Travel can cost as much or as little as you like. How much money you need (to budget) for your next trip largely depends on
- how much comfort do you want
- how much time you’ve got; and
- where you are travelling.
You see, a two-week vacation at a luxury resort in the Caribbean can cost you as much as a few months exploring Asia with just your travel pack. Vice versa, a month of hiking in the Caribbean can cost you less than a month of taking public transport around the USA and Canada.
Expense Categories
We travel the world independently and sustainably, and we are conscious of the way we spend our money. Value for money is important to us – not travelling the cheapest way possible.
Not surprisingly, we keep tabs on our spending, using these expense categories:
- Transport and Travel
- Accommodation and Utilities
- Groceries and Dining
- Experiences and Leisure Activities
- Health and Hygiene
- Clothing, Gifts and Donations
- Travel Insurance, Bank fees and Government charges.
This helps us understand where our money goes and make purchasing decisions accordingly. It also enables us to share with you what it costs to explore the world – if your travel style is similar to ours.
If you’ve checked out our four-step guide to making your travel dreams come true, you know that we recommend anyone who’d like to travel to start with a travel budget.
Before we travel anywhere, we check how much we are likely to spend. Only this way, we know whether we can afford to travel to a destination and for how long, and avoid that dreaded bill-shock afterwards. To give you an example: Realising how expensive Belize is (and how cheap Mexico and Guatemala in comparison), we changed our travel plans in 2017, spending only a week in Belize and instead three and a half weeks in Mexico and four weeks in Guatemala.
Travel costs for the countries we visited
If you’re budgeting for your next trip, check out the list of countries we have visited since starting Minimalist Journeys. Click on your destination, and you will see how much you might spend exploring the country.
| Country | Month Trip Started | Number of Days in Country | Costs Per Person Per Day (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | August 2019 | 10 | 33.38 |
| Barbados | April 2017 | 7 | 66.56 |
| Belize | August 2017 | 7 | 68.15 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | July 2019 | 18 | 29.13 |
| Canada | November 2016 | 17 | 72.30 |
| Croatia | June 2019 | 25 | 54.59 |
| Cuba | June 2017 | 16 | 47.30 |
| Curaçao | March 2017 | 10 | 61.92 |
| Dominica | May 2017 | 21 | 50.56 |
| Estonia | May 2019 | 8 | 52.85 |
| Ecuador (including Galapagos) | January 2017 | 76 | 55.11 |
| Greece | October 2019 | 13 | 81.31 |
| Grenada | April 2017 | 9 | 48.48 |
| Guatemala | August 2017 | 28 | 39.62 |
| Iceland | October 2019 | 13 | 76.68 |
| Indonesia | September 2023 | 59 | 54.19 |
| Italy | September 2019 | 15 | 76.14 |
| Jamaica | June 2017 | 11 | 52.08 |
| Japan | February 2023 | 88 | 69.00 |
| Latvia | May 2019 | 7 | 51.77 |
| Lithuania | May 2019 | 7 | 44.14 |
| Mexico | July 2017 | 24 | 50.07 |
| Montenegro | June 2019 | 19 | 40.17 |
| Morocco | January 2024 | 45 | 45.47 |
| New Zealand (45% paid accommodation) | March 2021 | 365 | 48.33 |
| New Zealand (79% paid accommodation) | March 2020 | 365 | 46.41 |
| New Zealand Van life | January 2018 | 365 | 54.86 |
| Nicaragua | September 2017 | 12 | 24.82 |
| Norway | October 2019 | 5 | 60.70 |
| Portugal | March 2019 | 13 | 55.21 |
| Serbia | August 2019 | 19 | 27.54 |
| Slovenia | May 2019 | 8 | 57.06 |
| Spain | April 2019 | 12 | 58.44 |
| St Lucia | May 2017 | 11 | 47.21 |
| St Vincent and the Grenadines | April 2017 | 14 | 65.40 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | April 2017 | 9 | 56.23 |
| United States of America | October 2016 | 41 | 103.51 |
| Yemen (Socotra Island) | October 2024 | 15 | 242.00 |
Withdrawing cash overseas can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. We can show you how to avoid unnecessary fees and stretch your travel budget further.
How do you determine which card is best for your overseas trip? The right one can help you save on bank fees and stretch your travel budget.
Have you ever been caught up in the alarming FX rates and exorbitant commissions charged by FX bureaus? These tips will allow you to minimise these charges in the future. We also recommend XE Money Transfer to keep more of your money when you complete a transfer.
How to save money on transportation
Being flexible pays off when it comes to transportation, particularly air travel. If possible, travel outside of peak season. If you can't, fares might still be cheaper at certain times of the week and even hours of the day, so check websites like Skyscanner and Google Flights. These websites allow you to see a month and all the options on any given date.
If several airports are near your home (or your destination), compare the prices of the different options. For example, flying to Mykonos and taking the ferry to Santorini might be cheaper than flying from your home airport straight to Santorini.
We use and recommend the following online travel agents and service providers for our transportation needs:
Airfares
We use one-stop travel sites or travel aggregators to find good flight deals. Each shows the cheapest airfares on any given day, so you can fly a day, week, or month earlier or later, depending on your flexibility.
If you find a good deal, book it there and then, as prices change constantly. Ideally, do your research with your browser in incognito mode, as cookies will show booking sites how keen you are to make a particular trip, which may affect the price quoted – that goes for all online travel bookings (not just flights). The best fares generally go first, so planning is essential for (air) transportation. The same applies if you want to use air points/miles, as only a few seats are available for any flight. We tend not to go through the flight aggregators but book directly with the airline/s. If something goes wrong, the price is usually the same, but we have a direct contract with the airline (rather than the middleman).
Suppose you plan to travel across multiple continents. In that case, you may want to compare passes that offer several destinations as a package (such as around-the-world fares provided by One World or Star Alliance members) versus booking each leg of your trip individually. If you travel during peak season, those multi-destination packages may be a better deal than booking each leg individually. You can do overland sections on around-the-world tickets, too, which means you could supplement your around-the-world ticket with cheap flights and bus and train rides between destinations.
Vehicle rental (including relocations)
Unless your trip takes you across oceans, another way to save on transport is to look for vehicle/motorhome relocations. Websites in many countries offer massively discounted one-way rates (often including fuel and/or insurance) to those driving a vehicle/motorhome from A to B within a certain period. These deals are relatively last minute, and A and B are usually more significant transport hubs, but if that's an option, search for vehicle/motorhome relocation at your destination.
Speaking of vehicles, If you plan to hire a car at your destination, it also pays to shop around. We use and recommend Discover Cars, an aggregator website that allows you to search across significant car rental companies at once. And you don't have to pay for the hire until you pick up the car.
Hitchhiking
A final option to save on transport costs is… to hitch a ride. While Paul and I did it safely in Dominica on a public holiday (when there was no other option) and have taken plenty of people along in our campervan in New Zealand, there are many countries where we wouldn't feel safe hitchhiking. Judge for yourself where and when you can and can't do it.
How to save money on accommodation
For accommodation, as with any other travel expenses, it's worth shopping around. When we book accommodation somewhere, we tend to look across several booking platforms to find the best value-for-money option. Wherever you book, read the fine print to compare apples with apples. For example, your stay may incur extra charges (like local tourist taxes or cleaning fees). Some booking platforms include them, while with others, you have to pay them to your host upon arrival.
Nightly rates are generally cheaper outside of peak season. If you can only travel during peak season, look for accommodation options a little further away from the main tourist attractions yet have good connections by public transport.
We use and recommend the following booking platforms.
How to save money on experiences
Free activities or experiences
Many activities (and some of our most treasured experiences) are free or cost very little. On our journeys, we have
- Visited many museums free of charge (including the Colosseum and Forum in Rome, which are free on the first Sunday of the month)
- Joined Al Green's Baptist Church Service in Memphis (rather than pay the exorbitant entry fees at nearby Graceland)
- Attended free guided walking tours around the world (you pay a tip at the end based on your budget and how much you liked the tour)
- Did countless self-guided walks and used public transport to get to know a city
- Hiked in the Andes in Ecuador and climbed volcanoes in the Caribbean
- Swam and snorkelled at countless beaches, using tree shade rather than paying for parasols and
- Attended free performances and danced with locals in Cuba.
You can search for free activities at your destination; chances are someone has already made a nice list.
Paid Experiences
Paying for experiences or activities can add up quickly, especially if you travel as a family. Make use of family passes (if available). Look out for special deals and discount coupons. If you travel in a group, you may also pay to book a private tour and share the cost. Shop around - here are some of the service providers we have used and can recommend:
Do you track your expenses when you travel?
Do you keep track of your spending when you travel? How much did it cost you to visit the countries on our list? What sites do you check out when planning your trip?
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