**How Much Money Will I Need**

As a travel agent this is one of the most asked questions I get. 

"How much spending money will I need for my trip"

It is a bit of a crystal ball question:

Do you drink heaps?

Do you buy a lot of knick knack stuff?

Do you send packages / post cards home?

Do you eat out at fancy restaurants all the time?

The list can go on………………………………………………

I have had a rule right from the very start of my first overseas trip – like **cough cough** – well a few years ago now.  My rule is to budget $100 a day for each day that I am away.  My trips usually consist of a tour and I would have already prepaid that before I leave Australia.  So the $100 is purely spending money, food money, crap money and more importantly drinking money.  I find this rule works well – as some days are travel days and you are lucky to spend more than $20 depending on where you are in the world and some days you may have a BIG night out and spend more than you were supposed to. 

People ask me what about the currency exchange?  My $100 bucks goes a long way in places like Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Asia in general and then when you get to places like the Cayman Islands, Iceland, Norway, Tahiti and countries that are generally well-to-do and have their own, very strong currencies – it kicks our Aussie dollar right in to next week. But this is all part of the travelling experience and I will generally stick to the rule – no matter where I am in the world.

In saying that I do have a secret stash of money, so if I see a piece of jewellery, want to do that balloon ride over the Serengeti or the helicopter ride over New York, I can dip into that and not feel too bad that I have upset the ‘budget apple cart’ to much.  Some experiences you just have to do – it would be crazy to pass up, as you just may not get back to certain countries again.  Some things are just worth blowing the budget for.

I’m hoping I will be able to re-coup some of the budget money in Africa, Madagascar and on my French River Cruise to name a few tours.  This will in turn give me some extra money in the kitty for ‘other things’ or maybe even be able to extend my time away if I am super good.  I mean how much money can you spend on an African Safari or in Madagascar – a country known for Lemurs and the export of Vanilla – how could I possibly blow my budget there?

So this rule will hopefully hold me in good stead on my round world trip for 14 months.  That’s 461 days people – you do the math’s and let’s just see how close I come to keeping my own rule.

$100.00 a day for each day I am away!!!