Money money money!

[roundtheworld]

Hiya
Coming from the UK in September and planning to cycle the pacific coast route (with a few detours no doubt).  Am tempted by the trans america route but it's bit to late then innit.
How much on average do you spend per day on tour?  Normal cycling food is pasta/rice, veg n sauce- just cheap basically.
Planning to camp.  Probably mainly wild camping (use campsites for a decent shower now n then)- anyone had any problems with that?  I'm not gonna have the police wakin me up in the mornin am I?

Ta. Sarah.

[aggie]

There are a lot of hiker/biker sites along the Pacific Coast trail that only charge $5-$10 per night.  Many, but not all, of these sites also have showers.  In the more remote areas I doubt anyone will bother you if you "wild" camp.  As you get closer to the cities you could have a problem although you should be able to find areas where people let you camp in their yards.  Take a look at warmshowers.org for places on your route that may offer a spot in the cities.  If you buy all your food at grocery stores and cook it yourself, you should be able to get by on $10-$15 per day.

[staehpj1]

How much on average do you spend per day on tour?

It varies depending on the tour.  I might go as cheap as $10 a day some places to a good bit more others.

On the West coast I'd probably stay in the cheap hiker/biker sites.  I think they were $4 in Oregon and $3 in California last time I checked.  On the TA or other trips across the middle of the country I camp in town parks, church yards, or someones yard usually with either permission or after at least after having spoken to someone to get an idea if I am likely to be bothered.

I would also eat in restaurants more than usual when on the West coast usually second breakfast and lunch with first breakfast (usually only a granola bar or instant oatmeal) and dinner cooked in camp.  I love to try to find a fish shack type place for lunch.

So overall I'd spend more per day on the coast than on the TA.  So I might be close to $20 a day.  I could probably get by on less, but I am less likely to on that route.

Have a great trip.  It is a beautiful coast.

[geegee]

Budget-wise, though, you should account for much, much more than that. There's the odd time you'l want to check into a motel when it is miserable out, or splurge on a good dinner. Then there's other things you'll want to do, admission fees to pay to see things...after all there's more to touring than just pedalling. There's also spare parts, inner tubes and other consumables you'll have to buy. Factor in that you are a foreigner and there will be things you'll find that you cant get at home. Personally, after I add up all the bills, often times it averages out to about $40 to $50 a day.

[johnsondasw]

On the Pacific Coast we spent about $20-$25 per day.  We camped every night with hot showers in the state campgrounds, and the prices varied from $2 -$5.  Great deal!  Quarters for showers.  We always cooked our own dinner, but often ate out for breakfast or lunce.  We made daily grocery store stops for supplies and therefore carried less weight than if we'd stocked up.  It's a great trip with very conveniently located campgrounds and towns.  I'll hopefully do it again.

[staehpj1]

Personally, after I add up all the bills, often times it averages out to about $40 to $50 a day.

Out of curiosity is that counting only daily expenses or are you counting airfare, shipping the bike, maps, and other stuff bought pre or post tour?  Personally I can't see myself spending that much, but some spend more.

I think if you count buying the bike, racks, and panniers and also count airfare and other pre or post tour expenses we still came in at good bit less than that on our Trans America.

On my spring tour I didn't cook, ate restaurant food most of the time, and stayed in a motel half the time.  Not counting air and train fare I think it came in at a bit under $30 a day.  That was in Kansas where motels are generally real cheap.  Being a cheapskate, I think that is about the max I am likely to spend.

[velo]

On the Northern Tier last summer I averaged somewhere between $20-30/day. This was camping every night and mostly cooking my own food but eating very well. I probably ate a meal in a cafe 2-3 times per week. This was with a group of 4 so we were able to split the cost of more expensive campsites as needed.  At least on the NT there is a fair amount of free or very cheap camping in city parks and such.

[John Nelson]

Per-person costs will vary with the size of the group. Multiple people can share motel costs and campground costs, and food can be purchased in larger quanties.

[PeteJack]

A very rough rule of thumb is $1 per mile. If you do like a young man I met in Virginia and live out of dumpsters you can probably bring this down.

[staehpj1]

A very rough rule of thumb is $1 per mile. If you do like a young man I met in Virginia and live out of dumpsters you can probably bring this down.

I am curious if you are credit card touring, camping, cooking, etc.  Also are you including airfare and other expenses than daily stuff.  $1 per mile seems really high unless it is moteling it the whole way or doing pretty low daily mileage.  I am not knocking it just curious what it is based on.

[Westinghouse]

I did motels, hostels, HBs, but mostly free camping on the PCBR in 1993. No problems with free camping. Plenty of sources of food and drink. Cities require hostels or motels and some have campgrounds. The PCBR is hilly as hell but a great ride.

[johnsondasw]

A very rough rule of thumb is $1 per mile. If you do like a young man I met in Virginia and live out of dumpsters you can probably bring this down.

For our whole Pacific Coast trip, we came in less than half of that.  We camped every night and occassionally ate out.  And I'm including the Amtrac ride back from LA to Seattle.

[rvklassen]

Perhaps something a bit more concrete would help.

Your costs include getting there and back, which I assume you can figure out.
Also bike preparation and maintenance, which I don't expect you need help with.

The parts that you might not know by virtue of being from afar would be food and lodging.

Lodging I'm guessing the other answers have pretty much covered.  As in the cost is all over the map depending on whether you can/wish to wild camp or stay in fancy hotels, or somewhere between.  And other than campsite costs (which have pretty much been answered), the rest you'll find at least a good estimate by doing some web searches.

So that leaves food.  And of course it depends on how you choose to eat.  If you prepare your own food from what you're able to pick up locally, you should have no particular difficulty staying within spitting distance of $10 per person-day.  And that's eating pretty well.  You could do it on the cheap for half of that, or do it on the cheap some of the time and eat in restaurants with the residual.

If you only eat in restaurants, but you're not looking for anything fancy, you'll find yourself paying anywhere from $3-5 when you luck out to $7-12 when you don't, for breakfast; slightly more for lunch, and it'll be tough to meet your caloric needs and eat healthily for less than $7-10 for supper.   Of course if you want the occasional "nice" meal, the sky's the limit depending on what you happen across, and choose to order.

[roundtheworld]

Spent about £200 in 1000miles in europe, including a weeks stay in a hostel in rome, so don't really think I'm gunna manage to spend a dollor per mile.  Thanks for your comments everyone.

[adventure100]

Hi to all of you..I'm a new member here,I am a fan of cycling and I just wanted to salute you all..