Budgeting a trip

[Francis]

This Board has been doing a lot of travel this year and I have "travel envy". Trip posibilities are poping up all over the place. I have done one cross country jaunt and it was a quick "slab it home" trip without a lot of specialized planning and a very modest budget.

 

To plan for a longer trip, how do the experienced riders go about laying out the plan and preparing a budget? What financial contingencise are built into the trip plan?

 

Is there a..."motorcycle trip on $ ___ /day metric? Or a high cost, medium cost, low cost per day set of options?

 

Any other special considerations in planning a multi-day advanture would also be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Francis

[ShovelStrokeEd]

I just figure about $200/day to cover fuel, lodging, food, sundries. If I'm doing a leisure trip where I might bring or ship home some goodies, add a couple of hundred. I do have a credit card with a couple of thousand reserve in it for emergencies. Things like tires and chains are factored in as well so I know if I will be needing a set of tires or the like during the trip. AAA+ RV takes care of my towing needs and will get me a night or two of hotel and rental car should the bad juju strike.

[Stan Walker]

I just figure about $200/day to cover fuel, lodging, food, sundries.

 

Ed must stay in the high class places..... I figure about $100 - 150 per day.

$50 motel (sometimes more), 2 tanks of gas = 35, dinner = $15, continental breakfast (motel), lunch $5. That still leaves $45 for whatever......

 

Stan

[Paul Mihalka]

When I plan my cross-country traveling from Maryland to Colorado/Utah/Wyoming, Oregon next, I pretty much pre-plan my nightly stops, with open mind to change on the fly. I do not camp, I travel very light. I am not interested in larger cities. To travel cross-country I reserve motel rooms ahead. It can be Motel6, Super 8, a Comfort Inn is my top level. When crossing the middle of the country, be it Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska or Canada, I pick my stops simply by mileage. One thing I found is that looking for the Chamber of Commerce/Tourism office via Google I find the list of little hotels in town that are not on a chain. I had many nice surprises and very few not so nice. For me to pick it the hotel has to have a website.

Once I get into the "scenic" part of the ride I may leave a few nights without fixed reservation. Doing this my per night hotel average is under $50. You'd be amazed how many acceptable little motels you can find in the $30/$40 range. Breakfast can be the hotel bagel with cream cheese or a Egg Mcmuffin with coffee, lunch a bag of nuts and a juice, for dinner I look for the best I can find. Without added expenses of on-the-road tire purchases I come up with a daily average of und $120/night.

[keithb]

Since Ed is staying at all of those high class/high dollar places I will show you another point of view. I budget about $80-$100/day. This is based on camping and usually riding with buddies where we share expenses such as campsite rental and dinner if we are cooking vs. eating at restaurants. Campsites run about $20/night and fuel is about $20 tank (based on a 300 mile day) so that leaves me $40-$60 to play with per day for additional food or activities. Most of the time we are riding in the mountains/beach so we go hiking or just relax at the campsite at the end of the day. There are many ways to have a great trip and do it on a reasonable budget.

[tobyzusa]

I just figure about $200/day to cover fuel, lodging, food, sundries.

 

Ed must stay in the high class places..... I figure about $100 - 150 per day.

 

Have to agree with Ed on this...about $200 a day, and that's not livin' "high on he hog" at all. Just a realistic and comfortable travel plan.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

In my defense, I really don't stay in high class places all that often. Mid range business hotels are what I do. Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express. Yeah, I could stay cheaper but I prefer the little amenities. A typical day for me is no less than 450 miles and that equates to pretty close to $40 in gas. Breakfast is usually what the hotel offers or an Awful House (I actually like them except for the coffee). Lunch comes out of the tank bag and is usually no more than a granola bar and a pint of milk. Dinner, however, is important to me and I'm liable to go up into the $50 range with tip.

 

So, 100/night for hotel, 40 for gas, 50 for food and I'm into that $200 pretty quick. Actually, $100 per night is pretty conservative as hotel costs have been rolling up over the last couple of years. The real PITA is the fact the in towns/regions where the hotel is <$100, the available food choices are pretty grim. I'm not a food snob or anything but I do like a selection of healthy meals and the cheapo food joints just don't offer much there, keeping in mind that I hate chicken and I'm picky about the fish I eat.

[Whip]

Don't ask!!!!

 

Mrs Whip can spend 200 dollars before lunch.

 

Our trip to Alaska was crazy expensive.....

[OoPEZoO]

Here are some basic numbers from my coast to coast trip in '05.

 

I spent right around $3900 for the whole trip total (including meals, gas, souvenirs, food, tires...everything). We covered 8500 miles in 20 days. We stayed in either small motels or in KOA cabins. Usually ate 3 meals a day at small diners/resteraunts. The only exeption to that was a 2 day layover in downtown San Francisco ($$$). That number also included a $800+ bill from the San Fran dealer for tires, speedo drive, and a new jacket for Danielle.

 

So my total trip evened out to be right around $195 per day. If I would have been flying solo, I could have done it MUCH cheaper. I guess it all comes down to how much you WANT to spend each day. We were traveling as a pretty large group (8 bikes and as many as 15 people), so we gave in to the majority quite a bit. Most of the girls wanted hotels and nice meals.......while most of the guys wanted KOA cabins and granola bars.

[Paul Mihalka]

I think the main difference between us cheapos and Ed is that he travels a LOT on work, not our usual two/three week riding vacation a year. I wouldn't want to spend a hundred days a year in Motel6, Super8 or mom and pop motels either.

[keithb]

I agree Paul. If I was traveling for business I would be staying in a $75-$100/night motels as well. Been there done that for 4 years in the Carolina's and Va. I was on the road 8 out of 10 weeks and driving 50K miles a year. The company was PAYING ME TO LIVE. NO MAS.

[RichEdwards]

I do three or four trips a year, the shortest a week and the longest a month. I'm with Paul. Motel 6 is usually very clean and has no amenities beyond a bed, a t.v., a hot shower (and it's $35 to $45 per night!) The hotel breakfast doesn't matter to me since I have a cup of coffee and hit the road at sunrise. Two hours later (around 7 a.m.) I stop for a healthy breakfast (hard to find south of the Mason-Dixon line ) with 100 to 120 miles under my belt.

Lunch is usually under $10 and dinner under $20. I try to schedule all service and tire changes for when I get home. A tire change in Minnesota this year was very costly. At home I know where to get the best deal.

So for me, the $100 to $150 per day is about right.

[johnlt]

Usually target Hampton Inn or similar class hotel which is typically ~$100 and I also agree on a "good" dinner. I'll skimp on breakfast and lunch. The $200 a day figure seems about right for me. If momma comes with me, that means the Lexus and a step up in hotel so double that figure.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

With me, it is more like 200+ nights a year. I do, of course, have the advantage that once I have arrived at my destination city, the hotel is on the company. I pay for en route hotels out of my pocket and am not reimbursed for the gas or mileage. I normally rent a car when I arrive in the city and that does come back to me. Bike is used for leisure travel in the area and to get from city to city.

 

When you are only gone for a couple of weeks a year, you can accept some compromise in comforts. With the amount of time I spend on the road, it is not one I am willing to make. I have really taken a liking to Hilton Garden Inns for just this reason. Restaurant within the hotel, along with a small bar, swimming pool and exercise room, a small pantry in the lobby for snackage, comfy rooms with WiFi and a business center right there if I need to print something.

 

Another perk which keeps me within the Hilton Chain is the HHonors program. I amass a lot of points which, when I do take the occasional leisure trip, allows me to stay for free or, in the middle of the trip, spoil myself with an upscale hotel instead of just a Hampton.

[BruceWA]

Echos my style when riding solo. If the wife accompanies me on her bike....lets say she has more refined taste than I.

[drswift]

If you're doing 500+ miles a day that's easily $50-60 in gas for my RT. I tend to budget about $150/day (excluding tires or repairs). I've found pre-planning part of the fun for long rides. I usually identify a small town to spend the night in (or something in the burbs), and use Google to find a list of the cheap motels. Then when I get to town, I'll do a drive-by of a few, call the one that looks the best and can usually get a $35-45-a-night room no problem. If it's a holiday weekend or close to a big tourist event you may want to reserve in advance using a AAA rating. Another place to checkout for cheap rooms are campgrounds that offer sleeping cabins (with just a bed and electricity) -BYO sleeping bag and use a communal shower.

[Paul Mihalka]

Two money saving tips: At Choice Hotels (Comfort, Quality, Sleepinn and others) if you are over 60 - I know I'm not the only one - and reserve ahead over the phone, you have to ask but can get the "over 60" discount which is 20 to 30%. If you travel Interstates at gas stations or rest areas pick up a hotel discount coupon book. There can be some amazing finds in there.

[Bill_Walker]

I try not to think about it.

 

I've read that the basic rule of thumb for touring is "Pack half as much stuff as you think you need, and bring twice as much money".

[OoPEZoO]

I try not to think about it.

 

I've read that the basic rule of thumb for touring is "Pack half as much stuff as you think you need, and bring twice as much money".

 

I think thats about the best touring advise I've ever heard

[Albert]

I'll say ahead of time my touring costs are pretty close to Ed's and he's spelled that out quite well. My trip planning generally consists of map time (or MapSource) to get the basics of the desired route in place. Again this is flexible but I like to have an idea of where I'm going at the outset. I too do some business travel on the bike so there's a little less of that than when it's a leisure trip.

 

After I have the basic route in place I start estimating daily mileage keeping in mind points of interest and other things that can reduce a day's range. I also travel 2 up a lot and you need to factor that in as well. You may be an iron butt but if your passenger isn't you better modify your expectations or your butt might become kicked.

 

With mileages estimated I start using either the Garmin Mapsource or, more likely, one of the many travel sites to scope out what hotels are in the area and what amenities (restaraunts, entertainment, etc.). Depending on the location and the time of year we may even make reservations for some of the hotels. We often travel with several other couples and finding 3 or 4 rooms on the spur of the moment can be iffy at the wrong time of year (and once again, not fun for a weary passenger). If it's just me or a couple of buddies we might just check things out when we're ready to stop.

 

To help predict costs I often put a simple spreadsheet together where I can plug daily mileages and hotel costs in various fields and have a trip summary based on food, fuel, lodging, etc. Again this sound extremely confining but I only use it as a predictor and not the "travel bible". I find trip planning to be a nice vicarious adventure during the cold winter months. I've planned lots of trips I'll probably never get to take but enjoyed at least a taste of it.

 

Good luck and happy travels.

[1st Shirt]

You've gotten some pretty good advice here and I can't really add too much more. When I took my big trip 4 years ago we were gone 48 days and went 10,000 miles. Some of that time was spent with relatives, so only about 28 were in hotels. I was riding two up and we planned for $150 per day during travel days (don't need that when your mouching off relatives). Sunjoo was in charge of the money and believe me, we not once used the total $150 even though I tried several times. She held the cash and monitored my credit card use.

 

There was one thing that I did that was kind of anal but worked out good. I planned the trip day by day in advance, figuring out how far I wanted to go and what landmarks I wanted to spend time at. I then printed out daily maps in advance and put them in envelopes with the dates on them. Additionally, when I knew we were stopping at someplace special I put extra money in that envelope. This sounds dumb, but it was kind of like getting a cash present that day and allowed me to go over budget without being over budget! We would use this extra cash for admission prices, gourmet meals like Ed always has , or souvenirs which got mailed home.

 

Hotels - I do the same thing Paul does. On days when I am planning my mileage I pick a town and do the google search and make reservations in advance. The nice thing about this is that you don't have to get off the bike several times while you "check out" hotels. You get there, stop and relax. On days when we did not have reservations I found out something interesting. If I went in and got a price and then Sunjoo went in and got a price she always got a cheaper price than me. What's up with that? It was amazing. After awhile I tested this theory and it worked everytime. I would send her in first to get the price. I would then go in to pay for the room, and they would try to give a higher price, which I would quickly point out was higher than just given to my wife. They would always mubble about a mistake and give me the lower rate. Maybe it's just that I look like a high roller.

 

I liked the advice about half as much stuff and twice as much money. Sunjoo kept a small book and would update it each night. There was several times I tried to convince her to go outside our daily budget but failed each time. Over halfway thru the trip we were about $600 ahead of planned expenses. So when we were in Wyoming I tried to get her to spend the night in one of those 5+ star resort hotels. No way - that would be over budget!

 

One thing in closing - if your headed down the east coast I live in Virgina and have a spare room you are welcome to use. That would help keep you under budget for at least a day or two!!!

[AdventurePoser]

Great thread idea...

 

Jennifer and I spend about 100-150 per night. We used to camp, but camping and riding two-up demands a VERY high degree of packing sophistication.

 

So, we stay in inexpensive motels, ride about 300-500 per day, and eat light meals. We don't make lists, and we don't make itineraries, other than the most basic "we need to be home by this date" plans! Our traveling philosophy on the motorcycle is, you are only lost if you care!

 

In fact, we quite often ride "out" until we are halfway out of money. Then we turn around and ride home. We don't use credit cards but we always carry a "fresh"one in case we meet up with some huge emergency on the road.

 

This works well for us.

 

Cheers,

Steve

ps-Whip, I did AK on about $80 a day....did you spend more?

[CruisinCruzan]

I never plan on mileage. My wife's usual limit is 6 hours of saddle time (broken up with gas, food and rest breaks). However far that 6 hours takes us is how far we travel. I start to look for a place to stay when she tells me to. We also use a tentative budget of 200/day and often spend less. Never any camping and now and then a splurge to a nice B and B. I do plan a basic route and interesting places to stop, but timing is never written in stone. We are not miserable weather riders unless force to do so, so we make very few reservations ahead of time. We both plan on at least a day off the bike every third or fourth day.