How much money do you need to travel the world? Well, what you’re asking is how much money it costs to travel for six months or even a year.
After all, the world is huge, and the travelling cost of getting to each new destination, paying for accommodation, eating, and collecting experiences adds up. If that wasn’t enough to think about, the cost of each of these things depends massively on the countries you choose to visit.
So, it’s no wonder you’re struggling to calculate the cost of travelling the world.
We’ve broken down the highest costs, explained how to make the most of a small, mid-size, or large budget, and answered the question: how much money to travel the world?
So, How Much Money Do You Need to Travel the World?
The cost to travel the world depends on how long you spend away, whether you visit high or low-income countries, and the level of comfort you intend to travel in. You can expect to pay £3,200 for six months, or £6,500 for a year in low-cost countries, or £5,000 for six months in a mix of countries.
Of course, this is the bare minimum. If you ever want to eat out, gain entry to anything with an admission fee, or pay to do activities while you’re travelling, you’ll need to save for a bigger travelling budget.
This makes answering “how much money do you need to travel the world” tricky, as it depends on the experience you want to have.
Travelling the World Depends on a Few Factors
Where you travel, how you fill your time, how you get around and where you rest your head at night – amongst many other factors – will influence the cost to travel the world and whether you can afford to go for six or twelve months.
These are the top three factors you need to consider.
Country
The cost to travel the world depends mainly on the countries you visit.
For example, touring Western Europe, the U.S., Australia, and high-income Asian countries like Japan or Singapore, can make your trip three times as expensive as travelling in low-income countries.
In these regions, you can expect to pay significantly less for everything from accommodation and transport to food and activities.
Accommodation
For most people, the bulk of the cost to travel the world will be spent on where you sleep.
For those with a higher budget, you might opt to spend the night in hotels and villas. If your travel-the-world budget is a little lower, many more affordable options exist, including hostel dorms, renting a room on Airbnb, or camping.
Travel and transportation
Travellers who fly from place to place will need a higher travel-the-world budget than those comfortable with taking trains and – even cheaper – buses, especially between countries. In some countries, renting scooters is another super affordable option.
Of course, there’ll be times when it makes sense to fly if you want to go from one end of a continent to the other, for instance. But for neighbouring countries, taking a bus across the border will almost always be cheaper – and better for the environment.
Low Budget Options
If you’re asking how much money you need to travel the world, there’s a good chance you want to know if it can be done with a low travel budget.
The good news is that it absolutely can, although you must be mindful about how and where you spend.
How much money does it cost to go travelling for six months?
On the lowest end of the scale, you should be able to make £3,200 to £5,000 stretch over six months for a single person.
What can I expect my travel experience to look like?
If you stick to the lower end of the small budget spectrum, you can expect to have to ‘rough it’.
Aside from the flight to get you to your first destination, you’ll have to stick to buses and walking for transportation. You’ll stay at the cheapest hostels, avoid restaurants, and stick to free (or incredibly affordable) activities.
With a tiny budget, your travelling options will be limited to one continent due to the travelling cost of taking flights. But you can still have an incredibly diverse experience among different countries within the continent.
You can travel sustainably across two continents at the higher end of the low-budget spectrum. This is on the assumption that most of the countries you visit have a low cost of living, such as those in Southeast Asia, South America (and Mexico) and Eastern Europe.
You’ll still have to live frugally, minimising your accommodation cost – especially in the middle- to high-income countries. However, you’ll be able to eat out at restaurants and pay to have experiences/do the activities that are most important to you.
Medium Budget Options
A mid-range budget gives you more freedom in terms of the places you can travel to and what you can do there.
With a medium budget, you’re not just asking how much money you need to travel the world; you’re asking how much you need to travel comfortably and do everything you want to do.
How much money does it cost to go travelling for six months?
On a medium-sized budget, travellers can expect to spend around £6,000 to £10,000 to travel the world for half a year.
What can I expect my travel experience to look like?
With a slightly bigger budget, you have a lot more options.
You’ll be able to travel across multiple continents, and nowhere is off limits, though it’s not like having a slightly bigger budget means you can do what you want. However, planning your budget is crucial.
You'll still need to opt for budget accommodation in countries with a high cost of living – such as Europe, the U.S. and Australia. These might be hostels or rooms rented from Airbnb. If you’re travelling with another person, you’ll probably be able to afford inexpensive hotel rooms and even small Airbnb apartments.
You should still aim to take buses and trains to get around where possible, but your budget can stretch to take flights when it’s convenient.
Saving on your accommodation and travel means you’ll be able to do some of the pricier, once-in-a-lifetime activities now and then. Imagine seeing a classical music performance in Vienna or Scuba Diving in the Great Barrier Reef.
You should still opt to make your budget go further by spending time in places with low travelling costs, such as Southeast Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, and parts of Africa. The difference is that you’ll be able to live in comparative luxury, eating out whenever you want and staying exclusively in hotels, guesthouses or even villas for a fraction of the price.
High Budget Options
If you’re lucky enough to have a big, or even unlimited, budget for your travels, you don’t have any restrictions on the places you can go or the experiences you can have.
How much money does it cost to go travelling for six months?
Travellers with a big budget would spend £10,000+ for half a year.
What can I expect my travel experience to look like?
With a big budget, you won’t have to spend time in hostels – even in high-cost countries (although we still recommend it – it’s a great way to meet other travellers).
When visiting high-income countries, you can stay in hotel rooms or apartments. In countries where the cost of living is low, you can stay at luxurious resorts and villas. Of course, if your budget is unlimited, you can stay in luxury accommodation wherever you go.
With a big budget, you can take whatever transport is most convenient – whether that’s flights, trains, or taxis. You can pack your months with activities without worrying too much about the cost, including taking private tours of all the sights and doing a once-in-a-lifetime activity once or twice a week.
You’ll also never need to cook for yourself, and you’ll probably do most of your eating at upmarket restaurants, though it’s always worth checking out the local fare for a well-rounded cultural experience.
How HyperJar can help you save money so that you can travel the world
From helping you save money for your travel-the-world budget, to minimising your expenses while you’re away, HyperJar has got you covered.
HyperJar helps you set up a budget and stick to it. With our easy-to-use money management app, you can start saving money by creating jars to cover the cost to travel the world.
You can even create dedicated jars for flights, accommodation, and activities – a money-saving hack allowing you to control your travel-the-world budget even better.
And if you want to save money while you’re away, you can use HyperJar’s prepaid travel cards to avoid international transfer fees and make your round-the-world trip even more affordable.
