Kuinka budjetoida?

Multa on nyt pariin otteeseen kysytty rahan keräämisen ja budjetin suhteen, niin pistetäänpä vastaus nyt samalla postaukseen :)

Oon rahottanu matkani tekemällä niska limassa duunia mm. kassalla (tätä ennen muilla paskaduuneilla kuten siivoomiselle, subwaylla ja PUHELINMYYNNILLÄ) ja säästämällä lähes kaiken. Oon tehny valintani, että en muuta vielä himasta pois ja se on suuri etu. Se että asun vielä vanhemmillani mahdollistaa sen, että voin säästää lähes kaiken kun ei ruokaa tai vuokraa tartte maksaa. Olen siitä hyvin kiitollinen vanhemmilleni :)

Rahaa tarttee sen verran kuin tarvitsee lentolippuihin + budjettiin. Eli kandee laskee niin, että lennot + vakuutus + mahd. rokotukset + mahd. hankinnat (esim. rinkka ja muut asiat, joita joudut ostamaan) + mahd. viisumit + mahd. kulut, joita joudut matkan aikana maksamaan (esim. puhelinliittymä, jos oot pistäny sen sellaselle “on hold” -liittymälle, josta maksat esim. vain euron kuussa) + päivä budjetti x pvt + kandee aina varata EXTRA rahaa, koska aina tulee jotain paskoja eteen, joihin meneekin enemmän rahaa, kun on laskenut. + jos tiedät, että haluat esim. hypätä laskuvarjohypyn, niin kannattaa ottaa selvää, paljonko se maksaa, ja varaa sen verran ylimääräistä myös.



Esim. itse varasin Balille pelkkää budjettia varten 20e/pv x 30pv = 600e + 200e extraa. Sit päälle tietty lääkkeet (esim. japanin aivokuume, josta pulitin 240e, malarialääke) + vakuutus + jotkut pikkusälät, joita jouduin ostamaan (rinkat sun muut mulla on onneks jo edellisiltä reissuilta) ja lennot tietty.

Pakko nyt jälkiviisaana sanoa, että meni VÄHÄN enemmän rahaa tuolla Balilla, kun mitä olin odottanut :D Toisaalta, en kuitenkaan noudattanut mitään niin suuria Backpacker-periaatteitani rahan käytön suhteen, koska kyseessä oli joululoma, jolla halusin oikeasti rentoutua ja pitää hauskaa (koska olin raatanut viimeiset 5 kuukautta niska limassa koulutöitä ja duunia tehden), joten baarissa tuli käytyä välillä, vaikkei päiväbudjetti sitä olisikaan sallinut.

Kannattaa myös ottaa huomioon, että välillä sattuu haavereita, jonka vuoksi on hyvä olla mukana luottokortti. Maksaessasi lääke- ja sairaalakuluja kerää kaikki kuitit talteen ja pyydä vaadittavat todistukset, jotta saat kerättyä rahasi vakuutukseltasi helposti.



Myös yksin matkustamisen hyvistä ja huonoista puolista on kyselty, ja niistä voi olenkin jo kirjoittanut tänne.

Kirjotin tuon tekstin puolisen vuotta sitten, joten voisin lisätä jotain tuosta yksin matkustamisesta Interrailiin ja Baliin verraten: Mun mielestä oli IHANAA istua junissa yksin, kun pysty vaan keskittyä siihen olemiseen, maisemien ohi vilahteluun ja omissa ajatuksissa seikkailuun. Vietin myös Portugalissa ollessani yhden onnellisimmista päivistä, kun matkakumppaninani oli pelkästään kamera ja iPodi lähtiessäni lautalla Costa da Caparican -niemelle. Tuntui vaan niiiin hyvältä olla yksin ja nauttia olemisesta ja ympäristöstä.

Jos en olisi ollut yksin reilillä, niin tuskin myöskään olisin hengaillut paikallisten lifeguardejen kanssa portugalissa, tutustunut belgialaisiin poikiin junassa Berliiniin  tai voinut noin vain lentää Tomin pyytämänä hänen setänsä luo Lontooseen (hyläten kaikki alkuperäset suunitelmat "en helvetis tuhlaa aikani johonki Englantiin!").

Balilla taas kun selvisi, että hostelleja saarella ei ole (paria lukuun ottamatta, jotka itse asiassa maksavat saman verran tai enemmän kuin hotellit!), ei yksin reissaaminen ollut oikein vaihtoehto. Onneksi Jassu oli samaisella saarella niin pystyttiin jakamaan asumiskustannukset. Mutta kun tiemme erosivat, oli kuitenkin niin paljon jännempää tallustaa rinkka selässä sitä tietä yksinään, vaikka kuinka hauskaa (ja sekavaa) meillä oli ollutkin Kutalla sun muualla ;) Kun ei ollut reissussa sen kotoa tutun tytön kanssa, tutustui paljon useampaan ihmiseen ja päivätkään eivät olleet niin arvattavia.

Olen tullut siihen tulokseen, että kyllä se yksin matkustaminen vain on kivempaa. Vaikka vietettiinkin Jassun kanssa tehtiin koettiinkin yhdessä vaikka mitä liftaamisesta bikini waxeihin, niin I can't help to think, että mitäköhän kaikkea muuta olisi tapahtunut, jos olisi backpackanut tän kuukauden ihan omillaan? Toisaalta - everything happens for a reason - en usko, että olisin tavannut kaikkia niitä ihania ihmisiä (mm. Milka <3), jos olisin tehnyt jotain toisin.

Costa da Caparica

27.7 Costa da Caparica, Portugal



Photo by Raphael Diaz

Today was by far one of the best days of my trip so far.
Thank you good karma !!!

But before getting into detail about how karma rewarded me with, i'll start from the begining.

I had decided the day before that I would go surfing to Costa de Caparica so after having breakfast with Lien, moving my luggage from the room to the other one (i want o stay in the cheapest room for 12.5€ so I have to change rooms two times.. :D)  and getting my stuff ready, I headed to the kiosk downstairs to charge the public transport card Lien had given me. Unfortunately the lady working there only knew Portugease, so I couldn't really communicate with her in Spannish nor understand anything of what she was saying to me. I decided to 'fuck it' and strolled to the terminal, where from the ferry would leave to the island. The guy working there told me in (English!) that the next one would leave in 50 minutes so I tried to figure out how to kill the remaining time.



I decided to go the near by café and have a coffee and finally taste that famous pastry "pastéis de nata". I've been getting by just fine by talking Spannish to people (after - of course - asking them "hablas español") but when I ordered a "café con leche" (café latte) I got this tiniest cup of dark coffee in it - an espresso. I don't like that stuff but I didn't really care so I just sat outside with my delicious pastry, coffee and my brilliant book in my hand. I was just feeling so incredibly happy. I don't know if it also had to do with the fact that I was in the middle of a good happy happy joy joy chapter in "The Marching Powder", but at that point I just felt so good.



I got on the ferry and watched the beautiful scenery and smelled the ocean. Oh, how I love that smell... :) I'm so happy that next summer I'll be smelling the ocean for three weeks if everything goes as planned...! When we arrived in Trafaría, I found out that the bus was due to leave in 20 minutes so I just wandered around for a bit. I felt almost ecstatic. It was such a beautiful day - the sun was shining, I was walking on a freaking peninsula in Portugal, the scenery and the buildings were ashtonishing and I was about to surf (finally!!!). I was just so unbelivably happy. And also, just so grateful to be traveling on my own. Once again I was going through a list in my head of things that I appreciated about traveling alone. I just loved it how I could fully absorb everything without any interference. If I were to travel with someone, it would mean that I would need to keep that person company - which would mean talking. Don't get me wrong, I love long conversations but sometimes it's just pleasant to be in silence and enjoy the environment.



After the bus journey I was dropped off at Costa de Caprica and I wandered to the beach. I was looking for this surf shop the receptionist in my hostel had recommended for me. He told me he had a friend working there ("just ask for philippe") and that I could rent a board and a wet suit from him. I had to get my map out to see what the street was called and suddenly this guy in board shorts, who was passing me, asked me in English whether I was looking for something. I gestured at the address and he told me he knew that place and asked whether I was looking to buy a surf board.

"No, I just wanna rent one and a wet suit too. I'm staying at this hostel and my receptionist told me that his friend works at this surf shop."
"Ok I know where it is, I know the owner too."
"Oh, really?" (thinking that I'd better get a good deal know)
"Yeah it's just there *points at the flags of the shop* But I mean I have a board and a wet suit, you culd just borrow them."
"Really? That would be sweet, for how much?"
"For free"
"No way, that would be so nice of you! What kind of board do you have? Long or short board?"
"Both."
"Well could I borrow the long board? I don't really have any paddle power for the short one."


So yeah. Good fucking karma. I saved so much money today and hang out the whole day with the coolest life guards. A wettie would've cost me 20e for haf a day (so fucking expensive!!) and a board god knows what. I was so grateful for Rafa, the Portuguese life guard that lent me his board :) I went surfing and was froffin'... It was so good to be in the ocean again and all those bad memories from Morocco, that I might've combined with surfing in my sub concious, where whiped away :) After surfing I was just hanging out in the life guard tower with Rafa and his work mate Mali, a Brazilian guy. Just sun bathing, enjoying life and reading my book. I was just so amazingly happy. Eating my fruit and smiling to myself :) "Life is better when you surf" - so true.

It was funny when Rafa left out for lunch and I stayed back with Mali. He doesn't speak really any English so I was having a conversation about Brazil (world cup, weather and how they have winter when we have summer) with him in my basic Spannish and his Spannish/Portuguese :D Amazingly we did actually succeed in having a convo and I was just even more proud of my Spannish skills :D



Mali and Rafa have to use radio phones while working so at one point I just grabbed the phone and started chatting into it in English/Spannish about taking Mali and Rafa as hostage and how I "Necesito dinero rápidamente" !!! Mali was cracking up also - when after talking into the radio phone - he sighted very loudly and I told him "Hard work, hey". Yeah, so hard, sitting on the beach the whole day and looking at girls !

I was a bit bummed that I had't taken my camera with me (I left everything valuable back home and didn't even take a wallet with me so that I could go into the ocean without a worry) but luckily Rafa had his camera with him. He has a Nikon D200 and a SICK lense.... It was a sigma 200-500mm and cost him 2000e..... eheheee. (He is a photographer while he is not rescuing lives on the beach). We made some great "baywatch photos" and he promised to e-mail them to me. I told him that tomorrow I would come to Costa de Caprica with my camera so I could take some photos myself and surf some more (since I can use hi board again, yay !). He invited me to stay and have dinner with him and his friends tomorrow so I might do that too.



When I left home after five hours on the beach (I applied sun screen many times!) it took me two fucking hours to get back to my hostel so all the shops were closed since it was half past nine already. Luckily had some stuff at the hostel so I made a salad (without feta boo) and joked aroun with Lien and Marta. Too bad the girls are leaving tomorrow but yeah, I don't think I would be hanging at the hostel that much anyways... TIME TO SURF!