Pre-Travel Spending
Now that we only have a week or two left in the UK and have pretty much sorted out everything, I thought I would share with you how much we have spent so far in making this trip a reality.
We have kept very detailed accounts up until now of our spending on this adventure and the plan is to continue to do this whilst we travel. The main reason being so that we can budget well but also so that we have the information to help guide other travellers once we are finished.
So here it is, all of our spending so far:
Travel Gear / Packing
We still have to buy Alistair some trainers and t-shirts but this is everything else that we have needed to buy in terms of travel gear. We had a few bits and pieces already but not many so did have to buy most of it unfortunately! Check out our full packing list.
| Item(s) | Cost (£) | Notes |
| Silk sleeping bag liners x 2 | 30.27 | |
| Raincoat x 1 | 15.99 | Lisa already had a raincoat |
| Backpacks x 3 | 186.40 | 2 x backpacks and 1 x messenger bag |
| Lisa Clothes | 249.41 | |
| Alistair Clothes | 122.99 | Not yet complete |
| Swimwear | 6.00 | Lisa already had swimwear |
| Toiletries | 58.90 | |
| Microfibre towels | 24.96 | 2 x giant and 1 x small |
| Electrical plug adapters | 3.75 | We already had some of these |
| Headtorch x 2 | 23.98 | |
| Sunglasses | 10.00 | Alistair already had sunglasses |
| Padlock x 2 | 12.48 | |
| Notebook | 4.50 | |
| Pens | 1.50 | |
| Document folder | 1.99 | |
| Ziplock bags | 1.50 | |
| Double mosquito net | 10.99 | |
| Travel games | 15.00 | |
| Compression sacs x 3 | 15.60 | small, medium and large |
| Packing cubes x 6 | 32.98 | |
| Dry Sacs x 2 | 7.98 | |
| Toiletry bags x 2 | 6.38 | |
| Travel guides x 3 | 35.98 | New Zealand, East Coast Australia and South East Asia on a Shoestring. |
| Pegless washing line | 2.99 | |
| Bivi bag | 1.28 | |
| Camelbak water bottle 0.75L x 2 | 25.49 | |
| Handheld torch | 1.98 | |
| Foreign Currency | 501.89 | Only have NZD dollars so far |
Total: £1413.16
Electronics
We were lucky that we had a lot of these to begin with. We are still hunting for a good camera which will be an added cost to this category! Again, check out our full packing list.
| Item(s) | Cost (£) | Notes |
| Camera unknown | Unknown | |
| Kindle x 2 | 178.00 | |
| Case for kindle x 2 | 7.98 | |
| Case for IPad | 1.00 | |
| Headphones x 2 | 5.68 |
Total: £192.66
Travel Bookings
A lot of this we will be sorting as we go; accommodation, activities and even some of the internal flights. We will also have to pay the rest of our campervan fees when we arrive as we have only paid a deposit so far.
| Item(s) | Cost (£) | Notes |
| Flights from UK to NZ including some stop-overs | 2589.00 | |
| First 2 nights accommodation in Auckland | 64.80 | Jucy Hotel |
| New Zealand campervan | 141.33 deposit paid | Total cost is 1335.10 NZD |
| Australia campervan | 153.70 deposit paid | Total cost is 1366.30 AUD |
| Flights from Cairns to Melbourne | 128.00 |
Total: £3076.83
Travel Documents
Again, visa's etc will be paid on arrival so the biggest cost in this category so far is the travel insurance.
| Item(s) | Cost | Notes |
| Travel insurance first half | 287.00 | Insure and Go |
| International driving permits x 2 | 11.00 | |
| Yellow Fever certificates | 16.50 | Needed to pay to change Lisa's surname on hers |
Total: £314.50
Medical
We were fortunate that we had already had all of the essential vaccines for the countries we were considering visiting. We also found very cheap Malarone tablets in Asda which really helped! I still haven't sorted contact lenses so that will be a further cost in this category.
| Item(s) | Cost (£) | Notes |
| Malaria Prophylaxis | 72.00 | |
| First Aid Kit | 15.90 |
Total: £87.90
Work Related
These cost's were mainly due to having a medical career and so will probably apply to very few people. I've kept them in just in case they can be of use to a few travelers out there!
| Item(s) | Cost | Notes |
| Sign up for locums | 76.00 | CRB and occupational health report |
| GMC registration | 95.00 | Reduced due to not having a license to practice and applying for income discount |
| Medical indemnity insurance | 10.55 | Reduced rate due to not working |
Total: £181.55
Sorting Our Stuff
The main cost here was for storage. We paid up front for 10 months which got us a good discount!
| Item(s) | Cost | Notes |
| Storage | 526.00 | Including £48 refundable deposit |
Total: £526.00
There you have it, the total so far is £5792.60.
As we've got all of the gear and admin things sorted now I'm hoping that we will not have to pay much for the second half except for travel insurance, malaria prophylaxis, topping up toiletries and first aid and then the actual flights and accommodation etc.
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Just in case you are in a rush - we normally can get back to you in less than a day!