How I Calculate My Bike Touring Expenses

Here’s a look at the way I keep track of how much I spend when bicycle touring around the world. Includes why I am using three base currencies, a rolling tally of the trip costs, and other insights.

Why do I even bother tracking bike touring expenses?

That’s a pretty good question! Honestly, it is a pain to constantly update various spreadsheets, and then update this page with the various costs involved in the cycling tour.

However, I’ve started so I will carry on!

A little further on in this article, you’ll see a breakdown of the costs incurred so far during the Cycling Everywhere bike tour. Before that though, I’ll describe how I keep track of expenses, and why I do it the way I do.

Three base currencies (GBP is the main one)

Cycling around the world involves getting to grips with different currencies in different countries. For example one week you might be spending Albanian Lek, and another week Serbian Dinar.

This means keeping track of what is spent on the bike tour is not always straightforward, especially when conversion rates are taken into account.

My solution to this is to make a calculation each day of what I have spent using the daily conversion rate into GBP. I then use that same day’s rate to calculate that GBP amount into USD and Euros. This is as much for any readers of this bike touring blog as my own use.

I make the calculation on the day, because currency exchange rates can fluctuate and over time make quite significant differences.

Banks I use

I predominantly use Revolut and Wise bank accounts. These banks also allow me to keep multiple currencies, so I might have balances for GBP, Euro, and USD in each one. If traveling in a country with a supported balance currency, I might also pre-exchange some money into a local balance if I think it is worth it.

This is useful in several cases: I can cost average currency exchanges between accounts, and also avoid weekend exchange fees.

Talking of which – ATM fees and exchange fees are also expenses I will track during the bike tour. Past experience has shown that these can add up to surprising amounts over time.

I haven’t included upfront costs of gear and equipment

The bicycle touring gear I am using has been accumulated over a long time. For example, the bike itself was bought new in 2013! It would be impossible to put an accurate number on how much I have spent on my bike touring kit pre-trip, so I am simply not including the cost of that.

All expenses I record are ongoing costs starting from day 1 of the bike tour.

Types of expenses I record

All the costs and expenses I record are related to the bike trip. This will include any visa costs, gear replacement, bank charges for my ‘travel accounts’, flights, ferries, food – and well you get the picture!

If during the bike tour I have to return to the UK for let’s say a family emergency, I’ll record this also as a bike touring expense.

The idea here is that I will be as transparent as possible about how much my cycle tour costs. This might be helpful to curious readers or anyone planning their own cycling trips.

My bike touring budget

Important note: I am not setting off with the intention of making this the cheapest bikepacking trip possible. At the same time, I’m don’t have the intention of spending crazy amounts of money either!

I’m happy wild camping where convenient. I’ll stay at official campsites if there are any. I fully expect to stay in cheap hotel/studio accommodation at least once a week.

Basically, I’ll take each day as it comes and not lock myself in to mentally trying to spend as little as possible every single day. I’d prefer to enjoy the experience of the ride rather than worrying about the pennies.

Cycling Everywhere Bike Touring Expenses

Here’s a look at the expenses of the bicycle tour so far (June 10th 2025 update):

I’ll be updating this page with detailed expense breakdowns as the trip progresses, so check back regularly for the latest figures!