Introduction

 

“Calamyti 2011” is still mostly empty. This part of http://trvl2.com is there for us to post ideas, plans and background information about the Calamyti project, even before we go on that trip (it's also here to test and make sure that the website creation software works as it should).

We'll set out beginning of November 2011 and return in March 2012. First we'll fly into Bangkok, then explore Thailand's northeast for some three weeks. End of November, we'll hop over to Singapore and afterwards spend a month touring Malaysia. Next is Cambodia, followed by Laos. Finish is a few days in Thailand before we head back to the UK.

Planning the Trip

(A few comments by Vero, who does most of the planning.)

When we depart, we usually have our flight tickets booked and nothing else. We do have a plan and a quite clear idea of what we want to see and achieve, but nothing is fixed, all can be changed as we go and as we feel (which sometimes happens). This does not discourage me to spend hours and hours in the preparations of the journey: I love to read the guide books, invent routes, and imagine what will happen, this is a very much cherished part of the whole experience.

Thomas leaves it to me to check the route and do most of the packing though he is responsible for all technical aspects, ie loading music onto our MP3 players, selecting the battery chargers etc.

As to the budgeting process, we have both our own approach:

I tend to do it the “hard” way and it takes me about two weeks:

1. Define for each country an average price for accommodation per night
2. Define for each country an average cost for food and drink per day
3. Painstakingly detail each transport leg and estimate the price (thank you Lonely Planet)
4. Select likely museums and attractions to be visited and capture their cost
5. Round up everything and eventually, come to a final budget

Thomas does it very differently and it takes him 10 minutes:

1. Define for each country an average price for accommodation per night
2. Define for each country an average cost for food and drink per day
3. Estimate transport cost for each country visited
4. Estimate entry fees and collateral expenses
5. Add x% and that's it

You'll be pleased to know that, in the case of CaLaMyTi, both approaches arrived at very similar figures.

So here are the results of our planning activities:

• You can check our current planned itinerary in this detailed Google Map (while browsing the map, please note that the listings on the left hand side are in chronological order and that clicking on the relevant marker will bring up some information on each destination).
• And me being me, the queen of Excel and pivot tables, I could not resist the urge to create some nice charts to share the result of all my budgeting efforts (I have somehow to justify the two weeks turn-around time!):
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$updated from: Miscellany.htxt Tue 25 Oct 2011 14:07:14 trvl2$