world travel costs one year

Love and Road

1 Year traveling around the world – Our costs and secrets

Some of our links are affiliated, we will earn a commission when you buy a service or product. This will have no extra cost for you. For further info please refer to our Privacy Policy

I can’t believe, 365 days have passed since we started our nomadic life! Love and Road is celebrating 1 year of life, 1 year of traveling around the world. The biggest life decision we have ever made, and we never imagined we would be so happy with it! So raise your glass and have a drink with us! Now it’s time to look back and realize how far we have gone!

In October 2014 I wrote our first Love and Road review, six months traveling around the world. The post was written during a bus trip from Pamukkale to  Cappadocia in Turkey. This time I’m putting my ideas together on a train trip from Amsterdam to Berlin, and from Berlin to Barcelona [you can include some awesome parties between my work]. Not sure why, but long trips make me more thoughtful and the stunning landscape passing by my window makes me realize how lucky I am.

I believe you already know how this story started, our wake-up call, how we sold everything, packed our bags and left Brazil.   So now let’s go to the point: our travel costs and secrets of 1 year traveling around the world. How we did, how much we have spent, best moments, curiosities and misadventures. Laughs, tears, fears, and achievements. A true roller coaster of emotions with breathtaking views from different corners of the world. Now I can proudly say that Rob and I are professional travelers, digital nomads, travel writers, and happy people!

1 year traveling around the world – Love and Road in Figures

A world map, many dreams, and some money in the bank account. That’s how Love and Road started. To celebrate our first anniversary we gonna share with you our best and worst travel moments, and at the end of the post, you are going to find our travel bill. I´m sure you will be surprised by the amazing things we have done and the amount of money we have spent.

Continents – 3 – Africa, Asia, and Europe

Countries – 15 – Cambodia , Croatian Islands , France , Germany, Italy , Malaysia , Mônaco, Morocco , Netherlands , Philippines , Portugal , Spain , Switzerland , Thailand and Turkey .  

Cities – 83

Different Languages – 13 [Arabic and Thai were damn difficult]

How to travel around the world? Always searching for the cheapest and smartest way!

To cross all the 15 countries, we traveled by different methods. Our backpacking trip around the world can be split in:

By Bus – 28 trips

By Car – 2 trips

By Flight – 17 trips

By Train – 11 trips

Hitchhiking – 8 trips

Boat – 7 trips

To search for the best prices for flights we use Skyscanner , it´s perfect to compare routes and fares. Most of our train trips were done in Europe with Eurail Pass ,   super easy, flexible and we could travel everywhere with just one ticket. Bus and boats are usually run by local companies, so the best way is to check with travel agents or at bus/boat terminals. For car rentals have a look at Discover Cars.   What we like about them is that they don’t have hidden fees, so you can book without surprises.

BUY YOUR EURAIL PASS HERE!

Where to stay while traveling around the world? Our home far away from home!

We are big fans of comfy + clean + well located & cheap accommodation. Following these features we stayed in:

Airport – 2 nights [Marseille and Kuala Lumpur]

Apartment – 76 nights

Boat – 1 night

Bus – 4 nights

Campervan – 2 nights

Car – 1 night

Friend’s house – 16 nights

Hotel – 101 nights  (We always use AGODA and BOOKING.COM to book our hotels)

Hostels – 25 nights

House Sitting – 50 nights [Best way to travel and get free accommodation. We wrote a comprehensive guide to introduce you to the secrets of House and Pet Sitting ]

Shared House/Apt – 78 nights

Tent – 9 nights [ Moroccan Desert and SONUS Festival]

Most of our accommodation is booked through Airbnb [be smart and  get 20% off on your first booking] and two of our favorite websites for hotels and hostels: AGODA and BOOKING.COM . They definitely have the best offers, good properties and you can trust in their service.

JOIN TRUSTED HOUSESITTERS TODAY!

Long term travel X Shopping X Packing

The world is our address, but our house is tiny, tiny. Everything needs to fit in two 50L backpacks and two 5L small front bags. That’s it, nothing more!! Clothes, shoes, toiletries and electronic stuff. Talking about shoes, our friend Sarah put together great tips on how to choose the best travel shoes . Said that you already assumed that we can´t buy souvenirs or new clothes everywhere we go. All our purchases need to be done wisely, and every time we buy something new, an old one needs to go away. That´s what I call a minimalist style. 😉

We can’t accumulate stuff, nor carry an extra backpack . Our backpacks can only weigh 15 kg [the weight allowed on most of the low-cost airline companies]. So what did we do with our used stuff? We donated. We put everything in plastic bags and give it to people on the streets. A simple way to help and say thanks for all the blessings we received during the year.

So far, in this 1 year of traveling around the world we bought:

» New clothes:

Rob – 4 T-Shirts + 2 pair of jeans + underwear + socks + 2 jumper + more jackets [He lost two jackets this year] + gloves + 2 pair of runners.

Nat – 4 tops + 2 pair of flat sandals + 1 skirt + 1 pair of jeans + 2 legging + 1 jacket + gloves + woolen hat + 1 pair of a fashion Converse + 1 pair of flip-flops.

When we left Asia at the beginning of April, we bought some warm clothes to face the springtime in Europe. Thank God we got more jackets and gloves because in April the weather was pretty chilly on the old continent. For the first time on this trip around the world, we got temperatures below 5ºC. To travel light you always need to think about the weather of the places you will travel to, spring and summer are definitely the best seasons for backpackers.

» Electronics:

1 Notebook Asus F200M

1 MacBook Air [Rob´s old notebook stopped working while we were in Bangkok 🙁 ]

1 Power Strip [one of the most clever and useful purchases. We became heroes at airports and stations]

1 Computer charger

1 Go Pro Hero 4

» Toiletries:

I’m a nomad but never a dirty and smelly traveler [keep this in mind when you travel]. During 1 year of traveling around the world, I managed to keep some of my everyday beauty routines – body moisturizer, facial cream, and my black/grey nail polish… Not just me, Rob is also looking after himself… Age is coming!

» Travel Gear:

1 Small Backpack

2 Dry Fast Kingcham Towels

This past year was dedicated to learning about travel and blogging, so all our energy was focused on exploring the world and write about it. Among the many online books and articles we read, three of them have a special place in our bags [these are the only printed books we bought. Sometimes we are old school]

– Travel Writing (Lonely Planet) by Don George

– Travellers French by Elizabeth Smith

– The Greatness Guide by Robin Sharma

Medical issues in a nomadic lifestyle

After 1 year of traveling the world, I’m the one who got sick more times. On our journey, we had some scary moments.

» Sickness Scores:

Rob – 6 (3 times flu, cold sore crises, diarrhea and a twisted ankle)

Nat – 9 (I won!!! Back pain, mosquito bites allergy , urinary infection, keen injury, 2 times flu, diarrhea and migraine crises)

Most of the problems were sorted out with medicines we bought at the local pharmacy. We have travel insurance but didn’t need to use it. Although when I got really sick in Boracay, Philippines, we contacted our travel insurance to ask how we should proceed in case I needed to be removed from the island. World Nomads assisted us with everything. Luck me, the doctor solved my problem at the local clinic. More about international travel insurance here . 

Impressions from the Road

» Food – As much as we love Italian food, the title of best food goes to the mouth-watering Papaya Salad we ate in Thailand.

» City – Barcelona is still on the top of our favorite cities. It has everything we love!

» Beach – Boracay Island. My favorite is Puka Shell and Rob’s is the White Beach. One word can describe the Philippines: Paradise!

» Best Party – Hard to choose, but the unpretentious Best Bar at Khao San Road stole our hearts and feet. Many nights dancing with good music, cheap drinks and awesome people. I´d say Berlin comes in second place!

Long-term travel is made of people, not places!

This is definitely not a travel resource, it´s more our impression from the people we met. In 1 year of traveling around the world we made many friends, some just for a few days others for a lifetime. Each one has made a special contribution to our story, helped us to be better people, to travel wisely or blog with more professionalism. I don’t have words to say how thankful we are for meeting you, new and old friends. I’m sure we’ll catch up soon, somewhere in this beautiful world, because friendship is stronger than distance and time!

» Most Handsome Men – Dutch [OMG!!!!]

» Most Beautiful Women – Dutch [I think there are no ugly people there]

» Friendly People – Pinoy. Filipinos are the most friendly and helpful people we ever met. SALAMAT!!!!

» People with strange behavior – In Porto   [Portugal]   people talk to themselves all the time.

» Party Animal People – Spanish and Berliner. Different styles of parting but both of them know how to have fun!

The dark side of a nomad life

Some people think that being a full-time traveler is just fun, parties and beach time. Actually, our travel adventure goes much further than just joy and happiness. Doubts, fears, sadness, and homesickness are feelings that haunt us from time to time.

During this year we lost one of our cats and the other one is battling cancer. She is with Rob´s parents and I´m sure they are giving her lots of love and cuddles. The feeling of being far away hurts, and it makes me think that if something bad happens with our beloved family we’ll be too far to help them.

Money issues are always on our way too. As our long-term travel is funded by our savings, our money is running out. Every day we try to find ways of earning some cash and make the blog our main income. [So please, help us keep the blog running by booking your hotels, flights, tours and insurance here on the blog].

Worst Moment of  Traveling

The worst moment in 1-year backpacking around the world was when we crossed the border from Thailand to Cambodia. It was our second trip to Cambodia and after 7 hours on the bus we refused to pay a bribe to the Cambodian Immigration Officer. We knew he was charging everybody more than the correct amount of money and we said “No”. As a consequence they held our passport for 1 hour, we couldn’t leave the border or go back to Thailand. We felt threatened and unsafe. In the end, after a lot of discussions, they let us go.

It’s not about money. It is about principles, about right and wrong. We had money to pay the bribe but we refuse to do it.

Best moments of traveling around the world

It´s not easy to choose the best moment, during this 1 year of traveling around the world so many things happen, so many dreams came true, adventures of a lifetime and experiences that transformed us deeply. After a long talk, we figured out that our Best Moment was the day we started traveling, the day we left our comfort zone and faced the nomadic life. Our best moment is the day Love and Road was born, the beginning of our adventure.

We are not ashamed to say: we have regrets

It was our first week in Thailand, we were overwhelmed by the beauty of the culture and style of life in Chiang Mai. As silly tourists we booked a day tour including rafting, hiking to waterfalls and Elephant ride. That was an awful decision! I regret we booked the riding elephant tour. At the moment was fun, but after I discovered what they do with the animals and how they are horribly treated.

Lesson learned, now I always try to check the background of the tour company we choose. Elephants Farms in Thailand are a big issue and many animals are in danger. If you want to be in contact with these beautiful giants you can visit rehabilitation centers, help and learn. Nomad is Beautiful wrote an amazing article about Elephants and Tourism in Thailand.

What makes us proud:

We have done so many things in this 1 year of traveling that I´m happy with who we are and what we have achieved. One thing that makes us really proud is that every place we came back, like Bangkok, Istanbul, Reggio Emilia, and many others, we had an open door from a friend. People we met during this journey that keep helping us, treating us as family and friends. No words to express how happy and blessed we feel… This is what travel and friends are all about. Thanks so much for believing in us and on our dreams… Grazie, Merci, Gracias, Salamat, Tesekkurler….

Lessons from a long travel journey

Travel changes you! No doubt about it! During this past year, Rob and I learned to be more tolerant and respectful. When you get in touch with different cultures, religions and people, you discover that we are all the same, a person full of dreams, fears and seeking happiness. Our nationality, our color, sexual choices… Nothing matters. We are the same and we need to love and respect each other! When you let the prejudice go you discover that life can be easier, lighter and happier. This is the second lesson: Try your best to be happy and simple. I´m sure you won’t regret it. Simple things can make a big change in our daily life!

Something called relationship – Traveling the world with a partner

After 1 year of traveling around the world together, we are still alive and in love!! So I must say our recipe is working!! What is our love secret? Nothing special, just respect, share the same dreams and support each other. We had bad moments, sadness, crying crises [that was me 🙁 ] and joy… All the time we were together sharing the feelings and looking for the bright side. Not easy to live 24 hours together for 365 days… But with love and fun everything is possible!!! [I don’t want to be cheeky, but I also think that together we are awesome!! 😀 ]

The Bill! How much does it cost to travel around the world?

Now we come to the truth, the figures of 1 year traveling around the world. Since the beginning, we tried to respect our travel budget: $ 50 USD per day – per person. Inspired by Nomadic Matt`s book [How to Travel the World with $50 Dollars per Day] we found cheap ways to travel. We never gave up of fun and good moments, and we discovered a bunch of interesting and smart ways to save money. Another way to save money is to travel slow, there are countries  where you can live for more than 3 months on a Tourist Visa .

 Our cost of 1 year traveling around the world: [all the figures are in US dollars and it´s for two persons]

Transport – $ 9,172 [intercity and local transportation]

Accommodation – $ 6,882

Eating out – $ 6,280

Party – $ 3,542

Groceries – $ 2,611

Attractions – $ 2,117

Insurance – $ 2,200 [one year worldwide coverage]

Purchases – $ 1,222

Pharmacy – $ 660

Doctor – $ 223

Souvenirs \ Post – $ 194

WC – $ 20

Others –   $ 3,526 [internet, lockers, books, beauty, visas…]

The total cost of 1 year traveling around the world = $ 36,532 or $ 18,268 per person. The average per person / per day was $ 50!

During this 1 year of backpacking, we stayed longer in Europe, Turkey, and Thailand. In all of them for more than 2 months. Here is how much we spent on each one:

» Europe, 151 days: $ 13,369 [average per day = $ 88  or $ 44 per day/person]

» Turkey, 78 days: $4,904 [average per day = $ 62 or $ 31 per day/person]

» Thailand, 90 days: $ 5,492 [average per day = $ 61 or $30.5 per day/person]

We traveled a lot and managed to keep our money under control! Congratulations to us!! On the blog you can find the breakdown of our costs by countries, so far our series “How much Does it Cost to Travel to” shows the costs of travel in Portugal and the  Philippines . During the next months, we’ll be publishing more posts about our expenses around the world. Stay tuned 😉

Time flies when we are having fun! It doesn’t feel like one year has gone by, but when I look back I´m proud to see how many things we have done! How many places we visited, people we met, the cultures we experienced and how we became better persons and travelers. I dreamed of this life, but I never imagined it could be so amazing and full of surprises. We finished 1 year traveling around the world, our first year as digital nomads, 365 days of a nomadic marriage , and we have never been so happy!

I can say out and loud: We are Love and Road, we are long-term travelers, bloggers, party and sun-seekers. We are Rob and Nat and we want to inspire you to travel more and better because discovering the world is one of the most rewarding things you can do in your life!

I hope you enjoyed our story of 1 year of traveling around the world, and hope we could help you to plan your dream trip… Would love to hear your opinion about our story and how we can make it better for you! We started Love & Road as our own life project, but now it includes you and all our readers! Thanks for being part of this amazing journey!

195 thoughts on “1 Year traveling around the world – Our costs and secrets”

You have explained very well . It is very helpful for me because I have already planned to travel in my coming holidays. I am very thankful to you!

You are welcome!

Awesome detailed post. Hoping to travel the world for at least a year after our dog passes. Reading pieces like this are very helpful. Thank you for sharing!

Great write up! Was fun to read. Just one small suggestion: you should visit tye rural parts of Georgia (Mestia, Zhabeshi, Ushguli etc.) and then review your most beautiful/handsome women/men award 🙂

Tks for the heads up!

Great Blog/Article. I myself would love to break free and do as you did. I think traveling resets people. I think Americans, myself included, enjoy a lifestyle like no other, BUT the world is a beautiful place and i think we could ALL use a little more exposure to lifestyles, cultures, religions, etc…from all over the world 🌎 . It would benefit us all greatly. Keep blogging. Sounds like both of you are pros now. Stay in Love, and most importantly , keep traveling. -Ryan St Louis, MO

Glad you enjoyed it Ryan 🙏

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

We’re on the road right now – join in on the fun and follow @thebrokebackpacker on IG!

• Meet the Team
• Work with Us
• Czech Republic
• Netherlands
• Switzerland
• Scandinavia
• Philippines
• South Korea
• New Zealand
• South Africa
• Budget Travel
• Work & Travel
• The Broke Backpacker Manifesto
• Travel Resources
• How to Travel on $10/day

Home » Budget Travel » How Much Does it Cost to Travel the World for a Year or More? (2024)

How Much Does it Cost to Travel the World for a Year or More? (2024)

When that dastardly, dangerously, delightful thought first worms its way into your head: let’s travel around the world, leave everything behind and just go…

I’m a travel blogger and a dirtbag at heart, so of course, I’m happy for you. But then you’re asking, well, how much does a round the world trip cost?

The thing is, a year of travelling can be done for as little and as much money as you want . 

At one extreme, you and your hundred thousand dollars can stay in luxury hotels and swan through secluded villas. In which case, why are you reading a budget backpacking guide? Leave us dirtbags alone!

At the other end of the spectrum, you can work, hitchhike, dumpster dive, and camp your way across a continent or two for a year. You’ll spend next to nothing and gain an infinitude of life experience. 

Somewhere in between are those that just want to take a year off and experience budget travel. Your trip has an end date, so at some point you’ll go back to work; you’re not made of money! You’re ok roughing it a little.

The estimates for travelling around the world for one year range from $10,000 – $20,000 depending on how grungy your travel habits are – and where in the world you go.  

So hush to those luxury-influencer-travellers – this one’s for the broke backpackers! 

I’ve got budget estimates, tricks, tips, and just a smattering of ethics to answer the question: how much does it cost to travel the world?

Budget Tricks 101 for Travelling Around the World

Putting a hard number on a round the world trip, working and volunteering around the world, travel around the world responsibly, faqs about how much does it cost to travel the world, final thoughts on how much does it cost to travel the world.

There is just one phrase that defines all budget travel: go local. If you say this fast enough it kind of sounds like go loco which is a pretty accurate motto for the budget travel feels sometimes!

But the answer to the question ‘ how much does it cost to travel the world? ’ depends on which sandbox you’re playing in. Budget travel rules change a bit depending on whether you’re travelling through India or Germany. The India sandbox has a lower cost of living which means the frugal round the world (RTW) trip can be fairly comfortable. The German sandbox requires a larger amount of savings for the same quality of living; or a sneaky side hustle; or a commitment to utter dirtbaggery. 

Luckily, all of us on the Broke Backpacker team have thought long and hard about which sandboxes to go play in. (Don’t worry I’m retiring the metaphor now).

Picking a country that’s cheaper to travel in will mean you can travel comfortably for longer periods of time.

10 Best Cheap Places to Travel to

13 Cheapest Countries in Europe

Still, go local and life becomes cheaper – and more ethical if you ask me. Don’t go for the imported beer and American Spirit tobacco in India – go for Tuborg beer and bidis instead of cigarettes. Or better yet, just give up smoking. It’s a bullshit habit that grabs you by the throat and says, baby please don’t quit me, we had such good times remember?

I digress, probably because I’m trying to quit smoking. Pro tip: stop smoking cigarettes; start saving money. Boom, thank me later ratbags.

Whether you’re planning to slum it around South Asia for a year or dabble in a cheap trip across Europe , there are some common budget tricks and tips to keep your pockets full of coins. Remember, there are 4 major expenses on the road:

• Accommodation

If you can score parts of your expense list for free (like if you have accommodation included with your work) then you can keep your daily budget to a minimum.

These are my tried and true methods for keeping my 4 major costs on the road down. 

Do You Want to Travel FOREVER??

Pop your email in below to get a FREE copy of ‘How to Travel the World on $10 a Day!’.

Cheap Sleeps While Travelling

Budget travel and the cost of travel for one year is a spectrum. As I’ve said, you’ve got the pure dirtbaggery at one end and the glitzy, freaking fancy at the other. 

So reducing your accommodation costs are gonna look a little different depending on how you want to spend your year travelling. 

I can assume – if you’re reading this – you’re happy to say (politely) eat a fat one to hotels and fancy travelling . In which case, you’ll be looking at the hostel life ! Hostels are a pretty great way to experience travelling life as well as save some cash while you’re on the road.

But if you wanna get cheaper than hostels, rest assured there are options. You can always get some good camping gear and camp your way across the world. Investing in good camping gear before you travel the world for a year opens up a range of dope, free camping spots. 

Or you can lean into the great networks of Couchsurfing, BeWelcome, or Trustroots. Putting your trust and faith into a stranger in a country to host you for the night can lead to the most epic experiences. Because it’s more than a free sleep: it’s an invitation into someone’s home and, by extension, way of life. 

Finally, you can always try and score free accommodation with your work. Many seasonal jobs that you pick up along the road will offer free or discounted accommodation. If you can’t wrangle this out of your employer, you can also try housesitting . 

Airbnb and the Travel Blues

At some point during your RTW trip, you’ll probably hit some travel blues . Maybe that one guy at the hostel has taken it upon himself to tell you about the time he almost made it as a professional snowboarder yet again, or maybe you’re trying to quit cigarettes for the third time. Whatever the reason is, you need a break. 

That’s where Airbnb shines. In some offbeat travel destinations where there are no hostels, you will lean on Airbnb and Couchsurfing networks exclusively. But even where you won’t need Airbnb so much, it can be a great alternative. There are low to mid-range properties that are a little classier – and a lot more private – than hostels. They might be just what you need after a hectic few months on the road.

However you make it work, squashing the cost of your nightly sleeps greatly reduces your daily budget. If you have $10 a day to spend, expect that accommodation can quickly add up to half or more of your budget – even in cheap countries. 

Aiming for free accommodation, and a tonne more memories, is the way to go!

Cheap Eats While Travelling

Generally speaking, if you’re in a country that’s cheap to travel to: eat street food .

If you’re in a country that’s more expensive: cook for yourself .

If you want to go full dirtbag: dumpster dive . 

I could go on and on about how good food made me question the Universe about God again… I have had some truly divine meals while travelling. And no, they haven’t been had in the fancy restaurants! In fact, done right, food can be the cheapest part of your whole travelling day. 

You could venture deep into the bowels of a marketplace in Mexico, pet chicken in tow (I was going through something – don’t ask), and score a plate of tacos for $1 . You bite into this magical, mystery meaty, pico de gallo topped taco of goodness. Goddddddddamn, if that isn’t the best dollar you’ve ever spent.

Of course, if you find yourself on your Europe leg of the RTW trip, street food might not be an option. So it’ll end up being cheaper to cook for yourself. Although tapas, anyone? They can be cheap and delicious!

There’s also something satisfying about learning a few tricks and tips to show off the next time you get to a hostel kitchen.

Pro tip: cover your potatoes in alfoil, slather them in butter and herbs, bake. Cheap, and damn delicious. 

Cheap Transport While Travelling

Remember: go local! If the bus is crammed from window to windscreen with local passengers, chances are it’s the cheapest transport in town. 

It’s practically a backpacker rite of passage to let themselves be absorbed by the madness of squeezing 35 passengers into a 10 seater bus that careens its way through Kathmandu! Now, on the one hand, sometimes you’re not going to want to share your seat with a chicken, an elderly woman, two backpackers, and a stereo. 

Sometimes, you’ll book the air-conditioned bus and it might even come on time.

And remember that walking is free! If you can’t walk, then you sure can hitchhike . And if you can’t hitchhike, you can haggle for the price of the chicken bus. 

I think the biggest factor that determines your transport cost though is how committed to a fast-paced itinerary you are. The faster you move, the more transport will cost. The more inflexible your itinerary, the less time you have to haggle or shop around for a cheaper option. When it comes to the actual travelling throughout your round the world trip, go slow . 

Cheap Budget Activities While Travelling

Jump on those free walking tours. Start hiking in the local area. See the landmarks from the top of a hill in the city rather than from inside. 

There are lots of ways to reduce the amount of money spent on activities. But, usually, it simply means not doing something.

Now, things like the Eiffel Tower, I’m happy not “doing”. I’d rather see it from the metro and maybe picnic in the park with it in the background. I don’t need to go to the top of it and hope my partner isn’t overcome with the need to propose to me.

Occasionally though, the Lonely Planet lists attractions for a good reason: they’re pretty awesome! Other times, there will be once-in-a-lifetime experiences that are part of the reason you left to travel the world in the first place. Like, learning to freedive , or bungee jumping in New Zealand. 

So some days you won’t need to spend a cent on daily activities. On others, it’s nice to have a little extra money set aside to do something epic. 

Ultimate Budget Travel Hack

When you’re considering how much does it cost to travel the world, know that your route and speed will largely determine your expense . The faster you go and the more expensive the cost of living is in a country, the more you will spend.

The number one way you will save money when you travel the world is being flexible. When you don’t have anywhere to be, you have the freedom to pick a cheaper, slower option in order to get there. 

When you have a less packed itinerary, you will spend less money ticking places off. A less packed itinerary allows you to engage in slow travel and save your money, and sanity, as you travel the world.

Wanna know how to pack like a pro? Well for a start you need the right gear….

These are packing cubes for the globetrotters and compression sacks for the  real adventurers – these babies are a traveller’s best kept secret. They organise yo’ packing and minimise volume too so you can pack MORE.

Or, y’know… you can stick to just chucking it all in your backpack…

Okay, so we’ve got some budget travel tricks and tips under our belt. Now we’ve got to try and put a number on this whole excursion. Oof, I can hear the dirtbags tuning out of the hard numbers. They just want to dumpster dive their way through Europe and then go chill in Nepal for a bit – and that’s ok!

But the RTW backpackers want to put a hard number on their budget. So. I’d say if you’re travelling mostly through Europe, Oceania, or North America , you’ll spend around $20 000 in a year. If you’re travelling through Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe you’ll spend around $10 000 . 

See, these are pretty arbitrary numbers when I just type them out. And the longer I spend not smoking, the more attracted I am to structured data. There’s just something so satisfying and distracting about a table.

The most impressive breakdown of how much one year of travel costs is this bad boy . Sharon did not fuck around when it comes to tracking every last dollar she spent on her first year abroad. I think it’s important to remain realistic about your route and the speed that you will conquer your RTW with. 

But even a back of the envelope calculation like my one shows how far you can stretch a few dollars by being savvy. Travelling around the world for a year isn’t necessarily expensive. 

The Back of the Envelope Calculations

Look, when the numbers are crunched, travelling the world for a year costs less than what you might think . Saving up for the legendary RTW is suddenly a little less daunting.

These back of the envelope calculations don’t include flights, internet costs, or a lot of the gear that you might want to buy beforehand. Still, it’s not that expensive. 

Yet, the broke backpacker’s whole dealio is that we travel the world on less than $10USD a day . And we do do that. (Or at least I do!)

Once you’re on the ground haggling new prices , busking, dumpster diving, and hitchhiking it’s quite easy to not spend more than $10USD a day. It’s the flights, the broken laptops, the good quality backpacking gear, the stint in an Indian hospital stricken with dengue fever that pushes the cost up. 

Also, if you build a bit of wiggle room into your budget you don’t find yourself in a shit hot mess (financially speaking).

Also, even if you spend $10 a day, I would still recommend investing in good quality gear from the get-go. This limits the amount of time you spend sewing your pants back together – and reduces the risk that your bag goes kapootz in the middle of a busy street in Hanoi.

The fact is, many people will fall somewhere between a grunge-cat and a full-blown live-off-your-savings RTW, by getting a working holiday visa or working remotely along the way as a digital nomad.

In this case, not only can you deploy budget hacks to keep your daily costs below $10 a day as a weapon against a depleting bank account, but you have an income too! Even the grungiest of dirtbags will admit that it’s nice to be able to afford a fat joint every now and then!

Our GREATEST Travel Secrets…

Pop your email here & get the original Broke Backpacker Bible for FREE.

Maybe you’ve got $20 000 set aside for an EPIC RTW. You’re happy living the hostel life and splurging on the occasional SCUBA diving trip.

Or maybe, you’ve got a more humble budget in mind. 

In this case, you’re probably going to want to work a little to bring down the cost of your year of travel. You can always find the shitkicker backpacker jobs if you’re willing to get your hands dirty. Speak a little of the local language and a construction site will be hard-pressed to say no to your help for the day.

Most hostels will look for backpackers to run the front desk, do some cleaning, or run the bar in exchange for a bed and some pocket money. Then there’s the seasonal work or teaching English that you can pick up along the way. 

I’ve done everything from picking fruit to working on a fishing vessel to bartending for a little extra cash for the travels ahead! Now if you’re planning to turn your one year on the road into multiple years on the road, the hustling and seasonal work will appeal to you. 

But eventually, you might start to think about a more sustainable way to bring down the annual cost of your travels. You might even start to think about how nice it would be to earn some kind of income again…

Alrighty, here’s the dirty little secret of long term travellers: you don’t just quit your job to travel ; you bring it with you . 

Digital Nomadism

Location-independent work is not so unusual these days – and it’s likely going to become more popular as people get a taste of going remote. These days the team that makes up the broke backpacker would all mostly consider themselves digital nomads of some kind and have plenty to say about getting started as a digital nomad .

Many backpackers will start off as freelancers or entrepreneurs of some kind when they begin their digital nomad journey. As with any industry, there are some people who will try it out for a few months and quit; and then there are the lifers. 

It’s just so addicting to have the ultimate flexibility and freedom of travel paired with the undeniable goodness of regular income, no matter how much digital nomadism changes your travel .

Just a few of the digital nomad jobs include:

• IT and tech jobs – web and software development, UI/UX design
• Creative jobs – photography, creative writing
• Writing jobs – copywriting, blogging
• Marketing jobs – e-commerce, product management
• Language jobs – teaching English, translation, transcription

Volunteering on Your Trip Around the World

If you want to lower some travel costs but aren’t sold on the whole hustling, capitalist beast (or maybe you just want to do a little good) I’d suggest thinking about volunteering! You’ll lower your travel costs, connect with local communities, and give back all your best vibes and smiles while you’re at it.

Whenever you are volunteering, do stay vigilant, especially when working with animals or children. Volunteer programs, like Workaway , run through reputable work exchange programs are more well-managed and reputable.

At The Broke Backpacker, we recommend Worldpackers : a review based program that connects well-meaning volunteers with reputable programs worldwide.

You can rest easy knowing you’re doing a little good for the community that you’re in.

Worldpackers: connecting travellers with  meaningful travel experiences.

8 Steps to a Successful Round the World Adventure

What’s sexier than a budget table or a very detailed spreadsheet? An infographic!

• Get some destination inspiration . This is what’s going to carry you through the hard, hustle times. That beautiful sunset over a beach that you have to yourself; that epic trek through the Andean Highlands. Stay inspired!
• Save some coins . Even the dirtbags have got to buy the odd plate of tacos! However, you save up for your trip, keep that inspiration fresh in your mind.
• Create your budget . Know the hard limits. Know when it’s time to hustle again. 
• Have a loose itinerary . Remember, less is more! The slower you can go, and the more flexible your itinerary, the cheaper your round the world trip becomes. 
• Get some dang insurance . Yeah, even you grungy broke backpackers should consider this! No one thinks they’re going to die of dengue fever in a Guatemalan hospital until it’s too damn late. In which case, good travel insurance saves you a shit tonne of money.

6. Pack up yo’ shit! Investing in good gear means that sexy camping spots open up for you and your underwear doesn’t have holes in them after 4 weeks. Get that good gear, yo!

7. Stay healthy . Travelling is a liminal space between who you were and who you will become. There’s a helluva lot of transformation going on, along with some serious physical stressors. Stay hydrated, eat well, and take care of yourself – including staying fit on the road.

8. Work on the road . Inevitably, you’ll get more destination inspiration. And then you’ll need to save up some money again so that you can set a budget, make a new itinerary, get more insurance, and pack all over again! Getting a job on the road makes it possible to keep this dream machine going.

The Ultimate Adventure Packing List

Get a load of this in your backpack and you’ll be well on your way to getting the perfect packing list . You don’t want to be the kid with luggage that’s 20kg too heavy, but there’s no point skimping on the essentials either!

Osprey Aether 70L Backpack

Ya can’t go backpacking anywhere without a blasted backpack! Words cannot describe what a friend the Osprey Aether has been to The Broke Backpacker on the road. It’s had a long and illustrious career; Ospreys don’t go down easily.

Feathered Friends Swift 20 YF

My philosophy is that with an EPIC sleeping bag, you can sleep anywhere. A tent is a nice bonus, but a real sleek sleeping bag means you can roll out anywhere in a and stay warm in a pinch. And the Feathered Friends Swift bag is about as premium as it gets.

Grayl Geopress Filtered Bottle

Always travel with a water bottle! They save you money and reduce your plastic footprint on our planet. The Grayl Geopress acts as a purifier AND temperature regulator – so you can enjoy a cold red bull, or a hot coffee, no matter where you are.

Petzl Actik Core Headlamp

Every traveller should have a head torch! A decent head torch could save your life. When you’re camping, hiking, or even if the power just went out, a top-quality headlamp is a MUST. The Petzl Actik Core is an awesome piece of kit because it’s USB chargeable—batteries begone!

First Aid Kit

Never go off the beaten track (or even on it) without your first aid kit! Cuts, bruises, scrapes, third-degree sunburn: a first aid kit will be able to handle most of these minor situations.

If you spend any time in a tourist hotspot, you’ll take no convincing that some tourists are dickkkkkkkkkkks . 

I think that ultimately, no matter how cheaply we’re travelling, we have a responsibility to travel sustainably . There’s no need to throw your garbage out the window just because the country’s waterways are already full of garbage. You don’t gotta be that guy. 

In fact, if you’re looking to reduce the amount of plastic you use, you can always go for a filtered water bottle . This way you aren’t spending needless money on plastic bottles AND you aren’t contributing to the landfill problem. Heaps yeah! The turtles say thankyou, homie!

And then there are the little things that stem from a little cultural awareness. Dressing modestly where necessary, not carving your name into sacred temples, using your manners; you know, the stuff that would make your mum proud.

I think that the slower you travel, the more that you can grasp the intricacies of cultural awareness and reduce your environmental footprint – AKA the two core components to travelling sustainably. You will fly less and say please more when you travel slowly and have nowhere you need to be.

Travelling slowly is less stressful for you as well, and I believe, you have a responsibility to yourself and your mental health when you travel too. Because at the end of the day, if you neglect your mental health you’re more likely to act like a dick and travel less responsibly. 

It’s all connected!

Basically, if you can nail responsibility to yourself, to others, and to the environment you’re probably doing your bit to make sure travelling remains a net positive force in the world.

I’ve got your burning questions about the cost of travel for one year answer RIGHT HERE!

How much should I save if I want to travel for one year?

While most estimates put the number at $20,000 per year , I think it really depends on your style of travel and whether you think you’ll be indefinitely on the road afterwards. If you are committed to a year of budget travel that might include a few splurges and no proper working, then yeah, I’d say $20,000 is accurate.  If you hustle or get some seasonal work or become a digital nomad, you may end up travelling for far longer and your yearly costs are going to be significantly less.

Can I travel with no money?

Helllllll YES! Well, it depends on what you mean by “no” money. You can gain income along the way by seasonally working or becoming a digital nomad and offset everything you spend with your income. Or you can straight up not work and travel like an absolute grunge-cat hitchhiking and dumpster diving and still not spend any money.

Is it worth travelling around the world for a year?

I think it’s, hands down, one of the most transformative things you can do. The perspective you will gain and the memories you will make are second to none. Book that ticket!

So should you do it? Should you quit your job and travel the world for a year? Well I dunno, I’m not your life guru. 😉

But now you know that travelling the world for a year is really rather achievable. You don’t have to sacrifice everything for your once in a lifetime round the world trip. It’s perfectly feasible to save up and take the trip of a lifetime! A year’s worth of travel may only set you back $20,000. 

And when you inevitably catch the travel bug, you can find budget hacks and jobs on the road to keep you going. Soon you will realise that you don’t need that much money for a year to travel. You can go full grungy dirtbag and hitchhike your way into a new adventure. Orrrrrr, you can take the happy medium and enjoy an exciting RTW adventure for a year.

Through it all, you’ll let in the transformative power of travelling . 

Because ultimately, travelling opens you up to many new perspectives on the world and really drives home that we have one Earth. We have more in common with each other than we think and we have a responsibility to pull ourselves together to keep this planet in good knick. 

Stay golden team, and I’ll see you out there on the road!

And for transparency’s sake, please know that some of the links in our content are affiliate links . That means that if you book your accommodation, buy your gear, or sort your insurance through our link, we earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). That said, we only link to the gear we trust and never recommend services we don’t believe are up to scratch. Again, thank you!

Indigo Blue

Share or save this post

Hi. This is a really useful blog thank you. ? My partner and I are planning to setting off on our travels from England in January 2025. We will definitely have £40,000 between us when we go. potentially £45-47,000 (but this will be a bonus if so!). We want to travel South East Asia, then over to Mexico and travel through Central and South America (for Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador). I am worried our £40,000 will not be enough money given inflation costs post-covid. We will be happy to travel overland, quite slowly. We can stay in hostels… we don’t really like to camp (with the odd private room where its cheaper – we are a couple after all!). We do like yo do a bit of diving and Trekking. We aren’t limited on time. Do you have any thoughts on our budget? I have been wondering if we should postpone and save up more but I really don’t want to!

Hi Alisha, I often lament that you need at least 2 of the 3 following to travel, time , money, motivation to make it work should you be lacking either of the first two. You are super lucky and appear to have all three. Don’t wait, go in Jan 2025. More importantly than what you have in the bank is making a realistic daily budget and sticking as best you can to it. Really decide what things you are willing to splurge and sacrifice on.

In my experience drinks (of all types) can be a daily budget breaker, so you can do things like forgo fancy coffee and just have the local brew. Living and travelling like a local will always stretch your money further.Getting involved in projects or workaways will also help. Try to get some interest on the cash you do have in the bank and make sure you find a least two banking products that allow you free access to your money abroad and have them fully set up before you set off. Wishing you a great trip!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail.

How Much it Costs to Travel the World (A Breakdown)

The exact cost of traveling the world depends on multiple factors, such as the locations you’re visiting and the mode of transportation you’re using, though as a baseline, it costs $20,000 to travel the world.

Table of Contents

• 1.1 Traveling Solo
• 1.2 Traveling with Family
• 1.3 Traveling in Luxury
• 1.4 Traveling Comfortably
• 1.5 Traveling on a Budget
• 1.6 Traveling for a Year
• 1.7 Traveling Indefinitely
• 2.1 1. The Countries You Want to Visit
• 2.2 2. Seasonality/Time of Year
• 2.3 3. Mode of Transportation
• 2.4 4. Type of Accommodation
• 2.5 5. Pace of Travel
• 2.6 6. Activities, Tours, and Excursions
• 2.7 7. Food

How Much it Costs to Travel the World

The cost of traveling the world also depends on whether you do it alone or with other people. 

Traveling Solo

The minimum travel cost is $20,000 for a single person.

This estimation is based on you spending $50-60 on average a day, with some left over for unexpected costs.

Traveling with Family

You’ll need at least between $25,000 to $60,000 to travel with your family.

Traveling in Luxury

Traveling in luxury for a single person costs at least $60,000. The cost could be higher or lower depending on your definition of luxury. 

Traveling Comfortably

You need at least $25,000 to $30,000 to comfortably travel the world. 

Traveling on a Budget

The minimum travel cost for a single person is between $9,000 and $13,000.

The lower estimate depends on you choosing budget transport and accommodation options. 

Traveling for a Year

The baseline cost for traveling around the world for a year is $20,000 for a single person. 

Traveling Indefinitely

The average cost of traveling per year for a single person is $20,000, so the cost of traveling indefinitely would be $20,000 per year.

So if you travel for 20 years, the cost would be $400,000.

The cost of traveling indefinitely depends largely on the locations you’re traveling to and the mode of transportation you’re using.

Factors that Influence the Cost of Traveling the World

The cost of traveling the world is impacted by many factors, including the countries you want to visit and when you want to visit. 

1. The Countries You Want to Visit

The cost of traveling the world mostly depends on the countries you want to visit.

Some countries are considerably more expensive to visit than others due to the cost of transportation, accommodation, and activities. 

Traveling to developed countries, like France or South Korea, is more expensive than to developing countries like Thailand and Indonesia.

2. Seasonality/Time of Year

The cost of flying to different countries varies depending the season you are planning on visiting in.

Most countries have a tourist season during the summer and a low season during the months from January to March.

Naturally, the tourism season is during the holiday months. 

3. Mode of Transportation

The mode(s) of transportation you use will impact the cost of your trip.

For example, the costs could be extremely high if you’re only flying, since flight tickets are generally expensive. 

If traveling around the world includes taking buses, trains, and ridesharing services, the cost of traveling could be lower.

The best way to reduce travel costs is to strategically choose flying and public transportation, and avoid booking last minute flights .

4. Type of Accommodation

The type of accommodation you stay at also impacts your cost of traveling the world.

For example, staying at a hotel is generally the most expensive option.

Hostels and Home exchanges are considerably cheaper.

You could also use Airbnb to reduce costs by choosing low-cost rentals. 

5. Pace of Travel

How fast you travel across the world impacts how much it costs.

For example, staying in the same accommodation for a long time can reduce costs instead of traveling to different cities in the same country.

The cost of traveling also depends on whether you do it on the weekends or the weekdays , when demand is usually lower. 

6. Activities, Tours, and Excursions

How many activities you participate in during your trip also impacts the trip’s overall cost.

For example, you can minimize costs by choosing free activities, like visiting public museums and sites, instead of expensive paid activities like tours and excursions. 

The best way to reduce costs could be to have a customized itinerary to reduce the costs of activities. 

Food is naturally a major expense on any trip around the world.

The cost of food varies massively across the world, including the type of food you choose.

Local street food is usually the cheapest option in any country.

In conclusion:

• The cost of traveling the world depends on the locations you travel to, the mode of transportation you choose, and which activities you participate in.
• Generally, a single person’s baseline cost of traveling the world is around $20,000.
• The cost of traveling with family is $40,000 on average, but it could be much higher.
• The cost of traveling in luxury costs more, at $60,000 at least.
• The cost of traveling indefinitely depends on how much you travel every year and how long you do it for. For instance, if you travel for 20 years for $20,000 per annum, the total cost will be $400,000.

Ella Dunham

Ella Dunham, a Freelance Travel Journalist and Marketing Manager, boasts an impressive career spanning eight years in the travel and tourism sectors.

Honored as one of "30 Under 30" by TTG Media (the world’s very first weekly travel trade newspaper), a "Tour Operator Travel Guru" and "Legend Award" winner, Ella is also a Fellow of the Institute of Travel, a Member of the Association of Women Travel Executives, has completed over 250 travel modules, and hosts travel-focused segments on national radio shows where she provides insights on travel regulations and destinations.

Ella has visited over 40 countries (with 10 more planned this year).

Related Posts:

Frugal Travellers

Join us as we wander the globe.

How much does it cost to travel the world for 1 year?

How much does it cost to travel the world for 1 year? Read this post to discover exactly what one year’s travel cost us.  The total daily spend whilst on the road and all the extras that add up to a total year’s travel cost.  Find out what a year’s travel could cost you and where the money goes.

Daily Spend

$8246 or $22.59 Australian per day

£4716 or  £12.92 UK per day

$6022 or $16.50 US per day

To see in other currencies visit xe.com    Our workings through this post will be in Australian dollars as that is the currency we’ve been using mostly whilst on the road.

Wait a minute…  that is just the daily spend.  What about the true cost with all the extras?

Well, that is the sum of our daily spend per person over 365 days of world travel. It’s not exactly indicative of the total cost, there are extra expenses to account for.  Things like flights, insurance, visas and other miscellaneous expenses that get booked online are an extra expense which we shall also account for below to show the true cost of travel .  But that figure is exactly what we each spent whilst on the road in local currencies over the past year.  Generally that includes paying for accommodation, travel expenses, food and everyday items.  For the exact figures of what it costs two frugal travellers to travel the world, read on and find out…

The end of year financial report is out

It is the one year anniversary of the beginning of our world travels since we left Australia. We have kept a meticulous account of our daily expenses and our overall costs since we hit the road. Being Frugal Travellers we like to keep account of what things cost and how our budget is going along and we thought it would be good to share it with others who are curious to know what the costs of budget global travel are.

We know everybody is different, we all travel in different ways, go to different places and have different needs and expectations.  So this is in no account a definitive guide on the cost of world travel for everyone.  This is a per person account of what it cost US to travel the world for a year as an example to others of what to expect when they head off on that big world trip they’ve always been planning.  

How much does it cost to travel the world for 1 year?  Let’s find out…

So what kind of budget are you on?

We consider ourselves to be frugal travellers in so much as we are careful about what we spend in order to get the best value for money out of travel.  That doesn’t mean we are total rock bottom travellers.  We’ve met people who hitchhike everywhere, who stay in other people’s homes or camp to save money,  who only ever cook for themselves and live off rice and veggies to save a dollar.  Each to their own, we say.  You can travel on a on the smell of an oily rag if that is the way you want to do it but we like to treat ourselves to a little bit more to make our travels comfortable and enjoyable.

We use the cheapest public transport available to get about and we tend to walk instead of getting taxis for short distances (the exercise does us good).  If we can we chose to go for double rooms over dorms because a bit of privacy and comfort is paramount to staying sane whilst on the road long term. 

We eat local food in local cafes and at street stalls, rather than the more upmarket tourist restaurants.  We chose what tourist sights we visit, some are absolute must-sees and are worth spending money on whereas others can be overpriced tourist traps that can be skipped.  Occasionally we treat ourselves to a few beers but avoid drinking regularly as that can make a huge hole in the travel budget.

How to travel the world as a Frugal Traveller

Where have you been in this travel year?

Here is a breakdown of where we’ve been over the year, how long we stayed there and what our average daily spend was in each place per person   as an example of the cost of travel there. This is in $ Australian

New Zealand.  41 days.  $15 a day

Australia.  17 days.  $19 a day

Malaysia.  3 days.  $17 a day

Nepal.  67 days.  $22 a day

Oman.  3 days.  $32 a day

UK.  38 days.  $24 a day

Norway.  16 days.  $108 a day (including a 12 day cruise)

Finland.  3 days.  $18 a day

Russia.  30 days.  $31 a day (Including Trans-Siberian train tickets)

South Korea.  18 days.  $34 a day

Hong Kong.  7 days.   $36 a day

Macau.  2 days.  $51 a day

China.  58 days.  $29 a day

Kyrgyzstan.  41 days.  $22 a day

Tajikistan. 25 days.  $19 a day

NOTE: We spent most of our time in Australia, New Zealand and UK visiting family and not spending on accommodation, which explains why the daily expenses in those countries are lower than average.

What were the extra expenses then?

Well this was a mixed year of travel for us as far as expense is involved.  Although we spent some time visiting family around the world, we also had to book 12 flights (one of which we didn’t even take but needed to purchase to get a Chinese visa!)  which cost us $2,288 each in total. 

We treated ourselves to our first ever cruise into the Norwegian Arctic which cost $1,688 each .  We took the Trans-Siberian train across Russia which was a very reasonable $347 each (third class, of course).  The total cost of our travel Insurance was $782 each.   There were a few other sundry expenses as well.  Some Visas we bought in local currencies so that cost was incorporated into the daily spend.  The Tajikistan visa cost us an extra $95 each.

Here is the total rundown of one year’s true travel costs…

Exact daily spend over 365 days      $8246

Extra expenses paid online

Flights                                             $2288

Norwegian Cruise                           $1688

Insurance                                          $782

Miscellaneous expenses –

Trans Siberian train, Visas,

some transport and airbnb               $776

Total travel cost                         $13,780

$13,780  Total or $37.75 per day Australian

£7825 Total or  £21.44 per day UK

$10064 Total or $27.57 per day US

It’s been quite a travel year

In this travel year we’ve spent 2 months trekking to some amazing places in Nepal.  We’ve had some incredible short City visits to KL, Oman, Hong Kong, Macau, Helsinki and Oslo.  We’ve taken a cruise up to see the Northern lights in the Norwegian Arctic.  After seeing the stunning cities of St Petersburg and Moscow,  We’ve taken the Trans-Siberian train right across Russia in the dead of winter.  After exploring the fascinating country of South Korea we spent 2 months wandering around China , visiting it’s diverse regions and bustling cities.  Standing on the Great Wall, admiring the Terracotta warriors and paying a visit to the playful pandas were all highlights.  We crossed deserts and mountains on the great Silk Road into the spectacular Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan .  Yes, it’s been quite a travel year…

And it has cost us in total   $13,780 per person  all up!  Some people spend more than that on a 4 week package tour.  That’s how far frugal travel can get you!

We hope this post How much does it cost to travel the world for 1 year? has been of some use to anybody who is planning a world trip and is wondering about the average cost of travel, including everyday travel expenses and all the extra hidden costs.  We are happy to answer any questions anyone may have regarding the costs of world travel.  Please contact us on the form below for more information.  World travel needn’t break the bank and can be accessible to all if you are smart about how to live life on the road.  We hope we’ve inspired you and we hope to see you out there somewhere in this wonderful world of ours.

Coming soon….  A frugal travel guide to each country we’ve visited and how to get around on a budget!

Like this post? Pin it

Share and Enjoy !

You might also like:.

Frugal Travel Tips

Why we put our travel plans on hold in Krakow, Poland

Our Current Journey

2 thoughts on “ how much does it cost to travel the world for 1 year ”.

Awesome article. Very helpful. Nice to see how other travelers manage their budget and nice to show other people that say travel is “expensive” that it is NOT as expensive as they may think. Keep up the great articles 🙂

Thanks Kasha. We know everyone travels differently but we wanted to show how we manage it as an example. We’ve just completed our 2nd year on the road and came in even lower this year!! Hopefully it inspires people to travel who are holding back because of money concerns. We plan to write many more posts with budget travel tips in the future. 😊

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Copy short link

• About Career Gappers
• Our blogging journey
• Write for us
• Work with us

• The decision stage
• The planning stage
• The preparation stage
• Career break travel tips
• Returning home: what next?
• Career break travel insurance
• Inspirational stories
• What is remote working?
• Workation packages and deals 2023
• The wellbeing benefits of taking a workation
• Barcelona workation guide
• Cornwall workation guide
• Hamburg workation guide
• Lisbon workation guide
• Mallorca workation guide
• New Zealand
• Career Gappers Facebook Community
• Interviews with career gappers
• Workations Facebook Community

Travel career break resources

How much does it cost to travel the world here’s what we spent.

It’s the question we are asked more often than any other about our travels. “How much does it cost to travel the world for a year?” Conveniently, it’s one we can answer with pinpoint accuracy – from our perspective, at least – because we track every penny we spend on the road. In this article, to help you plan your own round the world trip budget, we break down everything we spent during our travel career break , and we also take a general look at the cost of world travel.

This article contains links to products and services we love, from which we may make commission at no extra cost to you.

In this article:

How much does it cost to travel the world in 2023?

The truth is that there is no single or simple answer to this question. There is no one-size-fits-all itinerary for a round the world trip, and so the price of one depends on many different factors.

However, you can make a ballpark estimate based on the biggest of these factors. The two things that will have the most significant impact on your world trip costs are:

•  Your travel style (budget, mid-range, luxury)
•  Where you plan to travel

Let’s compare two extremes. If you were to travel on a very basic budget, saving money wherever possible on things like accommodation and food, and focus your travels in a low-cost region (Southeast Asia for example), you could get by on as little as $5,000–$6,000 for a year’s travel. On the reverse side of the coin, if you opt for a luxury travel style focusing on an expensive region (like Western Europe), you would struggle to spend less than $50,000 in a year.

In this article I take a look at what Lisa and I spent in a year across a range of destinations, from expensive Australia and Patagonia to low-cost Bolivia and Vietnam, on a fairly mid-range travel budget. First, though, I will share some key takeaways from our experiences about the cost to travel, and some useful tools you can use to plan your own round the world trip budget.

Key lessons we’ve learned about world trip costs

When planning your round-the-world trip budget and figuring out how much you will need to save, there are some important things to consider. The following three knowledge-bombs would have helped us greatly if we’d been aware of them before our big trip:

1.  Budget travel can be hard work

While it is becoming increasingly possible to travel cheaply (or even freely), there are some non-financial costs of doing so. Budget travel can be exhausting and it isn’t for everyone. Before you think, “great, $5,000 will be enough for me to backpack Southeast Asia for a year… let’s go!” – consider carefully what you will be comfortable with, and what you want to get out of your trip.

Travelling on a shoe-string budget might mean staying in cheap hostels, Couchsurfing or camping, perhaps. Will you be happy in extremely basic accommodation? Will you feel comfortable staying in the home of someone you’ve never met? Or does sleeping in a tent appeal to you?

Budget travel will also often require you to travel out of season, be flexible with your timings, and make the most of free activities. You will need to be savvy and willing to try self-guided exploring; package tours are off limits. Is this the experience you are seeking, or will it stop you from realising your travel goals?

Maybe you will need to find work along the way or volunteer in hostels for accommodation – would that hinder your enjoyment?

We decided to save for an extra couple of years for our round the world trip, as we wanted the financial freedom to enjoy the big experiences, eat in nice local restaurants and stay in places that would suit our style. We still had to scrimp at times, and were constantly mindful of budget – but we’re glad that we had that extra buffer.

Some people thrive on the challenge of budget travel, but for others it’s just a drag. Think about how you will fare with it before you go ahead and book anything.

2.  Beware of hidden costs

When we planned the budget for our round the world trip, we made a big spreadsheet covering the most obvious things we would need to pay for: transport, accommodation, food and activities. After setting off, we soon found that there were many things we needed money for that we hadn’t considered.

For example, you won’t get far on the road before you need to do some laundry. After a while, things break and you need to replace them. And what about haircuts? Local taxes? Medication if you get ill? Books to read? Even withdrawing money often comes with a fee.

There are many hidden costs of travel that are easy to miss when you’re in the planning stage. For a deep insight into the most common ones, check out our article on the hidden cost of travel and how to avoid them .

3.  Currency fluctuations can hit your travel finances

Travelling around the world, you will likely use many different currencies. Exchange rates are always changing, and this can have a big impact on your expenditure. We know this all too well coming from the UK. After the vote on Brexit in 2016, the pound sterling crashed – a year before our big trip – and as a result we lost thousands of pounds.

Currency fluctuations can, of course, work out in your favour too. The peso in Argentina has been sliding significantly over the last few years amid economic instability. Back in 2017 you could only get around 17 Argentine pesos to the dollar, but by mid-2022 it’s more like 150 pesos to the dollar! The same is true of the Philippine peso; if you travel there now, you will spend a lot less than five years ago. When this happens, local costs do adjust to the currency fluctuations, but it’s still likely that the prices will work out cheaper than before.

With this in mind, it’s prudent to keep a close eye on the exchange rates in the countries you plan to visit. You can see live market rates and historic trends on xe.com – it’s a great resource that we use regularly when planning and reviewing our travel spends.

Travel budgeting tools and resources

Our go-to resource for planning travel spends is always Budget Your Trip . It’s an incredibly useful website that gives estimates of travel costs for destinations all over the world. You can filter the cost estimates by budget, mid-range or luxury travel styles, and it’s broken down into various different categories such as accommodation and entertainment.

We used the site for budgeting throughout our year-long travel career break, and found the estimates to be mostly very accurate.

Here are some other neat tools and resources you can use to plan budgets and save money:

You can also check out our complete guide to managing money when travelling for more tips and tricks.

About us and our trip: what did we spend?

Before I get into the details of our round the world trip costs, I will explain a bit more about us and our itinerary to set the context.

People sometimes tiptoe around this question because money is a sensitive subject. We want to be open about our spending to help others plan similar trips. We made a plan, worked hard and saved for five years to make this trip a reality, which enabled us to make the most of our year of travel. If you are focused on the goal, it can be done!

Lisa and I are a married couple who decided to take a one-year career break to travel the world. We think of ourselves as ‘in-betweener’ travellers when it comes to money. We don’t travel a tight shoestring budget, but nor do we indulge in luxury very often.

We tend to stay in hostels, we don’t eat in many fancy restaurants, and we take buses rather than flying if we can. But at the same time, we treat ourselves to good local food, and we spend on activities and experiences. We aren’t party-harders these days, but we’re social animals who like a drink (especially a local beer or a good wine). Think of us as the typical mid-range budget 30-something travellers.

The cost to travel the world: what we spent overall

The costs I outline in this analysis are presented in pounds sterling and US dollars based on the average exchange rates at the time of our trip. Of course, the world is changing all the time and so are economies, so keep an eye on those exchange rates throughout your planning!

Our journey lasted for 11 months, during which we travelled to 20 countries. I’ll start with the big number: in total, we spent £38,649 / $51,790 on this trip. That’s for both of us, so £19,325 / $28,895 each if looking at individual costs (however, note that there are quite a lot of savings you can make when travelling as a couple, so solo costs would likely be higher).

Breaking down the big figure

The pie chart below shows how our expenditure was distributed during our 11 months of travelling. You can hover over or click on the segments to see the corresponding amounts:

Here are a few notable points:

• Our transport costs – the biggest area of spending – include £2,414 / $3,235 each for our main round-the-world flight packages;
• The Inca Trail in Peru cost us £799 / $1,071 each, and therefore accounted for over 20% of our entire activity expenditure for the year;
• £250 / $335 on money withdrawal charges
• £216 / $289 on visas
• £330 / $442 on cigarettes and tobacco
• £230 / $308 on toiletries and medication
• £192 / $257 on laundry
• £190 / $255 on gifts and souvenirs
• Other miscellaneous costs

Some country comparisons

The countries we visited – not including the USA – are shown in order in the table below, together with our total outlay in each:

Total daily costs by country

The chart below shows our average daily spend in each country, in pounds sterling. As the table above highlights, we were in some countries for just a few days. In these cases – for example Paraguay, Uruguay, Singapore and Brunei – the statistics should be taken with a small pinch of salt.

As our average spending in Peru was hugely affected by one single outlay on hiking the Inca Trail , I have also included the country’s stats with that cost removed.

Fiji was by some distance the most expensive country of our trip by daily average. While it would be possible to travel around its main island – Viti Levu – very cheaply, like many travellers we headed out to the smaller Mamanuca and Yasawa Islands. The ferries between them were not cheap, and we stayed in backpacker resorts with expensive mandatory food packages.

It’s no surprise to see the Oceania countries (Australia, Fiji, New Zealand) up near the top, the south-east Asian countries near the bottom, and the South American countries somewhere in between. This is consistent with reputations when it comes to travel costs.

Indonesia and the Philippines may seem out of place in the top half of the chart, but this is easily explained. In both countries we did a lot of scuba diving, one of our highest-cost travel activities. Our general travel costs in these countries were on the cheaper side, as you will see below.

Accommodation costs by country

The accommodation costs in a country are often a good indicator of what the overall general travel costs will be. Here’s how our average daily accommodation costs broke down:

At the end of the trip, I was surprised to see New Zealand so high in the chart given that we camped for about two thirds of our time there! The campsite fees were still quite expensive, in fact they were higher than hostel costs in many other countries.

While Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam were the three cheapest countries for accommodation, there wasn’t anything wrong with the places we stayed. These countries had some of the very best hostels and guest houses of anywhere we went. Conversely, while the cost to travel in Australia was by far the highest in terms of accommodation, the hostels there were among the worst we stayed in. Maybe we just got unlucky.

Food and drink costs by country

Here’s our average daily spending on food and drink broken down by country:

This chart tells a quirky story about travel spending habits. Vietnam and Cambodia feature higher than the likes of New Zealand and Argentina in this chart, but this doesn’t mean they were more expensive countries to eat and drink in.

The truth is that we indulged a lot more in Vietnam and Cambodia precisely because were so much cheaper. We rarely cooked our own food, and we ate in restaurants most of the time. In Vietnam in particular, we ramped up our ‘treat spending’ as it was the last country of our trip. If times had been tighter, we could have probably got by on less than half the expense. Conversely, on our New Zealand South Island road trip , we cooked most of our own food on a camp stove, and couldn’t have done it any cheaper.

Food, drink and accommodation costs combined

As food, drink and accommodation comprise the main basic living costs, it’s useful to combine them into a single ‘average cost of living’ chart by country:

Activity costs by country

During our 11 months away we indulged in many tours, events, museums, treks and other activities. Here’s how our activity costs compared by country:

The countries at the top of this list tended to involve activities with a high single outlay. Peru is sixth rather than first in this chart if we disregard the Inca Trail. Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines are so high up because of our scuba diving experiences.

While Bolivia was one of the cheapest countries for general living costs, we did a lot of expensive tours there, such as the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats), Death Road biking and Valle de la Luna.

Individual country spending breakdowns

If you are planning to visit any of the South America destinations in our travel itinerary, you may find some of our individual country and region trip cost breakdowns useful:

• How much does a Peru trip cost?
• How much does a Patagonia trip cost?
• How much does a Chile trip cost?
• How much does a Bolivia trip cost?

That’s it! If you have any questions about budgeting for world travel, drop me a line on [email protected] and I’ll be happy to help.

Love it? Pin it!

Alex trembath.

Alex is the co-founder and lead content creator at Career Gappers. He is an award-winning communications leader with 20 years of leadership experience, a career that has taken him across the world working with international organisations. Alex has travelled to over 50 countries and is a passionate advocate for blending work and travel by taking career breaks, sabbaticals, workations and business trips.

30 thoughts on “ How much does it cost to travel the world? Here’s what we spent ”

Are all those charts per person or as a couple?

All the stats, including the charts, are for both of us. Although if you halve the figures I don’t think it would give an accurate per-person expenditure – we saved on a lot of things as a couple, e.g. when we cooked meals.

Wow. Alex this was so useful. I’ve been thinking about doing this for so long and I was worried about the budget. Turns out I was pretty close to your estimated budget per person ? 20k eur

I really like how you’ve broken everything down – this way it seems more realistic and the fact that this can be done! The travel tips you share are very informative and I’ll be sure to look this post up when I am budgeting for travel!

This is great! My boyfriend and I are planning to take a year off after our wedding and travel around the world. It’s the planning season now, so this is really helpful!! Thanks a lot!

Interesting read and informative breakdown of costs. We recently spent 3 months in Singapore and although it is expensive for some things, food costs and transportation (subway) costs are cheap and make up for a lot. If you eat in the hawker centers, the food is so delicious and cheap!

Interesting read, we are planning a trip and I had budgetted for £100 a day for 2 of us ie £36,500 for the year – it looks like that might be do-able but we might have to scrimp on some of the activities we have planned. Thank you for taking the time to write such a useful article!

Such an informative blog. Truly time consuming but well worth the effor

Wonderful to know your break up of expenses incurred in your world travel. Delighted to see that you track each penny you spent.

Excellent article! I am impressed by how you have kept a detailed account of everything and how honestly you share . I am surprised that your accomodation cost came out to just 5000 pounds for a year! That is what we pay for a month in some holiday destinations. Well budgeted.

Thank you for your post Alex. Especially love the way you have shown the graphs and tables, highlighting the country-wise and category-wise spent. Budgeting is one of the integral part of travel planning and this post will help many with handy information to make the right choices.

Really interesting article. When I travel, its accommodation that takes the lion share of costs. In general terms it seems that Western countries are more expensive. Having said that, activities in Peru accounted for the highest spend in that sector. What did you do there?

Glad you liked the article! The main reason that the activity spending was so high in Peru was that we did the Inca Trail there, which cost £799 each – nearly half of our total spend in the country.

Wow, when I first saw the number I thought that was VERY HIGH, but you moved around a LOT so the costs of that alone bring the cost waay up, that and the booze… That always seems to be our biggest cost as well haha, looks like you had an awesome trip though!

Wow what a comprehensive post!! It still kind of blows my mind that people are able to travel full time.

This is such a detailed explanation, I can plan my whole finance based on this. Thanks much. This is like a guidebook to all those who keep crying about lack of money for travel. All I would say is, If you save tactfully and spend mindfully then you really don’t need millions to travel the world. Saying that I just completed my 3 months Europe trip in 580 Euros excluding flights, I would say that coz the flight prices vary from each country.

Really interesting read – I’ve been traveling now for 4 years and am lucky enough to be house sitting so have saved an absolute bundle on hotels, hostels and the like but that has allowed me to indulge in my foodie dreams..lol..

Wow! This is a very helpful and equally inspiring post. You’ve given us real travel goals as a couple. I like the way you’ve broken the budget for different expenditure as well as the cost comparisons between different countries. Saving this post for future reference. Thanks for sharing. I’m all motivated to plan my next travel. 🙂

My gosh!! This is awesome!! 11 months!! I would love to do this!! I also love that you kept documentation of all this, so helpful to other travelers as well!

Wowowow! As an engineer, I highly appreciate the detailed statistics! They give so much information just in one post!

I’m impressed! I traveled for 1 year and never took notes about how much I spent ever. And now for me is to be careful about budgeting on my next travels. Your post is really informative. Thank you!

It’s incredible to see the difference between travelling to South American countries and Asian ones. My husband and I did a similar trip and it cost us half of what you guys spent but we went only in Asia and just a month in New Zealand. Thanks for sharing this one with us, it’s really helpful

Wohoo! You both certainly did a wonderful job. I have noticed you haven’t visited India yet. This should be in your upcoming travel list. ?

Great article, I’m not surprised to see South east Asia on the bottom, and Australia on top! I’ll deginitel refer back to this when planning some of our future trips.

interesting to see the break down of your cost especially you put the food in Fiji and Singapore on the high side. For me, Fiji food was very cheap and I ate mostly in the hotel restaurant when I was there several times and Singapore is really dirt cheap if eat in the hawker center and it is still less expensive if eat in the restaurant. Also the activies in Bali, you put in very high, very interesting, since I been to Bali many times and I find it is very cheap compare with NZ where you put activities is very cheap. NZ is very expensive to do activities especially for bungy jumping, canoing, caving, etc,etc. Bali is cheap even for diving:)

Hi Freja Travels, thank you for your comment! You make some very interesting points and I think I can explain most of them. In Fiji, we spent most of our time on the islands and the places we stayed required us to buy a meals package. These were pretty expensive – and we had to do this for 5 of our 7 days in Fiji. When eating in general back in Nadi, we found that restaurants were indeed very cheap. In Singapore we actually ate most of our food in the hawker stalls (check out my article on Singapore hawker stalls). I think the reason the average food price ended up a bit higher for us is that we had a more expensive meal on our last day, and we were only there for four days. Even so, while the hawker stalls are cheap, food was still a lot cheaper in general elsewhere in SE Asia e.g. Vietnam and Laos. Still, 33 GBP per day for food and drink for two of us in Singapore wasn’t too bad. The reason the activity cost in Bali were so high is that we did our PADI open water scuba diving course there, and we were only on the island for 8 days. In New Zealand we didn’t do many adventure activities – we were camping, hiking and sightseeing for much of our time there. I will soon be publishing a more thorough breakdown of our spending in New Zealand.

thanks for the explanation. I supposed it probably better to give a break down of your personally spending than put in on the countries in general.

Love how detailed and informative this post is. Indeed a good cost breakdown and you can benchmark against this in the future when you are travelling. 🙂

Love the blog. Could I ask how far off your original estimate were you? We are hoping to do a sabbatical in the future, but we are estimating about £26,000 for trip and then more for insurance etc. Thanks.

Thanks for the comment and great to hear you are planning a sabbatical. Your saving aim is actually very similar to ours when we started – we aimed for £30,000 to begin with. We ended up saving a bit more but we definitely could have done the trip on less! Sounds like you have a really good target, do you have any particular destinations in mind?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

How Much Does It Cost to Travel the World for a Year?

Money is one of the biggest things keeping people from travel. I know in 2023, budgets aren’t just tight–they’re on a shoestring. Many Americans, however, assume long-term travel is way more expensive than it actually is. If you spend $2000 on a week’s vacation, then wouldn’t a year-long round-the-world trip cost $2000 a week for a year? Not quite. Traveling shorter distances over a longer period of time coupled with other budget travel techniques can keep this epic travel goal within reach. I typically spent less than $2000 a month on my own worldwide adventure! How much does it cost to travel the world for a year? Read on for the full month-by-month breakdown of what I budgeted for my round-the-world trip and what I actually spent.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. While there is no extra cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. I only link to services and products I personally use and love!

Table of Contents

How to Budget for a RTW Trip

Before leaving for my trip, I estimated my monthly travel costs as follows. I broke my spending into five major categories. Transportation, Accommodations, Dining, Attractions, and Special Costs. I call these my budget TADAS (like Ta-da! Look what you can afford!) when I teach this system of budgeting to my students in Round-the-World Roadmap. I researched each of these categories thoroughly for all the destinations on my itinerary, whether that meant looking up flights on Skyscanner or browsing guidebooks and blogs to get a sense of how much a typical meal might cost. Finally, I added 5% to each month’s budget as a contingency. That Special Costs budget covers things like visa fees , purchasing souvenirs for friends and family, and restocking toiletries.

How to Fund a RTW Trip

If you’ve never sat down before and carefully examined your spending habits, do it now! The little accouterments of daily life in United States add up so fast. I know it’s not earth shattering news, and it doesn’t apply to everybody, but it’s true for me personally. The fact is, you don’t really know whether it will work for you until you actually try. Yes, I successfully saved money for travel on a low income by doing things like eating out less and selling my car. The budget you’ll see below came about two-thirds from my savings and one-third from freelance writing on the road. You can read more detail on how I saved for my trip here.

Tips for Traveling for a Year on a Budget

There are a number of ways I saved money during my RTW trip. While saving for my trip, I used travel credit cards for regular spending (paying off the balance each month) so I racked up enough frequent flier miles to cover my most expensive flights. I stayed mainly in hostel dorms and occasionally even found free accommodations. Cooking for myself in hostel kitchens kept dining costs down, while finding free or inexpensive attractions made budget entertainment possible. None of this is radical advice – and there are many people out there who travel even more cheaply than I do – but it worked for me.

Projected RTW Trip Budget

PRE-TRIP COSTS $2,500

This estimate includes my travel gear , medical costs, and insurance. I planned to keep this number down by choosing a basic insurance package instead of one that covered riskier activities and by being more selective about the immunizations I got.

JULY Iceland , Spain , France $2,600

Transportation: $400 Accommodations: $1,275 Dining: $400 Attractions: $375 Special Costs: $150

AUGUST Italy , Montenegro , Croatia $1,700

Transportation: $250 Accommodations: $675 Dining: $400 Attractions: $225 Special Costs: $100

SEPTEMBER Bosnia and Herzegovina , Greece $1,550

Transportation: $300 Accommodations: $550 Dining: $350 Attractions: $200 Special Costs: $100

OCTOBER Turkey $1,700

Transportation: $150 Accommodations: $500 Dining: $300 Attractions: $200 Special Costs: $400

NOVEMBER India , Nepal $2,025

Transportation: $425 Accommodations: $50 Dining: $150 Attractions: $1175 Special Costs: $175

DECEMBER Thailand , Laos $1,050

Transportation: $125 Accommodations: $250 Dining: $200 Attractions: $325 Special Costs: $100

JANUARY Vietnam , Cambodia $925

Transportation: $250 Accommodations: $225 Dining: $175 Attractions: $125 Special Costs: $100

FEBRUARY Indonesia $1,175

Transportation: $350 Accommodations: $350 Dining: $175 Attractions: $175 Special Costs: $75

MARCH Japan, Uruguay $1,775

Transportation: $675 Accommodations: $425 Dining: $400 Entertainment: $125 Shopping & Contingency: $250

APRIL Argentina $1,400

Transportation: $50 Accommodations: $525 Dining: $425 Attractions: $275 Special Costs: $100

MAY Argentina, Peru $2,175

Transportation: $25 Accommodations: $225 Dining: $275 Attractions: $1475 Special Costs: $100

JUNE Costa Rica, Mexico $1,225

Transportation: $250 Accommodations: $300 Dining: $325 Attractions: $250 Special Costs: $50

GRAND TOTAL: $21,075

How Much Does It Cost to Travel the World for a Year…Really?

PRE-TRIP COSTS $2616

Travel Gear : $715 Vaccines and Medications: $636 Passport and Global Entry: $210 Insurance: $1055

I was over budget by $116, largely because of my medical costs. My insurance wouldn’t cover stocking up a prescription medication more than a few months in advance so I paid out of pocket.

JULY Iceland , Spain , France $2423.11

Transportation: $589.44 Accommodations: $965.37 Dining: $316.34 Attractions: $398.35 Special Costs: $153.61

I was under budget by about $200. I stayed in a hostel instead of an Airbnb in Barcelona and cooked for myself more regularly.

AUGUST Italy , Slovenia , Croatia , Montenegro $1665.17

Transportation: $243.20 Accommodations: $749.87 Dining: $192.52 Attractions: $231.85 Special Costs: $247.73

I was slightly under budget, and spent much less on food than anticipated.

SEPTEMBER Bosnia & Herzegovina , Serbia , Greece $1730.05

Transportation: $567.33 Accommodations: $533.72 Dining: $331.59 Attractions: $141.72 Special Costs: $155.69

I was over budget by nearly $200, mainly because of transportation costs. I took a short flight from Belgrade to Athens and ferrying to the Greek islands isn’t cheap!

OCTOBER United Kingdom $1974.60

Transportation: $445.68 Accommodations: $647.67 Dining: $393.38 Attractions: $318.03 Special Costs: $169.84

I was over budget by about $250, because I had to change destinations at the last minute. Everything in London is more expensive than in Istanbul, but I had a wonderful month.

NOVEMBER India , Nepal , Thailand $2237.35

Transportation: $468.49 Accommodations: $121.76 Dining: $270.04 Attractions: $1089.33 Special Costs: $287.33

I was over budget by about $200. This was in part because I flew to Thailand at the end of November rather than early December, so that flight cost drove things up.

DECEMBER Thailand , Laos $1015.58

Transportation: $108.20 Accommodations: $197.27 Dining: $293.84 Attractions: $252.19 Special Costs: $164.08

I was slightly under budget this month.

JANUARY Vietnam , Cambodia $1202.05

Transportation: $249.39 Accommodations: $186.75 Dining: $270.17 Attractions: $198.25 Special Costs: $297.49

I was over budget by nearly $300, mainly from eating out more frequently.

FEBRUARY Indonesia $1218.91

Transportation: $293.27 Accommodations: $312 Dining: $320.77 Attractions: $175.82 Special Costs: $117.05

I was slightly over budget this month, from eating out much more frequently.

MARCH Japan, Uruguay $1906.22

Transportation: $973.53 Accommodations: $261 Dining: $387.45 Attractions: $162.56 Special Costs: $121.68

I was about $100 over budget, mainly from more expensive flights and trains.

APRIL Argentina, United States $1405.79

Transportation: $97.06 Accommodations: $701.18 Dining: $342.73 Attractions: $67.80 Special Costs: $197.02

I was on budget this month.

MAY United States, Peru, Mexico $2536.98

Transportation: $365.77 Accommodations: $186.40 Dining: $390.37 Attractions: $1365.41 Special Costs: $229.03

I was over budget by about $350 this month, mainly because I had to fly back to South America after interrupting my trip for a family emergency. (Insurance covered my flight home, but not the cost of resuming my trip.)

JUNE In April, my grandfather had a stroke and I interrupted my trip to be with him and our family when he passed. Ultimately, my travel insurance covered the cost of my emergency flight home, so I haven’t included it in my RTW trip cost breakdown here. However, it took a few months to get the insurance check reimbursing me for that (very expensive) flight. So, after the funeral I chose to fly back out for the Inca Trail trek I had already booked and paid for, but return home about a month earlier than planned. My total cost wound up being about the same as I projected, but it was technically for 11 months of travel, instead of 12.

GRAND TOTAL: $21931.81

Actual RTW Trip Cost by Country

You can also see breakdowns of what I spent in each individual country on my RTW trip by checking out the specific posts linked here:

Iceland * Spain * France * Italy * Balkans * Greece * London

India * Nepal * Thailand * Laos * Vietnam * Cambodia * Bali * Japan

Uruguay * Argentina * Peru * Mexico

Is my travel budget the end-all be-all of travel budgets? Of course not! I’d much rather help you figure out your own trip cost with the tips and strategies that will work best for you.

Check out the Travel Savings Toolkit and score 45% off this handy pack of challenges, worksheets and more!

Get on the waitlist for Round-the-World Roadmap where we have several lessons devoted to working out your custom savings plan and travel budget.

Like this post? Pin it!

Similar Posts

Your guide to long-term travel terms.

Are you daydreaming about transforming your travel fantasies into a full-blown lifestyle but find yourself tangled in a web of jargon? Fear not! I’m here…

How Much Money Do You Need to Quit Your Job and Travel?

Saving money is just one part of your journey to quitting your job to travel. How do you know what you can get for the…

How Do You Know You’re Ready to Quit Your Job and Travel?

So you want to travel for longer than the average vacation. That’s awesome and you’re in the right place. I quit my hodgepodge of part-time…

6 Things You Need for Planning an Around the World Trip

Planning an around the world trip is one of the ultimate travel dreams. If you’re one of those people who just wants to go everywhere,…

Hostel Horror Stories

Hostels are one of the staples of budget travel, whether you’re on a year-long RTW trip like me or a shorter vacation. Found nearly everywhere…

How to Offend a Traveler in One Easy Step

All the little lifestyle accouterments so many of us don’t even think twice about, really do add up. And saving for travel isn’t much different than saving up for grad school, or for a new car, or for retirement.

• Pingback: Do Travel Budget Calculators Work? - WorldSmith
• Pingback: How to Travel for a Year: The Ultimate Road Map to a Solo RTW Trip - WorldSmith
• Pingback: The Best Day Bag for Solo Female Travelers (FREE Printable Packing List!) - WorldSmith

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Claire & Peter

1 Year Around the World Trip Budget Summary

Our cost to travel around the world for 1 year.

365 days. 19 Countries. 5 Continents. $48,256 spent. Our goal when we first set out on this around the world trip was to average $123 per day across the year for a total of $45,000 (we each saved up $22,500 each). We ended up slightly missing our budget goal, I’m going to blame getting sick at the end of the world trip which caused us to have to take a quick pit stop in Thailand before heading to our final country of India. Had we not gotten sick, I think we would have made our goal of $45,000 for the 1 year around the world trip. Below is a quick 1 minute video recapping our 1 year around the world trip!

@claireandpeter FINAL TRAVEL COSTS 💵🫡 rate peters mid flight griddy help #budgettravel #travel ♬ Sunshine – WIRA

How Much We Spent on our 1 Year Around the World Trip by Category

Total Cost: $48,256 (note these costs are for both of us COMBINED, not per person)

Air Transportation: $9,783. 34 flights for 2 people

Ground Transportation: $9,708. This includes but isn’t limited to taxis, Ubers, trains, rental cars, gas, public transportation, etc

Accommodation: $10,601.

Food: $9,614 (~$26 per day)

Travel Activities & Excursions: $6,274. (our most expensive activity we did was the hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia, Turkey which was $220 per person)

Miscellaneous Costs: $4,484. This includes

Money saved from travel hacking: ~$10,000. It is hard to assign a dollar value for every point we used from our credit cards that we redeemed for airplane tickets and hotel nights. The value can change depending how they are used but the rule of thumb is they are typically worth around ~$0.01. To maximize your budget for your around the world trip, it is well worth your time learning about travel hacking so you can use more of your money on experiences while traveling!

*Some items that weren’t included in our budget were cell phone plans, health/travel insurance, credit card annual fees

How Much We Spent on our 1 Year Around the World Trip by Country

Egypt – $2,776 (12 days)

Jordan – $1,833 (10 days)

Thailand – $2,698 (29 days)

Vietnam – $1,907 (18 days)

Indonesia (Bali) – $1,834 (21 days)

Norway – $5,342 (30 days)

Prague – $949 (5 days)

Budapest – $924 (8 days)

Croatia – $2,296 (13 days)

St Maarten – $0 (6 days)

Germany – $1,886 (17 days)

Copenhagen – $524 (2 days)

Faroe Islands – $786 (9 days)

Turkey – $2,368 (12 days)

Georgia – $3,082 (23 days)

USA – $1,696 (16 days)

New Zealand – $4,171 (38 days)

Australia – $5,785 (50 days)

Philippines – $3,525 (26 days)

Thailand (second time) – $2,498 (12 days)

India – $1,475 (8 days)

How Much We Saved by Travel Hacking for our 1 Year Around the World Trip

We were able to save ~$10,000 through travel hacking during our trip. The majority of this was done through getting sign up bonuses for travel credit cards . (Note: if you are not able to pay off your credit cards in full each month I do not recommend taking on credit cards to travel hack). I will make another post about our travel hacking journey and go into further details on how and why we picked different cards to sign up for and how we utilized those points to save us money on our travels. Peter also had a travel credit card that he had accumulated points for over 5 years, this came in handy and allowed us to stay in Norway for as long as we did.

Lessons Learned After Traveling Around the World for 1 Year

I think the biggest choice you will have to make when deciding on your around the world trip is the speed at which you travel. I think just about every one of our travel days to a new country ended up being one of the most expensive days of our world trip. So if you want to see a lot of places, just know that you either need to offset those costs by spending less in each country or potentially increase your budget.

Some great ways to save money during your travels is to do work exchanges where you can get housing and sometimes food costs covered in exchange for your work. We did this twice during our year, once in New Zealand and the other in Australia (two countries where it isn’t the cheapest to travel around). In New Zealand, we worked for 2 weeks and got 3 meals a day as well as a place to sleep in exchange for working 4 hours/day for 5 days/week. In Australia, we watched someone’s pet and house while they were away on vacation for a month. Our housing costs were covered but we had to pay for our food during this time.

Another thing looking back at our first year, if I were to pick one thing where it makes sense to spend your money it would be on the experiences. It can be tough at times choosing where you want to be tough with your spending and when to allow yourself to spend a little more than you had planned that day. If you go with the slightly cheaper hotel option, that $10-20 every night adds up and that saved up money can be put towards once in a lifetime experiences.

Click here to go back to the Country Budget Breakdown Summary Section

To return to all countries, click here . 

We’re Claire and Peter. In 2022 we took a corporate gap year to see the world. Three years later…we’re still on the road.

Let's Connect

[email protected].

Ultimate Around the World Itinerary | 1 Year Around the World

By: Author Charles

Posted on August 25, 2023

In March of 2019, I quit my job, packed a couple of carry-on bags, and took a one-way flight to Auckland, New Zealand to begin my around the world itinerary.

Over the course of the next 375 days, I traveled to 20 countries and countless cities in 6 continents. I put together this post to walk you through the exact route, and how it all came together the way it did.

Whether, you are just interested in reading along, or you would like to put together an around the world itinerary for yourself, I hope this can inspire you!

*  Affiliate Disclosure : This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you make a purchase through the links provided, at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting the work I put into TripTins!

1) Around the World Itinerary Overview

I knew from early on in my career that travel was a very important aspect of my life. I didn’t know at the time though, that I would have it in me to quit my safe corporate job of 6 years and travel for an extended period of time.

Instead of taking those few 10-day vacations and always looking forward to just taking that next trip, I thought a full year of solo travel would be the right move for me. I could visit places that would have taken years for me to get to, and challenge myself consistently along the way.

So, on March 13 2019, I hopped on a flight from JFK to LAX and then onwards to Auckland, New Zealand (essentially as far as one can get!). Over the course of the next 12 months, I got to experience some of the best travel moments of my life.

Whether it was meeting locals, exploring cities, hiking high into the mountains, trying new foods, engraining myself in new cultures, or hanging out with like-minded travelers. The one year of travel ended up being the best decision of my life, and one of the reasons, this site came to be .

Around the World Stats Days: 375  Countries: 20 Cities: ~100

2) Travel Considerations

As I planned the trip, there were a few “main” aspects that I was sure to plan the trip around. These included – weather, local holidays for & peak seasons, logistics, among a few other considerations.

Probably the most important aspect of the around the world itinerary, was making sure I was visiting countries during the best time of year from a weather standpoint .

I did not want to go through all of this, just to visit countries when it was rainy season or when I couldn’t take part of certain activities.

For example, I made sure to visit Nepal during November when the weather was at its clearest (but quite cold) and there was little risk of rain and clouds ruining the trekking views. I made my way to the Philippines at the tail end of the dry season and Costa Rica at the beginning of their dry season.

At the end of the day, it was all about being able to fully enjoy my time in each place on a day to day basis and not have constant days where the weather wouldn’t allow me to do anything.

With that said, the weather is unpredictable and you never know what it can bring (no matter how much you plan). There were certainly days I was completely rained out of doing anything, and times where I had to move things around last minute to circumvent the weather.

But by initially planning the trip to avoid poorer weather conditions, I feel as I was really able to get the most out of the journey.

Local Holidays & Seasons

Another thing that I considered is to avoid traveling to countries during the local’s national holidays . While dealing with tourists is one thing, dealing with a whole country traveling at the same time is another.

This isn’t across every country out there of course, but for some countries during these holiday times, many locals decide to travel for themselves.

This results in less availability for hotels and more expensive prices altogether . A couple that come to mind are Golden Week in Japan and Holy Week in the Philippines. 

I will caveat that with saying, sometimes it can be a great experience to take part of certain local celebrations if that is what is of interest to you.

In addition to holidays, I also tried to avoid peak season when most tourists are traveling to a certain destination .

Now, this is certainly not avoidable if traveling for a year, but it can help to steer clear of some places during those peak seasons.

Instead, I tried to visit places during shoulder seasons, as the weather is great but just less people are traveling to these places. At the end of the day it is just picking and choosing what works best.

The last main consideration when planning the trip was the logistics side of things. I just wanted to be sure that there was an easy way to get between city A and city B .

Whether that be a plane, boat, train or bus, I just didn’t want to put myself in the position where I would have to go drastically out of my way to continue on with the next city or country.

To the best of my abilities, I attempted to book direct flights when possible . I remember in the Philippines for example, there were not direct flights between certain islands or they were not operating every day of the week. I had to put the itinerary together so I was not wasting full days just to get between two islands. 

If I was renting a car, and I was taking a one way route through a country (such as Austria), I had to be certain that I could pick up and drop off the car in two separate locations without a hefty fee. 

With that said though, there were certainly times where I had to compromise with logistics. If I really wanted to travel somewhere but it would take days of traveling, I had to be fine with that. It all becomes a balance between everything .

Other Considerations

Also considered in the travel planning was the flexibility and having time to just unwind without anything planned. While I put together a list of countries and things I wanted to do in each country, I never had it written out to a tee.

I consistently moved things around as I went and sometimes did not even have a set date to leave a country I was in. Having that flexibility helped big time when things didn’t go 100% according to plan .

I also wanted to be sure that I had time to just rest and recover . For the majority of the trip I was out and about from morning until night. All of that traveling can take a toll on the body.

So, you will see times in the itinerary where I may have stayed longer than one may expect just to have time to do nothing and all.

When I combined the weather, holidays, and logistics, an itinerary began to form that I continuously worked on for months leading up to the trip.

→ Learn more: check out the planning a trip around the world and around the world cost guides for many more considerations when putting together an itinerary, as well as my around the world packing list

With that said though, there were some things that I had to plan around, making this around the world trip a bit more difficult to plan out than initially expected. See the next section for more on that…

3) What I Planned Around

Now, the around the world itinerary didn’t come without any hitches. There were a few things that came up which altered my initial travel planning.

Timing is never perfect to take a full year off from your friends and family. And there were certain events that I just had to come back for. Due to this, you will see a bit of interesting travel plans that the trip goes through.

» I spent October of 2019 back in the US as I had weddings to attend of close friends. Due to this I ended up staying the month back in the US before heading out again (and did get to visit NYC, Philadelphia and Chicago during my time back). Then again in December 2019, I came back again, but this time just for a quick weekend.

» On top of that, my trip was originally going to be closer to 15 months of travel. As we all know though, Covid started to ramp up in March of 2020. The end of my trip was a bit hectic trying to figure out where to go and what to do. But on March 20, 2020 I ended up taking one of the final flights out of South Africa before the world went into lockdown.

4) Around the World Itinerary Details

From start to finish the trip lasted 375 days with 329 days outside of the country. Over the course of those 375 days I visited 6 continents, 20 countries, and upwards of 100 cities. I ended up splitting out my trip in five phases:

Phase 1 : NZ/AU/Asia Phase 2 : Middle East / Europe Phase 3* : Nepal Phase 4 : Central and South America Phase 5 : Asia/Africa -> cut short

→ *I returned home before/after I traveled to Nepal

Below is the country by country route I took along with the number of days (including days to travel to them). Throughout the remainder of the post I will go into detail about where I decided to travel to in each country.

Country #1: New Zealand (29 days) Country #2: Japan (12 days) Country #3: South Korea (11 days) Country #4: Philippines (20 days) Country #5: Indonesia (30 days) Country #6: Australia (21 days) Country #7: Singapore (4 days) Country #8: Israel (17 days) Country #9: Jordan (4 days) Country #10: Austria (10 days) Country #11: Germany (6 days) Country #12: Slovenia (11 days) Country #13: Croatia (15 days) Country #14: Montenegro (10 days) Country #15: Nepal (26 days) Country #16: Belize (17 days) Country #17: Costa Rica (24 days) Country #18: Argentina (21 days) Country #19: Chile (11 days) Country #20: Sri Lanka (24 days)

Bonus : South Africa for 5 days until I had to take an emergency flight back home on my final day

Some of my travel plans would not necessarily look efficient on paper (Chile to Sri Lanka for example). However, given I did need to make some stops back in the US as I spoke about earlier, and with Covid ending the trip early, the trip doesn’t always make perfect sense without knowing the details.

You can see that I did spend quite a bit of time in many of these countries (24 days in Costa Rica). Like I said, when planning the trip, I did not want to rush myself in a country.

I wanted to truly enjoy all different aspects of where I was . I also wanted to be sure to have enough “rest” days, to just spend time to regroup and reset before continuing on.

You may find many itineraries out there that visit double the amount of countries in the same time period. But at the end of the day, each person has their own travel style and what they want to accomplish on a trip like this.

For me, it was seeing the world at my pace and really engraining myself in each country I visited.

5) Around the World Itinerary Map

Below is a map of each and every place I visited all along the year long journey. You not only can see the cities I visited, but you can also see nearly every attraction I got to visit along the way.

Feel free to zoom in for more details!

6) 1 Year Around the World Itinerary

With that all said, below is a breakdown of each country along with the main cities/attractions I got to enjoy along the way.

New Zealand (March 13 – April 10)

I started off the around the world itinerary by taking a one-way flight to Auckland, New Zealand and from there got to explore both the North Island and South Island of the country.

After spending a night in Auckland, I grabbed a rental car, and then began the journey from north to south. Along the way I was able to visit the following places:

• Auckland • Waitakere Ranges • Rotorua • Taupo • Tongariro Alpine Crossing • Wellington • Abel Tasman National Park • Punakaiki* • Wanaka • Te Anau • Queenstown • Mount Cook • Pukaki • Christchurch

* As I was making my way down the western coast of the South Island, a major storm caused mudslides and a collapsed bridge. I ended up missing out on Franz Josef and had to spend a day driving around the island to Wanaka. Always good to have the flexibility to change things on the fly!

Japan (April 11 – April 22)

From Christchurch, I hopped on a flight to Tokyo via Brisbane. After a full day of travel, I arrived to Tokyo, where started my 12 days through Japan .

Since this was my second time in Japan, I did not spend as long as I might have if it was my first time. While I certainly went to some of the same places from my initial trip, I did not go back to places like Kobe, Hiroshima , Miyajima and Osaka.

However, I did get to visit a bunch of new places as well, and took the following journey through Japan:

• Tokyo • Kamakura • Hakone • Takayama • Shirakawago • Kanazawa • Kyoto • Nara

South Korea (April 23 – May 3)

It was then off to South Korea as I flew directly from Osaka to Jeju Island. Over the course of the next 10 days or so, I visited three beautiful places in the country:

• Jeju Island (+ Mount Hallasan hike !) • Gyeongju • Seoul

Philippines (May 4 – May 23)

After a successful time around South Korea, it was then onto the Philippines. It was all about the beaches, water, and island life during this portion of the trip.

As the rainy season starts in June, I got there just in time to fully enjoy the experience. Besides a few nighttime rain showers, it was all clear to enjoy some time in the sun. I ended up spending time in 4 different islands for around 4-5 days each.

Logistics were important here as it can get quite tricky to travel around the country. With a combinations of boats and direct flights, I ended up visiting these places:

• Coron • El Nido • Bohol • Siargao

Indonesia (May 24 – June 22)

You are only allowed to visit Indonesia for 30 days without getting a longer term visa, so that is exactly what I decided to do. I spent a full month exploring the country visiting many places along the way .

While 30 days does sound like a long time, Indonesia is a massive country. I can honestly spend a year traveling around the country and still have things to do. But during my month there I started on the island of Java and then got to visit:

• Yogyakarta • Lumajang / East Java Waterfalls • Cemoro Lawang / Mount Bromo • Banyuwangi / Ijen Crater • Munduk • Ubud • Nusa Penida • Gili Trawangan • Mount Rinjani • Komodo National Park

From Komodo, it was then a quick flight back to Bali , where I headed off to Australia for the next portion of my trip.

Australia (June 23 – July 12)

Australia was one country, where it was a bit tougher to pick a time of year that worked weather wise for various cities around the country. I could have gone right after New Zealand but found some of the logistics a bit too difficult to manage.

Either way though, while I did not have the beach weather for Sydney, all else went great in the cities further up north. Below were the places I traveled to during my few weeks in Australia :

• Sydney • Blue Mountains • Whitsundays • Cairns / Great Barrier Reef • Port Douglas • Daintree Rainforest • Uluru / Kata Tjuta • Kings Canyon • Alice Springs / West MacDonnell Ranges

Singapore (July 13 – July 16)

From Alice Springs I took a flight over to Perth for a quick layover before heading off to Singapore. I decided to split Singapore into two parts.

The first couple days I would spend sightseeing all around the city. For the second two days, I opted for a bit of relaxing and treated myself to two nights at the Marina Bay Sands hotel.

Overall, the four days in Singapore ended up great and got me ready for the next leg of my trip as I traveled all the way to Israel.

Israel & Jordan (July 17 – August 2)

When visiting Israel, I knew that I wanted to spend a few days in Jordan visiting a couple of the top sites.

So, I ended up traveling around Israel for 10 days, and then ended up in Eilat. From Eilat, I traveled into Jordan for 4 days and then re-entered Israel, where I spent another week.

While I could have figured out the logistics to be a bit more favorable, the three weeks between Israel and Jordan ended up something like this:

• Jerusalem • Ein Gedi / Masada • Dead Sea • Mitzpe Ramon • Eilat • Petra • Wadi Rum • Haifa* • Tel Aviv

* After visiting Jordan, I crossed back into Eilat, rented a car and drove all the way north to Haifa. I spent a few days exploring the northern coast and ended the trip in Tel Aviv for a few days of beach time.

Austria & Germany (August 8 – August 23)

After taking a flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna, I spent the next 2+ weeks driving my way through Austria and the Bavaria region of Germany. I spent time in cities and out in the mountains, while visiting several places along the way:

• Vienna • Hallstatt • Berchtesgaden • Garmisch Partenkirchen • Mayrhofen

This is also a time where the weather did not always go according to plan. It was nice to have some extra days here in order to wait out the couple days of poor weather and then get up into the mountains.

Slovenia (August 24 – September 3)

From Mayrhofen, I took the quick drive to Innsbruck, dropped off my rental car and then took a train over to Ljubljana. I spent the next 10+ days driving around Slovenia and enjoying all different aspects of the country including:

• Ljubljana • Lake Bled • Bohinj • Bovec • Piran

Croatia (September 4 – September 18)

A quick train from Ljubljana to Zagreb and it was then time to explore Croatia for two weeks . I opted against renting a car here and just made my way around the country using busses and ferries. Along the way I got to visit:

• Zagreb • Plitvice National Park • Zadar • Krka National Park • Split • Hvar • Korcula • Mljet • Dubrovnik

Montenegro (September 19 – September 28)

Montenegro was the last country on the first portion of my trip around the world . I took a bus from Dubrovnik to Kotor and then rented a car for the next 10 days. During those days I made my way to a few different places:

• Kotor • Durmitor National Park • Lake Skadar • Sveti Stefan

My last night of the 200 th day of my trip was spent in the small coastal town of Sveti Stefan, where I got to enjoy one last sunset before making my way back to the US for the next month.

After heading to a couple of weddings and traveling to cities like NYC, Philadelphia and Chicago, I then made the round trip journey to Nepal. Here is where I took part of the Three Passes Trek + Everest Base Camp.

Nepal (November 11 – December 6)

Visiting the Himalayas had been a life dream of mine, and during this around the world trip, I finally got to experience some time there. I decided to go for the Three Passes Trek , which is essentially a longer version of the standard Everest Base Camp trek .

In addition to EBC, I got to head over the Kongma La , Cho La , and Renjo La passes, visit the Gokyo Lakes , and trek up peaks like Chukhung Ri and Gokyo Ri .

After three weeks of trekking, I had a few days of relaxing in Kathmandu before heading back for a quick weekend in NYC .

Belize (December 10 – 27)

It was then time to explore some of Central and South America, as I headed from New York down to Belize. During my time in Belize I spent several days scuba diving, visiting the inland of the country, and finishing up at the beach .

Technically I actually went to another country during the trip as I also did make the quick one night journey to Tikal in Guatemala. Overall, the trip to Belize (and Guatemala) looked like this:

• Ambergris Caye • Caye Caulker • San Ignacio • Tikal • Cockscomb Basin • Placencia

Costa Rica (December 28 – January 19)

It was then off to Costa Rica , where I got to spend 3+ weeks traveling to all different parts of the country.

It was a great mixture between volcanoes, rainforests, wildlife, hiking, and beaches as I visited the following places:

• Poas / La Paz Waterfall Gardens • La Fortuna / Arenal • Monteverde • Manuel Antonio • Corcovado National Park • Uvita • Cerro Chirripo • San Jose*

*The plan was to visit the Caribbean coast for the final few days of the trip around Puerto Viejo. However, the weather had different plans. So, I decided to just spend a few days in San Jose, rest and recover there before heading off to Patagonia for the next month of hiking.

Argentina (January 20 – February 9)

While I did spend a day in Buenos Aires, the main aspect of this portion of the trip was to hike my way through Patagonia . While, I did visit during what is considered one of the best times of year to go from a weather perspective, I still knew the risk of the Patagonian weather.

One day can be nice and sunny, while the next day could be a complete snowstorm (yes even in their summer months!). I mean, I even had a day when it was sunny and snowing at the same time .

Knowing the unpredictability of the weather, I decided to always give myself extra days in each one of the places I visited . This way if the weather did not cooperate for a day or two, I still would be able to enjoy my time there.

And for the most part, that is exactly what happened. Half the time I was in El Chalten, the weather made hiking impossible. A couple days in El Calafate by the Perito Merino Glacier were completely clouded over. But since I planned to have more days than necessary, it all worked out pretty well in the end as I visited these regions:

• Ushuaia • El Calafate • El Chalten • Huemul Circuit

Chile (February 10 – February 20)

From El Chalten, I bussed back to El Calafate, and then took a bus ride over to Puerto Natales in Chile. From there began the O Circuit Trek in Torres Del Paine National Park (an extended version of the famous W Trek ) .

This was actually one portion of Patagonia, where I could not just add on more days for a weather buffer. Since I needed to book the accommodation in the park well in advance, I was locked into my days.

Although the weather was not perfect for some of the days on the trail, it was more than suitable for some trekking. Some top highlights included the Grey Glacier , French Valley , and Mirador Las Torres .

After 8 days of hiking the “O”, I made my way back to Puerto Natales and flew to Santiago to end my time in Chile.

Sri Lanka (February 21 – March 15)

It was then across the world to Sri Lanka , where I got to see the ins and outs of the country for the next three weeks. Yes, I know not the best flight plan, but I planned to spend the next several months in Asia/Africa. Along the way I got to experience a little bit of everything including:

• Colombo • Habarana • Polonnaruwa • Kandy • Dalhousie / Adam’s Peak • Nuwara Eliya • Ella • Yala & Udawalawe Safaris • Mirissa

And here is where things just started to get a bit crazy. We are talking March of 2020 as the world began to turn upside down. The remainder of my trip I was supposed to go to China (quickly got nixed), India, South Africa and Namibia.

I soon realized though, that traveling was no longer an option. After deciding to go to South Africa, I just lasted a few days in Cape Town, before taking one of the last flights out of the country back to the US. It wasn’t the way I wanted to end it, but I still did get to travel around the world for a year.

But now I have written a ton about the countries I visited before, during and after the trip around the world. I hope you find the itineraries and travel guides up on the site helpful!

If you have any questions or comments about any of it, just feel free to comment down below. Also be sure to check out some travel tips & tricks to help you better plan your next trip.

Have fun out there and safe travels!

Related posts:

Sharing is caring!

Monday 13th of November 2023

This is very helpful!, thanks so much for taking the time to put it together. Can you expand more on why you didn't go to Australia after NZ? Also, so it was fall when you went to NZ and winter for Australia, any regrets going when you did? thoughts? I've read travelling west, is the best way to do a RTW trip, so it's a given to start in NZ, but when to go to get less tourists but decent weather.

Sunday 6th of August 2023

This is all very inspiring and informative, as I’m considering doing the same. Question, how much did you spend your your entire trip?

Monday 7th of August 2023

Hi Mai - feel free to check out this overview I put together about the costs of traveling the world. Good luck with trip planning!

Monday 26th of June 2023

Hi, love your travel story. Have u visited china ever since u miss the last round? Do you plan to round china? I am looking for a company to go round china. I am 60 years old woman.

Hi Janet - I traveled a long while ago just to Shanghai and Beijing. I have yet to go back but would love to travel more around the country one day!

Friday 23rd of June 2023

Hi, this trip sounds amazing! myself and my husband would love to do this type of trip! How did you manage to sort all this out with transport etc? And how did you budget doing all the travel? How much would you need? Thanks. Katie

Saturday 24th of June 2023

Hi Katie - I just took everything one step at a time. The entire trip was not planned out from day one. While I knew of the overall route for the most part, I did not want to corner myself into making decisions too early. I would recommend writing out the countries that are most interested to you and then doing some research on what an overall route would look like. You can see what is possible and what may be too difficult or expensive to fit in.

As for budget, check out this around the world cost overview up on the site that will walk through it all.

Hope you have an amazing time!

Saturday 10th of June 2023

What was it like coming back to the US and finding work? I want to travel the world for a year or two but it would take me leaving my very stable/promising career.... Which scares me to death! My worry is that I would come home to the US and not be able to get the same type of job.

I also worry that a gap year (0r two) may look bad on a resume. Thoughts?

@hailey, from someone who used to work in Human Resources, the time you spend travelling is an education. Learning language, culture, customs, weather, geography, etc. As a candidate, you bring a lot to the table with this type of experience. It would be a completely different story, if you were just unemployed and laying on the couch for a year. Travel....you won't regret it at all!!!

Tuesday 20th of June 2023

@hailey, The current unemployment rate in the U.S is 3.7%. Anybody who wants a job can find one. As long as the gaps in your resume were doing something interesting and intellectually stimulating (like travelling) and were not spent doing something stupid (like in prison or in re-hab), you'll be fine.

Monday 12th of June 2023

Hi Hailey - everyone is different and I can't say for certain how hard/easy it will be able to come back and find work. I was able to do so within a few months but there are many factors at play such as industry, the economy, demand/supply, etc. I am an advocate of traveling as you can tell, and would recommend doing so if it is something very important to you. There are ways to fill up the gap in the resume - for me it was this site, for others it may volunteering, remote work, etc. It is certainly a tough decision, but hope you make the right one for yourself!! Good Luck!

How to Plan an Around the World Itinerary in 8 Steps

Last updated on January 5, 2024 by Shannon

You’re planning an around the world trip . Congrats! My one-year trip turned into a decade of wandering and it transformed my life . My own one-year trip itinerary took me through 15 countries and countless experiences—but narrowing down my dream countries to just 15 was hard.

After so many years on the road—and after several round the world trips since that first one—I have some hard learned advice for anyone planning their own route and building their own trip around the world. If you’re planning a world trip, it’s usually a long-term route of at least a few months and up to a year around the world, or more.

These are eight ideas—eight steps really—to help narrow your travel itinerary down to those stops along your route that will fit your budget, highlight the most memorable places to you, and make sense for the trip you’ve always dreamed of taking.

Table of Contents

1. Make an itinerary bucket list for the entire world.

The inspiration phase of planning your round the world trip itinerary is one of the most fun. Maybe you already have a laundry list of places you hope to cram into your world trip itinerary. Or perhaps you’ve nailed down a few key experiences but you’re open to more inspiration. You should absolutely start with a long bucket list of locations all over the world, because weather and route might automatically strike a few off the list for you.

If you’re curious for more travel ideas, browse the  best travel books sorted by destination , or search for long-reads and podcast recommendations on my Destination Travel Guides . Use these books and resources for inspiration on not only places to add to your round the world route, but activities, too.

Perhaps you read The Devil’s Picnic and subsequently add Paris to your list for that stinky but toothsome Époisses de Bourgogne cheese, or you add Bhutan because of its intriguing portrayal in The Geography of Bliss (that’s what has it on the itinerary for my next around the world trip!).

Books and podcasts are a phenomenal way to expand your idea of what is possible on your trip.

Once you have a list of dream destinations for your travel itinerary, highlight up to five that are your absolute priorities—these will become the bedrock of your around the world trip. The rest of the places on your list will slot in around those stops based on timing, weather, and more.

How granularly you plan is personal—some travelers leave with a precise list of destinations and timelines, while others plan the first couple of months of their round the world trop.

My three key travel destinations:

For my first year, I had three key activities on my list. The first was diving the Great Barrier Reef —that’s why my trip started in Australia . The second was meeting my cousin in India and backpacking north from Mumbai together for two months before ending our time together at a volunteer placement in Nepal . The third was time-sensitive as I had always dreamed of attending the Edinburgh Fringe Festival , which takes place every August in Scotland.

Later, when I traveled with my 11-year-old niece for six months in Southeast Asia , I led her through some basic Google searches so that she could see what was on offer. We planned our joint world trip itinerary together centered around her three biggies: an ethical elephant encounter , ziplining somewhere, and visiting Angkor Wat .

2. Pick a direction around the world.

From your home country, your travel itinerary will take you either east to west, or west to east around the world. Backtracking is not ideal—it’s expensive, causes more jet lag, and is bad for the environment. Use this strategy whether you use a round the world ticket (which requires this stipulation) or if you book flights as you travel.

Pros and cons of traveling east:

• Science says this direction is harder on your body and produces more jet lag . The short of it is because you are losing time when you fly through time several zones, but your body actually prefers cycles slightly longer than 24 hours, not shorter.
• You’ll need to become a pro at minimizing jet lag so you don’t lose several days to it in each new location.
• If you’re planning a very long RTW trip, perhaps 18 months or more, and your itinerary creeps around the world, then you will likely not notice the difference much.

Pros and cons of traveling west:

• As noted, your body actually prefers days that run longer than 24 hours, so your internal clock has a much easier time adding hours into your day. This means fewer nights adjusting and staring at the hotel ceiling at 3am.
• Your body can do at least two hours of time zone jumping in this direction without having a noticeable effect on you, so it’s ideal to slowly hop west around the world. And if you’re crossing the Pacific from the U.S., your largest time zone change will likely occur at the beginning of your trip, so you can then enjoy more relaxing travel for the many months afterwards.

How I decided my world trip direction:

I was lucky that two of my key experiences could bookend my trip. Scotland and Australia are not close, so it was easy to plan many of my other dream destinations to fill the space between these countries.

Since I planned to leave the U.S. in November, it was easy to surmise that starting my trip in Australia, which was entering summer, made the most sense. Then I would make my way west toward Scotland for Edinburgh Fringe, handily skirting both winter in Europe and summer in Asia.

3. Find creative overland routes.

Whew, you now have a list of dream destinations for your world trip and a direction of travel. Now it’s time to fill in the space in your itinerary. And you’ll do that by using local transportation, which is a lot more fun than flying—you’ll see more of the country and culture, and you’ll have richer travel experiences .

Go back now to those handful of key destinations from your bucket list that. These are the foundational bedrocks of your world trip itinerary. These dots on the map should lend a rough overview of a route. If they don’t, if one is just an outlier that makes it hard to see logical jumps, narrow your list down to four, and see if that helps—if you truly love the idea of an experience, but it doesn’t fit this trip it might make a great trip on its own in a couple years time.

Now, your world trip itinerary needs the details, and those usually come from visiting clusters of bordering countries—you’ll be crossing overland among many of these destinations. (For that to work, however, check visa restrictions for your nationality as some countries require visas in advance, or don’t allow crossings at certain borders).

Popular routes ( backpacking Southeast Asia , for example), have only a few restrictions and those are easily handled online, or in the days before your border crossing.

Start dotting the map with the countries that are very close to your bedrock destinations. That looks like this: If trekking in Nepal is a bedrock item, and India’s Golden Triangle and Sri Lanka were both on your dream list, then it makes sense to add them into your route, since you’ll definitely be in the region.

My creative overland routes:

As I planned my itinerary, a dear friend announced she wanted to meet me in Florence, Italy in June. That became another bedrock item with a firm date, so I now had a time I had to leave South Asia and head to Eastern Europe.

Nearby Croatia was on my tentative list, and I had a friend in Bosnia , so both of those became stops on my itinerary that helped give it shape. Prague hadn’t been on my list, but I decided to move north through Eastern Europe after leaving Bosnia.

I filled in adventurous stops that would take me from my friend in Italy in June to Scotland in August—plenty of time for rafting in Slovenia , finding charming towns in Czech Republic , biking Amsterdam like a local, and walking through the Lake District of England first!

Research activities in countries you’re considering.

If there are countries nearby your “must-visit” locations, use a site like GetYourGuide to research the types of activities you could see and do if you visited these adjacent destinations as well. I like checking out the day tour sites more than a guidebook at this stage because it’s a very quick overview of the must-dos in each location.

4. Research festivals in your favored locations.

Local festivals around the world are amazingly full of life, culture, and fun. It’s a huge letdown when you learn too late that you missed a major religious and celebratory festival by just a few days. And it’s also a shock if you arrive thinking it’s shoulder season but you really arrived during Brazil’s carnival.

Plan your route to coincide with the dates of festivals that seem most fun for you (this is especially important for trips with kids, because they love the excitement, colors, and foods at these types of events. You’ll need to book accommodation early depending on the event, so that may take some flexibility from your world travel route, but it’s worth it.

Here are a few favorite annual festivals that many travelers plan around: La Tomatina in Spain in late August; Holi the Festival of Colors  in India around early March; Thailand’s Songkran Water Festival often falls within April and its Loy Krathong Lantern Festival falls in late October or early November.

Festivals around the world I sought out:

When my cousin told me should could only meet in India in February, and I knew we’d be there for two months, I went into planning mode to decide where we should celebrate Holi the Festival of Colors . It was a real highlight of my trip and I am so glad our world travel itinerary allowed us to experience this incredible Indian festival.

Then, of course, was the Fringe Festival —that was one of my bedrock destinations so it was definitely on the planned route.

5. Play Tetris with locations to fit your travel budget.

I stuck to an amazing year-long world travel budget that came in under $20,000. The only way I could do that was by carefully planning my time to favor budget-friendly countries, and then add in high-cost countries in smaller supply.

Research each of your dream destinations ahead of time because some places you might assume are budget actually cost more than you imagine (a safari in Africa is not cheap, nor is accommodation in much of Africa, but visiting a dream destination on the continent is worth it). Japan may be in Asia, but it’s pricey, too. Central America and Mexico are easy on your budget, as are parts of South America.

How I made my RTW travel budget work:

Australia , England, Scotland, and Ireland were mega expensive and represented three of my eleven months on the road. India and Nepal were, by far, the cheapest places (even cheaper than backpacking Southeast Asia ), and it was actually difficult to go over budget during the three-and-a-half months that I backpacked South Asia.

I spent the other months in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, two regions that are in the discount to mid-range. All told, I was able to easily average $50 a day, even though some days in Europe topped $100.

6. Plan around weather trends.

On your trip, research destinations ahead of time and plan according to your own weather preferences. While it’s not likely you will hit every destination in your preferred season, you should know when monsoon season makes a paradise island unenjoyable, or when blizzards will thwart a planned ski trip.

Research using this great rundown of shoulder season locations around the world, and this European shoulder season list , and this very cool map of a a sample round the itinerary featuring perfect weather in every location.

Why I chased summer around the world:

I planned my trip itinerary to chase summer around the world. As a native Floridian, my tolerance for heat is higher than most others, and I deeply enjoy warmth. A year of summer was lovely.

Whether your around the world trip chases summer or snow—and note it’s way easier to pack for long-term travel when you can leave behind thick jackets and boots—you’ll want to pack effectively using packing cubes .

I have probably 20 packing cubes after 15+ years of travel—cubes of all shapes, sizes, and uses to fit every trip. This eight-pack starter set is well-priced, durable, and will give you a worthy introduction into the sheer magic of packing cubes.

7. Consider how you will fly.

When planning your itinerary, you have to consider more than just major long-haul flights. On my travels, I research local budget airlines too, and I always have a good idea of which regions of the world offer affordable puddle-jumper flights. If you’re considering buying round the world tickets , read my insider tips and advice first!

Southeast Asia has AirAsia and Vietjet, among others. Europe has many budget carriers: Vueling, Ryan Air, and EasyJet. And JetStar has good flight deals in South Asia. By checking for budget airline routes, I know that I can easily visit more countries in a region if there are sub $100 flights around the area. (Tip: this is an amazing interactive map of low-cost airline routes ).

My transportation choices:

I priced out my year on the road and found it was cheaper to combine overland travel with local carriers than it would have been to buy a RTW ticket up front. I also have a guide to how I find good flight deals , since I never buy round the world airfare.

Generally, flights are likely necessary unless you plan an entirely overland route around the world , but flights are harmful if you solely rely on this form of transportation, so truly consider how you can incorporate other options, such as buying a Eurail ticket in Europe, or a Greyhound bus ticket to travel down the east coast of Australia.

Don’t forget to  book travel insurance for your trip —a great policy provides coverage in case of medical emergencies, lost or stolen gear, adventure sports riders, and more. I’ve used  IMG Global  for more than a decade  highly recommend it !

8. Remove some destinations from your world trip itinerary.

There is no wrong way to plan your route around the world, and there is no perfect number of places that you can visit in a year—it all depends on what you’re looking for on your trip. And no matter how carefully you plan, you will love some places, feel mediocre toward others, and perhaps even leave early from a few. You won’t know until you set out which type of places and experiences best fit your long-term travel style.

But please keep in mind that the pace of short-term travels is very different from a multi-month trip. Create a route that travels slowly, avoids the dreaded travel-fatigue , and includes destinations you have long dreamed of visiting. To do that, you now need to take a critical eye to your trip and trim the fat.

Is there something you added it because it seemed fun and was moderately close, but it wasn’t a bedrock item? Or perhaps it’s a location you love the idea of so much that you know you will plan a trip there in the future if you skip it now. Snip those from your world travel itinerary right now and you will be shooting me an email of thanks once you’re on the road.

The countries I cut from my around the world trip:

The best advice other travelers gave me when I asked for itinerary advice in a travel forum was to remove an entire leg of the trip. I had hoped to backpack Scandinavia between my time in the Czech Republic and Amsterdam, but long-term travelers assured me that I would be grateful for wiggle room in my itinerary by that stage of my trip (nine months into it).

Plus, they accurately pointed out that I just couldn’t swing these very expensive countries on my limited travel budget.

Turns out that I burned out a month before reaching Czech Republic and camped out in Slovenia for an extra two weeks—if I had been dead-set on Scandinavia, I would have never had time to do that while still making it to Edinburgh Fringe in time! (And let’s not even think about what Scandinavia would have done to my travel budget!).

If you’re overwhelmed about planning the nitty-gritty details on a months-long trip around the world, know that a rough route suffices. All you truly need before you leave home is logistics for the first couple of weeks—you can easily sort out the rest on the road. I promise.

Really, I promise. It seems scary but I swear to you that you will be grateful for flexibility once you land, and that it’s completely possible to plan the smaller details as you go. Moving between countries and regions was infinitely easier than I had anticipated before my first round the world.

Your Next Steps for Planning an Around the World Itinerary

Research places around the world and assemble a dream list of locations. That’s really the first step and should be a lot of fun.

While my travel books selections are a starting point, you can also peruse guidebooks for inspiration. I always buy a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide for my first planned destination (and then I swap it along the way for each new country), and before my first round the world trip I checked out a stack of 25 guidebooks from my library. Do your research and dream big before you even begin selecting an itinerary and paring down your list of destinations.

This is my core page compiling resources on How to Travel the World and here are a few other pages sharing advice specifically for long-term travel planning.

• How Much Does it Cost to Travel the World
• How to Save for Travel
• Free Destination Travel Guides
• Best Credit and Debit Cards for Travel
• How to Pack for Long-Term Travel
• How to Pick the Right Travel Insurance

How to Travel the World

Free resources and first-hand advice on how to plan long-term and round the world travels.

Essential Travel Planning Resources

❗ Yes, you need travel insurance . IMG Global is the travel insurance I’ve used for well over a decade of traveling solo, and with kids. Here’s why .

🧳 Smart packing can save your trip. Shop my favorite travel gear , including all of the packing essentials for world travel , gear to keep you safe on the road, my favorite travel books , and more.

🛏️ Find great accommodation . Booking.com is essentially the only hotel booking site that I use. It has a wide and affordable selection of traditional hotels, but also hostels and vacation rentals, too. Use these pro tips to find the best travel accommodation .

📍 Navigate more effectively. Rome2Rio is super handy to assess the full range of transport options between two cities—shows everything from flights to trains, buses, minibuses, and more. If you’re booking a rental car, I’ve always found the best deals on RentalCars.com .

✈️ Book affordable flights. Expedia is one of the first places I look for low-cost flights .

☕ Peruse all of my tips for round the world travel , or learn how to move and live abroad .

The Cost of Travelling the World for a Year

• Recent Posts

• Should You Aspire to the “Soft Life”? - April 15, 2024
• Let’s Go Exploring (with a baby!): Isla Mujeres, Mexico: Life is a Beach and I’m a Beached Whale - April 1, 2024
• Reader Case: Single Mom Wonders Whether Real Estate Beats Stocks - March 18, 2024

How much does it cost to travel the world for 1 year? Well, ever since I revealed that our world trip only cost $40,000CAD (or $30,769 USD), we’ve been getting all sorts of comments like “How the HELL is that possible?” or “No way. Break down your numbers or it’s fake”.

Well, since you asked for it, here are the details of our travel budget in all its glory.

(Note: This post completely blew up and turned into a 3000 word monstrosity, so I’m splitting it into multiple parts.)

Part 1: How We Travel the World on $40,000/year.

Before we left for our year-long trip, we had no idea how much it was going to cost. None. Zip. Wanderer set aside into a savings account his initial estimate of $75,000 CAD that he figured would be more than enough.

“Where did you get that number?” I asked suspiciously.

“Oh, I made it up,” he replied cheerfully. Ah, Wanderer. Painfully honest Wanderer.

“Too easy,” I replied, pounding the desk for emphasis. “We can do better than that!”

“Then what are you suggesting?”

I slammed a book down onto the table.

“This.”

Matt Kepnes was (and is) our favourite travel blogger, and we regularly consulted his site www.nomadicmatt.com while we were planning our self-indulgent victory lap around the world for tips and ideas on where to go. We’ve never met him, but if we did I’m sure we would hit it off as he thinks just like us: unwilling to accept the status quo and obsessed with value. So I knew that if HE could do it, WE could do it.

“$50 a day?” Wanderer said, wrinkling his nose. “That seems…aggressive.”

“It’s per person. So $100 a day.”

“Hmm…OK that might be doable. But isn’t Matt a backpacker? Wouldn’t that not work for us?”

“Oh believe me,” I replied confidently. “We can make this work.”

Well, one year later and adding up all our expenditures, turns out we didn’t manage to hit his $50 a day after all. We hit $42.

$42 USD/person/day ($55 CAD).

And oh BTW, $55 CAD per person is $40,150. Which is right on our 4% spending target in retirement. Which means we can keep travelling the world, forever!

Thanks Matt, you magnificent genius!

Duration: 1 year

Countries visited: 20 (USA, England, Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia)

Adding in $875/couple/year *2= $1750 for travel insurance, that gives us: $ 40,143 CAD/year or $30,879 USD .

By splitting the year between expensive regions (like the UK, Western Europe, and Japan) and inexpensive places (like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand), we were able to average our daily costs down to only $55 CAD/person/day .

We were also able to save at least $10,000 by staying in AirBnB instead of expensive hotels in Europe, and another $6000 by travel hacking instead of buying expensive flights.

Now, $55CAD/person might seen like a low amount to travel the world, BUT we STILL managed to sneak in these amazing splurges:

Lobsters in Boston

• $40CAD/$30USD per person

I’m ashamed to admit how often we pigged out on this. Somehow we spent a ridiculous $1889.4 in just 1 month in Boston on food and alcohol! That’s nearly 50% MORE than our food budget in the UK! Hey what I can say? Boston is a foodie paradise! When you find a place serving a dozen fat oysters for $0.50 cents each, how could you resist? Luckily, I found a cheap sublet for $800USD in Boston, so that saved our budget from blowing up.

PADI certification in Koh Tao, Thailand

• $324.78CAD/$249.82USD per person (4 day course, accommodations included)

Best $650CAD I’ve ever spent! Considering that it includes accommodation and that PADI certification back in Toronto costs at least $1000CAD/couple with no accommodations, I’d actually consider this a money-saving decision!

The thing most people don’t know about me is that I was terrified of water (because I nearly drowned as a kid) and didn’t learn to swim until I was 24 years old.

So learning how to scuba dive is a big deal for me. I was pretty nervous for the first day, but passing all the tests was a breeze after that. Plus, I got to kick a kick a jelly fish in the head while I was under there, so that’s always fun. Jellyfish are jerks.

Scuba diving in Sihanoukville, Cambodia

• $104CAD or $80 USD/person for 2 dives

Well, now that we’re certified, we gotta put our PADI to good use, right?

Hiking the Swiss Alps

• $112.50 CAD or $86.54USD/person for train ride and lift

If you love nature, you HAVE to go to the Swiss Alps. It’s seriously the most beautiful place on earth. Of all the places we’ve been to, nothing else comes close.

Robot Show in Tokyo, Japan

• $76.74CAD or $59USD/person

THE BEST SHOW I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE! And no, I’m not exaggerating. Apparently, it cost $10 Million dollars to build the set for this show and normally I don’t think spending more money necessarily makes things better, but in this case it does. Even Cirque Du Soleil’s “O” can’t compare. I was pretty bored through most of that show, so you can see how high a bar this Robot Show had to cross.

Kobe Beef Restaurant in Osaka, Japan

• $61.78 CAD or $47.51USD/person

This meal completely ruined steak for me. I used to love steak but now even the best steak seems like a crappy replacement for Kobe beef. Thanks, Japan. Why do you have to ruin everything with your ridiculous attention to detail and kick-ass skills?

Elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand

• $40CAD or $30.77USD/person, transportation included

Fell head over heels in love with elephants on this excursion because I discovered that they are the BEST animals ever. Move over puppies, you have been replaced.

Note: I didn’t know this at the time, but riding elephants is actually really REALLY bad for their spines. A lot them get mistreated to make money for the tourist industry and it’s horrible. If you want to go see elephants in Thailand, please don’t ride them. Go to the Elephant Sanctuary where they rescue these amazing animals and let you feed and bathe them instead.

Kayaking in Cat Ba bay, Vietnam

• $36.50CAD or $28 USD/person/day, food included

We almost made the mistake of going to Halong Bay like all the other tourists. As it turns out, Cat Ba is where it’s at. Located just south of Halong Bay, Cat Ba island has 3 gorgeous beaches, a small underrated town with awesome food, and lots of Kayaking day trips out to Lang Ha bay, which is exactly like Halong bay without the insane crowds.

Entry to Angkor Wat + tuk tuk hire for the day

• $40CAD or $30USD/person/day

Angkor Wat is the ancient temple where they filmed Tomb Raider. I originally thought it’s just 1 temple but apparently it’s an sprawling ancient city that used to house 1 Million people! Generally it takes 3 days to see all the temples, but we were sick that week, so we only had 1 day. Luckily we did get to see the major ones and I’m actually pretty glad we didn’t get the 3 days pass because I would’ve started to get “templed-out” after the 2nd day. Still, I can’t stress how amazing this place is and what you would be missing if you don’t go to Siem Reap in Cambodia to see it. A MUST DO.

Curious to see how much we spent in each place? Here’s a look at how much we spent in each category in the different regions:

North America

• $3174.47/month

We ate A LOT of lobster, lobster rolls, and lobster bisque…or rather “LAHBSTAH” as the Bostonians like to call it.

Surprisingly, in Boston, groceries were actually not cheap…even compared to Europe. Or maybe it’s because I became obsessed with the organic food from Trader Joe’s (we don’t have them in Canada), who knows?

• UK: $5150 CAD/month

The ridiculously priced accommodations, transportation and activities, made me clamp down on our food budget like crazy. Other than high tea and few pubs we didn’t really go out to eat. From what I hear about British food, I don’t think we’re missing much.

• Western Europe: $4569 CAD/month

• Eastern Europe: $3454 CAD/month

• Japan: $4216/month

Southeast Asia

• Vietnam + Malaysia +Cambodia: $2387/month

Wow! This is why we love being in Southeast Asia. Not only did our food cost drop by half even though we went out to eat 100% of the time instead of the 25-50% in Europe, our accommodation also dropped by half or two thirds!

So if you’re planning a world trip and finding it difficult to balance your budget, simply add Southeast Asia into the mix. The more time you spend in SE Asia, the less chance you’ll break your budget. They’re like the bonds of your travel portfolio in that they decrease the risk of skyrocketing your costs.

So there you have it. Travelling on the world on $40K really wasn’t that hard and we even splurged a lot. All the haters out there who say “Oh, travelling is SO expensive, you can’t travel on less than $100K/year”? KISS my tight budgeting ASS.

And again, if you want to learn more about how to travel the world on about the same amount as you’re living right now at home, check out Matt’s book…

Saved our ass. Can save yours too.

And stay tuned next Monday for “ How We Travel the World on $40K/year Part 2 ” for how we saved big bucks on world travel.

Hi there. Thanks for stopping by. We use affiliate links to keep this site free, so if you believe in what we're trying to do here, consider supporting us by clicking! Thx ;)

Build a Portfolio Like Ours: Check out our FREE Investment Workshop !

Travel the World: Get covid-19 coverage for only $45.08 USD/month with SafetyWing Nomad Insurance

Multi-currency Travel Card: Get a multi-currency debit card when travelling to minimize forex fees! Read our review here , or Click here to get started!

Travel for Free with Home Exchange: Read Our Review or Click here to get started. Please use sponsor code kristy-d61e2 to get 250 bonus points (100 on completing home profile + 150 after first stay)!

Like the Millennial Revolution? Please share to keep the FIRE burning!

60 thoughts on “the cost of travelling the world for a year”.

I believe it, my wife will go back to Asia, we wheeled and dealed and found a direct flight, on China Airways, for less than $800 Can return.

We have a connection to Thailand, I am told a room in Chiang Rai, is about 20.00 a day Can.

That leaves $30 a day for food …

Oh Chiang Rai is an awesome city and definitely do-able on $50/day. We spent that much in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai is even cheaper.

Are you going to check out the White Temple?

Thank you so much for sharing! This is so inspiring. It’s igniting my wanderlust.

Random question: what do y’all usually buy at grocery stores? With so much moving around I’m curious if you have a go to menu/grocery list to keep food waste down.

Looking forward to part two!

I tend to memorize 5 recipes and then switch between them for variety. Eg, Waterzooi (which is a popular Belgium stew/soup), which requires only 8 ingredients: chicken, leek, potatoes, carrots, chicken stock, butter, cream and eggs. Very easy to make, tasty, fast and cheap. I make a big pot and regularly end up with leftovers for the next day.

So with those recipes in mind, I buy exactly what I need at the grocery stores. And prices for leeks, potatoes, and carrots don’t vary much from country to country so it’s easy to cost it out.

When we get bored of the existing recipes, we tend to check this site for new recipes: http://nomnompaleo.com/

Since I’m big on Paleo (very good for losing weight and keeping fit) and simple recipes so this works well for me.

Very cool. Thanks so much for sharing!

The total cost of insurance premium for me alone is about US$206/month, which I thought is pretty damn good.

That is my share for health + dental + vision. My employer of course also pays its own share.

Since dental insurance doesn’t pay for everything, I also have out-of-pocket expenses each time I visit the dentist’s office. Those amount to about another $83/month–for regular cleaning, whitening, deep scaling, etc.

I’m already at $289/month (206+83)! And it is blowing your monthly totals for the “Clothing/Toiletries/Data/Etc” category out of the water.

Curious as to what kind of insurance you have and what exactly does it cover.

We’ll be talking about the insurance details in Part 2, but basically it’s travel insurance, so it covers trip cancellation, interruption, and medical emergencies up to $1Million per person.

Unless I see itemized receipts for every purchase, I call bullshit. 🙂

This is a really fantastic breakdown. We find that in some countries, we spend less per day than we do in the states. It happens. Some places are just so cheap that you can afford housing, food, entertainment and come out ahead of what you’d spend on the same stateside. And if you can travel hack, it’s like you’re magically transported to a cheaper universe…for free.

We’re totally going to use your tips for Tokyo eats later this month. If you have tips for Siem Reap, Bangkok, or Hong Kong, let us know!

Also, if you happen to be in any of those places, you can meet our partners in crime over a beer. 🙂

Awesome! Let me know how it goes. Curious to hear your thoughts on Ichran Ramen. I honestly think it’s the BEST ramen in the world. I know I’m biased but I found an article in Forbes saying the same thing!

For Siem Reap, we can give you the contact for a good TukTuk driver to see Angkor Wat (he charges only $15USD per couple day and was so patient, waiting for us to visit each temple.)

For Bangkok, highly recommend the massive city park (can’t remember the name, but it’s like being in Central Park in SE Asia) and eating in Chinatown.

We’ll be heading back to Siem Reap early next year, so hopefully our paths cross. We should definitely get a beer..especially since they are only 0.50cents/pint! We got wasted for $2.50. Such value!

A little tip for Ankor Wat. All the tuk tuk drivers have a prescribed route and you are literally following the herd. Ask your driver to do it in reverse. He’ll side eye you but you’ll be alone for the first hour our so and seeing the temples in solitude is just amazing. A hat is also a must. The sun even in the off season is killer.

Reading the breakdown it looks like you actually could have done it for a lot less if you really tried. $1,350 of eating out in a month in Boston?! That’s more than we spend on eating out in a year at home! My maths says you spent almost $8,000 on eating out over the course of the year, yeesh! That being said you did get some super cheap accommodations elsewhere so that gave you room wiggle room for other luxuries.

Either way, this seems an ideal way to see the world. Spend 6 months going basically anywhere you want, then 6 months in SE Asia. Rinse and repeat.

I’d like to learn more about travel hacking flights. Specifically, how do you get these credit cards without a job? Usually most of the credit cards with the best sign up bonuses require a $60,000 or so salary or $100,000 household salary etc. You don’t have any income do you? Perhaps they make exceptions for high net worth. I’m just below the $60,000 threshold for this so once I cross I’m hoping to take advantage. Also, don’t the credit card companies clock on and stop accepting your applications? Surely you can’t just keep applying for the same cards over and over again?

$8000 on eating out over the year…Yup, we’re HUGE piggers :P. You can clearly see where our priorities lie. I regret nothing!

This is why I laugh when people think we ate cans of beans and chinese noodles on a $40K budget. HA! Wanderer told me “beer and lobsters” were non-negotiable for Boston, so I had to work that in. He also demanded that I only find places with swimming pools in SE Asia, so I had to work around that requirement as well. And yet we STILL came within the 40K budget. I don’t know how people end up spending so much on travel. It’s NOT that hard. When you go over in one category, just make up for it by cutting back in another (like you said, I made up for the expensive eating out in Boston with a cheap sublet and 0 cost in activities)

As for the travel hacking, the trick is to wait at least 6 months before applying for the same credit cards. And the credit card companies already had our information from back when we were working, so they don’t ask for it again. Since we’ve had amazing credit ratings for the past 10 years, they just approve us. As long as you wait enough time between applications, you’re good.

Good read FireCracker. As someone who’s always obsessed with numbers, I like to see these ‘real cost’ kinds of posts.

Seems like the big win in affordability is SE Asia.

Congrats on a very affordable year!

Thanks, Mr. Tako! And yes, SE Asia is a huge win in affordability. High quality of life for a low cost. This is why we met SO many expats.

What a small price to pay for a profound life experience. Great investment on the PADI certification! My first dive was in Palau, speechless, words can’t describe, can’t ever visit aquariums again.

If in a alternate universe where there was no mr wanderer, how would you adjust your budget. No adjustments to accommodations and slash everything else in half to roughly 26k cad a year?

For a single person, I would say yes, $24-26,000CAD per year sounds about right (roughly 60% of the couple’s cost).

Here is my question: As a 65 year old VERY fit yogini, I also love travel and am FI. But I am anguished about the continuing degradation of Gaia and ALL of her creatures. I am struggling to keep my plane usage to once per year. I can tell from your writing that you share some of these concerns. Do you have a practical (and authentic) way to reduce the carbon footprint that results from your commercial flight travel? Or do any of your readers? I am trying not to DO just because I CAN when it comes to these decisions. But I love travel. Thank you.

When you do long term travel, you end up staying in one place longer, rather than when you’re on vacation and need to see everything at once, so that helps. Other options include biking around cities instead of taking cabs, or using public transit.

The way I see it, I’m actually reducing my carbon footprint, compared to when I was working. Because unlike my ex co-workers I’m not driving to work everyday. And there is also the option of taking long haul buses or trains instead of flying, or just staying in one place longer, which we will do going forward, now that we’ve seen so many countries already.

What is it those kids say? “Math that shit up”? It’s actually kind of hard. But, the Internet suggests that Toronto – San Francisco roundtrip in an airplane is about 1 ton of CO2 emissions, according to the ICAO. A year of driving a Subaru Outback 20,000km is 4.6 tonnes, according to offsetters.ca. I think that if you do four long-haul trips, it may be about the same as driving for a year.

Cars vs planes is difficult because cars are often single-occupant while planes have hundreds of seats (but it’s hard to know exactly how many). http://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2015/09/evolving-climate-math-of-flying-vs-driving/

Taking a cargo ship is probably a quite low-emissions form of transport, but there are still emissions involved with living and eating. So I’m not sure how much it comes out ahead, really.

YAY! It’s catching on. Go math!

And yeah, the math for this isn’t straight forward. It depends on the distance you drive per day, the type of car, and the number of travellers on the plane. Though if we use the numbers you stated above (good researching btw!), flying still wins, because, as you said, cars are single-occupant while planes have hundreds of seats (generally more than 200 for the flights we were on). So in that case, for one-way of the long haul flight in 1 day, you get 0.5 ton of CO2 emissions. But that’s for 200 people. Driving the Subaru Outback is 0.013 ton/day (4.6/365 days a year). So if everyone of the 200 occupants were driving to work instead, you’re getting 2.5 tons for 1 day of driving. So per person, driving is at least 5X more damaging to the environment in this scenario.

Love seeing these numbers. One of the things I like about you and Wanderer are how you guys share real numbers, not just abstract things. Really makes you see what’s possible when you can put actual numbers together.

Thanks! It helps that I love tracking the crap out of everything. 🙂 It’s really amazing how much you can accomplish when you track and correct. This gives you a guaranteed path to victory!

Market Basket was probably one of the cheapest sources of food in the Boston suburbs. Haymarket was not my favourite market. I think it just had grocery store rejects.

Angkor Wat: I think we did 5 days there. We rented bicycles, I think. Great way to get around.

Although I speak the language, I do find it more tiring to be in Vietnam than, say, Greece or Turkey. Part of it is the more obvious inequity. Also, the food hygiene standards are probably not quite as strong. My parents are from there but had a really hard time with the food now.

Yeah, I agree with you that Vietnam was more challenging than other parts of Asia. But re-aligned our expectations and researched the heck out of everything (I only picked restaurants with good traveller reviews), so that helped a lot. We didn’t actually get sick at all from the food, so maybe we got lucky? I think the trick is to eat at places with a big line up of locals. That way the food doesn’t have a chance to go bad since they use it up so quickly.

Volume is key. We’d heard tales of pho noodles being preserved in formaldehyde. Not so good. Usually I hate waiting in line but this is probably a good occasion to do so!

I think we were there before smartphones were popular and it was hard to find reviews online. Once upon a time you actually had to look at the Lonely Planet for accommodation reviews.

(I do like doing everything when it’s not high season. High season sucks. Made the mistake of booking a trip for this Christmas. Should not have.)

Oh my God!!! What a great experience! You actually created a luxurious trip on a small budget. It just shows, smart people can figure out ways to have great lives on a fraction of the money that most people think is needed. I’m ready to quit the job and hop a plane! You’re inspiring!

Thanks! It was actually surprisingly not hard. I think the trick was to a) track everything and b) prioritize what’s important. Because we tracked as we went, anytime we went over budget we could correct it right away. And because we prioritized the things that were important to us and cut back in other categories, it helped the budget stay on track.

Happy travels!

Great post. I totally believe your numbers. Round the world for under $50 a day! That’s a title for your new book right there. What saved your butts was Southeast Asia for 6 months, which paid for your European and American indulgences. That goes to show again that’s where the value is and why many budget retirements are planned in Asia.

Yup, Southeast Asia rocks! And I think Matt might kill me if I wrote a book called “Round the world for UNDER $50/day”. So yeah, maybe I’ll stick to writing an FI book for now ;P

Great post again. Question about exchange rates: Is there a strategy you guys use to get the lowest rates to visit these countries?

Let me know.

Good question! This is actually something I’ll go into detail in part 2, but generally we use the Chase Marriott rewards card which gives us free hotel stays, as well as a good exchange rate (it doesn’t add 2% overhead fee like the other credit cards).

This must have been a great experience; are you planning to repeat it? Are you guys actually based in Canada nowadays, or wherever the wind blows you? Southeast Asia is the bond of your travel portfolio. I love it 🙂

We go home every now and then to visit family, but right now we’re bouncing around Asia. We’re thinking of going back to Europe next summer and possibly visiting Portugal. So probably not going to repeat the exact same trip, but would like to spend the summer in Europe and winter in Southeast Asia. That way we never have to bring any winter clothes. YAY!

Loved this post! Helps me to see I’m spending way more than I need to on travel. Gonna try to reduce expenses for our month in Australia. Never attempted travel hacking. But looking into it now. Thanks!

Happy travel hacking and enjoy your time in Australia!

Awesome post. We are FIRE nomads as well (though not as young as you – we are in our 40s) and have similar numbers to you guys for traveling . My friends don’t believe that this can be done and have asked me to blog about how we are doing it. I tried. I hate writing. Blogging, to me, felt like a job. So finding your blog is perfect. Anyone that asks me how they could possibly travel on $40K a year or less, will be promptly referred to your blog. I am so glad I found your blog (thanks JL Collins). The only bit of criticism I have is the name. Why just millennials? Why not Gen X? Your blog applies to everyone, regardless of age. A better name would be “Freedom-Revolution.” But, the name aside, you guys ROCK!

Woohoo! Nice to meet a fellow FIRE nomad!

You’re right. Blogging takes some time to get used to and feels like work in the beginning. We were children’s writers before we started the blog so we got used to writing on a schedule. Thanks for sharing my post! Most of my friends didn’t how little it cost to travel until I showed them the numbers.

And as for the blog name, yeah, you make a good point. I picked Millennial-Revolution because I’m a Millennial but didn’t realize I should probably make it more inclusive of all generations. Lesson learned for the future 🙂

Great post, as usual! Keep up the good work.

One question: if you’re out of the county so often and for such long stretches, how do you maintain Canadian heathcare (Ontario in your case) coverage? Travel health insurance requires provoncal coverage.

We usually inform OHIP about how long we’ll be out of the country for. Generally you’re allowed to be gone for 2 years or two 1 year trips initially. You can also be gone for 5 years at a time if you’re working or are volunteering for a non-profit outside the country. We’re currently using the 1st clause and can switch to 2nd clause since we do volunteer for a non-profit in the States.

Worse case if you forget to inform OHIP, it will take 3 months for your coverages to be re-instated when you came back to Ontario. So not too bad.

Cool! And you guys aren’t exactly slumming it either. 🙂

We somehow manage to come out close to $100-150 USD per day even with a family of 5. We’ll see how 2 months in Europe treats us. Might have to sneak pastries across the border into more expensive countries.

Well, you are THE MAN when it comes to budgeting for a family. Most of my friends can’t believe that you managed to bring your budget down to 40K/year with a family of 5. I suspect you’re going to be kicking my ass with budgeting for the Euro trip as well.

I just checked “How to Travel the World on$50/day” out from the library and signed up for Nomadic Matt’s newsletters. One step closer to world travel :). Thank you so much again for the inspiration and detailed numbers.

Awesome! Matt’s book was a life saver for us. Hopefully it’ll help your budget too! Safe travels!

I’m pretty sure we could travel for the year on this kind of budget.

We tend to do a lot of hiking, and hiking accomodation + food is cheap. (And nothings taste as good as food you eat after a day of walking up and down a mountain. )

A few years ago we spent about a month in New Zealand and it cost us less than 5000$ can, including the flight to and from Canada.

Congrats on the trip, and it’s great that you take the time to share you numbers!

Wow, $5000/month in New Zealand including flights. Nice work! I’m going to have to pick your brain if we end up going there in the future.

That’s awesome! Great job keeping the cost down. We just came back from 3 weeks in Thailand/Siem Reap and spent about $4,000. Most of that is the flight. We didn’t have enough points for the tickets. I’m planning a RTW trip in 4-5 years and hopefully, we can keep it under $50,000. Should be possible if we can do the travel hacking right. You guys did a lot in one year. Did you get worn out? Must be nice to be young. 🙂

Must have been a ton of time to put that together, but hopefully it’ll convince the naysayers that YES, it’s possible!

We (my, my hubby and our 2 kids) have been traveling full-time for over 2 years now, and it’s waaaaay cheaper per day than the typical vacation blow-out spend. Your numbers look very attainable to me, based on my own experience.

Thanks! Kudos for being able to do it with kids!

This is awesome! You went to some amazing places that I haven’t considered traveling to. They’ve just been added to the list! I also love the Swiss Alps. My wife and I stayed in Interlaken a few years ago and loved hiking out there. Really cool trip. Any plans to do it again or are you done traveling for a bit?

We’re going to continue travelling and go back home periodically to visit family. Once you start, you can’t stop 🙂

• Pingback: How Much is Enough for Financial Independence

Awesome breakdown of all your expenses while mixing in splurges!

It is totally doable to travel inexpensively while getting the most of it. Especially when you have the flexibility of time compared to people who work 9 to 5.

I am really glad that you didn’t ride those elephants in Thailand and wrote about it. This is definitely an area where we could raise more awareness.

• Pingback: The Sunday Best (6/25/2017) - Physician on FIRE

Awesome post. Have you guys ever tried wwoofing? (living and working on organic farms in exchange for free meals and accommodation) Could be an awesome way to cut travel costs right down and discover some amazing places (think Tuscany, Provence…) all while learning some new skills

Hello again, I have a few questions… 1) What year did you do your round the world trip? 2) Did the time of year you visited specific countries have an affect on the price? 3) Can you offer some advice regarding travel hacking? I’m a bit concerned about this for a number of reasons. I’m in the UK and Amex is not accepted in that many outlets. Also, the points are often dependent on spending large amounts and we don’t spend that much. I accept that there may not be a definitive answer but I thought I would ask… 4) I’m off to Boston in October and I love lobster so if you can recommend good places to eat them that would be great!

We are doing the same, but with even less (so far). SEA really saved us money.

SE Asia is the key 😀

How much would it cost without using travel points? I always read about these travel hacks and have points but I’m curious if you have no miles, points, etc but just pure cash what would the costs be?

Loved the article and loved your book. Wife and I just got back from 2 months in Baja Mexico, one of our constant comments was to ‘find our Thailand’ to reign in meals after a splurge. Been following you guys (and JL Collins, Fritz from Retirement Manifesto) among others. Semi retired (in my case back to tech doing what I enjoy, working remote when we want) and travelling all the time. Vancouver next week then…? Keep it up!! Nomad

Hello K&B.

I have been reading your blog since 2015 and absolutely love it. I am almost a decade older than you two crazy kids but your stories and the example you were/are setting really helped keep me on track for FI and I will be forever grateful to you for that alone.

Q: In the original cost of travelling the world post, you highlighted the power of spending half the year somewhere affordable like SE Asia. Given the changes in your lives since that time (I’m looking at you homeswapping), do you still live by the SE Asia mantra or would you recommend a homeowner do something different?

FYI, I notice that you were recently in Sydney and somehow I failed to bump into while you were wandering around!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Don't subscribe All new comments Replies to my comments Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

• Next Investment Workshop 5: Setting Up Personal Capital
• Previous Reader Case: A Million Dollars by 30?

Come Say Hi On Social Media

Full circle.

The Power Of Forgiveness

How I Built a Seven Figure Portfolio and Retired at 31

One Year Around The World (Year 4 of World Travel)

This post may contain affiliate links.

One year of round the world travel. What we did and where we went in our 4th year of travel around the world. Each year we create a round-up of that year’s travel. The other years, where we travelled and what we did, how we travelled around the world for years, plus costs, are all on this website.

One Year of Travel Around The World

Another full year of travel completed. Where did we go? What were our milestones, highlights and low points? How did we do it and how did we keep it affordable? What goes into our planning process and how do we cope as a family with full time travel around the world?

A recap of year 4, 2017, with links to key posts and sections.

We hope we can inspire, encourage and help you to travel further, deeper and longer by sharing our adventures with you. It may look like a millionaire lifestyle, but our brand of travel and this one year around the world really costs very little and gives us, and could give you,  so much.

How Many Countries?

There was only 1 new country for Chef and I this year, Slovenia and we loved it. But there were many return visits.

For the boys it was their first time there plus their first times in Egypt and Vietnam.

All were very different experiences and each added to the kids’ world view and education in their own unique ways.

Our Travel as a Business

This year has been incredible for the websites, they’ve really taken off and we’re back on 100, 000 monthly page views again.

That’s a figure we haven’t reached in the last couple of years since Pinterest stopped performing .

We are now, truly one of the biggest travel sites in operation with a good depth of coverage on around 20 favourite countries, others we touch on briefly.

It’s always been important to me to cover countries in depth and that’s why, in part, we go back to the same countries over and over again.

We can always find somewhere or something new to share with you and I’m not the sort to write a destination guide unless I have a decent amount of experience.

Travelling Around the World

We find these days that we need breaks, pauses in the full-on active travel that we prefer. We need time to catch up on work, school, life and planning so we hole up sometimes for a travel breather.

We’re not keen on slow travel or renting apartments it doesn’t feel good to us.

We prefer fast paced backpacking staying in hotels or guest houses with a month or two to rest from time to time.

This year we’ve had 3 or 4 such rest periods, Romania, London and Vietnam. Most of our travels have been relatively fast paced.

Of course, we usually pick the cheaper places to take a break, there would be no point at all in picking somewhere expensive.

Romania is cheapest for us but this year we wanted a change and chef needed somewhere he could train for his next Ironman event in tropical conditions, so we picked Vietnam.

London is a high price city but to us it’s home ( there are so many places we think of as home, but we’re Londoners by birth and choice) and we have friends and family to catch up with there.

The boys are really growing up and a travelling lifestyle along with their education gets easier but more expensive.

These days it’s like travelling with 2 adults as child rates totally dry up around 12 years old.

We had a conference and the boys still want to travel, but we don’t know yet how much longer that will last.

I love that we’re now in the ” proof of the pudding” stage of their education. Everything has worked and I wish I hadn’t spent so much energy on worry when they were younger.

They’re bright, smart, knowledgeable, strong, fit, happy and proficient in many ways and that’s all happened without ever entering a classroom.

Their educational needs morph almost daily and these days they amaze me with what they’ve learned with zero maternal involvement.

At the moment D is writing something for me for the website. He’s never been made to write an essay but his words flow beautifully and his vocabulary is far more creative than my own.

No lessons in English, no teaching, no schedule, just freedom to learn his way.

In D’s case it’s mostly come from his reading. They both take a handful of online courses and classes led by their personal interests, be they Chemistry, Physics or History, they learn it their way.

The little boy workbooks and online learning programs are largely a thing of the past now, but you can read more on the early days of education outside school here .

Chef and I are well, he’s still Ironman fit, I’m fitter than I’ve been in a while thanks to my return to running. We’ll be testing that again next year on the slopes of Everes t, inshAllah. We don’t find and have never found, that being together 24-7 puts a strain on any of our relationships.

Families are meant to be together.

Planning, Choosing Destinations and Minimising Costs

We always travel with cost in mind, but we never set a budget. To us budgeting saps the fun out of everything .

So for the most part we find the cheapest places to stay, the lowest cost flights, the great value meals, but when the want arises we spend big.

Singapore was never going to be cheap and we wanted to experience as much of it as possible. We booked a very expensive hotel and guestimated that we would need 3 days to truly experience it, for the rest of our Singapore stay we used a budget hostel (at $85 per night, not even close to cheap!).

We saw both ways, soaked up the experiences and learned more about the world by trying both approaches. Spending Christmas in Singapore was a good choice, it felt very festive.

It’s world knowledge for the boys, travel knowledge for my website and my readers. We spent a lot of money in Singapore, a huge amount, but to us it was worth it.

Those $16 beers tasted pretty fine after a day at Universal, in the same way that our $1 beers hit the spot in Romania . Neither experience is better nor worse, just different.

We still don’t see our travels as holiday or vacation, we journey to find adventure, learning and knowledge.

How Do We Keep Travel Costs Down?

We keep travel costs down by shopping around. We pick the cheapest flights on the cheapest days, that’s pretty easy with no work or school restrictions.  ( We use Skyscanner, see tips here, to find deals.)

We also compare the cost of bus, plane and train and pick the transportation method that comes out best all round.

With hotels we always check   Agoda and Booking dot com to see who if offering the best prices on a particular hotel. We collect Agoda points to redeem against stays so they are favourites and for Asia, usually have the best deals.

It’s very unusual for us to use Airbnb because we find them expensive, if we use them, it’s usually because we have earned a free stay.

Hotels and guest house with breakfast included always save us money and it’s rare these days for us to stay somewhere that doesn’t offer this.

We also know that our boys just love a hotel buffet breakfast, so we include one of those when we can.

A meal in Vietnam or Thailand can cost us as little as $1 each, but when you start adding decent coffees to that the price rises steeply, so free coffee is a bonus.

Now that the boys are bigger we’re using hostels more, shared bathrooms aren’t such a pain with grown kids and they’re usually fun socially.

Hostels aren’t the cheapest option but we don’t penny pinch quite so much these days.

Also, now we sometimes take 2 twin rooms rather than family rooms for 4. The price is usually about the same but there’s greater availability.

How Do We Pick Travel Destinations?

Travel destination choices often come down to convenience and sometimes it comes down to need.

Egypt was the  big ” want” this year, a destination my ancient history obsessed kids had been begging for since they first started reading Rick Riordan (your kids must read these books, ) and this year we made it happen.

This one had a fixed date, a birthday treat, so our month in Egypt had to happen in spring and we sat tight in Romania either side of that trip enjoying our local friends and a wonderful visit from the boys’ great grandmother.

She’s really proud of how they’re turning out and for the older, more traditional, generation to feel that way is surprising and gratifying.

Next we had to get home to London with the car, so a road trip was needed.  You can read about the costs of that road trip here .

We wanted to see Hortobagy National Park and Venice, the rest of the trip we pieced together around those points.

We knew Venice was expensive so we opted to just spend a day there, we wanted to see it and that was all.

After summer in London we headed back to Asia, we hadn’t been in a while and Vietnam was a new destination for the kids so we decided to max out the expensive Vietnam visas and stay a few months while Chef trained.

It gave the kids a chance to learn about a vital piece of history, the Vietnam War, at source .

We’ve also spent a lot of time looking at ancient history in this part of the world, the movement of peoples, cultures and borders over the centuries.

We’re going to get content with an educational focus up on this site, written mostly by my boys, to help your families learn more from your travel.

Chef’s Ironman in Langkawi was another fixed point in the year and 2 stays with our friends at Back Home ( one of our favourite hostels, see here ) Kuala Lumpur fitted with our Air Asia flights.

It turned out that we fell in love with Hoi An , so we’re finishing up the year back in Vietnam.

Why Singapore for Christmas? Well, we couldn’t be skiing in the snows of Romania this year so we had to pick somewhere special for the big day.

We wanted to make the kids happy so we opted for theme parks and kid friendly attractions in Singapore . Also, Singapore was missing from the website, now I can fill that hole and make our Southeast Asia coverage more complete.

Indonesia came about because of a chance work offer, we were invited, the destination looked incredible and it fitted with our plans so we said yes.

I’m pretty sure this is the only sponsored stay we’ve done this year and the experience was well worth the amount of work that goes into these promotions. You can read about Telunas Private Island Resort here.

There was another month in Thailand in the midst of all this, we needed to renew a passport , we all love Thailand, so why not?

It was a great trip and we explored some areas of the north that we’ve never visited before. More depth of knowledge for our Thailand section, more varied experiences for the kids.

Read about northern Thailand and our road trip here.

Luggage and Posessions for a Year Around the World

We don’t carry everything these days. Ski gear, books, toys and souvenirs stay at bases around the world, (London and Romania) so we’re only carrying the things we need.

Unfortunately the things we need include a triathlon bike and a lot of sports equipment.

Chef and I have big backpacks that we check for flights plus carry on size backpacks. The boys just have carry on.

My younger child got a new Osprey backpack this year, picked to near enough be the right carry on size for Air Asia and Air Malaysia.

If you didn’t know, Asian airlines have smaller carry-on size restrictions than European airlines ( read about baggage size restrictions and picking the Osprey here ).

My elder child still has a battered and cheap trecking pack. As he only owns 2 pairs of jeans, one pair of boots and a small collection of T shirts and fleeces, it’s all he needs.

He has no interest in “stuff” other than his laptop and mum and dad carry the expensive electronics at all times.

Boo’s pack, by contrast, is stuffed to the gills with bears, Nerf guns, sonic screwdrivers and Pokemon cards. What can you do? You do what makes each child happy.

I have a 65L Travel Pack ( see post on travel pack v backpack here ) which I still love. It contains 2 pairs of jeans, one pair of baggy hippy pants, running tights and some tops along with a few work books, pens and pencils and my pack it flat washbag ( it’s fantastic).

The running tights are super useful for all sports, activities and water. I’m still carrying my old yoga pants but haven’t worn them in months. I’ll wear them in the Himalayas so I can’t throw them out just yet.

I have one light jumper, no fleece at the moment, I’ll just have to buy a new one in Kathmandu.

Likewise, hiking boots will have to be bought in Nepal. I currently have trail running shoes, plastic flip flops and a pair of Birkenstock type shoes for “best”.

The Birkenstock come from Hoi An where a shoemaker will sell you a pair for under $10.

I have no idea what Chef has in his bag, he seems to live in sports clothes and jeans, but he does have a very nice shirt that was hand made for him in Vietnam by our friend Dao.

We carry a lot of electrical equipment, a huge amount and we need it. I’m still carrying the DSLR but these days 100% of the photography is done using my phone (It’s a twin lense Moto and I love it, see here.)

Our big backpacks come in at around 40Kg total, mine can be as low as 15Kg. Our carry on bags are way over weight (7Kg is the AirAsia limit) but nobody ever checks them.

We carry them fairly easily and I make a point of always climbing stairs rather than taking escalators when I’m  fully loaded up, it’s good for my thighs.

It’s been a good year. One of the best. So now a recap on the places we’ve been in 2017.

We saw in the New Year around a blazing fire in our village . It was around -17 C that night and we were bundled up against the elements as the local band played and our champagne turned to slush.

Great memories, great people and a wonderful place.

We skied into February and spent peaceful days in our little kitchen cooking and heating with a tiny wood stove. For days or weeks our water froze solid and we had to use the outside toilet as snow fell on garden pine trees.

It’s magical, we all love the winters and miss Breb and the people there badly.

In January I started investing in my site, buying premium hosting and tools . From that point things really started taking off online.

Almost a month in Egypt exploring history and culture, an educational trip for the boys. You can access our Egypt travel guide section here or maybe see this post, written by the kids, on what they learned in Egypt .

I think it will demonstrate for you nicely how some of the education happens around here. Above they are writing in hieroglyphs while waiting for the nightly sound and light show at Giza.

We loved this guest house and its incredible view across history. There were some tough times in Egypt, having to flee as a runaway tanker hurtled towards us wasn’t good and it shook me up for quite a while afterwards.

Back to Romania for early summer haymaking. The boys were thrilled to be out helping Mihai with the haystacks and to be back in our special place.

The boys took turns at climbing the haystacks, scything and raking grass. Learning how ancient skills like this work and how important they are still to our village’s survival is priceless. 

Also priceless, great grandma came out to stay with us, she’s a bit of a diamond. We decided to leave and sell the 4 x 4. We almost got back what we paid for her but we plan to return to Romania soon, we just needed something different for a while and a big slice of Asia.

By chance we heard about the horsemen of Hortobagy and knew we had to go.

We took a special diversion to learn about the history of the Hungarian planes, European trade routes and heritage livestock. You can see our post on Hortobagy here.

Slovenia was a real treat! We spent roughly a week here staying on farms and vineyards and visiting lakes and Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana.

It’s a wonderful country, very affordable and incredibly beautiful. Try to visit Slovenia if you possibly can, read our Slovenia post here .

We’ve been to Italy multiple times but never Rome or Venice. We drove through the north of Italy between Slovenia and France putting us within striking distance of Venice so we popped down for a look.

We weren’t interested in staying, we simply wanted to eye-ball those gondolas. It was very crowded, absolutely packed with tourists and off the scale expensive, but certainly worth the detour.

The boys were sold on the idea of Venice by Doctor Who, we sought out the spookiest, most Vampires of Venice type places we could find.

Leaving Italy and entering France through the Mont Blanc tunnel was a pretty spectacular (and expensive) journey.

It ticked a few educational boxes as well as giving us a big old “wow”. Boo had put in a request for ” the big pointy thing”, frogs’ legs and snails.

We got him to the Eiffel Tower and bought him his lunch in Paris. That’s one ticked off his kid bucket list.

Chef and I aren’t Paris fans so we chose to stay outside Paris and visit Park Asterix rather than spend much time in the city.

After Paris we headed on to the ferry ports and got the chance to visit the Somme Battlefields on the way, a big highlight of our road trip and a major educational opportunity.

I don’t think I produced any content at all during our summer in the city. We were home, off duty for once and being very normal.

Instead we caught up with friends, I started running again and Boo did the kids 5 Km race above. He and Chef also joined me on Sunday park runs.

We have an enthusiastic young runner on our hands who recently joined in on an 8 Km Hash House Harriers event.

He was the only child to finish. D did some swim training with his dad, that boy is part fish and turns astonished heads when he hits the lap pool.

I was mean and had them doing all sorts of educational school-type things over that summer.

After being typical tourists in Saigon and hitting all the educational hot spots ( See Cu Chi Tunnels & Cao Dai Temple here ) we headed up to sleepy Hoi An so that Chef could train.

We rented a little house after our AirBnb booking fell through and I immediately hated being a slow traveller. I need to be busy and seeing new things, domesticity drove me insane until I mellowed into a gentler lifestyle.

Once we found our feet we loved Hoi An and still do.

Our house rental was beautiful, as nice as, probably better than, our house in Australia. We had a couple of power cuts in pre-monsoon heat and I fell off my bike under a car, but otherwise, life was wonderful.

We considered ourselves very lucky to be here for the almost annual Hoi An floods  more on Hoi An flooding here .

We took Vietnamese classes, pottery classes and cooking courses, I think we’ve done just about everything Hoi An can offer and eaten every incredible local dish in this foodie center.

Off to Langkawi for Ironman. We joke about our Malaysia-Curse and it hit us again hard.

A bad (expensive) hotel, bad food and Chef’s body just gave out in the race through lack of proper nutrition.

We found it incredibly hard to get good food and the hotel breakfast we’d assumed would be good was inedible.

That and a ferry that broke down half way to Penang. But I really enjoyed our 1 day in Penang this time, Langkawi, well, we won’t be going again.

He finished his 3rd full distance Ironman but in his worst time ever, around 13 hours. His friend who joined us from Australia had similar problems and the two of them hobbled in together.

So much for this year’s Kona dreams.

Everybody loves Thailand and it’s always easy to spend another month there. This time we headed to the far north east to see some places we’ve never been and show the kids some old favourites.

We kept bumping into friends old and new in Thailand. It was a fun month.

D’s project on Thai history will be published soon, an interest that was sparked by the 3 Kings in Chiang Mai. Read more about our road trip to Northern Thailand here .

Kuala Lumpur and Back Home Hostel again. I like Kuala Lumpur, I love Indian food and it’s always good to be back in familiar places.

We had a movie fest, the new Star Wars and Jumanji movies at KL’s swanky cinemas were a real treat.

The kids did a cooking class with our friend Fadly, otherwise we chilled.

Since then we’ve been over KL with a fine-tooth comb to create our Kuala Lumpur with kids guide.

You wouldn’t believe how expensive Singapore is! A full post on Singapore and Christmas day at Universal Studios is here.

We had a really fun time and this place is just full of things to see and do. We really liked the waterfronts along the Singapore river and the Colonial district. We checked out Chinatown and Little India and admired the supertrees and Gardens by the Bay.

Our favourite adventure in Singapore was Haw Park Villa, it was free and ultra quirky, you’ll have to take a look at that in the post above.

Staying on Singapore’s tourist hub, Sentosa Island, dining at the Hard Rock Hotel, visiting Universal Studios and the SEA Aquarium, it was all good. But take plenty of money.

An amazing experience, twin resorts on deserted Indonesian islands just a short hop from Singapore by ferry and motorboat.

Extreme luxury and really good fun. A full post on Telunas resorts is here . It’s a great destination for families or a romantic trip.

We stayed in an over water bungalow and had the chance to paddle board, kayak, and complete a ropes course. It’s a beautiful spot.

Another quick visit to Back Home KL. Rest, a breather. We all had bad colds and needed to just do nothing much while we waited for our next flight.

Home. Right now Chef is making the kids pancakes,  I’m putting this round-up together, the boys are playing a new Star Wars game and life is good.

It’s New Year’s Eve tonight so we shall venture out. A quiet, peaceful family time for now, plenty more adventures to come next year.

One year around the world, our 4th and another good one. Every year is different and we wouldn’t give up this current travel lifestyle unless we really had to.

I hope you can see from the brief outline above that the kids’ education (and enjoyment) is still a big focus, it’s always been a major driving force in our adventures. These days my professional interest in writing travel guides is a big player too and of course a lot resolves around Chef’s training and competitions.

Another Ironman, maybe 2, will happen next year and D is muttering about Vikings. I want to see Tibet and Everest Base Camp must happen soon (maybe the boys’ great grandmother will be joining us in the Himalayas). For now we rest, where would you like to see us go in 2018? Happy New Year!

• Facebook 132
• Pinterest 3

If you'd like to hire a car during your stay, use this car rental comparison tool to find the best deal! We also suggest you take a look at this company to get a quote for all kinds of the more tricky adventure or extended travel insurance. Try Stayz / VRBO for an alternative way to find rentals on homes/apartments/condos in any country!

Related Posts:

Alyson Long

Best gifts for homeschoolers, homeschooling history with world schooling, 24 thoughts on “one year around the world (year 4 of world travel)”.

I love reading wrap ups of the year – it is amazing how many countries you can get to in that time! We also loved Slovenia and would love to go back. What is your must visit country for 2018?

Oooh….tricky. A new one for me would be Jordan.

Hi Alyson, Love this blog and website. We are a family of 4 (kids are 7 and 9) from London, currently 7 months into our travels. We are in a Hue in Vietnam right now and head to Hoi An tomorrow for 5 nights. Any tips for us? Sinead

My biggest tip is avoid MSG ! It’s been making us so ill. Hop over to our Hoi An content, there’s a fair bit and lots more to come.

Oops! Sorry. Just saw that you have indeed been to South Africa.

Yes, my brother lived there for 10 years, we’ve been a few times, but I’m itching to get back to Africa to see more. Problem is the flights are killer expensive.

Not sure if you’ve tried South Africa. Hold off on Cape Town though…there is a very severe water shortage.

I really love reading all your posts! Your journey is incredible! Wish you and your family a very Happy New Near 🙂

Thank you Pooja. xx

Absolutely inspiring!!!! Such an experience you are living guys, well done to you creating this live adventure to yourself and living it to the best. Wishing you only positive and joyful family travel experiences in 2018.

Great post Alysun, Sounds as though 2017 was amazing, and the best thing ? We became friends! Happy New Year! Xx

Huppy New Year Luz x

Congratulations guys – we have just started a 14 month world journey and funnily enough i have two boys 6 & 8 and an ironman! Loving a foggy Bratislava tonight for New Year’s Eve!

Happy New Year!

Love it love it love it! Such an adventurous year. What are these Sonic screwdrivers that Boo carries? I’ve heard you mention them a few times?

From Doctor Who! Start watching, it’s compulsory.

I love this post, Alyson! The round-up was fantastically written and really gave me just enough insight to keep that “Gotta get out of the US asap” fire burning bright. It’ll be a few years for us still as our lives are so complicated (blended family issues+ unloading good old US debt). However reading this made my morning on this last day of 2017 and I’m now getting ready to go over our Goals for 2018 with my husband.

I really loved the family selfie you guys took with your phone! You all look so happy!

Best of lick Yukiea !

Great wrap up Alyson. Looking forward to hearing about your adventures in 2018. Happy New Year to you and your family!

And to you!

Love reading all this in one post- what a year!!! The whole four years, plus the prep, has flown by, can’t believe they are young men now. What an amazing childhood. Hope 2018 is your best yet!

It’s almost 5 years Hannah, this was the 4th full year 🙂

I was glued to the entire write up. Your information is insightful and inspiring to the point of being very jealous of all you have done and achieving it with kids.

Thanks for reading Dawn. I see you’re in Cairns, you know we started out in Port Douglas?

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

How Much To Budget For 1 Year Of Travel – A Full Breakdown Of My Stats

Intrigued at how much to budget for 1 year of travel? Well here’s my full breakdown of my stats and budget. Covering 10 countries for under £10k!

2015 was another amazing year of backpacker travel for me, covering heaps of beautiful countries and doing some amazing things.

One of the most common questions I get asked is how much to budget for 1 year of travel.

Now the year is all wrapped up I’ve sat down and crunched the numbers to bring you my yearly roundup – including how far I travelled, how many flights I took and most importantly of all how much I spent.

December Quick Roundup

Before I get started on how much to budget for 1 year of travel here’s a quick run down of my December stats…

Vietnam  – £220.08 over 8 days = £27.51 per day

Thailand – £167.68 over 8 days = £20.96 per day

The Philippines – £303.35 over 15 days = £20.22 per day

TOTAL SPENT; £691.11 over 31 days = £22.29 per day

Flights – Hanoi – Phuket (Tiger Air), Bangkok – Cebu ( Cebu Pacfic ), Cebu – Siargao ( Cebu Pacific )

Air Travel – 5972.29kms

Overland Travel – 1126.84kms

TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED – 7,099.13kms

How much to budget for 1 year of travel, 2015 summary, stats and expenses.

Ok – now that December is out of the way let’s get cracking on how 12 months in the life of a backpacker looks and how much to budget for 1 year of travel…

Countries Visited;  10

Indonesia  – Kuta

The Philippines ( 3 trips! ) – Palawan , El Nido, Coron , Manila, Bohol , Siargao , Cebu

Australia – Byron Bay , Brisbane, Yamba , Sydney, Melbourne, The Great Ocean Road, Airlie Beach, The Whitsunday Islands

New Zealand – Auckland, Raglan , Waitomo, Rotorua, Taupo,

Fiji – Nadi, The Yasawa Islands ( Barefoot Manta and Barefoot Kuata )

USA –  San Francisco , Napa, Santa Cruz

Thailand – Bangkok, Phuket, Phi Phi Island

Cambodia – Siem Reap, Phnom Pehn, Koh Rong, Kampot, Kep

Vietnam – Ho Chi Min, Mui Ne, Dalat, Hoi An, Hanoi, Halong Bay

Total Air Distance;  80,699.25 ( vs 336,629.52km in 2014 )

Total Overland Distance;   10,470.12 ( vs 15,332.27km in 2014 )

Total Distance Travelled;  91,169.37kms (vs 351,961.79km in 2013) 

The amount of flights you take will certainly have a huge impact on how much to budget for 1 year of travel – and my year was certainly filled with time in the air!

Individual legs; 32

Flight Tickets; 16

Airlines  – Philippines Airlines, Cebu Pacific , Jetstar Australia, Jetstar Asia, Vietnam Airlines, Air Asia, Air Fiji, Virgin Australia, Emirates ( you can check out all  my airline reviews in this post )

Cheapest Ticket; Da Lat – Hanoi £25.50 (Jetstar Asia)

Most Expensive Ticket; Sydney – San Francisco £532.49 (Delta)

Full disclosure – my May Fiji trip was part of a collaboration with Awesome Adventures Fiji, my June trip to Airlie Beach was part of collaboration with Numinous Backpacks, my July Philippines trip was part of a collaboration with Tourism Philippines and my Dec Philippines trip was part of a collaboration with Cebu Pacific and included free airfare.

Total Flights Costs; £2,060.95 

( vs £2,921.99 in 2014 )

Average Cost Per Flight  –  £64.40  per flight leg or £128.80  per ticket

Transport Taken;  tuk tuk, taxi, dive boat, long tail boat, night ferry, day ferry, overnight bus, mini bus, train, sailing boat, raft, surfboard, helicopter, speed boat, jeepney, surf outrigger, paraglider, 4×4

Least Expensive Country  – The Philippines at £16.53 per day on my Jan trip there

Most Expensive Country – Australia at £29.67 per day on my Feb visit ( it dropped to £16.69 during my main stay there )

Least Expensive Place  – Da Lat, Vietnam. Solid accommodation, great value day trips and heaps of local places to eat and drink.

Most Expensive Place  – San Francisco! Despite not having to pay for accommodation there (I was staying with Erin) I averaged £22.24 per day!

Most Expensive Month  –  May – £725.30 (Australia and Fiji)

Least Expensive Month  – June – £486.03 (Australia and The Philippines)

Biggest Travel Splurge  – It has to be my random trip to San Francisco to see a girl I’d only known for a few weeks! Still it was totally worth it as we’re still together!

It did set me back nearly £1000 all in though for 3 weeks!

Biggest Unforeseen Expense  – as far as on the ground costs go I didn’t really have anything too crazy pop up. My Vietnamese visa wasn’t budgeted for though and neither was the tailor made suit I got made there, which probably totals around £150 all in! When figuring out how much to budget for 1 year of travel make sure you leave yourself some extra cash to cover your unforeseen expenses!

Overall Highlight –  It has to be kicking back in Byron Bay with my family, it was amazing for me and my brother to show them he town we talk about so much and they were just as stoked on it as we were! In fact travelling around Australia with them was probably the best part of the year!

(You can check out my other highlights from 2015 in this post! )

Overall Lowlight –  If I’m going to be honest the worst part of the year was becoming single again. That was a pretty crap month, however it all worked out for the best so I cant complain about it too much!

Now the bit you’re most intrigued about…MONEY!

How Much To Budget For 1 Year Of Travel – The Quick Breakdown

Total flight costs  –  £2,060.95 .

(vs £2,921.99 in 2014)

TOTAL ON THE GROUND COSTS;   £7,482.4

(vs £6,027.65 in 2014)

AVERAGE DAILY SPEND; £20.49

(vs £16.51 in 2014)

**TOTAL YEARLY COST INC FLIGHTS; £9,543.35**

This makes my overall average daily cost £26.14.

This is v £8949.64 or £24.51 per day in 2014

Ok so I spent more than I did in 2014 ( read the full breakdown here ) , however I did spend the majority of 2015 based in Australia, which isn’t the cheapest place to be living and exploring  and a stay here will certainly affect how much to budget for a 1 year of travel.

And just to be totally upfront my week in Fiji and one of my trips to The Philippines were free as they were part of a collaboration with the tourism boards there. My parents also paid for most of our 3 week road trip around Australia in March/April too which was epic of them!

Comparing my flight prices I either need to get a bit more clued up on cheaper tickets or airfares are rising since I flew WAY less than last year but spent nearly the same…so that’s my goal for 2016 – spend less on plane tickets!

I did however nearly keep to my 2015 goal of keeping my overall flight costs under £2000 – and to be honest if I hadn’t randomly flown to San Francisco this would’ve been no worries!

Having an overall monthly on the ground spend at £623.53 is amazing too, especially given the time spent in Oz and NZ as well as all the cool stuff I’ve been up and I must admit my level of accommodation in South East Asia has been slightly more pricey and comfortable that some previous trips there!

But still I’m pretty stoked with that.

Even though my daily average crept up to £20.49 ( from £16.51 in 2014 ) I’m still sticking with my main travel goal of under £25 a day and I’m nearly managing that with flights included too which is epic!

Good times all round!

Please keep in mind thought that due to my photography and travel blogging I do receive a good handful of discounts and freebies on the road, so if you’re covering the same amount of ground the £1,000 a month target is still a good estimate for how much to budget. 

Some people will smash this, some will easily get under it and it will vary drastically from country to country. 

Budgeting is always a personal thing and it’s always best to overcompensate for costs!

My 2016 Money Goals

With the plans I have in the works for 2016 it looks as though I’ll once again be slowing the pace down, this year even more so than the last…lets face it last year ended up spiralling a bit out of control towards the end! If you really want to cut down on how much to budget for 1 year of travel then travelling slow is certainly one of my top tips!

The idea is to head back to Australia for a bit and sit tight, so it wont be super cheap, but 2015 showed me that a single base down under can really help budgetting.

With that in mind I reckon I can easily keep my overall flights under £1,500 and my daily spend under the £25 a day again.

…but who knows what will happen!

Bring on 2016 – fingers crossed its filled with sunshine, surf and good company!

Intrigued at how I travel the world for under £10,000 a year?

Well check out my top tips HERE !

Related posts

Monthly Travel Summary, Stats & Budget – Aug ’16

Monthly Travel Summary, Stats & Budget – July ’16

Monthly Travel Summary, Stats & Budget – June ’16

Monthly Travel Summary, Stats & Budget – May ’16

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

21 comments

Nice one, Chris! :) Great to keep up with your budget posts and get an idea on what spending is like on the road before I get out there myself. Still got a bit of work to do on Smash Monotony but I’ll get there soon. Spending wisely while travelling is more than manageable.

Hey Dan – glad the posts are helping you plan your trip! Sounds like we could well cross paths on the road soon – keep your eyes on the prize!

That is great, I am sure when I backpacked around the world I spent a lot more than that! Wish I had of kept track of my spending.

Keeping track of my spending is probably the thing that has helped keep me on budget so much! If you hit the road again I highly recommend the Trail Wallet app!

Good onya mate! Really impressed with your budget… Feeling kinda bad that we spent almost your yearly budget in 5 weeks in Oz :-/

I have to learn so much from you :D

hahahaha yeah I’m kind of shocked that I’m keeping on target so well! I think the slowed pace of 2015 helped heaps and you did cram heaps into your Oz adventure which is never cheap! I’m sure I can teach you a few things ;)

Love it – so much useful info :)

Glad it helped Aimee!

Congrats on your amazing year full of travels! :)

Thanks Karolina!

looks like an awesome year. I will have to aspire to keep on budget this year.

Yeah wasn’t a bad one hey?! Whats your budget target for 2016 bro?

Hey, thanks for the stats! Out of interest, how do you record all the information, such as distance and expenses? When I went away, I was using spreadsheets, which was fine but a fair bit of data entry…

Hey Mark – I use the app Trail Wallet for all my expenses, great little download for your phone. As for distances, thats all manual using the distance.to website…lots of data entry but hey someone has to do it right?!

Hello there!

Do you have any pictures you like to share from Siargao Island, the Philippines?

Hey Daniel – if you head over to my Instagram account (@backpackerbanter) I’ve shared heaps over the last few months and it’s also worth checking out my guide to Siargao on the following link;

https://www.backpackerbanter.com/blog/siargao-surfing-complete-guide

Hi Chris. I’m a first time backpacker from the UK, i leave for Australia in April; i’m planning on spending a year there and maybe extending the visa for a second. However i’m extremely worried about the money situation- is there any advice you could give me about that? I understand i’ll need to find a job- it’s just i’m not sure how much i’ll be spending a day and i haven’t got a great deal on $ now :/

Thankyou :D Amy

Hey Amy – stoked to hear about your Oz plans…I love travelling out there!

Check out my detailed Oz budget breakdown for your main costs – just remember if you’re there for a year a lot of them will be more spread out

https://www.backpackerbanter.com/blog/budget-for-a-month-in-australia

Job wise seek.com.au is a great place to start but have a few CVs ready to go when you land so you can start the job hunt ASAP!

Awesome. Such a detailed price breakdown. I’m forever curious as to what other travellers spend per day. I always seem to splurge on food, but I love eating, so, it’s worth it! Sounds like you had a great 2014 / 2015. Hopefully getting to SEA sometime soon myself so this guide will be super helpful for budgeting. Cheers! Elesha

Glad you liked it Elesha! You have to splurge on what makes you happy – surfing is my vice and there’s always spare money whenever the waves are concerned! Check out my Thailand, Indo, Cambodia and Philippines budget breakdowns for some detailed country spends too!

This is a really good tear-off, thanks for sharing :)

This Is How Much 1 Year of World Travel Cost Me

One year of world travel… 365 days away from home. That must cost a fortune… something only the rich can afford, right?

Definitely not! But how much money did I spend on my one year of travel? Let’s find out!

Where Did I Travel?

While a year is a very long time, it’s definitely not enough time to visit every country in the world. Rather, I visited 20 countries during my one year of travel.

Technically, my year of travel was spread across a year and a half. I returned home in-between trips for things like weddings, engagements, and the birth of my niece. My year of travel consisted of seven individual trips as follows.

• Italy and India for 2 months
• Bermuda for 1 month
• Central Europe for 1 month
• Colombia and Peru for 1 month
• Australia and New Zealand for 2.5 months
• Spain for 2 weeks
• Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Japan, and Taiwan for 4 months

That’s a total of 21 countries (if you count Vatican City), 59 notable cities, and over 8 full days traveling on planes.

How Much Did My Flights Cost?

If you know anything about travel, you’ll know that flights are pretty much always going to be your biggest expense. Because I flew back to the US frequently, I logged 51 flights which covered enough distance to fly around the world over four times!

The cost of my flights during my year of travel was $6,027. If you want to get technical, the total price of my flights was actually $7,822, but I saved nearly $2,000 by using my rewards travel points .

Let me just say here that I could have spent a whole lot less on flights if my trip was continuous. In other words, if I didn’t fly home until the end of my trip, I estimate I could have spent no more than half as much on flights.

My cheapest was a $28 Ryanair flight from Palermo to Rome, and my most expensive was $750 from Northwest Arkansas to Da Nang which took me through LAX and Hong Kong. On average, my flights cost me less than $225 per segment.

The Cost of One Year of World Travel

As you can see, flights were quite expensive, but what about everything else? There’s food, lodging, transportation, vaccines, entertainment, etc.

When you add everything up, my one year of travel cost $26,655 .

Some of you will think this is an exorbitant amount of money, while others will be shocked it isn’t more.

I like to compare the cost of my one year of travel with my old budget when I was living in the United States. In Baltimore, my rent was $950/month, car insurance was $85/month, etc. When you add everything up, my yearly living expenses in the US was just over $25,000.

Here’s the interesting part:   Technically, because I saved all that money on flights by using rewards points, I really only spent $24,860 on my year of trave l.

My living expenses at home are ironically close to what I spent traveling the world for a year.

Coincidence? I think not.

In fact, I’d go so far to say as long term world travel can be significantly cheaper than living domestically.

Long Term Travel Can Be Cheaper Than Living at Home

During my year abroad, I participated in a little over a month’s worth of guided tours. These various guided tours cost me over $4,000. Because you pay a big premium to participate in guided tours, my daily expenses were nearly $150 during these tours.

Now if we exclude these expensive guided tours and all the flights, my average daily cost of traveling the world was $47.07 .

In a few countries like India and Laos, I spent less than $30/day while in some European countries, my daily expenses were quickly approaching $100/day.

In any case, most people pay double or even triple this on a hotel room alone when they travel.

For me, my daily expenses are just that… they include lodging, food, sightseeing, transportation, and any other miscellaneous expenses along the way.

Budget Travel Is Key

By having a budget-conscious mindset, I was able to see the world on less than I would have spent back home.

How’s that possible?

Well, my biggest piece of advice is… you must not travel as if you’re a tourist, but rather a local . Instead of hiring a taxi cab, take public transportation. Instead of eating at restaurants every meal, shop at the supermarket and cook.

Not only will you save a bunch of money, but I’d argue that you get a much more authentic experience by doing these types of things. In no way does this detract from your travel experience.

I definitely made some expensive decisions during my travels. This includes the guided tours and visiting expensive countries like Australia and Japan.

Keeping in mind that I spent less than $30/day in some countries , you can easily travel the world for less than $15,000/year if you choose your destinations strategically.

My goal with this blog is to make you a smarter traveler. If that’s something you’re interested in, check out some of my best budget travel tips .

Now that you know world travel isn’t just for the rich, what’s your next destination gonna be?

Let me know in the comments below if you’re planning a trip around the world. I love meeting likeminded travelers and would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. I know I certainly had a ton of questions when I set out to do this, so please don’t hesitate.

After years of backpacking the world solo, Tony is an expert when it comes to budget travel. Discover why Tony quit his job to travel on the cheap, and follow him on YouTube for all the latest.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Round the World Tickets: The Ultimate Guide (Updated 2024)

Y ou've probably heard about round the world tickets, a one-stop shop approach to cross-continental flying. But let's be real: it's never been easier to book flight tickets yourself, and round the world tickets are pricey. So why do people book round the world tickets, and are they  actually worth the cost?

The quick answer is, it depends . If you're pressed for time, have a seriously fixed itinerary with many international stops to make, it can be cost-wise. However, if you have a whimsical, budget-conscious trip in mind, or are focusing on just one part of the world, there are cheaper options out there that you should know about  (like finding fares yourself on Skyscanner on Kiwi.com ).

So, here's everything you need to know about round the world tickets, followed by our DIY approach that could save you even more money!

• 1 How do Round The World tickets work?
• 2 How to book a round the world ticket
• 3 What are the restrictions and/or setbacks?
• 4 The alternative: book separate flights yourself
• 5 How to book your own round the world trip
• 6 So, what's the cheapest option?
• 7 A Thrifty Case Study: A Round the World Trip from New York City
• 8 What are the alternatives?
• 9 So, is a round the world ticket worth it?

How do Round The World tickets work?

Round the world (RTW) tickets are flight packages that let you visit a number of destinations around the world for one price. These tickets are offered by airline alliances like SkyTeam, Oneworld, and Star Alliance. All the flights in your itinerary must be served by airlines within the chosen alliance.

RTW tickets require you to select your destinations and departure dates in advance. This means you prepay for the pass and book all of your flights before your trip. Note: you don't have to actually fly “around the world” with these tickets , they're also sold as multi-city flights, continent-based travel, or by miles.

The perk of RTW tickets is the ability to book all flights at once at a discounted price, plus ensures a mass accumulation of frequent flyer miles since you'll only be flying partner airlines. You can even purchase part or all of your RTW ticket with relevant miles, where permitted.

How to book a round the world ticket

Round the world tickets can be purchased directly with airline alliances or via  travel agents .

Airline Alliances

• OneWorld Alliance
• Star Alliance

Each alliance offers an online trip planner that allows you to put in every stop of your itinerary and get a price quote. It also makes it easy to work around the restrictions of round the world tickets, warning you when your planned route doesn't meet the requirements. All alliances offer online booking, or you can call one of the participating alliance airlines directly.

Travel Agents

• AirTreks (U.S. – our top choice & has 32+ years experience in RTW planning)
• Liberty Travel (U.S.)
• Flight Centre ( Australia , U.K. , Canada )
• RoundAbout Travel (Australia)
• Student Flights (Australia)
• A travel agent local to you

Travel agents have exclusive access to flight deals, plus receive discounts accessible only via their IATA code. They also save a great deal of time and money whilst adhering to your budget and needs. Find an agency that specializes in round the world tickets, so they're aware of the restrictions and can secure the best price.

What are the restrictions and/or setbacks?

RTW tickets often more expensive than a DIY approach (covered later), especially given they exclude budget airlines. Furthermore, there are restrictions to follow, so ensure you've read the fine print. Such restrictions typically include:

• A minimum number of flights to book (typically three), as well as a maximum
• Flights usually must be within the same airline alliance. This can sometimes result in obscure stopovers to stay with partner alliances.
• Restrictions on the direction of travel (e.g. East to West only) and/or requiring you to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at least once
• All flights must end in the city you started from and connect from city-to-city (i.e. you can't fly into London, then take a train to fly out of Paris)
• A minimum number of stopovers
• Additional surcharges for itinerary changes and/or flying to certain destinations
• Missing a flight in your itinerary could result in the remaining flights being cancelled, even if days or weeks away

Whew! Though there are many restrictions, most will come up when making your booking . Simply use the round the world ticket planners provided by each alliance, put in your desired destinations, and the options and costs will be presented automatically.

The alternative: book separate flights yourself

The value of a round the world ticket depends on the route you're taking and the flexibility needed. More often than not, you'll find it's cheaper, easier, and more flexible to book your own round the world trip online across several bookings using multi-destination flight search engines like Kiwi.com  and Skyscanner . You also can mix and match airlines, and aren't confined by the restrictions that accompany an actual RTW ticket.

Credit card points programs also allow multi-city flight bookings, effectively allowing you to book your own round the world trip via points or a combination of cash and points. You can readily rack up a significant amount of miles just by hitting the minimum spend within a set time. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is our top pick as a beginner card. On hitting its minimum spend, you can earn up to 60,000 points worth $750 – more than enough for an international flight .

Flight deal subscriptions like Scotts Cheap Flights compile discounted airfare to your inbox, based on the desired departure airports. Whilst this doesn't include RTW flights, this could help you cover some of the legs of your trip, as it has majorly discounted international flights departing the U.S. For those outside America, similar services exist in the U.K. ( Jack's Flight Club ) and Canada ( Next Departure ).

The only major drawbacks with booking a RTW ticket yourself is the time and patience needed to make the booking. Additionally, you may end up with frequent flyer miles spread across a variety of programs, without enough miles in any program to use them. Most likely though, you'll come out ahead financially doing it yourself.

How to book your own round the world trip

Kiwi.com  and Skyscanner are the two flight search engines we recommend for booking your own tickets for a round the world trip. They include budget airlines and let you search multi-destination flights, letting you see prices for your entire itinerary at once.

The key difference between the two is that Skyscanner prefers results from partner airlines , while Kiwi.com will always  mix and match airlines (including budget airlines) for the cheapest price . Either booking site can be beneficial depending on your trip, so to get the best price, be sure to compare results and follow these tips:

• Experiment with  the order of your destinations for the best price. Just because a flight is shorter doesn't mean it will be cheaper.
• Experiment with the  dates of each flight . This can be time consuming, but if you're dedicated, you can shave hundreds of dollars off your total cost by simply finding the cheapest dates for each flight.
• Multi-city and  return flights are often better value than booking many one-way flights when they can all be fulfilled by the same airline/alliance. For example, Virgin Atlantic has routes from New York to London, London to Shanghai, and Shanghai to New York, so making one multi-city booking with this single airline will be cheaper than several individual bookings with different airlines.
• Skyscanner prefers partner airlines that can fulfil the entire itinerary you submit, which doesn't always get you the best price on complex itineraries. So if you have a lot of destinations, split your searches into 3-4 destinations at a time . For example, instead of submitting New York > London  > Paris > Beijing > New York as a single search, try searching New York > London > Paris as one search, and Paris > Prague > Beijing > New York as a second search. You don't have to worry about this on Kiwi.com , which always mixes and matches airlines to get the best results.

So, what's the cheapest option?

In our tests, the DIY approach is always cheaper, but it depends on the kind of trip you're taking. Round the world tickets can cost anywhere from $1,500 USD to $20,000 USD . The price varies greatly, and depends on your departure point, number of flights, distance flown, continents flown to, and flight class.

On the other hand, regular flight ticket prices are all over the map, dependent mostly on supply and demand. Sometimes a flight across continents can be even cheaper than a flight within your own country. Since regular flight tickets include budget airlines , sale and error fares , and you can still take advantage of discounts with partner airlines,  booking your own flight tickets has always been cheaper for us .

The only way to know for sure is to compare. Use the links provided in this guide and see what gives you the best result!

A Thrifty Case Study: A Round the World Trip from New York City

As an example, let's find the best price for the following round the world trip:  New York City > London > Paris > Prague > Beijing > Hong Kong > New York City . We want to go in  April and May , and we are booking now in  January . We'll start on Tuesday, April 10, and schedule each consecutive flight for the following Tuesday.

Option 1: A round the world travel agent

Booking with AirTreks also gives you a team with over 32 years of experience in RTW planning, all your tickets in one spot (instead of many confusing separate bookings), 24/7 support, and better routes (less layover time, more baggage, etc.) If you do find a cheaper fare yourself, let them know – AirTreks tells us they're confident they could beat it!

Option 2: A round the world ticket booked directly with airline alliances

Putting in the same itinerary into each of the airline alliances' round the world trip planner gives us the following totals:

• OneWorld: $3,738.86 USD
• SkyTeam: $3,904.28 USD
• Star Alliance: $4,543.84 USD

Not exactly thrifty, and up to 3x the advertised price of the travel agent! True round the world tickets require strategic planning, so using a travel agent's expertise can save you time and money. But let's take a look at booking regular airline tickets yourself…

Option 3: Book your own tickets using Kiwi.com and Skyscanner

Using the Kiwi.com multicity search feature, we enter our full itinerary, and within minutes, we have a variety of options from $1,390 – $1,434 USD .

As we mentioned, Skyscanner usually just shows results from  partner airlines that can fulfill a ticket for the entire route. This route is pretty complex, and it's unlikely one airline alliance could fulfill it all, so let's  break it up .

After half an hour of trying different combinations of multi-city and one-way searches, the cheapest combination I could find for these dates was

• New York City > London > Paris > Prague: $390 USD
• Prague > Beijing: $283 USD
• Beijing > Hong Kong: $119 USD
• Hong Kong > New York City: $493 USD
• TOTAL TRIP COST: $1,285 USD

This is the cheapest option, beating Kiwi.com by only $105. What's going on here? In short, trial and error. The first batch of airlines aren't partners, but Skyscanner sometimes lets you mix and match airlines by using Kiwi.com for booking. And although there are partner airlines to fulfill the rest of the route, Hong Kong Airlines is an independent budget airline with competitive pricing, so it ended up being cheaper to book the flights separately in order to include their fares.

You can take this even further by testing different dates in your itinerary, as well as the order of your flights. As you can see, the process can be time consuming, but a little time rewards you with hundreds or thousands of dollars saved!

What are the alternatives?

Regional flight passes.

While not a round the world ticket in itself, this type of flight pass might be more sensible for your trip, depending whether you'll be flying a lot in one region versus globally. For instance, if you are planning to take more flights around South America than across continents, then you may be better off investing in one of their regional passes (check our guide here ).

Some examples of regional flight passes include:

• OneWorld single-continent passes: available for Africa, Asia, Japan, Australia & New Zealand, Malaysia, South America, Europe, North America, Middle East, South Asian Sub-Continent
• OneWorld multi-continent passes: rather than flying all the way around the world, these passes let you fly in a circle around one smaller area of the world
• SkyTeam regional passes : available for Asia & Southwest Pacific, Africa, Asia, Europe, Greater China, Russia, and USA & Canada
• Independent airline passes in South America : these work within specific South American countries (check our comprehensive list and guide here )
• Qantas Explorer pass : a flight pass for exploring Australia and New Zealand

Building your own stopover

A stopover – that is, an extended layover where you can actually leave the airport for 1 or more days or weeks – can be added for cheap or free to any trip, all by yourself. Our how-to guide here explains exactly how to do this.

Essentially, you find a flight fare that includes a layover, but instead of rushing to your connecting flight, you spend days or weeks in the layover destination, visiting 2 destinations for the price of 1. Whether you go round the world or not, it's a great way to squeeze more travel value out of your flight costs.

So, is a round the world ticket worth it?

In short, for most travellers, the answer is probably no. There are a certain set of criteria where it could be more cost-effective, and some travellers may prefer the ease of having all of their tickets booked in one pass anyway. However, the fixed timing, many restrictions, and high price are likely to be unappealing to those who are seeking a thriftier approach, especially when it's so easy to book yourself for less with Kiwi.com and Skyscanner .

The Thrifty Gist

• Round the world tickets are usually pricier than self-booking, but offer peace of mind and a pre-set itinerary
• A dedicated RTW agent such as AirTreks can save you a lot of time, with the added benefit of 24/7 support, having all of your flights in one place, established airlines with shorter routes, and over 32 years of experience in RTW planning. AirTreks tells us they're confident they could beat the other prices in this post, so if you find a cheaper fare yourself, let them know!
• Round the world tickets can be booked with airline alliances or travel agents, while self-booking regular flight tickets can be booked using the multi-destination features of Skyscanner and Kiwi.com
• Self-booking is usually the cheapest approach to a round the world trip, but can also be more tedious
• Reasons to self-book include the abundance of available error/sale fares , budget airlines, the ease with which self-booking can be done, and that stopovers can easily be added to any trip

Our website contains some affiliate links in relevant areas. This means we get a small commission, at no extra cost to you, for recommending a product we personally use, trust, and own.

trying to fin d the cheapest country to start a Oneworld 4 continent ticket July 2022, it used to be South Africa or Jordan, any update links?

Please send complete information for my round the world travel for 2 – up to a year.

Skyteam RTW tickets are not available currently, and haven’t been since the start of COVID. The Star Alliance RTW business ticket I just booked was half the price of using the DIY method.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your Travel Flamingo

Digital Nomad & Female Travel Blog

Cost to Travel the World for One Year

August 27, 2020

“How Much Does it Cost to Travel the World for One Year?”

This is a question I found myself typing into the Google searchbar multiple times a day when I had decided to take the leap to become nomadic. It was 2017, and I was preparing to quit my job to travel indefinitely. Everything was set in my mind, except the fact I had no idea what it would cost to travel for a year.

I wasn’t sure if I could find a way to make money as I traveled , so I wanted to save enough money to travel for at least two years. I wanted to wait until I’d saved enough money before quitting my job. But, how much was enough exactly?

Fast-forward to now, I have been traveling the world nonstop for over 2 years, and can now report on the true cost to travel for a year. Below, I will break down my yearly spendings to answer the question “How much does it cost to travel the world for one year?”.

What Type of Traveler Are You?

Some factors that go into your cost to travel the world for one year, depends on the type of person you are, where you plan to go, what standard of living you’ll need to maintain to be happy (can you really couchsurf for a whole year?), and which activities you enjoy.

Back in 2017, when I searched for the definite estimate of the “cost to travel the world for one year?”, I got a huge variation of answers.

One blog I remember, said it costs as low as $9000 a year for a RTW (around the world) trip.

Other resources, such as the book “ How to Travel the World on $50 a Day ” by Matt Kepnes, told me that a yearly budget of around $18,000 was more practical.

Then, there were websites that said you should prepare to spend thousands of dollars each month. So which answer was accurate? Why are all the answers so different?

The answer lies in differences in travel styles. If you are a budget backpacker, your travel style will be motivated by your budget and spending as little as possible will be your goal. For someone who is wanting to tick off lots of boxes on their bucketlist, they will be less concerned with saving money and want to do and see as much as possible, which will probably cost more.

I don’t doubt that there are travelers flying around the globe, having an amazing time on $9000 a year. But knowing what I know now, I know that’s not the type of traveler I am (and that’s ok).

What’s Your Travel Style?

Be honest with yourself, evaluate your values, and what you want from your trip. Do you see yourself eating at restaurants frequently? Are you the type to want to go to all the “must see” attractions? Do you like sleeping in nice hotels? Do you like to party?

Or, are you ok with sleeping in hostels? Are you outgoing and comfortable enough to sleep at a strangers house you saw on the Couchsurfing app? Are you less interested in seeing stuff, and more interested in human connection?

Everyone’s motivation and reason to travel is different, and identifying what yours is will help you estimate your yearly travel budget.

The True Cost to Travel the World for One Year

Alright now the fun part! Here, I will disclose what it cost me to travel for a year.

Since I’ve been at it for over two years, I’ll include the budget breakdown for both years, since there’s a pretty big difference in both the budget and my travel style.

You can use the information to see which travel style resonates with you, and decide which budget matches the trip you want to have.

Okay, let’s get into it!

The First Year: The Digital Nomad Budget

My first year of travel I spent $33,746

Average monthly spending = $2812.17.

*I did not count some shopping splurges, that were unrelated to travel and more due to my consuming problems

**I did include the cost of having to buy new tech gear, including a brand new laptop and failed repairing costs

***I was hit by a truck while on a motorbike and sustained some medical costs due to that which are included

Depending on who is reading this, that number may be shockingly high or seem very low. To any Americans reading this, when comparing this to the standard cost of living back home, this may seem really cheap.

Who is this Budget For?

My first year’s budget applies to you if you are a digital nomad or have saved up a bunch of money, and want to take a year off to travel and tick off lots of boxes on that bucketlist. In that year, I traveled very comfortably, said yes to almost all experiences that came my way, and paid for lots of activities. I also work while on the road, so I never felt the need to control my spending.

For experienced backpackers, this is probably where you write me off as a psycho and stop reading, but wait! This was my first year of long term travel, and I was in YOLO mentality. I didn’t know how long I’d be on the road, so I wanted to live every moment to its fullest without counting my dollars. My second year went differently and I made significant changes to my spending without trying.

The Second Year: The Backpackers Budget

My second year I spent $16,939

Average monthly spending = $1411.58.

*i did not count the cost of my new camera and lenses

**I did not count my $3000 repatriation flight to fly back to the USA from South Africa during the COVID-19 lockdown

My second year of travel, I learned that less is more. I slashed my spending in half, without trying. It just happened, because the things I valued and liked to do changed.

This budget is closer to a normal backpackers budget, although I admit my travel style is nowhere near “budget” or “backpacking”. Despite the lack of effort, I was able to keep my spending pretty low. So if you are budget oriented, it will be very easy to spend within this budget, or even less.

Why the Difference in Spending Each Year?

As you can see, there is a huge difference between what I spent in my first and second year. During both years, I split my time similarly between cheap and expensive countries. In fact during the second year, I spent one month in Iceland , a notoriously expensive country. I traveled to four continents both years, and spent about three months of each year not paying for accommodation by staying in friends’ homes.

Both years were equally fulfilling, and both years I was able to have new amazing experiences from start to finish, even on two completely different budgets.

What I Did Differently Each Year

This took research, and after breaking down my spending habits over the last two years, these were the differences I saw and what behaviors you can expect to drive up your own budget, or where you can save:

1. I Partied More the First Year

The biggest change came with what I liked to do. Year one I went to lots of parties and music festivals. I spent $6000 in a month in Mykonos by partying night and day and paying $25 per drink, which racked up to dozens each day. We all know booze costs money, but it’s also the indirect costs that add up too.

When I was in party mode, I was in spending mode. In one weekend of debauchery, I could easily double my monthly spendings in taxis, alcohol and any other bad decision along the way.

If you plan to party a lot during your trip, expect a higher budget. If you can cut it out of your travel plans you will save thousands of dollars. Not partying is the main reason I spent less in the second year of travel.

2. I Changed Countries More in the First Year

My first year of travel I went to 19 countries total. Not only that, but within each country, I rarely stayed in one city longer than a week, before taking a weekend trip elsewhere, or relocating altogether. 

In the second year, I visited 14 countries, which still meant I visited more than 1 country a month, but by reducing how many long haul flights I took, I saved a lot.

Based on my experience, I didn’t have less fun or experience less by moving around less. I actually found a place I loved, South Africa , and got to spend more time there, and experience more of it than if I had only spent one month there. 

If you are the type to count countries and want to collect as many stamps in your passport as possible, you will spend more. If you are easy-going and just want to see where this journey takes you, odds are you’ll be like me and find a country you love, and want to slow down. By spending more time in one place sometimes (or all the time), you’ll spend less but experience just as much. By moving less I spent $4000 less in the second year.

3. I Did More Paid Activities the First Year

In my first year of traveling, I got PADI certified. Since then, I’ve done numerous diving trips, mostly within that year. Diving is not a cheap hobby, but one I love. In year two I didn’t intend to dive less, it just so happened that the destinations I chose didn’t offer that type of experience.

Some travelers feel that they can’t miss out on certain activities that they can only experience in certain destinations. Safaris, for example, are notoriously expensive, which makes Kenya an expensive destination. However, if you cut this type of activity out completely, Kenya is a very cheap country.

Some travelers are willing to skip these activities and by doing so, spend much less. I meet plenty of travelers who are happy doing only free activities such as spending time at the beach, going hiking, or meeting up with locals and other travelers. These types of experiences are free so they will spend less.

Certain once-in-a-lifetime experiences cost a lot. Reflect on what you want to do on your trip and decide how big of a budget you need for activities. If you plan to do adventure sports, go on a safari, or take diving trips, plan for a bigger budget. For example, I usually budget at least an extra $500 for big paid activities each month.

4. I Ate Out Less the Second Year

If you know how to cook, you will save money. This rule doesn’t count in Southeast Asia or East Africa where eating out is as low as $1 per meal. However in Western Europe, Japan and North America, this will make a huge difference.

Some months in South Africa, I only bought groceries in efforts to be healthier. Those months my food budget never exceeded $250.

In some months where I ate out almost everyday, my food budget was up to $800 a month. In Japan, my sushi problem could rack up a $1000 monthly food budget (oops).

I think the best travel experience lies in the middle. Eat out a few times a week to try local cuisine, but try to cook often for your health and budget. If you are in a cheap destination, feel free to eat out for every meal.

If you cook or eat local food in cheap countries, you can spend $250 or less on food a month. If you want to eat out moderately, add $150 to that. If you plan to eat out a lot add $300 – $400 to that.

5. I Had More Accidents in the First Year

This isn’t something I could have controlled, but it sure did make a difference in my budget. I had my laptop (aka my money making machine) crash on me one day. In a desperate attempt to repair it on an island with no Apple stores, I ended up paying for several costly repairs, none of which actually worked. I bought another laptop, which I hated, so I eventually had to buy a new Macbook when I got to Singapore. That was an unexpected month that cost me thousands in extra expenses.

I also got into an accident where a truck sideswiped my motorbike. I had some minor leg injuries, but still needed medical attention which was an additional expense.

These expenses could have been reimbursed if I had renewed my travel insurance on time. I had travel insurance, but it expired the month of ALL these accidents. Lesson learned, you must always have travel insurance.

You should plan to get travel insurance no matter what your budget is. I recommend World Nomads Travel Insurance because they are reliable, and you can purchase from them while already traveling, and renew it at any time. Their plan is easy to navigate and they are very helpful.

The Verdict :

So, with this information, plus identifying what type of traveler you are, you can get a rough idea how much it will cost you to travel the world for one year.

Below are some suggested budgeting templates, and what you can expect from your trip at each budget level.

You can travel comfortably on a budget as low as $1500/ a month ($18,000 per year).

In this budget, you can expect to have a trip that includes:

• Staying in hostels for short stays (I don’t use hostels)
• Using Airbnb for longer stays
• Couchsurfing 25% of the time and/or in expensive countries
• Spending more time in each country
• Taking buses instead of flying whenever possible
• Taking 2 (or less) long haul flights a year
• Doing more hiking, beach days, or things in nature which are free
• Cooking in expensive countries, and limit eating out to 3 times a week
• Partying less or partying cheaply (A bottle of wine in Romania is as low as $2 and it’s free to drink it in the park with friends)
• Limiting paid activities to 2 per week (museums, tours, dives etc)
• Shopping only for necessities, or for clothes when changing climate zones
• Spending at least half of your trip (if not more) in cheap countries like Southeast Asia, East Africa, etc.
• Find travel buddies to split costs for some trips (car rental, airbnb, etc are good places to save if you have a partner)

Aim for a $2000 – $2500 monthly budget ($24,000 – $30,000 a year) if you plan to:

• Do more paid activities like safaris, tours, dive trips, museums or festivals
• Eat out up to 5 times a week
• Spend some time in cheaper countries
• Fly instead of using land transportation for regional travel
• Limit long haul flights to 3 – 4 times a year
• Stay with friends or hosts for free sometimes
• Party and go out a couple nights a week
• Stay in private Airbnbs mostly, not hostels

Aim for a $3000+ / month budget ($36,000+ a year) if you:

• Are between jobs and just plan to take a year off to travel, and will make money again once you go home
• Really want to do all paid activities available in each destination and don’t want to miss any such as safaris, skydiving, diving trips
• Love partying and plan to visit some party destinations
• Like music festivals
• Want to eat out everyday
• Drink frequently and love partying, and going to clubs and bars
• Plan to fly once a month or more
• Will change continents frequently, and have more than 4 long haul flights a year
• Will spend more than half your time in expensive countries
• Love shopping and buying gifts and souvenirs
• Don’t like hostels
• Can make money while traveling and don’t need to/care about budget so much

I hope this gives you an idea of what you can expect to spend in a year of traveling. I have been on both ends of the spectrum, from spending less than $1500 a month, to the traveler who spends twice as much.

Now you know what you can expect from a year of traveling on two different budgets and travel styles. If you can assess your needs and what you want from your trip, then you can use the information here to estimate the cost to travel the world for one year. Then, just save and budget accordingly and you’re good to go! 

What about you? Have you traveled for a year and had a completely different budget? Let me know!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

January 28, 2021 at 3:08 pm

You did a great job with you budget for different lifestyles. So brave of you to take on traveling this way. Your photos are wonderful too.

February 4, 2021 at 11:12 am

January 28, 2021 at 9:07 pm

This is very interesting, obviously. Yes, I find your first year shockingly expensive. I used to spend longer periods of time in the Caribbean and in Central America before the term digital nomad was invented and it was always pretty reasonable. I rented houses and cooked my own food most of the time. I’m planning on roaming again for longer periods in the future and will definitely try to live on your second year budget 😀 I’m also shocked that you had to pay 3K for a flight home

February 4, 2021 at 11:15 am

Yeah, it was partly being new to the lifestyle and also the fact I had just come out of a job I hated. I wanted to live life fully which at the time I misunderstood as meaning indulging in too much wine and other unnecessary things.. Glad I have changed, but yes that 3k flight during COVID still haunts me

January 29, 2021 at 5:09 pm

Loved this! We are only part time traveling but hope to get to a point to be able to travel fulltime. Thanks for sharing!

February 4, 2021 at 11:17 am

Yes! It’s so fun to travel when you have no deadline or plan, but I do miss the super excited anticipation I used to get before trips, when I only had a few weeks a year to travel. Now my trip just doesn’t end so I don’t get that feeling anymore.

January 29, 2021 at 5:30 pm

Wow that difference between the first and second. I was very much the same when i first travelled I spent a lot more and gradually learnt little ways to save money and place more value in experiences rather than expensive accommodations or meals etc.

February 4, 2021 at 11:18 am

Yeah, I totally get that. In order to write this article I had to go through my bank statements, to calculate the cost, and believe me I cringed so many times at my old purchasing decisions.

January 29, 2021 at 6:21 pm

Its interesting to see how well you have slashed down your travel expenses to half! Thats some amazing numbers. A few years back we had plans to do RTW tour and we did work out the costs and it came up somewhere to your second year expenses. But I am guessing travelling will become expensive after the covid. Lets just wait and watch!

February 4, 2021 at 11:19 am

Ah! That’s interesting, I was kind of hoping it would be cheaper after the pandemic, since people might be afraid to travel initially and will need some coaxing to get back into it. Personally, I am hoping to score a good deal on safaris. But let’s see

January 30, 2021 at 8:38 pm

This was so helpful! I’ve been wanting to travel for a year for the longest time but never pulled the trigger. I will be saving up to be able to do this in the near future. Hopefully travel will make a come back soon with everything thats currently going on right now.

February 4, 2021 at 11:20 am

When you get the chance go for it! Before I did it, It never feels like you have enough money for it, but honestly things just work itself out.

January 31, 2021 at 3:26 am

This is so helpful and interesting to read! I love how truthful you were with everything and really broke down areas that needed more information, honestly – I loved reading this and learning more about what it costs to travel full time

March 7, 2021 at 7:44 am

Your first year seems a bit expensive to me. But I see that you found good ways to cut down costs. I would love to leave everything and travel for a few years but I have made the mistake of growing roots in a way that would be complicated to leave.

March 8, 2021 at 9:26 am

Oh, it was. What I didn’t mention is at this time in my life I had no concept of budget or financial responsibility. I regret nothing, but there were many ways that I was overspending for little benefit during my trip.

March 7, 2021 at 9:39 am

This breakdown is so interesting! I wouldn’t have a clue where to start with budgeting for a year of traveling! I love how you have broken it down for different kinds of travvellers! What a useful guide! Thanks so much for sharing!

Thanks for reading!

March 7, 2021 at 9:49 am

Love that you compared the first and second year. It definitely shows growth and determination.

It was a huge change, even if it didn’t take much effort!

March 7, 2021 at 10:34 am

I love this post! So informative and so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing!

Thanks for reading 🙂

March 7, 2021 at 10:47 am

OMGGG – FINALLY someone that breaks down all of the costs and ACTUALLY lists an amount. THANK YOU. My younger sister is planning to travel for a year and we’ve both had so much trouble trying to find someone that actually lists everything they went through and drop the dollar amounts. I really appreciate the help and guidance~!

March 8, 2021 at 9:28 am

Wow that’s super exciting for her. If she has any questions feel free to email e or DM me on IG. I know what it was like before I went on the trip, I tried sooo hard to formulate a budget but the info online was so inconclusive.

March 7, 2021 at 9:30 pm

Love your honesty and that you showed the difference between the two years! Really appreciate the guidance!!

March 8, 2021 at 1:18 am

This is all very interesting to me. I honestly admit that I am rather envious of the LARGE number of people on these travel blogs who can and seem to constantly travel and roam for prolonged periods of time … months to years. While I LOVE to travel and aim to take 3 decent (2-week long) trips per year, there is no way that I could “be nomadic” with a spouse, kids, and job that ties me to one place. I am always curious whether with this nomadic life do people tend to find jobs and work when they are abroad for so long? Do they live off of savings? Are they subsidized? It is all very mysterious and intriguing to me.

March 8, 2021 at 9:32 am

The first years budget was based on a “digital nomad” budget, which means someone who works online while traveling. I am in a few digital nomad FB groups, and from what I have observed, a lot of them are doing really well and are making and spending the same as they would in their home country. My home city is San Francisco, where monthly costs easily exceed 5k, so even a 3k monthly budget is cheap for me. However, if you don’t need to work while traveling, it’s easy to cut costs and travel cheaper. My boyfriend traveled for 4 months on 3000 pounds. There’s always a way!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

7 of the best all-inclusive experiences to book this year, from a travel planner

• As a travel planner, my clients seem to be increasingly interested in all-inclusive trips .
• Some of my favorite luxury resorts are in Costa Rica, the Maldives, and Isla Mujeres.
• Cruises, group tours, and adults-only lodgings can also come with all-inclusive options. 

As a travel planner at Marvelous Mouse Travels , I know vacations are expensive — especially if you're looking to go somewhere this summer . But all-inclusive travel is often a great way to get the most value out of a luxury experience.

I've been on several all-inclusive vacations with my family, friends, and work, and I've helped other people book them in destinations around the world .

Here are some of the best all-inclusive experiences I'm recommending to my clients this year.

Try a split-stay vacation to see the best of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is one of the most sought-after vacations , and for good reason. It's great for both relaxation and adventure.

I recommend booking a split stay, starting at an all-inclusive resort in Guanacaste near the beach for some fun in the sun and moving to a resort near the famous Arenal Volcano for a jungle adventure.

Some of my favorite resorts in Costa Rica are the Westin Reserva Conchal and the Dreams Las Mareas. And if you're looking for an even more unique experience, check out the glorious swim-out suites with private pools at Dreams.

Baglioni Maldives is one of my favorite all-inclusive resorts.

The Maldives, a remote set of islands in the Indian Ocean, offers a plethora of resort options for couples and families, but Baglioni Maldives is my favorite.

For many in the US, getting to the islands can be daunting — there are very few direct commercial flights, and it can take almost an entire day. But it's hard to beat the country's luxury accommodations and gorgeous landscape.

The Maldives also has some of the most beautiful marine life and coveted spots for snorkeling and scuba diving.

No matter where you go, overwater bungalows are the ultimate all-inclusive splurge.

Overwater bungalows — villas standing on poles over open ocean water — are prevalent at all-inclusive resorts in destinations like the Maldives, Fiji, and Bali.

But I've also come across the luxurious accommodations at select adults-only Sandals Resorts throughout the Caribbean.

I think having a private villa on the water is the perfect way to unwind and relax.

Adults-only vacations are on the rise.

Traveling with kids can be a blast, but I also think it's important for adults to take a much-needed break on their own.

Adults-only resorts have been a total respite for me and my husband after hectic months of juggling work with our kids' school and sports schedules.

If you're looking to unwind with a partner, relax on a girls' trip, or even connect with your adult children, there are countless adults-only, all-inclusive resorts to choose from, depending on where you're looking to visit.

Some properties, including Sandals and Beaches Resorts, also offer butler service. Designated staff members can help with anything from room requests and dining reservations to cabana rentals and transportation coordination.

I upgraded to the service at my favorite adults-only spot, Le Blanc Los Cabos, and I felt totally pampered.

Isla Mujeres is pure luxury.

Isla Mujeres, a small island off the coast of Cancún, is known for its crystal-clear, turquoise water and peaceful vibe. It's also home to Playa Norte, one of the best beaches in Mexico .

Impressions Isla Mujeres by Secrets is a gorgeous all-inclusive resort on the island. It offers luxury at its finest, but with only 125 rooms, it has a boutique feel.

One of my favorite features of the resort is the waterslide that leads right into the beautiful ocean.

There are plenty of all-inclusive packages at sea.

Cruising is one of the most popular vacations , whether it's an epic adventure on a Royal Caribbean Cruise, a couples-only journey on Virgin Voyages, or a regal tour of Europe on Viking River Cruises.

Although cruises aren't traditionally considered all-inclusive, with the right booking, they can have the same feel as a luxury resort.

Most cruise bookings include food, nonalcoholic drinks, and live entertainment. If you add beverage packages and excursions in advance, your trip should be fully paid for before you depart.

Book a small-group or private tour if you're looking for adventure.

Group travel is a great way to explore new places while soaking up culture and history.

Popular destinations include Italy, Japan, Costa Rica, and Alaska, and many travel companies take care of everything for you, essentially making it all-inclusive.

I like Adventures by Disney , which offers small-group travel all over the world facilitated by seasoned guides. All the trip details are taken care of, including experiences, food, lodging, and transportation.

Additionally, Kensington Tours offers luxury private travel where every facet of the trip is meticulously planned for you.

• Main content

The world's first doggy jet service will cost you $6K for a one-way ticket

Dogs will soon be able to experience their own “ fur st” class flight with the launch of the world’s first jet charter company specifically designed for man’s best friend. 

BARK, the dog toy company that coordinates the popular treat subscription BarkBox, is partnering with a jet charter service to take away the challenges of long-distance traveling with dogs, according to a press release. BARK Air, as the company calls it, offers the “white glove experience typical of a human’s first-class experience and redirected all that pampering to pooches.”

Taking dogs on airplanes is, typically, a stressful endeavor with different airlines having different policies for pet travel. For example, American Airlines allows small dogs in a carrier to be placed under the seat in front, but larger dogs are put in the cargo space, which has been found to be stressful for the pet. For United Airlines , pets can fly in the cabin if there’s enough space, but they must fit in a carrier under the seat in front.

“We are excited to take the insights we’ve learned over years to create an experience that is truly dog-first, which is drastically different from just accepting dogs – from the ground to the skies,” said Matt Meeker, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at BARK, in a statement. 

First-time Fido's taking to the sky? Here are tips from my flight with a dog

Learn more: Best travel insurance

However, you’ll need to pay a hefty fee for the dog-friendly flight. For now, a ticket for just one dog and one human will run you at least $6,000 one way. 

The first BARK Air flights will take off on May 23, and so far, there are only two flight routes available, both from New York’s Westchester County Airport. From New York to London’s Stansted Airport, it’ll cost $8,000 one-way and to Los Angeles’s Van Nuys Airport will cost $6,000 one-way. Tickets are available for purchase on April 11.

Not only does BARK Air allow dogs, it also focuses on the furry friends by treating them like VIPs, the press release said. BARK Air passengers can skip TSA checkpoints and screenings and instead experience a simple check-in process where they can meet the other dogs on the flight and the humans are served a meal cooked by on-site chefs. 

When boarding, a BARK Air concierge is on-hand to ensure the dogs are socializing and adjusting to the environment well. 

Each flight will undergo “Dogs Fly First” flight prep that includes “calming pheromones, music, and colors that pups prefer.” To make the flying experience easier and more enjoyable, dogs have access to various aids such as calming treats, noise-canceling ear muffs, and calming jackets.

During takeoff and descent, dogs are given a beverage of their choice to help their ears adjust to cabin pressurization. Of course, there will be plenty of treats on the flight.

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at [email protected] .

• Mobile Site
• Staff Directory
• Advertise with Ars

Filter by topic

• Biz & IT
• Gaming & Culture

Front page layout

That's pricey —

Climate damages by 2050 will be 6 times the cost of limiting warming to 2°, study tracks the past costs of climate events and projects them into the future..

John Timmer - Apr 17, 2024 7:06 pm UTC

Almost from the start, arguments about mitigating climate change have included an element of cost-benefit analysis: Would it cost more to move the world off fossil fuels than it would to simply try to adapt to a changing world? A strong consensus has built that the answer to the question is a clear no, capped off by a Nobel in Economics given to one of the people whose work was key to building that consensus.

While most academics may have considered the argument put to rest, it has enjoyed an extended life in the political sphere. Large unknowns remain about both the costs and benefits, which depend in part on the remaining uncertainties in climate science and in part on the assumptions baked into economic models.

In Wednesday's edition of Nature, a small team of researchers analyzed how local economies have responded to the last 40 years of warming and projected those effects forward to 2050. They find that we're already committed to warming that will see the growth of the global economy undercut by 20 percent. That places the cost of even a limited period of climate change at roughly six times the estimated price of putting the world on a path to limit the warming to 2° C.

Linking economics and climate

Many economic studies of climate change involve assumptions about the value of spending today to avoid the costs of a warmer climate in the future, as well as the details of those costs. But the people behind the new work, Maximilian Kotz, Anders Levermann, and Leonie Wenz decided to take an empirical approach. They obtained data about the economic performance of over 1,600 individual regions around the globe, going back 40 years. They then attempted to look for connections between that performance and climate events.

Previous research already identified a number of climate measures—average temperatures, daily temperature variability, total annual precipitation, the annual number of wet days, and extreme daily rainfall—that have all been linked to economic impacts. Some of these effects, like extreme rainfall, are likely to have immediate effects. Others on this list, like temperature variability, are likely to have a gradual impact that is only felt over time.

The researchers tested each factor for lagging effects, meaning an economic impact sometime after their onset. These suggested that temperature factors could have a lagging impact up to eight years after they changed, while precipitation changes were typically felt within four years of climate-driven changes. While this relationship might be in error for some of the economic changes in some regions, the inclusion of so many regions and a long time period should help limit the impact of those spurious correlations.

With the climate/economic relationship worked out, the researchers obtained climate projections from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP). With that in hand, they could look at future climates and estimate their economic costs.

Obviously, there are limits to how far into the future this process will work. The uncertainties of the climate models grow with time; the future economy starts looking a lot less like the present, and things like temperature extremes start to reach levels where past economic behavior no longer applies.

To deal with that, Kotz, Levermann, and Wenz performed a random sampling to determine the uncertainty in the system they developed. They look for the point where the uncertainties from the two most extreme emissions scenarios overlap. That occurs in 2049; after that, we can't expect the past economic impacts of climate to apply.

Kotz, Levermann, and Wenz suggest that this is an indication of warming we're already committed to, in part because the effect of past emissions hasn't been felt in its entirety and partly because the global economy is a boat that turns slowly, so it will take time to implement significant changes in emissions. "Such a focus on the near term limits the large uncertainties about diverging future emission trajectories, the resulting long-term climate response and the validity of applying historically observed climate–economic relations over long timescales during which socio-technical conditions may change considerably," they argue.

reader comments

Promoted comments.

that DEATH caused by all that comes with a warming planet, like extreme weather events and geopolitical instability

Channel Ars Technica

• Singapore Loses ‘World’s Best Airport’ Crown to Qatar

(Bloomberg) -- The race for the “world’s best airport” crown has been a two-horse affair in recent years, with Doha’s Hamad International and Singapore Changi leading the pack.

This year the title has switched, with 12-time winner Singapore being edged out of the top spot by its Middle Eastern rival in the Skytrax World Airport Awards 2024 .

In a strong showing for Asia, Seoul Incheon bagged third place — also being named 2024’s most family friendly airport — while Tokyo’s twin facilities of Haneda and Narita  took fourth and fifth spots.

Hong Kong airport saw a significant boost, up 22 positions to 11th place after the city shook off its Covid-19 hangover and passenger numbers rose.

Once again US airports were nowhere to be seen near the top of the table, with the highest ranked, Seattle-Tacoma, slipping six places to 24.

Europe continued to have a strong showing, with Paris Charles de Gaulle, Munich, Zurich and Istanbul all maintaining positions in the top 10.

In other moves:

“This year HIA celebrates its milestone 10th year of operations and we are truly honored that passengers have voted us Best Airport in the World for a third time,” said Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer Badr Al Meer.

The Skytrax World Airport Awards are determined by customer satisfaction survey.

These are the world’s best airports of 2024, alongside last year’s rankings:

Most Read from Bloomberg

• Dubai Grinds to Standstill as Flooding Hits City
• Elon Wants His Money Back
• Record Rainfall in Dubai? Blame Climate Change, Not Cloud Seeding
• Red Lobster Considers Bankruptcy to Deal With Leases and Labor Costs

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.