There are a lot more expenses involved in travelling by car than fuel costs. You should also consider that you'd be eating whether you cycled or not, albeit less.

Good point. I've noticed my bank account doesn't deplete that much when touring. Have to buy food at home anyway, our spending is more deliberate, and we aren't buying gasoline.

Except I think it makes much more sense to compare per day costs, not per mile costs, unless the point of the tour was only to get to some particular destination. For me that is clearly not the case since I generally fly to the start and home from the destination. With a per day method of evaluation the car is likely to cost something like 10 times as much without considering insurance, depreciation, and other costs.

Anyway ... I estimate a minimum of $30/day/person for a tour.

If I were going to Australia, Europe, Canada, the US, or a place like, say, Uruguay, I'd estimate $50/day/person.

That would allow me to stay in a variety of accommodation, use a variety of transportation (i.e. ferries, trains), eat an adequate amount of the foods I want to eat, and allow me to see the sights (i.e. city bus tours, cruises, etc.) ... and would provide a bit of a cushion in case something went wrong. :)



Incidentally, one of the expenses of tours outside your own country is travel insurance. That can be relatively expensive too.

[QUOTE=Cyclebum;15179463]Cycle touring is a expensive way to cover territory relative to motor transport. Thus a sort of obsession on how to do it 'cheaply.' I can travel 50 miles in my car for about $5 in fuel cost. I can pedal 50 miles on the fuel in a jar of peanut butter(3000 cal/16 oz)for about the cost of the gasoline. Of course, I'm not likely to fuel myself with just peanut butter, so the cost of 3000 cals is going to be significantly higher than the cost of gasoline for equivalent mileage.

In the car, I can cover 10 times the distance in a day than I can on my bicycle. That means 10 overnight stays vs 1, with the attendant cost, unless wild/stealth camping all the time. Thus the necessity for frugality with overnighting expenditures.

Add to this all the misc cost like batteries, entry fees to whatever, bike repairs, souveniers, feel good snacks, etc.

Edit:

I look at how much less money I spend now that I have given up driving, I don't even own a car anymore. My expenses tanked like a rock when I stopped spending money needlessly on the car. 41% of my expenses from 2001-April 2010 were just for the car...car insurance, car repair, car registration and gasoline. When I went out and added in the all the extra costs because of having the freedom of going anywhere under any circumstances I knew my expenses would drop 50% the first year I gave up driving. In fact, including Jan-Apr 2010 still driving, my expense between 2009 and 2010 dropped around $2 shy of a 50% haircut. They've went up since simple because I started biking like a freak...21,200 miles last year. If I was still biking like a 'normal' person I wouldn't have half the expenses I have right now. My food expenses last year practically doubled over any of the past several years.

As noted, it cary vary. It can vary wildly depending on your personal choices and needs. For example, if you need a hearty restaurant breakfast every day you are likely going to spend more than you will if a bagel with PB&J can take you through to lunch. Same thing with lunch. Cooking dinner will usually be cheaper than eating out. Do you need six cups of gourmet coffee to get you through the day? How much alcohol do you think you will drink?

Camping preferences can also affect cost greatly. Does the idea of a free city park with the possibility of a nasty bathroom and/or shower (I had a few of those on the Northern Tier and at least one on the portion of the TA I did.) freak you out? How about a low-cost federal or state campground with no showers and only pit toiletes? If so, private campgrounds may be the place for you, but they can often cost more.

Personally, while I like to trim costs where possible, I am not going to deny myself wine with dinner or that post-dinner walk to the local cafe for a piece of home made pie. For me, part of the enjoyment of touring is taking part in local activities. Sometimes that costs money. A couple of years ago we camped in Montana across the road from a bar that had an indoor rodeo arena attached to it. While we missed the bull riding because we needed to cook dinner, we did wander over to have a few drinks, watch some calf roping and chat with the locals. Money well spent.

I guess I prefer to drive the economy. Always stay in hotels. Most of the time, I need a good steak at the end of a day on the road. I'm on vacation!!

5000 USD would equal about $15/day. In South America that would be doable but you would have to be extremely disciplined. of course that number doesn't include flights, insurance (you should have something just in case) and other up front costs. Another problem is that your appetite will likely skyrocket and you'll be eating significantly more than when you're on a weekend or week long tour.

The other issue that you need to consider is that by trying to stick to a really low budget you will be forced to pass on some awesome tourist attractions. Would you really skip Macchu Pichu (or other big attraction) because it would destroy your budget for a month? I have made these decisions when trying to stick to a tight budget (just backpacking) and I've regretted it.

I will certainly be a biker of the strictly budgeted type, but I don't think that's all bad. I rarely plan on paying to pitch a tent somewhere, and will more than likely always have my pb jar in my pack. : P It's always good to get a general gist of cost given personal preferences. I think the largest hurdle is not so much the tour cost itself but the gear cost. I personally tend to like nicer gear, and it's been costly so far. Hopefully that will offset me wanting to stay in hotels and eat out a lot.

Over an 85 day period my average cost ended up being $42.00 per day. I was living quite comfy at that amount.

One thing that has not been addressed is how much you would spend for a vacation other than a bike tour. Think what it would cost you to spend 30 days at a resort or the lake. I will be going on a PCH tour this year ( Astoria to San Fran ) taking my sweet time and 21 day, I am budgeting $1000 to $1100 for the time, that includes my plane ticket to Portland and the Amtrak ticket home. Cheap vacation in my mind.

I am curious how much of that $1100 is for the plane and train.

BTW, that is a great ride. Have a great time.

Close to $650 for the ground transportation. Would be $225 cheaper but i got a sleeper car on the train.

So looking forward to this ride!