I can’t believe we finally made it to this post, but it’s here! The total tally of what I spent on my trip around the world. My original budget was for 109 days in 11 countries, and the trip was a total of 120 days in 15 countries. Nothing like flexibility along the way, right?
So, are you ready for the final number?
In 120 days around the world, I spent $13,975.64. (WOOHOO Under $14,000!!)
How did that work out?
Airfare: $2,872.98
This included 22 flights, including 2 I didn’t take. (There was a round trip from Cebu to Boracay I opted not to take that’s not included in the list.)
The overall flight path was:
Tampa, FL to Toronto, Canada
Toronto, Canada to Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong, China to Cebu, Philippines
Cebu, Philippines to Siargao, Philippines
Siargao Philippines to Cebu, Philippines
Cebu, Philippines to Coron, Philippines
Coron, Philippines to Manila, Philippines
Manila, Philippines to Siem Reap, Cambodia
Siem Reap, Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand to Mandalay, Myanmar
Yangon, Myanmar to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Delhi, India
Delhi, India to Doha, Qatar
Doha, Qatar to Amman, Jordan
Aswan, Egypt to Cairo, Egypt
Cairo, Egypt to Athens, Greece
Naples, Italy to Paris, France
Rome, Italy to London, UK
London, UK to Fort Lauderdale, FL
Fort Lauderdale, FL to Tampa, FL
In the department of “How in the world did you take all those flights for under $3,000?” you should know that only one flight (Rome to London) was paid for with points. The others we simply booked online – I’ll be posting soon about my tips, tricks, and techniques for getting the cheapest flights.
Visas: $250.49
Cambodia, Myanmar, India, Egypt, and Jordan all required payment for visas (and Jordan had an exit tax, which I included in the visa costs.)
For US citizens, the costs I paid were as follows:
$30 Cambodia Visa (Visa on arrival – it’s an awesome process to watch at the airport)
$50 Myanmar Visa (Make SURE to get this before arriving. They have an eVisa program that was fast and easy)
$75 India Visa (They now have an eVisa for tourists, but watch out for the form – they’d basically like to know everything about you. It wasn’t too bad, though, and the turnaround time was quite fast)
$56 Jordan Visa + $14.49 Exit Tax (Can be paid for on arrival, but if you’re a tourist, the better idea is probably to buy a Jordan Pass ahead of time, which will take care of this cost)
$25 Egypt Visa (Pay in cash at the border)
Accommodations: $4,268.91
This was a giant mix of things – from the Nile cruise to bunk beds in the Philippines. I stayed in a wide range of different styles of lodging – I did shared rooms in hostels, hotel rooms, and AirBnBs.
This one includes my Nile Cruise, which also included many tours in Egypt. It was hard to separate!
Activities: $2,498.22
I put a big emphasis on finding free or cheap things to do, which helped keep this number low. But at the same time, I didn’t hesitate on paying for the activities that meant a lot to me. Surfing in the Philippines? Check. SCUBA diving for the first time? Check. Petra by Night? Check. A sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings? Check. A cruise down the Nile? Check. A trip up to the Acropolis? Check. And so many others.
But what I said “no” to was just as important – I chose NOT to go up the Eiffel Tower; I didn’t do a planned excursion every day; I didn’t hire private tour guides (except in Jordan) and in general, I didn’t do things that I wasn’t incredibly excited about.
This also includes the full cost of my India trip with G Adventures and my Jordan tour with a private guide. It was hard to separate out accommodations from activities, so those came here.
Transportation: $1,444.02
This was public transit, long-distance bus rides, ferries, trains, cabs, Ubers, subways and more!
I walk a ton. I did not take my Apple Watch with me on the trip, so I don’t have step counts. But I know my preference was always to walk over taking a cab, which sometimes meant long distances with a heavy backpack! But it did keep the costs down!
And one note – while I was in Europe, I did NOT buy a EuroRail pass. Post coming soon on whether that was wise.
Food: $1,918.77
I did a lot of eating street food, going to the grocery store, and living like the locals did. It definitely kept the food costs down (though not my waistline… LOL).
The other thing you should know is that I’m a pretty strong two meals a day kind of person. I tried to find hotels or hostels with a free breakfast, and then would eat some sort of mid-day snack and then find dinner.
Miscellaneous: $157.87
The glorious catch all that includes bag storage, new sunglasses (twice, whoops), toothpaste, contact solution, and other goodies.
Tips: $113.21
This is the bucket for tips that weren’t included in other things (and, in my opinion were largely unwarranted). Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of this was spent in India and Egypt.
Souvenirs: $113.17
My backpack was a small place to live for four months, so I didn’t want to clutter it with too much stuff! I bought small stone souvenirs at the four wonders of the world I visited, to complete my collection from all 8. And then, of course, I bought some awesome flowy pants in Southeast Asia!
Trip Insurance: $338
I am so lucky I did not need to use this (though some have suggested claiming my missing Ray Bans in Myanmar, but alas, I’m not planning on it). But I slept sounder each night knowing I had it! I used World Nomads, because I’ve heard great things about them. I’m lucky enough that I can’t tell you anything about their claims process!
Ultimately, it came out to an average of about $124.80 per day, with everything included – flights, accommodation, trip insurance, and everything else.
You hear stories about traveling the world for $50 a day, or sometimes less; but I think the $125/day for me was much more reasonable. I didn’t risk my safety by couchsurfing, I ate street food but was safe about it, I enjoyed activities I’ll never forget, and spent a whole lot of time in Europe!
My original budget, all-in was “officially” wanting to keep the trip under $15,000 (in my mental accounting). The official original spreadsheet was about $12,500, but that was only for 109 days.
And there you have it – a four month trip around the world, all for less than you’d think!
For the recap of each country, find them here:
Philippines (Siargao) (Coron)
Cambodia
Myanmar
India
Jordan
Egypt
Greece
Bulgaria
Romania
Hungary
Croatia
Italy (Southern Italy) (Lake Como) (Venice, Florence, Siena and Rome) (Combined Overall)
France
United Kingdom
One Comment
Kelli
All I can say is: UNREAL! Ok, I can say more than that…THANK YOU for sharing your journey with us! It has been amazing to follow you! And, I totally want you to run my personal budget. 🙂 WELCOME HOME!