The most popular question we were asked after the trip was about money.
There wasn't a person who didn't ask how much it costs trip around the world for a year. And I, in general, understand these people; I probably wouldn’t have resisted myself.
In this post I will try to answer this question in as much detail as possible.
So, let's start our financial striptease -)

I warn you, the article is long and boring, just numbers and no photographs.
This article should not be taken as an axiom, i.e. Just because we spent this amount of money does not mean that it will be acceptable to everyone. These expenses were determined precisely by our desires and capabilities based on our preferences.
It cannot be said that we kept ourselves in a black body and sat on bread and water, but at the same time, sometimes we had to limit ourselves in some way. We lived in both hotels and hostels, flew on planes and hitchhiked, ate in restaurants and local cafes. It all depends on the country, the season and your specific circumstances. Therefore, these figures can be considered as some kind of indicator average temperature by hospital, i.e. it gives only a general idea, without specifics.

The following expenses include only travel expenses: flights/transfers, visas, food, accommodation, all kinds of tickets, bike rental, souvenirs, etc.
This does not include preparation costs: purchasing backpacks, insurance, trekking shoes, a camera, etc.
This also does not include unforeseen expenses that could have been avoided.
All costs are indicated for 2 people, i.e. if you are traveling alone, you can safely divide the amount in half.

We were traveling around the world for almost 1 year, from 2012 to 2013, prices are accordingly indicated for this period. So, let's begin.

We spent a total of 198 days in Asia and spent $8,627 during this time.
On average, it cost about $45 per day for both of us, this amount does not include flights. Also, daily expenses do not include obtaining expensive visas: Chinese, Australian and American. But daily expenses include travel and minor visas, which are issued at the border or obtained relatively easily, quickly and cheaply at the embassy.
Those expenses that were not taken into account in the daily expense are shaded in gray.

The daily expense includes everything except visas and flights, it is very convenient to use to approximately estimate the cost of living in the country. This also includes the cost of entrance tickets to various attractions. I will say again that these costs are average and approximate, i.e. It’s quite possible we forgot to calculate something.
We got a visa to Moscow through an agency, of course it was cheaper ourselves, but at the beginning of the journey we had little time and no experience at all in obtaining visas, so we decided to entrust this matter to professionals. The visa was issued for a double entry, because... We planned to stop by, but never did.
China turned out to be very expensive; in my naivety, for some reason I thought that it should have been cheaper there, for example, like in Thailand. It seems like cheap Chinese goods and all that, yeah of course -)
It turned out to be especially expensive to move around the country in China, because... The distances are long, but I want to see more. Moreover, in China we were just learning how to communicate with Asian sellers.
The cheapest country in Asia turned out to be for us, for a decent double with internet in a guesthouse in Siem Reap, we paid about 6-7 dollars per room.
I would also note that the longer you live in the country, the less expenses you have, especially if you rent housing for a month. That’s exactly what we did, and in the end we paid 5,500 rubles for a month of living in a house in Ao Nang. Prices for hotels in Ao Nang for a short period of time can be viewed.

The most expensive, of course, turned out to be, this was expected, and in general there is nothing to do there for more than 3 days. During this period, you can see everything. You can get a rough idea of ​​hotel prices in Singapore.

After Asia there was Australia, where we headed from Bali. In Australia, $1,301 was spent in 25 days

We received a visa to Australia in Bali, this process is described in great detail.
Australia was the most expensive country we visited, with the minimum price for a hostel averaging $30. And this is for the biggest dorm, far from being in the best hostel.
I wrote about prices in Australia and how you can save money there.
We mainly managed to save money by staying with couchsurfers. Especially thank you very much Dima and Tatyana Komarov.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to see the country thoroughly; to do this, you either need to hitchhike for a long time or rent a car (the best option).

From Australia we flew to Buenos Aires and began to travel around South America.
As a result, in 81 days we spent $8,333 through joint efforts.

The flight to South Africa turned out to be even cheaper than we had planned, common price about $2000 per ticket, but... we took the ticket the day before departure, the price was lower. Usually it’s the other way around, but as you can see, there are exceptions.
The most expensive country turned out to be (which was quite expected) about prices in Argentina there is this wonderful one.
But what we didn’t expect was such high prices from Brazil.
In general, in almost all countries of South Africa, prices are higher than in Russia, with exceptions and perhaps a couple of other countries that we have not visited.
Argentina came out on top in part because there is no cheap way to get around the country. Either expensive buses or planes. Moreover, the price of a plane is sometimes cheaper than a bus. The distances in the country are enormous, sometimes it is cheaper to fly somewhere by plane than to travel 20 hours by bus.
Bolivia turned out to be the cheapest, and in my opinion, the most colorful country in South Africa. To be honest, I didn’t expect to get so many emotions from this small country. Housing prices in Bolivia can be estimated based on the cost of hotels in the country's capital, La Paz.
By the way, in Bolivia we received an American visa without any problems; perhaps this information will be useful to those planning a trip around the world.
The biggest expense in Bolivia was probably the Uyuni salt flats tour. We chose the most expensive company and were very pleased.
an amazing place, unique and the only one on earth, and you wouldn’t mind spending any money to see it. I can say with confidence that for me this was the main motive for visiting SA.
Peru is a very touristy country, although once you get off the beaten path, you see something between Cambodia and Bolivia. You can see housing prices in perhaps the most popular Peruvian city of Cusco among tourists.

“Not to be greedy is already wealth, not to be wasteful is income.”
Cicero

One of the most popular questions we get asked is how much money we spent on our trip around the world.

But still, we again want to emphasize that for you main question it should not be how much we spent, but how much you will spend when you go on your own travels.

In this article, I decided to analyze the factors that influence the formation of the cost of a trip around the world.

I hope that the information below will help you understand at least where to start planning your budget for a trip around the world. And for some it may be a discovery that big trips are much more accessible than it might seem! Let this be the first article in our blog on how to plan an enjoyable, long, safe and cheap travel. We hope it will be useful.

Survey results

We conducted a survey in which we asked a secret question: how much does a trip around the world cost? We didn’t receive many replies (199 in Russian). We also need to take into account the specifics of our audience. Among our readers, on the one hand, there are many IT specialists with large salaries and big demands, on the other hand, there are many hitchhikers and hikers, as well as familiar travel bloggers.

There were only six answers in English, so I did not include these results in the graphs.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the survey and shared it among their friends!

So, let's look at the most general result (on the horizontal axis the price of one year of active and interesting travel around the world per person in US dollars):

As you can see, most people believe that a one-year trip around the world will cost no more than $20,000, while many are willing to settle for $5,000. So I decided to increase the zone to $20,000, and it shows that the most popular answer options are approximately $10,000 (a nice round amount), $3,000 and $6,000.

Around the world experience. Let's see how the result depends on whether the respondents have been on a trip around the world or are planning to.

It turns out that those who are going on a trip around the world are the most optimistic group =) Which, in general, is both logical and correct. We have few answers from people who have traveled, but their answer is no longer a forecast, but a result. Most spent $10,000 or $20,000.

Floor. The estimated cost of a circumnavigation for women is generally higher:

Income. As income levels rise, estimates of costs for traveling around the world also increase:

Age. The most optimistic assessments are given by the oldest and youngest survey participants:

Analysis of your own income

Oddly enough, the cost of travel no longer depends on the average price of hotels in Asia or flights across the Atlantic.

It depends on how much money does a particular traveler leave with?.

So, first thing.

Think about it:

• How much money do you earn per month/year?
• How much of this money can you save?
• How many months/years are you ready to collect money?

Voila, you get a certain amount.

There are many advice articles on how to increase this amount (for example, not buying unnecessary things), I won’t dwell on this topic.

This amount is your reality, it determines your travel style, whether you will hitchhike and sleep in a tent or fly in a helicopter :)

Choosing Priorities

On a long trip (say, more than two months) this is a very important question.

The choice is usually trivial: time or money.

Let's say you have a list of places you want to visit. You can either quickly skip through it using buses/planes/hotels or savor it slowly by hitchhiking and living for weeks in different places through work away or couchsurfing.

This will greatly influence the final cost of your trip.

Photo: getting ready to board a regular flight from to.

But the most important:

Whatever your travel style, stay positive!

Rigorous planning

Expenditures

Let's look at what the cost of a round the world trip consists of and roughly estimate the amount.

Transport

The most expensive thing is, of course, transport. Especially intercontinental flights. As a rule, it is impossible to avoid them; there are a few cases when someone managed to cross the ocean by air or hydrostop.

But still, the price can be made affordable, if you monitor prices/discounts and buy tickets in advance.

When calculating the cost, you should immediately see how much they will cost in total long flights. As a rule, these will be one-way flights.

At one time we considered the so-called round the world tickets, which are offered by most airline alliances, but they turned out to be unreasonably expensive and the process of purchasing and confirming each flight was tedious. Later, the refusal of such tickets was justified, because the entire route had to be flown in a year.

It is impossible to take into account the costs of smaller movements =)

Prices change, plans change during the trip, as I wrote earlier.

This is where everything happens for travelers using the fallback method. As we run out of money, we switch from planes to buses and hitchhiking.

An example of a calculation, or an arithmetic task for a second grade student.

Visas

This cost item is small, but also inevitable. It very much depends on your citizenship and the list of countries you are going to visit.

Let's say our backpacker spent $400.

Housing

There are three options:

1. Spend the night using couchsurfing or registration. For free. An excellent option for long trips. Requires experience and skills (“wisdom”). Where things don't work out, we spend the night in a tent or in a cheap hostel.

If you haven't signed up for Airbnb yet:

Let's say that a certain French backpacker traveled for a year inexpensive countries and on average paid $8 per night in a dorm:

$8 * 365 (days per year) = $2920

Food

Surprisingly, food is usually not expensive.

Especially in warm countries, where one meal costs 1-4 $US.

In addition, you can cook yourself, sometimes you will be fed by those you meet on the road, sometimes you will feed them.

Let's return to our backpacker, $2 “seems to be” inexpensive:

$2 x 3 (meals) x 365 (days) = $2190

But then again, you can eat cheaper than a certain French backpacker.

The costs are due to the fact that all the equipment must be purchased first, if it was not purchased before the start of the trip.

You may need a backpack, a tent, a camera, comfortable travel clothes and shoes, and other things that are not always needed in everyday life. And it all costs a lot.

Equipment has three negative properties: break, get lost, and also the fact that it can be stolen. In this regard, costs increase: you need to repair or buy a new one.

Our backpacker bought himself a backpack (200) + sleeping bag (100) = $300. Friends gave him a tent and a mat. During the course of the play, his shoes broke 2 times, plus a bunch of clothes were worn out and worn out, and he spent another 300 on repairs and buying new junk.

Total $600.

Bars, alcohol, cigarettes, snacks

We are not monks, we are not blessed travelers. Our goal is not only to pass certain points on the globe.

Means, Everyone has their own way to spend money on something unnecessary.: alcohol, cigarettes, discos, etc.

There are backpackers who only hitchhike, but at the same time spend the money they save on beer. Although here, . It's very individual.

Here the calculation starts to work limitation principle.

Let's say we bet $1 per day - that's $30 per month, or $365 per year. It's a can of beer, or ice cream, or some fruit every day.

For a Western European backpacker, we'll set it at $3. (According to our observations, they drink a lot.)

Or $1068 per year.

Tickets for attractions and tours

The blogs of our compatriots are full of notes on how to get through for free. But, unfortunately, this is not possible everywhere; not everywhere we want to sweat and put ourselves and the workers of the local tourism industry in an uncomfortable position.

We have with experience of circumnavigation the costs are significantly reduced, because we are visiting banal ones less and less tourist places from a guidebook and spend more time communicating with people and nature, searching for beauty in the everyday life of other countries.

We also travel more independently than with a tour.

We will limit it to $100 per month. Actually it won't be enough. No Machu Picchu or anything else.

Total $1200 per year.

For a French backpacker, we will introduce a limit of $300 per month. He, as befits a bourgeois person, will pay for “trekking”, diving and riding in a hot air balloon.

$3600 per year.

Medicine

In distant countries there is a great danger of getting sick, including unprecedented exotic diseases, as well as getting into an accident or being injured.

It is very popular to buy cheap insurance that costs less than $100. It has enough coverage to cure a runny nose. If a tourist gets into an accident, the coverage is enough to pay for 1-3 days in hospital.

That's why very important to have !

Moreover, one that provides a large amount of expenses and includes various extreme sports (motorcycle, bicycle, hiking, diving, etc.).

Please add the cost of insurance to the estimate.

Also, in an amicable way, before leaving, you need to do vaccinations from various dangerous infections (yellow fever, typhoid, tetanus, etc.)

Then they write on Facebook/VKontakte that they urgently need to raise $100,500 for treatment, because the doctors did not have time to collect the victim in 1-3 days. There are especially many such posts in groups in Thailand and Indonesia, because falling off a motorcycle is popular there. Let's say our backpacker bought it for $1000 a year.

Calculation for our backpacker

Class 0. European tourist. So our abstract French friend is going to spend:

6600 (transport) + 2920 (housing) + 2190 (food) + 600 (equipment) + 1068 (alcohol and snacks) + 3600 (tours) + 1000 (medicine) + 400 (visas) = ​​$18,379

Approximately 18-19k. Somehow it turned out a lot. Let's see how we can shorten it.

Class 1. Greedy European tourist. No alcohol and cigarettes! Let's limit tours to $100 per month, take simpler equipment, and limit food expenses by half (i.e., eat mainly rice and pasta with vegetables).

6600 (transport) + 2920 (housing) + 1000 (food) + 50 (equipment) + 1200 (tours) + 1000 (medicine) + 400 (visas) = ​​13170 $

Approximately 13-14k. Still a lot?

Class 2. Thrifty traveler and novice hitchhiker. We reduce transport costs by half. We halve the costs of housing and tours (implies that we spend the night for free most of the time), cross out some countries so as not to pay for a visa. We remove medical expenses (not recommended, but, in practice, this is often the case). We don’t get sick, we cross the road carefully.

3000 (transport) + 1500 (accommodation) + 600 (food) + 50 (equipment) + 600 (tours) + 250 (visas) = ​​$6000

6k money. Is it already real?

Nevertheless:

Class 3. Cool hitchhiker. This means we only travel for free, let’s say we pay only $2*1000 for flights via Tikhii and Atlantic Ocean and some ferries. We only stay overnight for free, we don’t take tours. We climb into the sights like a pirate, i.e. exclusively free.

2000 (transport) + 0 (accommodation) + 50 (equipment) + 600 (food) + 0 (tours) = $2650

2-3k money.

Class 4. God of hitchhiking. An almost unattainable ideal. Travel across seas and oceans using hydro- or airstop. As a rule, such a traveler knows how to please everyone and finds a common language with everyone. Including the chief of the Matumba tribe in Africa, who speaks only the language of his tribe. He is also able to convince him to let him into a train, a plane, a museum, spend the night in a house for free, and give him a free visa. And to convince precisely the people he sees for the first time.

We put $1 of expenses for one day and what we have in reserve, let’s say another $400. (We hope to return the reserve home! But part of it inevitably goes towards visas.)

That is, less than 1k money.

This class of travelers contains a huge number of people: these are students who hitchhike to Crimea and sleep “savage”. And also grandmothers crossing half of the CIS as a hare on electric trains. Moreover, these grandmothers could easily make a trip around the world almost free of charge if they wanted. But why do they need it? They just want to see their grandson, bring home jam and cucumbers, touch a holy relic with their lips, etc.

Very important: Typically, travelers end up in classes 3 and 4 not out of a desire to save money, but because they like this lifestyle. They love to communicate with drivers, look for registration, they are comfortable with constant uncertainty, they are looking for adventure. If you are interested, you can read books by Anton Krotov for inspiration.

Interesting to see what class of travel did survey participants choose?.

It somehow turned out to be a lot of hitchhiking gods :)

To restore justice and get a more conveniently readable chart, I decided to remove those who were going to spend less than $365 (that is, less than $1 per day) and more than $30,000, we get the following:

Factors shaping the cost of a trip around the world

If in the previous section there were objective things that are difficult to change, now let’s try to consider what depends more on us.

Who are we going on a trip with?

This is a very important question.

If we approach the issue of travel philosophically, we can say that a traveler pays for each day on the road in two currencies: ordinary money and his own internal energy. The only difference is that the energy itself is renewed (for free!!) when we sleep, have fun, drink wine, swim in the sea. If the energy runs out, you have to pay more money.

Everything is very simple.

You don’t have the strength to wave your hand on the side of the road and wait for a passing car - take the bus, you don’t have the strength to communicate with people at the check-in - you go to a hotel, you don’t have the strength to look for a cheaper hotel, go to the one you come across first.

The list of options for making travel more expensive is endless.

And here your travel companion is very important.

He (she) can replenish your strength with a kind word, hugs, etc., and also reduce your strength with his irritability and sour face. A fellow traveler carries part of the general equipment in his backpack and runs to look for a hotel when he no longer has the strength. Conducts correspondence on couchsurfing.

The choice of a travel companion determines not only how pleasant it will be to explore Big world, but also how expensive it will be.

Traveling alone has a number of advantages, but also many disadvantages. Typically this will be more expensive and more difficult.

The need for rest

Constant change of place and a lot of impressions can cloud our mind. With every week of travel we become less susceptible to the wonders that new countries open to us.

We become more distracted, lose things, miss the bus, etc.

I want to go back home.

Therefore, on a long journey you need to plan stops in pleasant places. inexpensive places to take a breath, relax, plan your next route, sort out the accumulated photographs.

In general, I believe that properly planned rest stops reduce costs :)

For example, the bulk of this article was written when we stayed for a week with friends in Punta Arenas, Chile (thanks, Stasia and Daniel!).

Experience

In the process of traveling, we not only learn about the world, but also learn to travel. We analyze our mistakes, communicate with other travelers, read the Internet, and thus gain new knowledge and skills.

Most likely, a person who has already wandered around the world a lot with his brain turned on will spend less money than the one who left his city for the first time. Because he knows how to buy air tickets and book a car at a better price. If this is a different style of trip, then he knows where to stop in order to quickly stop a passing car, how to spend the night for free (or cheap), where to get cheap food.

When Marina and I went on a trip around the world, within a month we noticed how our expenses began to rapidly decrease. You can gain experience faster if you go traveling with experienced friends. (Or if you read our blog!)

Planning a trip around the world: seasons and holidays

A person who has had to open any modern guidebook has probably noticed that the story about a country often begins with its seasons. They are associated with climate, holidays and other factors that make visiting the country the most favorable.

There are 4 types of seasons: low, high, peak and transition.

In the low season, visiting the country can be extremely unpleasant (for example, temperatures of -40, or constant rain) or even pointless.

Although, there are also opposite examples.

Under the sound of rain, we sorted out photos and wrote a blog, planning what to see in Indonesia. It was cold! And in the evening it was always sunny, we swam in the sea and enjoyed the sunset. And plus we tried parasailing at half the price.

Obviously during peak season (eg Christmas and New Year) prices skyrocket.

The costs of a trip around the world are largely determined by whether you can plan the logistics so that everywhere be in a good season, so as not to be overcharged and at the same time not to make unnecessary trips over long distances.

The cost of our round the world trip

This article was written when we had been around the world for more than a year and a half, and it was coming to an end. And so we decided to roughly calculate our expenses. It will no longer be possible to determine precisely, since the bank in which we kept part of the money went bankrupt, and our financial history in it disappeared.

During the first year of travel we spent about $11,000 per person.

The most significant expense items for the first year:

1. :) It cost about $2500 per person. We did OWD, AOWD and Nitrox certification, went on dive safaris, dived 49 dives each.

2. Intercontinental flights: $2200 per person:

• Kyiv - : 600$
• Manila - : 800$
• San Francisco - : $800

  How could you save money?

  I’ll say right away that this amount can be significantly reduced, if you hitchhike or ride a bicycle, but then a trip like ours will take 3-5 years instead of 1.5 years.

  I repeat once again that such hitchhiking and cycling is not a way to save money, but a way to understand the world. The stopper and cyclist notices something that an ordinary traveler like us does not see.

  But we could not afford to delay the trip; we had other urgent matters. And the goal was set to visit several parts of the world, to feel what life is like in different countries.

  How about working while traveling?

  Someone will rightly note that you can work while traveling.

  Can even come back in the black in terms of money.

  I think this is a topic for a separate article. For now, I’ll write that Marina and I quickly rejected this idea for various reasons.

  Firstly, we wanted to greatly change our lifestyle for a while, clear our minds, and relax.

  Secondly, we wanted to move quickly, actively, and spend all our free time on the journey itself, planning, analyzing photos/videos and blogging.

  Conclusions from the above

  If someone says they traveled for 6 months on $200, that doesn’t mean you can do it. Likewise, if your friend spent $8,000 in one month in the States, this does not mean that you will never be able to travel all over the United States on your modest salary.

  Your budget is very individual!

  You just need to collect as much money as you can and decide to hit the road.

  Truly traveling around the world is more of a gamble, an adventure than a pre-planned act, because we are faced with an equation in which there are too many unknowns, and, in the end, that’s the whole point.

  Good luck in your endeavors!

- this is a journey through all time zones, through all meridinans, crossing the equator 2 times.

How much does a trip around the world cost: Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, USA. Airfare and visa prices.

Which travel method should you choose?

• The easiest way is to buy a ticket through a travel agency a cruise ship Price from 1,000,000 rub. the simplest cabin, sails for 3-4 months.
• The second way is by trains, buses, ships, i.e. they don't fly at all. The cost of a trip around the world starts from 2 million rubles. Duration - about 1 year.
• By plane - the fastest and cheapest way.

You can buy a round-the-world plane ticket (5-15 connections) - the most expensive option. Cost from 250,000 rub. Economy class.

You can purchase individual tickets for selected countries. Cost from 170,000 rub.

Fly on low-cost airlines only with hand luggage- most cheap option. The price of tickets only is from 100,000 rubles. with all fees. Low-cost airlines fly across Russia: Pobeda, FlyDubai, AzurAir, Pegasus.

USA visa. It is better to start applying for a visa at least 7-12 months in advance due to the current situation in Russia, when scheduling an interview at the consulate in Moscow is problematic. Alternatively, you can apply for a visa in Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan or European countries (then the interview will be in English).

Fill out the form on the website, attach an electronic photo, pay the visa fee and sign up for an interview, pass the interview and receive a passport within 5-60 days (in case of administrative verification). Read more in .

Visa to Australia. Difficult to obtain visa. It is necessary to submit documents at least 1 month before the trip. Fill out the form on the embassy website (russia.embassy.gov.au), pay the visa fee, print the form, collect Required documents and deliver it to the embassy in any way. At the end, receive confirmation of your visa by email.

You can apply for a free transit visa online if you stay in Australia for up to 72 hours (3 days). It is much easier to obtain than a regular visa. A confirmation will be sent to you by email.

Tickets and route

Let's calculate the cost of traveling around the world by plane (regular airlines + low-cost airlines) as of December 2018. Stops in each city are 2-3 days. Adjust stopovers to suit you.

Moscow — Bangkok(no visa required). With a transfer in Irkutsk for 15,909 rubles. If you look at tickets from the regions, you can find them cheaper through Beijing. There is an option from Moscow via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines.

Bangkok - Kuala Lumpur(no visa required). AirAsia ticket for $59 (RUB 4,000)

Kuala Lumpur - Sydney(free transit visa up to 72 hours - issued via the Internet). Through AirAsia for $153 (RUB 10,400) Keep in mind that it is summer in Australia in January and winter in July.

Sydney to Hawaii(US visa required). The most difficult segment of the journey. Ticket through Jetstar.com or Australian Airlines to Honolulu for 449 Australian dollars (22,000 rub.) You can get a 50% discount. (flight for $221 Australian - 11,000 rubles).

Honolulu (Hawaii) - San Francisco - New York(American visa). We make a stopover in San Francisco for 1-2 days. Ticket for 20,335 rub. through Aviasales (through the Alaska Airlines website it’s 700 rubles cheaper) You can fly through Los Angeles (24 hour stopover) for 19,500 rubles.

New York - Moscow. Direct flight with Aeroflot via Skyscanner for RUR 34,594.

I advise you to fly only with hand luggage. Be sure to use the GPS navigator on your phone (offline Google maps or Maps.Me). Install an online English-Russian translator from Google on your phone.

Take it with you (order through Aliexpress) or buy an adapter for sockets on the spot (there are 3 types of sockets on your way).

Read about how to travel safely, save your money and documents.

Summarizing

Total costs for air tickets: 107,238 rubles. Visa costs: American $160 (RUB 10,880), Australian transit visa - free, no visa required for Asia.

If you buy all air tickets through search engines (aviasales, skyscanner, momondo), the cost will increase by 10-15%. If you wait for discounts and promotions from low-cost airlines, you can additionally save up to 20%.

If you fly in the summer months, in the off-season, tickets to Asia are much cheaper, plus you can find a ticket from Australia to Hawaii for 11,000 rubles. In total, your costs for air tickets will be about 80,000 rubles.

If you buy tickets in advance, you can save up to 10%.

Almost every person to whom we tell that we left home a year and a half ago asks how much money we use to travel around the world and how we manage to do it. In this article, which we specially wrote for the online magazine Life-trip, we will tell you how you can live, work, spend money, save in budget trip around the world, what is its cost.

What is the post about?

If your heart calls you, do not be afraid and do not resist.

This article is intended for those who are interested in the practical part of traveling around the world. For those who need to evaluate their own desire and its relationship with capabilities. We will tell you about life and money on the road using our own example and the example of our ongoing (on this moment a year and a half) trip around the world and our budget.

Of course, it's worth starting with the fact that budget travel - a thing that becomes more famous and popular here in Russia every year. Many travelers complete routes of unimaginable duration in time and space, not only with a small budget (Valery Shanin and his “Round the World Trip for $280” through 14 countries), but also practically without it (Vladimir Nesin and his travels barefoot: according to the traveler, the only the fixed amount is a pension of 7,000 rubles monthly). It is worth mentioning Anton Krotov, the creator of the Academy of Free Travel, the author and co-author of many published useful guide books on how to travel at minimal cost.

In general, the world is full of great romantics, practical travelers who share their experiences. And if the question “to go or not to go” comes down only to money, we recommend looking for information about the above and other free travelers on the Internet - their experience inspires action.

IN national park Sequoia, USA

Money at the time of start (what we had)

And now, about our approach. There was no thorough preparation for the trip around the world. It took us about two months from idea to implementation. All figures below are based on two people.

• money for obtaining an American visa (the only one done before departure) RUB 11,880,

• money for the first tickets: Moscow-Irkutsk train 11600 rub., Irkutsk-Harbin plane 222 EU,

• Freelance work, based on which we were able to plan a monthly budget of 30,000 rubles (for two)

• a small reserve for various deposits, which we planned to spend (and spent), at the end of their term, when going beyond the planned budget and in case of unforeseen expenses.

Planning a budget and tracking expenses is good because you create a kind of zero point, a bar against which you can evaluate your own strengths and possibilities of staying in a particular country so that your trip around the world lasts as long as you want. Of course, these opportunities vary in different countries, but a limited amount per month helps you be more vigilant.

Here, for example, are the statistics that we were able to compile due to this vigilance:

Expenses that include almost everything - travel, accommodation, food. Calculation per month for two (visa fees are indicated for one), validity period: end of 2013 - beginning of 2015.

• China— 24-26 thousand rubles (including a tourist visa for 1 month — 1200 rubles);
• Laos and Vietnam— 20 thousand rubles (both in the first and in the second country, Russians do not require a visa if the period of stay does not exceed two weeks);
• Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia— 15-20 thousand rubles (Cambodian visa 25$ US);
• Indonesia- 26-28 thousand rubles ($25 US - visa with a stay of up to 1 month, to stay longer, renew your tourist visa in Bali)
• Australia— 400$ AU at the rate of 1$ AU = 33 rubles (Australian tourist visa for a stay of up to 3 months 145$ US);
• USA- 30-35 thousand rubles, the exchange rate at that time was 35 rubles per dollar, including the cost of gasoline and a car, the visa was paid for in Moscow, and the period of stay we were given at the border was six months.
• Mexico (Guadalajara)— 30 ​​thousand rubles ( visa-free regime with a stay of up to six months - upon entry or exit you must pay a customs fee of $28 US).
• Mexico (Cancun)— 30 ​​thousand rubles at the beginning, and it was here that we saw the dollar exchange rate rise, and therefore, monthly expenses when converted into rubles increased greatly to 40 thousand.

Now let’s talk about what is perhaps the most pressing question: our ways of earning money. As practice shows, not many people believe in the opportunity to earn money on the road. Often, this lack of faith becomes the cause of a “requiem for a dream.” We are surprised when we pass by young homeless people who are drinking themselves to death: “Hands in place, head in place! Why doesn’t he find a job so he can live normally?” The most important thing is to remember that if there are no physical limitations, then you are unlikely to get lost, no matter where you are. And even with health limitations, the brave in spirit find their calling or are looking for it. The most difficult obstacles are in the mind, which means that only we can “remove” them.

We have long been addicted to the “freelancing” mode. It has two significant advantages - mobility and the ability to search for something that suits your spirit; and one minus - the amount of money earned directly depends on the time spent on work. We list below everything we use - from the grains something bigger is assembled.

Our ways to make money while traveling around the world

Sound drains

In a year and a half, selling sounds on stock brought in $45 US. We have an account on audiojungle.net.

Partnership programs

The main income is from travel blogs. We just started moving in this direction in March 2016. We installed an affiliate program from Airbnb. We also placed banners and links to affiliate programs found on travelpayouts: car rental, sale of tours, insurance. Let's see what the result will be in a couple of months.

Sale of printed photographs on foam board

Unsuccessful attempt. We have created a photo store on our website. Everything according to the mind: with a catalog, with beautiful pictures, with a basket. There were several orders, unfortunately, delivery failed. We couldn’t find a good contractor - photographs printed on foam board were delivered to Russian cities broken and broken. I had to abandon the idea.

Sale of handmade jewelry

At the end of 2015, Nastya became interested in creating jewelry from metal, natural stones and macrame. She posts some of her works on on your Instagram. We tried selling them in Colombia (Medellin, Cartagena) and Ecuador (Baños). There are sales, but not many. We tried to sell on Etsy, but it requires additional financial investments in advertising and promotion of the store, it’s not easy to promote it while it was put off.

Project website

Our project is non-profit, but there are some proposals around it for our readers that may be pleasant for them, and at the same time support our idea. In practice, this is more moral help, but it is no less important. For example, custom postcards brought in a total of about 3 thousand rubles in two and a half years.

Voluntary donations - support coming from our friends and relatives, about 30 thousand rubles over two and a half years.

Where does the money go when traveling?

Of course, in our case, the average mode is most convenient. Constant movement does not contribute to excess income, so we try to avoid excesses in expenses. Of course, sometimes we indulge in certain joys, but we won’t talk about them now. The next step would be to highlight the main expenses on our trip around the world.

Based on the established monthly budget, we, guided by our mood, balanced our spending. For example, if hitchhiking freed up funds allocated for movement, we could spend them on food; if we slept in a tent, we could travel part of the way public transport and so on.

Food

The most constant major expense. More than half of our budget, since proper and timely nutrition is the key to good mood and health.

There are countries that are completely cheap and abundant in this regard. There are terribly expensive ones. The smallest recorded amount per person (one meal) is Laos, the city of Luang Prabang - in terms of kip at the 2013 exchange rate - 20 rubles. The most expensive food we discovered was in Australia. For example, a gallon of (frozen, therefore expired by an average week) milk in the bush (Australian desert) costs from $5 AU. I don’t even want to talk about the cost of cafes and eateries.

Transport

Our 1993 Honda Civic, USA

Internationally, we try to use all types of transport, choosing the most optimal price. There are only six flights on our route so far, the cheapest of which is $40 US for two from Malaysia to Indonesia, and the most expensive from Melbourne (Australia) to Honolulu (USA, Hawaii) is $800 US (also for two).

In those countries where intercity transport (over long distances) is expensive, they did not use it. These are: Australia, America and still Mexico. In Asia - from China to Indonesia - they used trains, buses, and even planes. Interestingly, a bus on the island of Java from Jakarta to Bali turned out to be the same in cost as a flight, while a direct trip by land takes several days (if without stops) - a test not for the weak!

Hitch-hiking

The very fact that you can get from point A to point B absolutely free is wonderful. Well, and all sorts of bonuses in the form of acquaintances and complete immersion in the life of the country in which you are staying. It works, it helps.

Burner

Our alcohol burner

In practice, cooking yourself turns out to be more economical. Food is always cheaper if it is not prepared. Sometimes, you don’t have to suffer - in Asia it’s difficult to go hungry even with a minimal budget. In the same place where there is no street food, and cafes and restaurants are downright expensive - .

Tent

Without a tent, we would not have ended up at wild hot springs in the mountains of the USA

When you know that your home is with you, you become less dependent on circumstances. It's not scary to stay in the mountains or jungle overnight. And even if you don’t want to sleep in a tent, its mere presence adds confidence when bidding for a room.

Second-hand, recycle and local production

Where there are good second-hand stores, use them. In other places, try on what the locals wear - in countries Latin America, and in Asia it’s also a pleasure.

Detours to attractions

Archaeological zone of Uxmal, Mexico

No, we are happy to support the country’s economy or the fortune of a private owner... when it’s within our means and doesn’t force us to make a choice like “eat or look at...”. In other cases, we try to take everything available to the maximum, no matter what blocks the way: a fence with security, the jungle or mountains - sometimes you have to exert yourself physically - but it’s worth it. This is our way - we do not encourage anyone to break the law :)

Healthy lifestyle

We are not ardent opponents of anything, no. The fact remains that alcohol and cigarettes are almost always expensive, but they are completely unnecessary (sometimes they even increase all sorts of risks). It is even more economical to be vegetarians, but we have mastered this Level only partially and at times :) This also includes giving up any “snacks” such as chips - this is absolutely beneficial in all respects.

Summarizing the above

Our life on a long-term trip is materially very similar to our usual life in one place. All the same thoughts: where and how to earn money in order to travel and live as you like, according to your heart. Traveling around the world is the same life.

Now we are preparing for the next part of our journey: traveling around South America by motorcycle. During the six-month stay in Mexico, we managed to learn a lot of new things, complete old projects, and come up with and implement new ones. I managed to earn a little money, so far not enough to buy a motorcycle, but at least it’s something. It is possible that among the readers, after some time, there will be a person who knows companies that need advertising. Perhaps this way we will find friends-partners who are ready to provide some of the equipment (helmets, protection, etc.) for the South American route in exchange for advertising the product or brand.

We love to dream:) And no less than this, we love to realize our dreams. This is the only way to live! We believe that long-term travel is one of the keys to experiencing an interesting and rich life.

Let your travels last exactly as long as you want and only run into surmountable obstacles!

Sequoia National Park, USA

We will be glad if we inspire you with our example!

Let's imagine and calculate how much it will cost to travel around the world.

I will briefly talk about the components of such a trip and calculate an approximate budget, based on the fact that we will visit 5 continents. I warn you that the budget is designed for the most economical economy. Spare credit card no one canceled it in your pocket! :)

The budget for our round the world trip will consist of two main components:
a) flight costs
b) visas and insurance
c) all other expenses - accommodation, food, small shopping, etc.

So let's start with transport, which should be taken care of immediately so that nothing distracts us from relaxing and exploring the countries we have chosen. Of course, the train is not an option here - we fly and just fly! True, within countries, if you want to visit additional cities that are not so far from major cities, then a train or bus can be taken into account. Here we will build a route between countries and continents.

Today, in the 21st century, this is not difficult to do, because global airline alliances provide a round-the-world booking service and make it possible to choose flights from partner airlines, get the cost of the final air ticket and redeem it without visiting the websites of several airlines.

In the world today there are three airline alliances that unite more than 60 of the world's largest airlines from all continents, therefore, like relatives in different cities, they will take the best care of you the best way, making booking your trip as easy as possible.

Here are these airline alliances and their main members:

Each of the alliances offers the Round service on its website The World, with which you can plan your trip, select specific flights for any convenient date and time and book them.

Just like when booking a regular ticket, you have the option of choosing economy class, business class and, if you're all about luxury, first class.

There is a limit on the number of segments on your trip - as a rule, there should be no more than 16. You also need to complete the round-the-world trip - you must arrive in the same city from which you originally departed.
There are also other restrictions - the number of connections, for example - but airlines offer a wide variety of direct and connecting flights, so there is something for everyone.

My calculations are based solely on traveling in economy class.

Here's an example interactive map in Oneworld - you can see the cities and countries I selected:


The blue dots, as you understand, are all the possible cities that airlines in this alliance fly to. There are hundreds of such cities, so there is plenty to choose from!

My plan has 12 segments:
Moscow - London - Sao Paulo - Buenos Aires - Santiago - Lima - Dallas/Ft. Worth - San Francisco - Los Angeles - Sydney - Tokyo - Hong Kong - Dubai - Doha - Moscow

The cost of such a trip with departure from Moscow to Oneworld will be: 4,575.33 EUR
Divide this amount by 14 planned flights and you get 326 EUR for each! Not bad.

Let's see what other alliances offer for similar trips (the destinations may differ slightly - this is due to the peculiarities route networks alliance member airlines):

The cost of 13 flights around the world departing from Almaty with StarAlliance will be: 4,775 EUR

The cost of such a trip with departure from Moscow to Skyteam will be: 5,003.64 EUR

As you can see, the cost of flights is approximately the same in all alliances, and therefore the decision on which one to choose depends on the countries you want to see or your loyalty to an airline (for example, you have unused miles).

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We remember about visas, which also cost money, although not for everyone. For example, for citizens of Kazakhstan a visa is not required for some Asian countries (Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea) and Latin America (Argentina, Ecuador), for Russian citizens there is a visa-free regime throughout almost all of Latin America.
Let's plan 1,000 EUR for all visas - albeit with a reserve.

Insurance! A very important point. Of course, there may be nuances in each country, but judging by the conditions of insurance companies in Kazakhstan, such insurance will cost 250 EUR for 90 days - I was not lazy and came up with this amount for each country using an online calculator on the website of one of the Kazakh insurance companies. There are details on insurance coverage - the higher the coverage, the more expensive the insurance, but the differences are not particularly noticeable.

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Other expenses (accommodation, food, shopping, etc.)

Since we are not traveling around the world tomorrow and there is no need to draw up a detailed budget for each country (and after all, each has its own characteristics and can result in a decent amount), we will take an approximate daily limit.

From our list, the most expensive are probably the USA, Australia and Japan.

Based on my travel experience (I think everyone strives to minimize costs, so as not to save too much, but not to be luxurious), I will accept a daily level of expenses of 100 EUR, including accommodation, food and a little money for excursions and souvenirs. Serious shopping is not taken into account here.
100 EUR is not enough? If you find rented accommodation, say for two weeks, then they will charge much less for such accommodation than in a hotel. And if you remember about couchsurfing (https://www.couchsurfing.org/ - social network for travelers), you can also find free options. There is a database at your service: more than 7 million people in dozens of countries around the world who will help with housing or place you in their home.

Now it’s worth understanding HOW LONG all this around-the-world charm will last. Of course, we will not spend one day in each country, but we are not going to live there for two months either, although you set the restrictions yourself. It all depends on what interesting things the country and the countries neighboring it offer - after all, no one is stopping us from going there too.

Here's what I get in terms of duration:

Using the example of traveling with Oneworld:

flight Moscow — London
18 days
There is a lot to see in the UK besides London. Take Wales and Scotland for example, so a couple of weeks in the UK isn't that much.

London - Sao Paulo
21 day
Where there is Sao Paulo, there is Rio, Brasilia, and the Amazon, in general there is something to do for 3 weeks.

Sao Paulo - Buenos Aires
14 days
Two weeks in Argentina can be spent on the capital itself; you can go to see the Iguazu Falls on the border with Brazil and Paraguay. By the way, you can also go to the Paraguayan capital Asuncion - getting a visa is not a problem. You can rush to the south of Argentina and get closer to Antarctica.

Buenos Aires - Santiago
12 days
In Chile, besides Santiago, you can see Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, or go east and see the Andes.

Santiago - Lima
18 days
Peru! Machu Picchu! To the north of Peru we have Ecuador - no visa required. So there will be no time to be bored for two and a half weeks.

Lima — Dallas
11 days
Dallas, Houston, sit and look at the Gulf of Mexico, go to a rodeo, fly to neighboring Louisiana to see New Orleans. And if there’s Mardi Gras there at that time, then that’s great!

Dallas - San Francisco
20 days
The SF itself will require at least a week. Options to brighten up the remaining days: take a ticket to Seattle, or to Vancouver (if you have a Canadian visa) or to Bozeman and watch Yellowstone national park or Yosemite Park (in the same California). Well, finally to Disneyland near Los Angeles.

San Francisco - Sydney
30 days
After a 19-hour non-stop (!) flight, you need three to four days to recover. When we've had enough of Sydney, we can go to Melbourne and Perth or north. What if we want to New Zealand? She's pretty close. All this will definitely take a month.

Sydney - Tokyo
20 days
3 weeks minimum. There is no need to rush here - you need to contemplate, sit for five days in Japanese gardens and taste this unique culture.

Tokyo - Dubai
15 days
Climb the Burj Khalifa, go to Abu Dhabi, bask in the sun (only moderately) and exhale after months of travel.

Dubai — Moscow
End of the journey.

Total: 179 days or 6 months.

So the final calculation of the trip:

Minimum cost of flights around the world: 4,575 EUR

Approximate visa cost: 1,000 EUR

approximate cost health insurance: 250 EUR

Minimum living expenses and incidentals: 179 days * 100 EUR = 17,900 EUR

I would add another 10% of this money for unforeseen expenses: 1,790 EUR

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TOTAL: 25,515 EUR

Expensive? It depends on what you compare it to. But one way or another, this can be a goal if you really want to see the world for yourself and show it to your family. In any case, visiting each of these countries separately will be much more expensive.

Of course, the final figure may change downwards if you manage to save on accommodation or live with friends in some countries by becoming a couchsurfer. Although the figure, of course, can increase if you go to great lengths and start spending on purchases and then on paying for excess baggage at airports or sending hundreds of clothes by mail home.

And yet, it’s good that some people can afford it, and they are not hyper-rich. I'm not talking about myself (yet)! And by the way, this blog post does not mean that I am going on a similar trip any time soon - this is just reflection and an attempt (successful, I must say!) to set a goal!

Fantasies tend to turn into reality.

Every dream is given to you along with the strength necessary to make it come true.
Richard Bach