Budget | One Giant StepOne Giant Step

Hua Hin On A Budget

8. February 2013

Hua Hin is heralded as the perfect spot for a quick beach holiday. Only two (or so) hours from Bangkok it certainly is easy to get to but, as a weekend get-a-way spot for wealthy Bangkokians would it fit our teeny-tiny budget? It’s true, the expensive, brand name, hotels and resorts (think Sofitel, Hilton, Grand [...]

Should We Have Skipped The JR Rail Pass?

2. January 2013

14 Comments

Train travel in Japan is a treat. Not only do they leave exactly on time but they are quiet, super clean, and comfortable. The extensive network of train tracks links in nicely with an even more extensive network of subway, bus and ferry routes that make it really easy to get pretty much anywhere in the [...]

Travel To Japan: What Does It Cost (Part Two)

7. November 2012

9 Comments

**Click Here to see Travel To Japan: What Does It Cost (Part One)** There is no doubt that Japan is an expensive country to travel in. Our travel to Japan was, in fact, the most expensive trip we’ve ever done. It was also the best trip we’ve ever had. It changed our lives; it was [...]

Travel To Japan: What Does It Cost (Part One)

29. August 2012

13 Comments

During our RTW trip we tracked every sole, peso, riel, lira, euro, dinar, rupee, baht, kip, dong, ringgit and rupiah mostly out of necessity as we were on a backpacker budget and needed to know exactly what we had spent and exactly what we had left – even if it took us forever to figure [...]

Saving For Travel

20. June 2012

11 Comments

You know that I don’t think it’s ‘luck’ that allows a person to travel. I think you have to have your eye on the prize, be willing to make sacrifices, and save, save, save! Travel doesn’t have to be expensive; and saving for travel doesn’t have to be painful. The cost of a trip varies [...]

Managing Your Money: On The Road

24. November 2010

20 Comments

So you’ve saved and saved and saved, and now it’s finally time to hit the road. How are you going to manage that wad of cash while you’re away? The more thought and planning that you put into this before you leave, the easier it will all go while you’re on the road. [...]

Managing Your Money: Before You Leave

2. November 2010

15 Comments

I know it’s dry, and terribly boring, but if you don’t pay attention to your money before you leave you may end up worrying about it more than you need to while you’re away. Save…Save…Save! I know this sounds like a no-brainer…and it is…the more money you can put away the better off you will [...]

OneGiantStep RTW Dollar By Dollar

24. July 2010

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$49,744.71 That’s the big number. What it cost for us to put our jobs on hold, sell our home and car, say goodbye to friends and family and travel around the world for a year (326 days to be exact). That’s under our predicted budget of $50,000 – and no I didn’t cook the [...]

In The Red

6. October 2009

11 Comments

One look at the budget spreadsheet and it’s easy to see that we are over budget. Significantly over budget. So far, more than $4000 over budget and we’re only 4 months into our one year trip. For a while it caused me quite a bit of stress. As I saw the under/overage column be in [...]

OneGiantStep Day By Day Budget

1. June 2009

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I struggled with the idea of making our budget public. The thought of making all of our spending open to scrutiny makes most of us squirm. However, while researching our RTW trip, I found it very difficult to get a real idea of what if might cost us and so I decided to be transparent. [...]