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 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 backpacking around Asia. Vice versa, a month of backpacking around the Caribbean can cost you less than a month backpacking 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 of our spending, using these expense categories:
- Transport and Travel
- Accommodation and Utilities
- Groceries and Dining
- 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.
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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: Realizing 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 (since starting this website)
If you’re budgeting for your next trip, check out the list of countries we have visited since starting this website. 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 |
| Italy | September 2019 | 15 | $76.14 |
| Jamaica | June 2017 | 11 | $52.08 |
| Latvia | May 2019 | 7 | $51.77 |
| Lithuania | May 2019 | 7 | $44.14 |
| Mexico | July 2017 | 24 | $50.07 |
| Montenegro | June 2019 | 19 | $40.17 |
| New Zealand (83% rental accommodation) | March 2020 | 365 | $46.41 |
| New Zealand (60% 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 |
Note: Our cost of living were converted from the countries’ currencies to USD using the average interbank exchange rates valid at the time.
Withdrawing cash overseas can be expensive but it doesn’t have to be. We can show you how to avoid unnecessary fees and make your travel budget stretch further.
How do you determine which card is best for your overseas trip? Using the right one can save bank fees and make your travel budget stretch further.
Ever been caught out by the bad FX rates and exorbitant commissions charged by FX bureaus? These tips allow you to minimise these charges in future. We also recommend OFX to keep more of your money when you complete a transfer.
If you can’t find your next travel destination, you may find the following resources useful:
We keep adding to our list as we continue to roam the world.
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? Please leave a comment below or send us an email.
Feature photo by Pina Messina on Unsplash
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