RTW Budget

So I spent a lot of time and effort scrimping and pinching in the last 10 months and I'm going to try to stretch it as far as possible. As we will be travelling solidly for 6 months (3 months in South America, 3 months in North America), I've only made a budget for that part of the trip. After that we will be free to get jobs or travel a bit more around Europe depending on how we feel at the time. A lot of the pre-trip expenses have already been paid for (such as flights) but I've included them anyways for purposes of interest. All prices are per person though there will be the two of us.

Pre-trip expenses

FLIGHTS

SYDNEY- RIO and QUITO - LA flights - $1700

These are economy one way flights that aren't really flexible. They were booked through STA travel 3 months ago and we got an early bird promotion on them + 'student' discounts though more for being under 30 as we are not actually students. We looked at RTW flights but they ended up costing around $3000-4000 as we aren't really taking any traditional routes usually offered on these. 

NYC - LONDON flights $450

We haven't actually bought these tickets yet but will soon and looking around this was the approximate cost (stopping over in Iceland).

VISAs/license

UK Visa Application - $310, more about this on a separate post.

Brazil Visa Application $30.

International license application $40 (lasts 12 months, can renew)

Medical

Yellow fever vaccination + booklet - $110. Cheapest in Sydney I could find was in Sydney Medical Cetnre on Castlreagh St as they didn't charge extra for a consult. I also needed Hep/tetanus/typhoid injections but I already had these earlier. 

World Nomad Travel Insurance - Explorer package with grade 2 adventure level. $720 per person.

Gear

Osprey 55L S/M Backpack - $165. Bought off Amazon as that was the cheapest option. Should arrive in 2-3 weeks. Review on how it goes later but from trying it on at the shops the fit was very comfortable and the smaller size doesn't bother me. I plan to pack light as everyone recommends.  
2 x Ex officio travel underwear. Currently on trial, so far so good. $13 per pair + $7 postage from amazon.
 

I will definitely need more travel gear and will pop the details in when I get them.

Running total is $2805.

SOUTH AMERICA
Before I go through this I'd just like to note that our style of travel will be minimal (hostels , long bus rides, street food) so we don't plan to be extravagant, except when it comes to doing activities as we want to make the most of our experience there. There are both cheap countries we plan to visit like Peru, Bolivia, Ecaudor and Colombia but I also know that Brazil, Chile and Argentina will be more expensive so on average I'd estimate we will spend $40/day/person. The Galapagos Islands will be VERY expensive but something that we have to do (it is a trip of a lifetime after all).

Total: $40 x 83 days = $3320 + $1500 (5 days galapagos) = $4820 pp

NORTH AMERICA

Obviously North America is more expensive to visit and I hear they don't really have cheap, good hostel accommodation but we won't really be shopping much and we hopefully will spend a lot of time in national parks etc so lets say $70/person/day.

Total $70 x 90 days = $7200

GRAND TOTAL

And with anything you want to add 20% to the total just as a safety net. So the total would be $13,776 per person and hence $27,552 for the both of us.  I'll keep a rough expense record as I go to see if the projected expsenses run true or not. If it does it's fine as we did save a bucket load, outlined in 'How to Save for A RTW Trip' so I'd rather run over and get to do all the things we want. And the planning continues.