How much then?
Yea yea yea, blah blah blah, traveling round the world, great, but how much is it gonna cost?
Some people are too embarrassed to talk about money, some people think it’s a private affair, some people think it’s uncouth and some people aren’t interested. Some people are nosey bastards like me and would like to know – actually the real reason for this blog is this info might be quite helpful if you’re thinking about doing something similar.
Me, I’m not embarrassed to talk about money, if I don’t have it I don’t spend it. I do like it to stretch as far as possible though.
This is how we’ve saved/ spent/ budgeted so far, you may do it very differently. We did a lot of research on how other families budgeted their trips, some did it for less and some spent more.
3 years ago John was made redundant, he got £30K, we put this away with the idea we’d move to a house with a second toilet (my dream). We nearly did but pulled out as it was going to be too costly long term (see above about making our money stretch!)
So, instead of moving house we decided to go travelling instead, something we’ve both done in the past and wanted to do more of, especially with the kids in tow. We both have the same attitude toward travel “Why wait until one of us gets too poorly or too old and then we say – I wish we would have travelled more”
We budgeted this £30K assuming it would be enough to get us around the world – my god, £30K is a huge amount of money, it’ll easily be enough – surely?
Without breaking it down into to too much fine detail (although we can, just ask, we have a seven page spreadsheet) basically, the flights alone – 26 of the buggers were about £14K, with accommodation for nine months, including car hire for 6 cars, a few hundred quid on jabs and the best personal travel insurance (only around £600 actually) we’ve already spent the £30K. We’ve not eaten or had any fun yet.
John is keeping a daily tally of everything we spend (yes – everything!) and we’re averaging £50 per day, if we keep to this budget (unlikely as we have some expensive countries coming up) we’re looking at a total cost of £43K – a lot more than we’d imagined, if we come home with change from £50K we’ll be happy, isn’t that crazy? £50,000 – change – happy. We are not big spenders, we are naturally tight by nature so this – to us – is bonkers too.
I’ll update you in September on the final cost – assuming we have any money left to pay for the wifi so we can upload at home.
6 COMMENTS
This is a really great post. You know its a dream of ours too so it really is a good thing to hear about actual expenditure for a family of 4. Thanks for being honest and sharing. XX
Hi Anonymous, I’d love to know which anonymous you are – email me if you prefer.
Colettehazelwood@gmail.com
To us that does sound like a shedload of money but it’s quickly put into perspective I know. When we first imagined what the cost might be, it was more in hope that any realistic figure we had in our heads. And we probably based it on our experiences of 2 adults travelling cheaply as we did when we were young rather than with 2 mini beasts who eat like adults in tow. We were clear when we started that we didn’t want to do ULTRA budget and scrimp on everything, but there was no way we could afford or justify 5star hotels everywhere. We also wanted the trip to involve a wide range of experiences, from hotels, homestays, cabins, airbinbs, campervans and camping (you meet a much wider selection of folk this way). When you look at families who have done similar, some will work their way around the world, others pay for it with savings, renting their house out or selling advertising on a blog. We decided not to do any of these really as the main idea was to experience it together. Yes we are both doing SOME work but Col’s is mainly about keeping her business ticking over (and hopefully breaking even whilst we’re away) and the online work I’m able to do can be done in the middle of the night when the others are asleep, but this will only really cover a few of the bills that still come in at home (council tax, power, insurance etc never stop!) so these ongoing running costs are NOT in this total. We chose not to rent the house out as we want to return to our HOME rather than an Airbnb shell. This also frees the house up for any friends or family that need to use the house in an emergency or are visiting the area. A good guesstimate would be to think about what you’d spend on a half term week away to a flight destination (car, food, treats, entertainment, even taxis to and from the airport). Our trip is 35 weeks and costs also include all the things that you wouldn’t necessarily have on a 1 weeker, like new shoes (kids grow – quick!), practical things like replacement kit that breaks/ fails, hair cuts, visits to the dr etc etc etc.
So, yes, it’s a lot of money but some people will have a car that costs as much, others would never be able to afford it. We feel we’re really lucky to be in a position to afford to do it the way we’ve chosen to do it. We’ve saved, we work hard and we love spending time together. Before you know it they’ll be all grown up and we’ll barely see them. Life’s too short.
If anyone knows how to budget its you and Colette you are doing a great job. Love mum xx
Money can’t buy experiences and memories so hell with the budget you can always sell your soul
Already sold that – and there’s no refunds.
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