How To Fund An Around-The-World Trip

Many people dream of traveling the world. One of the biggest barriers is the cost. While there are many ways to travel on the cheap, most people end up spending around $20,000 for a single person around-the-world year-long trip. 

Just how can you afford such a trip? Taking out a loan is one option, but it’s a lot of debt to take on for a travel experience. Below are a few more sensible options on how you can fund an around-the-world trip. 

Use savings

If you’ve inherited some savings, you may be able to use these to fund your travels. If not, you can always save up some money yourself. 

Saving up a large amount of money fast isn’t easy. Be prepared to put in a lot of work to earn as much cash as you can and live frugally for a few months in order to limit your expenses. You may even be able to make up funds by selling possessions such as old clothes, your car or even your home (many people fund long-term travel in retirement by selling their home). 

Rent out your home

Traveling around-the-world when you rent or own a home can be a challenge. You’ll likely still have to pay bills while you travel. A good way of covering these bills could be to rent your home out to a tenant or lodger while you are away. You could even make some money on top of the rent to put towards your travels. On top of this, you don’t have to worry about your home being left vacant, protecting it from damage or burglary while you’re away. 

If you currently rent your home, you’ll have to ask your landlord for permission to sublet your home. If you own your home, you’ll need to consider whether your current mortgage permits you to take on lodgers or tenants or whether you’ll need to take out a new mortgage. Be prepared to hire a property manager to help take care of tenants’ needs while you are away. 

Your possessions will also need to be moved out of the home if you are renting it to someone else. Consider looking for a decent-sized storage unit such as a 10×10 storage unit to put your possessions in. There will be storage rental fees to cover, but if you choose the right unit these fees should be fairly low. 

Work as you travel

Another option could be to work as you travel. By keeping money coming in as you travel, you can cover bills back home and fund your travels without having to save up as much beforehand. 

There are lots of jobs that you can take on while traveling. Computer-based ‘digital nomad’ jobs will give you the most flexibility – this includes jobs like copywriting, digital marketing, graphic design, data entry and virtual assistant work. Providing that you have wi-fi and access to power, you can work these jobs from practically anywhere. 

Working and traveling requires a fair amount of discipline, but is ultimately one of the best ways of affording an around-the-world trip. Of course, you can combine this with other forms of funding too such as savings and renting out your home.