A detailed look at my expenses across 10 countries over 5 months of around the world travel
Hello from my hometown in New Hampshire, USA! After a life-altering five months of travel that took me around the world, I am finally home enjoying the remaining months of this winter wonderland. As I start to reconnect with my friends and family, I have found myself answering the same handful of questions. The most common question I get regarding my adventure is “how much did all this cost?” Well, luckily for you I had a moment of glorious foresight during my planning process. I had a crafty friend build me a beautiful spreadsheet to keep track of every penny spent, complete with color coding and detailed categories. This spreadsheet really idiot-proofed my ability to keep track of expenses and kept me mindful of where my money was going.
This post will be a realistic overview of someone traveling on a mid-range budget while still enjoying a few comforts here and there. If you followed the Daily-ish Journal, then you already know about my love affair with Capital One’s Venture X card. I will outline how this card saved me almost $11,000 on my trip! (Stick around for the end to find out how!)
How i prepared for a trip around the world
Planning a journey of this magnitude requires an immense amount of discipline and a bit of financial know-how. I decided to jump in head first about two full years prior to my departure date of September 22nd, 2025. I first needed to decide how I was to fund a trip around the world.
There are three obvious choices here. 1– get a remote job. 2– try to make money from social media. Or 3– live off my savings.
Making money from social media seems like a dream for most people. Sadly, the reality is that it is extremely difficult and incredibly time consuming. I knew I did not want to spend precious time abroad staring through a screen to create content. Content creation also requires a lot of extra equipment, which I wasn’t keen on carrying around. The idea of working a regular 8 hour shift on a laptop didn’t appeal to me, either.
So, I resolved to go forward with a plan to bolster my savings account and position myself for a longterm trip with a safety net.
savings goal and how I got there
If I had a penny for every minute of YouTube travel budget advice I watched, I would not have needed to save at all. Alas, only my own actions could get me closer to reaching my goal of traveling around the world. The nuggets of information I acquired did help me create a realistic daily and monthly budget goal, however. Of course, each region of the world and country within that region has a budget that feels comfortable for everyone.
My overall savings goal for this trip was $25,000.
I came up with a daily spending goal of $30/day in Southeast Asia and $50/day in Japan, Turkey, and London.
Did I always stick to that goal? Absolutely not. But, on average across 151 days, I ended up spending about $54/day on living expenses. This is not including accommodation, flights or the wedding dress I purchased (but we’ll get to that later).
What I did to reach my savings goal
- Eliminate debt. I cannot stress enough how hugely and positively this accelerated building my savings. I paid off my car and any medical debt I had. Small credit card balances, etc.
- Cancel unnecessary subscriptions. How many streaming services are you paying for? Amazon Prime? Meal delivery services? It really adds up!
- Go out less, cook at home more. This one is obvious. Meals out in the US are a luxury, usually costing $100 for two people for dinner! Light a candle and have a date in your own kitchen.
- Work overtime. Ah, yes. The dreaded “just work more!” suggestion. If you have a modest income, then yes! Working more works for you if you have eliminated your debt and managed your monthly expenses effectively. Remember, this is temporary and will pay off in experiences later!
Small changes add up to big results. Anything worth doing requires time and effort. If you stick with it long enough, you will succeed. I promise!
so, how much did I spend?
Time to rip off the bandaid. I traveled for exactly 5 months, or 151 days.
I spent in total… drumroll please… $18,256.96.
Yes, yes, I know what you’re saying. That’s nowhere near the planned budget. And you’re partially correct. While I did go over my daily spending goal, it was never a hard and fast budget. Remember the part about having a total savings goal with a safety net? Actually, my safety net plan had more than one layer.
To begin, let’s break it down by category.
| CATEGORY | AMOUNT SPENT $USD |
| Housing | $6,232.18 |
| Transportation | $1,449.17 |
| Food | $4,059.82 |
| Entertainment | $1,404.73 |
| Shopping | $1,867.42 |
| Flights | $2,660.82 |
| Other | $582.82 |
| TOTAL: | $18,256.96 |
And by country:
| COUNTRY | AMOUNT SPENT $USD |
| Japan (28 nights) | $5,664.86 |
| Malaysia (6 nights) | $752.77 |
| Vietnam (7 nights, 33 nights) | $2,541.89 |
| Indonesia (18 nights) | $1,521.73 |
| Singapore (3 nights, 1 night) | $737.38 |
| Turkey (18 nights) | $2,195.33 |
| Thailand (15 nights) | $1,686.14 |
| Cambodia (6 nights) | $625.56 |
| Laos (11 nights) | $980.35 |
| London (4 nights) | $1,550.95 |
Finally, each country by category:
- Housing– hotels, home stays, hostels, and airbnb
- Transportation– trains, buses, Grab cars & scooters, shuttles, etc
- Food– every breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and drink
- Entertainment– entrance fees to attractions, shows, activities, etc
- Shopping– clothing & souvenirs
- Flights– I did record every flight expense, sometimes I wasn’t sure which country to put it under
- Other– visa expenses, laundry, hotel tourist taxes paid on site, anything that didn’t clearly fit into a category
money mindfulness while traveling
And how a modest budget can afford luxury!
My journey around the world was many things, however, I would not describe it as extravagant. One can dream. Mostly, I tried to cut costs in small ways to make an overall impact. See the theme here?
Daily things included having a modest breakfast, drinking the complimentary coffee wherever offered, and eating my biggest meal during lunch time. Lots of places offer specials and have lower pricing during lunch to bring more customers in. In countries where street food is abundant, it is not only cheap but a rich cultural experience to enjoy fresh local food from a street cart.
I often did my own laundry in small batches, hanging to dry on my travel clothesline. Instead of using ride share services like Grab and Uber, I walked if possible. Public transportation is much more affordable than private cars for getting to and from airports.
Long term travel is about finding joy in the small moments. After all, you are living abroad. Laundry day becomes people watching and a quiet moment to read. Solo meals become an opportunity to practice a foreign language or strike up a conversation. You become hyper-aware of body language and what your facial expression is telling people. Train rides allow countryside sightseeing. Tasks that seemed mundane before are now necessary to ensure the budget is there for bigger, more exciting things. My best advice is to embrace the mundane and you will find your connection to a place grows.
unexpected and other expenses
How to turn mountains into molehills-avoiding costly mistakes
The unpleasant parts of travel are where the safety net becomes very important. Of course, you can never plan for every scenario. Life happens. Weather happens. The key is to be as prepared for the unexpected as possible, and problems become merely a blip on the radar instead of a trip-ending catastrophe.
I learned this lesson very early on- before I even left the United States, actually. If you’re a Daily-ish Journal reader, you will remember the time my flight to Tokyo was cancelled due to a super typhoon headed straight for Hong Kong- my layover stop. Unfortunately, Cathay Pacific’s customer service in a rebooking situation left a lot to be desired and ended up costing me $660. I flew with ANA (lovely, 10/10 recommend) but would still try Cathay. Obviously, there was nothing I could do to avoid this cancellation and rebooking fee, but I did try to safeguard myself by buying travel insurance.
After some research, I purchased a nomad insurance plan through Safety Wing. The plan includes coverage for travel related sickness, issues with flights, accidents, stolen electronics, assistance with cancellations, and more. Or such was advertised. I did submit a claim to cover my $660 rebooking fee, which got denied. I was under the impression cancellations due to a super typhoon would fall under the category of “not my fault,” but, here we are.
The other major expense (albeit a very happy one!) I encountered but didn’t plan for was my engagement. After looking at wedding dress prices in the US, I discovered that it would be more cost effective to buy abroad and ship a dress home. I was able to do this for under $1,000 and the dress needs no alterations.
Other things to avoid
Some lessons are learned the hard way, even when you’re a seasoned traveler. Many budget airlines in Asia operate with a 7kg total carry on allowance. For us Americans, that’s 15.4lbs. Basically nothing. By forcing customers to check in at the counter, there’s no way to avoid extra baggage fees if you are over this 7kg. Airlines then charge you per kilo (my 40 liter backpack cost $120!), making this very expensive. The cheapest way to navigate this problem is to buy a middle tier ticket when booking. Make sure that extra bag is already paid for.
Shopping with a little gumption can earn you an extra few bucks saved, also. In many countries around the world, it is completely normal to haggle on prices. This can be a controversial subject, since the local people usually aren’t making a lot of money to begin with. My best advice here is to use your judgement and only haggle when you feel it is warranted. For example, I purchased a handmade scarf from a lady in a tiny riverside village in Laos. Children were running around half-clothed, toddlers looking after infants while adults worked on dirt floors. I happily paid what she asked, thanking her and moving on. Ethical shopping is important, especially when most of the time haggling is over less than $1.
how i saved nearly $11,000 on around the world travel
In a world where the Dollar is losing value, points and miles are a universally strong currency. During the planning stage of this epic trip, I learned about how much utilizing points and miles can save on travel and just what kind of value they can glean. Over the two years of preparation, I set myself up with two travel credit cards with great benefits to help get me around the world in style.
Bilt Rewards
The first one is the Bilt Rewards card, which earns cash back and points, has no foreign transaction fees, and plenty of commonly used airline and hotel transfer partners. Bilt recently restructured the card, so I still have a lot to learn about this new version. It has zero annual fee, and is the lowest tier travel card I hold. It even earns points from my other cards when I link accounts. Bilt is the only credit card that earns points by paying your monthly rent or mortgage (duh, this is a no-brainer). The new program doesn’t have a referral code yet, so I have linked the Bilt website.
Capital One
The real gem of my wallet is my Capital One Venture X card. This is a premium tier travel credit card and has an annual fee of $395. However, the yearly travel benefits are worth more than the fee, making this card worth its weight in… stainless steel. It is incredibly easy to earn miles on everything from everyday spending to booking travel through the Capital One travel portal for up to 10x miles. Every year a $300 travel credit is loaded into your account, along with 10,000 miles- making the annual benefits worth $400. They pay me $5 to hold this card after that math. With tons of transfer partners, a trip around the world is closer than ever. Not to mention access to thousands of airport lounges using the complimentary Priority Pass. This alone is worth $420.
And there’s just something about leaving the chaos of the security line and heading straight for a free glass of bubbly and a hot meal in a quiet room!
How do miles save money?
It’s simple. Well, it can be with a little research of what is available to you and a lot of persistence. Capital One and Bilt share many airline transfer partners, which makes my points and miles “bank” more robust. Miles are usually earned and spent within a credit card portal at a 1 cent to mile ratio. Transferring miles to a partner can make them more valuable. For instance, I was able to book a business class flight from Singapore to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines for 65,000 miles and $240 in taxes. Within the Capital One travel portal, 65,000 is only worth $650. This Turkish Airlines flight in business class cost $5,120 if paid in cash. By transferring miles to Turkish Airlines and then booking the flight directly, I was able to redeem my miles at a much higher value.
AKA I saved around $4,800 on this 12 hour flight in a lie-flat seat. Absolutely incredible value.
Other redemptions I made were my very first flight from JFK to Tokyo, where I paid less than $200 in fees and spent 110k miles. I had five star service and a lie-flat seat for the entirety of my direct 16 hour flight to Japan. The other significant redemption I made was my flight home from London Heathrow to Boston. This was more expensive on the taxes and fees, costing about $500. However, this Virgin Atlantic premium economy seat should have cost $2,359. I spent 15k miles, which is dirt cheap for a very nice seat and meal services.
Total saved using credit card miles?
Transferring miles to airline partners is the best value you can get with any travel card, in my opinion. However, miles also come in handy to help subsidize the cost of hotels and can even be used to book experiences through Capital One (of course, you earn points on that, too!). So the key here is to use your travel portal as often as possible to book and earn miles.
*Flight Credits: Capital One refunds up to $50 if the price of a booked flight decreases.
Here’s the breakdown of my savings:
| CATEGORY | AMOUNT SAVED |
| Annual Capital One credits | $400 |
| Miles used for hotels | $492.09 |
| Flight Credits | $123.96 |
| Airline Transfer Partners | $9,669 |
| Miles used for Experiences | $40.28 |
| TOTAL SAVED | $10,926.18 |
I think the numbers speak for themselves when I say: go get yourself a travel credit card! Bonus points if you use my link to sign up for the Capital One Venture X!
To wrap things up
I did go over my daily budget goal. But, I don’t regret it. I reached my initial savings goal and my total spending was well below that number. I am a firm believer that when traveling, it is important to take opportunities that arise. You may never get the chance to return and try again. Say yes to more things, even if you go over budget sometimes. That’s what your safety buffer is for. Opportunity.
That’s all I have for this post. Comment and let me know if you think the amount I spent for a 5 month trip around the world was reasonable, too much, or as expected and what you would have done differently!
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