapped into a giant inflatable ball, and given a rather sturdy kick by the operator. While there are a handful of companies in Australia who do this, there's only one who operate in Victoria - and wouldn't you know, they just so happened to be on our way back home!

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Wisdom before Beauty: Thoughts from a Zoo

by Tasha in Wisdom before Beauty

“Because the history of evolution is that life escapes all barriers. Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way.” 

                                                                           - Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park 

Changes

by Tasha in Pre-trip

So, we had an apartment...

The Great Ocean Roadtrip! Part Deux

Still not 12 of them!

by Alex in Australia, In Transit

As much as I love setting out on a road trip at the crack of dawn, sooner or later the early start catches up with you. And if, like Tash, you only managed to get about 3 hours of sleep the night before, "sooner" can come pretty quickly. We walked back into the carpark of the 12 Apostles, Tash's eyelids started drooping, her words slowly transforming into low mumbles, and suddenly standing upright seemed a lot more optional than most of us would consider it. This posed a bit of a problem, because it was supposed to be Tash's turn to drive. Of course, being the loving, caring, dedicated husband that I am, I offered to take over driving duties for a few hours so she could nap in the passenger's seat. Tash was completely okay with that. At least I assume she was. When a question is answered with a quiet snore and an inaudible mumble, you sort of have to read between the lines.

At first, everything was great. The sun was shining, I was wide awake, and there's nothing more adorable than hearing a sleeping person try to sing along with music they can only half-consciously hear. We made great time heading away from the Apostles, passing through small, dot-on-the-map towns without any kind of trouble. I was appreciating the chance to spend some time thinking, even with the music turned down so Tash could sleep. Everything was brilliant...awesome even. Unfortunately, it couldn't last.