Low-budget travel: how to save money on your round-the-world trip

How much money do I need for my low-budget round-the-world trip?

There’s no cut-and-dried answer to this question. Most travel content creators agree that you should budget between 1,200 and 1,500 francs a month for longer low-budget trips. However, this is just a guide and doesn’t necessarily factor in all transport costs, such as long-haul flights.

While this guide budget should be enough for destinations in regions like South East Asia, a bigger budget may be needed for countries with higher costs of living. Even for modest forms of travelling like backpacking, your budget will also depend on where you’re going and how long you want to spend there.

Depending on how much you’ve been able to save up already and/or how much you can still put aside before setting off, there are two approaches:

1. Use your current savings as your basis and adapt the countries or regions you want to go to and the length of your stay accordingly.
2. Draw up a rough itinerary, including timeframe, and calculate roughly how much money you’ll need in total based on the cost factors. If your savings still aren’t enough, you can make a savings plan to reach the budget you need as quickly as possible.

Find helpful tips on saving money in our comprehensive guide.

The cost factors in your low-budget round-the-world trip

Various cost factors come into play when planning a low-budget trip around the world, with accommodation being the biggest one. Transport, whether local transport or longer journeys/flights, also makes up a substantial part of your budget. You then have to add daily living costs such as food and drink, as well as costs for visas and other administrative requirements.

We recommend researching the average costs of where you want to go during the planning stage to adjust how you budget accordingly. If you’re not sure, finding out what other people’s experiences have been can be very helpful, whether it’s those around you or even a specialist travel agency.

Emergency buffer for unforeseen circumstances

You can’t exactly plan the total cost of your low-budget trip down to the penny – which is why an emergency buffer is so important. This will leave you better equipped to deal with unforeseen circumstances and to react quickly or adapt your itinerary if needed. It will also help you to absorb smaller additional expenses on a day-to-day basis.

Much like the trip as a whole, how much this emergency buffer should be depends largely on your plans and local costs, but also on your security needs. Be sure to factor these considerations into the planning of your low-budget round-the-world trip. For longer stays, you are best off calculating your buffer as a fixed, monthly cost factor. At the very least, the buffer should cover the costs of a return trip in an emergency. 

Don’t forget about when you get back home

Once you know roughly how long you’ll be travelling for, you should also give some thought to after you get back home. Especially if you’re still not sure when you’ll be able to start earning regularly again, it’s important to make sure you can manage for the first few weeks or months back in Switzerland without a fixed source of income.

If, following your round-the-world trip, you don’t have a work contract in the pipeline, you should get in touch with your regional employment center as soon as possible. This is because you can start drawing unemployment insurance benefits from the date you registered with the regional employment center at the earliest. But note: how much these benefits are, and when the regional employment center starts paying them, varies from case to case. At any rate, the payments will be lower than your last salary.

What possibilities do I have for reducing costs?

If you get the feeling when planning your budget that your dream of travelling around the world is getting further and further away, there are a few ways you can save more on costs. 

Alternative, cost-saving travel arrangements

Given that accommodation represents the biggest cost of your round-the-world trip, it is worth considering alternative ways to travel to save as much money as possible. You can also try and earn some income during the trip so you have more money at your disposal in general.

• House sitting: live free of charge by taking care of a house and possibly someone’s pets. Depending on the host, you could also have the use of a car or motorbike, allowing you to save on transport costs.
• Voluntary work: accommodation and meals are often provided when you do voluntary work. Voluntary work comes in many forms, ranging from social projects, for example in schools or orphanages, to conservation/animal welfare work or helping out on farms.
• Couchsurfing at The link will open in a new window couchsurfing.com: the couchsurfing community was primarily established to connect travellers from all over the world. Because you don’t pay for your stay, this option is especially appealing if you’re on a low budget. Ideally, you should return the favour by offering to put your host up in turn.
• Staying with friends and relatives abroad: if you have the option and don’t want to stay with people you don’t know, staying with family and friends abroad is the ideal alternative to couchsurfing.
• Remote work: depending on the work, it’s worth checking if you can continue to assist your employer by doing certain jobs or working on a part-time basis during your travels. Ideally, this will allow you to earn a certain amount of income, and you won’t need to keep looking for job opportunities while you’re travelling.
• Work and travel: finding work locally during your travels will not only give you a varied experience, it will also ease the strain on your travel budget. Getting the right visa is crucial here. For Swiss citizens, this process is slightly more complicated outside of the European Union as they cannot apply for a classic working holiday visa. However, there are alternative schemes where accommodation and meals are offered in exchange for work, for instance. More information can be found at The link will open in a new window efswiss.ch (only in german).

With these options, you have more money to spend on your trip, and you also gain one-of-a-kind experiences.

Transport

Transport is a vital part of your budget when planning your trip. Booking early and having flexible travel dates can help you make substantial savings. Take note of tourist seasons and, where possible, try travelling out of season for lower prices.

For flights, it’s worth comparing various search engines and providers, and keeping an eye on prices. You should also consider alternatives, such as taking the bus or train rather than flying, especially for shorter trips.

Activities

To save costs on activities, look for trustworthy platforms where locals offer private tours. These are often cheaper and more authentic than tours by commercial tourist offices.

Many cities also offer free walking tours where you can pay a voluntary amount at the end. Here again, make sure you compare various providers and prices to find the best offer.

Travel gear

You can easily save money on travel gear by playing it smart. See whether you can borrow, hire or buy used gear, such as backpacks, sleeping bags, travel adaptors or powerbanks. Pay attention to dimensions and weight, especially if you’re a frequent flyer.

Another possibility is to sell gear you no longer need locally before you move on. This will not only save you money, it will also lighten your bag.

Mobile subscription

Find out about international rates from your mobile provider before you set off. In many cases, it may be more affordable to buy a local SIM card in the country. A modern alternative is travel eSIM cards. Research trustworthy suppliers online for countries you’d like to travel to.

eSIMs come with the benefit of not requiring a physical card, although not all devices support this technology. With that in mind, check the compatibility of your mobile phone and keep a local SIM card as a backup.

What else do I need to bear in mind when planning my round-the-world trip?

In our blog post “Planning and working out the costs of a round-the-world trip”, you can find more helpful tips on preparing for your low-budget round-the-world trip.