I’ve noticed a weird pattern that emerges whenever long-term travelers talk about how they’re able to afford their lifelong travel adventures. Since money issues are at the top of the list for most people, this is often the most frequent question that long-term or frequent travelers receive. And unfortunately, I’ve seen quite a few that don’t bother answering the question as directly as they should.
Generally you’ll see statements like these:
“Because I work, dammit!”
“I just don’t spend stupid amounts of money on fancy hotels, duh!”
“I’m not an idiot who buys designer shoes!”
“Travel can be cheap!”
Okay, fair enough. In some cases, that’s exactly what certain readers need to hear, particularly the ones who accuse any long-term traveler of being a trust fund kid with infinite money. It’s perfectly acceptable to slap these people in the face and tell them they’re idiots. Metaphorically.
But at the same time, it doesn’t really answer the question for those who are legitimately interested in how to travel for several months on a limited budget. They already know that working is how you get money. And they probably already know that staying in hostels, cooking for yourself, skipping taxis, and going to cheap countries will keep costs down. None of this is new information to them.
Sure, there are people out there who have no idea how to stay in a hotel with less than 4 stars, but I doubt they’re reading budget travel blogs. The readers asking these questions are probably aware of many of these strategies already, and if they look at the cost estimates for 1 month of travel, it’s perfectly reasonable to wonder how a 22 year old can afford to do it for 12.
You know what I rarely see? Travelers who flat out say “yeah, you need a lot of money to travel. In fact if you want to go for a long-term trip during which you’ll have no income then you’ll need several thousand dollars.”
I have no idea why this is so rare.
The majority of the time I’ll see people talk about how cheaply they can travel, how they don’t spend money exorbitantly, how they’re brilliantly talented at saving for a rainy day, and how you should totally learn from them and everything will be great.
But then somewhere along the lines they’ll say “And I had $20,000 before I left on the trip.”
Aha. So that’s the secret. Having a lot of money.
Now I don’t mean to call people out on this; in fact in many cases, I’ve seen people describe exactly how they saved that money, and exactly how they spent it on the trip, with no ego whatsoever. Merely a realistic presentation of saving and spending. That’s fine. In fact in many cases it’s exactly what some people need. A simple reminder that you can skip dinner and drinks and new shoes and save the cash instead.
But I’ve also seen a lot of high-and-mighty “I just don’t spend money on designer handbags” kind of talk, which…well, some people need to hear that, sure. But for many others, that is simply not the problem at all. And it bothers me when people fail to recognize this.
I mean, think about how much of a struggle it is for people to save up $20,000. Living expenses, depending on where you are, may very well be $20,000, which means you’d need a job that pays $40,000 (after taxes) in order to save all that money in a year. And for plenty of people who are only earning $20,000 a year, well…you can see why they ask where the money comes from. And I think it’s rather disrespectful to say “I just worked hard and saved” when the real answer was “I had a job that paid way more than yours.”
Now imagine if that person has ridiculous medical bills. Or their car breaks down and they can’t get to work anymore. Or if they have to bail out a friend who’ll never be in a position to pay them back. Or if they get robbed. Or outsourced. Or whatever. Telling them “I just don’t shop at Gucci” is incredibly rude.
Now I’m all for giving useful advice on how to save, and love reading over expense reports after a month of travel in whatever country, because that’s the exact sort of advice people can use. And I’m all for telling people not to buy useless garbage, and recommending they save the money instead. That’s all great.
But I’m also in favor of telling people that if they want to travel the world for a year without getting a job along the way or hitchhiking and begging for food the whole time, they probably need around $15,000 to do it. And even then, they’ll have to budget carefully.
If they accuse you of being rich, then by all means, smack them upside the head. But if they ask where you came up with $20,000 at age 21 or whatever, just tell them.
And don’t be a jerk about it.
Unless they were jerks first. Then go for it.
This question -er, blog post is exactly why I decided to include a detailed expense report as part of my blog (Hoping to do a by-country-breakdown once the trip is over). You’re right, people should be straight forward about it. You DO need a lot of money – at least 15,000 to travel around the world for a year (more if you’re like us and didn’t plan as much as we should have and are going to as many places)… But it IS weird when people look at you like you’re crazy wondering how you can afford to do it. Honestly, I put them in the “jerk” category. I don’t ask people about their mortgage, their car payments, etc. like was mentioned above… And the very simple answer to their question was I DID work hard and I saved up for the trip. It’s a really simple equation regardless of how well your job is or what kind of expenses you have on the side- it just boils down to who is willing to make it work!
I think it’s objectively helpful, and not in bad taste, to share how expensive it was. Since it’s usually cheaper than people expect. Saying “you need about $15,000 per year to travel the world” is honest, simple, actionable, and attainable.
This is a really great post. I’m in the position right now of saving up for a lifestyle of long-term travel. It’s not easy. After a few months we have a grand total of a couple of hundred dollars. Awesome…
I too have seen many blogs that are completely open and humbly honest about how they saved up, but yeah…a lot of these people had very well paying jobs. I’m happy for them but not everybody is in the same situation.
For us the way we will have to do it is to actually work overseas for a while, and due to lower living costs, this will enable us to travel around more. This is just as good a game plan as any, but for us, it will involve working pretty hard at first. Which is fine, but it’s certainly not as easy as “quit your job, sell your house and go”. Not everybody has a house to sell (or even a job to quit).
Yes, it’s also a little silly when people say “Oh it’s easy, I just sold my house!” So step 1 is BUY A HOUSE. If I had hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting around with which to buy a house, I wouldn’t be looking for ways to save up to travel.
Excellent post. One answer is to do the too-quick travel when you’re 20-something (a strategy you defended in an earlier post) and then indulge in the deep, slow travel when you’re 40 something and have actually had a chance to earn some money. The trick is to reach middle aged without be tied down by, say a mortgage.
Thank you for writing this, Eytan! The seemingly common assertion that anyone can save up the money for RTW travel has irked me for a while. I do believe anyone can make travel a priority in their lives and travel more, but not everyone can save up the balance they need for even budget, long-term travel. It depends so much on your income and your life circumstances. Long-term travel is most certainly a privilege that is unfortunately, not available to a lot of people!
And Jessica’s comments above are spot on! People consider travel expenses to be extravagent, though most frequent international travelers I know don’t have the house/car/lifestyle expenses that the people making these judgements do.
Yes, that’s what had annoyed me too. People like to make mesmerizing promises, but I much prefer straightforward, realistic advice, whether it’s a description of problems, or suggestions of strategy.
Great rant – this is a great post. Too many posts on RTW or long-term travel do not tell you how much money they saved or how they did it? Did they take on a second job, sell belongings, had a high paying job, etc. I need details! So great post!
That’s why I like the ones who do. I know money problems are tough to talk about, but at least it’s helpful to share how much you’re spending, since then it’s practical, rather than talking about how much you might earn, which can be uncomfortable.
Great post! But you don’t really need 15,000$ for a year. It can easily be done with $6000 :) At least in most of Asia and South America. The only places you’d really need that much is in Europe/etc and like you said the only way to bypass that is by hitchhiking and using some sort of free accommodation like couchsurfig wwoofing etc.
This is true, though I sort of wanted to provide a global average. If you’re in Europe the whole time it’ll be more, and if you’re Couchsurfing the whole time it’ll be less. I think $15,000 per year will take you all over, and you’ll have to budget, but you won’t have to feel like you’re roughing it. But if you really want to sneak by on a budget, then yes, Southeast Asia or India will be your best friend.
I agree with you completely!
I dislike answering the question about how I can afford to travel, because it is so subjective.
Firstly: I am a High School Teacher. I get a very good salary in whichever country I choose to work. I also get between 13 – 15 weeks of holiday a year. Paid holiday. I can travel for 8 weeks (as I did this summer) and get two pay checks while I am away. Or I can go and teach in Asia where I can spend every weekend on a beach.
Secondly: I have no debts. I focused on paying off my debt before I started travelling, and think it is irresponsible to suggest travelling with debt.
Thirdly: I have no dependents. I don’t have to support anybody else.
Finally: I choose to prioritise travel. I don’t buy new clothes, I don’t drink or eat out. I walk extra miles to buy my groceries at Lidl, rather than the expensive Supermarket nearby. I spend entire weekends at home watching movies because going out will cost too much. I don’t fully utilise my time with friends and family. You can only do this if you are fully committed to saving as much as possible.
I can save easily because I earn enough to be able to save easily. I live in a city with an efficient transportation system so I don’t need a car. I live in a country with a Healthcare system, so I don’t need to pay insurance. My living costs are low.
I understand that I am lucky. Many people have debts, low salaries, no paid holiday, expensive healthcare insurance, live in a place where they are reliant on a car. The cost of living, even without luxury, takes most (if not all) of their salary. Saving might be possible, but will be slow.
I travelled last year with £15,000. It disappeared quicker than I care to admit (despite staying in hostels, cooking for myself, and taking the bus). Yes, in some countries your money will go further – but what if you want to see more of the world beyond those countries?
Yes, you can travel with only $6000, but what if there is an emergency? Medical treatment could easily cost more than that.
The best advice that I can give to people who really want to know how to save money to travel is to cut out the small costs that build up, or find cheaper replacements – the morning coffee from Starbucks, the expensive salon appointment to get a new colour, a new pair of jeans even though you already have 15 pairs, weekly takeaways, buying lunch at work instead of taking food from home.
Making small cutbacks will reduce weekly spending more than you can imagine!
Yup, that’s exactly the issue. You can make it work, but it’s going to be a challenge, and it’ll be a much greater challenge for those living under expenses circumstances, some of which are beyond their control.
I only decided to travel last month and up till then I had no idea how people afford it. Once I had the desire to follow through the money just seemed to be available. Oh, and I have been saving under the mattress for 5 years…
Yeah, that’s sometimes how it works. People often just sort of assume it’s obscenely expensive, but it’s something like a few thousand dollars a month at the most, which isn’t really out of reach if you have a middle-class job. It’s extremely challenging for those without it, but it’s weird when people look at it as impossible, even when they have the means to do it.
Fifteen thousand?!? Wish I’d read that before I switched to seven thousand a year social security. Now what am I gonna do?
My own fault—if I had “done the math” I would have realized that Matt Kepnes’s “fifty dollars a day” is indeed a bit over fifteen thousand.
Heck with it. I’m going anyway. Rather be found next to my bike on the road than next to my bed in a nursing home.
Yeah, it’s an awkward situation…a lot of travelers are trying to give inspiring, positive messages, and $50 is actually cheaper than a lot of people might expect travel would be, so it’s a helpful reminder that it’s not totally impossible to afford…but it’s still a huge pile of cash if you’re traveling long-term with no income. But yes, it’s still worth it to give it a try. It doesn’t have to be for a whole year, though. You can always go again later.
No “again” for me, hopefully. Again implies that the first trip had an ending.
Well, after about two years on the road, I went through my bank records and found that I had indeed averaged close to fifty dollars a day!
Years ago Steve Martin had a great bit called “How to make a million dollars without paying taxes.” It began: “First, get a million dollars….”
Thanks for the honesty.