FINANCE
HOW MUCH MONEY NEEDED? CAN I EARN MONEY?
The process here is directly related to your expectations, how much you can give up comfort, in which country you are in. In short, depends on style of traveling. Your first expense will be of course your investment in your bike. Your costs will vary according to the equipment that you will use.
Among other expenses you make on the way; accommodation is the biggest expense. Then there are visas and ticket costs in case of using airplane or train. It is not possible to avoid food expenses. Cafes and restaurants can be expensive, especially if you are in tourist areas. Since drinking water is our fuel, you don't care where and how much money you spend for it. But in most you can get drinking water from nature.
At this stage, we need to think about how we can minimize these costs.
ACCOMODATION
Since our tent is our home, it can reduce the cost of accommodation close to zero. It is necessary to stay in camping places if we can not always find free tent places. Camping prices also vary from country to country. I also saw places where the camp was free for those who came by bike. The couch system is another alternative that is widely used and used extensively all over the world. www.warmshowers.org and www.couchsurfing.com you can find free stay at their home of these website members. This event now has a much larger network than you think. You can stay free at home by browsing these sites and sending messages to people in your area, depending on availability. In addition, the opportunity to meet and chat with new people and taste local dishes is an extra good experience. Warmshowers is a network of cycling travelers, while Couchsurfing is a network for all types of travelers. I haven't seen anything like you can't take advantage of Couchsurfing as a cyclist. Anyone can send and request messages to every site. But, as I said, you may need to consider the current eligibility of the people who will welcome you and have an alternative to a possible situation.
If you have not found a suitable place to set up your tent and you do not want to spend money, you can ask the local police stations, fire brigade and ask. They will help greatly. At least they give you an idea of the place. Gas stations are also convenient and safe places.
You can also rent a room from Airbnb, Booking, Trivago for a fee. At the same time, hostels are always cheaper alternatives. You can decide on your accommodation according to your mood and needs.
VISA
Visa fees are an important part of the increase in costs and it is not possible to stay away from these costs. You will have to pay your visa for the country that you enter. It wouldn't be nice if you enter illegally into the country and got caught. I would not recommend you try :)
How to get visas? How long is it taken? How much is paid?
Each country has its own rules of law and you must follow them. First of all, the visa is personal. So if you're traveling for 2 people, there may be a small chance of not having visa for your partner. If you have an internet site that tells you what you are doing, what you are interested in, or if you can provide information about them if you are running a project, it will help you during your visa application. This will also be an advantage as you will have visas from dozens of countries after a while.
If we talk about visa types; There are visas that you need to go to the consulate and apply for by person, there are e-visas that you can apply online, there are visas to apply at the border crossing. In the standard visa procedure; In case of transition from country to country, you must apply to the consulate of the country where you are going with your passport and wait for the visa to be issued. These processes may vary depending on the situation. This can be 2 days or 1 month.
You can apply for e-visas on the internet. Usually they send the visa to your e-mail address and you go to the door. For border crossing visas, you come to the airport or land border crossing of the country, you pay the money and they give you your visa.
FOOD and DRINK COSTS
Our nutritional costs are naturally inconvenient, but we can save money. It is generally expensive to eat in cafes or restaurants, and there is no such thing that you can find restaurants everywhere. That's why we're gonna cook for ourselves. So, we have to enjoy it first.
We can shop at local markets, grocery stores in order to bring our meals cheaper. We will even have a lot of uncle who sells fruit and vegetables on the roadside and we can shop from them. While wandering in nature, there will be fruit trees on the mountains, slopes, gardens and roadside. You can eat them :) However, it is vital to choose the fruits you know and trust. It is useful to be careful and conscious. As the days, months, years pass, your camping experience improves and your communication with people gets stronger, you will see that your costs are partially reduced. At first, you can behave shyly asking people for camping place to avoid hesitation. But if you say that I don't wanna effort setting my tent and i want to go hotel. Such cases will also increase costs.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION COSTS
We may occasionally have to use vehicles such as planes, trains, ferries or buses sometimes. Ticket prices often can not be changed, but sometimes you can negotiate for bus tickets. In most places, most bus companies will charge an extra small fee for bicycles. Your bargaining skills could work here :)
If you have a plan that will not hinder your time, it will be useful and cheap to buy your flight tickets early.
CAN I MAKE MONEY ON THE ROAD?
While it is possible to make money on the road, it is not easy. So it's actually easy; it is up to one's abilities and some creativity.
I think the most important and effective issue here is how you use your existing money, how much you can save. If you can make good savings, you may not have to deal with making money. Kind of utopian, don't you think? :) Yes it is difficult but not impossible. There are situations where you can use your skills and your mind.
You can have crafts skills; there are those who paint and sell cups, paint-design and sell t-shirts, make and sell bracelets-jewelry, and even saw something; There are people who do hair rastafari (man has a skill like that), who makes money making tattoos ... You can extend the list in line with your skills.
Income can be obtained from internet-software-electronic jobs. Lets say; you know web design and thanks to the internet, you can earn money by buy-and-sell logic. Just internet and a laptop! Google adsense, Amazon affiliate, there are also those who earn revenue. They're also called sales. You may have a website; You are blogging, you have a sales site, you have a Youtube page, you have an Instagram page, you can get income even if it is not too much income from various social media accounts.
If you are a professional photographer and creative in video editing, you can sell your content. If you can reach the people interested in, companies or sponsorships, you can earn income here. They may even find you and make an offer. These situations may vary depending on the quality and richness of your content and their wishes. You can also get a permanent sponsorship. These things do not happen immediately; As you spend effort, produce quality content, earn followers, your popularity increases, your recognition increases and sponsorships come to you. It's not easy, but it's not impossible.
Another possibility is; It may be that you are noticed by governments, consulates, schools and educational units during your travel. They may have information about you and some countries and consulates, especially if you have your website and environmental, peaceful projects that you are running, may be noticed and they invite you. Some educational units may ask you to present, share and tell what you have experienced, what you have seen, for children and young people. They can offer money in return. The rest is up to you.
You can work in voluntary work. This type of work is usually voluntary and is not paid for. However, they can provide accommodation and food. Especially in big cities, the possibility is more. You also get accommodation and food for free in popular / touristic cities, as well as a detailed tour of that city. Nobody wants to stay in big cities in this type of travel. Biking, traffic, etc. the problem is, the city is expensive, to be afraid of bicycle safety. You can have many reservations like this from time to time. If you work in a voluntary work; your bike is safe, accommodation-food comes for free. You will have the opportunity to further develop your language ...
How do you find these things? First, you might ask if hostel-style businesses have a few places to work by knocking the doors. It may sound strange :) But it's happening. The second possibility is the websites that are interested in this business. Some of them are: www.workaway.info , www.helpx.net , www.housecarers.com , www.aupair.com , www.wwoof.net , www.globalworkandtravel.com With these websites, you can work as a volunteer or some of them as a business where you can make money. As an example of the work can be done; There are also babysitting, pet sitting, house cleaning, kitchen assistance, garden layouts, organic farming (you can team up) and other jobs that your employer may want. The system works like this: you volunteer to become a member of such sites (some may be paid memberships), providing you with the necessary connections to meet employers in the country or city where you are looking for work or where you want to go. If you accept your employer's work, you work there. In exchange, they give you a room or a place to stay, the possibility of giving food can change, you can earn money in membership of some sites. In this way, you meet the need for accommodation in that region, you meet your food business according to the situation, you touch the culture of that region and do not spend money. Very nice :))
Another alternative is; you can own a house! If you have a house and you can rent it for money. There are many people who do this. Especially young couples work 3-5 years and buy a house, and when the payment is finished renting out. They do not make any effort to make money (money is coming into account every month) and when the tour is over, your house is still there :) There is nothing to lose. Another situation is that you don't have a home. However, if you assign a certain amount of money to the bank, set an interest, and use one or more of the above methods as supportive, you will do so again. Bike is the cheapest travel tool guys :)
