366 days of traveling around the world in 23 countries. Throughout the journey, “How much is that going to cost you?” is one of the first questions I hear when the topic of my adventure comes up.
Well, I finally have an answer for you:
Which Breaks Down To:
To give you a general idea of what’s possible with this budget I’ve listed a few details from the trip and one highlight from each of the countries I visited:
- 11 dive, 3 day scuba trip on the Great Barrier Reef
- 2 week camper van trip around New Zealand
- Eating a century egg in Singapore
- Fresh mango juice on Gili Trawangan Island, Indonesia
- Petting a giant tiger in Chang Mai, Thailand
- Day trip out to Cheung Chau Island in Hong Kong
- Hike up to Tugela Falls in South Africa
- Tasting the homemade corn beer in Lesotho
- Spending a Sunday on Brick Lane Market in London, England
- Sleeping in a 2000+ year old cave with a Bedouin family in Petra, Jordan
- Private Tango show in Madrid, Spain
- Rope swinging into Lake Eibsee, Germany
- Pedal boating through the canals in Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Getting hammered on Belgian beer in Belgium
- Buck-naked photo in front of Mt. Eiger in Switzerland
- Learning what a legit weinerschnitzel is in Austria
- Ruin bar crawl in Budapest, Hungary
- Splitting a bottle of real Absinthe in Prague, Czech Repulic
- Train ride over the Oresund Bridge in Denmark
- Experiencing the midnight sun in Lofoton, Norway
- The power of Iguazu Falls in Argentina
- Week-long trip to Easter Island, Chile
- Floating island tour in Lake Titicaca, Peru
$60.78 dollars per day includes EVERYTHING I spent for the year except for my gear. Below you will find tables and graphs to demonstrate where I went, how long I was there, spending by continent and spending by category. The 5 categories are:
Food
- Food and beverage (excluding alcohol)
Accommodation
- Hostels, hotels, home-stays, etc.
- Non-food products (toothpaste, soap, deodorant, medicine, etc.)
- Non-entertainment services (travel insurance, doctor’s visits, laundry, money exchanges, haircuts, etc.)
Transportation
- Planes, trains, automobiles, ferries, etc. (excluding transportation for tours)
- Gas
Entertainment
- Tours, shows and adventure sports
- Entrance fees
- Equipment fees
Alcohol
- The cause and solution to all of life’s problems
Oceania - 79 Days
- Australia
- New Zealand
Asia - 56 Days
- Singapore
- Indonesia
- Thailand
- Hong Kong
Africa - 29 Days
- South Africa
- Lesotho
Europe - 118 Days
- England
- Jordan*
- Spain
- Germany
- Netherland
- Belgium
- Switzerland
- Austria
- Hugary
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Norway
*Jordan isn't technically part of Europe, but that's how American Airlines viewed it when booking my RTW ticket, so since it makes it easier for me, I'll categorize it similarly.
South America - 84 Days
- Argentina
- Chile
- Peru
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What a year. I’m back in the USA and currently stopped in New Mexico for about a week and a half before hitting the road for two weddings. Everyone keeps asking how much I spent so I figured I’d get this general budget post out before writing more specific posts. I have 10 months of the trip to catch everyone up on so expect to see at least a post every two weeks filled with adventures, pictures and logistics.
Cheers!
Incredible! That sounds about right, especially if you were keeping such a close eye on costs. We are in the midst of planning and saving for our own adventure next year. We are thinking it will probably cost us quite a lot more since we are not doing the points thing like you did for flights, and also because a lot of our travel will be in Africa, which is super expensive to get around in.
Loving the website and wish you well on your quest for awesome!
It took me a few weeks to realize how important it was to keep a close eye on the finances. In the end it’s the little things that will get you. I’m stoked for you two and your trip and jealous of how much travel through Africa you’re planning!
Safe travels and may the planning and saving be easy.
Hi Dave,
I arrived here from the post in the Art of Manliness blog.
Your adventure was incredible and how generous you are of sharing the planning of your trip with everybody.
Thanks for that!
I wonder what will be your next trip?
Best
Leandro
Next big trip will be out to Israel and some of Europe 🙂
thanks for the detailed budget! I am leaving on my 1 year adventure in May and seems like I budgeted correctly. I love your posts. Thanks again for all the great info!
Awesome!
I love hearing about people leaving on their own adventures, so you better keep me in the loop 🙂
So stoked you enjoy the posts!
Thats sounds adventurous! my girls friend and i are planning a trip but only have a quarter of your budget. We were planning to work while we traveled. Well wonder if there is someone to talk to about traveling.
Even if you have a quarter of the budget you can still have AMAZING adventures. Some of my favorite adventures were free or very inexpensive. If you need someone to chat with, just let me know!
I’m about to leave in July 2015 for my own 1 year adventure. Thanks for the budget & all the awesome information, I have planned to be mostly in Asia and then jump around when an opportunity presents itself to save money. I will be watercoloring a lot to document my trip if you guys are interested check out my journey @ http://www.ryanjrankin.info & http://www.studioliquidflux.com
Keep up the good work David, hope to see you on the road sometime!
Safe travels my friend! Can’t wait to see the watercolors!
HI Dave,
Great website and posts, really helpful! My brother and I are less than a month away from starting our RTW tour and are getting stoked! Do you recommend a finance app to help you chart your budget? I’m looking to do something like what you did above, super helpful!
Thanks,
CP
Hell yeah! Nicely done you two, I’m stoked for you!
I’m sure there are some finance apps to help you track the budget, but personally I just used the notepad on my phone and kept track of it all in my journal.
Then you can use excel to chart everything.
Amazing Post/Blog, but as a proud austrian i have to tell you that it spells”wiener schnitzel” wien = vienna 😉
Glad you enjoyed the post and thank you for the correction proud Austrian 🙂
Did this budget presume using a RTW ticket booked with mostly miles, or does this factor in a RTW ticket booked with cash? I saw your other post about using an AA RTW ticket booked on mostly points (with ~1,000 in fees) and so wasn’t sure 🙂
Sounds amazing!
Hi Kay!
Yeah, this budget is what I spent while I traveled and a majority of the airline tickets were bought using points. You can also check out my most recent budget/expense post from 2015 where none of my flights were bought with miles: https://www.thequestforawesome.com/2015-expense-report/
Happy travels!
Hey,
I’m a working professional in IT-Software.
Now I want a change…or job where I can
Travel around the world.
Pls keep me updated.
Your help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Will do!
Got here from AoM. Thanks a lot for all the info and the inspiration! Keep it up!
Peace
Thanks Matt!
How about visas and vaccinations?
Interesting point … for example I started my travels around the world at my 18 years of age and even though it was not something my parents wanted very much, I followed my adventurous heart and I have been through more than 20 countries so far.
Traveling is something that to me is addictive and incredible. But I only find it interesting when you have a cash income that does not depend on physical means to win. And I also really prefer to travel by car on the roads than by plane.
You miss a lot of incredible things like amazing landscapes and places. But unforeseen events can happen and something unexpected happens. It is always great to be able to read and learn new tips and experiences on nomadism.
I love traveling the world too 🙂