I consulted the boss today (my bank account) for the first time since early August when my friends arrived, the Olympics were attended and any idea of watching my spending was thrown out the window into the sewer and washed away out to sea. The bank account does not seem to be healthy at the moment and, while I’m not at all surprised, I think it’s about time I start paying more attention to what I do with my money.
So far during this trip I haven’t thought twice before spending money. If I wanted to do something, save time by flying, order an expensive meal or stay somewhere a bit more expensive, I didn’t really give it a second though. It’s been great but now it’s time to return to my roots as a budget conscious traveller.
It’s not so much that I’m running out of money, my fear is more about what I have coming up during the coming six months. The next four months will be super cheap given that I’ll be travelling around Myanmar, Laos and then taking a 10 week course in Thailand that has partially been paid for. It’s the bits after that that I’m worried about, combined with the fact that I won’t be able to get much work done (this seems like a common problem lately…) until the course ends in mid January.
After January is when things will start to get expensive. I’ll be heading to Australia sometime before the end of February and plan to stick around for about four or five months. I’d like to either study either Spanish or take guitar lessons (or maybe both) and I’ll be back in the clutches of my Aussie mates who will no doubt be going out a lot. Courses can be expensive and the airfare to get to Oz will put a dent in the bank account as well.
Then after Australia the plan is to go to Buenos Aires, rent a place and continue studying Spanish for about six months. I was originally going to go by cargo ship but that’s not an option from Australia so an airfare of about $2000 will need to be paid sometime next year, not to mention the costs involved when renting an apartment.
So… I’m thinking that now might be the time to reel myself in a bit and start acting like a budget traveller. It’s been a ridiculously fun eight months but the purse strings are about to be tightened and the freewheeling ways are a thing of the past. At least until I get my bank balance up again. If my earnings can stay steady while I’m Myanmar, Laos and on this course then I should be in great shape come January. But there’s always that fear that my lack of work ethic will finally bite me in the ass and the bottom will fall out of my earnings. Time will tell I guess! I’m actually pretty curious myself to see what happens.
So I’m off to Burma on Monday which means that I’ll once again be out of touch. I’m going to work hard for the next two days on getting some posts ready for this blog, getting a few new pages of content up on my travel sites and catching up on Wanderstruck (I’ve added a few new posts, photos and even a couple videos so check it out).
I’m slowly learning that working on the road is a lot harder than I thought it would be. It’s still better than a cubicle though!
Wow quite a plan ! It’s great to follow your adventures. You are becoming “wealthy” in travel experiences. I like reading your blog, it motivates me
. Thanks.
Really enjoying following your travels. If I ever get more income from my websites maybe I will be able to do something similar. I get plenty of traffic, but no one clicks on the ads. Its probably time for a rethink.
Do you know that Air Asia X is starting to fly KL – Perth in Nov: some very cheap deals available – but better to book sooner rather than later – airfares about A$40 – taxes a lot more of course -but I am still looking at return for A$350 – good for a 4 hour flight. Other options are Tiger and Jetstar both ex- Singapore.
Sounds like an aggressive plan, but reading through where you’ve already been makes it sound like a breeze for a world traveler like you. The cargo ship to Argentina sounds really intriguing, but I can imagine it being a slow boat that would quickly give most people cabin fever without much to do on board.
Air Asia X eh? Hrm… I will give it a look, thanks!
LD it looks like there are no cargo ships between Oz and South America after all. I’d have to go visa LA which would be lame and long. I’ve always wanted to do the cargo ship thing just for the sake of doing it. I’ve got lots of hobbies and I look at being alone for so long as an opportunity to do some drawing, writing, maybe practice guitar if I get started with that. Plus there are other guests and if the crew ends up being Filipino then that’s a guaranteed good time. They know how to have fun!
So you’re gonna tighten the purse strings while in one of the most affordable regions in the world, where the people need your money, and then release the purse strings in affluent Australia!? Shame on you Kirtsy! haha! Have a great time, I always find budget travelling is so much more fun (probably because I’ve never done any different!)
SORRY – Kirsty, not Kirtsy… oops, my bad. But I am English, ergo I’m obliged to Kirtsy, well, curtsy… same same
I’m moving to Buenos Aires for the next three months from October on
I speak fluent Spanish, but just want to get to know the city and its culture. I’ll go through the whole process of flat hunting, learning what to do and where not to go etc. so get in touch with me before you go when I’ll be a seasoned expert 
It’s a pity our travel plans don’t align yet!! 
I’ll be in India for early next year.
I adore the Argentine accent on Spanish; I’m going to try to adapt my European Spanish to that; you have made a good choice in the accent to learn with your Spanish! Note that there are a lot of differences in Argentine Spanish compared with the rest of the world though, especially in pronunciation, vocabulary and even conjugation (they have a completely different word and conj. for “you” [sing], that only a couple of other countries also use). For good free online resources for learning Spanish, go through the articles at about.com. And get in touch with me if you have any difficulties
You can even use my blog to practise since all my Spanish articles and videos are translated from or to my English ones!
I’m lucky; I’ve been on a budget anyway for most of my 6 years travelling, so now that I’m earning better I feel too guilty about eating in expensive restaurants etc. to do it regularly so my budget is in check for when I do splash out
Also I don’t think I’ve ever stayed in a hotel in my life (except for weddings with family), so even if I’m somewhere for a few weeks I rent a place to myself, or use couchsurfing, which you’ve seen works!! Take that into consideration, since accommodation is a very big chunk out of your budget.
I’ve learned that working on the road is a lot *easier* than I thought it would be
The complications that go along with it are actually the fun parts for me.
Benny I will certainly be picking your brain soon enough. Maybe in a year or two we can chat in our sexy Argentine accents!
Enjoy Myanmar/Burma. Look forward to your posts afterwards to see if it’s changed much in the last 2 years. I really enjoyed the people there – avery interesting two weeks!