How much it costs to travel the World

That’s probably the toughest question out there for all travel-addicts. How much will it cost me? How much will it cost to sleep and eat for several months in a foreign country? What are the prices for an accommodation or for a transfer service? 

We had been on the road for 6 months. Travelling to Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, French Polynesia (Bora Bora), Easter Island, Patagonia (Chile and Argentina), Uruguay and Brazil. Some of these countries are quite pricey – we knew that but not in detail – so we tracked our costs scrupulously correct. In fact, Max wants to become an auditor one time, so at least he had fun doing that. Long story short, we always knew, when and where we spent every Euro. And now you can benefit from that :) We want to show you our actual expenses, to help you guys calculate your next trip and see as much from the world as you want to. Check out our route and what is important to consider when you plan your route. 

First of all the ONE number, that says it all:

14,414 €

or

17,287 $

per person for a SIX MONTHS trip through the southern hemisphere!

That's it! Both of us spent that amount on our trip around the world. Sounds like a lot at first, but on the other hand, we've slept and eaten for half a year, had quite a few (some super expensive) flights and traveled to some of the most expensive countries. So, to make it easier for you to break it down for your needs, you find a list below where we've been - for how long and how much we've spent there:

Before we started, we made a deal with ourselves in order to decide, what are must-have expenses we want to spend our money on and what is not worth it. We would recommend it to everyone who is traveling as a couple, so the trip will be much easier and benefit the harmony in your relationship - and that's all that counts, right? ;)

We wanted to spend our money preferably on cool activities, e.g. national parks, guided tours, scooter rentals and fun things like skydiving, canyoning, sailing, scuba-diving, biking or paddle boarding.

On the other hand, we cared less about accommodation and food & drinks. Meaning, we would choose to stay in hostels, camp sides, or maybe at an Airbnbs, when then offer was good ;) Especially when lodging was expensive like in Australia or Patagonia we would stay in dorm rooms, otherwise we tried to get good prices on double rooms. 

Don't get us wrong, when there was good and traditional food, we needed to try it of course - no one can resist steaks in Argentina ;) But we tried not to eat out and prepare food on our own! It's often more healthy and cheaper, but can be difficult without a kitchen.

Also we tried not to drink as much alcohol as in good old Germany ;) Way too expensive in most countries.. only in Brazil, we couldn't resist the Caipirinhas on the beach and had awesome times after half a glass :)

Transport is a big factor! We were renting cars, campers or other suitable vehicles to have the freedom of exploring on our own and not to go on expensive day-trips that force you into a fixed itinerary. We always tried to organize ourselves with other fellow travelers we met to team up to get a car and split the costs. Especially in popular places like Ayers Rock or Easter island, that's the best way to save some cash!

South America is the easiest to travel by bus. There are long distance busses going everywhere! You can even buy a ticket from Santiago de Chile all the way to Lima. Only issue that you will spent 48 hours on the bus :D Our longest ride was 24 hours from Bariloche to El Chalten - It's tough but you also save money on accommodation when you sleep on the bus ;) 

If you wanna know more about renting a campervan in New Zealand. We wrote down all important facts and tips we gathered from our experience in another blog article: Ultimate tips for your campervan rental in New Zealand!

What we spent a lot of money on was flights. We just couldn't resists to spent an extra 300 Euro for a return ticket from Tahiti to Bora Bora... so close and not going? no way!! Of course I spent endless hours comparing prices and round-the-world tickets, you can read all about how to book an around the world trip here!

The numbers show that we spent more money on activites than accommodation! Seems weird even to me! I think our most expensive activity was sky diving in Byron Bay, followed by diving with Manta Rays on Bora Bora and canyoning in Wanaka, New Zealand. But I'm sure this will be remembered way longer than any fancy hotel room.. so, I guess - worth it!!

Every travel is different, so we guess our all in all costs don't help you that much. That's why we divided the costs per country. See below how long we stayed and how much we spent. As currency conversion changes constantly we included the local currency as well.