And while certain areas will take longer to go away completely, the doctor is confident they will disappear. So, was it worth it? The laser treatments are designed to permanently rid the body of the veins they treat, but if other...
I would be shocked if they didn't! THE CONCLUSION… My point is this…had I left home way back when with $20, 000 instead of $1500 in my bank account, I'm not so sure I would've been open to all of these life-changing experiences. As a result, I doubt that I would have achieved my goal of living a life of constant travel. (Ok, it hasn't been a full life yet, but 11 years seems like a good start! ) On the other hand, I won't deny that having a little extra money in the beginning doesn't hurt. Everyone can use a bit of a cushion to fall back on if things get tough. And if a person is not fully ready to begin their travels, then by all means, continue saving some money! But if you're already at the point where you're just itching to get out there and explore the world, you don't necessarily need to wait around for another year in the hopes of turning $5, 000 in savings into $10, 000. I'd personally rather have that extra year of travel experiences, which will inevitably lead to the opportunities that will change and improve your life in ways you can't yet imagine.
was $1, 500 for our apartment and $2, 300 when we owned a house. Our Airbnb when we travel averages about $1, 200, running between $700 to $1, 500 monthly. Of course, we stay in nice places. Using our Flagstaff apartment as a baseline, we save about $300 a month by living in other countries. Our hotel in Chengdu, China No utility costs But there's more to these savings. We have no utility costs. We don't pay for electricity, water, gas, trash, or internet service. That's all included in the Airbnb fee. In Arizona, those utility costs ran about $270/month. This brings the housing savings to $570 monthly. But there's more, we are not paying for cleaning products, paper towels, and appliance repairs and replacement, nor do we pay for insurance or property tax. I'm going to add just $30 a month for all of that to make the house savings and even $600. Substituting air, rail, taxi, and metro for your car The next big expense is transportation: the car. For this, I'll need to use an average because we don't actually own a car.
We estimated that S. E. Asia would cost us around $40 to $50/day and that was achievable. We never planned on coming to the Western Hemisphere, so it's been a bonus, a far more costly one. We started out trying to travel as cheaply as possible but we became extremely lax with the purse strings as time went on. What the heck, it was fun. The cost of travelling the world evens out over time, some days, in London for example, are very expensive, we balanced those days out by travelling much longer and slower in lower-cost countries. We have a no budget policy, budgets cramp your style. Did We Have Any Free Travel? We stayed with friends on Penang and for some of the time in the UK. We had a couple of free hotel stays through collecting reward points. We had free use of a family car in the UK. We had 2 discounted hotel stays in Malaysia, all other hotels have been paid at normal rates, no blogger perks at all. We've had a lot of free admissions to theme parks and other attractions because of our travel blog, remember, this was year 1, we were very new bloggers and still we got these perks.
27 Visas, Permits, Travel documents (includes Thai retirement visa 2018-19) 1, 260. 11 TOTAL $36, 401. 54 2016 Long-Term Travel Expenses ($30, 728. 22, or $84. 19 per day/$2, 561 per month) 2016 cost of living pie chart answers the question, "How much does it cost to travel full time? " in a modest manner as I traveled around the world Category Cost Accommodations $16, 863. 87 Bank Charges (later upgraded to Platinum w/no foreign transaction fees) 233. 52 Dues, Subscriptions, Memberships 155. 00 Entertainment (movies) 14. 68 Groceries and Restaurant Meals 5, 342. 92 Miscellaneous (laundry, pay toilets, luggage storage, photo fees) 199. 23 Postage and mail forwarding service 233. 40 Supplies (bottled water) 50. 92 Tours and Entrance Fees 971. 16 Transport (airfare, trains, buses, boats, taxis, public transportation, car rental, fuel, parking, tolls) 5, 999. 66 Utilities (Skype subscription and phone number, worldwide sim card and pre-loaded credit, Thai sim card and pre-loaded credit, wifi access, electric, water) 367.
Returning to the mainland 7 weeks later, we flew into Kuala Lumpur and took buses down to Malacca and Johor Baru for Legoland Malaysia. We returned to KL and flew to London via Sri Lanka. Our flight allowed us a 1 month stop over in Sri Lanka. By now it was November, we spent Christmas in the UK before taking a cruise trip to New York. We took a road trip around the US and briefly into Canada, ending up in Florida. We flew from Florida to El Salvador and took the bus into Guatemala. 7 weeks of Guatemala later we flew back to Florida, again via El Salvador. A few more days in Florida and then another cruise ship to Barcelona via Madeira. One week in Spain and then we flew to London, which is where we are now. ( were at the time of writing) How much does it cost to travel the world with a family? It depends where you go? Beautiful, fascinating countries like Slovenia can be ultra cheap, Italy and Switzerland will cost you a lot. Did We Have a Travel Budget? No, not really, not since leaving Asia, we just tried to spend as little as possible.
92 2, 412. 75 TOTAL $14, 433. 96 $28, 206. 45 $13, 772. 49 So how much does it cost to travel the world full time? I guess the answer is, it depends. Being a nomad is not for everyone. The first question you have to ask yourself is whether you can handle not having a permanent home base. I will admit that it's hard in the beginning, but like everything else in life, you get used to it. Within six months it was my new norm, and I really couldn't fathom going back to my old life. Even after my recent decision to rent an apartment in Chiang Mai, Thailand, as my new home base, I still get itchy feet and have to go back on the road several months per year. Beyond that, it's a matter of the comfort level you desire when traveling. Obviously $36, 000 per year is not going to pay for luxurious resorts or hotels, but it can allow a comfortable travel lifestyle. And if you are budget minded, you can follow in my footsteps and do it for less than $50 per day.
Now in year 5 of full time travel, I can't believe we travelled so cheaply in year one. We had $30, 000 to spend and we were trying to make it last as long as possible. That sum was for 4 people and you'll see below how long it lasted and how much travel we got for our money. So how much money do you need to travel the world? It depends on you, how will you travel? What are your priorities, what will you save on and splurge on? We can give you an idea below. How much does it cost to travel the world really has no answer. If I say $50 per day some will find that high, some low, but I can tell you that $50 per day IS achievable in the low-cost parts of the world even for a family of 4. I know of families budgeting $40 per day. These days we shoot for $100 per day. We're spending more because we can, life is easier, but let's look at that first year of world travel and how much it cost. Any post on this site may contain affiliate links. We earn commission on these should you make a purchase.
If my once shy, confused, young and naïve self can find a way to turn $1500 into a decade of travel, there's nothing stopping anybody from doing the same. It doesn't take long to discover that your open mind is far more valuable than an extra few thousand dollars in your bank account! Do you agree or disagree that a person doesn't need too much money to start a life of travel? I'd be interested to hear some of your stories, whether you've been traveling for a while or if you're in the planning stages for an upcoming adventure… Photo credit: WaMu ATM