“How much that gonna cost?”

William gave a talk to his 2nd grade class about our round the world (RTW) trip. He presented his trifold poster and passed out globe keychains to his classmates. Then he opened the floor to questions.

Question 1: “How much that gonna cost!?”

Leave it to a 2nd grader to blurt out the question everyone else thinks, but doesn’t ask. I had the same initial question when I first met a RTW traveler but lacked the gull to ask it. Which makes me wonder - why do we all share this specific curiosity? If we peel back the layers, I think it’s because it taps into a shared human experience: we all have our own life dream with its own sticker price. Perhaps it’s opening a bakery, circumnavigating the globe on a sailboat, writing a book, fixing up a farmhouse in France, or finding the courage and leadership to rewrite the antiquated script of your profession.

There are obstacles in finding the path to realizing our dreams. We all know this. Just look to the myths and legends we all grow up with - the treasure is always guarded by dragons.

One such dragon is believing in the dream and trusting our inner compass will guide us through the mystery.

Another dragon is how much that dream’s gonna cost.

The former, at least for me, involves towering tsundokus, therapy, wildly supportive family & community, optimism, and so much vulnerability. The latter is conceptually simpler. It’s just digits and decimals. And therefore, a reasonable place to start.

When it comes to the dream of traveling the world, the bottom line is highly variable. One could travel on pennies or spend millions. Take your pick: hitchhike or private jet.

We are doing neither. But we are happy to share where we land on the budget spectrum and just how this all came into being.

How much it gonna cost:

• Flights: ~$25K to get all 4 of us around the world. Some deets here.

• Daily Budget: average <$400 during our RTW trip & <$300 when we settle in Central America.

• Extras: More $ for occasional splurges like sailing, safaris, and tickets to European fútbol matches.

We don’t have an end date to this big odyssey so we don’t yet have a final total. What we do know is this: it will cost us less to travel around the world and live abroad than to live our normal life in the US. We plan to live simply with all our belongings on our back. We’ve essentially eliminated our monthly bills aside from various insurances and charities we support. Our mortgage will be covered by our renters and we won’t have a cell phone bill as we plan to purchase SIM cards in each country for our unlocked phones. We are loaning our old cars to friends who can use a lift while we are gone. Retirement and education savings will take a very temporary pause for our sabbatical.

image from unsplash

How are we paying for it?!

There are essentially two categories in how to cover the expenses: save or work while traveling. We are doing both.

Piggy Bank:

Although it didn’t develop substantial morphology until recently, our little “dream-seedling” for world travel started over a decade ago and has had pretty persuasive financial power! It started with Eric walking away from a cardiology fellowship and electing instead to practice internal medicine at the VA, a career choice that (although had less earning potential) aligned with our desire for a more flexible lifestyle. We then found ourselves consistently saying no to the enticing carrots of new cars, an inflated mortgage, a costly remodel, and to commitments that could stifle our freedom to travel (much to our children’s chagrin, this also meant no pets). In lieu of all this, the piggy bank grew.

Eventually, we took the leap and gave our dream some form. We were going to travel! We narrowed it to a year. We started discussing countries. Voila! With this simple first step, everything shifted. The more we leaned into the dream, the more it leaned right back. It suddenly started taking form all on its own and flowed from there. We were rewarded with serendipitous and unexpected gifts of more financial freedom such as a new student loan forgiveness program, opportunities for extra work gigs for Eric, and a higher paying job with the opportunity to work remotely for me.

Each of these opportunities served a dual purpose: a bigger nest egg for an even more ambitious adventure and validation from the universe that we were on the right path.

Earn on the road:

We will start our trip without working. Along the way, when we need some financial boosts, we trust the opportunities will find us. It’s a big world out there. When we settle in Central America for awhile, I plan to return to my part time genetic counseling job.

. . .

There are as many possibilities to make a dream financially feasible as there are dreams themselves. You too may have a dream-seedling. Its path to full bloom probably looks entirely different than ours. Of course it does! So if you haven’t been saving for 10+ years, who cares. That’s not your path. The key is, your path exists. And if you’re here because your dream also involves world travel and you need some advice on how to afford it, consult Matt; he’s got some great ideas.

We recognize our dream comes with a hefty price tag. We also appreciate the wisdom from our dear friend’s late father:

You ain’t never seen a hearse with a trailer.

So, without trepidation, we are prepared and very willing to spend our life savings on exactly that: LIFE!

Besides, when we return, our nest egg won’t be gone. It will just be sprinkled around the globe.

image from unsplash