How Much Did Our Family Round-the-World Trip Cost?

Our trip around the world with our two boys cost 91,241.00 CAD (68,555.86 USD) for 444 days, or 205.00 CAD (154.03 USD) per day for our family of four: 51.25 CAD (38.51 USD) per person per day. Below is the full breakdown by expense category and by country, and a comparison with the budget I had forecast before we left.

How much does a family trip around the world cost? It’s the question we get asked most, and understandably so: without money, it’s hard to travel. So I compiled our figures for anyone who dreams of setting off one day on an adventure like ours.

This article is part 3 of 3 of our round-the-world trip report:

• Part 1: Key highlights of our family trip around the world
• Part 2: How we organized our round-the-world trip
• Part 3: Financial report on our family trip around the world (this article)

Our Financial Report: What’s Inside

In this report, I list every expense of our trip, broken down by category and by country. To see more clearly and compare countries with each other, I then analyse our accommodation, food and transport costs in detail. Finally, I revisit the estimate I made before the trip to see whether it held up.

But first, a reminder of some statistics from our family trip:

• 444 days of travel;
• 50 countries visited;
• 56 flights;
• 33 rental cars;
• 181 different accommodations;
• 213 cities visited, including 39 capitals, not counting the many villages and sites outside cities;
• 50% expensive countries, 50% countries considered cheap;
• A lot of comfort, and often luxury;
• Travelling with carry-on suitcases only.

How Were Our Expenses Distributed?

Expenses by Category

In total, our expenses for 444 days amount to 91,241.00 CAD (68,555.86 USD), or 205.00 CAD (154.03 USD) per day for our family of 4, i.e. 51.25 CAD (38.51 USD) per person per day.

Prorated over 365 days, that’s 75,007.00 CAD (56,358.10 USD), or 18,752.00 CAD (14,089.71 USD) per person.

Amounts are in Canadian dollars. US-dollar equivalents use the exchange rate of October 4, 2019: 1 USD = 1.3309 CAD.

Here is how the total cost of our trip breaks down by expense item:

• Accommodation (excluding campers): 19,538.00 CAD (14,680.29 USD);
• Flights (international and domestic): 18,677.00 CAD (14,033.36 USD);
• Car rental (including campers and gas): 19,730.00 CAD (14,824.55 USD);
• Transport (parking, tolls, buses, trains, ferries, taxis, etc.): 6,038.00 CAD (4,536.78 USD);
• Restaurants: 12,445.00 CAD (9,350.82 USD);
• Groceries (including hygiene products, laundry, SIM cards, medicine): 6,857.00 CAD (5,152.15 USD);
• Activities: 6,013.00 CAD (4,518.00 USD);
• Visas: 1,942.00 CAD (1,459.16 USD).

The “Groceries” item is a bit of a catch-all, since I included hygiene products, laundry, SIM cards and medicine. In the end, I considered that these items weigh very little compared with the food itself.

Insurance, equipment, donations and gifts, and the credit card fees we paid to accumulate points are not included in these items. Although they are travel-related, I don’t consider them day-to-day travel expenses: they don’t apply to any one country, but to the trip as a whole.

Expenses by Country

The following table breaks down our expenses by item and by country. To isolate the cost of living in each country, I excluded international flights but kept local flights, which I consider part of transport costs, just like car rentals.

The table has only 38 rows because, to keep things simple, I grouped several countries together:

• Our expenses in the Benelux include Belgium (3 days), the Netherlands (4 days) and Luxembourg (1 day);
• Our expenses in Central Europe include Slovakia (1 day), Hungary (3 days), Poland (2 days) and the Czech Republic (3 days);
• Our expenses in England include Wales (2 days);
• Our expenses in Spain include Gibraltar (1 day);
• Our expenses in Germany include Liechtenstein (1 day);
• Our expenses in France include Basel, Switzerland (1 day);
• Our expenses in Italy include Ljubljana, Slovenia (1 day);
• Our expenses in Israel include the Palestinian Territory (2 days);
• Our expenses in Hong Kong include Macao (2 days).

Country	Visa	Internal flights	Car	Transport	Gasoline	Hotel	Restaurant	Groceries	Activities	Total
Iceland	0.00	0.00	2462.64	18.57	899.75	0.00	181.54	341.31	169.63	4073.44
UK	0.00	0.00	286.50	183.74	204.82	1161.88	447.59	339.63	0.00	2624.17
Benelux	0.00	0.00	281.33	66.52	148.71	873.05	283.25	195.34	0.00	1848.21
France	0.00	0.00	668.17	464.69	852.42	931.21	756.16	535.68	102.10	4310.43
Germany	0.00	0.00	398.98	156.36	345.45	1078.77	472.08	311.08	33.33	2796.04
Austria	0.00	0.00	159.59	82.46	99.93	173.44	178.25	212.97	157.02	1063.66
Central Europe	0.00	0.00	239.39	125.26	206.20	538.87	362.34	144.43	64.51	1681.00
Bulgaria	0.00	0.00	0.00	11.48	0.00	146.00	52.48	50.65	138.47	399.07
Turkey	322.00	0.00	350.33	267.45	261.75	194.84	347.42	131.72	876.25	2751.75
Cyprus	0.00	0.00	167.75	147.46	66.40	450.05	215.29	104.52	21.42	1172.89
Lebanon	0.00	0.00	214.84	4.29	55.75	686.11	314.97	48.03	132.08	1456.05
Greece	0.00	0.00	608.59	691.85	229.10	1148.80	497.31	359.32	172.13	3707.10
Israel	148.47	0.00	240.79	34.78	184.95	874.24	131.95	238.23	114.35	1967.75
Jordan	293.60	0.00	271.40	26.61	120.19	569.36	188.09	112.76	155.06	1737.07
UAE	0.00	0.00	285.52	7.26	95.76	14.52	256.82	148.02	180.77	988.68
Oman	123.78	0.00	176.29	0.00	46.46	193.53	46.46	76.59	29.04	692.16
India	440.72	0.00	1308.30	7.14	0.00	834.61	413.75	38.09	279.73	3322.34
Thailand	0.00	256.04	334.68	241.48	91.20	1094.73	635.20	214.80	213.20	3081.33
Myanmar	260.00	0.00	975.00	49.19	0.00	534.14	264.26	25.91	119.57	2228.07
Cambodia	54.00	0.00	0.00	147.02	0.00	434.72	415.85	63.65	91.80	1207.04
Vietnam	135.00	0.00	0.00	13.37	0.00	0.00	128.10	2.70	290.25	569.42
Sri Lanka	94.50	0.00	475.33	14.09	82.04	592.37	351.73	64.81	224.82	1899.69
Philippines	0.00	177.88	75.96	631.06	25.22	664.11	423.65	131.39	649.37	2778.63
Australia	70.23	436.56	798.96	280.80	398.77	383.50	83.51	256.89	144.40	2853.61
New Zealand	0.00	205.00	1004.89	103.96	419.58	91.22	53.00	464.03	283.54	2625.22
Fiji	0.00	0.00	285.00	2.52	29.04	332.60	169.50	97.73	31.94	948.34
Vanuatu	0.00	0.00	0.00	25.00	0.00	528.30	299.77	154.30	122.09	1129.46
Japan	0.00	19.64	0.00	657.35	0.00	1268.70	1126.45	417.71	243.37	3733.22
Taiwan	0.00	0.00	0.00	233.65	0.00	0.00	271.57	100.00	59.13	664.35
Hong Kong/Macau	0.00	0.00	0.00	185.90	0.00	81.17	403.09	212.73	89.19	972.08
Malaysia	0.00	286.44	22.67	282.48	6.48	180.44	222.45	98.31	108.80	1208.06
Indonesia	0.00	0.00	229.43	12.86	39.61	267.26	399.08	65.10	167.76	1181.11
Singapore	0.00	0.00	0.00	135.24	0.00	745.46	195.61	166.36	0.00	1242.66
Morocco	0.00	0.00	555.11	108.08	287.42	916.65	561.40	219.06	46.90	2694.61
Italy	0.00	0.00	103.37	262.65	205.76	99.98	288.60	100.47	87.00	1147.82
Croatia	0.00	0.00	258.43	153.20	138.20	790.47	263.35	168.56	110.00	1882.20
Spain	0.00	0.00	347.99	65.10	379.05	220.59	483.80	384.85	223.32	2104.69
Portugal	0.00	0.00	108.75	137.04	114.06	442.27	259.49	59.42	81.00	1202.02
Total	1942.30	1381.56	13695.98	6037.94	6034.06	19537.94	12445.18	6857.14	6013.32	73945.43

Average Daily Spending by Country

For analysis purposes, I compiled the following table showing our average daily spending in each country on accommodation, food and transport. These categories group together items from the previous table:

• The Total column is simply the total from the previous table, divided by the number of days spent in each country;
• Accommodation corresponds to the Hotel item;
• Food combines the Restaurant and Groceries items;
• Transport combines the Internal flights, Car, Transport and Gasoline items.

Country	Total	Accommodation	Food	Transport
Iceland	407.34	0.00	52.28	338.10
UK	238.56	105.63	71.57	61.37
Benelux	231.03	109.13	59.82	62.07
France	148.64	32.11	44.55	68.46
Germany	186.40	71.92	52.21	60.05
Austria	177.28	28.91	65.20	57.00
Central Europe	186.78	59.87	56.31	63.43
Bulgaria	133.02	48.67	34.38	3.83
Turkey	171.98	12.18	29.95	54.97
Cyprus	195.48	75.01	53.30	63.60
Lebanon	182.01	85.76	45.37	34.36
Greece	231.69	71.80	53.54	95.60
Israel	245.97	109.28	46.27	57.56
Jordan	248.15	81.34	42.98	59.74
UAE	89.88	1.32	36.80	35.32
Oman	230.72	64.51	41.02	74.25
India	184.57	46.37	25.10	73.08
Thailand	114.12	40.55	31.48	34.20
Myanmar	185.67	44.51	24.18	85.35
Cambodia	120.70	43.47	47.95	14.70
Vietnam	94.90	0.00	21.80	2.23
Sri Lanka	118.73	37.02	26.03	35.72
Philippines	154.37	36.90	30.84	50.56
Australia	259.42	34.86	30.94	174.10
New Zealand	238.66	8.29	47.00	157.58
Fiji	135.48	47.51	38.18	45.22
Vanuatu	112.95	52.83	45.41	2.50
Japan	186.66	63.44	77.21	33.85
Taiwan	83.04	0.00	46.45	29.21
Hong Kong/Macau	88.37	7.38	55.98	16.90
Malaysia	100.67	15.04	26.73	49.84
Indonesia	78.74	17.82	30.95	18.79
Singapore	155.33	93.18	45.25	16.91
Morocco	122.48	41.67	35.48	43.21
Italy	286.96	24.99	97.27	142.94
Croatia	188.22	79.05	43.19	54.98
Spain	131.54	13.79	54.29	49.51
Portugal	240.40	88.45	63.78	71.97

Where Did We Spend the Most and the Least per Day?

Total Daily Spending

Countries where we spent the most per day

• 407.34 CAD per day in Iceland;
• 286.96 CAD per day in Italy;
• 259.42 CAD per day in Australia;
• 248.15 CAD per day in Jordan;
• 245.97 CAD per day in Israel.

Iceland was by far the most expensive country, all categories combined. Fortunately, we were very frugal there: we bought the most basic products at the grocery store and ate out only twice. Otherwise, our expenses could have literally exploded.

Israel is also a very expensive country. We had to cut back a little; otherwise it would have ranked 2nd.

Jordan is the surprise of this ranking, largely because we deliberately chose to pay more for accommodation.

Countries where we spent the least per day

• 78.74 CAD per day in Indonesia;
• 83.04 CAD per day in Taiwan;
• 88.37 CAD per day in Hong Kong;
• 89.88 CAD per day in the United Arab Emirates;
• 94.90 CAD per day in Vietnam.

Indonesia (Bali) is simply a very affordable country, where money goes a long way.

In Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, we stayed almost exclusively in luxury hotels booked with points. We also didn’t rent a car in Taiwan or Hong Kong.

In Vietnam, my in-laws housed and fed us. I still feel bad saying it, but they insisted on paying for everything, to the point of offering us pocket money. Extraordinary generosity!

As you might suspect, this ranking doesn’t reflect the true cost of living in some countries. For a more realistic picture, here is my analysis of accommodation, food and transport costs.

Accommodation Costs

For accommodation, we followed these guidelines:

• Whenever possible, we stayed in hotels with our points, but only when I judged that paying in points was better value than paying cash (e.g. Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Spain).
• Otherwise, we usually stayed in lower mid-range hotels or Airbnbs offering a basic level of comfort.

Countries where we spent the most on accommodation per day

• 123.31 CAD per day in Belgium;
• 119.02 CAD per day in the Netherlands;
• 109.28 CAD per day in Israel;
• 105.63 CAD per day in England;
• 93.18 CAD per day in Singapore.

Iceland would have topped this list by a wide margin if we had slept in hotels instead of renting a camper.

Countries where we spent the least on accommodation per day

The table alone can’t tell you where accommodation is generally cheapest, because:

• We rented campers in Iceland, Australia and New Zealand;
• We were mostly hosted in Vietnam and France;
• We used points for some or all of our accommodation in Austria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Italy and Spain.

But my accommodation statistics still give an idea:

• 29.70 CAD per day in Indonesia;
• 33.49 CAD per day in Malaysia;
• 39.26 CAD per day in the Philippines;
• 39.49 CAD per day in Sri Lanka;
• 40.53 CAD per day in Thailand.

Food Costs

For food, we followed these guidelines:

• In countries where eating is expensive but the cuisine isn’t especially renowned (e.g. Iceland, Israel, Australia, New Zealand), we simply bought our food at the grocery store.
• In countries where eating is expensive but the cuisine is highly renowned (generally Western Europe), we ate at restaurants more often.
• In countries where food is cheap (essentially the rest of the world, including Japan and Singapore), we ate almost exclusively at restaurants.

Countries where we spent the most on food per day

• 97.27 CAD per day in Italy;
• 77.21 CAD per day in Japan;
• 71.57 CAD per day in England;
• 65.20 CAD per day in Austria;
• 63.78 CAD per day in Portugal.

Our food expenses in Japan are high simply because we made little effort to reduce them. We could have, since it’s very easy to eat affordably there. But we preferred to enjoy the country’s culinary specialties, especially Kobe beef, with one meal that cost us 270 CAD!

For the rest of the ranking, there are no surprises.

Countries where we spent the least on food per day

• 21.80 CAD per day in Vietnam;
• 24.18 CAD per day in Myanmar;
• 25.10 CAD per day in India;
• 26.03 CAD per day in Sri Lanka;
• 26.73 CAD per day in Malaysia.

No real surprises here either, except for Vietnam at the top of the list, because our lovely Vietnamese family treated us.

Transport Costs

Countries where we spent the most on transport per day

• 338.10 CAD per day in Iceland;
• 174.10 CAD per day in Australia;
• 157.58 CAD per day in New Zealand;
• 142.94 CAD per day in Italy;
• 95.60 CAD per day in Greece.

Transport costs were very high in Iceland, Australia and New Zealand simply because we rented campers there, on top of taking internal flights in Australia and New Zealand.

In Italy, tolls and parking are very expensive. In Greece, the 4 ferries we took to reach the islands and the 5 cars we rented on the islands and the mainland pushed the bill up.

Iceland and the Greek islands also had the most expensive gasoline we came across, at more than 3.00 CAD (2.25 USD) per litre.

Countries where we spent the least on transport per day

• 2.23 CAD per day in Vietnam;
• 2.50 CAD per day in Vanuatu;
• 3.83 CAD per day in Bulgaria;
• 14.70 CAD per day in Cambodia;
• 16.90 CAD per day in Hong Kong.

This list includes 5 of the 10 countries where we didn’t have to drive. In Vietnam and Vanuatu, others took care of our transport. In Bulgaria, we took a taxi. In Cambodia, we got around by tuk-tuk. In Hong Kong, we used public transport.

Actual Spending vs. Estimated Cost of Living

I compared, country by country, what we actually spent with what I had projected before we left (more on that in the next section). The calculation is more complex, so I won’t detail it here: you’ll have to take my word for it.

Countries where we spent much less than expected

• 66% less than expected in Hong Kong: we stayed in hotels with points;
• 62% less than expected in the United Arab Emirates: we stayed in hotels with points;
• 54% less than expected in Vanuatu: our local friends helped us save;
• 39% less than expected in Singapore: we ate cheaply in hawker centres;
• 37% less than expected in France: we often enjoyed the hospitality of family and friends.

Countries where we spent much more than expected

• 107% more than expected in India: mainly because we hired a car with a driver;
• 74% more than expected in Italy: because we ate a lot of pizza;
• 60% more than expected in the Philippines: because we took 4 boat trips between the islands;
• 55% more than expected in Myanmar: mainly because we hired a car with a driver;
• 46% more than expected in Turkey: because we took a hot-air balloon ride there.

The first list contains countries considered expensive, and the second, countries considered affordable, except for Italy. That’s because, overall, we cut our spending as much as possible in expensive countries, and really treated ourselves in cheaper ones.

India and Myanmar are special cases: they are known for giving most travellers a bout of “tourista” (traveller’s diarrhoea). Our schedule there was tight, so we didn’t want to risk getting sick. We therefore took extra hygiene precautions, avoiding street food and choosing restaurants of a certain standard. We picked our hotels carefully and hired drivers to get around. For all these reasons, our spending in these two countries is much higher than the real cost of living would suggest.

Did We Stay Within Our Pre-Departure Budget?

I’ve often been asked whether our expenses matched the budget I had set. Remember the expense estimate I made before we left: I had built a method based on a cost-of-living index by country, using a cost of living in France of 290 CAD per day as the benchmark for the whole trip. Our itinerary wasn’t final yet, but I arrived at an estimate of 88,500.00 CAD (66,496.36 USD) for 431 days, equivalent to 74,748.00 CAD (56,163.50 USD) over 365 days. Prorated over 365 days, our trip cost us 75,007.00 CAD (56,358.10 USD), a difference of just 259 CAD. You can imagine how proud I am!

For fun, I updated the estimate chart with our final itinerary (see the image below). The 443-day estimate (444 days if you count our last night in Montreal, paid with points) becomes 97,141.00 CAD (72,988.95 USD). Following the same method, I subtracted $50 for each night in a hotel paid with points, each of the 38 nights we stayed with family and friends, and each of the 6 nights spent in transit: (86 + 38 + 6) x 50 = 6500 CAD. The corrected total becomes 90,641.00 CAD (68,105.04 USD), still relatively close to the 91,241 CAD we actually spent!

Conclusion of Part 3

As you can see, at 91,241.00 CAD (68,555.86 USD), our trip wasn’t that expensive, considering that it lasted 14 and a half months, that we visited 50 countries (half of them known to be expensive), flew 56 times, rented 33 vehicles, stayed in 181 different places, allowed ourselves plenty of luxury and never went without anything.

For comparison, 51.25 CAD (38.51 USD) per person per day is roughly what it generally costs (airfare and local expenses included, equipment and insurance excluded) for the average backpacker, according to Tour du Mondiste’s figures at the time: staying in youth hostels, taking public transport, eating at local markets, flying 14 times and visiting 11 countries in 11 months, most of them considered affordable.

The reason, I’ll say it again, is careful organization. Thank you for reading! I wish you as much pleasure on your next trips as we had during our family trip around the world.

To read the other parts of our trip report:

• Part 1: Key highlights of our family trip around the world
• Part 2: How we organized our round-the-world trip
• Part 3: Financial report on our family trip around the world (this article)