Deena, how were you able to travel for this long? How did you pay for it?!
I have heard these questions often on my trip - and I am so happy when I do. Here is why.
I am not a trust fund kid, nobody is bankrolling my trip, and when I set off on this adventure I had never met anyone who had done something like this. It became clear pretty quickly, between online research and actually living abroad, that traveling was not as expensive as I thought it would be (if you do it right). Because of that, I have doubled down on social media, because now YOU know someone who has done something like this, and YOU have someone to reach out to for advice.
I want this experience (in some form) to feel accessible to people who have been following my trip and are feeling inspired to explore somewhere new. In order to do that, I am going to outline as transparently as possible how I was able to pull this off.
Spoiler alert: I will be the first to say that I am incredibly privileged to have experienced this, and making this happened required a LOT of luck to go along with long term saving and hard work.
How Did I Pay for This
These are the puzzle pieces that needed to fall into place for me to spend 10 months backpacking the world. If any of these things did not fall into place, my trip would have not taken place.
Graduated one year early ($15,000 tuition saved)
Won the Coca-Cola Scholarship, among a few ($20,000)
Parents gave me a flat sum to help me pay for college (I have no debt)
I worked two jobs in college (server/bartender & student government) and worked full time every summer (nanny & server)
I don't buy nice things. Like ever. (Second hand clothes, no cool gadgets, 30 minute bus rides to the cheaper grocery store, Starbucks as a special occasion, etc)
Incredibly blessed that these opportunities were available to me - but they did not fall into my lap. This trip has been my dream since early high school. In fact, I distinctly remember fighting with my first boyfriend at age 16 over exactly this.
“I am going to travel the world as soon as I can.”
“But what's the point of traveling if you don't have someone to share it with?”
“If I have to wait for someone else to come with me, I will never go. So I’m not going to wait - if someone wants to join me, great. If not, I’m still going.”
This trip was not spur of the moment. This trip was my ultimate goal.
How Much did it Cost
Okay. Here is me doing the social faux pas where I talk about money.
It feels wrong to post this, but I think it is essential to share for other people to feel empowered to turn travel inspiration into action.
10.5 months, $18,000.
There, I said it. Now let’s break it down.
$1,700 per month, $425 per week, $60 per day
The longer you travel, the cheaper each day of the trip becomes.
Long haul international flights are what make travel expensive, so if you can divide the cost of those flights over many days, each day becomes cheaper.
Excluding major flight costs, I budgeted $40 per day in Southeastern Europe and $25 per day in Southeast Asia.
Remember that if you are traveling the way I have been, you are not paying for rent, utilities, car payments, etc from back home. All of that money goes to living costs here instead.
How Did I make this as Cheap as Possible
I used a LOT of strategies to keep costs down on this trip, but I didn't go to some of the lengths that I have heard in other backpacker stories. You could do this trip with a stricter budget or more generous budget than I kept.
Accommodation
I always had a bed to sleep in, but always the cheapest option that was centrally located. I was cautious of bed bugs, but not picky about cleanliness, privacy, or comfort. I would sleep on the floor in a heartbeat if it was a cheap option centrally located.
Deena’s Resources:
HostelWorld was my go-to for both Europe and Asia.
Bookings is free to reserve a bed, but better to use this site after you already know which hostel you want because this site specializes in hotels.
Couchsurfing was what I used to travel Europe so cheap. I filtered to only stay with women because I felt safer, but you can use the app however you feel comfortable. You cannot fully depend on this app to get you through Europe - it is great when it works, but it can be hard to accepted! Set this up before you leave home because you need to validate the app with your phone number.
Food
I treated food differently depending on the country. In Europe, hostels have kitchens so the cheapest way to eat is by making your own food. I did this almost every meal.
In Asia, however, the cheapest way to eat is street food, and hostels do not provide kitchens. Eating at nice restaurants anywhere is a luxury cost, and I would only do that if it was a cultural or social experience.
Pro tip: carry imodium for when traveler’s diarrhea hits. It definitely will and you don’t want to be on a bus. Also carry toilet paper in your bag at all times because non-Western countries rarely provide it.
Deena’s Resources:
Download a currency converter app! I paid for Elk, which I loved, but there are free apps available. Find one that will tell you conversions without wifi.
Download GoogleTranslate and download the languages you know you will need when you have wifi.
Alcohol
If you are a heavy drinker, your trip will be expensive. Period.
Going out to party will destroy your daily budget, even in the cheap countries. Either shorten your trip to budget for partying or stay sober.
On the same note, solo travel is only dangerous like you think it is when you are walking home alone at night, drunk in a foreign country. Don’t do that.
Transport
Taxis are the easiest way to burn money. If at all possible, don't take a taxi, especially anywhere in Europe. Avoiding a taxi to commute from airport to city is something worth planning for - public transport is always easier than it seems. Yes, it's more stressful - but bite the bullet, do some research, and figure out how to get around like the locals do. This is budget travel - if it's easy, you're overpaying.
My other major advice for transport is to keep your bag light enough that you could walk for one hour from a transport stop to your hostel - usually that is the maximum distance you would need to walk to save money. My one-hour-walking weight is 12 kilos in a 45L backpack.
How do I make my bag that light? Bring clothes that you can dump when you realize you don't need them, and buy the clothes you need once you get here. Nobody is ever perfectly packed, so it's better to let that go and be flexible.
Deena’s Resources:
The Grab App is Asia’s Uber. Use this to get an estimate of what a taxi ride in a Southeast Asian city should cost.
Google Maps is a life saver with any public transportation questions in Western Europe. Have the actual app to navigate metros
Maps.me is the app that Southeast Asian backpackers use to get around. Download the country maps when you have wifi and the app will always know your current location and offer directions, even in rural Myanmar! Maps.Me was a lifesaver when Google Maps let me down.
Flixbus was my favorite bus company through Europe. Their tickets were always the cheapest available when I searched GoEuro, the buses had outlets, and they were punctual.
BlaBla Car is a great resource to save money on buses by carpooling city to city in Europe. Set this up before you leave home because you need to validate the app with your phone number.
Show me the Money!!
I love budgets. As critical as I am, I am a business student at heart. I tracked (almost) every dollar I spent on this trip, except for the stretches when I was traveling with a friend and the numbers got messy.
Here are links to my raw excel sheets that show where every dollar went in different regions I traveled. This can help you plan, and help you make judgement calls on how you may spend money differently than I did.
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