Traveling with Rhona: How Did I Do It?

I knew I had to write another blog when someone came up to me today and asked me how I got Rotary International to pay for my one year trip! On a different day, someone asked me if The Well of Hope Foundation paid for my travel! Some thought I went on a mission, perhaps paid for by my church. No, Rotary did not pay for my trip. The Well of Hope did not pay for my travels. The church did not pay for me to go on a mission. I will tell you how I did it. All the actual details will be in my book that will someday be for sale :)

In India, I lived here for about a month before moving into...

this lovely home with this amazing family :0

I miss you guys. I will return....

I paid for my trip out of my own pocket. My budget was $1,000 per month. I am an accountant. I am good with money. I also raised a large family on a tight budget, so I know how to stretch a dollar. I budgeted $500 for monthly living expenses like rent, food, utilities, internet and phone. The other $500 went for travel expenses.

Uh, this is in China. This food is too local for me!!

Setting up a new internet system and a new phone was always the highest priority upon arriving in any country. In Chile, there was a wireless system in the house so it cost nothing. In Ethiopia, though, it cost about $120 (yes, US dollars) to get the internet modem, minutes, and phone set up. In Uganda I was using a borrowed modem, so the cost was just the monthly refill of about $40/mnth. Every country I was in had a prepaid phone system, so you pay for the minutes before you use them. Local calls are always cheap. In Uganda, I once made a 1 hour and 15 minute phone call to my daughter for 13,000UGX (less than $6), but calling out of country in India was way too expensive.

Partaking of the local dishes is important when traveling :) Yum!! (Argentina)

For my rent, each country was different. I did not stay in fancy hotels. I lived with the local people. In Chile, the family of my Rotary Exchange Student (Emilia's family) refused to take my money. So I saved that boarding money for three months and I took Emilia and I to Machu Picchu, Peru. In Argentina, we stayed at a hostel for a mere $10 a night. In Uganda I rented a room for less than $200 a month. India was my most expensive, but I learned I was being overcharged at the Yoga Ashram. I was paying $500 for room and board and yoga, but that left no room for my phone, internet or personal expenses. The arrangement only lasted for 25 days and then I found a better, cheaper place to live. In Ethiopia I stayed at a friend's house; she was not in the country at the time. I paid for my food and the house helper, and I made a contribution to her Joy Center. Living on the economy in a foreign country and away from the tourist hotels opens your eyes to the real world.

In Chile, I stayed with Emilia's family.

In Uganda, I rented a small apartment.

My bed was my desk, my dining table, and my sitting room.

I avoid eating at the tourist hotels or the "white people" (mazungu) places. They are always the most expensive place in town; places like coffee huts, internet cafes, ice cream shops, hotels. A typical meal at a tourist hotel in Uganda is 16,000UGX ($6.40)!! A meal in a local, nice cafe is 5,000UGX ($2)! After living in a place long enough, one refuses to pay such "exorbitant" prices too often. Even though by US Standards, $6 is a cheap dinner, in Uganda, that $6 can pay for 3 nice meals in a local joint. I have even eaten a VERY good meal for 2,000UGX, which is less than $1. I only ate out once a day for the main meal. The rest of my meals were simple local foods like bananas, avocado, peanuts, peanut butter and rolls, etc. Snacking is non existant in almost every country I visited, and that is probably the main reason I lost weight. I wasn't exposed to chips, cookies, cakes, etc. Just good, solid, fresh food. Nothing in a box or a can.

Lots of good seafood and fresh produce in Chile

Now the second $500 each month went to my next air ticket. If I stayed for three months in one place, I had a $1,500 budget for my next move. One way tickets can be cheap if you meet several criteria. First, you need an excellent travel agent. I have a fellow Rotarian friend that owns a travel business in Seattle, and he is REALLY good at finding me cheap tickets. If I can fly at God awful hours, and if I am flexible with my dates, and if I am not air-line loyal, cheap one-way tickets and sometimes round trip tickets are available. I flew one way to South America, one way to Uganda, and the others were round trips. My trip to England was the only trip ever paid for by a very generous friend, and it was to participate in a very special ceremony in England with the Ethiopian Ambassador and my new friends. I wrote about it a few blogs back.

Local Uganda meal.

Typical Ethiopian Local food.

This is how I went to 10 countries in 11 months; Chile, Peru, Argentina, Uganda, Kenya, China, India, Ethiopia, England, and back to the United States. $1,000 a month. I lived with the locals, ate local food, didn't buy many souvinirs, and kept my entertainment costs simple. If I settle down and stop flying around, my living costs might be more like $6,000/year! Plus the cost of coming home for the holidays...

What will I do different next time? I already have some ideas. First, I am taking a small, portable DVD player, and alot of DVD TV series that I love. This helps at night time when there is no electricity. I am going to get an Amazon Kindle that I can have MANY books downloaded on. English books are sometimes hard to find, and you have to read what you find on a shelf. I want to have a solar phone charger on hand. I now know the clothes that I will actually use. I still have all of the essential flashlights, safety gear, etc. I want to get a can of mace spray. Wait, wait, wait!! I am getting WAY AHEAD of myself! It is still late November and I am in Hawaii. I know that I cannot plan for more than two months out because my life is changing too fast. It is time for me to put away my computer, and get out there for my daily walk along the beautiful ocean shore. The whales are supposed to be jumping. Maybe today.....