The 5000 Project

So, I tried typing up posts for european countries many times, but to be honest – everyone has been to europe, everyone knows what it’s all about. Stepping into bulgaria was word worthy and other eastern european countries can be interesting, however it is all mainly mainstream unevenful happenings which when attempting to write, utterly bored me. Even though my trip through europe wasnt exactly touristy (Couchsurfing and Hitchhiking for most of it) it was very western and familiar, it was everything I expected europe to be.

The ironic thing is that I had already been through south east asia and china before this trip and for me the main highlight was to be europe, the plan initially was to rush through asia and then spend most of the time attempting to live cheaply in europe. Little did I know that after everything I had seen during the last year, europe ended up being an exhausting annoyance of clean streets, crossable roads, convenient public transport and a distinct lack of people trying to sell me things from the street. Yes, I was annoyed at how easy it was, I was frustrated with the silence and peacefulness of market places, I was bored of the western safety-blanket comforts. It just didn’t seem… right. So I compensated by couchsurfing and hitchhiking as much as I could, to make things interesting – Also there wasn’t much choice with the remaining funds at the time. I have many stories to tell from these experiences, but nothing worth blogging about – the best has already been written. I may catch up with euro posts eventually, but I think the best thing is to let people know that I made it to the end of my journey.

I hitchhiked from Bruges in Belgium to London, England via car train under the english channel on the 8th day of May, 2012. It was raining in London. I bought a well deserved pint of heiniken and expensive fish and chips at a local english pub, of which I did not include in the overall project expenditures. The Project was finally completed, I was happy that I could eat something without worrying about the price, well deserved.

I started my trip on the 17th of April, 2011. It ended on the 8th of May, 2012.

The journey lasted exactly 1 year and 21 days, minus 3 weeks for the emergency visit home back in June.

Having almost run out of money and finding it difficult applying for a working visa for the UK without going back to australia first, I decided to fly back home – I flew back on the 13th of may and have been staying with my parents in busselton since then, clearing my head a bit.

Ok, now I guess it’s time to see how much I spent in this year. I had no real budget, I never really kept track of how much I spent – other than occasionally checking my bank account, always pleasantly surprised. The longer I travelled, the more confidence I had in discovering ways to spend less; the less money I spent, the more enlightening experiences I achieved. Here is a paste of my bank statement of each ATM transaction in the last year, listed by country:

** Note: Funds spent per country isn’t too accurate, as it is soley based on the bank transactions, I often crossed the border with money left and exchanged it on the other side, I tried to avoid this however as the dodgy blackmarket exchange guys usually do quite well ripping people off

Indonesia:
18/04/2011 Wdl ATM BANDARA NGURAH RAI DENPASAR IDN IDR10000.00 $109.88 (The bad start, expensive hotel)
18/04/2011 Wdl ATM Commonwealth Bank MELASTI – BAL IDN IDR15000.00 $173.27
26/04/2011 Wdl ATM TAMAN WISATA BOROBUDUR MAGELANG IDN IDR10000.00 $108.62
13/05/2011 Wdl ATM PLN UB SBS PALEMBANG IDN IDR5000.00 $55.27
16/05/2011 Wdl ATM Commonwealth Bank IMAM BONJOL, IDN IDR5000.00 $58.53
(Duration: 18/4/2011 -> 17/4/2011 = 29 days)
Indonesia Total: $505.57 $17/day (should be less, crossed to singapore with some indo money)

Singapore:
17/05/2011 Wdl ATM UOB A0570101 SINGAPORE SGP SGD50.00 $38.18
(Duration: 17/5/2011 -> 19/5/2011 = 3 days)
Singapore Total: $38.18 $12/day (left quickly, this would be a lot more if I stayed longer, plus I still had some indo money exchanged)

Malaysia:
20/05/2011 Wdl ATM RHB BANK MALAYSIA SL TODAY’S MA MYS MYR300.00 $94.03
20/05/2011 Wdl ATM PBB – MSG1 087 JOHOR MYS MYR300.00 $94.03
26/05/2011 Wdl ATM AMBANK BERHAD MSG TTW1 MYS MYR300.00 $94.13
05/06/2011 Wdl ATM AMBANK BERHAD TUMPAT MYS MYR200.00 $62.85
(Duration: 19/5/2011 -> 6/6/2011 = 18 days)
Malaysia Total: $345.04 $19/day

Thailand:
08/06/2011 Wdl ATM KRUNG THAI BANK SONGKHLA THA THB1150.00 $35.79
10/06/2011 Wdl ATM UOBT ATM BANGKOK THA THB3150.00 $98.74
13/06/2011 Wdl ATM TRAD FERRY PORT TRAT THA THB3150.00 $99.21 ~$50*
(Duration 6/6/2011 -> 14/6/2011 = 9 days)
Thailand Total: $184.53 $20.50/day
*crossed the border with $50 worth of thai money

Cambodia:
16/06/2011 Wdl ATM ABOA ABA ATM.SMILE MIN PHNOM PENH KHM USD104.00 $98.06
22/06/2011 Wdl ATM Toul Tumpoung CITY KHM USD104.00 $98.54
Thai money +$50
(Duration 14/5/2011 -> 26/6/2011 = 12 days)
Cambodia Total: $246.60 $20.55/day

Vietnam:
26/06/2011 Wdl ATM Commonwealth Bank 90 LE LOI TRA VNM VND300000.00 $14.38
28/06/2011 Wdl ATM DA LAT – PGD MINH KHAI HANOI VNM VND1020000.00 $47.74
29/06/2011 Wdl ATM DA LAT – PGD MINH KHAI HANOI VNM VND2020000.00 $94.07
06/07/2011 Wdl ATM ACB PGD PHO CO HOI AN NAM ATM 01 VNM VND1030000.00 $46.88
09/07/2011 Wdl ATM SGD 198 TRAN QUANG KHA HANOI VNM VND1020000.00 $46.32
08/08/2011 Wdl ATM KS THUY LAM HA NOI VNM VND1030000.00 $48.30
12/08/2011 Wdl ATM BARD LAO CAI VNM VND1020000.00 $48.19
(Duration 26/6/2011 -> 12/8/2011 – 25days* = 21days) *Emergency trip home
Vietnam Total: $392.76 $18.70/day

China:
14/08/2011 Wdl ATM HEKOU GEJIU CHN CNY600.00 $91.34
18/08/2011 Wdl ATM Gucheng local branch DALI CHN CNY700.00 $104.29
22/08/2011 Wdl ATM Sifang Street,Lj LIJIANG CHN CNY700.00 $105.86
25/08/2011 Wdl ATM Sifang Street,Lj LIJIANG CHN CNY1000.00 $150.06
02/09/2011 Wdl ATM MAANBEILU CHENGDU CHN CNY1000.00 $147.02
05/09/2011 Wdl ATM CHENG DU CHENGDU CHN CNY1000.00 $147.62
09/09/2011 Wdl ATM 010.064.038.073 CHENGDU CHN CNY1000.00 $148.13
10/09/2011 Wdl ATM NO9 RENMINBEI RD Chengdu CHN CNY1000.00 $150.53
15/09/2011 Wdl ATM LZ ZhangYe Road 143 GANSU CHN CNY1000.00 $154.13
21/09/2011 Wdl ATM DHNJZHH JIUQUAN CHN CNY1000.00 $153.30
26/09/2011 Wdl ATM CCB CCB.XINJIANGBRANC CCB.XINJIA CHNCNY1000.00 $162.58
07/10/2011 Wdl ATM CCB CCB.XINJIANGBRANC CCB.XINJIA CHNCNY1000.00 $163.96 * Kyrgyz visa money
12/10/2011 Wdl ATM NO100CHANGANZHONGROAD Xian CHN CNY2000.00 $319.12
30/10/2011 Wdl ATM KASHI URUMQI CHN CNY1000.00 $148.75
(Duration 12/08/2011 -> 30/10/2011 = 79days)
China total: $2146.69 $27.17/day **Inaccurate daily average due to visa costs

Kyrgyzstan:
05/11/2011 Wdl ATM ATM 112 “OSH” BRANCH OSH KGZ KGS4000.00 $84.78
10/11/2011 Wdl ATM ATM 474 “ZHIBEK ZHOLU” BISHKEK KGZ USD200.00 $197.04
14/11/2011 Wdl ATM ATM 474 “ZHIBEK ZHOLU” BISHKEK KGZ KGS4500.00 $96.52
22/11/2011 Wdl ATM ATM 474 “ZHIBEK ZHOLU” BISHKEK KGZ USD200.00 $203.98
29/11/2011 Wdl ATM ATM 189 ZHIBEK ZHOLU # BISHKEK KGZ USD200.00 $201.92 *
29/11/2011 Wdl ATM ATM 189 ZHIBEK ZHOLU # BISHKEK KGZ USD200.00 $201.92 * Uzbek+Iran Visa money
(Duration 30/10/2011 -> 29/11/2011 = 30days)
Kyrgyzstan Total: $986.16 $32.87/day **Inaccurate daily average due to visa costs

~~~~~~~~~~ NOTE: At this point the project had failed, I had only just gone over the $5000 limit, not anticipating china costs for tourist locations and visa costs for central asia was the main reason for failure ~~~~~~~

Uzbekistan + Turkmenistan + Iran + Armenia:
10/12/2011 Wdl ATM ATM Khiva Hiva UZB USD500.00 $494.66
** No International ATMs in Turkmenistan or Iran so the money had to be enough to last
(Uzbekistan Duration: 1/12/2011 -> 28/12/2011 = 28 days)
(Turkmenistan Duration: 28/12/2011 -> 1/1/2012 = 4 days)
(Iran Duration: 1/1/2012 -> 25/1/2012 = 25 days)
(Armenia Duration: 25/1/2012 -> 1/2/2012 = 7 days)
4 Countries, 64 days = $494.66 $7.7/day

Georgia:
02/02/2012 Wdl ATM ATM TBC-243 (Tb. Centr Tbilisi GEO GEL200.00 $113.57
07/02/2012 Wdl ATM PCG 10 Chavchavadze Av BATUMI GEO USD100.00 $93.66 **25 USD for the turkey visa
(Duration: 1/2/2012 -> 9/2/2012 = 9 days)
Georgia Total: $207.23 $23.02/day **Inaccurate daily average due to visa costs

Turkey:
09/02/2012 Wdl ATM TRABZON DEGIRMENDERE S TRABZON TUR TRY200.00 $106.91
13/02/2012 Wdl ATM ISBANK/3154-2994/NEVSE NEVSEHIR TUR TRY250.00 $134.00
24/02/2012 Wdl ATM ISBANK/0809-2818/OTOGA MUGLA TUR TRY250.00 $135.37
04/03/2012 Wdl ATM CANAKKALE SB 1 MERKEZ CANAKKALE TUR TRY200.00 $106.31
(Duration: 9/2/2012 -> 10/3/2012 = 31 days)
Turkey Total: $513.28 $16.55/day

~~~ Knowing that I was running on no money, this is when I started to speed up the travel, expensive europe was approaching, couchsurfing and hitchhiking were the only options

Bulgaria:
11/03/2012 Wdl ATM PLOVDIV,AVTOGARA RODOP PLOVDIV BGR BGN200.00 $127.08
19/03/2012 Wdl ATM RFB ATM 056715 SOFIA BGR BGN100.00 $64.04
Serbia:
19/03/2012 Wdl ATM RBRS ILIJE GARASININA BEOGRAD SRB RSD5000.00 $56.60
24/03/2012 Wdl ATM SOCIETE GENERALE SRBIJ BELGRADE SRBRSD5000.00 $57.58
Hungary + Austria:
27/03/2012 Wdl ATM KH BANK BUDAPEST HUN HUF5000000 $219.59
Czech Republic:
06/04/2012 Wdl ATM RAIFFEISENBANK A.S. BRNO CZE CZK2000.00 $104.30
09/04/2012 Wdl ATM CSOB 1702 BRNO BRNO CZE CZK2000.00 $103.27
Germany + Netherlands + Belgium:
18/04/2012 Wdl ATM OSTSAECHSISCHE SPK DRE SBGOMPITZ DEUEUR300.00 $378.17
(Duration: 10/3/2012 -> 8/5/2012 = 58 days)
Total Europe: $1110.63 $19.14/day

Grand Total: $7171.33 in a 12 month journey from Bali to London (not including the 3 week trip back)

Huge thankyou and much love to all of the 32+ couchsurfers who hosted me along the way, they took care of me at every stop of my journey, without them the trip would have been near impossible if not lacking in huge cultural influence. Special thanks to the people in indonesia, turkey and iran who would go out of their way to ensure I was well looked after (yes, all Muslim countries).

Of all the things I experienced during my trip, the one most important influence is that we are all the same. After meeting new people who trusted me into their home every few days for a year, I started to see people in other people – we are a lot simpler to understand than what we expect. No matter how startled or apprehensive a person may look from the outside, they will always find it difficult to avoid returning a genuine smile.

Interesting facts:
– I went through 4 pairs of thongs (flipflops) and 3 pairs of sunglasses; some lost, some broken, some stolen.
– I got the sole of my sneakers hand stitched up by a bootsmith in china when they were coming apart; the first shoe, then the second a week later. I gave these shoes away once I hit snow in kyrgystan, to an italian guy who was flying to south east asia and just gave his boots away to another guy in the hostel.
– I hand stitched with my travel sewing kit; my jumper 4 times, jacket pockets twice, jacket shoulder once. Attempted to hand stitch my jeans, paid $1 to get a chinese tailor to do a much better job. I did this twice before having to buy a new pair in Iran.
– Wore out 4 pairs of socks completely.
– Hand washed my clothes countless times.
– Lost an awesome russian hat. Lost a towel, then claimed a friend’s lost towel when he left a hostel, lost his towel two months later. Lost two pairs of shorts.
– Never had a bad experience (other than getting my phone stolen in Hanoi)