gear: How
does one pack for a year-long trip? In a word… sparingly.
Figuring out what to bring entailed many hours of research
and an intense, short-term relationship with a scale. In
the end, admittedly, our final total weight is somewhat
arbitrary. Many airlines have a 15kg or 20kg limit for the
weight of a single checked bag, so that’s a good guideline.
Carry-ons supposedly have a weight limit, too, but they’re
rarely enforced. Our checked baggage totals almost 30kg
(65 lbs) and our carry-ons total about 15kg (33 lbs). We
simply throw or give things away if we don't need them,
and once in a while we send a package home (keepsakes, etc.).
We’ve divided our stuff into four categories:
cost: Okay,
okay; we submit! Lots of people have asked us about the
cost of our trip, so we're adding this section. In a nutshell,
we're averaging somewhere under $4,000 US/month (our costs
fluctuate greatly, however, depending on our location).
That includes airfare, accomodations (hostels, friends' homes, monthly rentals, and every hotel discount we could wrangle), food, and everything
else that we need along the way. The only things that it
doesn't include are gorilla-trekking in Uganda and our Tanzania
safari (these were large one-time costs). For more info:
Your website is a diamond in the rough.
There are too many budget travel blogs out there that talk
about the travels, but nothing of preparation. Thank goodness
for your gear & cost page!
--Beverly (San Francisco, California, USA); May 22, 2006
We have a question about how you managed
your finances on teh road. Do you use online banking? If
you do have you taken any precautions against such nasties
as "keystroke loggers" - unscrupulous internet
cafe owners stealing travellers bank details. (then you
wake up in a bath full of ice).
--Nick (New York, United States); Apr 7, 2006
Luckily, we arrived home with all
our organs!
We
did use online banking on the road without any problems
but we used our own laptop to plug in so we didn't have
to worry about "keystroke loggers." Sorry. One
thing we did do to make our lives easier was consolidate
accounts and only use one credit card/atm card/account while
abroad. We let our bank know that we were traveling and
we always checked our statements online to monitor against
any "suspicious" activity. We did have a couple
companies in foreign countries charge our credit cards twice
("accidentally" of course) and we just took care
of those problems through our bank. So, I guess our best
advice is to try to limit the number of accounts you check
online and then be conscientious about checking your statements.
--Susan; Apr 17, 2006
What immunizations did you all get before
you left?
--John (Texas, USA); Jan 9, 2006
We went to the local immunization
clinic and they had information about what we should get
for each country. So obviously, for your own trip, you should
do similar research. In our case, we chose to get vaccinations
for Hepatitus A, Hepatitus B, Typhoid, Measles/Mumps/Rubella,
Polio, and Yellow Fever. We elected to skip Rabies and Japanese
Encephalitis. We also took Malaria pills for our jaunt through
Africa (we were also supposed to take them in Vietnam, but
we stayed mostly in the cities so we didn't since they made
us feel not so well).
--Susan & Grace; Jan 9, 2006
Hi, great site, very detailed! Wondering
about your cost figure. You have roughly 4,000 U.S. dollars
a month, is that for both of you or per person?
