Last updated on January 6, 2025 by Shannon
When I left on my first round the world trip, I asked veteran travelers a key question: How much does it cost to travel the world?
It was the single biggest factor impacting which destinations I could visit in my one year around the world.
Estimates vary wildly, and you need to know how long your travel savings will last on the road. Over my first year, I tracked every single dollar I spent while traveling. Since then, I have traveled the world for an additional 18+ years. Here’s exactly what you need to know to plan a budget, mid-range, or more splurge-worthy round the world trip.
How Much Does Traveling the World Cost?
Every travel style is different, but these rough estimates should help you ballpark your own yearlong trip. And know that traveling as a couple or family does not directly double or triple the costs because lodging and transport are shared expenses.
A trip around the world for one person for one year has a baseline cost of $20,000. This estimation falls in line with recommendations that budget travelers can spend an average of $50 a day on the road—though that’s a lot harder after the pandemic. But even on this low end, it allows additional budget for flights and vaccines. With $20,000, you can travel to one-to-three continents and 10-15 countries that are mostly low-cost destinations.
- You could travel with as little as US $12,000 per year if you stick to one region with three month stops on one spot—overland for a year from Mexico to Argentina; overland through Southeast Asia; backpacking India and Nepal.
- Plan on spending $1,200 as the lowest possible figure if you’re moving slowly and overland. You can only average $1,000 a month if you’re stopping for a month or more within your year.
- The price of a one-year budget trip jumps to US $25,000 to visit many regions rapidly—you’ll hit more like $75 a day.
For a mid-range trip, plan on spending at least $32,000 to upgrade your trip with more upscale accommodation (few hostels) and direct transportation (versus all public transport).
World travel costs for budget-luxury world travelers can run as much as $50,000—or much more!
The bottom line: Decide on your own route, travel style, and goals before you can develop an accurate anticipated budget for travel.
Estimated Costs: Budget Travel
Based on my own, real round the world trip expenses to 15 countries in 11 months—I spent $17,985 in 2008—this table is where your money will go on a budget trip where you travel to budget mostly budget destinations, on about three to four continents in 2025 dollars. You can visit Europe or Australia for about four weeks on this budget, if you balance it with time in very low-cost destinations.
On this budget, you’re cooking your own meals a lot of the time in pricey locations, and eating budget street food. You’re staying in hostels, dorms, or private rooms with shared bathrooms. You can still afford to see the sights and take day tours, but all in moderation.
| Travel Expense | Cost (USD$) |
|---|---|
| Flights | $4,250 |
| Lodging | $3,500 |
| Food | $3,200 |
| Activities + Entertainment | $4,500 |
| Transportation | $2,000 |
| Misc (extra gear, gifts, etc) | $1,800 |
| Visas | $250 |
| Pre-Trip Travel Gear | $500 |
| Vaccines | $500 |
| TOTAL | $20,500 |
Get inspired to travel: A few of my favorite travel books include: The Geography of Bliss, Wild, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Great Railway Bazaar, and Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
Estimated Costs: Mid-Range Travel
For a mid-range budget, on $32,000 you’re looking at either the same locations as the budget trip, but upgraded accommodation, food, and transport. Or you can travel frugally—hostels, homemade meals, and throw in some extra time in Europe, Oceania, the U.S. and surprisingly pricey destinations like Japan.
If you’re a digital nomad, you’ll likely net out around this figure even if you’re spending three months or more in one spot, mostly because the digital nomad hotspots and lifestyle tend more toward mid-range. Once I was 10 years into my own world travels, I nearly always upgraded my accommodation to private rooms at hostels, paid for the tours I wanted, and ate at nicer places a few times for week. If you’re in cheap places, you can splurge a bit more.
Estimated Costs: Budget Luxury Travel
Luxury travel is going to set you back $80,000 or more, but budget luxury means you’re still traveling in the spirit of a backpacker, but with more money behind you to pay for extras.
With $50,000, you could visit the much of the world, stopping at iconic spots and moving at a much more clipped pace than lower-cost trips. You’re not staying at 5-star hotels on this budget, but rather well-rated hotels and B&Bs and Airbnbs. You can afford to eat your hotel breakfast, and then eat out for other meals, so long as it’s reasonable and local food. You may budget in big expenses like a helicopter ride over Victoria Falls, or a hot air balloon over Bagan in Myanmar, but you’re also good to take a free walking tour of a new city.
What Impacts the Price of Your World Travels?
- How much you’ve already saved for your trip. I traveled the world with debt I was paying off, but also with part-time remote work, which allowed me to splurge more as I traveled. I believe so much that world travel is affordable that I wrote a budget guide and spreadsheet to help you price out your dream trip and have all the possible resources you need at your fingertips.
- Decide your route and speed of travel. Slow overland travel lowers costs, and minimizes the number of flights needed. Consider visiting fewer places to lower your costs. Read: How to Plan an Around the World Itinerary in 8 Steps
- Determine the types of countries you’ll visit. Europe, Japan, Australia, and the United States hog all of your travel budget ($100 per day). Southeast Asia is budget-friendly (costing roughly $25 a day) as is Central America. South America and Africa are budget-friendly, but not not rock bottom prices depending on where you go (think: $35-40).
- Decide if you’ll eat street food and shop in local markets. How you eat on your travels impacts your bottom line. Read: How to Eat Street Food Without Getting Sick and buy the Food Traveler’s Handbook to learn even more about safely enjoying street eats.
Consider using the blank, formatted spreadsheet to log your own RTW travel budget (this is a Google Spreadsheet, either save a copy of this to your own Google drive for editing, or download as an excel file!).
How Much Will Your Dream Trip Cost?
Finding a way to travel the world is a mental obstacle as much as a financial one. For most, if you prioritize travel, then it’s possible to plan and execute an around the world trip. The problem is, there’s crappy information out there about how to make it happen—just as many bloggers don’t really share straight costs to travel the world.
For that reason, I wrote two entire guides to address your current hurdle. One is about creating a realistic anticipated budget for your trip—using real figures from real travelers. The other is about saving for world travel.
BUDGET
How much will your dream trip cost? I wrote this to specifically answer the most common question from readers: How much will a specific route/itinerary cost?
The guide is a full treatise on how to estimate the cost of your dream trip. It includes case studies from other long-term travelers who tracked their trip budgets.
It breaks down average traveling costs for the world’s most traveled destinations, which you can use with the fully customizable Trip Budget Worksheet to create an accurate anticipated budget for your dream trip.
Available on Kindle, ePub, and PDF.
SAVE
If you’re new to personal finance, or lost about how to start saving for a big goal, this book distills hard-learned information into easily actionable steps specifically targeted at giving travel dreamers tools to become financially literate.
It offers a streamlined process to create substantial changes in your financial life.
If money is your primary obstacle to leaving on a long-term trip, this guide breaks down exactly the shifts you can make to change your financial situation.
Available on Amazon Kindle or as a PDF bundle with the budget book.
Recommended Next Steps
If you’re currently working, studying, or just dreaming of traveling, I have resources for you as well. And if you want a second look at those spreadsheets, visit my full RTW budget as a Google Document that will open in your browser.
Or head to the free blank spreadsheet to track your own expenses as you travel around the world. You can save an editable copy of these to your own Google Drive, or download for your own use.
Eight Steps of Planning a World Trip
- Save for Travel & Eliminate Debt
- Build a Realistic Trip Budget
- Plan Your Around the World Trip Itinerary
- Pick the Right Travel Insurance
- Pack for Long-Term World Travel
- Work Remotely While You Travel
- Stay Healthy on the Road
- Browse Free Destination Guides
I truly believe that world travel is possible for most people. When and how is unique to each person, but by prioritizing and planning travel, you can make an around the world trip possible.
~Shannon
Planning Your travels
If you’re in the early stages of planning your travels, the following resources should help.
Dreaming of Travel » Letter to Travel Dreamers | How Do You Make Big Decisions? | Why I Decided to Travel the World | Creating Transformative Travel Experiences | The Best Travel Books
Affording Travel » How to Save for World Travel | How Much Does it Cost to Travel the World | Best Credit and Debit Cards for Travel | Using Geoarbitrage to Live Abroad | How to Work Remotely
Planning Travel » Plan Your World Travel Itinerary | Pack for Long-Term Travel | Homeschooling While Traveling | How to Purge Everything You Own | How to Pick the Right RTW Backpack | Buying RTW Flights
Staying Healthy » Safety and Solo Female Travel | How to Pick the Right Travel Insurance| Travel Vaccines 101 | How to Stay Healthy Abroad
Not as expensive as one would think. What resources did you use to book your RTW plane tickets? Kayak, Travelocity, STA, etc…?
Kayak is a favorite of mine, but if I am in Asia I like to check SkyScanner.com since they include some of the smaller local carriers in this area. Also, if I was booking a one-way to a nearby country (say Thailand to India) I checked some of the discount airlines! Hope that helps, happy planning :)
Hey Shannon, Thanks so much for sharing this! I’m currently planning a 9 month trip to Europe and appreciate the budgeting insights. No matter how much I read, I find there will always be that niggling uncertainty before leaving for a big trip – can I afford it? But, like you said, using spreadsheets and keeping an overall idea of spendings is a great way to keep it under control.
So glad the budget has helped — definitely keep track of your expenses and move slowly, those are the two biggest ways to keep it all in check. Transportation adds up (and gets stressful) so if you can find more budget friendly destinations and stay for a week there, then a few days in the more expensive ones it should help! Best of luck and safe travels :)
WHERE did you find such cheap flights? I can’t find a flight across North America for less than $500!
Hi Rebecca! Cheap flights are the golden nugget, and they are hard to find, but I use a couple different options:
– Fly on a Tuesday or Saturday night
– Fly in and out of hub cities with the major airlines, then take the discounts to where you need to go (can save hundreds)
– Use a discount airlines…love this master list: http://www.airninja.com
That’s about it, I hunt around a lot and research a good deal! Hope that helps :)
I’ll keep that in mind! Thanks for the tips! :)
This is insanely inspiring. Gosh, really freakin cool! I will do something like this for my trip. Thanks for your openness too!
You’re welcome! If you ever need any help, I am here just shoot me an email and we can sort out the budgeting and planning :)
Hi, just wondering how central america added up? im going there in January and trying to work out a daily budget.. many thanks Gemma
Central America is incredibly budget and you can do it for a similar budget
as SEA… I stayed in private rooms in a hostel a lot for about $10 to $12 a
night, it’s half that for dorms. Then food is cheap if you eat local foods.
What I found in Central America is that you can spend more if you choose to
upgrade – ie. there are chicken buses for dirt cheap or you can upgrade to
the private bus…one costs $3 and the other $15…seems like not too much
of a splurge but can add up. So, that being said, you can go uber cheap and
affordably upgrade when you need a bit of extra comfort :) Hope that helps.
Email me if you have some specific questions I can help out with!
You are most welcome Mike! Glad that you're finding it handy :-) If you ever
have any questions as you prep for your trip don't hesitate to shoot me an
email! Cheers and happy planning :-)
I am in awe of this spreadsheet. I am leaving in October for a RTW trip and this will be most helpful. You've also given me budget ideas because you traveled to a lot of the same countries I'm planning to visit. Thanks!
You are most welcome Mike! Glad that you're finding it handy :-) If you ever
have any questions as you prep for your trip don't hesitate to shoot me an
email! Cheers and happy planning :-)
I am in awe of this spreadsheet. I am leaving in October for a RTW trip and this will be most helpful. You've also given me budget ideas because you traveled to a lot of the same countries I'm planning to visit. Thanks!
Hi Shannon, Thanks for sharing your experience and all this info.
I just found your site a couple of days ago and I intend to read it all.
Me and my husband decided this year to take our own RTW trip and the amount of things I have in my to do list is quite overwhelming (the plan is to leave in June). Sites like yours help a lot and cut on the research time.
At this point my two major concerns are: 1. Do we have enough money to follow through? 2. What I am going to say that work and what is going to be of my career after that? I am 30, so so it is not like I am only 20 or I am high up already and a couple of months will not make a difference, but well… If it is hard now to take the time, I am sure it will just get harder with time, as responsibilities growth at an unfair pace.
Me and my husband have $30K saved up for the trip and the plan is to spend about 2 months in Southeast Asia, 2 months in Africa and 2 months in Europe (hopefully less from my side as things get more expensive and I have been there already, but my hubby really wants to cover some ground). Do you think that is enough? I was looking at RTW ticket and I am wondering if it is worthwhile. It is more than I first hoped for and reading your blog I am tempted to do the acquisition on my own as you did. My only concern is that flight tickets seem to be a big cost in my budget and I am afraid that not getting deals during the trip may have an impact difficult to predict at this point on our budget. Any thoughts? Did you change date or destinations based on the best deal you could get on flights? Again, thanks for all the information here.
Hi Shannon, Thanks for sharing your experience and all this info.
I just found your site a couple of days ago and I intend to read it all.
Me and my husband decided this year to take our own RTW trip and the amount of things I have in my to do list is quite overwhelming (the plan is to leave in June). Sites like yours help a lot and cut on the research time.
At this point my two major concerns are: 1. Do we have enough money to follow through? 2. What I am going to say that work and what is going to be of my career after that? I am 30, so so it is not like I am only 20 or I am high up already and a couple of months will not make a difference, but well… If it is hard now to take the time, I am sure it will just get harder with time, as responsibilities growth at an unfair pace.
Me and my husband have $30K saved up for the trip and the plan is to spend about 2 months in Southeast Asia, 2 months in Africa and 2 months in Europe (hopefully less from my side as things get more expensive and I have been there already, but my hubby really wants to cover some ground). Do you think that is enough? I was looking at RTW ticket and I am wondering if it is worthwhile. It is more than I first hoped for and reading your blog I am tempted to do the acquisition on my own as you did. My only concern is that flight tickets seem to be a big cost in my budget and I am afraid that not getting deals during the trip may have an impact difficult to predict at this point on our budget. Any thoughts? Did you change date or destinations based on the best deal you could get on flights? Again, thanks for all the information here.
I can get all budget travel details in this blog and additional info about it.. I have been looking for a blog like this for past many months.. The points mentioned in this article are valid..
Budget Travel Blog
Wow Shannon, I can't believe how meticulous you were, great stuff – very interesting. I went around the world on a tiny budget last year but took a different approach which was to see if I could actually make some money along the way as I could never keep a grip on it like you have here. So I ebayed and gumtreed, worked, traded and a few other little tricks en route. In the end I just put it all in a blog if anyone is interested check it out at http://80bays.blogspot.com and let me know what you think.
Thanks Stephen! Tracking it became a game after a while – I really wanted to
have an accurate picture of how much it cost to do my 11 month trip! It
must have been really neat to find those working opportunities on the road –
I did freelance work, but nothing like the big push you were doing! Cheers
and good luck adjusting now that you're back home :-)
Thanks Stephen! Tracking it became a game after a while – I really wanted to
have an accurate picture of how much it cost to do my 11 month trip! It
must have been really neat to find those working opportunities on the road –
I did freelance work, but nothing like the big push you were doing! Cheers
and good luck adjusting now that you're back home :-)
Wow Shannon, I can't believe how meticulous you were, great stuff – very interesting. I went around the world on a tiny budget last year but took a different approach which was to see if I could actually make some money along the way as I could never keep a grip on it like you have here. So I ebayed and gumtreed, worked, traded and a few other little tricks en route. In the end I just put it all in a blog if anyone is interested check it out at http://80bays.blogspot.com and let me know what you think.
Yay, thats made me happy thanks!
I sure am i'm using http://www.offexploring.com/liznadds
Thanks for taking the time to help me out
Liz
Your daily budgets sound spot on – congrats and let me know if you are going
to blog about it along the way! :-)
Hiya
That sounds fab. I'm spending 3 months in SAmerica and 5 weeks each in Aus (inc 1 week with family so lots of free stuff) and NZ. Fiji is 2 weeks but this is set price as we're staying with a tribe. I've calculated our costs and after accommodation and transport we have about £15/£18 for 2 of us per day in SEA, £30 in Aus, £25 in NZ, £18 in Fiji, and about £25 SAmerica.
We have racked our brains and I can't think of any more money saving schemes ha ha!
We leave on the 10th June this summer – I have yet to tell my employer ha ha!
Thanks for responding
Liz
Hey! Well, it sounds like you will be going pretty budget – and camping outin NZ and Oz will save you a lot- because that's where you're really goingto start spending a lot of money – esp if you want to drink a bitmore…booze in Oz wasn't cheap. SEA is really quite cheap, but the othersnot so much.My initial thought is that a full 12 months on that budget for two peoplewill be incredibly tight. (Im assuming all of the upfront costs includeplane tickets). Something that you'll want to play with is budgets for thedifferent countries – the longer that you stay in developing countries thecheaper it gets – 6 months in SEA sounds amazing and will be very healthyfor the budget – how much of the other 6 months is spent in the “developed”world will play a key part in you pulling it off!Hope any of these thoughts help! I think it's doable if you travel slowly(and thus cut down on excessive land transportation costs) :-) Have anamazing trip and keep me posted on how it goes, when do you leave?
Hiya Shannon
I just came across your site – fantastic. In 19 weeks i'm going RTW with my partner for 12 months. South America, NZ, Fiji, Aus, finished with 6 months in SEAsia. We are estimating to have saved £21k (about US$34k) between us for the year to include £6k (US$9.7k) pre trip expenditure. Obviously you were in slightly different places but off the top of your head do you think we can do this? We'll be staying in dorms where possible and have a tent for NZ and some parts of Aus. Would like to spend more on drink than you but won't be breaking the bank with sky diving or anything.
I'd really appreciate any adivce you can provide?
Many thanks Liz
Hey! Well, it sounds like you will be going pretty budget – and camping outin NZ and Oz will save you a lot- because that's where you're really goingto start spending a lot of money – esp if you want to drink a bitmore…booze in Oz wasn't cheap. SEA is really quite cheap, but the othersnot so much.My initial thought is that a full 12 months on that budget for two peoplewill be incredibly tight. (Im assuming all of the upfront costs includeplane tickets). Something that you'll want to play with is budgets for thedifferent countries – the longer that you stay in developing countries thecheaper it gets – 6 months in SEA sounds amazing and will be very healthyfor the budget – how much of the other 6 months is spent in the “developed”world will play a key part in you pulling it off!Hope any of these thoughts help! I think it's doable if you travel slowly(and thus cut down on excessive land transportation costs) :-) Have anamazing trip and keep me posted on how it goes, when do you leave?
Hiya
That sounds fab. I'm spending 3 months in SAmerica and 5 weeks each in Aus (inc 1 week with family so lots of free stuff) and NZ. Fiji is 2 weeks but this is set price as we're staying with a tribe. I've calculated our costs and after accommodation and transport we have about £15/£18 for 2 of us per day in SEA, £30 in Aus, £25 in NZ, £18 in Fiji, and about £25 SAmerica.
We have racked our brains and I can't think of any more money saving schemes ha ha!
We leave on the 10th June this summer – I have yet to tell my employer ha ha!
Thanks for responding
Liz
Your daily budgets sound spot on – congrats and let me know if you are going
to blog about it along the way! :-)
Yay, thats made me happy thanks!
I sure am i’m using http://www.offexploring.com/liznadds
Thanks for taking the time to help me out
Liz
Hiya Shannon
I just came across your site – fantastic. In 19 weeks i'm going RTW with my partner for 12 months. South America, NZ, Fiji, Aus, finished with 6 months in SEAsia. We are estimating to have saved £21k (about US$34k) between us for the year to include £6k (US$9.7k) pre trip expenditure. Obviously you were in slightly different places but off the top of your head do you think we can do this? We'll be staying in dorms where possible and have a tent for NZ and some parts of Aus. Would like to spend more on drink than you but won't be breaking the bank with sky diving or anything.
I'd really appreciate any adivce you can provide?
Many thanks Liz
When you put it like that it makes sense – $50 a day in Europe is prettyimpressive! I daresay if you went much cheaper though you wouldn't have hadsuch a great time – you can only go so budget before you start missing outon major sites and activities! Quite impressed with your figures, soundslike you found a nice balance! :-)
That includes my $560 roundtrip plane ticket, $1960 three month Eurail pass, and about $5500 for sights, additional transit, lodging, food, etc. or about $60/day.
I could easily do it for cheaper if I tried again, but someone else will have to foot the bill for that.
Wow, $8 grand in three months! It just adds up so quickly in Europe, yikes!
Glad that you're like me on the expense tracking – I agree with you, once I
was in the habit of jotting it down, it was a cinch to keep meticulous notes
:-) (ditto on the drinking too – I do drink, but not all of the time and
certainly dont need it to have fun :-)
For the people that think this is such a huge hassle, it's really not. I had my trusty Moleskine in my pocket at all times, so any time I spent any money I would just open it up and write it down.
And booze is the easiest way to blow all your money, especially in Europe. Luckily, I don't drink, and it didn't (and doesn't) deter from me having fun at all. I feel kind of bad for those that can't do one without the other.
Wow, $8 grand in three months! It just adds up so quickly in Europe, yikes!
Glad that you're like me on the expense tracking – I agree with you, once I
was in the habit of jotting it down, it was a cinch to keep meticulous notes
:-) (ditto on the drinking too – I do drink, but not all of the time and
certainly dont need it to have fun :-)
That includes my $560 roundtrip plane ticket, $1960 three month Eurail pass, and about $5500 for sights, additional transit, lodging, food, etc. or about $60/day.
I could easily do it for cheaper if I tried again, but someone else will have to foot the bill for that.
When you put it like that it makes sense – $50 a day in Europe is prettyimpressive! I daresay if you went much cheaper though you wouldn't have hadsuch a great time – you can only go so budget before you start missing outon major sites and activities! Quite impressed with your figures, soundslike you found a nice balance! :-)
I'm loving your site, you're just as meticulous as I am so I'm getting a lot out of it. I did a three month tour of Europe and the whole cost was about $8000 (and it was *really* low budget), so that'll show you the difference between Europe and the rest of the world.
For the people that think this is such a huge hassle, it's really not. I had my trusty Moleskine in my pocket at all times, so any time I spent any money I would just open it up and write it down.
And booze is the easiest way to blow all your money, especially in Europe. Luckily, I don't drink, and it didn't (and doesn't) deter from me having fun at all. I feel kind of bad for those that can't do one without the other.
Thanks! I'll add you to our links page.
Feel free to use the information, if there is a place to add credit or link back to this post though that would be great. Many thanks and best of luck on your new project, I know that estimating and calculating costs is a really important of planning a RTW trip! :-)
I have to agree with you! I went rafting on the Soca, and the color of the
water was just incredible – then hiking through the forests and wine
country, the country has definite potential and I'm surprised that so many
people haven't even heard of it!
You've kept a really impressive budget! Sounds like a great trip. My husband and I just got back from our year long RTW trip and decided to start a website to help others. I was wondering if you'd mind if we used some of your data to help generate our estimates? You can check out the site at http://www.budgetyourtrip.com. Thanks!
Feel free to use the information, if there is a place to add credit or link back to this post though that would be great. Many thanks and best of luck on your new project, I know that estimating and calculating costs is a really important of planning a RTW trip! :-)
Thanks! I'll add you to our links page.
You've kept a really impressive budget! Sounds like a great trip. My husband and I just got back from our year long RTW trip and decided to start a website to help others. I was wondering if you'd mind if we used some of your data to help generate our estimates? You can check out the site at http://www.budgetyourtrip.com. Thanks!
Aaahhh, I travelled to Slovenia pre-Euro and that is probably what made it a fair bit cheaper. It was one of my favourite places in Europe with its wonderful mountains, rivers, caves and history.
It's true on the activities – I did a rafting tour in the country thatbumped it up a bit. But really though, with it on the Euro, it's not cheapin the least, pretty much like France and Italy, which surprised me too :-)
Such great detail. Some surprise me a little – Slovenia was the second most expensive, but I guess all these things depends on what you did in each country and if you managed to couchsurf etc. Great summary.
It's true on the activities – I did a rafting tour in the country thatbumped it up a bit. But really though, with it on the Euro, it's not cheapin the least, pretty much like France and Italy, which surprised me too :-)
Aaahhh, I travelled to Slovenia pre-Euro and that is probably what made it a fair bit cheaper. It was one of my favourite places in Europe with its wonderful mountains, rivers, caves and history.
I have to agree with you! I went rafting on the Soca, and the color of the
water was just incredible – then hiking through the forests and wine
country, the country has definite potential and I'm surprised that so many
people haven't even heard of it!
Such great detail. Some surprise me a little – Slovenia was the second most expensive, but I guess all these things depends on what you did in each country and if you managed to couchsurf etc. Great summary.
Wow, I'm impressed. Really, blown away by that figure. I had no idea you could travel RTW on such a small budget. Nice to know it's within reach.
It really is do-able and I promise you that you can do a RTW for that or
even less if you stay out of Western Europe! :-)
It really is do-able and I promise you that you can do a RTW for that or
even less if you stay out of Western Europe! :-)
Wow, I'm impressed. Really, blown away by that figure. I had no idea you could travel RTW on such a small budget. Nice to know it's within reach.
I'm loving your site, you're just as meticulous as I am so I'm getting a lot out of it. I did a three month tour of Europe and the whole cost was about $8000 (and it was *really* low budget), so that'll show you the difference between Europe and the rest of the world.
Wow, that Daytum site is amazing – I loved looking through your expenses all laid out like that! It's interesting how that logs the data for you, I'll have to consider it for my next trip :-) Thanks for tip!
Loved this Shannon! We're keeping notes down to the penny and using Daytum to keep track — it can send our heads spinning sometimes, though! I really liked the daily costs per country here, I think that's invaluable to backpackers!
Wow, that Daytum site is amazing – I loved looking through your expenses all laid out like that! It's interesting how that logs the data for you, I'll have to consider it for my next trip :-) Thanks for tip!
Loved this Shannon! We're keeping notes down to the penny and using Daytum to keep track — it can send our heads spinning sometimes, though! I really liked the daily costs per country here, I think that's invaluable to backpackers!
$60 is really cheap for three people! And thank you so much for the offer of a visit in Chang Mai…I'm actually REALLY pondering there next year! Oh, and I SO have the same problem with Twitter some days, man, talk about addicting! :-)
Shannon,
Talk about Details! We did that when we were in Thailand and our daily cost less than $60 for three peeps! We were there almost two months. Moving to Chiang Mai next year. I see you spent 3 days there so if you fancy to return to Thailand, count on us in Chiang Mai!
Thanks so much for sharing this.. you have inspired to get off my butt, away from Twitter and FB to really get down and dirty with our Summer trip!!
$60 is really cheap for three people! And thank you so much for the offer of a visit in Chang Mai…I'm actually REALLY pondering there next year! Oh, and I SO have the same problem with Twitter some days, man, talk about addicting! :-)
Shannon,
Talk about Details! We did that when we were in Thailand and our daily cost less than $60 for three peeps! We were there almost two months. Moving to Chiang Mai next year. I see you spent 3 days there so if you fancy to return to Thailand, count on us in Chiang Mai!
Thanks so much for sharing this.. you have inspired to get off my butt, away from Twitter and FB to really get down and dirty with our Summer trip!!
Thank you so much for doing this! I'm planning to start a solo trip in May 2010. I found your country-by-country expenses super helpful. It gives me better sense of the amount of time I think I can afford to stay in each place.
I wanted to access your blank, formatted spreadsheet to log my own RTW budget but it doesn't seem to be working. Can you check on this for me? Thanks!
Thanks for letting me know the link was down, working on your email now :-)
Thanks for letting me know the link was down, working on your email now :-)
Thank you so much for doing this! I'm planning to start a solo trip in May 2010. I found your country-by-country expenses super helpful. It gives me better sense of the amount of time I think I can afford to stay in each place.
I wanted to access your blank, formatted spreadsheet to log my own RTW budget but it doesn't seem to be working. Can you check on this for me? Thanks!
Italy was the most expensive, but I did that knowing I was going to let it be. I studied abroad there for a bit a few years ago and just love the food and wine. When I went back, I told myself, no budgeting! I just really wanted to enjoy my time. I'll be interested in seeing your own budget and not breaking the bank is always heartening – I broke my bank account a bit with the rental car in Ireland ;-)
Pretty soon we will have to face our expenses too after almost a year on the road but I am confident we are fairly there with our planned budget something similar to yours and at least we haven’t broken the bank. RTW trips are definitely more affordable that what people think and if you are willing to let go to that new plasma TV or new car I am pretty sure anybody can do it. The only problem I guess is to get back to work after it, first cause there are probably no jobs with this economic situation and second cause I don’t want to work any more! Shannon, I can see Italy was the most expensive place you have been but I hope it worth, nice food isn't?
Italy was the most expensive, but I did that knowing I was going to let it be. I studied abroad there for a bit a few years ago and just love the food and wine. When I went back, I told myself, no budgeting! I just really wanted to enjoy my time. I'll be interested in seeing your own budget and not breaking the bank is always heartening – I broke my bank account a bit with the rental car in Ireland ;-)
Pretty soon we will have to face our expenses too after almost a year on the road but I am confident we are fairly there with our planned budget something similar to yours and at least we haven’t broken the bank. RTW trips are definitely more affordable that what people think and if you are willing to let go to that new plasma TV or new car I am pretty sure anybody can do it. The only problem I guess is to get back to work after it, first cause there are probably no jobs with this economic situation and second cause I don’t want to work any more! Shannon, I can see Italy was the most expensive place you have been but I hope it worth, nice food isn't?
Wow! Very impressive. I think we're going to blow your Australia budget because we definitely spent a lot in that country. But, New Zealand has been a lot cheaper.
Lol! Likely true, I was a little conservative in Oz trying to get used to the whole solo travel thing, I think if I had it to do over again I would have blown a tad more ;-) I'm jealous of your outback picks – it rained all 4 days I was there if you can even believe it!
You're most welcome! Thanks for popping in :-) I look forward to reading some of your more “fights” :-)
Lol! Likely true, I was a little conservative in Oz trying to get used to the whole solo travel thing, I think if I had it to do over again I would have blown a tad more ;-) I'm jealous of your outback picks – it rained all 4 days I was there if you can even believe it!
All hostels in the developed countries and guest houses in Asia – never the “absolute cheapest” though! I like a little clean at least! :-)
Wow! Very impressive. I think we're going to blow your Australia budget because we definitely spent a lot in that country. But, New Zealand has been a lot cheaper.
Wow. That's not too bad. My boyfriend and I wanted to keep a budget of under 20k per year once we embark on our travels. It looks like that might be possible. Thanks for all the details! I'll definitely refer back to it when I get closer to leaving.
I think it is DEFINITELY do-able – traveling as a couple will keep the costs down, and if you stay out of the UK and a lot of Europe then you will do better than my figures by a lot! I look forward to following your travels when you guys set off! :-)
I think it is DEFINITELY do-able – traveling as a couple will keep the costs down, and if you stay out of the UK and a lot of Europe then you will do better than my figures by a lot! I look forward to following your travels when you guys set off! :-)
Wow. That's not too bad. My boyfriend and I wanted to keep a budget of under 20k per year once we embark on our travels. It looks like that might be possible. Thanks for all the details! I'll definitely refer back to it when I get closer to leaving.
Oh man, I have to tell you that I am all giddy inside finding your website, and this page in particular. My husband and I are planning our trip now and are expecting to leave in January. Your website is providing a lot of inspiration and I see many similarities between our trips already. :) Now I'm off to go see if you've made that spreadsheet available yet, I love this! Thank you!
Hi! You are most welcome and I am so glad that you found the budget helpful! Let me know if you can't find the downloadable spreadsheet, I posted it about a week ago! :-) I checked out your blog- looks like the setup is coming along nicely and I look forward to reading about your travels. Don't hesitate to shoot me an email if I can help in any way :-)
Excellent breakdown, THANKS! I'll definitely be coming back to read more from your blog…
Always good to see a budget laid out like this, I've been tracking my expenses since I left, it's surprising how some places build up.
Ireland killed me on prices…like I died a little inside when I saw how over-budget I went…it was a really good thing I went right home after that place! I was actually so surprised by how cheap India turned out to be; still surprised actually! :-)
Ireland killed me on prices…like I died a little inside when I saw how over-budget I went…it was a really good thing I went right home after that place! I was actually so surprised by how cheap India turned out to be; still surprised actually! :-)
Ireland killed me on prices…like I died a little inside when I saw how over-budget I went…it was a really good thing I went right home after that place! I was actually so surprised by how cheap India turned out to be; still surprised actually! :-)
Thanks for sharing, this gives an idea what to plan for.
You are inspiring me to travel more! I am extremely tempted. Were the places you stayed at very cheap?
I’m blown away that you spent just over $1 a day on ‘booze’ and ‘fun’. Please tell us you did have fun.
I’m off for 12 months in the new year and was looking at budgeting $20k. But I can see myself spending at least 10 times your $373.15 on alcohol. Time to reassess expenditure.
Very helpful. Thanks.
I gotta pile on the compliments here. Nice work! It really does look like a lot of work to keep such records. I’m way too lazy. When ppl ask me how much I spent on my big trip I usually just make up a number :) . At one point I looked at my bank account and saw how much money I withdrew while I was gone.
Anyway, your price/day figures are really helpful. Combined with your blog so I can tell what kind of stuff you did…
Thanks Dave! I actually did it primarily because I couldn’t find this information when I was planning the trip and it frustrated me! Your own trip looks pretty stellar – how’s it feel now that you’ve been back for quite some time?
Great to see the numbers laid out. I put the numbers up just for my hostels and was shocked at how little I spent. Glad you were able to keep such fantastic records.
Thanks! Deep down inside I am secretly a bit Type A :-) As for the hostels – I just couldn’t believe how cheap it is to do it that way either – and even staying in guest houses in Asia!
oops! i think i might have had something to do w/ your higher ireland entertainment expenses! :) not to mention dumb extras we had to pay since we basically walked our pet bikes around inis mor….
I think you definitely had something to do with Ireland’s beer tab! :-p But I wouldn’t have had it any other way. As for the pet bikes, they were lovely while they lasted but the bus tour was better :-)
Nicely done Shannon! I love seeing the break down of how much it all cost — and spent on a year of fun and exciting adventures around the world = worth every penny!
Thanks Kat!! I agree that it was so worth it :-) Hope you’re doing well out there in LA!
Wow I’m impressed!! Thought it would be a whole lot more than that! The booze bill would kill me. Are u an accountant or been one in a previous life?? U don’t mention how many of you were doing this.
Have u ever been to South Africa?
Not an account…can't say about previous lives…that's a distinct possibility :-) I haven't been to South Africa but I work on Web sites from the road so it's a probable stop down the line at some point!
And I thought I was the only one who kept my records to the penny (across multiple currencies).
I was pretty anal about it! Lol, felt like I would always be happy to know the final total :-) So no worries, I also meticulously jotted it down!