A 27-year-old who saves 65% of his income shares his 7 best tips for traveling on a budget (2024)

FAQs

How to afford to travel in your 20s? ›

Make a Budget for Your Trip

As a rough estimation, budget $50-100 per person for each day that you will be away. This should cover your accommodation, food, drink and transportation costs. Of course, this number can vary according to the destination and your style of traveling.

"If you want to balance experiences while pursuing long-term financial goals like retirement or buying a house, then balance it," she says. "Dedicate some money to each, even if that means a domestic vacation instead of an international one.

You can still have adventures

But in reality, while everyone's life has been full and incredible, there is always more out there to see and do. There isn't a real time limit on adventures of any kind and travelling means you can keep having adventures. You don't have to slow down and stay inside as you age!

Allocate a specific amount to each expense category, ensuring that your income covers your essential needs first. You should also aim to save a portion of your income each month, ideally around 20%, if possible; however, if that's out of reach, remember anything is better than nothing.

The average vacation for one person in the United States costs about $1,986 per week. A vacation for two people will typically cost around $3,971 per week.

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings.

You can fly with any amount of cash. No law prohibits you from bringing any amount of money on a flight. Likewise, the TSA has no rules that limit how much money you can bring through security. In other words, the TSA has no cash limit per person.

How much money for a 5 day trip? ›

Calculate the number of days of your trip and multiply by $50–$100 per person. If you traveling independently (no meals included), estimate an additional $50–$75 per person per day for food and drink. (This amount could vary depending upon your final destination and your own personal preferences and budget).

Among those not planning summer vacations, Gen Xers were most likely to say they can't afford it (67 percent), followed by millennials (62 percent), boomers (61 percent) and Gen Zers (53 percent). In 2023, 58 percent of Americans also said they couldn't afford it.

28% of leisure travelers plan to spend more in 2023 than they did in 2022. Cost is the factor most frequently stopping people from traveling. 58% of those not taking a summer vacation this year say they can't afford it, up from 48% in 2022.

True travel is all about the mindset, not about the money. It's a way of finding adventure in your normal life at home as well as on the road. It starts with the decision to embrace life's curiosities, learn about yourself, and to see, feel, and experience things that are foreign to you.

Travelling in your 20s isn't just hopping onto the next plane and seeing everything fall into place. It's a huge step out of your comfort zone. For the first time in your life, you're not cocooned at home. You're finally free to explore a whole new world, all on your own terms.

No, it is never too late to start traveling! At age 25 you have plenty of time and energy to explore the world. You can take advantage of your youth and use it as an opportunity to see new places, meet new people, and experience different cultures.

Rule of thumb? Aim to have three to six months' worth of expenses set aside. To figure out how much you should have saved for emergencies, simply multiply the amount of money you spend each month on expenses by either three or six months to get your target goal amount.

Generally, $20,000 is the baseline cost for a trip around the world for one person for one year. This estimation falls in line with popular recommendations that budget travelers can spend an average of $50 a day on the road, and allows additional budget for flights and vaccines.