Money to travel – How much money do I need to travel around the world?

This is a question people often ask us and it would be great if we could just be able to easily give them a price estimation. But the amount of money it will cost to travel is unfortunately and luckily depending on a multitude of choices and decisions. Unfortunately we say because we can’t offer you a quick answer and luckily because it gives every one of us the possibility to travel around the world even though we may not have the money to start with.

There are, as we have already shown in previous blog posts and on this website, different ways of traveling which doesn’t have to cost any money, or at least not very much. Sometimes it is even possible to get paid to travel! Still, this is not for everyone and therefore we will make an attempt to describe how you can find out what kind of money you will need. What’s the point of finding out how much someone else needs? You’ll want to know what the costs will be for you….

To do this we have to take the whole question apart and look at the different pieces. On the How to travel page we did this by highlighting the different parts that make up what we call the Travel Stew:

• What to do while traveling
• Ways to travel
• Travel and accommodation

So before doing anything else, the best would be if you could describe your dream journey. Having a clear vision for your self will be a tremendous help to estimating the amount of money you’ll need.

The image of a dream journey is for many people a holiday with lazy time on the beach. And that is maybe OK if you only got a week or so at your disposal. But, and this is not just our opinion but the experience of a lot of travelers, it tends to get a bit boring if you are on an extended journey.

Anyway, before moving any further into the cost of traveling, you need to be clear on what you are looking for to buy. The same goes for traveling as for any other purchase. Buying something from the top of the line and expecting to pay a bargain price is not particularly common. You will either have to put up more money or lower your demands. But if you are willing to do that you can always find something suitable.

A couple of important aspects to take into consideration are how and when you want to pay. What we mean by this is that not everything has to be paid for with cash.

Sometime you can pay with your work, like for instance if you offer your time and labor in exchange for food and lodging by being a WWOOFer.

An alternative way to raise money if you are time rich but money poor is for instance to take a slow bus ride instead of a fast flight. You will get to the same destination but usually not at the same time.

And then you also have to take into consideration if you are willing to make some money during the journey or if you want to have it all in the bank before taking off?

So this money to travel issue is a major topic and we need to break it up into several posts. If you do have anything to add or specific questions don’t hesitate to let us know.

Please stay tuned for our follow up on the different aspects, and in the mean time do take the opportunity to look at what you want out of YOUR extended journey. Knowing that will take you a long way…