LYF Cycle Touring
Paying your Way
This route requires the least amount of gear and preparation. It's a great way to travel...for a week. But the only locals you meet are waiters and shopclerks.
I'm not knocking it. Sign up for the ride, have a blast, then start planning a tour that will take you beyond the glitz and glimmer of catered insulated travel.
Go experience your destination!
Two people, sharing food and accomodation, can travel comfortably on $30 a day. This assumes that you will camp most nights, although usually at a commercial campsite. Cook your own meals, often meatless (as much for convenience as cost). And avoid extravagant expenses like those opal earrings you fell in love with in Coober Peddy.
$15 per day / per person.
You can spend more, you can spend less. Australia and east Asia are cheap,
Europe is expensive. Use this figure as a starting point to calculate
how long you can stay on the road and what luxuries you deem vital.
Getting Cash
Carrying a huge wad of bills is silly in these days of ATM's and global connections. If you are planning a tour in a relatively modern area, you can rely almost entirely on the omnipresent money machines. Put your card in, and get cash out in the local currency, usually at a decent exchange rate. However, it is still a wise move to carry a backup supply of Travellers checks or cash for those times when no machine is nearby or the fiber-optic cable to the outside world was cut during road construction (as happened to me in Roundup, Montana).
For trips off the beaten path, cash and T-checks are the only option. The good news is that these places usually cost less then more developed countries, so your wad needn't be so heavy. Your bankroll will still be a temptation to a less than moral local, so don't flash it around. Break it into smaller chunks and "hide" them throughout your panniers or frame.
Norman, a man I met in Boort, Vic. Australia, hid cash between his inner-tube and the outer tire when he went riding into post-war Germany on a 1946 tour through Europe.
Just remember where it all is so you don't end up with handfuls of currency useful only in Outer Mambodoo or something.
Local Accounts
If you plan on spending a lot of time in one country or area, it may pay off to open an account at a local bank. You will cut down on service charges and bank fees that may be added to access a foreign account. You may also have access to more ATM locations. Ensure your card is compatible with Plus, Cirrus or one of the other big ATM poviders.
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