June 5, 2016
May was the most expensive month of my trip so far, and not surprisingly as I once again had air shipping of the bike included. Bike crating & airfreight, my plane ticket to London, and broker fees to clear customs accounted for 60% of my total monthly expenses. I also had another safari tour in May, which was a big bite of the budget, though nothing compared to shipping the bike.
For the Africa portion of May, my gas, food and lodging averaged $29.68 per day. For the UK portion of May, my gas, food and lodging averaged $83.67 per day. While fuel, food, and lodging are all more expensive in the UK than Africa, the biggest difference was the three days I spent in a hotel near London Heathrow waiting for the bike to arrive. Those three nights lodging were equal to the entire rest of the month’s lodging expense. A shining example of why I planned early on to spend very little time in Europe, Australia, and the U.S.
May Expenses:
Gas: $164.15 ($49.95 first 23 days of May — pre-UK)
Food: $547.96 ($361.42 first 23 days of May)
Lodging: $653.84 ($265.20 first 23 days of May)
Daily Average Gas/Food/Lodging: $44.07
Shipping, Airfare, Crating, Brokerage: $2929.53
It appears you’ll be on IOM for the last two days of racing. If you get a chance visit my favorite corner, Creg-ny-Baa.
I’ve never been to IOM but I love that name! (Ballacraine runs a close second.)
Have fun Pat!
I’ll be up on the way up the mountain very near the halfway point on the course (Ballaugh Bridge) for Wednesday’s Supersport, Lightweight, and Zero (Electric bike) races, then hopefully over near Creg-ny-Baa on Friday for the sidecars and Senior TT, subject to change at a moment’s notice.