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How much did we spend in Australia?

May 18, 2013 — 4 Comments

Australia spending summary

Overall score (Dan) = B-
Overall score (Jocelyn) = B

Total days = 25 nights, 26 days
Total cost = $5,270
Cost per day = $203 / day
Flight costs = $470 for two flights from Christchurch

Summary

Our expectations for Australia were surprisingly low after the great time we had in New Zealand because we didn’t see Australia as having the “highlights” around every corner like New Zealand did, and we weren’t convinced the cities would be that much different than anything in the US.

We were only partially right and as we spent four weeks exploring Australia, our sentiments certainly changed. We were correct in the thought that the big cities weren’t that much different than you’d find in the US, but we were highly impressed with everything else that comes with Australia. From the incredible rain forests and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland near the city of Cairns to the barren and beautiful Outback, Australia’s sites won us over.

As you’ll see in the details, we got very lucky in Melbourne as we stayed 6 free days at my friend’s apartment near the beach – definitely a big money saver. Outside of Melbourne, we spent 6 days in a camper van in the “Red Center” (or the Outback), 3 days in an Air BnB apartment, and then 11 days in another camper van between Cairns and Brisbane. Continue Reading…

In Spending Summary, Travel

How to travel cheap: Steak Smuggling

May 12, 2013 — 6 Comments

In the past, I’ve discussed how we’re saving money on our round the world trip by cooking our own food. Sure, it’s easier since we have our own camper van with a partial kitchen, but it still takes a lot of discipline to actually cook your own food.

Today was one of the hardest tests yet. We’re currently living out of a camper van as we drive the down the east coast of Australia from Cairns to Brisbane for 11 days and it’s become routine as we pull up to a grocery store and load up on food for the next 5-6 days. We have a steady diet of fruit and cereal for breakfast, lunch consists of sandwiches and chips, and we always manage to step up with a nicer dinner of steak, chicken, or some mix with pasta.

It’s easy to stick to our normal routine as we’re still in the camper van, but today was a little different as we checked into a hotel for a much needed pick-me-up and rest. As mentioned previously, I can occasionally pull from a stash of Starwood hotel points to get a cheap hotel night so that helps.

Our resort tonight is quite nice and we were upgraded to a corner suite overlooking the ocean. It’s only possible because I traveled almost nonstop for eight years and gained status with the hotel chain. So here we are, relaxing in our plush digs while still in our camper van mindset of looking for free cold showers and clean bathrooms to make our next stop. Oh, how nice it would be to embrace the entire situation and order some delicious room service! Or we could walk down to the restaurant and join the rest of the tourists in the seafood buffet… but no, we must stick to the plan! Here’s the view from our room:

In Money, Travel

How Rich People Buy Cars

May 7, 2013 — 12 Comments

I hate new cars - at least for people who can’t afford then, and think that you shouldn’t spend more than 20% of your income on a new car. The reason I say these things is because I want you to be rich and the easiest way to stay broke is to continue to purchasing cars with car payments.

Let me tell you about a rich reader who recently sent me his family’s story. First, a little background. The couple is in their late 30′s/early 40′s and they don’t have kids. They are both professionals in their field and have done a great job of handling their money. Their combined income is $300k+ and he recently purchased a new car.

What kind of car would you guess they purchased? Mercedes? BMW? Ferrari? If you said Mercedes, you were right. However, there’s a catch. When I say he purchased a new car, what I really mean is he purchased a car that was new to his family – his “new” car is 7 years old.

In Money

How much did we spend in New Zealand?

April 22, 2013 — 6 Comments

Overall score (Dan) = B
Overall score (Jocelyn) = A-

Total days = 24 nights, 25 days
Total cost = $4,508
Cost per day = $180 / day
Flight costs = $1,100 each, but total ticket also got us to French Polynesia
Areas visited: New Zealand – North and South Island

Summary
We were pretty happy with our overall spending in New Zealand, but there were a few things we could’ve done better. As we went along, we realized New Zealand is a pretty expensive place – especially if you plan to see the many incredible sites there. In addition, we drove over 5,300 km (~3,200 miles) over 25 days! The guy who checked in our camper van was rather surprised and thought they might have erred when the wrote down the miles – but we know the truth when we see how much we spent on diesel!

How far does your money go in New Zealand? Continue Reading…

In Spending Summary, Travel

Snorkeling Bora Bora

April 18, 2013 — 3 Comments

We were lucky enough to see a manta ray along with some other incredible creatures while on our snorkeling excursion in Bora Bora. It was one of the most expensive things on our French Polynesia trip, but it was definitely worth it. Check out the video my wife put together!!

In Travel, Video

Servant Leadership – Teachings from My Mother

April 15, 2013 — 5 Comments

As any four year old would do, I was hiding under my mom’s large, metal teacher’s desk and watching people’s feet shuffle by. I thought they were my zoo attraction, but knowing what I know now, I was certainly theirs.

Spending the day at school with my mom was my routine when I was too young to go to class myself. If my memory serves me correctly, it was half a day in the beginning and her classroom wasn’t a traditional classroom with 30 chairs, a black chalkboard, windows overlooking the playground, and student’s murals on the walls. No, her classroom was a hallway that had been strategically closed at one end to turn it into a hint of a room with a few old wood tables substituting as desks. Actually, the only strategy was to lock the exterior door and black out the windows so at least people weren’t walking through!

She didn’t care though because she was helping. She didn’t carry the credentials which allowed her to have her own classroom and to receive the pay of a teacher. Instead, she filled a niche the school badly needed and was originally given “volunteer” status to do it.

In Life Fulfillment

TOP SECRET – Fake It Til You Make It

April 1, 2013 — 5 Comments

Wait, stop before you read this. Look around and make sure no one can see over your shoulder. All clear? Ok, then read on.

What I’m about to tell you is one of the most important elements of success in life. It’s enabled many people to become successful at what they want to do. Here it is: Fake it til you make it.

It’s been quite a few years since I’ve heard the term and my mind has certainly let the original source slip. However, it was heard during my days in consulting when a new job required you to be an expert in a certain field.

Consulting was challenging and fun. Only a few months after I sat through a speech by General Tommy Franks at our college commencement address was I sitting in the office of the vice president of a billion dollar company recommending what he should do with his business.

Obviously, I was qualified to give him advice because he paid our company so much money for it! “You need to invest more money into your IVR service to keep call center costs down”. It sounded logical to me now, but a few months before then an “IVR” sounded like something you needed after a long night of partying!

In Work

Video: Tahiti Waterfalls

March 30, 2013 — Leave a comment

Here are some of the beautiful waterfalls we saw in Tahiti:

In Video

Our Belize Excursion videos

March 28, 2013 — Leave a comment

This is another video from our Belize excursions… like I said in my Belize spending summary, the excursions were expensive but they were a lot of fun!

In Travel, Video

How much did we spend in French Polynesia?

March 26, 2013 — 6 Comments

Overall score (Dan) = A
Overall score (Jocelyn) = A

Total days = 9 nights, 10 days
Total cost = $2,416
Cost per day = $240 / day
Flight costs = $1,100 each, but ticket also gets us to Auckland so it’s split
Areas visited: Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora

Summary
You read it right, we both scored ourselves as “A” for our time in French Polynesia! It’s probably the most expensive country we’ll visit on our RTW trip and we knocked it out of the park. As you can see in the per day spending, it was still pretty high, but it was much lower than it could’ve been. As you’ll see below, we had to spend $1000 just on inner-island flights, so without that we would’ve been at $140/day!

We made sacrifices by doing fewer excursions than we wanted and we probably sacrificed our health by our spending choices on food! Not really, but I’ll get more into it later.

How far does your money go in French Polynesia?

Each US dollar is worth approximately 83 XPF (French Polynesian Francs). You feel rich when you exchange $100 US dollars for 8,300 XPF, but as expected, everything is still super expensive in French Polynesia. A typical entre at a restaurant will run you 2500-3000 XPF.

Spending details

The Good
Our biggest savings by far was from the hotel points we used in Tahiti and French Polynesia. Sure, not everyone can save money by doing this, but it is possible. I amassed quite a few hotel points through my years of traveling through work and my rewards credit cards and they definitely paid off.

Most notably, we stayed at the Hilton on Bora Bora for free because of our points. This would normally cost $700+ per night and we also got breakfast included due to my Gold Hilton status.

In addition to savings on lodgings, we were super cheap when it came to eating. We rarely ate out, and we did we did our best to save money by ordering food to go at restaurants and splitting on entre. It’s amazing how easy this is and it’s also scary to think about how much we typically overeat. In addition, we brough some Ramen noodles and oatmeal with us for cheap meals.

Finally, we moderated our excursions from the Belize trip and toured ourselves when possible. For example, we rented a scooter on Moorea and spent the day touring the island with local maps. We did do an expensive excursion in Bora Bora but it was definitely worth it as we checked many things off our “to see” list including manta rays, spotted eagle rays, and giant Moray Eels (I’ll post the link to the vidoe Jocelyn will make of it).

The Bad
We didn’t have a way to get discounted lodging in Moorea, so we went to Kayak.com to review the cheaper hotels. We ended up picking the cheapest one (obviously my decision) and it was in pretty bad shape. The view was the best of the island, but the inside of the room hadn’t been updated (or maybe even cleaned) in decades. Jocelyn wasn’t real happy with that one, but we made it through!

The Ugly
Once again, the killer for any vacation is when you’re staying on islands and forced to fly between them. We took a ferry between Tahiti and Moorea for $30 total, but our flights from Moorea to Bora Bora costed $500! i was really not happy with that but it was the only way to get to the island unless we wanted to hop aboard a cargo ship… which I’d be hopping on alone as my wife went the other way.

In conclusion, we did really well with our spending in French Polynesia – which could’ve gotten way out of hand. The best part is that Jocelyn and I are on the same page (ok, close to the same page) as far as spending and where we’re willing to sacrifice. We’re currently debating how cheap we’re willing to go on the camper van in New Zealand… this should get interesting!

Next up: New Zealand

In Money, Travel