Recently I posted about the drawbacks of long term travel. I fear that it may have taken the shine off of the seemingly exciting life(style?) of long term travel. To be sure, it is a lot of fun especially in retrospect when you’re past the gritty details of long term travel. But it is a question I get asked quite a bit: how much does it cost to travel the world?
And so if you feel daunted by the task of working and travelling, or simply travelling, below I offer a brief breakdown of some of the cost of travelling. For what it’s worth, I hope it helps you make the decision to get up and go to see the world for yourself.
Money is the typical reason people say they can’t/won’t/don’t want to travel. It’s true, it can be a challenge and I’ll admit I’ve had my problems keeping a balanced budget and a sustainable income. That being the case, I’ve found that, on average, I spend between $600 and $2000 PER MONTH or about $20-$60 a day when I leave Canada. In Eastern Europe and southeast Asia I am on the lower end of the range while in Western Europe and Australia I am on the higher range.
The three most common items you’ll spend money on are:
- Food
- Accommodation
- Transport
Barring extreme savings by way of squatting or camping, those are the first three things you’ll need to calculate. How much to you spend in each of those categories?
Your next set of costs are a bit more discretionary:
- Internet/Phone
- Souvenirs/books
- Adventure/tours/excursions/sight seeing
- Insurance
- Clothes (including backpack)
- Electronics
I categorize those as discretionary because you do not need them to live or get around the world, but they do make life a lot easier. Your budget will look something like this:
- Food (street food, occasional restaurant, etc.) = $5-$10/meal x 3 = $15/day x 7 = $420/month
- Accommodation (hostel dorm room) = $5-$30/day
- Transport ($2 for bus fare, $10-$30 for bus tickets $200-$1300 for plane/train tickets) = ~$3600 PER TRIP (including a flights back to Canada) OR, about $200 per month*
- Internet/Phone (either through a prepaid plan or using “free” WIFI at a coffee shop) = $50-$100/month
- Souvenirs/books = $300
- Adventure = $300
- Insurance (six months coverage) = $400*
- Clothes (every 3 to 6 months) = $100
- Electronics (cables, hard drives, cameras/phones, computers) = $1000/year*
- Backpack/carrying case = $100
In total, if you choose to travel for a long time I bet you could travel in a decent way with about $15,000 for the year. You’re certainly not eating caviar every day in Australia nor drinking fine wines in France on a regular basis, but, averaged out with some other cost-saving measures and you might actually get to try those things and others, too.
So, you see, depending on what sort of travelling lifestyle you want to lead, those costs can vary. There is no limit to how much you save or spend, it comes down to your choice of lifestyle.
*A few notes:
Note that the most expensive airfare you’ll have is crossing an ocean or flying last minute in countries such as Australia. Other than that, land travel can prove to be very cheap and an experience in itself.
As for the cost of electronics, you could reduce or eliminate this cost by not carrying a laptop or tablet, but you’ll still want a camera and internet access every now and then. Don’t forget adapters and other small gadgets (such as a pen drive) you’ll need to keep your stuff safe and secure.
Some people choose not to travel with insurance but I feel safer having it. Some say it’s a scam, I say it’s one more token in your favour.