I have travelled around in Asia for 1,5 years. When planning the trip, checking prices for flights, visas for India & Nepal, I realised it would be helpful to setup a budget. I also determined a daily food and accommodation budget to make it easier to estimate my necessary travel budget. But how do you create a travel budget? What kind of expenses you have to keep in mind? Where do you find information about all this? This article is a guideline to create your own travel budget. You have two parts of travel expenses: Before You Go and the expenses During Your Trip.

A part of your expenses have to be paid Before You Go like flights, visas and insurance. These expenses are the easiest part to calculate. After doing research you know the prices. The second part are the expenses you have During Your Trip. These costs are a bit more difficult to estimate beforehand and strongly depend on your personal preferences. For this part it’s easier to ask yourself what you like to spend per day, per week or per month on accommodations, food, transport and other costs.

Before you go

Before you create a travel budget it’s best to determine what you can afford. Think about the amount of money you have available or how much money you need to save. You probably have ongoing expenses that you need to pay while you are travelling. Include the ongoing expenses in your travel budget. I use Excel to list my travel expenses but another good option is Google Spreadsheet.

During your trip it’s possible of course that you book extra flights. Or decide to visit another country and need to apply and pay for a visa. These options are a mere guideline and to give you an overview.

• Flights
• Visa
• Insurance
• Vaccines

Flights

For most of us flights are a major expense. If you are looking for cheap tickets, check Skyscanner. The best way to find cheap flights is when you are flexible with destinations and dates. The price for flight tickets vary depending weekday versus weekend, time of the year and holidays. I always check several weeks and days to see which day is cheaper to fly.

No idea where to go? You can also use the Explore function at Skyscanner. Type in the airport that is convenient for you and see what routes have reasonable fares for you. Check several websites to compare prices and different airlines.

Flights with a stop-over are usually cheaper instead of direct flights. But direct flights are convenient. It is also more environment friendly to book one flight instead of two flights. It depends on your personal preferences.

When is a flight really cheap?

I live in Antwerp and for long distance flights I usually go via Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam). KLM is considered to be an ‘expensive’ airline. That is not always true! With KLM I booked several flights including a Thalys ticket (high speed train).

For example in September 2019 I booked a return flight from Antwerp to Mumbai. Sometimes a Thalys ticket is included in the price. You will be surprised when I tell you the flights Antwerp-Mumbai (with Thalys ticket) can be cheaper than the flights Amsterdam-Mumbai (without Thalys ticket). Weird huh? It’s a wonderful thing called Strategic Marketing by KLM.

From Antwerp it’s easy to go to several other airports in Brussel, Paris, Eindhoven and Rotterdam. To offer flights with a train ticket included, KLM is trying to expand there target group. In this case the Belgian citizens. So instead of flying from other airports it is convenient and cheaper for me to fly with KLM. For the intercontinental flights anyway.

As I said before it can pay off to do some research. Also check the deals and websites of the airlines directly. Sometimes it’s cheaper to book directly with the airline instead of using websites that offer cheap tickets. Be flexible with dates if you are looking for a cheaper flights.

Visa

Check the website of the Embassy of the country (or countries) you are travelling to. List the prices and you have an estimated amount. Some visas can be quite expensive. Like an Indian visa for example. Other countries like Thailand give you a free visa-on-arrival. Check visa requirements before you leave.

I always carry a few passport approved photos just in case I need one when appyling for a visa. So far they never asked me proof of funds but I also have copies of my bankaccounts with me. Proof of funds can be a requirement when you are applying for a visa.

Insurance

If you go on several shorter trips each year it can be convenient and cheaper to have an annual travel insurance. If you plan for a long term trip you often need an additional insurance. In the Netherlands and Belgium for example they don’t cover you when you travel longer than 3 months.

For citizens in Belgium and Netherlands I can personally recommend JoHo Insurance. In the past they covered medical expenses and an emergency flight back home without being a pain in the ass or interrogation about what happened. They have several insurance policies specifically for internships, working abroad, study and/or backpacking. Some policies also cover extreme sports like bungeejumping and trekkings.

Other travel insurances are Allianz, World Nomads and True Traveller (only European residents). Do some research and check the insurances policies before you subscribe. Determine what is important for you and pick the one that is best suited for your needs.

Vaccines

I recommend to consult your doctor to find out which vaccinations you need and how much they cost. If you like do some research yourself and to know what’s going on in the country you are planning to visit, check the website of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Read the ITWJ articles about the recommended vaccines when travelling in Asia.

For Dutch residents check the GGD Reisvaccinaties website to see for which countries you need vaccines and the cost of the vaccines. I refer the Belgian residents to the website Wanda from the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, available in the languages, Dutch, French and English.

During Your Trip

When you know the destination(s) you can research the costs of accommodation, transport and food. To determine the cost I read blogposts, reviews and I also check the Lonely Planet Guidebooks. I use these guidebooks to read about practical info, history, cost of living and the most convenient routes.

• Accommodation
• Food
• Transport & Tours
• Extra funds
• Other

Accommodation

When booking accommodation I pick a hotel or hostel that is located near the places I like to visit. It saves time and money on local transport as well. I travelled a fare bit and only use booking.com. There are of course many other options available. If you are planning to travel around for a few months it’s easier to use one or two booking platforms. Accommodations sometimes send messages. It is easier to keep up with only one or two apps.

Budget accommodation

When you are travelling on a budget there are a few ways to save money on accommodation. The easiest way is to stay at hostels. Paying for a bed in a dorm room is the cheapest stay you can find in most places. What I like about hostels is the social interactions and how easy it is to meet new people. Especially when you are travelling alone. Another option is Couchsurfing were you stay at someone’s home for free. When you are lucky you have a bed. If not, you have to sleep on the couch.

Workaway is about volunteer work. In return the host offers you a free stay. Sometimes meals are included. It’s different per host and location. I have done this ones in a hostel in Kuching (Borneo). I worked 4 hours per day and stayed there for free. The rest of the time I was free to explore the city.

Trusted Housesitters is a platform where you can sign up to take care of pets while house sitting. Most hosts offer a free stay when you take care of there animals and keep an eye on the house as well.

Food

When you travel you probably eat out, or at least more often. I use Google to find places to eat and read the reviews. Google Maps has a feature where you can Save the location. I also use this feature for places I like to visit and the places I stay.

It’s not easy to setup a budget for food. But you can estimate the expenses for food if you agree with yourself and/ or travel partners to have a daily food budget. You can do the same with accommodation. Ask yourself what you can afford on food and accommodation on a daily basis. It’s of course different when you go for a two week holiday or a six month backpacking trip. During a two week trip you probably pamper yourself and go out three times a day.

For a long term trip I can advice you to have an estimated amount. During my 1,5 year trip I had a 10- euro budget for food and 13 euros for accommodation per night. Travelling with this budget is easy when you are going to Asia but more difficult when travelling in European countries.  

Transport & Tours

The cheapest way to visit and see places is to go yourself or with other travellers you have met. Tours are expensive, busy and on a time schedule. But sometimes it’s the only way to visit a place. When I do go on a tour, I book a tour organised by locals. I never book tours via international booking offices. The best way is to ask recommendations at your hotel or hostel. Do some online research or ask other travellers.

There are many options to travel around in a country or city. Buses, trains, metro, riskja, boat, taxi’s etc. Make sure the taxi’s are legit and not run by money scammers. This happens a lot with taxi’s at international airports. To name an example: in Indian cities I travel around using an Uber or Ola (Indian version of Uber). It’s simply the easiest and safest way to go around.

Extra funds

When you create your travel budget make sure you have some extra money. Or transfer money to a different (savings) account. It’s possible you have extra costs when you get sick, have to go home because of unforeseen circumstances or when things get stolen.

To give an example: I have been sick twice. The first time I had typhoid when travelling in India. I had to pay the doctor and medicine first. Second time I was in Thailand and I needed to go to the hospital. Total cost of going to the hospital was 650 euro. Later on I send the insurance company the receipts and they refunded the money. Incidents do happen. This is why it’s important to have some extra funds. I have an extra bank account I don’t use. I agreed (with myself) not to use this money and save it for emergencies.

Other expenses

Other expenses are souvenirs, going out for drinks, yoga classes, getting a local simcard etc. Ask yourself what kind of activities you like to do. When I visited New Zealand in 2011 I went for a skydive. Super fun and scary, but expensive.

When you created your travel budget you have an overview of all the travel expenses. Now you know how much you have to save for your trip. Or how long you can go. Or how many countries you can visit.

A travel budget is different for everyone and depends on personal preferences. You can travel in Europe for one month or go to Asia for three months. Creating a travel budget can help you to determine how much you need for your trip. During your trip you can keep track of your expenses to see how you spend your money. Be realistic when it’s comes to setting up your travel budget.

And when you are running low on money it’s time to go home, work and dream about your next destination…

More tips from Gateway Travel about budget friendly travel: How to Provide Budget-Friendly Travel Choices While Maintaining Quality

In the worlds jungle, travel articles

Do you have feedback or suggestions? Maybe you know about other travel insurances you have excellent experience with? Feel free to leave comments below and share your knowledge with other readers.

Are you planning to travel around in Asia? Walk through the jungle of Chitwan in Nepal, visit Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia or explore the colonial architecture in Kochi, India.

Interested in articles about European architecture? Read the monumental highlights in Antwerp or the monuments of the city of lights, Paris. I have written a Beginners guide to Architecture about the historicial European architectural styles, starting at Ancient Egypt until the Neoclassicism.