Curious how much we spent this past year on traveling, but too shy to ask? Well don’t be, because we’re not shy to talk about it. In fact, I’ll just lay it all out for you. Analyzing the cost of something like this is really interesting to me – it seems like so much money,

but it all comes down to your priorities in life, and what you want to spend your time and money doing. We chose to spend a good chunk of both on traveling around the world. Was it worth it? Absolutely.
 

The Costs

Total Travel Costs

Item	Time	Cost
Europe Travel	3 months	$15,600
Europe Plane Tickets (Airline Miles)	–	$130
RTW Travel	5 months	$18,580
RTW Plane Tickets	–	$9,530
Total	(8 months)	$43,710

Travel Costs by Country
Sorted by average cost per day in that country.

Country	Nights	Total Cost	Cost/Day	Sleep $/Day	Eat $/Day	Transport $/Day	Sightsee $/Day	Other* $/Day	Explanation
Ecuador	7	$572.18	$81.74	$21.14	$27.91	$20.84	$7.36	$4.49	Very cheap country!
Germany	8	$814.78	$101.85	$37.69	$25.79	$30.23	$7.96	$0.18	Stayed with a friend 5 nights
Turkey	5	$523.53	$104.71	$39.20	$29.74	$10.67	$20.00	$5.10	Low transportation cost by staying in one place (Istanbul)
Hungary	5	$557.53	$111.51	$50.42	$25.41	$17.64	$11.27	$6.76	Low transportation cost by staying in one place (Budapest)
Czech Republic	5	$581.00	$116.20	$44.47	$29.22	$38.78	$-	$3.73
Hawaii	9	$1,129.28	$125.48	$48.86	$39.28	$26.87	$7.23	$3.24	Stayed with a friend 4 nights
New Zealand	26	$3,442.43	$132.40	$40.78	$25.04	$34.04	$25.73	$6.80	Saved money by renting a campervan and cooknig
Austria	12	$1,645.14	$137.09	$34.19	$35.44	$32.79	$27.74	$6.93	Couchsurfing 7 nights
Belgium	2	$288.12	$144.06	$31.24	$25.84	$66.24	$20.73	$-
Chile	9	$1,333.71	$148.19	$37.18	$34.78	$52.11	$20.89	$3.24	Bought a domestic flight
Argentina	12	$1,837.70	$153.14	$29.67	$25.37	$54.07	$35.42	$8.62	Bought a domestic flight
Netherlands	3	$460.39	$153.46	$70.10	$31.68	$10.98	$40.71	$-
Australia	19	$3,266.89	$171.94	$53.59	$34.72	$59.71	$20.88	$3.05	Couchsurfing 5 nights
Italy	28	$5,121.84	$182.92	$68.58	$46.46	$27.14	$20.33	$20.42
South Africa	9	$1,784.11	$198.23	$58.89	$38.98	$69.51	$25.54	$5.32	Expensive safari fees and tours, couchsurfed 2 nights
Spain	3	$609.14	$203.05	$74.79	$64.33	$53.52	$10.41	$-	Expensive because of the short visit and a domestic flight
France	15	$3,079.38	$205.29	$72.76	$34.17	$52.90	$29.57	$15.88
Egypt	9	$2,086.13	$231.79	$59.09	$25.25	$100.18	$47.11	$0.16	Expensive domestic flights
Greece	6	$1,477.02	$246.17	$63.62	$48.23	$112.29	$16.89	$5.14	Includes a RT flight from Rome
Galapagos	9	$2,384.80	$264.98	$45.00	$38.84	$101.89	$77.33	$1.91	Extremely expensive place to visit! Includes a 5 day cruise.
Switzerland	3	$858.42	$286.14	$45.05	$61.58	$131.71	$44.80	$3.00	Expensive due to short visit and expensive trains
Total	204	$33,853.52	$166.68	$48.87	$35.62	$52.58	$24.66	$4.95	Note: Total does not include the RTW flights

* NOTE: The “Other” category includes things like souvenirs, clothing, toiletries, laundry, internet, and guidebooks.
 

How it could be done MUCH cheaper

If this number scares you, but you’d love to take some time to travel, there are a few very easy ways to spend much less than us. I wouldn’t change a thing about our trip, but if I was going to do it again, I’d definitely be more aware of these tips:

Stick to cheaper countries – Central & South America, Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa/Middle East. Besides being nice on the wallet, it’s simply less stressful to travel in cheaper places. When we were in South America, we felt free to try something that looked interesting at the supermarket, go out to eat occasionally, and choose a slightly nicer hostel. But in New Zealand and Australia, we couldn’t afford to eat out, and every purchase (lodging, transportation, sightseeing, and food) was stressful since the cost was so high. If you’ve got the money and really want to see Europe and Australia – by all means do it. If not, you’ll have just as amazing an experience in South America and Asia for a fraction of the cost.
 
Cook your own meals – We did this a lot, and if you think that means we missed out on local cuisine, think again! Going to the local supermarkets is a sightseeing adventure in itself, and you’ll save loads of money over eating out.
Stay in hostels – Besides being the cheapest bed in town (usually), hostels are a great way to make new friends and get good travel advice. And they almost always have a shared kitchen (see previous tip).
Couchsurfing – Whether you stay with a friend who lives in Germany, or someone found on Couchsurfing.org, sleeping for free is the most enjoyable way to save money. Plan your trip around where friends live or where you can line up couchsurfing hosts.
Take your time – Transportation costs are huge. We didn’t realize this until we added up all our trains, flights, buses, car rentals, etc – it’s a third of the total cost! By far the easiest way to save money on transportation is to stay places longer and travel slower. For example, in South America we took multiple flights within the continent. $200 for a flight across Argentina seems cheap to cover such a huge distance, but with only 2 weeks in that country, it adds a lot to the total cost. Instead, stay in Argentina for 3 months and take buses – you’ll save money and get to see a lot more along the way.
Sell your house – Keeping our house was a costly decision, especially since the market has only gone down in the last year. But having a renter helped, and it was sure nice to have a place to come home to.
 

How we kept track of expenses

In case you’re curious, we kept track of every single purchase we made while traveling. I kept a small black notebook in my purse, and wrote down every purchase. Occasionally I would enter it into a master spreadsheet to add it all up and see if we were on track. This allowed us to see what we were spending our money on, and make adjustments if we were out of line with our budget.