The single most frequently asked question I get about my travels concerns the cost of budgeting for a solo round the world trip. While understanding how I pay for it all tops the list of questions, the actual cost of traveling for a year around the world is the big unknown. I had no idea how much my RTW trip would cost when I left — some people reported around $10,000 (which seemed absurdly low) while others spent upwards of $40K to travel a bit more luxuriously. So I thought of it as a grand adventure. How much will it cost, and how long can I keep going with my freelance income?
Over that year, I tracked every single dollar I spent on the road.
My full tally is complete and I traveled around the world for for 328 days (11 months) through 15 countries and tracked what I spent, what each and every country cost, and where I could have done better.
Just want the cold hard figures? Navigate the Google spreadsheet by the countries listed at the bottom of my full RTW Travel Budget.
How did I save for around the world travel?
I have answered incarnations of this question dozens of times. The real question is this: “Traveling the world is expensive, how could you have possibly afforded it?”
It’s not as expensive as you assume, and most anyone reading this post has the ability to save for travel if it’s a true priority. As regular A Little Adrift readers have surmised, I don’t live off of a trust fund. My family is quite poor and I made it through college on merit-based scholarships. Instead of counting on help from family, I budgeted for the trip. I sold my couch, my clothes, my cups. I sold my car too, and I saved ruthlessly in the countdown months. I took on side-work to sock away money, and then, I worked on freelance SEO from the road for the entire year. And through all that, I came to the same conclusions as those backpackers who have adventurously gone before me: RTW travel is cheaper than you think!
I am not saying it’s dirt cheap, but compared to my life in LA with $1200+ going to rent and bills each month, I used that same online income to travel the world, and I dug into my small savings to pay for the long-haul flights. I wasn’t sure how much my trip would cost when I left to travel, and there just wasn’t the information out there like there is now. Now you can play with your route and your travel style and come up with a tally in just a few hours. In fact, I believe so much that your dream trip is affordable that I wrote the budget guide and spreadsheet to help you price out your dream trip — it’s priced low so that there is no reason not to see how much you need to save.
Cost of My One Year Round the World Trip
Now, onto my travel budget!
I documented each and every price from my preliminary year-long RTW trip with careful health care. My obsession with effectively tracking my bills is epic however in the five years since I formerly posted this malfunction, other backpackers have cherished the complete and exact break down of the amount of I spent within a year of energetic world travel. And five years later, despite having increasing global food costs, they remain journeying strong on similar costs.
Total: USD $17,985
You're stunned right now, I understand, I sprang it you out of nowhere! Close the gaping jaw.
That's it?!
That figure. Only $17,985 is totally and completely including from getting jabbed in the arm for my Yellowish Fever vaccine to purchasing most of my pre-travel products, my travel cover, most of my plane plane tickets, bus trips, camel safaris, searching lessons, zip-lining activities in the Laos jungle, and directly to my first delightful sub again on home garden soil when I handed through Philly on my last layover of the trip.
Exactly what does that amount not include? Personal selections that upped the purchase price little: an exterior hard drive for photography safe-keeping, new camera (old one was waterlogged in Australia), and I rented an automobile by themselves in Ireland (most backpacker costs wouldn't enable this therefore i included my car's petrol to approximate the price tag on public transport for three weeks). My own total, including all that, was slightly below $19,000... so it is still a good deal considering I used to be on the highway for almost a whole yr. And again, I stress, this is hundreds significantly less than my gross annual expenses moving into LA, California.
But lest you think it's an anomaly, know that I've monitored cost of living throughout the world. If you are considering a sluggish trip, I recorded how I resided in places like Thailand for under $600 monthly, and Mexico at under $800.
What else plays a part in a RTW trip budget?
Your option and speed across the world. This is actually the single biggest indication of how much it will cost. Minimize the amount of flights you will need for taking by going overland and slowly but surely also to fewer places. Really, most of us have a wish list, but if you are on a restricted trip (instead of open-ticket, no prepared return RTW journeys) then you've likely over-packed your course. The very best advice I received on my RTW was to minimize out 5 of the 17 designed countries-reflecting back onto it, I cannot even envision where they might have fit?!
Which countries you visit. In the event that you add developed countries like European countries, america, and Australia you will notice your daily budget more than dual (rather than $30/day in SEA and India, you are looking at $75-$100/day in the united kingdom, and Western European countries). Weight your trip closely and only developing parts of the globe - there are a great deal you're already heading to miss as you travel through, and I promise you will not be bored stiff spending a few extra calendar months going more gradually. 100 % warranty.
The food you take in and design of travel. How you take in on your trips impacts underneath collection; eat locally with the road food stalls when you see them (rampant throughout Southeast Asia, India, Central America, etc)--they're correctly safe so long as you find the meals stalls the local people are employing too! European food is more costly and almost never actually flavor good anyhow. Local food is a windowpane in to the culture, so dig profound and eat like the local people, asking the distributors questions and learning more about each country's food peculiarities. Also, when visiting in Traditional western countries, look for groceries and make at the hostel at least two dishes each day to limit costs! For further food travel tips, browse the Food Traveler's Handbook one my my good travel friends had written about safe, cheap road eats.
Let's dive in to the good stuff.
Over that year, I tracked every single dollar I spent on the road.
My full tally is complete and I traveled around the world for for 328 days (11 months) through 15 countries and tracked what I spent, what each and every country cost, and where I could have done better.
Just want the cold hard figures? Navigate the Google spreadsheet by the countries listed at the bottom of my full RTW Travel Budget.
How did I save for around the world travel?
I have answered incarnations of this question dozens of times. The real question is this: “Traveling the world is expensive, how could you have possibly afforded it?”
It’s not as expensive as you assume, and most anyone reading this post has the ability to save for travel if it’s a true priority. As regular A Little Adrift readers have surmised, I don’t live off of a trust fund. My family is quite poor and I made it through college on merit-based scholarships. Instead of counting on help from family, I budgeted for the trip. I sold my couch, my clothes, my cups. I sold my car too, and I saved ruthlessly in the countdown months. I took on side-work to sock away money, and then, I worked on freelance SEO from the road for the entire year. And through all that, I came to the same conclusions as those backpackers who have adventurously gone before me: RTW travel is cheaper than you think!
I am not saying it’s dirt cheap, but compared to my life in LA with $1200+ going to rent and bills each month, I used that same online income to travel the world, and I dug into my small savings to pay for the long-haul flights. I wasn’t sure how much my trip would cost when I left to travel, and there just wasn’t the information out there like there is now. Now you can play with your route and your travel style and come up with a tally in just a few hours. In fact, I believe so much that your dream trip is affordable that I wrote the budget guide and spreadsheet to help you price out your dream trip — it’s priced low so that there is no reason not to see how much you need to save.
Cost of My One Year Round the World Trip
Now, onto my travel budget!
I documented each and every price from my preliminary year-long RTW trip with careful health care. My obsession with effectively tracking my bills is epic however in the five years since I formerly posted this malfunction, other backpackers have cherished the complete and exact break down of the amount of I spent within a year of energetic world travel. And five years later, despite having increasing global food costs, they remain journeying strong on similar costs.
Total: USD $17,985
You're stunned right now, I understand, I sprang it you out of nowhere! Close the gaping jaw.
That's it?!
That figure. Only $17,985 is totally and completely including from getting jabbed in the arm for my Yellowish Fever vaccine to purchasing most of my pre-travel products, my travel cover, most of my plane plane tickets, bus trips, camel safaris, searching lessons, zip-lining activities in the Laos jungle, and directly to my first delightful sub again on home garden soil when I handed through Philly on my last layover of the trip.
Exactly what does that amount not include? Personal selections that upped the purchase price little: an exterior hard drive for photography safe-keeping, new camera (old one was waterlogged in Australia), and I rented an automobile by themselves in Ireland (most backpacker costs wouldn't enable this therefore i included my car's petrol to approximate the price tag on public transport for three weeks). My own total, including all that, was slightly below $19,000... so it is still a good deal considering I used to be on the highway for almost a whole yr. And again, I stress, this is hundreds significantly less than my gross annual expenses moving into LA, California.
But lest you think it's an anomaly, know that I've monitored cost of living throughout the world. If you are considering a sluggish trip, I recorded how I resided in places like Thailand for under $600 monthly, and Mexico at under $800.
What else plays a part in a RTW trip budget?
Your option and speed across the world. This is actually the single biggest indication of how much it will cost. Minimize the amount of flights you will need for taking by going overland and slowly but surely also to fewer places. Really, most of us have a wish list, but if you are on a restricted trip (instead of open-ticket, no prepared return RTW journeys) then you've likely over-packed your course. The very best advice I received on my RTW was to minimize out 5 of the 17 designed countries-reflecting back onto it, I cannot even envision where they might have fit?!
Which countries you visit. In the event that you add developed countries like European countries, america, and Australia you will notice your daily budget more than dual (rather than $30/day in SEA and India, you are looking at $75-$100/day in the united kingdom, and Western European countries). Weight your trip closely and only developing parts of the globe - there are a great deal you're already heading to miss as you travel through, and I promise you will not be bored stiff spending a few extra calendar months going more gradually. 100 % warranty.
The food you take in and design of travel. How you take in on your trips impacts underneath collection; eat locally with the road food stalls when you see them (rampant throughout Southeast Asia, India, Central America, etc)--they're correctly safe so long as you find the meals stalls the local people are employing too! European food is more costly and almost never actually flavor good anyhow. Local food is a windowpane in to the culture, so dig profound and eat like the local people, asking the distributors questions and learning more about each country's food peculiarities. Also, when visiting in Traditional western countries, look for groceries and make at the hostel at least two dishes each day to limit costs! For further food travel tips, browse the Food Traveler's Handbook one my my good travel friends had written about safe, cheap road eats.
Let's dive in to the good stuff.
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