We’ve made no secret of our budgets as we’ve posted our spending for each and every country we’ve passed through along the way. Just about everything included brings us to a grand total of:
$59,114
That number is for both of us for 21 months of travel. It includes all of our airfare, (except the one trip we took between the US and Europe since that was for a wedding and not for travel) buses, food, lodging, gifts, souvenirs, postage fees, visas and medical expenses. And again, that’s for BOTH of us….a combined total.
Could we have spent less…absolutely. In Africa we spent $5000 climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, taking a safari to the Ngorogoro Crater and visiting the Mountain Gorillas of Uganda. Take out that two week period and our total trip cost went down by nearly 10%.
What else isn’t included? I think I left off our travel medical insurance. Anything we purchased back in the US isn’t included, which does account for most of our gear, but on the other hand we sold a ton of stuff before we moved out which more than covers that expense. I also didn’t include all the tailored clothing we purchased in SE Asia, since that really had nothing to do with our trip at all.
Otherwise it’s all there. Transportation accounted for nearly one third of all of our spending. Activities averaged out to be about a quarter and food and lodging combined for 28%, but we spent a touch more on food than we did on sleeping, probably thanks to couchsurfing. The remaining 15% or so were the miscellaneous things that can vary dramatically such as how many souvenirs we purchased, over $2500 in visa fees, and how much time we spent at the Internet cafe or on the phone.
The point of all of this, of telling you our deepest darkest secret, is to make it abundantly clear how easy this is to do if you make it a goal and stick to it. We’ve just developed a new financial planning website to help others do the same, so feel free to use it!
Country | Days | Food | Lodging | Activity | Trans | Misc | Daily Avg |
TOTALS | 580 | $16.58 | $11.34 | $25.12 | $33.65 | $15.24 | $101.92 |
Mexico & C Amr | 111 | $17.76 | $10.33 | $23.31 | $20.50 | $9.96 | $79.25 |
South America | 135 | $15.68 | $10.21 | $19.71 | $31.73 | $9.42 | $86.75 |
Africa & Levant |
174 | $16.44 | $12.09 | $39.90 | $36.35 | $19.84 | $124.63 |
Europe |
32 | $21.93 | $6.26 | $11.94 | $40.22 | $9.54 | $90.01 |
Silk Road |
50 | $16.46 | $17.96 | $19.50 | $29.01 | $19.40 | $102.33 |
Asia |
78 |
$14.64 | $10.21 | $13.07 | $33.42 | $20.67 | $92.01 |
Alonna says
Very cool, thanks for sharing. If I’m remembering right, wasn’t your original budget estimate $100/day? If so, way to go!! All things totaled up, that’s a pretty impressive daily average.
Danny says
We had hoped hoped we’d be below that but we figured that’s about where we would end up….so pretty amazing we were so close I think.
Cam says
Thanks for sharing, we’ve been piecing together a similar post. It’s a question we get asked often. We spent quite a bit more (well, we spent the same but for 12 months) but that was due to spending 2 months in NZ and Auz, and 3 months in Europe (which ate up almost 3/4 of the budget!). How did you only spne $6 per night in Europe?! Impressive!
Jillian says
@Cam – In Europe we spent most of our time visiting friends or staying with couchsurfers. It was a great way to see Europe and still remain budget friendly!
@Renee- We agree. People don’t like to talk about money, but let’s face it, we’re all curious as to how much a trip to X or Y will cost!
Renee says
Wow….money well spent. Giving tips and hard numbers is very helpful to those who are seeking to follow in your footsteps. Thanks for sharing this valuable info!
The Dropout says
I’m so in awe of nerdy types who keep spreadsheets and/or records of their spending. Thanks for sharing your costs. It’s so helpful for me, still in the planning stage. I don’t think I’d be organised enough to compile such an impressive breakdown of costs.
Thanks guys!
inka says
It would have been a great shame if you hand’t spent the money on climbing Mt Kilimajaro and visited ti Orngs and the fabulous Ngorogor crater. I think you have done very well 2 people and nearly 2 years.
Caz Makepeace says
What a great post. So helpful for others to see just how easily and cheap long term travel can be.
Danny says
@ Dropout, Inka & Caz –
Thanks for the positive support. I know most of the trip I felt like a nerd but I remembered how much the price data at Dave Lee’s GoBackpacking.com site helped us to prepare and we wanted to pay it forward.
Laurel says
Very cool! I’m shocked to see that Europe was in the ballpark of Mexico, S. America and Asia. Thanks for sharing.
ayngelina says
That sounds about right for Latin America, I live on $30 a day but I’m alone so I can sleep in dorms but private rooms cost a tad more.
Matt says
crazy thing is we spent almost exactly half of that for exactly half the time you guys traveled! DoughHound.com looks great!
Jillian says
@Laurel: We did visit a lot of friends in Europe so we really didn’t go to many of the big tourist attractions. That being said we had a wonderful time hiking, wine tasting, beer drinking and generally soaking up the culture.
@Aygnelina- $30 a day sounds just about right. Where are you living in Latin America?
@Matt- ahh and so our trips merge again! Hopefully the four of us will get to share notes in person one of these days. Thanks for the support!
monette | fliptravels says
thanks for posting this! the breakdown of expenses is absolutely helpful for people who are looking into traveling the places you’ve been! will definitely get to use this someday! 馃檪
Jillian says
@Monette- Glad to help. This is just our spending, it would be easy to spend more or less depending on your travel style!
Rebecca says
First of all, congrats on the new website AND for getting a piece in the NY Times!
Second, your financial updates are so helpful with budgeting and planning – thanks for sharing!
Jillian says
@Rebecca Thanks on both accounts. It’s been a busy 2011 so far!
Grace says
Love love this post because it will help me plan my RTW budget. Quick q-by how much do you guys think this would have been more expensive if you were not traveling as a couple since you can share lodging? Or do you think that this would be a similar budget for someone traveling solo. Thanks!
Pankaj Sharma says
Hey Guys,
You forgot to add the water spill in Mumbai @ our home… I need to send you my invoice for that 馃檪
Loved the detailing…. you guys are inspirational and hopefully we would be able to do something similar with a falling Rupee value 馃檨
Cheers & Luv
Pankaj & Kim
Danny says
I made it a point to forget about that one! When are you two hitting the road and coming our way?