I'm blown away that you spent just over $1 a day on 'booze' and 'fun'. Please tell us you did have fun.
I'm off for 12 months in the new year and was looking at budgeting $20k. But I can see myself spending at least 10 times your $373.15 on alcohol. Time to reassess expenditure.
Very helpful. Thanks.
Rachel Cotterill
· 2 months ago
And I thought I was the only one who kept my records to the penny (across multiple currencies).
Shannon
· 2 months ago
I was pretty anal about it! Lol, felt like I would always be happy to know the final total :-) So no worries, I also meticulously jotted it down!
Gawii
· 2 months ago
Wow I'm impressed!! Thought it would be a whole lot more than that! The booze bill would kill me. Are u an accountant or been one in a previous life?? U don't mention how many of you were doing this. Have u ever been to South Africa?
ShannonRTW
· 2 months ago
Not an account...can't say about previous lives...that's a distinct possibility :-) I haven't been to South Africa but I work on Web sites from the road so it's a probable stop down the line at some point!
Katrina
· 2 months ago
Nicely done Shannon! I love seeing the break down of how much it all cost -- and spent on a year of fun and exciting adventures around the world = worth every penny!
Shannon
· 2 months ago
Thanks Kat!! I agree that it was so worth it :-) Hope you're doing well out there in LA!
laura carter
· 2 months ago
oops! i think i might have had something to do w/ your higher ireland entertainment expenses! :) not to mention dumb extras we had to pay since we basically walked our pet bikes around inis mor....
Shannon
· 2 months ago
I think you definitely had something to do with Ireland's beer tab! :-p But I wouldn't have had it any other way. As for the pet bikes, they were lovely while they lasted but the bus tour was better :-)
brian from nodebtworldtravel.c
· 2 months ago
Great to see the numbers laid out. I put the numbers up just for my hostels and was shocked at how little I spent. Glad you were able to keep such fantastic records.
Shannon
· 2 months ago
Thanks! Deep down inside I am secretly a bit Type A :-) As for the hostels - I just couldn't believe how cheap it is to do it that way either - and even staying in guest houses in Asia!
dave
· 2 months ago
I gotta pile on the compliments here. Nice work! It really does look like a lot of work to keep such records. I'm way too lazy. When ppl ask me how much I spent on my big trip I usually just make up a number :) . At one point I looked at my bank account and saw how much money I withdrew while I was gone.
Anyway, your price/day figures are really helpful. Combined with your blog so I can tell what kind of stuff you did...
Shannon
· 2 months ago
Thanks Dave! I actually did it primarily because I couldn't find this information when I was planning the trip and it frustrated me! Your own trip looks pretty stellar - how's it feel now that you've been back for quite some time?
Megan
· 2 months ago
You are inspiring me to travel more! I am extremely tempted. Were the places you stayed at very cheap?
ShannonOD
· 1 month ago
All hostels in the developed countries and guest houses in Asia - never the "absolute cheapest" though! I like a little clean at least! :-)
Mike
· 2 months ago
Thanks for sharing, this gives an idea what to plan for.
ShannonOD
· 1 month ago
You're most welcome! Thanks for popping in :-) I look forward to reading some of your more "fights" :-)
AdventureRob
· 2 months ago
Always good to see a budget laid out like this, I've been tracking my expenses since I left, it's surprising how some places build up.
Shannon
· 2 months ago
Ireland killed me on prices...like I died a little inside when I saw how over-budget I went...it was a really good thing I went right home after that place! I was actually so surprised by how cheap India turned out to be; still surprised actually! :-)
RPG
· 2 months ago
Excellent breakdown, THANKS! I'll definitely be coming back to read more from your blog...
CMB
· 2 months ago
Oh man, I have to tell you that I am all giddy inside finding your website, and this page in particular. My husband and I are planning our trip now and are expecting to leave in January. Your website is providing a lot of inspiration and I see many similarities between our trips already. :) Now I'm off to go see if you've made that spreadsheet available yet, I love this! Thank you!
ShannonRTW
· 2 months ago
Hi! You are most welcome and I am so glad that you found the budget helpful! Let me know if you can't find the downloadable spreadsheet, I posted it about a week ago! :-) I checked out your blog- looks like the setup is coming along nicely and I look forward to reading about your travels. Don't hesitate to shoot me an email if I can help in any way :-)
cheylene
· 1 month ago
Wow. That's not too bad. My boyfriend and I wanted to keep a budget of under 20k per year once we embark on our travels. It looks like that might be possible. Thanks for all the details! I'll definitely refer back to it when I get closer to leaving.
ShannonOD
· 1 month ago
I think it is DEFINITELY do-able - traveling as a couple will keep the costs down, and if you stay out of the UK and a lot of Europe then you will do better than my figures by a lot! I look forward to following your travels when you guys set off! :-)
Akila
· 1 month ago
Wow! Very impressive. I think we're going to blow your Australia budget because we definitely spent a lot in that country. But, New Zealand has been a lot cheaper.
ShannonOD
· 1 month ago
Lol! Likely true, I was a little conservative in Oz trying to get used to the whole solo travel thing, I think if I had it to do over again I would have blown a tad more ;-) I'm jealous of your outback picks - it rained all 4 days I was there if you can even believe it!
marta
· 1 month ago
Pretty soon we will have to face our expenses too after almost a year on the road but I am confident we are fairly there with our planned budget something similar to yours and at least we haven’t broken the bank. RTW trips are definitely more affordable that what people think and if you are willing to let go to that new plasma TV or new car I am pretty sure anybody can do it. The only problem I guess is to get back to work after it, first cause there are probably no jobs with this economic situation and second cause I don’t want to work any more! Shannon, I can see Italy was the most expensive place you have been but I hope it worth, nice food isn't?
ShannonOD
· 1 month ago
Italy was the most expensive, but I did that knowing I was going to let it be. I studied abroad there for a bit a few years ago and just love the food and wine. When I went back, I told myself, no budgeting! I just really wanted to enjoy my time. I'll be interested in seeing your own budget and not breaking the bank is always heartening - I broke my bank account a bit with the rental car in Ireland ;-)
littleadventures
· 1 month ago
Thank you so much for doing this! I'm planning to start a solo trip in May 2010. I found your country-by-country expenses super helpful. It gives me better sense of the amount of time I think I can afford to stay in each place.
I wanted to access your blank, formatted spreadsheet to log my own RTW budget but it doesn't seem to be working. Can you check on this for me? Thanks!
ShannonOD
· 1 month ago
Thanks for letting me know the link was down, working on your email now :-)
Got Passport
· 1 month ago
Shannon,
Talk about Details! We did that when we were in Thailand and our daily cost less than $60 for three peeps! We were there almost two months. Moving to Chiang Mai next year. I see you spent 3 days there so if you fancy to return to Thailand, count on us in Chiang Mai!
Thanks so much for sharing this.. you have inspired to get off my butt, away from Twitter and FB to really get down and dirty with our Summer trip!!
ShannonOD
· 1 month ago
$60 is really cheap for three people! And thank you so much for the offer of a visit in Chang Mai...I'm actually REALLY pondering there next year! Oh, and I SO have the same problem with Twitter some days, man, talk about addicting! :-)
Jeremy & Eva Rees
· 4 weeks ago
Loved this Shannon! We're keeping notes down to the penny and using Daytum to keep track — it can send our heads spinning sometimes, though! I really liked the daily costs per country here, I think that's invaluable to backpackers!
ShannonOD
· 3 weeks ago
Wow, that Daytum site is amazing - I loved looking through your expenses all laid out like that! It's interesting how that logs the data for you, I'll have to consider it for my next trip :-) Thanks for tip!
David
· 5 days ago
Wow, I'm impressed. Really, blown away by that figure. I had no idea you could travel RTW on such a small budget. Nice to know it's within reach.
ShannonOD
· 5 days ago
It really is do-able and I promise you that you can do a RTW for that or even less if you stay out of Western Europe! :-)
All Comments
I'm off for 12 months in the new year and was looking at budgeting $20k. But I can see myself spending at least 10 times your $373.15 on alcohol. Time to reassess expenditure.
Very helpful. Thanks.
Have u ever been to South Africa?
Anyway, your price/day figures are really helpful. Combined with your blog so I can tell what kind of stuff you did...
I wanted to access your blank, formatted spreadsheet to log my own RTW budget but it doesn't seem to be working. Can you check on this for me? Thanks!
Talk about Details! We did that when we were in Thailand and our daily cost less than $60 for three peeps! We were there almost two months. Moving to Chiang Mai next year. I see you spent 3 days there so if you fancy to return to Thailand, count on us in Chiang Mai!
Thanks so much for sharing this.. you have inspired to get off my butt, away from Twitter and FB to really get down and dirty with our Summer trip!!
even less if you stay out of Western Europe! :-)