Detailed costs after 1 year on a world bike tour

[@alexwilliams6022]

A man who spends more looking after his bike than his own health care, can relate - subscribed! Good luck mate 👍

[@AdamHugill]

😁

[@jimbojet8728]

That has been an inexpensive year, by any standards. It’s good of you to be telling us how much you’ve spent and earned on your trip, even better of you to be sharing the trip with us all. Thank you and keep safe! Enjoy your time in this venture, you’re collecting memories that will carry you through some tough times in the future. Maybe? You’re also showing other people just how accessible the world cycling scene is to them! Good luck and thank you again.

[@rathorrath401]

Thank you for this. It's in my 5 year plan to do something similar. Now i have a goal. Cheers from Arizona. I will join your patreon as soon as i'm able.

[@AdamHugill]

Thanks Travis. Not to worry about becoming a Patron. Only do it if you can afford to. My main videos will always be free. Good luck for saving for your journey.

[@juliadowney-ragheb5349]

I love that you are doing this..your videos and story are truly inspiring, thank you for including us on your journey...stay safe and best of luck!!

[@AdamHugill]

Thanks Julia 😀

[@juliadowney-ragheb5349]

Adam Hugill - Cycling the World 🥰

[@lycanthropunk]

This is such a helpful video! My other half and I done a mini tour last year in France and Belgium, and it's so easy to over spend and blow your budget (the lure of a comfy bed and a hearty meal is strong after a day of cycling!). I think you are doing amazingly well.

[@AdamHugill]

lycanthropunk - that lure of a meal can be strong. For me, I love my tent and I’m super comfortable in it. Other than when it’s super hot, raining hard, a gale is blowing, there’s busy traffic nearby or there’s 24 hrs of daylight because your so far above the Arctic circle 😆

[@sidefliprim]

That was very useful info! I really wish for you that this becomes your job so you could do this everyday! Road tripping the world for a year is my dream, i will do my first every bike road trip from England to Switzerland this summer! Thanks for the inspiration ✌️✌️

[@ModestasLukauskas]

Aš taip pat žadu keliauti dviračiu šią vasarą jei tie lockdownai baigsis, bet iš Anglijos į Norvegijos šiaurę ir atgal į Angliją per Švediją.

[@ridetillidie8090]

Damn. Hadn't even considered visas! Thanks! Still well within any budget I've come up with just guess-ti-mating as I prepare for my "Ride Till I Die" around-the-world bicycle tour starting in May of '22 upon my official 65 years old retirement. :D On advice from other travelers, I've started a GoFundMe (not for the ride) to help Pastor friends purchase a real church (everyone has to have a cause, yes?) and have bought a Mavic Mini to do filming and post on KZbin and wherever else (weird because I've only ever taken like 4(?) selfies, ever) and hadn't even considered PayPal donations! Things to consider! Great video! Very informative! Stay safe!

[@liamjohnny335]

Yr a sound fella buddy.. All sounds about right... Takes me back all those countries ....

[@MarceloGori]

Hey Adam, nice and inspiring this journey!!!! I don't know in which part of the planet you are now but I start to plan mine and hope soon I am the one on the road, chasing emotions around this planet!!!! Thanks so much!!!

[@tomybino1426]

Very detailed and very useful. Thank you

[@davestelling]

Best of luck to you, and God speed!

[@AdamHugill]

Thanks Dave.

[@carlsimmons305]

Hi Adam, this is the second video I have watched of your’s. I like how you are detailing your costs, breaking down by day (averaging per country). While you travel which involves a great deal of cycling each or most days, what else do you generally do with your time. Do you find it difficult to secure your bike & equipment if you want to visit specific locations etc. Out of interest, what part of the Military where you in?

[@AdamHugill]

I was in the Yorkshire Regiment (Infantry). When it comes to securing kit, I either knew it with me or put it in somebody’s house or a hostel. It limits you a bit but the restriction is worth it for me.

[@thisorthat7626]

Great information! Now I want to cycle through Japan and Korea. I didn't imagine Japan could be so inexpensive when people talk about how expensive it is. Cheers.

[@Speakers154]

Very inspiring, Adam. You have great self-discipline not to splurge on expensive hotels and the like.

[@stevecope5666]

Great video to give a snapshot of costs associated with such a trip. What bike do you use, that's a lot of maintenance costs! If you are ever 50 clicks North of Toronto you have a place to stay for a couple of days.

[@mickrayorickmayo9002]

Love this video man, I’m from the north to and looking go for a cycle journey. This helped loads. Thanks

[@simplelife3466]

good info. just got into cycling, have to quit smoking, on a tight budget like, even my bike will be a cheap heavy one but this is what I want to do in the pursuit of happiness to see new places. im older then you so im concerned being out of shape and never have toured , worried about bears too lol but the cost was a huge issue for me.

[@soisitimpossible]

I'm not sure if you'd want to but collect cans as you cycle being in Canada. Hit a recycle place. It'd take more time but you'd make a few bucks along the way. With the ground you're covering atleast the cost of a cooked meal or two.

[@AdamHugill]

Great idea. Would help to clean up the roads too.

[@soisitimpossible]

@@AdamHugill You bet. I do it just to clean up the town I live in and make a few dollars in the process.

[@diana3599]

Just stumbled across one of your videos last noc. This was a great video. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[@dvm7632]

Hi Adam. Discovered you when your episode 66 video surfaced in my YT feed today. I found this video, on your costs, very useful in pre-assessing travel costs as I begin to plan my own RTW bike ride. I look forward to seeing how you will deal with the Darian Gap. Surely, given your nationality, you’re familiar with Ian Hibell? Later there was Alastair Humphreys, and more recently Canadian Iohan Gueorguiev. Not sure who was “crazier,” Hibell or Gueorguiev. Watching your Alaska video this evening has inspired a little more courage in me to consider it as a possible riding location. Thanks for your work.

[@JeraCravoMyself]

Thanks for sharing that! Subscribed! Safe travels

[@martinhkelly]

Very interesting and detailed video.

[@jalan2yuuk689]

Thank you Adam, really interesting for the informative video.

[@AshishSingh-dx9fh]

When are you planning to visit .. varanasi? Good luck finding places to camp but guesthouses are way more cheaper. All the very best Adam . Love and support from Mumbai.

[@Almost_Alien]

I'm planning to travel on a bike as soon as this corona show is over. My only issue is I need to carry my laptop along, which I think is so inconvenient. Also the flights. I wonder are there ways to avoid the flights, for example boarding ferries or volunteer on someone's yacht just to get to another continent?

[@AdamHugill]

I was in the same boat with the laptop. I ended up carrying my MacBook for 18 months in a Thule case. Did the job and I'm still using the same laptop now. Flights can be a pain but it all depends on where you live now and where you plan to bike on if you'll need to fly or not. I've taken ferries between countries where possible (UK to France. Korea to Japan). Volunteering on ships can work, you just need to get lucky.

[@Brez6645]

Thanks for the informative video Adam. Did you pay for any travel insurance in case of medical emergencies?

[@_NoName...]

Great info! Thanks for sharing :)

[@freesteveman9712]

What were your fees the airlines charged for transport of your bicycle? Seems it would be classified as oversized luggage. Just curious. Love your videos and the information you are providing.

[@robventures785]

Super useful, I’m planning on doing a similar trip, for a few years and working online while I travel, how feasible would you say it is to work one day a week every week with decent WiFi and relatively quiet, I do online tutoring.

[@AdamHugill]

It would depend where you are in the world but I’ve managed to get a day of WiFi once a week almost all the time.

[@robventures785]

Thanks for the reply, that’s good to know, I haven’t planned my route much yet, where in particular have you struggled most with finding wifi?

[@AdamHugill]

North of the Arctic Circle.

[@richardmiller3808]

I look at it this way personally. If I could travel the world by bike and spend 12,000 USD (9767 Pounds) by bike for a year. I think that would be a fair trade off for the peace and quite of just being a small spec in the world and just see what is around.

[@AdamHugill]

Great perspective Richard.

[@pcat1378]

Basicaly £19 a day for the 361 days he has been travelling (but remember the first 7 months there were 2 people)

[@FirstLightAdv]

Thanks for sharing!

[@Jake24378]

Very insightful video!

[@MsAKacz47]

Thank you for this detailed video, it gives so much useful infos for people planning to go! I would have some more questions: what about insurance ? (here in Switzerland we have compulsory health insurance of about 340 GBP per month...) and what about taxes ? are you still registered in the UK or not at all anymore ? Thanks and safe travel :)

[@MsAKacz47]

Also about accomodation, you said you spend 926 GBP and you paid 188 nights, which makes 4,93 GBP/night, how is this possible ? (I guess accomodation in Asia is cheap, but THAT cheap ?) Thx

[@AdamHugill]

@@MsAKacz47 Hey, thanks for the great questions. I'll do my best to answer them. I had medical insurance which I was sure included cross-continent bike touring. This was really for the USA as in most other countries, paying for medical bills is cheaper than insurance. It's up to you though. In the UK, if you are no longer living there, you don't pay any tax. Plus, I didn't earn enough to be taxed so it wasn't an issue for me. You don't need to register as such in the UK. I remained on the electoral register and officially registered my address at my parents for things like customs, driving licence etc. Sometimes I would be allowed to stay with people for free using the website warmshowers. People would sometimes invite me into their home randomly as well which explains the low cost but accommodation in SE Asia is pretty much under $5 a night if you stay in cheap places.

[@MsAKacz47]

@@AdamHugill Thank you !

[@jodyssey9921]

I just returned from 6 weeks bicycling Japan and I spent more than you did all year lol. My airfare was a large chunk of it as was me buying my bike and tent when i got to Japan. I stayed in hotels mostly, never used warmshowers or stayed in a hostel and I only camped 4 times. I also never cooked and ate at fancy restaurants most days. When I left home I expected to live on the cheap but I realized I could experience more being clean every day and having a secure place to keep my stuff. I would have had a very different trip if I'd done it differently, longer for sure, but not nearly so satisfying for what I wanted to get out of it I don't think. I was going to go to south east Asia too on this trip but I spent almost all my savings in Japan so it wasn't a very responsible option. I'm going to start saving again as soon as I go back to work and go there again I think, Japan was a dream of mine since I was 9 years old and it was everything I expected it to be and more and I want more of it! If you or anyone reading this cares to read about my adventure you can visit my blog jodyssey.blog. I have a ton of video footage to go through so there'll be some videos on here when that's done as well.

[@AdamHugill]

That’s the great thing about travel and bike touring. There’s no “right” way to do it. We have to find the way that suits us. I see that I have two options: spend a lot of money and travel for a short time or spend little and travel for a long time. For me, I’m choosing the second option. Most people automatically go to option one. To experience “more” is so subjective, In my experience, by camping 90% of the time I find myself having some wonderful spontaneous encounters that may not have occurred when I’m in a hotel.

[@jodyssey9921]

@@AdamHugill I couldn't agree more, there is no right or wrong way to do it. Every tour is different, I've cycle toured Canada and spent a fraction of what I did in Japan for a longer period, it was what I wanted out of that trip. Watching you eat peanut butter sandwiches in Japan made me sad though lol, there is such good food there! Most of my budget went to food but I developed a taste for fancy restaurants while I was there.

[@IsuAsenjo]

I thought this was for the Alaska to US trip? Why are there costs about thailand or singapore? I'm confused

[@adammacer]

WHAT??!! SE Asia is now more expensive than Japan??!!.. I travelled there in 1991 and was shocked when I went from the 3-5 GBP/day I'd been spending in India, Thailand and China to more like 20GBP/day in Japan, despite hitch-hiking my way around.. also amazed that you can travel for that little - 10-15USD - a day still.. not much more considering 30 years have passed..

[@Hootyhoo-jq9vq]

Learn to ask for food. People are generous and get a warm heart when they help someone. I became quite good at it while hiking the Appalachian trail. There is no shame in accepting generosity. If I met you along the road I would gladly share anything I have.

[@TC-yx1qt]

What do you mean by asking people for food? Like how?

[@Hootyhoo-jq9vq]

Tom C For me - asking indirectly during a conversation is best. Blah blah.... where are you from, where are you going? Is it hard, cold? Where do you sleep. Etc. then somewhere in there you ask, “do you know of any water sources nearby?” I have not eaten today, did you pass any food places? Is there a restaurant or grocery nearby?

[@adammacer]

There's no shame in accepting generosity that is offered but asking for food without offering anything in return bar your company because you can't/don't want to afford it so you are able to keep indulging yourself and your dream smacks of entitlement..

[@nateums]

adam: healthcare £28.65 americans: ....

[@DDRider-DD]

What do you do for health insurance?

[@AdamHugill]

That’s a great point and I didn’t include that in the totals. I have travel health insurance up until Dec 2019 which I paid for before the journey started. I think I paid about £600 for it. I didn’t include it in this video as I saw it as a before the trip expense just like buying the bike, panniers etc.

[@travelerchennai3684]

which bike you reffer for long off and on road touring....?

[@AdamHugill]

I use a Surly Disk Trucker and that's about where my experience and knowledge ends.

[@bekmukhtaruly5014]

Hi Adam i am from Kazakhstan i want with u travel world. 🙏🏻

[@ModestasLukauskas]

to travel solo is the best experience ever.

[@ExplorerAftab]

Great👍

[@fourcollar]

You're about 100 pounds per month off getting 300 pounds per month on patreon - which would sustain your trip on $12.50 a day without having to use your own money. I understand you want to make a living off of video making and I think everyone here is really grateful of the content you're putting out and appreciate the hard work you do but I think you need to realize you're basically at the point where your fans and patreon supporters are completely funding your trip (as long as your patreon either stays the same or grows)

[@AdamHugill]

I appreciate what your saying and your right that Patreon has become an absolute game changer. Because it’s only been a few months since I started it, I feel it would be naive to depend on Patreon completely at this stage. After a good 6 months+ of consistent Patreon support, I’d feel more comfortable that I can sustain my journey, the filmmaking and continuing making KZbin videos through Patreon support. That support does depend on me continuing to add value to you guys, my audience.

[@2wheelsrbest327]

SM I think your spot on when you say responded to comments is so important to subscribers. I subscribe to so many that neither replies or comments on the positive comments I make. They're always positive because the poster has put so much effort into posting. Sadly given their lack of courtesy will never ever receive any money from me. Adam thankfully is not one of those people as he replies to comments even if it is a hearted comment . This video has made me realise how tough funding can be and when my limited financial resources allow I will contribute to his trip. Neil over on CGOAB often has a fund raising appeal because its his only form of income as does Darren on Bicycletouringpro and all three are in my opinion are worth funding when finances allow.

[@AdamHugill]

Shark Mentality - certainly is subjective and it’s a good point you make about replying to comments. The way I see it, if somebody has bothered to spend 10 minutes of their day watching one of my videos and then spent a further few minutes articulating a response, the least I can do is reply. I actually really enjoy talking to people that have watched my videos. It’s what makes KZbin unique to other forms of video. I wouldn’t say I spend 2 hours replying to comments but that’s probably as I don’t get as many as the guys you mention. Other than riding my bike for 6-8 hours a day, making these videos and replying to comments has effectively become my full time job. When I started making the videos, I never really expected it to be so.

[@AdamHugill]

Ted Edwards - thanks Ted, I appreciate your support a great deal. I don’t often see people talk openly about finances when it comes to long bike tours and people that make videos. I’m I suppose there’s a taboo over it but I find it helpful and interesting so I hoped it would be the same for other aspiring cycle tourists.

[@teodelfuego]

One cost I wish you hadn't incurred was the loss of your marriage. Maybe it was for the best. Who knows? Best of luck to you. Dominic Gil of Take a Seat fame, met his wife while he was riding a tandem bicycle from Alaska to Chile. Ben from Kombi Life met his partner while he was driving a VW bus from Chile to Alaska. Hopefully, you'll find your match.

[@greensacruzn9645]

👍

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

I live on $1000/year and eat once a week. Food is a waste of $.

[@fivesfish]

Join the Foreign Legion for a while when your money runs out!

[@life.with.archit1315]

Got inspired a lot hy you man keep going come india someday !! Whats ur instagram handle

[@DeanPorterEsq]

Need to spend more time sleeping in your tent.

[@moo8698]

Bike maintenance is just not realistic at all. I'm gonna start with that you started with a bike that wasn't designed for this. Sure it goes around like most of the bikes would, but for the money you spent on that bike you could have buy something much better. And now you're saying you spent almost 900 pounds during 365 days on that bike? Like how? I've no idea. If you would change the cassette and the chain after 5000kms, same for the tires, and you would buy 1 inner tube in every single week, you would be still nowhere in costs to that 900 pounds. (If you would buy an other bike better than this as a used bike you would still not hit the 900 pounds mark.) And people here even buy this.. You were totally unprepared, having no clue about bikes at all. You even said in one of your video that you just randomly put on tires. Truing the wheels :D If you buy a little tool for that it basicly costs nothing. So I don't get it when you say you had to pay for truing. Spokes? I highly doubt that you had an accident where your wheel had to be replaced (not spokes, wheel). How much did you ride a day on average? That's a more interesting question.

[@AdamHugill]

I rode a Surly Disk Trucker, which is designed for this type of journey and carrying this type of luggage. Failures still happen though. My rear wheel cracked in China and I had to buy a replacement in a city there. That wheel needed replacing by the time I had made it to Canada. Truing your own wheel is possible for sure. I spent a fair amount of of time doing it in Alaska and Canada which helped but ultimately the wheel had cracked and needed replacing. Replacement wheels, chains, cables, brake pads, tyres do start to add up.I also changed the handlebars which I have factored into the cost of “maintenance”. I averaged 69km a day during the tour. You may disagree, and many others will spend less on bike maintenance for sure. This is just an account of my experience.

[@AdamHugill]

Here’s the video with the broken wheel in China :kzbin.info/www/bejne/g33YoohrfqxqaKM and here’s the video with my wheel trouble in Alaska: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYetnX-badKJqas Unprepared? maybe. No clue about bikes. Probably as well. Still managed to bike 20,000km for 18 months through Europe, Asia and North America and have the time of my life. That experience is priceless.

[@Grateful4Today]

@@AdamHugill I couldn't agree more Adam, please ignore the noise, you know talking is cheap after all, you did great !

[@suneelgaur5246]

I've noticed that many ex-military guys feel the need to go on epic challenges and adventures....guess they have to prove to themselves that they are alpha-males🤔

[@AdamHugill]

I can only speak for myself but I don’t feel I’ve got anything to prove to anyone. I think the type of person that signs up to join the military is also likely to be motivated by challenges and travelling.

[@suneelgaur5246]

@@AdamHugill ....Fair point....good luck with your challenge...have a safe journey😁

[@monkeyhaters9258]

I know you're English but put it in American English what you paid Do not understand pounds

[@Grateful4Today]

you'd be better off if you'd started to study proper English unlike you're made up as you go kind of English American..

[@monkeyhaters9258]

@@Grateful4Today British English Sounds Like African American Obonics..😳👈 In other words, just because it's English doesn't mean you can understand it ! Mate?

[@monkeyhaters9258]

@@Grateful4Today @Yoda Master Ram ass...? 2:British English,, sounds like someone cut your tongue out and replaced it with a Dick!!!

[@monkeyhaters9258]

@@Grateful4Today Yoda master ramass, yoda master ramass,,🤣🤣🤣 That should be your stage name at the playgirl club😳👈

[@monkeyhaters9258]

@@Grateful4Today .....???🤷‍♂️