How to Afford Long-Term World Travel pt 1 – The Three Components

enjoying views from Koh Phi Phi viewpoint – Thailand

How to Afford Long-Term World Travel

pt 1 – The Three Components

The most frequent question hopeful world travelers ask me is how I can afford to travel the world, especially long-term. This seems to be the major question asked not only to myself, but to many other travel bloggers and long-term world travelers. Everyone wants to know how to travel the world cheap or at least not too expensively.

I recently read a survey in which dozens of travel bloggers were asked what they perceived to be the major fear or hesitation people have about traveling the world. Their perceptions were based on questions, feedback and comments they receive from their readers and followers. Over 90% of the travel bloggers taking part said that most peoples’ main fear and hesitation concerns money.

Since I’ve been traveling the world continuously for over 14 years, I’m one of many living examples that long-term world travel is financially possible as an ongoing lifestyle. Besides myself, there are dozens of other travelers, some bloggers, who have been roaming the world for a few years, a decade, even two or three decades.

travel bloggers get together in Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia

Meanwhile, based on questions would-be travelers keep asking, this topic of how to afford traveling is obviously still elusive to many. So I’ve decided to launch a series of travel tips explaining how to afford long term travel.

I’m going to explain exactly how I personally have continued paying for my travels. I will also give concrete examples of how other long-term travelers and travel bloggers have been earning a living. I’ll then make suggestions on dozens of potential ways to earn a living while traveling, including passive income sources, jobs and entrepreneurial ventures. My suggestions are based on my own personal experiences as well as people I’ve met out on the road who are earning their way.

The series goes as follows:

pt 1 – The Three Components

pt 2 – How I, Lash, have been able to afford 14 years of world travels

pt 3 – How other long-term travelers I know are earning a living

pt 4 – How other travel bloggers earn a living

pt 5 – List of income sources while traveling

pt 6 – How to Minimize Costs of Accommodation

pt 7 – How to Minimize Costs of Transportation

pt 8 – How to Minimize Costs of Entertainment

pt 9 – How to Minimize Costs of Food

In addition to this series, some of my posts in LashWorldTour Money Travel Tips, Accommodation Tips and my series Why Living Overseas is Better explain expenses in more detail.

This post being pt 1, following are the three components of affording long-term world travel:

thatched bungalow – Koh Bulon

1. It’s a lot cheaper to live around the world than in Europe or USA!

One important fact to know about traveling the world is that it can be much cheaper than you think. World Travel has an image of being expensive and exclusive, something that only wealthy people can afford to do. World travel is prestigious, a lifestyle that many people dream of while believing it’s just not possible or affordable for them.

Certainly there are luxury vacations available. And luxury hotels, luxury resorts, luxury cruises, luxury tours and so on. Of course world travel CAN be very expensive and luxurious. But that type of travel is only one of many ways to travel the world. It’s definitely not the only way to travel.

In contrast, budget world travel is actually MUCH MUCH cheaper than living in USA or Europe. I kid you not. Just think about that for a minute. It can cost LESS to travel around the world continuously than to live in your current country with your current job, house, car and possessions.

I am living proof. I have been traveling the world on $400 – 500 per month since 1998. That’s all inclusive: accommodation, food and drinks, personal necessities, minor medical needs, transportation (even flights) everything. That’s only $5000-6000 US per year.

In 2012, I increased my budget to $600 per month, or $7500 per year. But I fell short of my budget! My average monthly budget for 2012 was $565 US. Last year I spent a total of $6780 US traveling the world continuously. Really.

Can you live on that in your current life? I doubt it. But you can in many other countries!

Here are two other living examples of how inexpensive continuous world travel is:

Earl Baron of Wandering Earl has been traveling the world nearly as long as I have. He’s been averaging $1000 US per month. That’s $12,000 per year. Now that’s more than double what I live on. Compared to me, Earl is a ‘middle class’ traveler.

Even traveling as Earl does, I’ll bet his expenses are a lot cheaper than your sedentary lifestyle. Yes?

Earl has written an excellent book on How To Live a Life of Travel, explaining all aspects of how to lead such a lifestyle. If you’re interested in travelling the world, I highly recommend this book.  Read my book review here

Nomadic Matt, one of the world’s most famous and successful travel bloggers, has been roaming the world since 2008. He just published a book entitled, How to Travel the World on $50 a Day. That’s $1500 per month. Now if I were spending that much money during my world travels, I’d be living like a princess! I could really bump up my standard of living from comfortable to luxurious.

Even that generous yearly travel budget of $18,000 US is probably still much less than you must spend to live at home. No?

So, once again, I ask you to pause and consider these financial facts. You can literally travel the world for as long as you want on less than you must spend to not travel the world. So, for the same amount of money, which would you rather do? Continue your current life? Or go travel?

Cycling in Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia

So, as a first step in figuring out how it’s possible to travel the world long-term, know that you don’t need to find a job that pays $30,000 or $60,000 or $100,000 / year. You just need to make $6,000-18,000 US, depending on how and where you want to travel. Financially, it’s easier to travel, not harder!

Exactly how much you’ll need to travel, of course, depends on your ‘required’ standard of living while overseas/traveling. If you require luxury hotels, gourmet meals daily, designer clothes, riding in taxis… then it’s going to cost you a lot more than what I’ve just said.

Also any expensive habits like drinking, smoking, drugs… are going to make traveling a lot more expensive. Do you need a/c? Hot showers? Rack up the room costs.

That brings us to component number two:

 2. Minimize Costs = live much cheaper

 Fewer possessions

When you’re traveling, especially if you’re traveling long-term, there are only so many possessions you can (and want to) carry. You don’t need a house, a car, a TV, a bunch of electronic gadgets, a collection of sports equipment, two closets worth of clothing or shoes, three drawers full of toiletries. You simply can’t carry that much with you.

All you can take is what fits in your backpack or suitcase. And as you’ll quickly learn when you start lugging around a heavy backpack or two, you’ll actually want to minimize even more than you thought. You’ll want to drop as much unnecessary weight as possible. You’ll quickly discover that you don’t actually need most stuff you’re used to having.

You also will no longer have any reason to continue buying more new gadgets, appliances, equipment, clothes or electronics. How you going to carry them? Where you going to keep them? What could you possibly need them for?

Lash teaching scuba diving in Thailand

In addition to less weight, a lack of possessions means no monthly bills. When you’re traveling the world, you don’t have a mortgage, rent, utility payments, car payments and insurance or any other monthly expenses.

Just stop to consider how much cheaper your life would be if you suddenly eliminated ALL your monthly expenses!

Owning fewer possessions is one major reason why traveling the world is less expensive than living a sedentary lifestyle.

Now you might have already realized that instead of a mortgage or rent you’ll have to pay for rooms in hotels, guest houses, hostels or other accommodation. And instead of car payments, you’ll have to pay for public transportation to get around: buses, trains, boats, airplanes. And you’ll be correct.

seaside budget bungalow in Bali

Much lower costs overseas

However, in most countries of the world those accommodation and transportation expenses are way way less expensive than back home in USA, Canada, Europe or Australia. And much less than a mortgage, car payments and monthly utilities.

In fact, you can even find all sorts of free accommodation if you want. Besides that, everything else is less expensive too: food, drinks, toiletries, clothes, medical expenses… everything.

Lower costs in other countries is another major reason why world travel is cheaper than living a sedentary life in the western world.

 Spending habits

Finally, there are many other ways / habits to cut costs even further on all your travel living expenses, such as:

* Stay in less expensive places

* Buy less expensive things- cheaper clothes, accessories, jewelry, toiletries

* Buy things in the least expensive countries

* Cut out expensive habits (drinking, smoking, gourmet coffees or meals, luxury treatments)

* Enjoy free and cheap activities

* Don’t have kids or pets

here I am at my book signing

3. Earning an income. Where does the money come from?

Ok, so traveling the world can be very inexpensive and there are many tips for cutting down on expenses even more.

But still, every traveler needs an income to continue traveling. How do we long-term travelers earn money to sustain our nomadic lives?

The short answer is that there are dozens and dozens of ways out in the world, while traveling, to earn a living. There are dozens and dozens of ways that real long-term travelers, like myself, are currently earning a living while traveling. They include passive income sources, jobs (ie. working for other people or companies ) and working for yourself.

I delve into this vast topic in subsequent posts in this series.

A few specific posts you might find useful:

part 2: How I Personally Have Been Traveling for 15 Years

part 3: How Other Long-Term Travelers I Know Earn a Living

part 5: List of Possible Income Sources While Traveling

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If you want to learn everything about how to travel long-term, I highly recommend Wandering Earl’s latest book:

How to Live a Life of Travel

You might also enjoy:

How to Afford Long-Term World Travel pt 2 – How I Do It How to Afford Long-Term World Travel pt 4 – How Travel Bloggers Do It How to Afford Long-Term World Travel pt 7 – Minimizing Costs on Transportation How to Afford Long-Term World Travel pt 8 – Minimizing Costs on Entertainment