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June 1, 2020

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Your trip calculator

With rising flight prices, you may be wondering: is it worth booking the ticket, or should I just drive? We're here to help you figure out what you might save (or spend) if you decide to load up the car and hit the road - or if taking to the skies is really the more affordable option.

Where are you going?

Estimates are based on an analysis of current and historical minimum roundtrip flight prices for one traveler and average car rental prices in the past 31 days. Actual prices may vary. Always check current prices and routes before booking. See Methodology .

Get inspired by other travelers

Check out these road trip guides to see how other travelers have navigated the open road.

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Road trip hacks, best family road trip, best couples road trip games, best road trip snacks, road trips with dogs, methodology.

• Travel Planning Guide

Estimating Travel Costs

As we have mentioned many times throughout this website, there are many factors that contribute to the cost of your trip. Every traveler and every trip is different. If you're on a longer trip, some people will tell you it's not possible to predict how much your trip will cost. This simply isn't true. While there are many variables that will affect how much you spend, budgeting a trip is like budgeting anything else in life. You have to account for your own personal variations and preferences. Having a budget is crucial to making sure your trip doesn't financially spin out of control. That being said, it can be hard to exactly predict a specific cost, but it is possible to get fairly close. Naturally, the shorter the trip, the easier this is, but this process is catered towards people that are planning longer trips.

How much should a trip cost?

There are too many factors that affect a travel budget , so there is no simple way give a rough estimate of cost, especially if your trip is more than just a few days or weeks. What type of hotels are you staying in? How will you get from place to place? Transportation and accommodation are two of the most expensive areas that travelers spend money on, but there are many more.

Factors that affect a travel budget:

Where you choose to visit will have the biggest impact on your budget. Europe and the U.S. are expensive, while India and Cambodia are very inexpensive. Naturally, spending a longer period of time in cheaper locations will allow you to stretch your budget and travel longer. There are some surprisingly expensive destinations that you should be aware of. Brazil and Argentina are much more expensive than some of their nearby South American neighbors. West Africa is also quite expensive due to limited hotel and restaurant options (those that are available are overpriced and of low quality). Eastern Europe remains cheaper than most of Western Europe, but prices continue to rise and Eastern Europe is no longer the extreme budget destination it once was. This is particularly true for places like Greece and Croatia, that have long been discovered by travelers and vacationers alike. Asia is a mixed bag, with more developed countries costing more, and many developing countries (particularly in Southeast Asia) being much cheaper.

Your travel style can have a significant effect on your budget. If you're on a truly tight budget then you will likely have to sacrifice some level of comfort and luxury during your trip. Using public transportation is cheaper than hiring taxis or renting cars, but often not as efficient or relaxing. Staying in hostels or budget hotels is probably the most effective way to save money. You'll need to figure out your priorities, though. Are you willing to share a bathroom, or even sleep in a shared room in order to travel for a longer time period? But with these sacrifices come some rewards. In many places, locals take public transportation so you'll have a chance to interact with the people of the community and you'll get to experience what daily life is really like. Although hostels offer less privacy, they also give you the chance to meet other travelers, many of whom are also on long term trips. These travelers are an excellent source of information and travel tips. It's also fun to have the company, particularly if you've been traveling by yourself for a while.

The time of year you travel to some places can also make a difference in cost. Traveling in the low season or shoulder season can often land you significant discounts. These discounts are not nearly as large as the savings you will get from staying in hostels or budget hotels, however. Also, be aware that some travel destinations essentially close down during the low season. This is particularly true in areas with extreme weather fluctuations. If most of the area's hotels and restaurants are closed, then those few that remain open will likely raise their price significantly. Also, if you're traveling somewhere specifically to experience the outdoor activities, then make sure you go during the best season. Places like Nepal or Patagonia are obvious trekking destinations. There are very specific seasons when it is best to travel there, and you are better off if you arrange your trip around these times, but the prices are also highest during these periods.

How quickly you travel from place to place will significantly affect your budget as well. Transportation is expensive, especially if you fly often. Taking local overland transportation tends to be the cheapest way to go, but it's not as cheap as just staying put for awhile. Besides, taking a longer time to get to know a place is when you open yourself up to the most interesting experiences. Another benefit to traveling slowly is that it gives you time to simply walk around a place. If you're only in town for a few days, then you'll likely try to visit all the museums and attractions that you can within those few days. This will dramatically increase your daily budget and, in turn, raise the total cost of your trip. Take your time and soak up the local atmosphere if you're on a tight budget. You never know what you might discover, as you will have time to get off of the beaten path.

Tours and guides are another expensive part of traveling. Often you can see the same places on your own and learn from a guide book instead of a person. While the quality of the information you might learn from a book versus a person is debatable, there's no arguing that some tours can be extremely expensive. Many tours also include transportation and meals, so it may be worthwhile to consider this before making a final decision. If you do decide to take a tour, ask other travelers who they would recommend. Personal recommendations mean a lot more than any suggestion in a guide book or on the internet.

Children will add considerable expenses to your budget. You'll probably want to travel with a little more comfort and stability if you have kids. That's understandable. Don't let that stop you though! Your entire family will benefit from the experience.

Working while you travel is always an interesting debate. Many people believe that they can work and travel at the same time so that they can offset their expenses. Some believe they can get jobs in certain countries, and while this is possible, it is not always practical or guaranteed. Also, the jobs avaialbe may or may not pay the amount that is needed to travel. Be realistic about your expectations!

Some people also believe they can be digital nomads and make money while blogging, being an influencer, or a freelancer. Make sure that you have already established yourself as such before you just take off, as many travelers attempt to do these things and are then sadly dissapointed in the financial results during their trip.

One very reliable way to make money abroad is to teach English as a second language. Many countries have frequent opportunities for native English speakers to teach at schools or companies. For more information, read this great article about the best places to teach English abroad .

Research is Key

If you want to create a detailed breakdown of how much your trip will cost, you'll need to gather some resources. Keep in mind that it is impossible to foresee every expense. Remember, long term travel is about staying flexible. If you plan out your expenses to the very last detail, then you're probably going to have to plan your actual trip to this detail, and that is definitely not "staying flexible". Instead, allow for conservative estimates. It's better to budget too much money for something than not enough. Then, if things do go as planned, you'll have a little extra cash for when you get home, or even to spend when you extend your trip.

It is possible and advisable to create a general plan. The most basic steps include:

Determine an average daily total for each country you plan to visit. Consider accommodation, food, entertainment and transportation expenses.

Reality check that total. Approximate the cost for a hotel, food, entrance fees (museums, shows, etc), and local transportation. Consult guidebooks, other travelers, and booking websites to ensure that your budget is realistic for your travel style.

Think about how many places you plan to visit. How much will each section of the trip cost? Price out as many plane and long distance train tickets as you can. Transportation costs can be a significant part of your budget, and it is relatively easy find a good estimate for these costs. Be realistic though. If you don't think you'll take night buses, then budget enough for the more comfortable and efficient option. Don't assume you'll find that once in a lifetime deal on a plane ticket. If you're traveling in peak season, expect to pay peak season prices.

Add in costs for visas, vaccinations, and new gear. Don't forget to consider health insurance and other forms of insurance. These expenses can quickly add up. If you're planning to book an around the world plane ticket then make sure you budget for any unexpected changes. Each change will likely incur a fee.

Add at least 10% to your total, probably more. This is your budget. Reality check it one more time and make sure you've leaned on the side of conservative.

Finding realistic costs for all of these items can be tricky. Sometimes you can rely on other travelers, but sometimes not. Every traveler has their own style and priorities and just because somebody else spent one amount, doesn't mean that you'll spend the same. Prices poste online are generally a good bet, but remember that prices can change and vary by date, supply & demand, and other factors. Online prices are can often vary by the website, too. Some guidebooks may be reliable, others less so. Prices rise quickly and many guidebooks are at least a few years old. Hotels that are listed in guidebooks are also known to raise their prices quickly. The recommendation of Lonely Planet or other books can put a hotel or hostel in high demand, so don't expect to pay the price that is listed in the book. With that disclaimer aside, we've outlined a few resources below to help you plan your daily travel budget.

Budget Your Trip's travel cost search allows you to find out what other travelers are spending. You can search by city, country, and budget type (more options are coming soon!).

Guidebooks and online travel guides often give you an idea of how much specific hotels, hostels, or food will cost in a city. It's important to remember that printed guidebooks are often slightly outdated. Expect to spend a little more than a price that's quoted in a book. Online prices also vary by season and demand. If you go ahead and book something, then you can lock in your price, but you still need to be prepared to pay a little extra for tips, fees, and other random costs that might creep in.

Travel forums such as Lonely Planet's Thorntree or Nomadic Matt's travel forum offer a great resource to discuss expected expenses in a area. Find a forum that stays active and you can usually expect prompt, although varied, responses.

Hotel and airline booking websites have up-to-date pricing that is usually reliable. Make sure you are confirming a price during the season you plan to travel as seasonal price variations can be significant.

Travel websites such as Seat61.com offer a fair estimate of costs for intercity public transportation. You can often check public transportation costs on a city's government transportation website (such as the NYC subway website, or Paris' Metro website).

Budget Your Trip

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Fuel Cost Calculator

This calculator can estimate fuel cost according to the distance of a trip, the fuel efficiency of the car, and the price of gas using various units.

Related Gas Mileage Calculator | Mileage Calculator

The price of gas may go up or down, but it's always a major expense for most drivers. The average American driver spends about $3,000 per year on gas, according to the American Automobile Association. Some of the practical ways to reduce fuel costs are listed below.

Use public transportation

Walking or biking does not consume fuel, and as such does not accumulate fuel cost. In most cases, public transport alternatives to cars such as buses, trains, and trolleys are viable options of reducing fuel costs. Due to the communal nature of ride sharing, the fuel costs of operating public transport are generally less than the fuel costs associated with each individual operating their own vehicle. In some places, public transport is free. Considering the costs associated with owning or renting a car creates even more incentive to use other modes of transportation.

Also known as car sharing, carpooling is the arrangement between two or more people to travel to a shared destination in a single vehicle. Although a heavier car consumes slightly more fuel, it is usually much more efficient than two people driving separate cars towards the same destination.

Use a more fuel efficient vehicle

Driving a smaller car makes a great difference – the fuel cost is about half for a small sedan than for a very large SUV. Similarly, drive with a less powerful engine than you need. Don't pay for an eight-cylinder engine when four cylinders work just fine. Unless you're hauling heavy loads on a routine basis, the extra cost of a bigger engine results in more money spent on gasoline.

Tune the engine

A properly tuned engine maximizes power and can greatly enhance fuel efficiency. But tuning the car engine is often done to increase horsepower – that's not the way to save on fuel. Make sure the tuner gets the message.

Fixing a car that is noticeably out of tune or has failed an emissions test can improve its gas mileage by an average of 4 percent – this amount will vary depending on the nature of the repair.

Fixing a serious maintenance problem, such as a faulty oxygen sensor, can improve your mileage by as much as 40 percent.

Placing ornaments and ground effects, aerodynamics kits, and airfoils, such as deck-lid spoilers, may make you feel good, but they also increase the car's drag and make it require more fuel. Such accessories offer no real handling enhancements, although they may look nice on your car. Also, place signs or cargo on the roof so that the object angles forward. This will reduce the frontal area of the object, and it will cause less drag, and cause you to use less fuel.

Adjust tires

Make sure the tires are inflated to the right levels. Properly inflated tires can reduce fuel consumption by up to 3 percent. Your tires also lose about 1 PSI per month, and when the tires are cold (e.g., in the winter), their pressure will decrease due to the thermal contraction of the air. It is recommended to check tires at least monthly, preferably weekly. Having properly inflated tires will also help you avoid uneven wear on the tread.

Gas stations don't always have accurate equipment for this purpose. Sometimes gas stations use automatic air compressors that stop at a pre-determined level. To make sure you inflate to the right level, double-check pressure with your own gauge.

Recommended inflation pressures are for cold tires; put about 3 PSI more in if the tires have been driven on a while. Inflate to the pressure recommended by the car manufacturer, not to the level stamped on the tire.

Use the correct motor oil

Gas mileage will improve by 1 percent to 2 percent if you use the manufacturer's recommended grade of motor oil. For example, using 10W-30 motor oil in an engine designed to use 5W-30 can reduce your gas mileage by a considerable amount. Using 5W-30 in an engine designed for 5W-20 can lower your gas mileage by 1 percent to 2 percent. Also, look for motor oil that says "Energy Conserving" on the API performance symbol to be sure it contains friction-reducing additives.

Plan trips carefully

There is no more obvious way to save gas than to drive a shorter distance.

Plan your route carefully. With today's GPS route planners, it's easy to calculate a straight route with the fewest stops and diversions. It is also possible to judge which route will have the least traffic. Take highways instead of local routes or city streets when possible – the steady speed maximizes fuel efficiency.

When driving in a city, try to park in a central location, and then walk from one appointment to another, or take public transportation. Ragged stop-and-go city driving is terrible for your gas mileage. This also saves the high level of gas used in parking and pulling out in a parking lot.

Factors that determine the fuel price

Government intervention.

Governments may intervene in gasoline (referred to as petrol in some parts of the world) markets by taxation, which may raise prices for consumers within or outside the governmental territory. Similarly, certain industries may receive financial support from the government to promote commercial enterprise (a subsidy). Generally, subsidized products or services can be sold at lower prices.

Financial markets

The global oil price fluctuates constantly. The key crudes quoted are Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) in the unit of US$ per barrel. The retail fuel price is closely related to the global oil price fluctuation.

Political elements such as structure, regime, personnel, and events can all affect the cost of fuel. For instance, a change in leadership from a leader who doesn't believe in climate change to one who does may result in changes to the cost of fuel for consumers based on different policies, such as choosing not to subsidize fuel. Political relationships between countries are also a factor; nations can go to war over resources, or form alliances in order to trade, both of which can affect the cost of fuel.

Geographic area

Certain geographical areas or countries in the world have an abundance of oil, while others do not have a single drop. Regional consumers within close proximity of high supplies of oil are more likely to have lower costs of fuel due to ease of access. Areas without their own supply of oil that are isolated from the rest of the world (such as islands in the Pacific) can find fuel to be relatively expensive.

Natural disaster or weather

Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, major floods, and other such nature-related phenomena can affect the production, manufacturing, and logistics of gasoline, which can possibly affect the price of fuel. For instance, a snowstorm may close certain roads, disallowing the transportation of the resource and driving up fuel costs in these areas. Hurricanes or earthquakes can damage oil refineries, abruptly halting production, which can also eventually increase fuel costs.

Cost of Driving Calculator

Fuel cost calculator, cost to drive between cities.

Travelmath provides an online driving cost calculator to help you determine how much you'll spend on gas for your next road trip. You can enter airports, cities, states, countries, or zip codes to compute the cost of driving between locations. Driving distances are calculated using actual driving directions if they are available, or a GPS-accurate method for the straight line distance . Automatic estimates are provided for local gas prices and vehicle fuel efficiency in miles per gallon (mpg) or liters per 100 kilometers (L/100 km), based on the make and model of your car, SUV, or minivan. Don't let the economy and rising oil prices stop you from taking your next trip. You can use this tool to find out if it's cheaper to fly or drive to your destination.

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How to plan a trip around the world

 Making the fantasy of a global odyssey an achievable reality is not as impossible as it might seem.

Combining a series of once-in-a-lifetime experiences into a single around-the-world trip can feel like the ultimate expression of luxury travel. It can be a daunting prospect though, with many contending factors to consider. Here's how to start planning the ultimate round-the-world trip.

1. Take to the sky

Air travel is, predictably, the simplest way to traverse the globe. Start by purchasing an around-the-world plane ticket through an airline alliance — coalitions of different airlines which let you pay for all of your flights in a single transaction. The alliance offers regional passes which might work better should you want to devote the bulk of your time to one or two continents.

There are three main players: Star Alliance, OneWorld and Skyteam; the latter, however, has suspended sales of RTW tickets. Star Alliance is a confederation of 26 airlines covering 1,200 airports in 98% of the world’s nations, while OneWorld’s 13 airlines serve 1,000 destinations across almost as many countries.

The small print varies, but fliers must always keep to one global direction, east or west (the latter better suits your circadian rhythm), with no backtracking; must only cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans once each; must start and finish in the same country; and must travel for a period between 10 days and one year.

Convenience is a benefit here, allowing you to minimise paperwork. It’s worth noting that some countries, such as China, also require proof of an outbound air ticket before issuing visas.  

How to do it:   Star Alliance offers a 133-day itinerary from London via Istanbul, Dubai, Bangkok, Sydney, Los Angeles and New York from £2,580 per person.  

2. Ride the rails

A century ago, taking extended rail journeys was one of the only means of long-distance travel. Today, trains are a great option for travellers looking to minimise their carbon footprint and take a slower, more measured route.

Recapturing the romance of the past, around-the-world specialists Travel Nation can tailor-make odysseys involving   separate train journeys. Vietnam’s Reunification Express, an Outback crossing aboard the Australian Ghan and a ride on the Rocky Mountaineer in Canada can all feature.

How to do it:   Travel Nation ’s 74-night, rail-focused global tour costs from £17,760 per person, including flights, trains, accommodation, most meals and some excursions.  

3. Go Private

For those who truly want to travel in style, it’s possible to circumnavigate the globe by private jet through National Geographic Expeditions. These trips are based around epic itineraries whose remarkable destinations are brought to life by a experts and groundbreaking researchers in various fields, who most travellers never get to meet.

On the 24-day Around the World by Private Jet expedition, you can visit 10 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Among the trip’s standouts are Easter Island’s Moai statues, Angkor’s jungle-flanked temple complexes, rock-carved Petra and a Serengeti safari. Departing from Washington, DC, up to 75 passengers will travel VIP-style in a customised Boeing 757, bedding down throughout the adventure in five-star hotels or lodges.

How to do it: National Geographic Expeditions ’ 23-night Around the World by Private Jet trip starts from £77,100 per person, all-inclusive, including medical evacuation insurance. Departures on 10 March, 29 October and 28 December 2024.  

4. Head overland

Travellers who don’t mind hitting the open road can try Oasis Overland, a tour company specialising in overland travel. Its longest offering is a 293-day trip from the UK to Cairo via an anticlockwise loop along much of the African coast, plus Victoria Falls and Zanzibar. The slew of highlights include the Sahara desert, the Giza Pyramids and East Africa’s wildlife-rich plains.  

The 16 (or fewer) group members will ride in one of Oasis Overland’s bright yellow trucks, built for traversing bumpy roads while offering as much comfort as possible. Nights are almost exclusively spent camping, and everyone is expected to contribute by pitching tents or cooking dinners.

You could also combine trips by flying from Cairo to Istanbul and then joining another overland tour all the way to Singapore, for example.

How to do it: Oasis Overland ’s 292-night UK to Cairo expedition starts from £9,495 per person, including all transport (except flights from the UK to Gibraltar or Malaga) and a selection of excursions.

5. Do it yourself

Arranging everything yourself is an option — most easily accomplished by purchasing multi-destination flights through a comparison website such as kiwi.com or Skyscanner.

A big upside to this is that you can work out something closely aligned to your specific needs; it’ll require a fair bit of time, though, and you’ll lose out in terms of flexibility — changing dates can be tricky — and cancellation cover.

It’s usually more convenient to aim for large airport hubs — the likes of Bangkok, Dallas, Dubai, Heathrow, Paris and Singapore — as the many competing services provide more options. A typical around-the-world ticket will involve something along the lines of London — Istanbul — Bangkok — Singapore — Sydney — Los Angeles — New York — London. From these hubs, you’ll be well placed to add in more obscure destinations in between.  

It’s also worth bearing in mind that you don’t have to fly between each stage. For instance, it’s possible to travel from London to Istanbul by train, lowering your carbon footprint in the process. Or, rather than flying from Bangkok to Singapore, you could get a boat from the Thai capital to Koh Samui and continue from there instead. A reliable tool for establishing train, bus, boat or taxi costs is the website Rome2Rio, and it’s worth investigating the likes of Amtrak rail passes in the US, Eurail Passes for European trains or Greyhound coach tickets covering Australia’s east coast.

Accommodation is something to decide on in advance. Be sure to have all hotel bookings locked in place well ahead of time. Hostels are a good bet, especially if you’re travelling solo or planning an ad-hoc approach during each stage of the trip, but can be lacking in privacy and comforts. House or apartment rentals can be much more comfortable and convenient, particularly for longer stays.  

How to do it: A sample 147-day itinerary from London via Istanbul, Dubai, Bangkok, Sydney, Los Angeles and New York from kiwi.com starts at £2,189 per person, including checked luggage.

6. Enlist a pro

One of the best ways to arrange an air-based around-the-world itinerary is by booking with a specialist agent or operator such as Trailfinders, Travel Nation or AirTreks. This can cut out a lot of organisational stress, while also enabling you to take advantage of these companies’ many years of experience. These firms often have access to special deals and aren’t constrained to particular airlines or alliances, allowing them to further improve the offerings to their clients.

The AirTreks website even has a trip planner tool listing a series of suggested activities, interests and attractions such as hiking, beaches, meditation or family travel, providing an extra level of choice at the planning stage.

If you’re interested in earning air miles, specify this to the agent so that they can concentrate on finding flights that qualify. Agents will also be able to suggest tempting additional stops — Taiwan, maybe, or a pause in Oman — which can be a great way of adding an extra bit of excitement to burgeoning itineraries.  

Finally, a specialist company can also take care of — or advise on — vaccinations (such as malaria), and certification and visas you’ll need, saving you plenty of legwork.

How to do it: AirTrek s’ nine-stop ticket from London via Paris, Florence, Venice, Athens, Singapore, Sydney, Auckland and Los Angeles costs from £1,325 to £1,770.

7. Learn to sail

Land ahoy! You might just get to utter those words by signing up for a unique sailing adventure with London-based operator Another World Adventures, which can arrange for you to join a classic, square-rigged tall ship for 90 days as it makes its way around the world on a 455-day voyage. Once on board, you’ll learn how to trim the sails, haul mizzen spinnakers and lean on trade winds to cross the tropics. No experience is required, and participants will become part of a tight-knit crew and make friends for life.

It doesn’t matter at which point on its itinerary the ship happens to be, as it’s entirely possible to join subsequent legs. Setting sail from Bali on 6 November 2023, leg three sees the ship call at the Indian Ocean islands of Rodrigues and Reunion before arriving in Cape Town on 6 February. Beginning one day later, the fourth and final stage is via Namibia, the British overseas territory of St Helena, several Caribbean islands and, on 13 July, Nova Scotia in Canada.

If you’d prefer to wait and tackle the whole trip — the other two legs are Nova Scotia to Tahiti, and Tahiti to Bali — then Another World Adventures (which also offers other, similar experiences) expects it to start in 2025.

How to do it:   Another World Adventures offers 90 nights, full board, from £13,600 per person, including transport, port fees and instruction.  

8. Cruise along

Ever more around-the-world voyages are being offered by cruise lines. To join one, you’ll need one important thing: lots of spare time. The circular itineraries are mostly more than 100 days in length, with Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise maxing out at 274 nights via seven continents and around 150 stops. These kinds of journeys really fit the ‘trip of a lifetime’ tag, running up to £100,000 per person.

Notably, 2023 marks a century since the world’s first continuous passenger cruise ship completed its pioneering journey. Chartered by the American Express Company, Cunard’s SS Laconia arrived back in New York City after completing a monumental six-month sailing via Japan, Singapore, India and Egypt.  

They also sell out quicker than almost any other cruise, partly due to having a limited number of departures. Holland America Line, for example, opened bookings this summer on its new 2025 Grand World Voyage. Departing from Fort Lauderdale in Florida, this is a six-continent, 124-day round-trip which transits the Panama Canal before visiting Callao (for excursions to Machu Picchu), Easter Island, Tahiti, the Great Barrier Reef, the Seychelles, Cape Town, Kenya, Jordan and Barcelona among 46 stops.  

How to do it:   Holland America Line’s 123-night Grand World Voyage starts from £19,900 per person, full board, including complimentary airport transfers, a $500 (£400) air credit and up to £6,700 per person in onboard spending credits if booked by 3 June 2024.  

9. Hop aboard a cargo ship

A rather more adventurous way of sailing the seas is aboard a cargo ship or freighter cruise. Carrying large containers of clothes, electrical equipment, foods and most other things between the world’s major ports, some of these allot space for four to 12 passengers.

Single, twin or double cabins are the norm, usually with sea-facing windows as well as a sitting area, a desk, a shower and a toilet. A few boats come with a pool, but most are very simple — they’re built for work, not pleasure, after all — and you certainly won’t find a spa or casino (though playing cards with the crew members isn't unheard of). All meals are provided in the on-board canteen.

The major appeal is the sense of serenity — watching the ocean drift by and having time to gather your thoughts or write that novel you’ve always planned.  

This can also be an amazing way to tick off some hard-to-reach places. Take freighters travelling to Singapore from New Zealand; be it for fuel and supplies or to make a drop-off, these stop at numerous Pacific islands en route, occasionally for a couple of days. That said, some port calls are too quick for guests to go ashore.

Note that good health and unaided mobility — due to steep gangways and lots of stairs — are mandatory, and it’s not suited for children or elderly travellers.

How to do it:   Cargo Ship Voyages offers a cargo ship crossing from Rotterdam to Cuba (estimated at 16 nights) from £1,880 per person, which includes all meals.  

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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. 

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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

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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!

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A Little RTW Budget… How Much Does it Cost to Travel the World for a Year? (2024)

Last updated on January 4, 2024 by Shannon

When I left on my first round the world trip, I asked veteran travelers a key question: How much does it cost to travel around the world ?

It was the single biggest factor impacting my trip length and destinations, and the number of things that impact a long-term travel budget are far different than a two-week European vacation.

Estimates varied wildly, and knowing where my own around the world trip would fall in that spectrum was a great unknown. I had no idea how long my travel savings , my freelance income , and travel blogging to would keep me on the road, so over that first year, I tracked every single dollar I spent while traveling.

Since that first around the world travel, I’ve spent more than a decade of traveling, and budgeting for short- and long-term around the world travel is my specialty. My upbringing was modest , yet I was still able to save the money to travel and work remotely for all 15+ years of my world travels.

Table of Contents

Breaking Down the Cost of World Travel

Let’s dive into a very detailed breakdown of what it costs to actually travel around the world for one-year trip —the hard costs associated with around the world travel, and the factors that most dramatically impact your travel budget.

I’ve included some notes on the impact of the Covid pandemic on costs that are likely here to stay—from the dramatic inflation hitting the U.S. and the UK to increased costs at hotels as many of them make permanent their increased sanitation measures.

How Much Does Traveling the World Cost?

Generally, $20,000 is the baseline cost for a trip around the world for one person for one year. This estimation falls in line with popular recommendations that budget travelers can spend an average of $50 a day on the road, and allows additional budget for flights and vaccines.

You’ll spend up to $30,000 for a budget trip that includes fewer hostels, and more upscale accommodation, transport, or food. Traveling as a couple or family does not directly double/triple/ etc the costs because lodging and transport are shared expenses.

As you’ll see in the detailed trip budgets below, world travel costs for mid-range to budget-luxury world travelers can run as much as $50,000—or much more!

My Personal Round the World Trip

On my first RTW trip, I traveled around the world for for 328 days (11 months) through 15 countries and I spent USD $17,985 .

Then I decided to keep traveling. I’ve been on the road since 2008, still “traveling” as of 2024, although from my home base in Barcelona, Spain .

In the years since I originally posted my cost breakdown for world travel, other backpackers have loved the precise and meticulous details of just how much I spent throughout a year of active world travel. And even with rising global food costs a decade later, people still travel on similar budgets —yes, so many elements impact travel costs that you can still travel the world for the same price as a trip 15 years ago (more on how that’s possible later).

Let’s dive into the good stuff. The following tables and charts further outline my around the world trip costs including the country-by-country expenses and budget.

Just want the cold hard costs? Navigate my Google spreadsheet by the countries listed at the bottom of my full World Travel Budget .

My Total Costs to Travel the World for a Year

My final costs of $17,985 for the nearly year of world travel completely include of everything from getting jabbed in the arm for my Yellow Fever vaccine to buying all of my pre-travel gear , my travel insurance , all of my plane flights , bus rides , camel safaris , and surfing lessons , and straight through to my first delicious sub back on home soil when I passed through Philly on my final layover.

What does that number not include?

Some personal choices upped the cost of my round the world trip: an external hard drive for photo storage, a new camera (old one was waterlogged in Australia ), and a rental car splurge in Ireland . My personal total, inclusive of all of that, was just under $19,000 … so it’s still a bargain considering I was on the road for nearly an entire year.

In the above category breakdowns, consider:

• Lodging includes all accommodation; I couchsurfed in a few countries and stayed with friends a couple of times.
• Food includes everything from three meals a day to snacks, and funding for my chocolate obsession.
• Entertainment covers going out on the town, sharing beers with friends—this will be much higher if you drink often. My budget was for drinking on average once a week.
• Activities includes my volunteer program in Nepal, and all tours, trips, and group adventures—everything from diving to ziplining to visiting temples and museums .
• Transportation excludes flights, but covers all intra-country transportation like buses, trains, taxis, and tuk-tuks.
• Misc is a catch-all and a large portion of costs there came from paying for fast internet—it was pricey to make sure I had a strong connection for my work. It also includes shipping things home, gifts, and toiletries along the way.
• Flights includes puddle-jumper little flights between countries in the same region—I did not use a RTW ticket, but instead booked along the way ( here’s why ).

Budget of Daily & Total Costs Per Country

Don’t forget to check out my well-loved Travel Planning Resources .

And consider using the blank, formatted spreadsheet to log your own RTW travel budget (this is a Google Spreadsheet, either save a copy of this to your own Google drive for editing, or download as an excel file!).

How Much Will Your Dream Trip Cost?

Finding a way to travel the world is a mental obstacle as much as a financial one. Every situation is different, but I believe that if you truly prioritize travel, then it’s possible to plan and execute an around the world trip. The problem is, there’s crappy information out there about how to make it happen—just as many bloggers don’t really share straight costs to travel the world. Many bloggers have shared posts with a handful of tips about how much they saved for their dream trip, but they don’t break down how they arrived at that final figure. You may read this information and see my budget, but it leaves you wondering if your own world travels would cost the same.

For that reason, I wrote two entire guides to address your current hurdle. One is about creating a realistic anticipated budget for your trip. The other is about saving for world travel.

How much will your dream trip cost? I wrote this guide to specifically answer the most common question I was emailed by readers: how much will a specific route/itinerary costs.

In it, I share comprehensive and thoroughly practical advice about understanding trip budgets and understanding your own style of travel.

The guide is a full treatise on how to estimate what your dream trip will cost and it includes case studies from other long-term travelers who tracked their trip budgets.

I spent ten years on the road, and nearly that long talking with with other travelers about how they budget for travel. Using the aggregate of their knowledge and experience, I’ve outlined a road-map to taking a long-term trip.

I wrote this guide to empower travelers and travel dreamers anywhere in the world with the tools to plan their trip. The guide breaks down average traveling costs for the world’s most traveled destinations, which you can use with the fully customizable Trip Budget Worksheet to create an accurate anticipated budget for your dream trip. Available on  Kindle, ePub, and PDF .

True wealth is having the freedom to do what you want with your life. Many travel dreamers get waylaid by the financial side of life.

If you’re new to personal finance, or lost about how to start saving for a big goal, this book distills hard-learned information into easily actionable steps specifically targeted at giving travel dreamers tools to become financially literate.

This book provides a thorough deep-dive into the principles of saving money, common obstacles, overcoming debt, and the tenets of strong personal finance. It offers a streamlined process to create substantial changes in your financial life.

If money is your primary obstacle to leaving on a long-term trip, this guide breaks down exactly the shifts you can make to change your financial situation.

Many travelers look at my adventures and experiences these past 12 years that I’ve traveled and they dream of also traveling through the cultures, stories, and conversations. This guide gives you the tools to move the needle from dreaming to doing. Available on Amazon Kindle  or as a PDF bundle with the budget book .

How to Decide on Your Final World Travel Budget?

Travel was my bootcamp for life. My around the world trip was the single best investment in both my personal growth and my career. Throughout life we are presented with a series of choices—each has the ability to help us create the life we dream of living. I am forever glad I chose to travel our beautiful world. ~ Shannon O’Donnell

Creating an accurate anticipated budget for your world tour is an important step—you certainly don’t want to plan for a year but run out of funds in month eight! Each person has different goals, a unique world trip itinerary , and differing travel styles. These factors can create significant differences in the total cost of a round the world trip.

Assess How Much You’ve Saved for World Travel

A round the world trip is not as expensive as you assume. Most anyone reading this post has the ability to save for travel if it’s a true priority. My family is quite poor and I put myself through college with merit-based scholarships. Instead of counting on help from family, I budgeted for the trip, and I traveled with the budget I had—not the one I wish I had.

Before leaving, I purged everything I owned and saved ruthlessly in the countdown months. When calculating if I could afford my trip around the world, I even accounted for my student-loan and medical credit debt repayments (because yes, I was actually in a fair bit of debt ). I took on side-hustles to sock away money. And then I worked on  freelance SEO remotely  for the entire year.

Compared to my life in LA, where $1,200+ went toward rent and bills each month, I used that same online income to travel the world, digging into my small savings for my travel gear and long-haul flights . I wasn’t sure how much my trip would cost when I left to travel, and the information just wasn’t out there like it is now.

Now you can play with your travel route and your travel style and come up with a tally in just a few hours for what your dream trip will cost. In fact, I believe so much that world travel is affordable that I wrote a budget guide and spreadsheet to help you price out your dream trip and have all the possible resources you need at your fingertips.

Decide Your Route & Speed Around the World

This is the single biggest indicator of how much world travel will cost. Slow overland travel lowers costs, and you can minimize the number of flights needed.

To save money, also consider visiting fewer places. Every travel dreamer over-packs their around the world route. You surely have a dream list, but unless you have unlimited funds, then you should scale back the number of regions/countries that you will visit.

When I first planned my trip, a long-term traveler advised me to cut five countries from my itinerary. Looking back now, I can’t even imagine where they would have fit! It’s my route and speed that allowed me to travel for under $20K.

Read: How to Plan an Around the World Itinerary in 8 Steps

Determine the Types of Countries You’ll Visit

If you add in developed countries like Europe, Japan, Australia, and the United States, your daily budget will double. Instead of spending $25 per day in SEA and India, you will average $75 to $100 per day in most developed countries.

For that reason, weight your trip in favor of developing regions of the world. Save Europe or the U.S. for a shorter trip later in life, and add a few off-beat locations to your planned route—these are most often the sleeper-favorites by the end of your RTW trip.

If You’ll Eat Local Food, Street Foods, & Shop in Markets

How you eat on your travels impacts your bottom line. Eat locally from mom and pop restaurants, and sample eats from street food stalls. Contrary to many assumptions from first glance, these locations are perfectly safe so long as you adhere to a few standard food safety practices.

Local food is a window into the culture, so dig deep and eat like the locals, asking the vendors questions and learning more about each country’s food peculiarities. Also, when traveling in Western countries, shop for groceries and prepare your own breakfast at the very least.

Read: How to Eat Street Food Without Getting Sick and buy the Food Traveler’s Handbook  to learn even more about safely enjoying street eats

Factoring Covid and the Pandemic into you Round the World Trip

The fact is, although wealthier and Western countries have moved on from the pandemic, this is not case in all countries. Vaccine iniquities and underdeveloped healthcare systems mean that many countries struggled for years.

If you’re planning world travels, be prepared increased costs to test or meet Covid requirements if another strain were to pop up during your travels. What might this look like:

• Some countries may suddenly re-close to travelers from certain countries.
• Some countries will continue to require proof of vaccination before entering (this may last for years given that proof of vaccination is already required for other illnesses, namely Yellow Fever).
• Travelers may be forced to quarantine, sometimes unexpectedly if you test positive, and this may take place in government-run hotels that cost quite a lot.
• Crossing land borders could be pricier than anticipated—for the three years of Covid, the land border between Belize and Mexico cost ~$225 to cross , and it usually costs about $20.
• Travel insurance companies are now mostly considering Covid endemic , but that can change as official travel warning levels change in your home country. Buy your travel insurance with care.

In short, assess the trip you have planned, and read up on Covid policies. Where you choose to travel should likely remain fluid once you set out so you can adapt on the road.

Note that budgets and guides give clear examples of how travelers can truly spend on average $50 per day on average to travel the world. And using the tips above, you can lower these figures even more, if needed.

You could likely travel with as little as US $12,000 per year if you stick to one region—overland for a year from Mexico to Argentina; or overland through China, Southeast Asia , and India.

The price of a budget trip jumps to US $25,000 to visit many regions rapidly. If you prefer mid-range accommodations, that might increase your expenses by $10,000; same goes if you’re prone to splurging on expensive extras like helicopter rides, diving, and adventure activities.

The bottom line : Understand your route, travel style, and goals before you can develop an accurate anticipated budget for travel.

Recommended Next Steps

It’s easy to see the numbers, be inspired for a bit and then never take action. If you’re actively planning your RTW—fantastic! My site and those of my friends contain every essential resource you need to plan world travel .

If you’re currently working, studying, or just dreaming of traveling, I have resources for you as well. And if you want a second look at those spreadsheets, visit my full RTW budget as a Google Document that will open in your browser.

Or head to the free blank spreadsheet to track your own expenses as you travel around the world . You can save an editable copy of these to your own Google Drive, or download for your own use.

Eight Steps of Planning a World Trip

• Save for Travel & Eliminate Debt
• Build a Realistic Trip Budget
• Plan Your Around the World Trip Itinerary
• Pick the Right Travel Insurance
• Pack for Long-Term World Travel
• Work Remotely While You Travel
• Stay Healthy on the Road
• Browse Free Destination Guides

Resources & Further Research

World travel budgets.

• ALA readers Jesse and Ally sent me their couples budget for a trip that ended in late 2019—they came in at $38.2K for two people for 342 days traveling through everywhere from South America (Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina) to Southeast, South Asia, and even Japan. They didn’t sacrifice on fun RTW trip activities: They hiked Machu Picchu, toured the desert in Morocco, did scuba diving here and there, and more.
• A mid-range couples budget of shared expenses for a year came in just under $20K per person .
• A meticulously detailed couples backpackers budget came in at $36,532 (an even $50 a day).
• A solo male traveler for two years on the road averaged about $20K per year .
• A list of  travel budgets by region of the world .

Books to Read First

• How to Travel the World on $50 a Day .  Published by Penguin and now in its second edition, it shows you how to stick to a budget while you’re traveling. It’s an guide for travelers new to budgeting on the road and weighs heavily toward backpacker-style travel with basic tips and hacks to save money by using travel cards, points, etc.
• A few of my favorite travel books include: The Geography of Bliss , Wild , A Thousand Splendid Suns , The Great Railway Bazaar , and Behind the Beautiful Forevers .
• My two low-cost guides designed for world travelers include How to Save for Travel and How Much Will Your Dream RTW Trip Cost?

On-the-Road Travel Resources

• ALA Travel Guides share comprehensive information on what to know before you go in each new destination. 
• Grassroots Volunteering is ALA’s sister site, offering a database of responsible travel companies and volunteer experiences all over the world, as well as Responsible Travel Guides about how to use travel as a force for good.
• Cost of Living Guides show you how affordable it is might be to live outside your home country. You can sometimes elongate world travels by months or years by stopping in these affordable locations.

Working on the Road

• How to Start a Travel Blog : Record the highs and lows of your once in a lifetime trip. This no-nonsense page details the process and won’t upsell you on any courses you likely don’t need. Just basic facts of how to start your first blog, and maybe even make some money along the way.
• Finding Freelance Work for Digital Nomads . Since money is a huge factor for many travelers, this resource page thoroughly covers remote work—something I’ve been doing since 2005.

I truly believe that world travel is possible for most people. When and how is unique to each person, but by prioritizing and planning travel, you can make an around the world trip possible.

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 .

391 thoughts on “A Little RTW Budget… How Much Does it Cost to Travel the World for a Year? (2024)”

Can you recommend a travel insurance provider?

I recommend IMG Global for most world travelers. Here’s my full rundown .

The best way to experience seamless travel through breathtaking landscapes is Gothenburg to Oslo train route.

Hi there, great article, thanks, very very helpful. I also do these things when travelling on a budget: 1. Try to find the fee-free and low-fee ATMs in a foreign country. 2. Get fee-free cards from home 3. Avoid withdrawing cash from credit cards as the cash advance fee is very high 4. Withdraw maximum amount ATM gives me 5. Book directly with hostels/hotels to avoid extra commissions

Do you offer personal help/training on this?

I don’t see how you can possibly only send that amount on accommodation. That works to only $8.50 a night. You’d have to be staying in some very skanky bed bug ridden dives for that amount.

The you clearly didn’t read everything. I couchsurfed, I had accommodation included in the fee for my volunteer experience in Nepal (so that month is not included in the accommodation line-item), and I also met many travelers early in my travels who hosted me later in my travels when I passed through Europe. Plus, shared dorms are pretty cheap outside of the US, Europe, Australia, Japan, and the like. Guesthouses truly do cost about $15 a night split between two if you travel with someone. Think a bit more creatively rather than trolling and you’ll get there. fwiw, I have never gotten bed bugs in 15+ years, so I’m doing something right, and I’ve met travelers who got them at 5-star resorts, so price isn’t always an indicator of cleanliness my friend, and you’d be wise to note that if you travel in developing countries.

This sounds about right. My partner and I travel half the year every year and I budget (In CAD which I’ll put today’s USD exhange rates for) 2200 CAD/1,650 USD a month for flights and accomodation (I know it’s weird to combine these, but I sold my partner on travelling by telling him that I could make all the flights and hotels add up to the same as our rent in Toronto, Canada and that’s stuck – so the more I spend on a flight, the cheaper I try to find accomodation for that month)

1400 CAD/1050 USD a month for food (a mix of groceries and eating out. Drinks we have with meals count in this category)

800 CAD/600 USD a month for activities (Going out for drinks counts in this category, as does public transit)

Bringing our total to 4400/month or $26,400 for dix months for two people. (3300 USD/month, 19800 USD) So if we did the whole year we’d be close to 39,000 USD.

That said I also usually spend another 500-600 on clothing because I love to shop – but I don’t consider that part of the travel budget.

Believe it or not – I actually spend more when I stay home in Toronto the other half of the year than I do while travelling. Food in Toronto, Canada is really expensive – as is alcohol – as is entertainment. Tho in fairness I do live on a boat on the Toronto Islands, but it works out to costing similar to rent for a two bedroom apartment downtown.

Anyways, thanks for sharing!

Very informative, Thanks for the share.

Came across your blog, I was wondering what current costs were. I travelled for a year in 2015 with about $9k, so today that would be a bit over $11k. I did a mix of hostels, nice hotels (usually thru mistake rates, or points), backpacking (ie camping), and some volunteering for room/board (I think 6 or 7 weeks total). Mix of cheap places like in parts of SEA and also expensive places like Japan, Pacific Islands, or Europe for instance. I didn’t include pre-travel purchases though for gear. Another perspective, anyway!

Great breakdown, thanks!

Thank you for sharing so much of your information! I am just starting to think about our retirement travel, which is still several years off. This information is so wonderful to review for those of us who have a dream of travelling throughout the world and are in the planning stages. I hope you are able to continue to follow your dreams.

Good luck with the planning—this past year has been a bad one for traveling in general, but a great one for planning and dreaming! Best of luck. :)

I have done a RTW twice in the pass, first time 4 months, second time 6 months, now at the ripe old age of nearly 60 years old woman alone I find myself planning on travelling threw South East Asia and beyond for a year or more, thanks for all the great info. It is so exciting to be doing this again, if it was not for my daugther here in UK, I would stay abroad for good, I will be teaching online so that helps with cost, and I always keep £1,000 aside for emergency at home in UK and abroad, you never know what may happen.

Now is the perfect time to start planning a trip, and dreaming about travel when the world reopens. Do you think you’ll do a longer RTW this time? My first one was 11 months, but after that I found the sweet spot was between 6-8 months to maximize the long plane flight over and time exploring on the ground, but still have enough energy and enthusiasm to really enjoy each place. SEA remains one of my favorite places in the world, so I hope you have an incredible time exploring it.

Would u please advise ir suggest 1st time where u went RTW

Wow, absolutely incredible. Thank you for sharing your story, Shannon! Going on a solo-RTW trip has been something I only could dream of, but after reading your posts and other similar posts, i’ve realized this is a realistic goal i can achieve. Super excited to begin planning my South America trip! Let the saving begin!

I am so glad to hear that this resonated! You can absolutely make a RTW trip happen when you’re motivated and able to save. Best of luck and let me know if there ever anything I can do to help once you start planning! :)

Marvelous work!. The blog is brilliantly written and provides all necessary information I really like this awesome post. Thanks for sharing this useful post.  I really enjoyed reading this blog. I like and appreciate your work. Keep up the good work.

Hey Shannon,

I love the blog! I definitely agree with seeing less countries in your first trip and staying longer is a huge one that can save you money. We just did Croatia in a month and tried to see the whole country. We wouldn’t say it was a mistake but definitely realized it’s maybe seeing less places but getting more out of each place!

Love the blog and enjoy your 10th year of being on the road!

Thanks Dom and Jo! So glad you guys also found it true that staying longer in one place can really help your budget’s bottom line! And to be fair to you though, a month is still a lot longer than many people spend exploring Croatia, so I am sure you have some incredible experiences under your belt from being there even that long. Happy travels. :)

These are great travel tips! Whenever we travel, I always make sure that we stick with our budget and one of the best things I’ve learned is not to be so touristy. We try local and live like local. I love these tips. Thank you so much for sharing.

Thank you for this! I’m planning a year-long RTW trip with my husband and two daughters, who will be 9 and 10 when we depart. I know it’ll be life-changing! We’re skipping W. Europe to keep things inexpensive and to see places the children may not easily get to later in life. I’m wondering if, in your research, you came across information or calculated yourself how traveling as a family changes the math? Multiplying your number by four, even when looking at your specific country worksheets, doesn’t seem quite right, so any tips? Your total equals $219/day for a family of four for a year, and I’m not sure how much to reduce that by due to economies of family travel. I saw your Further Research section and will dig deeper there. I appreciate your thoughts, and again, thank you for giving me such a fabulous starting place. So grateful for the details and transparency!

Hi Stephanie! Thanks for you message, that’s a really great question and it doesn’t have an easy answer. It’s definitely not going to be multiplied by 4, because in many cases your accommodation will be doubly more expensive—that’s probably what I would anticipate. Not sure how keen your kids are to share a bed, but in some cases if you are getting places with two double beds, or even just two rooms, it’s likely double the cost. That will fluctuate depending on where you are. Airbnbs are a great idea, but depending on where you are you’ll likely be in guesthouses in rural Loas for example, not renting apartments, and that will average out the perhaps more than double you might pay for a nice 2br Airbnb in Bangkok, for example. But with things like pull out beds/couches in Airbnbs, and that you’ll be saving on breakfast costs when you’re using them, I think double’s a safe bet there.

Lots of places offer a discount for children on public transport (although when my niece was 11 she was much taller and more developed than the similarly Asian children so they gave me a hard time on the kids discount), and things like a taxi would cost the same were it just you and your hubby, or your kids too, so that’s not going to be times four for overland transport. Flights though, of course, are times four!

Big name activities again may offer a kids discount, but it’s not going to be much in the grand scheme—they may get discounts or into a few museums free, but for tours and such it’ll be times four.

Those are some thoughts off the top of my head! Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help as you start planning! :)

That’s amazing information!! With my wife we are planning to travel from January for over a year, we are a little bit concerned about the budget, we think we can together up to $45K AUD not sure if that will be enough. We are planning to use the site TrustedHousesitters as much as possible to save cost of Accomodation and the plan is to start in South Asia, moving to Europe and finally South America but I’m not sure if the money will be enough. Thank you for all the tips and reccomendations, would be possible to see Scott’s link as well? I’m quite interests to see his expenses around 4 different continents. Thanks in advance

Hi Camilo! Congrats on the upcoming trip, January will be here before you know it, and I definitely think that your planned trip is doable on 45K, but you’ll want to play with the amount of time you spend in each region. Longer time spent in Europe will eat into your budget, so make sure you play with your dailies and length of time in places like SEA, so you don’t run out too quickly in the middle in Europe!

Thank you Shannon for the quick replying. We are planning to spend at least 6 months in SEA and squeeze de budget to the maximum to have enough for 3 months in Europe, I know that will be the most expensive part of the trip. Shannon, any recommendations on insurance?

Yes, that’s an important topic and I have a whole post about it here: https://alittleadrift.com/backpacker-travel-insurance-world-nomads/ It gets into when I use World Nomads, and when I’ve gone with IMG since I’ve used them both over the past eleven years!

My wife and I spent $33k for 12 months and kept a very detailed budget. We traveled in 4 continents and through 30+ countries. We have a detailed budget overview and I also built an excel tool that lets you track your own budget.

That’s a great budget. Your spreadsheet looks a lot like my own spreadsheet—including the former color scheme , layout of the final stats page, and more——but all without any attribution or acknowledgement of modification, so I’ve deleted the links to it here. If you’re keen to link to my post and share where you got the inspiration for your own spreadsheet, I am happy to add the links so others can view your trip totals. Glad you had a good trip, but attribution would have been appreciated since it’s evident you know how much work went into it.

Hi Shannon,

Thank you for sharing this information with all. I am quite impress with your traveling costs and need some advise. I am planning a trip to Eastern Europe and Africa, places like: Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Tunisia, Egypt and more. The current plan is for one year and maybe around 12 countries. Part of the plan is to move from one country to another using ground transportation, sleeping in hostels, buying food at the grocery store, and some activities could include hiking and maybe cooking classes. How much money do you think I need?

Hi Chicho, that’s a good question so I would recommend that you figure out your anticipated fixed costs like flights and visas and travel gear and insurance, and then estimate the daily costs in each of your planned countries. Once you research daily travel costs by country, it will actually help you decide where you should spend more time and less (some countries can cost more than you anticipate, while others might be far more affordable). Play with the numbers and days you’ll spend in each place, then you’ll have a good estimation of how much you’ll need to save!

Thank you for your valuable information! I will do more digging, my budget is not limited and time is open. I have this strong desire to travel because when I was 8 to 9 yrs old I traveled to Iceland, and Europe, visited 7 countries and lived in Spain on the beach in house we rented. Also lived in England and Germany. I long now to travel more then before because finally I can afford to do it. I am 66 and in excellent health. But I know there is no time to waist. Wait advice in planning can you offer? I do not want to waist money. But I want to maximize my enjoyment. I know I want to return to Spain. And my Spanish is now 95% or higher. I might consider renting houses as I travel. Maybe buying? Can you offer me your wisdom tailored to my situation. I am blessed that my dreams are coming into port. And my last days of life I want to broaden even more my appreciation of what I have. Thank you for your answer, ahead I await your attention. Jerry

Hi Gerald! Thanks for reaching out, it sounds like you have a great adventure on the horizon. For planning, I really recommend that you first pick a date and timeline for setting out and leaving—your planning will contract or expand to fit whatever time you give yourself. Then it becomes a question of getting the other things in order—health insurance on the road, your route, etc—all of that is harder than actually buying the ticket and making your dream a concrete reality on the horizon. And to that end, I think you should travel some to Spain, as well as any other places that call to you. It’s definitely easy to rent places for a few months, and that will allow you to start seeing the world and also learning what you want in a new homebase. Spain is a very different place, so come check it out before buying—it sounds like you are ready for a bit more freedom than a house would allow. If you decide on Europe, the long-term/retirement visa will take a bit of time (3 to 6 months or more), but can easily be done when/if you decide you want to settle there. :)

Gerald, I’ve been traveling for the past 3 years as a solo 70-year-old. I sold my house and have never looked back. Considering you are fluent in Spanish, you might think of doing a trip to those countries to our south. I just returned from a 5-month trip through Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama. During those 5 months, I could count on two hands, the number of Americans I met along the way. For some reason, most Americans don’t think of traveling to South America. I speak very little Spanish but thoroughly enjoyed my trip with no problems. It would probably be much easier and more enjoyable for you. All three countries were very interesting and very safe. I never once felt for my safety. Speaking of budgeting, I spent approximately $2,100 per month, which included 13 separate flights. Also, I did look to see what a furnished apartment would cost while in Boquete Panama: $600 bucks will get you a very nice place in the cool tropical highlands.

What an amazing informative article about traveling and budget! Thank you!

It’s a great article. It has everything you need to travel around the if you the budgeted capital. It has a very detailed content including some images and links too. Thank you for posting this article. Happy posting.

It’s a great article, finally some honest data. But girl, please… I don’t want to be that person. But Amsterdam is not a country! It’s a city in the Netherlands. It’s such a shame that tourists think Amsterdam is a country own. There’s so much more to the Netherlands than just Amsterdam.

Hah, you are not the first to point that out, but I’m still going to leave it just like that. The Netherlands is the only country where I visited just one city, so I think it’s disingenuous to say it’s the budget for traveling the Netherlands when I only visited what is likely the most expensive place in the country. And then on the visuals side, it’s just too long to write Netherlands (Amsterdam)—it didn’t fit. So alas, I made a choice that I know frustrates the die-hard geography buffs. Happy travels :)

Good stuff to know. Thank you. Any chance you, or someone you know, has written a book on surviving in countries where you don’t speak the language? I would like to go to China or Brazil but I only know English.

Good question David! And one I know many travelers face. English is the best language to have in a foreign country, because it’s usually the default language of tourism. But, a big exception to that is China, where a large internal tourism industry makes it harder than some places to visit without any language. But there are work-arounds. I traveled through China using an app on my phone to help communicate, and I had essential phrases written down by a local (I am vegetarian, so I always had that on paper.

As for books, one you are absolutely going to want is a wordless, pointing book. This one and this one are good: https://amzn.to/2QqhO9J and https://www.amazon.com/Point-Travellers-Language-Original-Dictionary/dp/3980880273/ – One of these will get you a long ways in both of your planned travel locations (and are better than an app because they will never run out of battery).

Then, download the Google Translate app, which allows you to point your phone camera at text (on a menu or bus station sign) and it will translate the text into English. You can easily buy a SIM card when you arrive and pop it into an unlocked smartphone.

You could also hire a local guide. Even if you don’t use a tour/guide for the entire time, planning an English-language tour (everywhere will have these) will help you acclimate in the first few days. Urban Adventures offers great day tours, as does Context travel and some others. :)

Hope that helps!

Thank you for sharing these travel tips—some I have never read elsewhere. I love traveling too, and I am planning my budget now to figure out how I can travel the world.

Hi my daring thank you so much for your lovely article I read it word from word. I have never done a Euro trip and I was born in Aus. My partner is Serbian born in Croatia and he has a house in Knin (somewhere in the country). We want to go traveling around Europe for 1 year with 30,000 between us. He has a house in Croatia so will save money there. We want to rent a nice car and go around in style on a budget to all countries but the roads are not safe. What is your suggestion and how expensive is the flights between each country?

Hi Jen, thanks for stopping by, sounds like you have an incredible adventure you’re planning. Your budget will surely work, especially if you plan wisely how you spend that 30K (not sure if you are talking Euro or US, but both would work, though certainly more leeway if you are talking Euro). Most of the roads in Western Europe are quite safe to drive, and with the open EU borders it’s a great way to get around. Your budget will allow for $82 a day for the both of you. Although that is on the low side of a budget many would recommend, because you are traveling for longer you can aim for that as an average expense. So in Switzerland your rate will be far higher, but you can easily spend under that daily average in Portugal and Spain. So by watching where you visit and perhaps even doing a vacation rental somewhere for a month or two, you could really maximize your budget and experience a ton. If you are flying (I am really unsure why you said the roads are unsafe?), flights are very cheap… you can do a search on Skyscanner but if booked in advance flights in Europe can be as low as $20-$50 to hop between cities, with a max price usually of 150 one way, and I’ve only paid that when I am booking within a week or two of flying. There are also great train passes and such, which are affordable if you book ahead as well. Hope that helps! :)

absolutely great read! What do you reckon, would 50,000 USD be a good budget for 2ppl for a year around the world? No europe countries Mostly South Asia, souh America and some African & Middle estern Countries thrown in for good measure. We have friends in Aus so we would stay with them for two weeks or so… Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

That’s a pretty good budget in general, especially since it doesn’t include Europe! It’s enough in general, but also depends on how you consider your travel style and the speed once you are on the road. Transport and moving quickly ramps up costs, but if you are taking a slow pace as you go, $50K is definitely in the range of budget+, with some mid-range splurges on accommodation when you are in affordable places like South Asia and such. Africa and the Middle East might not be as cheap as you first think, so do some research on a per-country basis when you start planning your route! :)

In little over a month I will begin my last High school year, and I was thinking about doing a gap year before university and travel across southeast Asia. Which and how many countries would you recommend me visiting?

Hi Emma! What a wonderful opportunity you have ahead of you. With a gap year to fill, your best bet is to head out on the road with a rough idea of how you will start, but then leave the rest up to chance. You will meet so many people on the road as you travel, and within weeks and months you’ll have new friends you may want to join, or you may find a place you love so much you want to stay for a while longer. I have a few resources on the site for planning a route and what to consider. Head here: https://alittleadrift.com/rtw-travel/#planning – for advice on what sort of things you should consider when picking a route. And then this page lists out my own route: https://alittleadrift.com/rtw-travel/round-the-world-travel-route/

I hope that helps! SEA is a wonderful place to start travel—it’s a forgiving place for new travelers and there are heaps of other backpackers and traveling culture to help you get your feet under you. It’s also safe, the foods amazing, and the culture is incredible.

Shannon- Just wanted you to know that you have been an inspiration for me and thanks for sharing all your knowledge with us – it is invaluable! That said, I recently put in my notice at my job and leave May 10th for a year around the world ( which I hope to be able to extend longer :) ) I am so excited! Planning question for you- how far in advance did you plan ? I am in this limbo between not wanting to over plan and would like to keep some spontaneity in my travels but also want to make sure i have safe accommodation as a single girl traveling alone. Another added caveat for me is that I will be traveling with my pup so I have that added concern as the places I stay and the airlines I fly on must accept pets. Thanks in advance!

Thank you so much Steph, it makes my day to know my site has been helpful and inspiring as you plan your travels. I also know how tricky it is to find a balance in the planning. Your situation is trickier than many with the dog going alongside, as there will be some other hurdles depending on the country requirements. I know sometimes places require a standard microchipping, and then proof of entering from a rabies-free country, or things of that nature. I am thinking that you are going a bit slower and sticking to a few regions? Friends have been forced to kennel/quarantine their dogs for up to two weeks when entering some places, so it’s that type of information that you would really need to know far ahead of time. So the balance of over-planning would perhaps be that you extensively research pet requirements for each place on your route. Then, my advice for the rest is that you plan a place to stay your first week, making sure it’s pet friendly, and then figure out the rest as you go. I knew a rough route for my RTW trip, but past that, the actual nitty gritty details of what to see, it’s so much easier to plan those things as you travel. It not only makes it much less stressful in these last months before you leave, but it’s just easier and a lot more fun to ask locals and take advice on the ground. I hope that helps! I am sure you’ve found it, but there is a research portal with information for most countries ( http://www.pettravel.com/passportnew.cfm ) and that should help! Please report back on how it all goes! :)

$3,130.77 for a year of nomad lodging? I’m sure you ‘couch surfed’ a few times and stayed with lots of ‘friends’. ;)

Yes, I definitely did couch-surf some and I had a house-sitting gig in Amsterdam. I also paid for a volunteering program for a month, and the fee included housing (but in the calculations it’s in a different category). But I also chose places where my money went further. My cousin and I spent six weeks in India, where we were splitting the cost of a $12 private room each night. Same in Southeast Asia — I would often share with another backpacker and we could sleep for less than $10 each. When you figure I spent half my time in more affordable countries, it makes a bit more sense!

Hi Shannon, I love the spread sheet and have downloaded a copy for our own RTW trip which starts in 6 weeks! I just wanted to find out how to add more tabs across the bottom without losing the formulas? thank you!

Six weeks! That’s so soon! You can actually right-click the tabs at the bottom and click “Duplicate” – that will add one! Then, depending on how many you add, you will have to adjust the front page that auto-calculates. That’s a bit trickier, so if you add all the countries you need and share your Google Document with me then I can help you make sure it’s calculating correctly!

thank you Shannon :-) yes it’s coming round really quickly! So I’m not great with this technology stuff haha, I’ve added all the countries I need, how do I send this via Google? it’s just saved to my documents at the moment :-)

You can send me an email at [email protected] and attach it there! I will take a look! :)

Laura- I am heading out on an around the world just about the same time as you! I leave May 10th. How about you? Where are you headed?

I cannot tell you how incredibly lucky I feel I am to have found your website! The information you share with all of us is invaluable. I have read all that you have shared on all of the topics you have discussed in this post! I admire you so much! I will be travelling later this year and will want to talk to you.

Thank you Marg! I am so glad that you found it useful! So wonderful that you are traveling soon — don’t hesitate to let me know if I can help with anything. :)

I’ve edited a list resources for finding seasonal jobs – these have helped me get nearly every seasonal job I’ve had. Most of the jobs provide housing which is deducted from your wage. So you don’t need to worry about finding your own place to live, and food is often included as well. If you’re willing to work while you travel, it’s a really excellent way to see the world on a small budget.

http://jacquelineboss.com/2017/12/15/work-in-beautiful-locations-close-to-nature-resources-for-seasonal-jobs/

That’s a great article indeed! A really wise thing to do before going for a trip somewhere is to think over everything twice. Once bitten twice shy, you know. So, think over all the problems you might face up with. Make sure the accommodation you chose for your stay corresponds its actual price. Get in touch with the owner beforehand. Thank you again for this post. I wish next year everyone has a chance to have their own dream trips.

Great article!

After deciding that it was time and purchasing a really inexpensive one-way flight from FLL to Auckland, I have been reading and researching on what my next step should be. I think I have a plan (sort of, maybe, I don’t know AHHH), but would you be able to direct me to articles, boards or anything on what type of meet up opprutunities are out there. I am a 31 year old female and am doing this adventure solo. I don’t mind being solo, but I think it would be great to meet up with people who are also traveling for more then a vacation.

Hi Stephanie, congrats on the decision to just set out and travel! I know that can be such a scary leap. I can definitely help you find ways to meet other solo travelers, although you will definitely and absolutely meet them along the way as well. Especially if you are staying at low-cost and budget accommodation (like hostels) — it’s nearly impossible not to make new friends if you want to find people heading out on day trips and what not. For boards, there are some great FB groups where you could share your route and ask if others are looking to meet up along the way: – https://www.facebook.com/groups/thesolofemaletravelernetwork/ – https://www.facebook.com/groups/solowomen/ – ww.facebook.com/groups/solowomentraveltribe/

Then there are forums and such. Nomadic Matt has a “travel companions” tread in his forums: http://forums.nomadicmatt.com/forum/39-travel-companions/ As does Lonely Planet Thorntree: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/categories/sell-swap-meet-up

I hope that helps get you started! :)

Hi Stephanie!

I am also going to do this around the world solo too! and I am 31 this year as well. I am thinking if I dont do now, when would I have the chance to do it? ;p

Is this a book? :D If not, pls make it one!!

Found it, never mind. :D :D xxx

So glad you found it! Don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions as you read it. :)

Thank you very much for sharing!!!

I bet you had an amazing experience on that budget as well. It’s so doable at every level. Some people assume it’s hugely expensive, while others assume you have to stay at hostels. Looks like you guys had a wonderful trip without sacrificing comfort!

great and inspirational story and in fact it also provide the best and in depth knowledge about the Cost per day on different countries. Thanks and God bless you :)

So glad you found it helpful!

Hi Shannon, Thank you so much for all the time dedicated to your passion and thank you so much for sharing all of that with us. I will make a big use of your Google template, with my partner we plan to leave our lives here and start our passionate and adventurous journey to the unknown. I like the fact that you are ultra precise on everything, I keep your website as a reference. We have started a website and I will write blogs and articles on our journey, I will not forget to mention and link your pages; it’s just the beginning so if you have other advice and experience with blogging, digital marketing, …. I’ll be happy to take it on board.

Thanks again Shannon for everything, enjoy the ride! Marlene

I am so happy to hear that you plan to use the Google template! It’s still so handy on my own travels. As for the blog, it should be a passion project for you, something you love to build even if you never make money, and it should provide value that you can’t find elsewhere. Either a truly unique perspective on it all, information others aren’t sharing, or a niche that hasn’t yet been done. Find a voice and a story to tell and others will read. I wish you all the best luck! :)

Ma’am. I love all the detail you went into about saving for a RTW trip – something I’ve always wanted to do and am currently in the process of saving up for. I do have a question though (and I apologize for the ignorance – i just can’t seem to get an actual answer for anything). What are the visa requirements for just going on holiday to a different country? Will I be required to get a visa for every country I plan on visiting on this trip? I saw that you got an Indian visa, but no others were listed that I saw. Does it matter how long your there as to where or not you need a visa?

Wow… this has opened up my mind to what is possible… so really I just need to save the initial flights and a bit of a buffer for a month or so… and if I can get money by working online or something… I can then just continue to live in south east Asia or something for far less than where I live now (Australia). Just one question… how do you get the accommodation cheap? Like do you need to rent a place and sign a lease? Doesn’t it cost a lot more to live in a hotels for such a long time? or am I just use to Australian prices…?

So glad that it opened your mind to some more possibilities out there! As for rents, these are much different than the hotels you are thinking about, although even hotels are significantly cheaper than Australian hotel rates. Right now I am on a renting a bungalow for a week on the beaches of southern vietnam, 100 meters from the ocean, for $15 USD per night. Some monthly rents in Hanoi, Chiang Mai, and other places are in the $150-400 range per month. You’ll definitely want to have a read of these two cost of living posts I wrote for Thailand and Mexico: https://alittleadrift.com/cost-of-living-mexico/ and https://alittleadrift.com/living-costs-chiang-mai-thailand/

Wow, thank you so much. I’ll definitely check out these posts!

Hi Shannon! I plan to go on the road next April 2018, so I have one year and a half to save up money. I believe I can save up to 7000 euros (being pessimistic, because I think I could earn more) and I would like to travel for 3 to 6 months. I live in Europe, so I think I wouldn’t travel, and I have 3 plans, so to say: 1) A tour including Letonia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Rumania, Eslovenia, Viena. 2) A tour in Canada 3) A tour in Asia (I’d like to visit China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodja and Korea). How much do you think I should save to do so? Which tour do you think it’s the most-doable one?

Good question! All of your trip ideas sound incredible. For that €7,000, you will get the most for your money if you stay out of the Western countries. Your money won’t go as far in Canada, but even more than that, Canada is a trip that you may find yourself taking later in life when you have more money, kids, etc. It’s an easy destination to visit. You should look at picking a spot that really excites you and that also matches the adventurous spirit you have right now. My bet is on Southeast Asia since it’s very affordable and also a good spot for a first-time traveler since it’s very safe. Since you live in Europe, it’s dead simple for you to plan another trip in the future for the Baltics and Eastern Europe. I am going to send you a private email with some more thoughts! :)

I’ve heard some people travel for a year in the same continent for under $10,000 USD, South America, Central America, SEA… I hope I get my chance soon!

That is absolutely within the realm of possible if you are limiting the number of flights that you take. Flights are usually the biggest expense, with accommodation next. So if you can limit the flights, and then pick regions of of the world with affordable accommodation (definitely SEA and Central America… South America can be pricier in areas and in the activities). Best of luck plotting and planning those travels!

I just randomly came across this because as you mentioned, you get addicted to long-term travel…lol. I was trying to get some ideas for my 10k I’ll have saved up this year. But, wow! Seriously, 10k RTW is possible, I’m surprised that 5 yrs ago you didn’t think that. I spent 8k last year and went to 25 countries in Europe, Asia (South, Southeast, Central, and East/North), Middle East and Oceania. This year I’d probably concentrate on South America where I’ve not been yet, which should be even cheaper. I did things like a private 12 day tour in Mongolia, spent a month in Japan (usually expensive) etc. It’s definitely possible. I have friends who did this on even less, they hitchhiked and couch surfed most of the time (I only did this a couple times though I did get some accommodation/food free from some volunteer things I did. On the other hand I also stayed in 4-5 star hotels sometimes too.)

Hey Shannon, My name is Claire and I’m currently a junior in high school from Seattle, WA. I’ve have plans to take a gap year or two after graduation to travel throughout Europe. I would like to land in Barcelona, and take the Eurail throughout most of the other countries(Germany, Sweden, England, Czech Republic, Italy, Greece, etc.) I’m aware of the Eurail system, so I will plan on buying a pass. I’m also aware that staying in hostels is probably the cheapest/easiest way to go. The problem is, it’s a very vague plan and I am not very familiar with coordinating plane trips, train rides, hostel stays, etc (Since this is will be my first solo traveling experience). Do you have any suggestions on how to make money while I’m traveling, the steps to take before I go, how to find affordable places to sleep at night (that are close by the Eurail stations), and advice you wish you knew before you started traveling? From your experience, do you think $30,000 is enough to travel with for a year(assuming I also make money along the way)? Thank you so much for your time, Claire.

Hi Claire, thanks for writing. I absolutely think that your gap year is doable and that you can certainly save the funds for that. An entire year in Europe would be hard because of the visa situation, and because it would be very pricey. You can backpack Europe for 90 days on a tourist visa, then you have to leave for 90 days. So with that in mind, you’ll be looking at other places you could work and travel. Have you thought about getting a work visa to a place like Australia? They are fairly easy to obtain straight out of school and many Europeans go there and work (picking fruit or waiting tables) and travel and save the funds that way to continue traveling. There should be good information about that online. I have a work and travel page here if you are keen to find a way to work online: https://alittleadrift.com/how-to-work-and-travel-rtw/

As for planning it all out, that’s the least of your worries. The planning part is more straightforward once you are on the road, but finding ways to work and save now is, perhaps, the most important part of your plan. That work and travel page should give you some ideas. I have a ton of planning resources on the site ( https://alittleadrift.com/rtw-travel/ ), and the working page lists out a lot of other job boards and ideas, from teaching English to finding an online skill. Best of luck! You’ve totally got this. If you dream of travel, then you can make it a reality with focus and determination to save the funds and work toward that goal.

Im guessing this was a while back and prices of things have gone up quite a lot since then. I keep coming back to this page like I did for past 2 or 3 years..keeps me motivated when i’m gonna start mine…Thank You

Hi Mohammad! Suprisingly, it’s still possible to do a RTW trip for that same cost. Somethings have certainly gone up, but others have gone down. So it’s gotten significantly cheaper to travel in Australia, and I would save several hundred dollars a month if I was backpacking there now compared to being there in 2008 with the Aussie dollar was a much stronger global currency. Gas is also cheaper, meaning flights have gone down. So the cost of food in Thailand is about 50 cents more a meal, but that has been counteracted by other changes too. Take a look at this woman, she spent the same figure for a RTW in 2015 .

Good article, Thanks!

I love your honesty! This is going to help so many travellers. I can’t say I kept my totals to the penny, though, but maybe to the nearest pound.

To the nearest pound is still pretty fantastic. So many people dream of a trip and are surprised when they see the real costs broken down for them.

My business partners required DS-82 several days ago and used a website with lots of sample forms . If people require DS-82 too , here’s https://goo.gl/LqB8da .

Hi Shannon, I’m just starting grade nine, but I have a passion for travel and I’d love to do a solo RTW yearlong trip after going to university. My dream would be to leave right after finishing all my schooling, but I’m not sure if I’ll have enough of a travel fund by then. I’m very roughly planning on 2 months in Central and South America, 2 months in Africa, 4-5 months in the southeastern half of Asia (all the way from India to Thailand and up to China), 1 month in Australia/New Zealand, and 2-3 months in Europe. I’d be departing from and returning to Canada. I’d probably stay in hostels and guest houses most of the time, maybe couch surf in more expensive regions. I’m definitely considering working online while on the road, but I’d like a minimum of $15k before I go. Do you think it’s possible to save $15-20k in 4 years of high school plus 4 years of university? Or would you recommend finding a full time job for a couple years before the trip? Thanks, Kathryn

Hi Kathryn, it is so nice to receive your comment! I have no doubt that you can make it happen with that much time and since you are clearly planning now. Since I doubt you can formally work, I suggest you save a portion of your babysitting money or any work you can do in the summers — enjoy some of it but get a savings account and set aside a portion. Then, once you can work, if you spend your summers really working hard, then you can easily reach the 20K in the next eight years. It’s even easier if you have help by living with your parents or family in the summer, then you are saving costs on accommodation while you work between college years. I know that the summer after I graduated high school, I had a job waiting tables and I managed to save nearly all of that money ($4K). I used it to buy a car, but if you put even a portion away each summer, you will surely reach your goals. I encourage you to talk to your parents now, ask for their help in getting a savings account set up, and ask for them to help you prioritize your savings. It can be easy to spend money on the little things, especially with so many activities in high school that require expenses, so with their help you can perhaps really focus on saving a healthy portion of anything you earn. I definitely think you can make it happen with savings ready for when you graduate! Keep me posted, and don’t hesitate to email me if I can ever help as you are saving and dreaming and planning. :)

Thanks for the advice! I’ll definitely consult my parents to set up a savings account for travel, and although you’re right that I can’t apply for a traditional job yet, I have a semi regular pay cleaning my grandparents house for them. Not too many babysitting jobs, since I live outside of a small town, but there are a few. I’m planning to apply for a part time job as soon as I can. Thanks so much for the positivity and support, and I’ll make sure to keep you posted! :D

Hey Shannon, so after looking at lots of RTW travel blogs and seeing how much Europe can raise the cost, and realizing just how much time I want to spend there, I think I might save that continent for a trip of its own farther down the road. The time I would’ve spent there will be spread throughout the other parts of the trip. How significantly would skipping Europe lower the total cost? Do you think $15k USD would be enough for the whole trip?

I think that is a great figure and plan. Europe will be there and surely you will make it back there in the future. 15K will go a long way toward backpacking all over. I am going to send you an email in a few days to something that I wrote — I think it will help you better play with the figures and potential budget!

Alright, thank you so much for your help! I’ll be patiently waiting. ????

Hi! Im just starting 10th grade, and i also dream of traveling the world!….just like you Im going to try solo backpacking. Maybe ill try for a year or two Im not sure right now…and since im homeschooled i have time have a job so i can save up money to go. Im trying to go as soon as I turn 18 and school finishes which is roughly in another 2 years… Im trying to save up at least $30-40k in the next two years and even though it sounds like a long shot I truly believe its possible. Im going to Greece and Italy next year as part of my school trip and so ill get to see what it would be like to travel alone. I have this huge map on my wall and Im trying to plan out where in the world i want to go. Making a travel route of sorts. Pinterest helps alot! I was thinking of renting an apartment (cheap) so I can just travel through out Europe and always have somewhere to come back too… Do you think its a good idea? i dunno… I have some money put away so I don’t necessarily have to save up but it would be great to challenge myself and get some experience in working. I want to work and travel in bars, restaurants, cafes, teaching etc… would i need a special visa for that or something? Do think i should go to college first? All in all my end game is to find a place in the world i truly love and live there forever! After that ill go to university and get a degree in nursing!

Thanks for writing! So sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I love that you are heading out on a solo trip. It’s wonderful that you are able to work now and save up the funds. As far as getting an apartment, that can definitely help save on costs in some parts of the world, but there are other considerations about getting a visa and such. In Europe, you can’t stay for longer than 90 days. Plus, it’s pretty pricey. Perhaps look into budget backpacking through Europe — you will meet a lot of others at the hostel. Then you could rent a place in Thailand, Mexico, or somewhere very budget that has a lot to explore.

And yes, working is a whole other thing. There are times that you can find under-the-table work waiting tables or you can often work in a hostel and earn your bed (this is very common). It’s best to save up the majority of the funds that you will need, and not count on finding work. That said, look at the work-visa for Australia — it’s very popular and you qualify for that one-year visa until you’re in your late 30s. This is hugely popular and lots of backpackers work the farms picking fruit and waiting tables in Oz, and then backpacking this region ( https://www.gooverseas.com/blog/americans-guide-working-holiday-visas ).

Lastly, it’s a tough call on going to college. I am very glad that I had my degree when I left long-term, it has allowed me to earn more money and stay on the road longer because I have a degree. It really depends on your situation. You could always backpack in huge chunks every summer throughout college and then go on a longer one- or two-year adventure. There is no wrong decision, and it comes down to your goals. There are travel nursing programs that could be an incredible fit for you, I recommend that you google these organizations that send nurses for several months to spots all over the world. I’ve met a few on the road and they seem like they have found a good dynamic to work-life-travel. (My friend Candy has a great blog about it: http://www.thegypsynurse.com ). Best of luck! Keep me posted if I can help with anything. :)

Hi I am chandan planning for a backpacker trip of 20 days in may/June 2017 please help which countries should I visit. I am planning to visit whole world on continent basis say one continent or two in a year. Would like to start with Europe. Since I am from India will need help on 1. Which country to start and end. Visa requirements.trip cost with minimum air travel. I like to feel the place I visit. And best places to stay.

Hi Chandan! So exciting that you have a good trip coming up. Europe is wonderful and will make for a fun way to start your years of exploring. As for starting and ending points, hub cities are the best. I recommend that you use Skyscanner to look for open-ended routes from the airport you will leave from and then you can just type in “europe.” This will allow you to find good rates into cities you might not have considered that have easy routes to and from India. Then look into Eurorail passes, the Global pass may be the best bet for the maximum way to move around and explore a lot of the countries on offer. Best of luck! It’s such a culturally rich area of the world to be exploring. :)

Hi just update me on the best and cheapest season. Which countries have good landscapes. I love them. Considering 20 days trip which countries do u think I should opt. BTW thanks for immediate reply and such an informative post.

I think you should look up the weather information for the countries you’d like to visit and you can chart a course through them in the right time of year for your ideal climate. There are warm parts of Europe even in the winter, or you could go north and ski. Up to you and will depend on what you are looking for! That type of information is not something I specialize in, but once you are planning the trip, I have a lot of gear resources and the such here: https://alittleadrift.com/rtw-travel/

Best of luck!

Thanks again..things are more clear now

Hey Shannon, your story was amazing and inspired me to travel for about 3 months… Would $12,000 suffice? ????

Hi Amanda! $12K is a good sum! It will surely get you three months of travel at almost any travel style too. Even if you have a mid-range budget, that will last more than three months in developing countries. If you are backpacking Europe, then it’s a good sum to really enjoy and have tasty food and nice lodging the entire time. :)

Thank you so much! I also started following you on FB, your page is amazing!! ????????. Also I was wondering how far $12K would take me in SEAsia (Time Wise)? ????

Well, if you are willing to travel as a budget traveler, then you could backpack around Southeast Asia for about $1,200. That is staying a low-cost guesthouses or hostels, and going with the backpacker vibe. If you decide to stop in one spot for a month or two, it can be much cheaper. You can temporarily “live” in Chiang Mai or Bangkok for as little as $600-$800 for a month. If you plan to stay in nicer places, it will just cost a bit more each month. The $1,200 is a guestimate though because it really depends on the countries you choose. Vietnam is very, very cheap to backpack, and you will spend less than that for a month backpacking there, but Myanmar can be pricier. I think $1,200 is a good backpacker average estimate if you are in SEA for 8 months or so. :)

Hi! Happy to see that your still responding on this blog post. I plan to pick up my things and just go very shortly. I currently travel on short trips every month in the US but I still crave more. There is just something about meeting new people, experiencing new things and just seeing the world that draws me in. I really think just finally deciding to go and experience such a once in a lifetime opportunity is what my soul needs.

The only problem is I literally have NO idea where to start. I read blog post after blog post but still can’t find a starting point, nor a travel path that will be the most cost efficient. I do have about $20k saved up so thats not the problem its just determining my path that continues to pull me back. Any help on what to do when in this situation?

Also, was wondering if you are still traveling? If so, where about may you be now? Do you expend your trips a bit longer then a month now a days. ?

Thank you for any help, Bianca

Hi Bianca! You have definitely reached the hardest step, which is saving up the funds. In terms of actually traveling and setting out, there are so many various options. There are a few key ideas that can help stretch a travel budget. If you stick to one region of the world, especially affordable areas of the world, then those funds can stretch to 18 months or even longer. You could slowly backpack around Asia for a very long time on a budget like that. Or even start in Central America and then head south until you reach the end of South America. This style of travel allows you to cut down on expensive plane flights, while also exploring neat cultures and countries, and also giving you the flexibility to stop for a few months in a spot if you end up loving it. All of these things would stretch the budget a good deal. I suggest that you start looking at what other travelers have spent in the countries that you are interested in. There are two levels — traveling daily rates accounts for things like touring and getting between cities. But cost of living breakdowns that some digital nomads post ( https://alittleadrift.com/cost-of-living/ ) will give you a good idea of what it will cost to go very slowly. I will send you an email with a few more ideas. As for me, I am currently in England, I was in Spain house sitting for two months, and now I am going to head to Australia for two months to visit a friend there. I go much slower now than I did on that first RTW trip.

Thanks so much for your quick reply ! I will respond more in email !

Does that 20k (ish) include air fare?

Yes indeed. $3,500 of that is flights. I didn’t book a RTW ticket, I booked as I traveled and it totaled out to just a portion of the total. If i had done fewer long-haul flights jumping continents it would have been lower on the flight expenses.

I used this post while planning my RTW trip! Thank you so much for your advice!

So can you just get a year off work like that or did you just leave your job

I wasn’t able to do either of those. I actually worked my online job while I traveled. I had the nearly fulltime work before I decided to travel, so I worked out a budget and figured out that I could travel on the money I made online. I explain that all a bit more here: https://alittleadrift.com/2012/06/how-to-travel-and-work-abroad/ and this page has some freelance ideas for how to build up an online income, which can help offset the costs of traveling: https://alittleadrift.com/how-to-work-and-travel-rtw/

I am so jealous of you.

Aloha! I read your article a few years ago and I’m re-reading it again. We seem to have inadvertently used your article as a blue print for our careers. Becoming care takers has afforded us with a nice way to travel and submerse ourselves in a local culture. Kudos to this articles longevity and relevance today. BTW – You were way ahead of the AirBnB curve!

Well it makes my day to hear you say that you found it relevant both a few years ago, and now too! And I am so happy to hear that you are traveling and immersing and cultures and on a life path you love. Happy travels! :)

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How much does it cost to travel around the world? We breakdown the budget!

When you go on a round-the-world trip, you must know how much it will cost! We break down our travel budget and tell you everything about saving money to travel!

Last Update: 17/04/2024 0 COMMENT

Now that you’ve decided to leave everything behind and go traveling , let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: how much does a trip around the world cost ? In this chapter, we’ll take a look at how to estimate the budget for a round-the-world trip , based on the main expense factors. We’ll also share with you the details of everything we spent on our long-term trip.

How much does it cost to travel around the world?

Costs before setting off on a round-the-world trip, costs when you’re on a round-the-world trip, costs for your return from your round-the-world trip, how can you save money to travel around the world, jobs that allow you to travel.

You are currently reading the second chapter of our free ebook How to travel the world , in which you will find all the necessary advice and preparations for your trip around the world!

In addition to the version on the blog , there is a PDF version to read it peacefully on your computer, smartphone, or tablet, or to print it 🙂.

That’s probably THE big question we all ask ourselves… It’s pretty hard to give a clear and precise answer… There are probably as many round-the-world budgets as there are travelers !

But if we can’t answer it for you, we’ll show you the price ranges for a round-the-world trip and tell you a little more about our budget, so you can get an idea!

Trips around the world for millionaires

Before we left, I came across an article about a travel agency offering a 1.5 million euro round-the-world trip ! This trip took its lucky owner around the world for 2 years in a very “luxury” version…

In short, as you may have guessed, we are not the purchasers of this charming little trip around the world… At the same time, at the risk of appearing hypocritical to some, I can guarantee you that such a trip would not make us dream.

Around the world on 2 euros a day

Alongside these trips for millionaires in search of thrills and escapism, you’ll also find people on the web who have decided to travel the world on absolutely minimal budgets. A round-the-world trip on foot with 2 euros a day, a round-the-world hitchhiking trip…

As you can see, there’s a world of difference between a luxurious round-the-world trip with a daily budget of a whopping 2054 euros, and a trip around the world on foot with a budget of 2 euros a day!

Backpacking around the world: an economical way to travel

We’ve decided to keep this trip around the world simple, but without sacrificing comfort and a minimum of security. We could define ourselves as little backpackers, and this mode of travel allows us to save a lot of money !

No 4-star hotels and no 1 st -class travel, but we promise we’re not badly off! We opt for youth hostels, camping sites, apartment rentals, couchsurfing and nice little guesthouses, alternating with nights on buses, trains or boats to save a few nights whenever possible.

During a round-the-world trip or any long-term trip, we try to favor local transport as much as possible, while avoiding taking the plane too often. To find out more about local means of transport, you can read our article about transport in China .

Benoit tried to convince me to discover South America by bike but being hopeless on two-wheelers, I kindly declined! In short, we did South America by bus instead! Well, I did spend a week cycling in Taiwan , which wasn’t bad, was it?

When it comes to food , we love to try out all the flavors of the countries we visit ( street food , small authentic restaurants ), but we also love to explore local markets and supermarket shelves to prepare our own little picnics. After more than a year and a half on the road around the world, we can’t say enough about what we’ve enjoyed!

The best way to know how much your round-the-world trip will cost is to break down your expenses by estimating each item as closely as possible. In this section, we look at all the expenses you need to take into account before your big departure .

Travel insurance

For a worry-free trip, it’s important to be well-insured . The range of insurance options is vast, and we’ll devote an entire chapter to it below. To give you an idea of the cost, travel insurance ranges from 300 to 2000 euros a year, depending on the services you require.

So, as you can see, the differences between the budgets of different travelers can already be considerable! For our part, we opted for WorldNomads for 1980 euros per year for 2, or 990 euros per person. But to tell you the truth, if we had to do it all over again, we’d change our travel insurance. Today, we’d opt for TrueTraveller instead, but we’ll let you compare 😉. After this round-the-world trip and other long-term travels, we’ve scoured a good number of insurances and created an ultra-complete guide with a travel insurance comparison .

Vaccine budget

Here too, the financial gap can continue to widen; vaccines are unique to each individual. You’ll come across many travelers who have decided to leave without any vaccinations. Others will be vaccinated against diseases that don’t even exist in the region where they’ll be staying, but have decided to go all out. But we don’t want to get into that debate.

The best thing to do is visit your doctor for advice tailored to your needs. We’ve also prepared a special section on vaccines later in this guide. For our part, the cost was just under 700 euros per person to refresh our essential vaccines and get a few destination-specific vaccines, but that was in Austria. And Austria is not particularly known for its cheap medicine! Expect to pay between 270 and 500 euros for your vaccinations, depending on the hospital… However, for our Swiss friends, we’ll let you guess why we decided to do it in Austria…

Equipment budget for a trip around the world

Clothes, hiking gear and computers

A bit like insurance, there’s something for everyone. You can, for example, choose to equip yourself only with the big trekking and mountain brands , or use your old clothes and complete your wardrobe a little by going to Decathlon or buying online. The equipment cost can be multiplied fivefold depending on which option you choose! On the whole, quality and lightness come at a price… We invite you to read the chapter about backpacking gear for a round-the-world trip , in which we detail exactly what we pack in our backpacks.

The same applies to computer equipment. We decided to leave with our laptops, a camera, an external hard drive, a camera, and so on… So obviously, this adds to the budget of a round-the-world trip if you need to buy the necessities. And don’t forget that it’s in your interest to have your valuable computer equipment insured for a trip like this. The more your equipment is worth, the more it will cost to insure it in case of loss or theft.

Our gear budget

Financially, we spent around 320 euros per person , buying mainly jackets (softshell and fleece), as well as small equipment (padlock, kit, gas burner, protective cover, rucksack, storage, universal adapter, travel crockery, etc.) from Decathlon . We’ve both decided to take our existing electronic equipment (laptop, cellphone and camera) with us, so there’s no need to invest in that before departure.

A piece of advice: buy only the bare essentials ! Your hiking pants giving out? No problem, you’ll probably find the same in South-East Asia. We’ll come back to this in the dedicated article, but you’ll find everything you need along the way, so there’s no need to plan “just in case” 😉.

The transportation cost

The transportation budget is the expense item that is generally greatly underestimated in a round-the-world trip cost. Assuming you’re going by plane (and not by van, boat, bike or on foot), tickets will make up the majority of the transportation expense item. When it comes to plane tickets, there’s an initial choice to be made: round-the-world ticket or individual purchase?

Round-the-world tickets

Round-the-world tickets are very flexible , which is good, but it also means that their price can vary enormously! In fact, it all depends on your desires, but you should know that the price is calculated according to the following points:

• number of kilometers covered;
• number of continents;
• country or even city of departure;
• number of destinations.

To give you an idea, a round-the-world ticket generally costs between 2500 and 5000 euros . Ours cost 3078 euros each for this itinerary: Lyon – Beijing – Canton – Taipei – Hong Kong – Bangkok – Jakarta – Sydney – Santiago – Easter Island – Santiago – Punta Arenas – Bogota – Lyon.

Airline tickets are purchased as you go along

Of course, you can also choose not to purchase a round-the-world ticket and buy your plane tickets as you go along (or buy them all before departure). We explain why we decided not to make this choice in this article .

All in all, I think that round-the-world tickets may make you a little less flexible than individual plane tickets. Still… They’re quite adaptable: we changed almost all our flight dates ! In any case, they’ll save you from tearing your hair out along the way when you want to leave a country or region and can’t find a reasonably-priced flight for the dates you want.

Please note: if, like us, you leave with a round-the-world ticket but decide to extend your trip, you’ll automatically lose your last flight! In fact, round-the-world tickets are not valid for more than 12 months ! We had a return flight from Bogota to Lyon in August 2014, which we didn’t take. So we had to buy another ticket for our return to Europe!

So, round-the-world tickets or tickets as you go? We’ve devoted a chapter of the e-book to choosing your itinerary and plane tickets for a round-the-world trip , so you can make up your own mind. It’s really a question of choice, we simply decided that we wanted to leave with peace of mind, without having to spend our evenings on flight comparison sites looking for the next best deal…

Our pre-departure budget

The visa budget.

Visas are an expense item to think about when planning your round-the-world trip, but they’re not the most expensive, at least not for the countries we visit most often. And as long as you avoid Bhutan (the visa costs 5433 euros for one month! OK, the visa costs 20 dollars plus a fee of 200 dollars per day), you shouldn’t have any nasty surprises! The most expensive visas are to be found in Asia , but they are often quite reasonable. To give you some examples, here are some costs:

Visas in Asia

• China : 126 euros for 30 jours with double entry
• Taiwan : visa exemption for stays of less than 90 days
• Thailand : visa exemption for stays of less than 30 days
• Vietnam : visa exemption for stays of less than 15 days, otherwise 25 $ for 30 days
• Cambodia : 30 euros for a visa on arrival for stays of less than 30 days
• Laos : 40 euros for a visa on arrival for stays under 30 days
• Malaysia : visa exemption for stays under 3 months
• Indonesia : 30 euros for 30 jours

Visas in Oceania

• Australia : visa exemption for stays under 3 months

Visas in South America

• Chile : visa exemption for stays under 3 months
• Argentina : visa exemption for stays under 3 months
• Peru : visa exemption for stays under 3 months
• Bolivia : visa exemption for stays under 90 days
• Colombia : visa exemption for stays under 90 days

Please note that these prices have been updated but may vary. For exact and detailed prices, we recommend you visit the websites of the embassies in question, or the Bureau of Consular Affairs for Americans, the FDFA for Swiss, or the Federal Public Service for Belgians.

There are a considerable number of online agencies that “take care of your visa” for you. We advise against using this system. Handy for business travelers who have no time to waste and who write off their expenses, the bill can quickly become expensive, especially for backpackers! What’s more, it’s often easy to apply for a visa on your own . Always check the official embassy websites first. If the visa has to be applied for in advance, or if you need an e-visa , the procedure will usually be well-detailed.

Local transport

Most of the time, people setting off on a round-the-world trip include their plane tickets in their transport budget , but often forget about local means of transport ! Even if buses, trains and tuk-tuks aren’t very expensive in Asia, you still need to think about budgeting for them. What’s more, in South America and Australia, getting around can quickly add up, especially in countries like Chile, Argentina and Brazil!

What do you think is the average percentage of our expenses devoted to transport (excluding flights)? Well, local transport accounted for 17 % of our expenses , which is not to be overlooked when planning your round-the-world budget! Oh, and one more thing to keep transport costs down during your trip around the world, especially in Asia: ne-go-ciate ! It can be an annoyance after a while but assume that locals always charge tourists more…

Accommodation budget

Accommodation is one of the biggest expenses on a round-the-world trip. Your accommodation budget can vary greatly depending on your comfort requirements. Some decide to sleep under the stars for a budget close to 0 €, while others opt for 4-star hotels. We’re more into youth hostel dormitories and cheap hotels, with a sprinkling of couchsurfing !

If you’ve decided to set off in a spirit of discovery, with expectations of comfort that aren’t too high, but still want to spend nights in safety and, if possible, on more or less clean sheets, then you won’t blow your budget! To budget for accommodation, you can use the figures found in travel planners or refer to our figures. But we’ll come back to this a little later in the article. In fact, your accommodation budget during your round-the-world trip will vary considerably depending on the expensive and affordable countries you’ve chosen to visit and the time you’ve decided to spend there!

As far as hotels are concerned, we tended to arrive in villages and look for small guesthouses on the spot. However, we also sometimes booked in advance when arriving at night, in big cities or during high season. When it comes to booking accommodation, we have several recommendations to make sure you don’t blow your round-the-world trip cost :

• Hostelworld : this is THE reference site for youth hostels! You’ll find beds in dormitories, but also double rooms. Why them? Because they offer so many hostels at the best prices. Being the biggest isn’t an advantage in itself (we don’t even care), but the advantage is that there are lots of reviews of the accommodation!
• Booking : Booking needs no introduction… It remains THE site for booking a guesthouse, hotel room or studio at the best price. We also opt for apartments or small studios when we’re out and about. They’re not necessarily cheaper than hostels, but having a kitchen at your disposal cuts costs.

This article contains affiliate links to partner sites. When you use our links to book accommodation, a car, or an activity, you don’t pay anything extra, but we get a small commission. This helps us to offer you free, independent, and ad-free content. Thank you for your support!

The extras budget

Don’t forget to leave a little margin in your round-the-world budget to treat yourself along the way, or simply to make up for a last-minute glitch. It can always happen, and you’ll be glad to be able to take care of your needs. We kept 2×100 dollars with us at all times, hidden in Fabienne’s bra and a pouch belt. Among the extras, we count:

• hairdressing;
• small treats such as more expensive excursions (diving, climbing a volcano in Bolivia, multi-day treks), a short cruise, postage to send parcels home, etc.
• a night in a slightly more luxurious room from time to time;
• a good restaurant!

In the end, we didn’t really do the extras we’d planned. Well, yes… Of course, we did do a little shopping , but much less than planned, and we rarely splurged on more luxurious hotels.

BUT, we did have a few unplanned expenses ! I bought myself a MacBook Air in Hong Kong to replace my computer, which had given up the ghost. And… following a beautiful proposal on the Great Wall of China , we took the opportunity to have our wedding clothes made in Vietnam and sent back to Switzerland. In short, having a little spare cash means you can treat yourself to a wide variety of things, believe me!

As far as activities are concerned, we took advantage of being in mountainous regions to go trekking , which does add to the price. A word of advice: compare prices online and on-site to avoid paying much more than you should… We recommend you look on Getyourguide or Civitatis . These two sites offer many activities around the world, often at attractive prices.

The hygiene budget

You might not think about it, but depending on the length of your trip (around the world or not), you’ll need to buy the basics of your toiletry kit . Shower gel (or solid soap), shampoo, toothpaste, sun cream, moisturizer, sanitary towels… In short, you’ll need to renew these essentials if you’re going to be on the road for several months. The good news is that you’ll find everything you need on the road, even outside the big cities! Well, it’s clearly not what’s going to explode your total budget, but to put a figure on it, keep in mind the costs of the products you usually buy. In Asia, you’ll probably pay less, but the trend is reversed in Oceania and America.

Internet budget and SIM cards

When traveling, it’s also important to keep in touch with family and friends . Nowadays, with a smartphone, the problem of communication is quickly solved! WhatsApp, Messenger and Signal are the most common applications for sharing your trip with loved ones.

Although wifi is available just about everywhere in tourist areas, you may still need data . Whether it’s to get GPS on your smartphone, book accommodation or take a video call in the wilderness, buying a local SIM card can come in really handy. Prices vary from country to country but expect to pay around ten euros for several gigas of data, equivalent to 1 month’s travel within the country. That’s not much on the total budget of a round-the-world trip, but it’s still worth taking into account.

The budget for bank charges

The question of banks is often a little underestimated in a round-the-world budget. Intuitively, we tell ourselves we’ve got a bank, a credit card and we’re all set. Well, that’s true in theory! But on a long-term trip, the bank card is an area where you can make big savings if you take a little interest. The situation will obviously depend on your country of residence or rather your tax domicile.

To determine the best solution, we compared the main banks by subjecting them to a round-the-world scenario. We compared withdrawal fees, transaction fees, and card fees for a 1-year trip , based on an average of 8 withdrawals and 20 online payments per month.

Before leaving, we had a Raifen account and a Credit Suisse account, respectively. We quickly realized that the costs would be considerable over a year’s travel. So we opted for PostFinance and its Private Plus account. Withdrawals are free and unlimited abroad, and card payment fees are 1.2% for foreign currency transactions. With 2 credit cards (for online payments) and 2 debit cards (for free withdrawals), this comes to 130 CHF per year:

• 110 CHF/year (1 credit card) or 130 CHF/year (2 debit cards) if you have more than 25 000 CHF in your account;
• 194 CHF/year (1 credit card) or 214 CHF/year (2 credit cards) if you have less than 25 000 CHF in your account.

We’re really delighted with our choice of PostFinance ! Our Plus card has enabled us to withdraw absolutely everywhere in the world, and we’ve never needed to make a single withdrawal with a credit card. In fact, we kept this bank after our trip! In 2020, in addition to Postfinance, we opted for a Neon account . It allows us to make card payments free of charge! In short, we think PostFinance and Neon are a perfect combination! We’ve devoted an article to Neon that explains everything 😉.

Traditional banks

Most banks offer their services online and allow you to manage your accounts from a mobile or a customer area. This is a good thing! The catch is that traditional banks often charge high fees for withdrawals… These fees can either take the form of a fixed amount per withdrawal or a percentage of the amount withdrawn . The simplest thing to do is to ask your current bank about the conditions. Once you have these figures, estimate the cost of your trip.

Be aware that, in most countries, withdrawal amounts are limited , so you may have to withdraw regularly. So it’s best to avoid a fixed fee per withdrawal model.

Mobile banks and neobanks

The concept of a mobile bank is that you get a physical card , but then everything happens from your mobile! It is the most practical option when you’re traveling! Before signing up, we advise you to determine your needs by comparing fees.

To do this, take note of the number of withdrawals, the number of payments per card, the transaction volume and the withdrawal or payment limits. Some banks have higher fixed fees, but this reduces the commissions/fees for withdrawals. All in all, it’s well worth comparing according to your needs!

There are several new-generation banks (Wise, Revolut…) but the one most used by travelers is N26. In a nutshell, N26 is:

• N26 : the classic free account. No monthly fees. 5 withdrawals are free, then you pay 2 euros per withdrawal (within the eurozone). Outside the eurozone, the withdrawal fee is 1.7%.
• N26 You : the You option costs 9.90 euros per month and offers the same conditions as the eurozone. Outside the eurozone, however, withdrawals are 100% free, and cardholders also benefit from travel insurance covering medical expenses, among other things.

All in all, if you do the math, the You card is worth it if you withdraw more than 580 euros a month. Which, let’s face it, travels fast 😉! If you’d like to find out more about this neobank, you can read our page dedicated to N26 .

Current fees

It’s important not to overlook any recurring charges you may have at home while you’re away. Whether it’s a car loan , a loan repayment , your taxes , car or household insurance , water and electricity bills , your telephone package…

Check all your contracts carefully and try to limit these costs as much as possible by canceling anything you don’t need in good time. Consider renting or subletting your apartment or house while you’re away so that you don’t have to pay rent or mortgage repayments.

The cost of a round-the-world trip in a nutshell

The cost of our trip around the world.

Here’s our little summary table of everything we spent on this round-the-world trip ! Yes, banking secrecy may be a Swiss thing, but we’ve decided to open our account books to you!

In other words, a round-the-world trip that cost us 35 882 euros for 2 people , including all expenses , for just over 18 months . Seen like that, I’ll grant you that’s a hefty sum! But believe us, we don’t regret spending several years saving up for this trip . Every penny was well worth it! Some people decide to buy a new car at that price, but we preferred a round-the-world trip!

If we break down the daily budget per person, we can see that out of the 32 euros:

• 6.3 euros are dedicated to accommodation (19,7 %);
• 5.4 euros to transportation (16,7 %);
• 11.8 euros to food (36,9 %);
• 4.4 euros to sightseeing (13,9 %);
• 4.1 euros to extras (12,9 %).

If you’re planning to travel a bit like us and would like to use the figures to estimate your round-the-world budget, feel free to drop by the articles linked in the table above. You’ll find much more detail for each destination! We’ve even created a special category on budgets by country !

How much do you need to budget for travel around the world?

As you can see, the subject of a long trip cost is a vast one. An ultra-insured person, vaccinated against everything, in possession of a plane ticket with many destinations and with the latest equipment, will have no problem spending close to 15 000 euros even before departure.

I’m not particularly fond of averages, but you should know that the price of a round-the-world trip like the one we took is usually around 15 000-20 000 euros per person . This depends on the activities/extras you decide to indulge in (diving, trekking, cruises, parachute jumping, quad biking, etc.) and the countries on your itinerary. Once you’ve established your budget, don’t forget to add a 10% safety margin for small extras. This will give you an excellent estimate!

After all, these figures are VERY theoretical. You’ll always find someone who left with 150 euros in their pocket and traveled for 3 years, just as you might hear people tell you that at less than 100 euros a day, travel isn’t fun. In short, take these figures as pure indicators and try to make up your own mind.

After this trip and many others, we’ve listed here 9 tips for saving money when traveling . By paying a little attention to certain points, you can really save money and enjoy your trip for longer!

Another thing to bear in mind is the difficulty of imagining how you’re going to manage your travel budget when it’s your first trip of this kind. Before we took the plunge, accommodation was my biggest fear. I told myself that we were bound to want to go to hotels that were a bit nicer from time to time. Besides, I’d always told myself that I’d never be seen sleeping in anything with bugs everywhere. Well… Once on the road, I quickly changed my mind. I’d much rather forgo a little character to have more budget available for activities or a glass of wine. As long as the place was safe and reasonably clean, I was generally delighted!

For most long-term travelers, this is an expense that usually is overlooked. But it’s essential to set aside a little to tide you over when you return. We were lucky enough to be able to stay with our parents for a few weeks on our return, but it was still handy to have a small budget for outings and the first expenses associated with settling in before getting paid!

It’s hard to give you an ideal amount… It may vary depending on your country, how long you think it will take you to find a job again , or whether, like us, you have parents who are cool enough to put you up for a while. In short, we put 2500 euros each into an account for the return. That may sound like a lot, but in Switzerland, you don’t get very far with that!

To tell you the truth, everything happened very quickly. Knowing that we’d be looking for work, we started the process 2 months before our return. After a few rounds of first interviews online, I had second interviews the day after we arrived in Switzerland. We first lived with our parents for 15 days, then moved 250 km away for me to start my new job. The result? Before I got my first salary, we had to be in a strong enough financial position:

• 3 months deposit on the apartment ;
• our transport passes to get to work (to the interviews for Benoit);
• a first wave of furniture to at least have a bed and a table in our new home;
• small purchases that quickly add up: dishes, vacuum cleaner, sheets… We certainly picked up a few things left and right, but the shopping list was still long!

In short, don’t forget to include a small sum dedicated to your return in your round-the-world budget!

One of the most common reactions we hear before we leave is:

How can you afford to travel around the world? Did you win the lottery?

The answer is clearly no, unfortunately. On the other hand, we’ve been saving up to travel . But how? By changing our lifestyle a little before we left. Let’s just say we continued to live a bit like students, despite being salaried.

What makes me smile is that 90% of the people who remark on our so-called fortune would have the budget to do a round-the-world trip in less time than it would take if they made a few small sacrifices…

In any case, there’s no miracle when it comes to saving money : either you spend less, or you earn more! The best way is to do a bit of both, and here are our ideas on how to afford the trip of your dreams!

Limit meals out a little

Young employees tend to go out to restaurants regularly to “have a bite to eat”. This little something never costs much, but it’s always more expensive than a good meal at home . At lunchtime, opt for meals brought from home rather than going to the canteen/corner restaurant/fast-food restaurant. It’s cheaper and much healthier too!

Instead of going to the movies, consider having a movie night at home, or if you decide to go to the cinema, take a small snack and a drink with you so you don’t break the bank by buying popcorn.

Stop smoking

It sounds silly, but 1 pack a day for 1 year is at least equivalent to the value of a round-the-world plane ticket… That’s right!

Rethink car use

Sometimes, I agree, it’s indispensable. But if you live in the city, couldn’t a transit pass do the trick for a year? With the value of the car, insurance, gas, repairs, parking, and so on, I guarantee that the savings potential alone already represents a good part of a round-the-world budget! So get out those bikes and build up those calves! They’ll come in handy when you’re on the road anyway 😉.

If it’s impossible to change your means of transport, one option is to offer carpooling . In addition to making your journeys more profitable, you might even meet some nice people!

Stop the superfluous

Some of my friends who used to comment on my budget are addicted to going to the beautician for waxing, the hairdresser every two months, the manicurist every 3 weeks, the relaxing massage twice a month… All in all, the beauty costs represent more than 200 euros a month!

Learn how to hold a nail polish brush and an epilator, and let me grow this hair out! You’ll see that it won’t make any difference when you travel!

Limit shopping

Those who know me will know that this is where I’ve made the most effort. I used to be what you might call a shopaholic . But then, I REALLY reined myself in for 2 years, which has led me to be quite a minimalist today! At the same time, you had to be a tad more rational to pack a bag for a trip. In my closet, I had enough to fill 30 backpacks, and until the last news, I only took one on a round-the-world trip. So, let’s take it easy and learn to think about the real purpose of yet another little T-shirt before buying it.

Stop all unnecessary subscriptions

You know that gym you promise yourself you’ll go to 3 times a week, and you’re happy if you go twice a month? The same goes for paid subscriptions: Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime and co. Yes, it’s cool, but clearly dispensable.

Force yourself to write down expenses

It sounds silly, but I guarantee you that keeping a little notebook where you write down all your expenses helps you realize where you can save.

To illustrate, here’s a real-life example! I used to have a habit of buying a small Diet Coke on my way back to work after lunch, which amounted to 2 euros every lunchtime. But if I bought the Coke in 12-packs at the supermarket, it would cost me less than 1 euro each. In short, I didn’t give up my Coke, but I took it from home. Saving 1.1 euros every lunchtime for a year’s work, or 251 working days, gives a saving of 280 euros on my Diet Coke alone. To give you an idea, 280 euros represents almost 2 weeks’ travel in Asia !

Saving to travel is great, but earning more isn’t bad either! What if we told you that there are plenty of ways to earn a little more?

Work overtime

It’s not always possible, but if you can, go for it! By working an extra 20 minutes a day , you’ll be able to help finance your trip!

Do odd jobs

That’s easier said than done, but why not look for a little evening or weekend work to supplement your income? Waitressing, sales, warehousing, going to the market on Saturdays, pet-sitting, house-sitting, babysitting, etc., the possibilities are endless! And when you’re fed up, remember that for 15 euros you can live for a whole day in many Asian countries, including accommodation, food and transportation. That should keep you motivated for a few months!

Offer your knowledge

Are you bilingual? Web programming holds no secrets for you? Are you a talented graphic designer? Is writing your hobby? Do you know how to find the best flight deals on the net? Offer your services on community sites such as Upwork , Fiverr or Comeup .

We all have dozens hundreds of things at home that we no longer use! So don’t hesitate to put them up for sale online! Got an old iPhone sitting in your drawer? Withdraw a hundred euros or so: you’ll make someone happy and you’ll have financed 1 week in Asia! Personally, I’ve made over 1000 euros selling only things I no longer use. Old iPad, handbags, perfumes, clothes, paintings, mirrors, various pieces of furniture, decorative items, blankets, old curtains, lamps, and so on. Today, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to selling online : Gumtree, Marketplace, eBay, Vinted and many others! If you have lots of knick-knacks, you might also consider selling them at a flea market.

Leaving everything behind and planning a round-the-world trip is not the only way to discover the world. If giving up your income completely or the prospect of “doing nothing” doesn’t appeal to you, rest assured that there are plenty of options for traveling the world while working. Here’s a quick roundup of the best jobs for travelers !

Working abroad or applying for a WHV

We’re starting this list with a form of compromise. This is the option we chose when we moved to Vienna, Austria in 2011. During our expatriation , we found a permanent position in the Austrian capital and took a furnished apartment (we only wanted to stay for 1 or 2 years). In short, a sedentary life with all the comforts that go with it, but abroad ! The advantage? We have a regular salary and plenty of options for getting out and about on weekends or vacations! From Vienna, we were able to travel to Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Croatia and, of course, all over Austria. We’ll do it again in Chiang Mai in 2016, after our round-the-world trip. Then we became digital nomads, and we explain it all in this article !

Abroad, with a WHV

Granted, Vienna probably isn’t the most exotic option! We also know people who have decided to move to Hong Kong or Taipei. As a result, long-weekend getaways tend to be in the Philippines or Indonesia!

If you’re under the age of 30-35 , you can apply for a WHV (Working Holiday Visa). You’re bound to find a country that appeals to you, aren’t you? 😉 Many young working people opt for this visa, which reconciles vacations with work as its name suggests. In short, it’s a great way to spend several months or even years in a new country! To find out all you need to know about the WHV, we refer you to the excellent Pvtistes website .

Working online

There are plenty of options here! The Internet allows you to be 100% mobile , and depending on your profession, you can quite easily consider pursuing all or part of your business on the road! Here are a few examples of professions or activities that enable you to earn money while working from a computer:

• graphic designer, illustrator, or web designer : a full-fledged profession that can be practiced from anywhere. Zoom appointments with customers, beautiful landscapes for inspiration and, of course, a good Internet connection to send your work are all part of the daily routine.
• web developer : developer is still a very popular profession, and demand from both private and corporate clients remains strong. Even when traveling, a developer can easily continue to find customers. What’s important? To have a good address book before you leave, as well as a web presence offering your services. This is what we do with Novo-media , in addition to our blog.

• freelance translator : a job that can be done from anywhere! Are you perfectly bilingual and have impeccable spelling? Why not offer your services online to help companies and individuals with their translations?
• freelance journalist : a great way to put into words what you see and discover on your travels!
• freelance travel blogger/web copywriter : we’d warn you about this one though… Making a living from blogging is possible, but it requires a lot of time, a good dose of talent and a dash of luck. If you persevere, your blog can add a little extra to your round-the-world budget! Alternatively, you can offer your services as a web copywriter through platforms such as Malt or those mentioned above.
• SEO consultant : you’re an expert in the web and SEO? Perfect! Offer your services online to other companies: website audit, the definition of positioning keywords, creation of a web strategy… To make yourself known? A well-referenced site on the subject!
• community manager : a new profession born 100% of the Internet! A community manager is a person who manages various social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, etc.) on behalf of a client. A great way to make ends meet! You’ll just have to watch out for time zones because, on social networks, the time of publication is almost as important as the content. Your customer probably won’t be happy if you always post at 3 a.m. local time because you’re on the other side of the world!

The word “Woof” stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms . It’s a network that connects people who want to work on farms with farmers who need labor for a given period. This type of travel provides you room and board , to save money, but also to discover a country’s way of life and meet new people! For more information, visit the official website . Over the years, several other networks have developed, offering similar activities, such as HelpX and Workaway .

Do you have specific knowledge? Why not take advantage of your trip to share a little of your knowledge ? Whether you’re a language, dance, yoga, diving, skiing, snowboarding, or music teacher, the options are endless! Here’s an example: a friend of ours managed to get hired as a ski instructor for a season in Whistler, Canada. An absolute dream for a ski fan, and a great way to replenish the coffers before hitting the road again! Another example: a friend had gone to Mexico to travel. There, she took her scuba diving exam and never came back! She now travels all over Latin America teaching diving in different spots. On the other hand, with rare exceptions, teaching means you’ll have to settle in one place for a few weeks or even months. But you have to admit, there are worse things!

Being a humanitarian aid worker

There are many large organizations where a wide range of skills are in demand: doctors, nurses, administrative staff, lawyers, interpreters, firefighters, logisticians, project managers, etc. The list goes on! Find out more about the humanitarian organizations that appeal to you, and see if they offer missions abroad. Very often, these jobs require you to travel regularly all over the world for periods ranging from a few weeks to a few months.

Doing odd jobs on the road

If you’re traveling in backpacking mode and decide to stop in a city, several jobs can be done depending on the season. During our round-the-world trip, we saw many advertisements in youth hostels offering to work in the hostel (cleaning, reception, bar, etc.) in exchange for free accommodation and sometimes even food or a small salary.

Otherwise, you always have the option of browsing the shops and bars . It’s not uncommon for them to be looking for waiters/vendors for the few weeks of high tourist season.

Being a travel photographer

Are you good at photography ? Really good? Then maybe selling your photos taken on the road could be a good way to earn some extra cash! But let’s not kid ourselves: photography is a profession in its own right, and the likelihood of “amateur” photos finding takers is relatively low. But if you’re a professional or a confirmed amateur, it can be a very good idea!

Being a skipper

You’re not seasick and you know a thing or two about sailing ? Skipper could be the job for you! Let’s face it: if you’re a skipper , you’ll spend most of your time at sea. That said, it could be a great way to reach a new continent and make a little extra money at the same time.

Reveal your inner artist

If you have artistic talent (unlike us), why not put it to good use on the road? Here’s a small list of activities from travelers we came across on our trip:

• hairdresser : yes! Offering your services in a hostel to other travelers can be an original way to earn a few euros.
• street artist : juggling, music, dance, acrobatics, etc. If you’re good at it, go for it!
• craftsman : we came across several travelers selling handmade jewelry or knitted hats to other tourists in hostels or on the street. Again, probably not a great fortune, but a nice way to earn a bit of money. Try to choose a touristy spot, and you’ll maximize your chances of earning a few euros!

Are you still with us after this chapter about the cost of a round-the-world trip ? If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask us in the comments section. In the next chapter, we’ll explain in more detail how to plan a round-the-world itinerary !

• Leave everything and travel
• The Itinerary
• Round-the-world Tickets
• Health and travel insurance
• Travel gear
• Checklist and schedule

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About Fabienne

I'm the female part of the pair. A little stubborn, spontaneous and passionate about the digital world and the tourism industry, I am also the one addicted to numbers and practical information in our couple. I carefully keep all our travel budgets . Then we are reassured, sometimes I drop my Excels sheets for a nice hike! With the well-deserved artesanal beer at the end... of course!

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Travel Better, Cheaper, Longer

How to Road Trip Across the United States on a Budget

The Great American Road Trip is a rite of passage in the United States . We Americans have a unique fascination with the open road. It’s built into our cultural DNA. In Jazz Age America, the car was a symbol of freedom — a chance to escape your small town and the watchful eyes of parents.

As the highway system was developed in the 1950s, a wave of kids set out on the road to explore the country, giving new life to America’s car and road trip culture. Today, many still dream of getting in a car and driving into wide open spaces for months on end.

I’ve had the privilege of taking several multi-week and multi-month road trips around the country over the years. From traveling the Deep South to criss-crossing the country coast to coast , I’ve visited almost every state, exploring the myriad nooks and crannies of Uncle Sam’s backyard.

One thing is for certain, in diversity and scale, the United States is virtually unrivaled.

But this isn’t a post about fawning over America and its landscapes ( this post is ). This article is about how you can travel around the US on a budget.

Because, as it turns out, this country is surprisingly easy to travel on the cheap.

While rising gas prices and rental car price gouging post-COVID put a damper on things, it’s still easier than you think to have a budget-friendly road trip adventure around the USA.

In this post, I’ll explain how much I spent on one of my trips, how much you should expect to spend, and how you can save money on your next road trip.

Table of Contents

How Much Did My Cross-Country Road Trip Cost?

How to save money on your road trip, how to save on accommodation, how to save on food, how to save on sightseeing, how to save on transportation.

After 116 days traveling around the United States on this trip, I spent $6,262.67 USD, or $53.98 USD per day. While that is slightly higher than $50 USD a day, there were many parts of my budget I splurged on (see breakdown below) which skewed the number up. I definitely could have visited the country even cheaper if I didn’t have an addiction to Starbucks and sushi.

Here is how the numbers from my road trip break down:

• Accommodations: $1,036.36
• Food: $3,258.23
• Drinks: $438.94
• Gas: $696.98
• Parking: $253.00
• Starbucks: $75.26
• Miscellaneous (movies, toiletries, etc.): $170.00
• Attractions: $269.40
• Taxis: $41.00
• Bus: $17.50
• Subway: $6.00
• TOTAL : $6,262.67

Let’s break this down. First, my Starbucks addiction was unnecessary and added to my costs. Second, as a lover of sushi, trying various restaurants throughout my road trip drastically raised my food costs. Sushi, after all, is not cheap.

Moreover, I ate as if I wasn’t on a budget and rarely cooked, which is why my food expenses were so high relative to everything else. I would have definitely gone below $50 USD per day if I followed my own advice and cooked more often.

But, while I splurged in some places, three other things really helped me to keep expenses down: First, gas prices were low, averaging around $2.35 USD a gallon over the duration of my trip. (We’re going to discuss how to still do a road trip on a budget with high gas prices in the next section.)

Second, once you leave the big cities, prices for everything drop by nearly half so I spent a lot of time out of cities.

Third, I used Couchsurfing and cashed in hotel points to keep accommodation costs down. That helped a lot.

Overall, I didn’t do too bad and am happy with how much I spent. But is this how much you’ll spend, especially in the face of inflation and high gas prices? Let’s discuss that below.  

It’s no secret travel costs a lot lately and inflation and high gas prices have really made super cheap road trips hard if you’re not staying places for free but that doesn’t mean the road trip has to be super expensive.

With that in mind, here’s how to cut your accommodation, sightseeing, food, and transportation costs — all without cutting into your experience!  

1. Couchsurf — Couchsurfing is a service that allows you to stay with locals for free. Using this website (or similar ones) is the best way to lower accommodation costs, as you can’t get cheaper than free!

More than that, it’s a wonderful way to meet locals, get insider tips, and find off-the-beaten-track stuff to do in the area you’re visiting. While you’re generally expected to reciprocate your host’s kindness (cooking them a meal, taking them out for drinks or coffee, etc.), it’s still far cheaper than paying for a hotel or motel.

While the app has seen its community shrink in recent years, there are still plenty of hosts across the United States so you’ll rarely find problems finding someone to put you up.

Additionally, if you don’t feel comfortable staying with a stranger, you can use the app to meet people for drinks, coffee, activities, or anything else you want to do. That way, you can still meet a local and get their insider tips without having to stay with them. The app has all kinds of meet-ups and events too so be sure to check it out.

2. Airbnb — I only recommend using Airbnb in rural, out of the way places where hotels are limited. Avoid them as much as possible in other circumstances. Here is why we don’t really recommend them.

3. Budget hotels — There are a plethora of cheap roadside hotels such as Motel 6 and Super 8 that will help you stay cheap. Rooms start around $50 USD per night and are super basic and always look well worn. You’ll get a bed, bathroom, TV, tiny closet, and maybe a desk. They are nothing to write home about, but for a quiet place to sleep for a night, they do the trick.

And if you’re traveling with someone you should always say the room is for one person as these hotels charge you more for two people.

Also, make sure you sign up for Booking.com and Hotels.com loyalty programs. Hotels.com gives you a free room after 10 bookings, and Booking.com offers members 10% off bookings, as well as free upgrades and perks if you book multiple times after signing up. They definitely helped a lot.

Pro tip : Book through websites like Mr.Rebates or Rakuten . By using their links before going to Hotels.com or Booking, you’ll get 2-4% cash back in addition to the loyalty program deals.

4. Hotel points — Be sure to sign up for hotel credit cards before you go and use those points when you travel. You can get upwards of 70,000 points as a sign-up bonus, which can translate into a week’s worth of accommodations.

The points came in handy in places where I couldn’t find an Airbnb, hostel, or Couchsurfing host. This saved my butt in big cities around the country. I was glad I had accrued so many hotel points before my trip.

To learn more about, check out these posts:

• The Best Hotel Credit Cards
• The Ultimate Guide to Picking the Best Travel Credit Card
• Points and Miles 101: A Beginner’s Guide
• The Best Travel Credit Cards

5. Hostels — There aren’t many hostels in the United States, and most of them are overpriced. A dorm room typically costs around $30 a night, which means you can obtain a similar private room on Airbnb at the same price. If you are traveling with others, it’s often more economical to get a budget hotel than a bunch of dorm beds.

However, if you are traveling solo and want to meet others, the social benefits may outweigh the lack of value. There were just some times I didn’t want to be alone – I wanted to be around other travelers.

Some of the hostels I loved are:

• Samesun Venice Beach (LA)
• South Beach Hostel (Miami)
• India House (New Orleans)
• Jazz Hostels (NYC)
• ITH Adventure Hostel (San Diego)
• The Green Tortoise (San Francisco and Seattle).

For more hostel suggestions, here’s a list of my favorite hostels in the USA.

6. Camping — Dotted around the country — including around all the national parks — are inexpensive campsites. If you have a tent and camping gear, this is by far the cheapest way to travel. Campsites cost between $10-30 USD per night, which makes seeing the country incredibly affordable. Most campsites have basic amenities like running water, bathrooms, and the ability to upgrade to get electricity.

In addition to your standard campgrounds, check out the sharing economy website Campspace . It lets you pitch a tent on private properties all around the country for a small fee. Much like Airbnb, some plots are super basic and barebones while others are more luxurious, so be sure to poke around for a cheap place to stay as there are plots available all around the country.

It’s also legal to wild camp in national forests and on BLM land unless otherwise marked.

7. Sleep in your car — I know this isn’t glamorous but sleeping in your vehicle brings your accommodation costs down to zero. I know lots of travelers who did this to make their trip more affordable, some sleeping in their car just occasionally and others doing it every night. Chances are you won’t sleep well but you will save money, and that’s a fair trade to some people!

For those traveling in an RV, there are tons of free places to park and camp all around the country. Use iOverlander to find the best spots.  

To help you keep your food costs in check, here are a few quick tips:

1. Cook your own meals as often as possible – If you can bring a cooler in your vehicle, you can pack groceries instead of eating out all the time. And if you bring some containers, you can store leftovers in the car too, allowing you to cook larger meals at dinner that you can eat the next day for lunch.

2. Stay in accommodation with a kitchen – If you want to cook, you’ll need a kitchen. Prioritize accommodation like Couchsurfing, Airbnb, and hostels as those will typically provide kitchen access so you can cook your meals.

3. Shop cheap – Avoid the pricier grocery stores like Whole Foods when it comes to getting groceries and stick to budget places like Walmart. It’s not glamorous, but it will be cheap!

4. Find cheap restaurants – When you want to eat out but don’t want to break the bank, use Yelp, ask people on websites like Couchsurfing, or inquire at the desks at hostels for suggestions. Locals have the best tips and insights when it comes to where to eat so they can point you in the right direction. Simply cook, limit your eating out, and be happy!

1. Get a National Parks pass — For $80, you can purchase an annual National Parks and Federal Lands ‘America the Beautiful’ pass that provides access to all 63 national parks (as well as any other recreation areas administered by the National Park Service). In total, you can visit more than 2,000 federal recreation sites with the same pass. At $20-35 USD per visit, seeing five during your trip makes the pass a money saver. When you visit your first park, simply buy the pass and you’re good to go. There’s no need to order it in advance.

The U.S. national park system is amazing and really highlights the diversity of landscapes in the country. You can’t travel across the country without stopping at many of the national parks, especially as you get out west.

2. City tourism cards — City tourism cards allow you to see a large number of attractions (and often include free public transportation) for one price, usually $75-100 USD. They provide free access to museums, reduced access to attractions, and restaurant discounts. Be sure to look into them if you plan on doing a lot of sightseeing, as they generally will save you money. They can be purchased at tourism information centers or online before you go.

3. Free museums and events — Inquire at tourism centers, use Google, or ask hotel or hostel staff for information about free events and museums. Many museums offer occasional free or discounted admission throughout the week. There are always tons of free activities in any city in the United States.

4. Free walking tours and city greeter programs — Many cities in the US have free walking tours or city greeter programs that pair you with a local guide who can give you a brief tour. Whenever I visit a new city, I start my trip off with one of these tours. They show you the lay of the land, introduce you to the main sights, and give you access to an expert local guide that can answer all your questions.

Check in with the local tourism office when you arrive to see what programs and tours are available.

For greeter programs, you’ll need to sign-up in advance before your visit. It’s good to give about 2 weeks’ notice as they have to find someone to take you around. Google “(city name) greeter program” to find them as some are run independently of the city tourism board so might not be listed on their website.

Here are your options when it comes to traveling across the country:

1. Hitchhike — This isn’t something I did on my trip, as I had a car, but it’s very doable (and relatively safe). Here’s a post by my friend Matt who hitchhiked across the United States explaining how to do so and come out alive (don’t worry, it’s safer than you think)..

For more hitchhiking tips, use Hitchwiki .

2. Rideshare — Taking on riders can be a way to lower your costs. On my first trip across the U.S., I offered rides to people I met in hostels. On this trip, I had friends and readers join me along the way. You can post ads on Craigslist and Gumtree and at hostels to find riders. This not only makes the trip more enjoyable but lowers your gas costs. Or if you are a rider, you can use the same services to find rides to get you places.

3. Buy a car — If you don’t have a car or don’t want to rent one, you can buy cheap used cars from car dealers or owners on Craigslist. There are lots of listings, and you can resell the car at the end of your trip to recoup some of your initial purchase cost. While this is easy in other countries, it’s hard to do in the United States, so remember a couple of key points:

• You’ll need a US address for registration documents to get sent to. I would use a hostel or hotel address and then set up a forwarding address with the Post Office.
• You’ll have to buy car insurance, which can greatly add to the costs of your trip.

Another option is to use a car relocation service. This is when you take someone’s car and drive it across the country. You are usually paid, and gas is covered. The downside is you don’t often have a lot of leeway on timing, so you might not have much time to stop and sightsee along the way. Car relocation options are also usually limited. Two companies worth checking out are Transfercar and Hit the Road .

If you just want to rent a car, use Discover Cars .

4. Use gas apps & membership programs – Install GasBuddy , an app that finds the cheapest gas prices near you. It is a must. If you’re going on a longer road trip, sign up for the monthly program; it costs $9.99 but will save you up to 40 cents a gallon.

Also, sign up for every gas loyalty program you can, so as to maximize points and discounts. Moreover, if you get a brand’s credit card, your first 50 gallons usually come with 30 cents off per gallon.

You should also consider getting a Costco membership for cheap gas. They have around 574 stores around the US so you’ll be able to earn the cost of a membership back by saving money on both gas and food.

5. Download parking apps – Parking costs add up — especially in cities. Use apps like BestParking and Parker to find spots and compare prices.

6. Take the bus – If driving is entirely out of the question, you can find bus tickets for as little as $1 USD from Megabus. Greyhound and Flixbus also have cheap rides all around the US. Rides under five hours are usually around $20 USD if you book early, and overnight rides usually cost $50-100. You can save big if you book in advance (often upwards of 75%!).

Don’t let the United States fool you! A road trip across the United States is a fun way to see a lot of diverse landscapes, experience different cultures, and meet interesting people. Traveling America isn’t very expensive once you are outside the big cities and you can easily travel the country on a budget by using the advice in this article.

Book Your Trip to the USA: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Use Skyscanner to find a cheap flight. They are my favorite search engine because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned!

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the biggest inventory and best deals. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

• Safety Wing (for everyone below 70)
• Insure My Trip (for those over 70)
• Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage)

Looking for the Best Companies to Save Money With? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use to save money when I’m on the road. They will save you money when you travel too.

Want More Information on the United States? Be sure to visit our robust destination guide on the US for even more planning tips!

Got a comment on this article? Join the conversation on Facebook , Instagram , or Twitter and share your thoughts!

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links above may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I recommend only products and companies I use and the income goes to keeping the site community supported and ad free.

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Our 27 most popular around the world trips. compare tour itineraries from 17 tour companies. 101 reviews. 5/5 avg rating., popular around the world tours.

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• Discover three Baltic states in 12 days
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Imperial Escape

• Budapest: Welcome dinner; guided sightseeing, panoramic view from Fishermen’s Bastion, visit Heroe’s Square
• Vienna: Guided sightseeing, visit Heldenplatz and St. Stephen’s Cathedral
• Prague: Guided sightseeing, Astronomical Clock, visit the Hradčany Castle grounds; farewell dinner at a local restaurant
• On this guided vacation of Central Europe, experience the rich history and most popular destinations without the crowds—and even better—without the high-season prices
• This Central Europe escorted tour is a magnificent journey through the former Habsburg Empire offering romantic castles, churches, villas and modern architecture, vineyards, breweries, first-class shopping, art, and culinary delights

All Around the World , expedition cruises, self guided adventures and vacation packages. Find the best guided and expert planned vacation and holiday packages. Read more about Around the World

Small Group Around the World Tours

Peru, Chile, Argentina & Brazil in 20 days - Machu Picchu, Iguazu & Capital Cities - Superior

• Santiago de Chile
• Barrio La Boca
• Buenos Aires
• Iguazu Falls, Argentinian side

Indochina in 35 days - 5 Country Southeast Asian Discovery - Superior

• Kuala Lumpur

South American Odyssey with Amazon & Peru

• Rio de janeiro : Cable-car ride up Sugar Loaf Mountain and Sugar Loaf cocktail party; sightseeing with a Local Guide; visit Corcovado Mountain and the cathedral; Churrascaria dinner
• Iguassu falls : Sightseeing with a Local Guide on both the Brazilian and Argentinean sides of Iguassu National Park; Ecological Jungle Train
• Buenos aires : Walking tour; visit the Metropolitan Cathedral and Recoleta Cemetery; empanada cooking class; Tango lesson & show; visit a local estancia
• Bariloche: Sightseeing with a Local Guide; chairlift to Cerro Campanario; Andes lake crossing
• Puerto montt : Sightseeing tour

Best Around the World Tours by Duration

Tours, Cruises & Private Trips

Best Around the World Tours by Price

Top Around the World Attractions & Experiences

Top Around the World Experiences

Diverse experiences on around the world tour .

• Meeting locals from several different countries and discovering wonderful similarities and differences
• Seeing whales breach from the balcony of your cruise stateroom and diving and snorkeling in vibrant coral reefs like the Great Barrier reef
• Enjoying local cuisines, exploring street food markets, and taking cooking classes to learn how to make traditional national dishes
• Wandering around many archaeological ruins and historical sites like Machu Picchu , pyramids of Giza , and the historical city of Petra
• Discovering unique cultures and taking part in traditional festivals or ceremonies like Holi or Día de Muertos 
• Hiking among different landscapes, encountering majestic wildlife on African Safaris , and taking memorable pictures
• Making lifelong friends from around the world
• Indulging in luxury around the world trips featuring traditional Japanese ryokan, floating hotels in the Maldives, or ice hotels in Sweden for a unique experience.
• Visiting all the most famous locations during a single trip with custom-planned tours around the world — No need to pick and choose!

Around the World Tours & Travel Guide

Around the World Attractions & Landmarks Guide

World travel is truly one of the most unforgettable experiences. As you visit multiple countries and continents, you gain a deep understanding of hundreds of cultures and forge wonderful connections with people around the world.

A small ship or 'expedition' cruise is one of the most popular modes of travel for a trip around the world. Many young people opt for overland tours to see the world because of budget and the community style. They usually use a few different modes of travel like trains or buses or join small group tours to individual destinations. 

You can also design a custom round-the-world trip to suit your preferences for price, duration, accommodation, and more. Choose the countries you wish to visit and super-personalize your world tour for the activities you enjoy. 

Luxury Around the World Trips

Imagine waking up in lavish four or five-star accommodations, imbibed with unmatched comfort and elegance. Think boutique lodges nestled in scenic landscapes to high-end homestays steeped in local charm!

That's the essence of our exclusively curated around-the-world luxury tours. Choose one of our private guided world tours to explore iconic landmarks, access hidden gems, and indulge in gastronomic experiences redefining culinary pleasure. 

Raise the bar for your travel experience—personalize your world trip and enjoy unparalleled service at every stop tailored to your preferences. 

How Long Should You Go For?

A round-the-world trip typically takes longer than a week or two. Your world tour should not be much shorter than one month. 

With one month to go around the world, you'll probably stick to one broad region. Long trips are a great way to really learn the nuances and extensiveness of human and geological history and how pronounced they can be in a relatively small area. You'll also gain a unique insight into fascinating cultural similarities and differences.

Most trips around the world are a bit longer than one month, typically between two and four months. The number of countries and continents you'll visit on your world tour can vary quite a bit, mainly based on how you get from place to place and the length of excursion allotted for by the itinerary.

How Much Does a Trip Around the World Cost?

One of the benefits of traveling on a package tour around the world is the cost-cutting aspect. Typically, some of your meals will be covered, along with a good amount of transportation and almost all accommodations (this is an excellent reason to book a small ship cruise).

In addition, your tour will have many activities planned to explore the culture and history of each destination, as well as enjoy the natural beauty with hikes and other exciting outdoor ventures. These activities are not always included in the price, which can be a good thing as it allows you to join as many or as few activities as you'd like, depending on your preferences. 

Typically, airfare to and from the start city and ending city to your final destination is not included in the tour price, but after that, you can expect to save a lot in expenses.

Note that you'll be around the same group of people for a very extended period, and your ability to be flexible in each destination will be limited. If you want to stay longer or shorter, this isn't typically an option.

Planning a Trip Around the World on Your Own

Traveling around the world on your own is an entirely different ball game. Transportation and accommodation are usually challenging to budget around. Budget hotels can help; however, finding a good deal can be tiresome. Travel agents can help, but this typically comes with a premium.

Certain airlines offer special round-the-world tickets, which could be an excellent way to book an independent trip around the world if you have miles to cash in. Otherwise, you're a bit stuck with the one-way ticket route. Try booking smaller airlines and shorter flights to keep costs manageable.

Choosing your destination and activities also requires a ton of research. You could spend a hefty amount of time trying to plan this yourself.

How To Pack for a Trip Around the World?

Ironically, you will be better off packing less than more for a longer journey. As you'll be on the move, you want a lighter suitcase and backpack to deal with. It's both more comfortable to move and far easier to store.

That's one significant benefit of traveling by cruise when you go around the world: the luxury of only unpacking once and being able to do laundry on board. You can lock your stateroom, so there's no worry about theft as you roam the boat and enjoy your shore excursions.

• Winter vs Summer Weather:    Since your tour around the world is likely to cross hemisphere lines more than once, you may experience warm highs and icy lows during your trip — bring clothing that can layer easily. 
• Shoes:    Footwear can easily become a packing challenge since it can take up a lot of space in suitcases. Choose shoes according to the planned activities and terrains. Pack a versatile selection: a pair for relaxation, one for hiking, another for city strolls, and one for a more refined option. 
• Dress Like a Local:    The beauty of a trip around the world is the opportunity to visit many far-flung places with diverse cultures and ways of life. You may encounter many different cultures, some with specific dress expectations. For example, in most Middle Eastern countries, expect to dress modestly—cover shoulders and legs and keep a scarf handy for covering your head. A similar dressing is also a good rule for touring many religious establishments.

Around the World Reviews & Ratings

Brilliant trip.

This is a well designed trip giving an excellent overview of all three Baltic states. This not only included the capital cities but other towns and much countrysid...

Great holiday

Really interesting trip made extra special by our guide Melia, whose knowledge was incredible. We were really lucky with the weather and had a really good group o...

Travels in the Baltics

A bit of a whirlwind tour although the three Baltic States relatively small, green and flat. I knew virtually nothing about them before I went but learned a lot ...

Explore and discover the Baltics

I enjoyed discovering an area of Europe I knew little about. Visiting many areas of all 3 countries. Guide well organized and itinerary good. Only problems were T...

Three small countries with a lot of character

The Baltic countries are interesting and the old towns are charming. They have suffered a lot under various foreign rulers and are proud of their independence. The...

See all Around the World reviews

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Best Annual Travel Insurance in 2024

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If you’re a frequent traveler, annual travel insurance may be something you’ve been considering. Unlike single-trip insurance, annual travel insurance plans can cover you for an entire year, no matter how often you’re on the road.

Let’s look at the best yearly travel insurance companies, why we choose them and the coverage you can expect.

Factors we considered when picking travel insurance companies

We used the following criteria when choosing which companies we thought were best:

Cost . Annual plans can be expensive — depending on the type of coverage you choose — so we wanted ensure that they stayed affordable. 

Types of coverage . Travel insurance for annual travelers can be limited in its coverage. We picked the ones with the broadest range of coverage for possible travel disruptions.

Coverage amounts . Annual trip insurance isn’t worth much if your limits are too low. Instead, we wanted plans with reasonable coverage amounts. 

Customizability . If your travels take you to different places, you’ll want the ability to customize your plan. The best annual travel insurance plans can provide this. 

» Learn more: What does travel insurance cover?

An overview of the best annual travel insurance

We gathered quotes from various travel insurance companies to determine the best annual travel insurance policies. In these examples, we used a year-long trip by a 22-year-old from Alabama. We indicated the main countries of travel as France and Malaysia, and when asked, put the total trip costs at $6,000.

The average cost for an annual travel insurance plan came out to $220. The plans ranged from $138-$386.

Let’s take a closer look at our top recommendations for annual travel insurance.

1. Allianz Travel

What makes Allianz travel insurance great:

Lower than average cost.

Provides health care and travel insurance benefits.

Includes rental car insurance up to $45,000. 

Here’s a snippet from our Allianz Travel insurance review :

“AllTrips Basic (annual plan) is suitable for those who would like emergency medical coverage while abroad but don't need trip cancellation and interruption benefits. The AllTrips Prime, Executive and Premier plans provide an entire year of comprehensive travel insurance benefits.

The Executive and Premier plans offer various levels of trip cancellation and interruption benefits. The Executive plan is specifically designed for business travelers since it offers protection for business equipment.”

2. Seven Corners

What makes Seven Corners great:

Offers up to $20,000 for acute coverage of pre-existing conditions. 

Includes up to $1 million for emergency medical evacuation. 

Optional add-on for adventure sport activities.

$0 deductible available. 

Here’s a snippet from our Seven Corners review :

“Seven Corners offers one annual policy called Travel Medical Annual Multi-Trip. The policy can be customized depending on how long you plan to be away from home for any one trip. You can travel as much as you like during the 364 days, so long as any one trip doesn’t exceed the option selected — 30, 45 or 60 days.”

What makes IMG great:

Good customizability with medical evacuations and sports coverage. 

Low $250 deductible.

Includes coverage for semi-private hospital rooms. 

Here’s a snippet from our IMG review:

“Some policies provide emergency medical evacuation coverage, while others skip this benefit entirely. This benefit may be more important to you if you travel to a remote location or engage in physical activity such as trekking.

More comprehensive plans may include other benefits such as assistance with acquiring a new passport, reimbursing reward mile redeposit fees or coverage for pre-existing conditions. If these are something you’re interested in, be sure to check that your policy includes these options.”

4. Trawick International

What makes Trawick International great:

100% coverage for trip cancellation and trip interruption. 

Emergency medical evacuation included. 

Trip delay reimbursement coverage. 

Here’s a snippet from our Trawick International review :

“Trawick International is a comprehensive travel insurance provider that offers trip delay and cancellation insurance, baggage delay coverage, medical coverage and medical evacuation, rental car damage protection, and even COVID-19 coverage among its various policies.

Trawick covers trips for worldwide destinations, including for foreign nationals coming to the U.S.”

What does travel insurance cover?

You’ll find a wide variety of coverage types offered by travel insurance policies. This is true whether you're purchasing a single-trip or annual travel insurance plan. Here are some common types you can expect to find:

Accidental death insurance .

Baggage delay and lost luggage insurance .

Cancel for Any Reason insurance .

Emergency evacuation insurance .

Medical insurance .

Rental car insurance .

Trip cancellation insurance .

Trip interruption insurance .

How to choose the best annual travel insurance policy

While we’ve highlighted some of the best annual travel insurance companies, the truth is that the best plan for you isn’t going to be the best plan for someone else. If you’re interested in buying annual travel insurance, you’ll want to collect a variety of quotes to see which policy best fits your needs.

This may mean opting for a plan that covers pre-existing conditions or one that specifically includes high-risk activities. Or, if you’re in a country where health care is notoriously expensive, you may want to choose a policy with higher maximums.

Many credit cards come with complimentary travel insurance .

Whatever the case, do your research first and review all the plan details before making your purchase.

» Learn more: How to find the best travel insurance

If you want to buy annual travel insurance

Annual travel insurance can be a great option if you’re often out of town. With such a wide range of policies available, selecting a plan that fits your needs is easy. We’ve done some of the work for you by choosing the best annual travel insurance companies, all of which made the top of the list for their cost, customizability, types of coverage and plan maximums.

Like any travel insurance policy, the cost of your plan is going to vary. Factors that may affect the cost of your annual travel insurance include your age, where you’re going, how long you’ll be traveling, your policy maximums and whether preexisting conditions are included.

Although not all travel insurance providers offer annual travel insurance, many of them do. We’ve gathered together the five best, including Allianz Travel, World Nomads, Seven Corners, IMG and Trawick International.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

on Chase's website

1x-10x Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1x-2x Earn 2X points on Southwest® purchases. Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming. Earn 1X points on all other purchases.

50,000 Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

How Much Does a Round the World Trip Cost?

It’s one of the first questions asked by anyone considering a round the world trip: how much will it cost?

This is our best shot at nailing down just how much it costs to travel around the world. It’s tricky to give an exact answer to this question, because every trip is based on different variables like destinations, timing, and traveling style. If you want to see our hard number, jump to that section . Otherwise, read on to see why a hard number shouldn’t always be trusted.

Which variables affect costs?

• When you go – Timing has a huge influence on the overall cost of an around-the-world trip. Prices in a given location can vary wildly depending on the time of year you’re there (also known as seasonality ).
• Where you go – Some parts of the world are more expensive than others. Europe, the United States, Australia, and Japan are going to cost more. India, Southeast Asia, and Central America will bring the cost down.
• What you do when you’re there – Going out for adventures every day will bring up the total cost of your trip. Skydives, snorkeling, dune buggies, and ski slopes aren’t cheap!
• Your accommodations – hostels, hotels, guest houses, long-term rentals. The level of luxury you choose will have a huge effect on your trip’s cost.
• The type of food you eat – Eating at street vendors, supermarkets, restaurants, local homes or Buddhist monasteries…where you eat will alter your food budget.

What’s generally included in the cost of a round-the-world trip?

There are really only a few things that people spend their money on when they travel: Plane tickets – Getting from region to region. The average cost of an AirTreks ticket tends to be in the $2500 – $3500 range per person, including taxes. Over the last twenty years this number has remained fairly consistent. You can estimate the cost of your airfare with our TripPlanner . If you need a generalized price for your budget, use $3300. If your trip comes in lower, that’s a bonus! Of course, business class will run a little extra . Accommodations – These can range from the most barebones dormitory-style hostel to a fairly luxurious hotel or resort. Of course you can mix and match over the course of your trip. After plane tickets, accommodations will be the most expensive part of your travel budget. Plan on $20-40 per night in inexpensive regions and $90-150 in expensive ones. If you plan on hostels every night, much less. In cheap areas you can find a dormitory for under $5 and even in the most expensive areas, it’s rare to find one over $25. Food/Drink – This item can range from supermarket picnicking, to street food, to restaurants. This will vary from meal to meal. Plan on $1-5 per meal per person in inexpensive regions and $5-20 per meal per person in expensive ones. Activities – These are things like tours, museums, adventure activities, elephant riding. Of course you’re going to spend money on doing things. Can range from $5 to $200 each, depending on the activity and location. Ground transportation – This includes buses, trains, ferries, taxis, moto-rickshaws, regular rickshaws, tuk-tuks, barges, speedboats, motorcycle rentals. Costs vary depending on how far you’re going and how fast. Taking a moto across town in Africa costs less than a dollar. Renting a Mercedes in Dubai might cost $500. Generally, though, ground transportation is a small fraction of your expenses.

Here’s how much a round the world trip will cost*

The general consensus from travelers who’ve done these trips is that a year on the road costs somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000. However, that is just the middle of the bell curve. If you prefer to live in the lap of luxury, flying in business class and staying at the Four Seasons, you’re going to have to pay a lot more than that. But if you’re a lowly backpacker, you could potentially travel the world for a year on $6,000 (it has been done!) For the sake of argument, let’s average a comfortable RTW year-long trip at $24,000. If you break that down monthly, a Round the World trip will cost one person around $2,000 per month,  taking everything into consideration. For many people it’s cheaper to be on the road than staying at home. *This shouldn’t be taken as a hard and fast number, since variables for your particular traveling style are numerous. Keep in mind that the longer the trip, the less you spend on a daily basis simply because you don’t need to fill each day with activities or spending expensive time in airports. This is the reason why we’ve said that longer trips can actually be cheaper on a relative basis . If you want some further hard numbers on how much a round the world trip cost, there’s a selection of travel bloggers who have posted their numbers online for all to compare and to evaluate. The travel blog Jack and Jill Travel has compiled some of the best . The blog RTW Expenses put together a yearlong tally of their personal costs for a RTW trip. And finally, AirTreks producer Gil Gildner wrote an extensive account of his 40 day, 6-destination trip around the world along with how much it cost per day.

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