Prepping For Travel

How To Afford Full-Time Travel As a Family

How To Afford Full-Time Travel As a Family

Last updated: October 26, 2026. This update clarifies selected travel-cost, insurance and booking statements; the family’s cost examples and travel experiences remain historical. Date information added October 30, 2026.

*This post may contain affiliate links. Opinions shared are my own and I only endorse products I support. By clicking on any of the links below, I may get a small commission if you make a purchase at absolutely no additional charge to you. I appreciate your support.*

First published July 31, 2020. The family stories, business routines and cost examples below describe that period of our travels. The figures are personal estimates and historical planning examples, rather than current quotes. Check current prices and provider terms for your own dates and family.

You may have encountered certain buzzwords around family travel such as nomad travel, full-time travel, and travel forever. 

It sounds like a fantasy, right?  Nope!  When this guide was first published, our family had been traveling the world for more than two years, and we hadn’t looked back.

Often the first question we are asked when discussing our travels is, “How can you afford to do this with five kids?!”

I’ll give you the elevator pitch and the nitty-gritty answer of how we afford our full-time travel life. I’ll also encourage you and give you tools to estimate how you can afford this life too!

More Than Two Years Into Full-Time Travel

We travel the world together as a family of seven.  None of us embarked on a world adventure thinking, “I just want to travel the world.”  We left searching for a new kind of life.  Do we plan to travel forever? Well… maybe!  

I’ll let you in on a little secret: traveling full-time is highly addictive.  Not because it is always easy!  Travel life demands a lot of you and can be draining at times.  However, it offers freedoms that you probably only daydream about.

How We Afford to Non-Stop Travel

 Every full-time traveler figures out their own way to make this lifestyle work financially. Families use different combinations of income, savings, assets, and work. This guide shares our business-owner path and other families’ accounts.

We Are Business Owners  

For us, the answer is pretty simple.  We own our own consulting business.  Chris, my husband, has been consulting in online advertising for over 10 years.  I do the accounting and other management work in this business, as well as other businesses we own. We are blessed to have remote staff around the USA, many of which love to travel as well!

Having worked remotely for many years, that aspect of affording full-time travel was already solved for us.  Sure, taking a business through many time zones and countries does come with its own challenges, but we generally work US hours wherever we are in the world and have made it work.

Running Our Business Internationally

Our work schedule can vary from very early in the morning (like in New Zealand) to through the night (like in Tokyo when Chris would watch the sun come up before he went to bed).

We were not sure if our business would continue to successfully run when we left.  We told ourselves, worst-case scenario, we come back home broke, with our tails between our legs, and enjoy the memories we’ve made!

Thankfully, our business not only has survived, it has grown larger than even we could have predicted.  We attribute these blessings to a loving Heavenly Father, lots of prayers and making our decisions based on faith.

How Much Does It Cost Our Big Family To Long-Term Travel?

When we set out to travel the world, we did not know how to travel on a budget.  In fact, we still don’t really know how to travel cheaply!  We love luxury family travel, which differs from many full-time travel families.

Before I answer how much it costs us, it’s important to take into consideration that travel style makes a HUGE difference in cost.

We travel in a more luxurious style than some families we have met. Travel styles and budgets vary, so our costs are only one example; you do not need to copy our approach to plan a trip.

What Style of Traveller Are You?

We know several families that do their family travels on a tight budget and make it work.  Read this guest interview about how the Wallace Reboot funded travel at the time.

Visit our Modern Nomad section to read other families’ accounts of how they approach travel costs.

How you choose to travel OBVIOUSLY affects how much you spend!  This makes it nearly impossible to estimate a generalized number that can apply to everyone.

Do you like to sleep in hostels, 4-star hotels, or something in between?

If you are staying at an Airbnb, do you want it in a centralized location, close to public transportation?  How many bedrooms do you need?  Do you care if it has laundry and Wifi?

These are all questions to consider, as the pricetag differs greatly.

You Can Make It Work

It is a testament to the lifestyle to find out that most travel families (and singles and couples) learn tricks, travel on a budget, and work hard to make it work for them.  Learning how to travel full-time takes work.

What Do We Spend on Full-Time Travel?

I get asked often how much we actually spend on our travels, to which I usually answer that

1. This is a personal question.

2. This is completely variable depending on so many factors!  

We need to run our businesses online as we travel, we like our space and our amenities and we enjoy many activities; all of which drive up our costs!  Add in five kids and our costs are likely much higher than yours would be with a smaller family.

Below is a table for how much we spend, on average, for different locations we’ve visited.  I projected costs based on a 30-day timeframe in each location, since that is our preference. Keep in mind, these numbers are calculated for a family of 7.

The table below is a family-of-seven projection for 30-day stays in places we had visited; it is a planning example, not a current quote.

The original family-of-seven table is currently unavailable. The surrounding notes describe our historical 30-day projections; use your own current quotes rather than relying on an unseen total.

Note: We did not stay a full month in some of these locations, especially the more expensive ones, so I’ve projected out costs for some locations.  Also, note that even these projections are highly variable depending on where you stay.  We stayed in Paris proper, for example, but staying just outside of Paris and catching the train to the city can greatly reduce costs. 

Factors That Determine What We Spend

A few things that affected our family’s costs, and may differ for yours:

• Bigger home. We want to stay in single-family homes, whenever possible, with at least 3 bedrooms.
• Working remotely. We run our businesses while we travel, literally. Chris talks with CEO’s around the world and manages millions of dollars in e-Commerce advertising world-wide.  We often splurge to get him an extra room to use as an office (if that option exists in the location).  I also work three days a week.  I have fewer phone calls, so I can usually do much of my work around the kids while they do homeschool and slip into a bedroom for my sensitive phone calls.
• Internet is key. We always splurge for the best WIFI possible.  Fiber is our favorite! We spend a lot more time at home than you might expect.  It’s not “just a place to sleep” for us.  It is a classroom, office, restaurant, and more!
• Big cars. We need a very large vehicle (seats 7!) or two taxis at a time
• Gluten-free groceries. We eat gluten-free as a family. We often splurge on imported GF bread if we can find it, so include the foods your family needs when pricing groceries.
• No pantry. Groceries tend to be higher because, in each house, you are starting from scratch.  That means buying oil, seasoning, foil, sugar, etc. The kinds of things that are common-place in your pantry at home.  This is another reason we like staying a bit longer in each location, as we get to use these items longer. However, if you eat out every meal, this won’t be a consideration.
• Restaurants. Eating out was expensive for our large family. Tipping and service-charge practices vary by restaurant and destination, so check the menu and bill. For this reason, I didn’t estimate our eating-out costs but tried to give a rating for comparison.

Similar Costs for a Smaller Family

Our family’s costs are one example, rather than an amount a smaller family should expect. Costs can rise with the number of travelers, but they do not follow one formula. In one past comparison, a standard rental car was about $15–20 per day, while a vehicle with enough seats for our family was about $40–60. Those historical examples are not current rental quotes.

To help get your juices flowing, I’ve put together a similar table for a family of four in these locations.

As you can see, variable travel costs can vary greatly.  These are just a sampling of the 30 or so countries we’ve been to and gives you an idea of how wide the ranges can be!

How Much Money Do You Need to Travel the World?

“This is great Leslie, but how much DO I NEED?”, you are saying.  I get it!

The answer to this depends on so much, but I want to do my best to empower you to figure this out.   You too, can find affordable travel for your family!

First, let’s consider a few things….

Making an Income While Traveling

Will you be actively earning money while you travel?  Can you take your job (and income) remote?  Will you try to find new, remote work while traveling?

Pros

Earning money while traveling full-time extends the timeline you can do this.  You don’t have as much of a deadline looming over you if you are still brining in money.  Hiccups and unexpected expenses won’t shake you as much.

Cons

You will be working around the world!  You’ll miss opportunities to sightsee on those days you work. 

Even with a month in each country, we still feel like there is so much more to see when we leave. Our choice of one destination per month is largely based on the fact that we work as much as we do.  We need enough time to work and go sightseeing.

Traveling Without Working

Perhaps you’ve managed to save a chunk of money from selling a house, contributing to a fund for a few years, selling your car and other possessions.  Many families that travel full-time operate this way.  

Pros

The good news is you can see so much more and move much quicker.  You’ll be solely focused on your travels and can move at a quicker pace.  More locations are possible in a shorter time.

Cons

You may have more flight costs as you travel more. Unexpected costs, such as a missed or cancelled flight, unexpected change to your itinerary, or a medical emergency can drain that budget quickly. Stress over the budget might send you home early.

Working and Living Off Savings

Perhaps the best scenario would be to do a bit of both.  Can you find remote work to supplement the savings you’ll be using?  You could teach English online, get remote contractor work through a site like Upwork, or become a virtual admin.  

This option extends your timeline while you figure out your style and desired way of life.

Work Save Travel Repeat

I’ve noticed many families start their travels and do their “gap year” only to find they don’t want to stop when that year or 18 months is over.  They scramble to figure out how to avoid going back home to their old life.

Anticipate these feelings, even if you have a hard deadline of return.

Can I Make A Living Off My Travel Life?

Many a traveller or travel family has tried to build businesses out of their travel life.  

Some have been successful in this, but I would not rely on an untested blog or social-media income plan as the only funding source.  The space is ultra-competitive and there are a lot more families full-time traveling than you think!  I’d say there are over 100 that I have somehow connected with or seen on Instagram.

As unique as you feel your story is, it’s not the first!

Travel Blogging

How much do travel bloggers make? I’ve delved deep into this world as I build out my own travel blog. Let me first say, it is a lot more work than you’d expect!

Some travel bloggers earn money from advertisements. For this to work, you need substantial traffic, SEO strategies and more. It’s an entire business itself, and one that is difficult to master.

Full disclosure: after two years of running this blog, I’ve made little to no money at all. I do it for the pleasure of it and hope that someday it might pay back the countless hours it takes me to write!

In the last few years, blogs have popped up all over the place. Digital real estate and marketing continues to become more difficult to break into.

Social Media Influencing

Can you make a living off your social media profiles? Perhaps. However, competition is fierce in this space as well.

We occasionally get free experiences for our family as we travel, which I love. I’ve had much less success with free hotel stays or discounts on “hard costs.”

You’d also be surprised at the work that goes into pitching brands, arranging collaborations, getting the photography, posting correctly, etc. Many families I know (myself included) can spend upwards of 3-4 hours per day to get that perfectly curated feed.

Definitely document your travels as you want! We do most of our documentation for our memories. However, I also really enjoy the space and the time commitment is OK with me. I can also lean on our business staff to help.

View the originally linked sponsored Instagram post

Planning How To Afford To Travel

Once you’ve decided how you’ll make money or what you’ll be doing to fund your travels, it’s time to budget!

You’ve seen our rough costs already. Hopefully it wasn’t too overwhelming!

When planning a travel budget, consider which costs may change if you leave home, rent it out, or keep it. These can include:

• Your mortgage (if you sell your house)
• Utilities: check the property’s full price and fee breakdown; they may be included or charged separately.
• Home and car insurance: we had not carried our previous home and car policies during the first two years of travel. What you need to retain, replace or change depends on the property, vehicle and coverage you keep.
• Sports and activities for your kids (put this towards family activities instead!)
• Home and car repair costs
• Commuting to work costs
• Other travel costs (nix that annual vacation budget line!)

How Much Do You Need to Make To Travel The World

I was curious to see the average income for a middle-class family.  According to this site:

“The 2018 piece from Pew reported that, in 2016, the median income for the upper-income class was $187,872. While for the middle class, it was $78,442, and for the lower class, it was $25,624 (in 2016 dollars; figures reflect a three-person household)”

I’ve seen families travel on a range of budgets. What is workable depends on each family’s income, obligations, destinations, and travel style.

How Destination Choices Affected Our Travel Costs

The first step in your budget is knowing where you want to go.

Based on the places we had visited when this guide was written, these were my impressions of relative costs—not a current price ranking:

1. Southeast Asia. Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bali, etc.
2. South and Central America.
3. Eastern Europe. Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, etc.

Map out costs based on the locations you want to visit.  There are destinations at a range of price points, and actual costs depend on dates, location, and travel choices.  Some of the places we visited in Southeast Asia felt affordable for our family at the time; costs vary by destination and travel style.

Staying farther from a city center may reduce the lodging price, but compare the complete stay with transportation time and costs. Our own choices in Europe varied by destination.

Note: You may wonder how to afford rental cars.  We did not rent a car on our Asia travels. Whether a car is useful depends on the destination and itinerary.  In Europe, we did a long-term lease with Renault.  I will detail this in a separate post.

We loved our time in Croatia and consider it some of the most beautiful land in all the world. Price the particular places and dates on your list rather than assuming a whole region will fit one budget.

Take some time to create your “dream list”.  Chances are each member of your family has their “must-have” cities or countries.  For us, these included Japan, Bali, Paris, and Thailand.

Set a Budget

Before we left, we sat down and mapped out our first six months along with the proposed budget we would stick to.  

We did this exact exercise before we left for the first six months of our travels.  While we were not spot-on in our projections, we came in surprisingly close!

I’ve created a simple worksheet to get you started with your planning!  Download and start filling it in.  I’ve filled in an example of what I would consider average costs. 

Whether you want cheap travel or dream travel or something in-between, you can get a great idea of your monthly costs with this.

The old embedded planning table is currently unavailable. The original budget worksheet link below remains available for building your own estimate.

Download your travel budget worksheet here.

Description of Budget Categories

Fixed Costs

Thes are your costs that will not change.  If you are renting out your home, these include your mortgage and taxes.  If you have a storage unit, as we did, include these here.  We contribute tithing each month, so this is a fixed cost for us.

Variable Costs

• Accommodation:  Where will you stay?  Airbnbs are our top choice when we travel.  We’ve been in Airbnbs in Aisa, Europe, and New Zealand.   Start browsing the size of Airbnb you want in the area you are going for.  If you are a hotel family, start researching average hotel costs in the category you want (I recommend Booking.com!).

Originally linked film: Airbnb VS Hotels: Which is Better When Traveling Internationally?

• Transportation: Will you have a car? We’ve enjoyed having a car and not having one in various locations. We didn’t have one at all in Asia and I am so glad! For your itinerary, compare local transit routes, taxi or private-van availability, vehicle capacity and the total cost for everyone. Check the actual city and route rather than assuming the same options work everywhere.
• Groceries: Compare grocery and restaurant prices for the places you plan to stay. How much will you want to eat in? We often started from zero food supplies in each location, buying oil, seasonings and condiments with no pantry or deep freeze to pull from. Include those setup costs in your budget.

Originally linked film: Shopping And Cooking Tips While Traveling With A Family!

• Eating Out: Some travel families cook often and others eat out for most meals. Check the menus and total for your family’s order, including any service charges. TripAdvisor can help you discover restaurants; confirm current menus and prices with the restaurant.
• Activities: Perhaps the MOST variable item in our budget, activities can add up fast for a family. Do you want to skydive in New Zealand, heli-hike, go to the top of the Eiffel Tower or see the Colosseum? Set an allowance for the activities you want. Check whether local libraries, parks, nature areas or museums have free access or free days, and confirm any entry fees and age rules.
• Future Travel Bookings: Unless you buy all your flights before you go, you do have to pay for travel while traveling!  Plan out when you’ll buy flights for the next place.  We tend to buy in “spurts”.  We will buy for the next 3-5 locations at a time.  This tends to be just because we are so busy.
• BIT (Buy It There):  Sometimes NOT packing some items is the best idea.  Plan to buy it there!  Maybe pack 3-4 outfits each and then buy any additional clothes you need as you go.  We often bought toys due to the amount of time we spend at “home” in our Airbnb,  Rather than pack a snorkel mask around the world, just buy it there!  Plan to replace worn out clothing as you travel.
• Phones: Are you taking your current cell phone plan? We did. In that period, we rarely spent more than an extra $30–50 per month on international calling and our plan had unlimited data. Check your own carrier’s current roaming, calling and data terms for each destination; our old bill is not a current plan quote.
• Personal Spending Money:  Will you or your kids get cash to spend themselves?  This can solve many tantrums in stores!
• Babysitting: We love to date and don’t give that up when we travel!  We budgeting babysitting money in every location.  Want to know how we did it?  Read here!
• Medical Expenses: Unexpected care is difficult to predict, so I like to set aside some money in the budget each month. Costs and insurance coverage depend on the destination, treatment, provider and policy. Include a plan for unexpected care and any costs you may need to pay yourself.

Originally linked film: Bandaids and Ice Cream: Vaccinations for Five Kids Traveling Internationally

• Media Purchasing: You life will be completely digital.  If you want books for you kids, you may be buying a lot more digital products.  We buy movies, books, and apps every month for our kids.
• Charity/Service Projects:  You might want to hookup with local non-profits in the area or set aside some money to help someone in need.
• Gym Costs:  Thankfully, people work out worldwide!  If you want to keep this in your life, include it as a budget item.  You may pay more as a drop-in, but your health is worth it.  You can also do online workout programs from anywhere!
•  Beauty Maintenance:  Will you color and cut your hair?  Do your nails?  I’ve done these worldwide! While not required, if this is part of your lifestyle you wish to maintain (even just simple hair cuts), this is the spot!

Originally linked film: Japanese Salon Pampering in Tokyo, Japan!

Booking Travel in Advance

Now that you’ve got an idea on your costs, how far in advance should you book your travel?

We’ve lived by many standards over the last two years. We’ve booked out over a year before we set off. We’ve also booked just a week or two in advance and the same day.

Let’s discuss pros and cons to both!

Booking Far In Advance

Pros

Sometimes you can snag a great price! We wanted to go to Hawaii for two months and landed some good deals by booking over a year in advance. You also can make payments in advance and ease up the budget later.

Cons

Honestly, by the time we actually visited Hawaii and other locations, we’d forgotten what the place looked like. In the time between booking and arriving at our Oahu house, the owner actually died!

The son took over our booking, but the house was very run down and dirty. It was not great. We had to book another Airbnb just a couple of days after arriving when a major plumbing issue arose.

Life can happen in the long gap between booking and arrival for you or a host.

Booking Last Minute

Pros

Depending on the dates and availability, a last-minute booking may offer a deal or leave fewer options. A host may choose to send a special offer after you message through Airbnb, but a discount is not guaranteed. Keep Airbnb communications and booking payments on the platform.

For more tips on Airbnbs versus Hotels, read my post here.

Booking last-minute also allows you to choose better what you like. You don’t really know your exact travel style until you get out and traveling! Priorities change as you adapt to your new lifestyle. You will know better after some experience what is a deal breaker and what is not.

Cons

Availability can be limited by destination, dates and season, so last-minute booking may leave fewer options or no suitable place for your family. Allow a backup plan in your budget.

Hotel availability and room configurations vary by destination and date. However, when we had to switch last minute to a hotel in Lisbon after Chris booked a hostel for our family, we were in three rooms on two different floors! Not ideal with a bunch of small kids. Lucy (our 12-year-old) had to be in a room alone with Grace (our 3-year-old)!

Ready to Travel The World?

My hope is I’ve empowered you to feel like you TOO can travel the world full-time! Once you’ve solved the financial piece, you’ve solved the hardest part of the puzzle!

There are still many things to figure out. Take it one step at a time!

I’d suggest some of my other posts to help you figure out next steps!

Prepare to Travel the World: Part One

See Our Master Packing List

What’s In Our Medical Bag?

See How We Worldschool Around the World and Our More Recent Update

What I Hate About Full-Time Travel

How To Find A Rental Home In Portugal: What To Look For And What To Avoid

How To Get Your Lisbon Transportation Card: Advice for Tourists and Expats Alike!

Make the choice to find the life you really want. We are so glad we did all that ime ago!

Xoxo,

Leslie

Current provider details: Airbnb longer-stay discounts, Airbnb special offers, Airbnb price and payment rules, Kiwi.com disruption protection, Expedia One Key rules, World Nomads eligibility and coverage, Rakuten eligibility and cash-back terms.