How Much Money Do I Need to Save Before I Go Traveling? (A Budget Tip for Travelers)

There are two questions I’m asked on a weekly basis.   How much money do I need to travel and how far can I travel for a given amount of money. If you look through my previous posts you can find “11 ways to save money while traveling” but I still receive regular questions about money BEFORE traveling.

I’m confident that everyone planning a backpacking trip has already googled “how much money”  “backpacking budget” etc.  I’m also pretty sure that on every page you found a different answer was given. Unfortunately, there is no answer as to how much money do you need to travel around the world.  Everything comes down to you, how picky are you and what are willing to live without?

I know people that have lived for less than 10USD a day in Norway and Switzerland and I know people with a 150USD a day budget for Thailand, Mexico, and India. Again I will say how picky are you and what can you live without?

A Spanish friend that I meet in Iran had made it from Ferrol in far western Spain to Iran for less than 100Euro, he hitchhiked and did volunteer work all the way.
In the end, did he make it all the way to Singapore with spending LESS than 500Euro (plus visa fees) on a 10-month journey.

I remember the first time I went on a trip.  I had worked for a few months and I was very concerned and nervous that I didn’t have enough money for even two months of traveling, but I managed to travel for eleven months on that trip.

So save as much money as you can at home before going away.  Live as cheaply as you can for some time. Buying a new smartphone can cost the same as more than one month of traveling in Nepal.   Clubbing (In Norway) just one Saturday will cost you more than one week of traveling in most Asian countries. A cinema trip could cost three days of traveling.  Can you walk or bike to your job instead of driving?

Check out this post from Mary about how she traveled 6months in Asia for 2000usd

Ask yourself the question ‘do I really need to travel for a whole year is six months enough?’  Is it not better to do a short trip if you have a limited amount of money (as most of us do) than to do no trip at all.

I seem to spend less and less money on my trips but most of that is from experience and the first week on the trip is always the most expensive one.

Don’t forget to check out this post about traveling ruined my life

So to answer the question ‘How much money do I need to save up before I go travelling?’  I never spend more than 10,000USD a year traveling, but I have friends that do the same for 1,000USD.   Could I spend less than 10,000USD a year? Yes, definitely!

You can also read my post ” 5 Destinations you can live for less than 20USD (US Dollars) a day”, to get some ideas about where to go or how to save money on food while traveling