Budgeting on the Race
Trying to figure out a budget on the Race is hard. It is. Plain and simple. I read all the Racer blogs on budgeting and how much money you should allot for each month, but the thing is is that it’s entirely dependent on you. It’s also dependent on the route you go on.
There’s a saying that a lot of people on my squad say, myself included. Pay for experiences/memories, not things.
There’s another phrase: This is definitely a 5 year memory! Five year memories don’t come from buying souvenirs and articles of clothing. Well they might depending on the story behind it.
Now I’m not saying buying souvenirs is wrong, do it. It’s awesome! But before you leave and when you get into each country, ask yourself what is important to you. What will make you five year memories.
Sometimes, those five year memories come and they’re completely free (How awesome is that?), but most of the time they aren’t. My route went through Zimbabwe and Zambia and my squad got to stop at Victoria Falls. I decided it was worth the money to do the gorge swing with some of my squad-mates and I wasn’t wrong. That’s far more than a 5 year memory.
On average, I would budget about $100 to $200 a month. Ultimately, you know yourself. You know if you’re going to want to pet the Tigers in Thailand as well as ride the elephants there. You know if you’re going to want to go white water rafting in Africa, or border hop in Europe. No other person can tell you what you want to do on your adventure days during the race. Those adventure days are yours and they are your choices.
One of my biggest race expenses has come from 1) sending stuff home (always go with under packing. You can always find what you need overseas) and 2) books. I love books and amongst the Christian studies that I read, I also read mystery novels. If you want to check out what books I’ve read while on the Race just click here.
Like I said though, only you know what you’re willing to spend your money on and how comfortable you are with the budget. I have squad mates who have lived each month without using any personal funds, and I have squad mates who have a few hundreds of dollars in each months budget. Obviously, don’t go overboard. You get 2-3 adventure days each month and sometimes one or two of those are used for other things with your team. But you will have opportunities and plenty of them to make those five year memories.
Till Next Time,
Kara Faber
