There is No Time, Only Money
1,670 Days on the Road: The Full Cost Breakdown
The title of the blog comes from Coen and Trudie in, i think, 2012. We met these two in a park in South Africa. In fact it was in Kruger although i cannot remeber the camp. I think it was our first night in South Africa after doing the easy coast. The thing Coen said stuck with me. We have time, spend it wisely if the money allows.
After 1,670 days of travel, the numbers are in. This is exactly where every pound went.
From fuel to accommodation, street food to shipping — nothing’s been left out. Below you’ll find two tables: one breaking down spending by category, the other showing the currencies we actually used on the road.
The Big Picture
Total spent: £65,244.75
Average per day: £36.37
Days on the road: 1,670
That’s roughly 4.5 years of continuous travel. Every meal, every border crossing, every tank of fuel — it all adds up.
Spending by Category
The first table shows exactly what we spent money on. Unsurprisingly, Groceries and Fuel take the top spots. But some of the smaller categories tell a more interesting story — like the £32.74 in fines, or the £378.89 we classed as “splurge.”
💡 Note on ATM withdrawals: We’ve removed ATM cash withdrawals from the main totals to avoid double-counting, since that cash was later spent within other categories. Only that adjusted figure is shown.
Currency Breakdown
The second table shows the same total, but broken down by the currencies we actually used. South African Rand (ZAR) and Namibian Dollar (NAD) dominate, reflecting the regions where we spent the most time due to COVID lockdowns pretty much but also because we wanted to spand lots of time in Nambia.
What This Doesn’t Show
Numbers can only tell you so much. What this doesn’t capture is the value of the experiences — the people we met, the places we saw, the lessons we learned. They know who they are but we will mention some. As i recall other i will post them. I’m getting old.
Allet and Kobus, of course its these two generous people. Without them we would have not had half the trip we had. They are family. I cannot count the time we spend there. I even made Xmas Dinner we were there that long. We were with them on both trips over a dacade apart!
Jasper in Namibia, Thanks for i think 3 months of free showers! Thanks for the weapons training and knowledge. I got to shoot all sorts of good stuff 🙂 . Even the farm manager (flippy) lent me his shotgun. First time for one of those and i’d been trying to shoot one for years.
Oppi Koppi and Vital and Family (Marianne and Melissa) and their “free” overlander camp where we spent a very long time during COVID there in Kamanjab capmsite.
KP and Joel in Botswana. Our other African family. We spent months and months and months there off an on in their Maun campsite.
Leon and Eddie in Namibia in pretty much the middle of the Caprivi at Ndurukoro Camp. Leon was pressured into cheap stays and our last one was a month. We stayed there months over all.
If you’re planning your own long-term trip and wondering “how much will this actually cost?” — this is the most honest answer we can give.
Final Thoughts
£65k over 4.5 years works out to about £36 a day. That’s not a backpacker’s shoestring budget, and it’s not luxury travel either. It’s somewhere in the middle — comfort when it mattered, sacrifice when it didn’t.
If we did it again, we’d probably spend more on experiences and less on… well, you’ll see what we wasted money on.
Got questions about specific costs? Drop a comment below. Happy to break it down further.
