How much money did we spent on travel before we even left for our one year trip? A lot! It turns out that preparing for long-term travel really isn’t cheap, however, it is necessary.
So, in this blog post I’ll share all of my pre-travel costs.
I will show you how much it costs to prepare for long-term travel, and go through my 5 expenses: travel insurance, vaccines, pharmacy runs, the first flight tickets, and all of the extra costs.
The biggest expenses were travel insurance and vaccinations. However, it’s important to not cheap out on these things because they are vital for your survival on the road (okay that sounded dramatic but they might be!)
Also, I am buying all of these things in Denmark and it’s more expensive than say Belgium where Glenn is from. So price of course differs from country to country.
All right, let’s dive right into this blog post!
Why should you prepare for long-term travel?
Before I reveal all the numbers, I thought I wanted to share why I think that preparing for long-term travel is so important!
I mean some people just pack their bag, buy a ticket, and get going. Being a tiny bit neurotic and anxious myself, I always envied these people. However, as I’ve become older (and wiser hopefully), I no longer envy this approach to travel.
I know that being fully covered by insurance, having all of the important vaccines, and being prepared with Imodium when the bad stomach kicks in is going to be a lifesaver on the road. Especially for all the neurotic and anxious people out there – being prepared for anything that might happen will give you an overall better trip.
So don’t just pack your bag, buy a ticket, and get going…
Did you for example know that once you’ve left your country, it’s harder to get travel insurance? And did you know that some countries might require you to have the yellow fever vaccine to enter?
Being prepared will only make your trip more smooth and safe! So why not spend a day taking care of this stuff?
Now, let me show you how much it costs to prepare for long-term travel. I can reveal one thing – preparing for long-term travel hurts the wallet!
How much does it cost to travel full-time?
Before I dive into all of the different expenses, I want to show you a diagram of what I spent while preparing for long-term travel. Now, it might look overwhelming and expensive, but just remember that I also splurged to make sure I was FULLY covered in everything.
Also, I live in Denmark which isn’t exactly known for being the cheapest country on earth… Anyways, here are my pre-travel expenses for a full year of travel.
I spend a total of €1882 or 14115DKK
Before even leaving for our trip…
But better safe than sorry. I’d rather save up some extra cash before we leave or go home a month earlier than not being treated for Dengue fever or whatever might come our way.
Now let me dive into what I got for all of this money.
1. Travel insurance
Travel insurance covers, well, everything that might go wrong on your trip.
I purchased through a Danish company that provides 24/7 hour call-service, unlimited health care, and I am insured while doing activities in all heights.
This was important to me since I wanted to have the opportunity to go for a “walk” in the Himalayas, and maybe – MAYBE – jump off a bridge in New Zealand (I of course mean bungee jumping).
Since we didn’t plan our journey, but are pretty much winging it around the world, I also made sure I’m covered in case we travelled to the US. However, this made my travel insurance so much more expensive!
During our round-the-world-trip, I actually ended up using my travel insurance twice. It seriously was my best friend during my worst times… Read about me getting altitude sickness in Bolivia.
2. Vaccinations
When it comes to vaccinations, I already had a few from my last trip in 2016. However, traveling around the world required me to get a few more…
During the month of May 2019, I had 2 x rabies, 2 x Japanese encephalitis, 1 x yellow fever, 1 x typhus, 1 x hepatitis B.
And man, I got so sick!
I had the following side effects: Nausea, fever, diarrhea, a rash, huge lymph nodes that never went away, sweat-attacks, sleepless nights … for more than a week. Nice, right?!
However, not all people get side effects like this. Glenn had the same vaccinations as me, and he was feeling; as he put it, “a bit sick” for one day. One day… And he was over it.
I definitely cannot recommend having all these vaccines within such a short period of time. However, I do recommend that you get them because it’s so nice to be protected from all these diseases.
3. First flight tickets
I only booked two one-way tickets to Bangkok with Thai Airways at €455/per person. This was definitely not the cheapest option for us.
We knew that we wanted to start the trip somewhere in Asia – and Bangkok seemed like a good beginning for a backpacker trip around the world. I decided to book a direct flight from Copenhagen with Thai Airways who is known for good service, nice food, free drinks whenever you want, and good entertainment. Watch our first travel vlog from our trip here.
So, I decided to splurge on the first (emotional) day on the trip because I knew that we were going to travel on a tight budget, and we would have many rough travel days ahead of us. The first days on our trip actually turned out to be some of the worst for me, read about the first days in my one year of travel.
4. Pharmacy runs
Another expense is all my trips to the pharmacy.
I think I’ve been to the pharmacy about five times to just get some extra pills.
Now that I think about it, I probably need to stop this madness… I mean, they do have pharmacies all around the world.
So for €105 I got loads of pills against headache, diarrhea, allergies, transportation sickness, malaria, and pregnancy. Oh, and I also bought a thermometer for the rear… Too much information? Well it’s important for when you get sick – and you will get sick when you go travel full-time.
5. All the extra stuff
The “extra Stuff”-category is probably way smaller than it should be. But at one point I just stopped counting the small things… I think I bought a lock for my backpack, some ear plugs, packing cubes, and much more.
Conclusion: Preparing for long-term travel is expensive!
All of these pre-travel costs are for one person with residence in Denmark. Hence, Glenn’s expenses (from Belgium) are not included here. They’re just for me…
I spent SO much money before I even left for the trip. And some of it probably wasn’t necessary. However, it didn’t hurt paying the money because I know it’s important if we want to have a successful and safe trip.
So, preparing for long-term travel is EXPENSIVE, but also NECESSARY! Don’t cheap out on travel insurance and vaccinations – just pay the money and get over it.
It seems like it’s time to end this blog post now, and I should probably stop going to the pharmacy for more pills. I think I already have enough Imodium. hmpf.
I hope you have a better idea about how much it costs to prepare for long-term travel. Looking back, there were definitely some things I could have saved money on – such as not buying insurance for travel to US (I never went there on this particular trip!) or getting some cheaper flight tickets.
BUT I would gladly pay it all again to ensure that I have a safe and great trip. I hope you will do the same!
Thanks for reading and happy travels!
