We have been asked many questions about the year we spent travelling Around The World. But interestingly, one question pops up again and again: “How much did it cost?”

In total we spent 20.700 Euros per person for 354 days on the road. This is a relatively high-end budget! Most people we met travelled on a budget between 12.000 to 15.000 Euros per person for one year. We even met a couple who lived on 10.000 Euros between the two of them for 2 years, but there are also people on the road who splurge 45.000 Euros per person in about 15 months. As you can see, the range is rather broad,
Of course, these number only makes sense if we give some insights on how and where we travelled.

Key elements that really had an impact on our budget travelling for such a long time:

1. The first and most important rule is: cheap countries are really cheap, expensive countries are really expensive. This sounds trivial, but no matter how we travelled, this had a critical impact on how much we spent. In Bolivia or Laos, we simply stopped worrying after a few days. Nevertheless we spent far less than almost anywhere else. On the other hand, in the Pacific, we simply found no way to stop the financial hemorrhagic!
   We spent:
      28 weeks in South America (53 Euros per day),
      11 weeks in the Pacific & New Zealand (98 Euros per day) and
      12 weeks in Asia (38 Euros per day).
   In short, we spent almost one half of the budget in the Pacific, although we spent only one fifth of the time there. And in South America, we spent almost twice as much per day in Argentina and especially in Chile as in Bolivia or Peru.
   
   
2. The faster we travelled, the more we spent. Crashing in a village in Bolivia or Laos costs very little. Moving every other day from one place to another, as we often did during this trip, greatly increased our budget. Maybe also because when were exhausted, we tended to reward us with little extras and more comfort.
   Since we visited 16 countries in 3 different areas of the globe, we spent quite a bit on international flights: 4.020 Euros per person. On top of that, we slept in 174 different places in 354 days! This enabled us to see and experience a lot, but was also expensive. The total budget for transportations of all kinds was 7.740 Euros per person.
   
   
3. Last but not least and of course, the way we travelled and the level of comfort we chose indeed influenced our budget. But interestingly enough, this was all in all less crucial for the budget than where and how fast we travelled.
   Maybe worth mentioning, we no longer are in our 20s, so our “camping or dormitory times” are over. We chose budget hostels, but stayed in double rooms mostly with private bath. In most of South America and Southeast Asia, we ate at very local restaurants or food stalls. In Chile, Argentina & the whole Pacific, we cooked every single meal.
   We took many tours or guides in museums or points of interest to make the most of those places. We also travelled with more comfortable buses, at least when those were available, and a few times decided to fly to avoid long bus trips. We did save a lot of money by avoiding bars or clubs, but regularly enjoyed a drink or a bottle of wine with our fellow travellers in the hostel.

So, how much did we spend on what?

Transport: 7.740 Euros per person, of which 4.020 on international flights.

We decided against a RTW-ticket, which is extremely inflexible, and all in all not that cheap, especially if you look at a somehow more complex route for your trip, for instance one that includes either South America or Africa.

Tours & various activities: 3.790 Euros per person (that also includes scuba diving)

“Every day life”:  1.810 Euros per person: Internet & communications, laundry, purchasing small stuff

Souvenirs: We bought quite a few souvenirs, but did not include them in the budget of the trip. By the way, all those souvenirs we sent back home with regular postal service arrived safely in one piece!