My Sabbatical

Source: Marco Bellucci at flickr

There is a gentleman named Raam Dev who is currently managing to live 6 months, in 3 countries, for $3,000. Oh, and he’s counting the plane ticket to get there, so his all inclusive budget for seeing the world is $250 a month over a 6 month period, or $1500.

Of course, my gut instinct is to say, it can’t be done. To eat and sleep for a month requires more than $250 almost anywhere in the world. Well, anywhere I’d want to go I think.

Raam is oblivious, as he should be, to me calling this impossible, and is doing it successfully anyways.

That’s a mind blowing revelation to me. I am a guy who withdraws $200 from the cash machine once a week for lunches and dinners that week. And here’s Raam who will live an entire month on that including hotels. At the risk of sounding like an ass, $250 is such a small amount to me.

Here’s what $250 currently gets me:

- one week of lunches/dinners;

- one month of car insurance/home insurance;

- one month of cable/home phone/cell phone service;

- 5 nights rent in my apartment; or

- 1 month of gasoline for my car.

No, $250 doesn’t buy all that. Each of the above is costing me $250. So you can see how my mind is blown by what Raam Dev is doing. Hats off to him.

I am starting to form in my head a list of countries I would like to visit, that could comprise a six month trip. Surprisingly, I am now downgrading my total budget for such a trip from the tens of thousands, into the single digit thousands. Six months in a warm locale, on as little as $5,000. Can it be done?

It’s surprising how many good places to stay there are in India and Asia for the $7-$10 range per night. Budgeting $10 per night for accommodation averages $300 in lodging costs per month. You’ll notice right away that my $300 per month for hotels exceeds Raam’s entire monthly budget. (His secret, then, is to stay with people for free whenever possible.) $10 per night allows me to stay two weeks at $7 per night, and then splurge for a $13 place for two weeks at the next destination.

It’s also important to try to get deals whenever possible. If a place is nice enough to stay a couple of weeks, negotiate with the owner for a cheaper rate for that two week stay. Or for the month even. Always negotiate whenever possible. Only tourists don’t negotiate.

Once the sleeping arrangements have been taken care of, the second priority is food and drink. Food can be surprisingly cheap when you eat where the locals do. This might be where North Americans are ripped off more than any other place in the world. Even with wine or beer, a good meal can cost as little as $1. Especially if you are willing to buy food off a street vendor or in a food market. Even eating in a restaurant might only increase the price to $3. In my mind’s eye, 6 months in a warm locale will include a beer or two most nights. But this also includes buying food from markets, making my own food at home, and in general eating good cheap food whenever possible, I think I can get by on $4 a day average. That’s $120 a month budget for food and drink.

The third biggest expense might just be “getting around”. Taxis, buses, traveling between cities and countries. My feet might be my most used mode of transport, and most hotels have bikes that guests can borrow for free. But you just can’t avoid the occasional taxi or bus ride. These often cost just pennies – 25 cents or less to go from one end of town to the other. In order to see as much as possible in that time, I have to budget for travel. Let’s say $25 a month for all bus, taxi and other costs, plus $50 to travel any big distance between cities. That’s $75 a month for travel.

Lastly, I will need access to the Internet. I suppose I can travel 6 months without such access, but Internet access is so cheap it seems silly to exclude it. It is common now to be able to make international phone calls (over the internet), check emails, update facebook and twitter, and write blog entries. Setting aside $1 a day for this, that’s $30 a month for communications.

So what does that add up to?

Lodging – $300
Food – $120
Travel – $75
Internet/Phone – $30
TOTAL – $525 per month reasonable budget

SUBTOTAL FOR SIX MONTHS – $3,150

Plus plan ticket to get there – $1,250

TOTAL FOR SIX MONTHS – $4,400

If I budgeted $5,000 for the 6 months, that would give me $600 extra above the basic budget. That’s $100 a month that I can go over on lodging, food or travel. So if there’s a museum or culturally significant place that I want to see, that can come from there. Or even buying clothes to replace worn out ones (socks), or one night at a luxury hotel ($20) to take a hot shower and soak my bones in a jacuzzi. There’s flexibility there. It can be done.

$5,000 for six months. It can be done.

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