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Wondering what I spent to travel around the world for nearly a full year?

Read on, my friend, and let’s get down and dirty with the full details for budgeting for a RTW trip and the price breakdown.

My full tally is complete, I traveled around the world for for 328 days (11 months) and tracked what I spent, what each and every country cost, and where I could have done better.

(Just want the cold hard figures? Skip the right to my full RTW Travel Budget–navigate this Google spreadsheet by country at the top!).

Many people have asked me, “How can you afford to travel around the world?!”

This is hands down and without a doubt the question I’ve answered the most often – even before “what’s your favorite place you’ve visited?” Well, as most of you have surmised by now, I do not live off of a trust fund but instead budgeted for the trip, sold my possessions, worked on freelance SEO from the road and came to the same conclusions as those backpackers who have adventurously gone before me: RTW travel is cheaper than you think!

I’m quite meticulous and managed to pretty accurately document all of my expenses from this RTW trip. My almost OCD obsession with accurately tracking my expenses is epic but in the two years since I originally posted this breakdown, other backpackers have loved the precise and exact breakdown of just how much I spent throughout a year of active world travel.

The total cost of my RTW trip: $17,985

You’re shocked right now, I know, I sprang it on you out of nowhere! Close the gaping jaw.

That’s it?!

Yes. Fully and completely inclusive of everything from getting jabbed in the arm for my Yellow Fever vaccine to buying all of my pre-travel gear, all of my plane flights, bus rides, camel safaris, surfing lessons, zip-lining adventures in the Laos jungle, and straight through to my first sub back on home soil when I passed through Philly on my final layover of the trip.

What does this not include? Personal choices that upped the price bit: an external hard drive for photo storage, new camera (old one waterlogged in Australia), and I rented a car alone in Ireland (most backpacker budgets wouldn’t allow for this so I included my car’s petrol to approximate the cost of public transportation for three weeks). My personal total, inclusive of all of that, just under $19,000…still a bargain!

How Did I Keep my RTW Budget in Check?

Four deceptively simple travel tips:

• Consider staying in a hostel to keep your budget in check.  They’re a great place to meet new people (and private rooms mean they work for couples and families too). I love the self catering facilities offered at most, and pretty much always dig a free breakfast…YUM! HostelBookers is a good option to use because you can book online and they don’t charge booking fees.
• Keep a budget spreadsheet for all of your expenses! Seriously, while I think you should splurge and enjoy throughout your RTW, if you are truly budgeting then know where your money goes. Download the RTW budget spreadsheet I designed for other travelers; it’s formated, blank, and editable.
• Limit time in the Western world. Developing countries cost significantly more for travelers, so structure your time so you don’t wipe out your savings by staying too long in Europe, Australia, or the US.
• Travel slowly and overland. Avoid purchasing too many plane tickets and take local transportation – better stories and a better insight into local cultures is the upside!

Now, the following tables and charts will further outline my RTW budget including some of the country-by-country expenses. And because I just had to go that extra mile, my complete-down-to-the penny budget is available for viewing; the budget spreadsheet includes every single expense itemized out in an absolutely gorgeous Google spreadsheet if I can toot my own horn for a moment!

Also, don’t forget to check out the well-loved RTW FAQ and Travel Planning Guide as well as our blank, formatted spreadsheet as a downloadable excel file to log your own RTW travel budget!

RTW Travel Budget Breakdown

Total cost for each category

**Lodging: All accomodation with some couchsurfing and a few contacts along the way.
**Food: Snacks, meals, and my chocolate obsession.
**Entertainment: Going out on the town – this will be higher if you drink often.
**Activities: Includes my volunteer program and all tour, trips, and group adventures.
**Transportation: Excluding flights and all intra-country transportation.
**Misc: Shipping things home, gifts, and toiletries along the way.
**Interent: I work from the road and paid a lot for internet at times – lower if you’re not taking a laptop!
**Flights: Includes MANY puddle-jumper little flights. Did not use a RTW ticket, booked along the way (and still happy I did it that way!)

RTW Budget: Average Daily Costs per Country

RTW Budget:Total Costs of Each Country and Number of Travel Days

**This total does not include flights, travel gear, and other misc. Only the actual on-the-road costs.

Resources Mentioned in the Post:

• My full RTW budget and expenses as a Google Document that will open in your browser.
• A clean spreadsheet to track your own expenses as you travel around the world.
• RTW FAQ and Travel Planning Guide
• Should you start your own RTW Travel Blog?