Every long-term traveller has been asked this and every honest answer begins with "it depends". It depends on where (a five-to-one spread between Nepal and Japan in our estimates), how you sleep (a three-to-one spread between dorm and boutique), and how fast you move (every move costs a day and a premium). But "it depends" is not a budget, so here are three worked ones using Digital Backpacker's dated destination figures (October 2026, per person, USD), with the lines most people forget.
The daily figure, by region
Backpacker tier: $25 to $32 in mainland Southeast Asia, $23 in Nepal, $33 to $50 in Mexico and Central America, $38 to $45 in South America, $38 to $49 in the Caucasus and Balkans, $54 to $57 in Central Europe, $62 to $76 in southern and western Europe, $52 to $70 in Japan and Korea, $43 to $47 in southern and east Africa. Mid-range roughly doubles or triples; comfortable triples again. Each destination page carries its own breakdown with the provenance.
The lines people forget
Flights between regions ($3,000 to $6,000 a year), insurance ($700 to $2,000 a year), visas and vaccinations ($400 to $1,000), gear and replacements ($500 to $1,500), the big experiences (treks, safaris, dive courses: $2,000 to $5,000 a year for most), the money that keeps running at home (storage, subscriptions, loans, a phone), a reserve of 10 to 15 percent, and the landing month after return.
Budget one: six months, cheap regions, backpacker
Southeast Asia and Nepal at $30 a day = $5,400; flights $1,800; insurance $450; visas, jabs, gear $700; a trek and a dive course $900; reserve $900. About $10,000, plus home costs.
Budget two: a year, mixed regions, mid-range
Four months in Latin America ($100 a day = $12,000), four in Southeast Asia ($75 = $9,000), two in the Caucasus and Balkans ($100 = $6,000), two in southern Europe ($160 = $9,600); flights $4,500; insurance $1,200; visas, jabs, gear $1,200; experiences $4,000; reserve $4,500. About $52,000, plus home costs. Shift the European months to Asia and it falls under $45,000.
Budget three: open-ended, slow, two bases a year
Monthly rentals in two cheap-to-moderate cities (Chiang Mai at about $1,600 a month mid-range and Oaxaca at about $2,050 by our monthly estimates, six months each) = $22,000; two long flights $2,500; insurance $1,500; experiences $2,000; reserve $3,000. About $31,000 a year, which is why the FIRE arithmetic works at a million dollars for people who live this way.
Turning savings into months
The money-last tool divides any savings figure by each destination's daily cost plus your fixed home costs; the Trip Cost Calculator builds a single trip line by line with low, medium and high scenarios. Neither is a quote. Both show their assumptions.
The one rule
Whatever the number, keep an emergency fund outside it equal to a flight home and a month of living. That fund is the difference between a long trip and a crisis.
Research and information only, not financial, legal, immigration or medical advice. Figures are dated; verify against primary sources before acting. Portions of this site are compiled with AI-assisted research. Editorial policy · Report an error
