The cost of traveling for a year. (Part 1)
Every time we say we’ve been traveling the world for about a year, people give us that weird look. And we know what they are thinking. But only some dare to ask the question: how much does a world trip cost?
This was the question we googled many times before leaving everything behind to travel. But to be honest, we never really cared or took this into account. We knew the amount of money we had, and we knew how much we wanted to use for travels. Our idea was to return home with still some buffer to start a life again. And with that, we’d travel as long and far as we could.
The moment we hand in our keys and left our house
Most blogs I found back then always gave bare answers and the typical ‘it depends on so many factors’… And I know, before taking the risk of maybe quitting your job, leaving your house, and all you own behind, you want to have an estimation of how much a world trip costs, right?
So, I’m here to tell you our truth about our spending’s and the way we traveled. Also a lot of facts that will help you understand the main costs, and from there, you can make your own calculation.
Let´s give you what you want:
We travelled through Africa and Asia for 10 months, 15 countries in total, and spent together 20.000€.
Now, let´s break it down.
Southeast Asia is one of the cheapest areas to travel, and there your money goes a long way. We spent almost 7 months travelling in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore , Philippines, and we left Japan and South Korea for the end.
The other 3 months we travelled in Africa visiting Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.
Traveling together is cheaper than traveling alone
You have to realize that traveling as a couple will normally be cheaper than travelling alone, because you can split the costs of accommodation. We only slept in dorm rooms of hostels twice. The first time was in Vietnam. We wanted to give it a try as the night was 3€ for two people with a good breakfast included. The other time was in Kuala Lumpur , because we wanted to stay near the Petronas Towers for some specific reasons, and that was the most affordable option. But in general, a private room for two will cost around the same as two bunk beds in a dorm room. Some times even less. And other times it will be a bit more expensive, but worth the extra space, privacy and safety.
That said, if you´re planning on traveling alone, don´t worry. That also means more flexibility and you´ll probably find great deals.
Renting a motorbike in Vietnam
Traveling as a couple, or with a friend, also helps save on stuff like trying new food or getting local souvenirs, because you can order one and share it to see if you like it. Transport like tuk-tuks, uber rides and renting a scooter, as well as the costs of SIM cards for internet are also split. And something also helpful is that you have two pieces of luggage, but you don´t need everything duplicate. For example, you only need one sunscreen, on mosquito net, one mosquito spray, one bag of medicines…
To sum it up
So, if you ask us how much does a world trip cost, I would say that for us it was 20.000€ together. A single person doing the same things we did would probably spend a bit more. Maybe something like 13.000€.
Anyway, everyone travels very differently. So for you to understand our costs, I have to tell you about the way we travelled. And don’t worry, I will tell you all about this on the second part of this post.
If there’s any specific details you’d like to know about our costs, let use know below!
Cheers,
Blanca and Richard
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