Traveling the World on $17,000 a Year

thebbqguy · Post by **thebbqguy** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 10:34 pm

I haven't read this site in detail, but it looks interesting.
http://www.theprofessionalhobo.com/
She is full of ideas for making permanent travel affordable.
I found her page while reading this one:

http://bikeandboots.com/

Post by **jacob** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 10:41 pm

http://www.downtheroad.org
This one closer to $5000/year.

djc · Post by **djc** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 11:53 pm

@Jacob,
Love the link! Love it.
djc

secretwealth · Post by **secretwealth** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 12:47 am

$17k is honestly easy if you stick to third-world countries and keep flights to a minimum of 3-4 a year. I'd say $600/mo. budget for housing, utilities, and food is extremely sustainable in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and central Africa. That leaves about $10k per year for flights, and assuming $1k for a one-way ticket (that's far too conservative), that's enough for 10 flights a year.
In reality, $1000/mo. and five flights per year is enough to ensure a very comfortable lifestyle in some very beautiful and underappreciated parts of the world. If I weren't married, I'd probably be doing that right now.

spoonman · Post by **spoonman** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 1:04 am

Thanks for the link! This is early retirement Pr0n for me!

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 2:44 am

We've been following Tim & Cindy from down the road for years. There are some people who go to great extremes and allow you to glimpse into their lives. They give you the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. One of the things we learned from them is how important it is to come back home every few years and reconnect with "reality". Sadly, they split up last year. I got the impression that part of the problem was the challenges of non-stop travel. It can be very disorienting to be in constant motion for long periods.
Edit: I just read Nora's post about splitting up as well...
http://www.theprofessionalhobo.com/2010 ... traveling/
24/7/365 can be hard on a relationship.

bibacula · Post by **bibacula** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 11:12 am

As others have stated, it's easy to travel for less than $17k in third-world countries.
I traveled for over 10 years (mainly in Asia), and I never spent over $15,000 in a year. I lived very well on $12k to $14k, while trekking in Nepal, scuba diving in Thailand, and teaching in Cambodia and Taiwan.
Many of the people that I met while traveling had much smaller budgets ($500/mo plus a plane ticket). I always felt like a spend-thrift.

blessed59 · Post by **blessed59** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 3:14 pm

Oh boy this is a thread I can totally light up for. I love travel so much and as one snob said to us " you sure love to slum with the locals". What a jerk that said that by the way. The best way for us to really experience the adventure of a new local is with the locals.

arebelspy · Post by **arebelspy** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:29 pm

So many travel blogs are a single person or a couple.
There aren't many traveling with kids.
The wife and I are planning to FIRE in about 3-4 years with two (as of yet unborn) kids, and start doing a travel the world, possibly similar to the above, though more likely we'll live in a place for 3-6 months, then move to a new place.
Anyone have some good links to blogs with people traveling the world with kids?

dan23 · Post by **dan23** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:50 pm

with kid not kids: http://www.soultravelers3.com/blog-index.html

C40 · Post by **C40** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:50 pm

arebelspy there is one about a family (of 5 or so - couple and 2-4 kids) that travels in an RV.. no idea now what the name of the blog is.

RealPerson · Post by **RealPerson** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 10:31 pm

Hmmm.....we have traveled the world with our kids. This is the summary. It is easy with babies, tricky with toddlers and easy with kids under 14. As far as teenagers are concerned, we don't even travel to the grocery store with them.

henrik · Post by **henrik** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 10:45 pm

@arebelspy This couple has been on the road for 3.5 years in an MB Sprinter van, first kid now 6 months old. They seem to have a rhythm similar to your "live in a place for 3-6 months, then move to a new place".

thebbqguy · Post by **thebbqguy** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 2:10 am

There are hundreds of people traveling full-time in Airstreams, but they aren't doing it for $17,000 a year trust me. A used Airstream in reasonably good shape runs in the $20,000 - $30,000 range if you don't luck on a "fire sale" deal or buy one that is 20 years old. While visiting Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI in the fall we saw a young couple with 2 kids traveling in their Airstream. They have a blog, but I can't seem to find it. Both parents work as software developers. Here's a link to the Airstream forum and a discussion about others who have done it with kids: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f314/ha ... 64970.html
I mention Airstream because there are tons of blogs written by people full-timing in them, but they are also well built and very durable for daily living wear and tear.
Here is a link to families traveling together: http://www.familiesontheroad.com/

arebelspy · Post by **arebelspy** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 2:18 am

Thanks for the links everyone, I'll check those out. If anyone has any more, please post!
Seems like a lot (all?) of the ones with kids is RV traveling (and I ran across one boat one at http://www.bumfuzzle.com ).
I'm picturing something like the professional hobo - rather than having an RV you move around the U.S., we'll go live in an apartment in Brazil for 6 months, then move to an apartment in China for 3 months, then move to Seattle for 4 months, then Italy (flying from place to place).
A bit different than just having your home on wheels and driving it around - literally you'd have everything in a few suitcases.
The couples who do that (even without kids) may actually be closer to what I'm picturing than families doing RV travel, because of the insights into international issues (Visas, cost of plane tickets, owning only a suitcase of stuff, health insurance while overseas, etc.), but if anyone knows of any families doing something like the above, I'd really appreciate it!
In the meantime, I'll be reading the RV ones just for insights on traveling with kids in general.
Thanks again, all.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 3:34 am

Two with families.
http://www.discovershareinspire.com/
http://www.familyonbikes.org/

JamesR · Post by **JamesR** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 4:05 am

It's pretty easy to find flights for around $600 from Asia to North America. Also I see one way flights for $300-400 from North America to Europe.
Check out www.skyscanner.com input your country and then leave the destination blank, and see the cheapest absolute deals from your country to other countries, then figure it out from there. Sometimes it's better to pick the cheapest country near to your destination, and get a separate flight.
For example, YVR (vancouver) -> PVG (shanghai) for $300-400ish is easy to find, and then a separate flight from there to your destination country in SE Asia for under $200.

jennypenny · Post by **jennypenny** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 4:31 pm

That's sad that those couples broke up. I wonder why that is? It must have something to do with the traveling, but what specifically?
-----
Two people can live on a cruise ship for $30K-$40K/year. I'm not sure I'd want that permanently. I'd love to live on the water or in a nice beach town, but it's expensive. I've looked into buying such a place, and traveling for 3-4 months/year during the high season while renting out the beach house to help pay for it. It seems like a good compromise to me.

Seneca · Post by **Seneca** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 4:37 pm

@Jennypenny- A friend of mine used to have a detailing business and over time a few wealthy clients started asking him to go detail their yachts before they'd go cruise. I often went as a way to make a few bucks, and I love boats and the water anyway so it was fun.
What we learned is there's a whole subculture of people who buy old boats and live aboard them. It can be done cheaper than a "regular" house, especially if you are not tied to docking in an expensive area.
I don't have any links, but I have since run across people talking about this on blogs and such.

secretwealth · Post by **secretwealth** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 5:15 pm

@jennypenny: Check out Sosua in Dominican Republic and Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, if you don't mind a lake instead of the beach. I think it'd be difficult to live in either locales full-time and spend more than $15k/yr. for a couple.