Monthly Travel Summary, Stats & Budget – June ’16

After nearly 3 months being based in the UK (ok, admittedly I did a few mini trips in that time!) June saw me once again pack all my belongings into my backpack and head off on the next adventure on a one way ticket.

And it was a month that packed in heaps and took me literally to the other side of the world. From London I jetted off to tick yet another country off the bucket list – The Maldives.

I experiences local island life with my buddy Ni from Somewhere Salty chasing waves at Cokes Surf Spot (check out my video of that over on Youtube) before celebrating my birthday on the island paradise of Cinnamon Dhoveli where I enjoyed heaps of waves at their private surf break whilst staying in a water bungalow!

From there me and Erin bounces over to Sri Lanka for some more surf with the La Point Surf Camp team before heading onwards to our final destination of the month – Byron Bay in Australia, where we caught up with my little bro and all my Byron buddies.

It was a month full of beaches, sunshine, waves and lots of cocktails – but after all those flights I’m glad to be staying on firm ground for a bit again!

So here are my stats round up for June 2016;

Overland Distance; 739.92km

Flight Distance; 18185.68km

Total Distance; 18,925.6km

Countries; UK, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Australia

Main Spots; Devon, Thulusdhoo, Cinnamon Dhonveli, Anhamgama, Byron Bay

Transport Taken; car, taxi, minibus, speed boat

Flights – London – Male (Emirates), Male – Columbo (Emirates), Columbo – Brisbane (Emirates)

Money Breakdown

UK – £154.77 over  4 days = £38.69 per day 

Maldives – £445.58 over 14 days = £31.82 per day

Sri Lanka – £292.89 over 10 days = £29.29 per day

Australia – £52.72 over 2 days = £26.36 per day

Total spent – £945.96 over 30 days = £31.53 per day

(full disclosure, Erin paid for part of my stay in the Maldives as part of my birthday present. This would be £200 higher if she hadn’t)

Cheapest Place – Surprisingly enough Byron Bay! I put this down to two things though – firstly I spent a lot of money partying during my last few days at him in the UK and then I was crashing at my little brothers house in Byron which helped keep the costs right down!

Most Expensive Place – Overall it was the Maldives, but that’s mainly due to the following…

Biggest Splurge/Unforeseen Expense – Without a doubt my biggest splurge this month was staying at Cinnamon Dhoveli in The Maldives in an over water bungalow. I will admit though that I didn’t personally pay for it all as the bulk of it was my birthday present from Erin. Massive girlfriend points!

Me and Erin did also splurge for a week at La Point Surf Camps in Sri Lanka too – which was a pretty epic setup!

Highlight –  It has to be living the dream and staying in an over water bungalow at Cinnamon Dhonveli in the Maldives for my birthday and surfing their private surf break! In fact the Maldives in general was freaking amazing! Keep tuned for my posts from there.

Lowlight – It has to be saying goodbye to all my family and friends back in the UK, no clue when I’ll see any of them again which always sucks. Hopefully they’ll come see me on the road again sometime soon!

Top Shot

I shot heaps of awesome pics this month – from surfing to scuba diving with manta rays! My personal favourite though has to be this aerial shot of Dhonveli (taken with my DJI Phantom 3 Advanced) where I spent my birthday – tropical paradise! I was staying in one of the over water bungalows at the top of the shot overlooking the waves!

What’s Next?

I’m based in Australia for the next few months chilling and surfing in Byron Bay, but there’s plenty of mini road trips to be had – I’ve actually just got back from a weekend on Fraser Island with Stephen of A Backpackers Tale which I’m currently editing up some video from.

So stayed tuned for more Aussie goodness!