In order to prepare for our 4-5 year trip, we had to invest in all the clothing, gear, and electronics we would be taking with us. We spent several months accumulating everything we needed in order to take advantage of coupons, sales, and discounts. Following is a list of everything we brought with us and the initial costs.
Total pre-trip equipment costs: $4,461
- Clothing: $974
- Electronics: $2,853
- Gear: $634
Additional pre-trip expenses:
- Travel insurance (6 months): $516
- First plane flights: $100 (we purchased our flight from Seattle to Ecuador with Alaska Airline miles so this represents only the booking fee/taxes)
- Travel clinic: $35. Our vaccinations were covered by insurance, but we did buy some antibiotics to take with us. Had we realized how easy it would be to get them in South America – and for a much cheaper price – we would not have done this.
Antarctica: $10,926
- Before leaving Seattle we had the opportunity to save 35% on a trip to Antarctica. We didn’t want to pass this up, but it was well outside the range of our trip budget. So we did what anyone who really wanted to see penguins on million-year-old glaciers would do: We took on extra jobs to pay for it.
- The trip to Antarctica was paid for before we left out of the funds from this extra work, so if you want to take a similar “biggie” trip within your trip you may consider doing the same to keep from withdrawing 3-4 months’ worth of expenses at one time to pay for a 2-week adventure. Because that would probably cause physical pain.
Hey, excellent site setup ideal for those of us getting ready to makke the change, on the other site there was a comment about sharing info, maybe you could have a road warrior page where you can have folks fill out a form so all the data is in the same format then post it… it would have things like
Fred
Visited England
Stayed in Hastings
PAID this much for month week day for palce to sleep
things i found i did not know
Things i learned
so have fun , this is now on my favorites enjoy your travels and thank you for your time and effort
Hey Fred,
Thank you for being brave enough to dive in and provide our first comment. I am delighted to know that the site provides value and will help give you some insights as you plan your own adventure. I love the idea of creating a community site. I’ll look into expanding the site to include exactly this. Thank you for your support and insights.
I love your website and thank you for all the amazing info. I am highly considering this way of life. Now I’m not sure I can travel like this by myself with elderly pets but after they are gone I will be ready.
I’m a little confused by your saying you spent only $100 to fly from Seattle to Ecuador. Maybe I am missing something. I see it’s only the booking fee and taxes. Why is that? Do you show the budget with your airplane tickets included from country to country? I am guessing that is a major expense in all this, something I should take into consideration before planning this adventure.
Many blessings on your journeys.
Hi Jacqueline,
It is wonderful to hear from you. Excellent question and one that we’ve not discussed in too much detail here. Over the last 18 months we have taken 3 flights during our trip around the world. The first one, from Seattle to Ecuador was booked with airline miles and thus the $100 price. The second was also booked with miles from Peru to Argentina. The last flight, from Germany to Thailand, was paid for in full and was a chunk of our budget.
We tend whenever possible to take alternatives to flights, even when flights are cheaper (i.e. in Europe). We enjoy the opportunity to see more of the sights and can travel slowly enough to make it work out for us.
We are absolutely loving every aspect of our lives and are happy that our information can help provide you answers as well as inspiration.