How Much Does it Cost to Travel Around the World? $18,000, I Say.
Earlier this week I wrote about how I was able to take off a year and travel around the world - without a trust fund. The post resonated with folks, mostly because many people dream of taking on such an adventure. (People like Adam Shepard, who is giving away his 280-page memoir about his year on the road for the next 72 hours. Get it free here.)
Overwhelmingly, the comments I received were all about the practicalities of this journey. In this post, I want to go into the details of the costs and the practicalities. My aim? To show that more folks really may be able to accomplish this dream.
Here are the four practical factors that allowed me to travel the way I did:
- Finances: I had a job. I was lucky to be able to work from anywhere running a blog that gave me money to support myself. The cost of my year in the world came in under $18,000, the bulk of which was spent on lodging (less than $9,000). Some people think the transport is the biggest cost, but it's not. It's the living — the business of finding a place to rest your head — that kills your wallet. Wonderfully, though, this very fact is the primary reason that travel is much more affordable than people think. I could've spent $1,700 a month to rent an apartment in San Francisco that year. Instead, I spent less than $750 a month paying for lodging on the road.
- Relationships: I was single when I went with my best friend. If you are not single, you would likely need to either a) bring your partner, or b) leave him or her at home. (I'd recommend the former;) Costs apply. If you've got a rat pack of cute kiddos, the same applies. You'll need to take them, and that gets messy (and pricey).
- Time: I had the time and flexibility to take on what would become one the most deadline-free years of my life. The year I did it, I was not enmeshed in a career that tied me to a particular city, nor was I in a particularly responsibility-heavy period of life. Granted, many people can probably shed some of their responsibilities and make it happen, if the will is there.
- Desire: More than anything, I had the overwhelming passion to make this dream a reality. Don't have it? Don't bother. Sitting for ten hours in the rain on a gutter in the middle of nowhere waiting for a bus isn't fun, especially if you're not that keen on traveling in the first place. If travel isn't the thing that makes you get all breathless and heart-thumping, go do something else.
Traveling around the world is fun, crazy, maddening and glorious. And it may be closer to a possibility for you than you realize.
Want to read the 280-page memoir, One Year Lived? For the next 72 hours, get it here free.
Editora e professora de Química e Ciências
11 年Claire, my biggest worry is with the coming back, how was your return back home ?
Urban Planner - Participation Specialist // Web3 Recruitment
11 年Zack Thompson: The 7-continent model is usually taught in Western Europe, Northern Europe, Central Europe, China and most English-speaking countries. The 6-continent combined-Eurasia model is preferred by the geographic community, Russia, Eastern Europe, and Japan. The 6-continent combined-America model is taught in Latin America, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Iran and some other parts of Europe; this model may be taught to include only the 5 inhabited continents (excluding Antarctica). Oceania or Australasia may be used in place of Australia. For example, the Atlas of Canada names Oceania, as does the model taught in Latin America and Iberia.