A question for Tito and other long distance riders

[Whisperinsmith]

I know this isn't a Bennington topic, but I'll ask anyway. To Tito and others who have taken long rides and mixed camping with motels, can you give me a ballpark dollar average per day you felt comfortable with. I have a trip planned after Bennington and can already see my budget is shot to hell because of the gas prices.

Any thoughts to save a buck would be welcome.

[mark]

I'm in the same boat with the Canada trip this summer. Buying the stuff I need to make the V-Strom comfortable for touring is eating up my budget for the trip itself.

I'm just going to try to be as thrifty as possible -- avoid too many expensive meals, don't spend money on souvenirs, etc.

Tito was telling me that he estimates $100 per person per day, but I'm going to try my best to keep it much lower than that.

--mark

[Boondox]

Tito is planning on feasting every night on our trip. Mark and I are more budget minded. He's bringing the jelly and I'm bringing the peanut butter. We hope to find day old bread at a discount along the way

[TonUp]

$100 per day is very reasonable.

Gas for 300 miles $20-$25
Meals $25-$50
Camping $25-$30
Cheap Hotel $75

So I would say $70 to $150 per day per person.

When I go to Daytona I plan on about $150-$200 per day. Dinner is expensive.

I am hoping that we can share a campsite, and depending on the group size 2-4 people per room is ok. If I am bringing a date I want my own room. LOL

Tito


Ton Up!

[Touko]

I find that after lodging; food is is the big expenditure. I hav'nt camped in a long time but when I travel with my bros we get rooms with two double beds and if you get a rollaway then three to a room is no problem just don't let anyone have the chilly for dinner.
As for food I find that the super market deli section will hook you up just fine with tater salad or some other type of heavy food that stays with you for a long time. They usually make good sandwiches or you can get pizza slices and you don't have to leave a tip. Walmart has boxes of power bars wich work great to curb any hunger before you go to a restaurant as going in hungry is sure to cost you much more than you wanted to spend. If it's still cool out than bananas are a great snack food while on the road as they keep just fine in the bags. Wouldn't do too much fruit though for obvious reasons. Walmart also has the powdered energy drink mix so you don't have to spend so much on Redbull or other such drinks. Fill up your water bottle at gas stations and pour it in and that kind of stuff can be bought now. I like the pb and j trick too.
Try to buy gas in the morning when it's cool out as it will expand in the tank when it warms up. I'm sure you've heard of that but I checked it out and believe me it works.
Hope this helps, Touko

[Boondox]

Gas for 300 miles $25
PB&J sandwiches $5
Water $0
Camping $25
Cheap Hotel $0 (Tito stays in the room and lets us use the shower!)

$100 per day is very reasonable.

Gas for 300 miles $20-$25
Meals $25-$50
Camping $25-$30
Cheap Hotel $75

So I would say $70 to $150 per day per person.

When I go to Daytona I plan on about $150-$200 per day. Dinner is expensive.

I am hoping that we can share a campsite, and depending on the group size 2-4 people per room is ok. If I am bringing a date I want my own room. LOL

Tito


Ton Up!

[bennybmn]

On a hot day, a dollar menue frosty at Wendy's is a nice break!

[Boondox]

On a hot day, a dollar menue frosty at Wendy's is a nice break!

Did you hear that, Tito? Dollar menu means more gas in the tank! LOL

[bennybmn]

Yeah man!! I mean you can't survive on it alone, but for quick snacks/bathroom breaks it's great. Plus, I'm super heat sensitive, so the frosty can help take the edge off on a really hot day.

[hankspeed3]

You want Fries with that?

LOL
sorry couldn't resist.

[TonUp]

This trip is also my vacation so I am planning on splurging a little more, I have worked awful hard for it and I have earned it. I will not be making any exuberant purchases but I plan on having a few good meals (mostly seafood), Nova Scotia has great cuisine. I also like a hotel after 3 or 4 days of camping.

The reason we are only riding 300 mile days (which is half a day for me) is so that we can enjoy the sights, venues, events and beauty of Nova Scotia.

Gas might be over $5.00 per gallon there this summer.

This might be the only chance I get to ride the Cabot Trail, too many trips, roads, adventures and too little time. :_(


Tito


Ton Up!

PS I have been eating Peanut Butter for months, and saving $$$ for six months to go on this Awesome Trip and Ride!

[Whisperinsmith]

Thanks guys. My estimates weren't too far off. Enjoy your rides.

[Touko]

Tito makes a good point about doing the hard work of saving now for a trip thats a long way off. Difficult to give up that little stop to the local pub or package store at home but one must think about how good that cold one is going to taste out on the trip. My brothers son is grown and out of the house; aside from the acational girlfriend he has only himself to worry about. He likes to eat at restaurants wich is cool but I prefer the cheaper grocery store deli or like Benny the dollar menu at Wendy's. The tip about having a power bar or other such filler before going into a restaurant (or any other time your hungry) works very well as I have no problem scarfing a burger with fries while my brother is having the seafood platter. I do try to have enough on hand for one really good meal usually towards the end of the trip. Again, the power bars, drink mixes, dried snack food can all be purchased now. Even things like sunscreen and aspirin should be thought of now as purchasing those items out on the road adds up quick. I know this is all elememtary but more than once I've kicked myself in the ass for having to buy them on the road. You don't even have to buy them if you have them at home already, just put them into smaller containers wich of course goes for shampoo, soap, or whatever. Better yet when you stay at a hotel make sure to take the complimentary stuff with you. Yeah, I can be a real cheap bastard too but it's out of neccessity for the eight hundred pound beer drinking gorilla on my back. Touko

[mark]

This trip is also my vacation so I am planning on splurging a little more, I have worked awful hard for it and I have earned it. I will not be making any exuberant purchases but I plan on having a few good meals (mostly seafood), Nova Scotia has great cuisine. I also like a hotel after 3 or 4 days of camping.

Don't worry, Tito, Pete and I aren't going to try to ruin the vacation for you or anything!

If Beth comes along, the two of you can always go out to a nice dinner and get a hotel room while Pete and I camp and roast some hot dogs on sticks over the campfire. The fact that we're trying to keep things cheaper doesn't need to cramp your style. Besides, I'd actually feel bad about it if you and Beth didn't get to spend some alone time together during the trip!

If Beth doesn't come along, then we can save a lot of hotel money by splitting rooms three ways. And regardless, I'm hoping we can find free places to camp some nights, instead of paying for campgrounds all the time.

I've been keeping my grocery/etc expenses low for months now too, but in my case the problem is that I have to spend quite a bit of money outfitting the bike to where I'll actually be able to ride 300 miles a day for 10 days. Sadly the V-Strom has not turned out to be the mile-munching machine I thought it would be, at least not in stock form. I'm slowly getting things dialed in comfort-wise, but then I still have the luggage situation to deal with. I'm confident the bike is going to be awesome for the trip, but getting it to that point costs money. Yours is already taken care of, so you're way ahead of me.

But that said, when budgeting for a trip like this, I also keep in mind the expenses that I would normally have anyway and therefore have already budgeted for. Food, for example -- I have to eat whether I'm home or on the road. Sure food's going to be more expensive on the road, but ultimately that just works out to a week and a half with a larger grocery budget than normal. Not really that big a deal.

Don't worry, we'll work this out so we all have a great time.

--mark

[mark]

PS: Keep in mind that the lodging prices would probably average quite a bit lower, because we'll be splitting the costs. If we can find free places to camp, great; if we have to pay $30 for a campsite, that's still only $7.50-$10 each, depending on whether there will be three or four of us. Same thing with motel rooms -- not sure what a cheap one goes for up there, but we'll only need to pay part of it.

--mark