A Guide To Traveling Fulltime on a budget

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In September 2022 i pitched a crazy idea to my husband, that we should enrol our kids into Distance Education and work on our online business remotely and go and travel the world for a year. I wouldn't call it a family 'gap' year because we were still working and the kids were still schooling but it was the only way that it was going to work! To get a better understanding of how this worked and more thorough information, i suggest you read our Blog Posts on:

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1. Think about your destination carefully

Just because flight's are reasonably priced to get there doesn't mean you should go. Look at price estimates first for accommodation, car hire, food, groceries etc.. then make your decision. We found a great all rounder is South East Asia (Singapore, not included). What you would budget anywhere in South East Asia for a week will most likely only get you 3 days in Europe or the U.S for example. Plus flying around South East Asia is quite cheap!

2. Slow Travel

Especially if traveling with kids. We spent a month at a time in a lot of places because we still needed time in between the sightseeing for our 'downtime' days, school work and work! This also keeps the pressure off to fit everything in and we all know tired or overwhelmed kids are not fun! Also, accommodation costs are usually cheaper if booking for 7 nights plus. This also helps with the travel days, you don't need to rush and it makes you more flexible with flight/transport times and therefore you can go with the cheapest option.

3. Accommodation

Always browse different booking sites before booking your accommodation directly through the hotel/resort. We found sites such as Booking.com, Agoda and Airbnb the best for this. Sometimes a privately owned apartment in your choice of resort will be on Airbnb and the owner will have a more competitive price on this to the Resort. Also, if using Booking.com to book a lot of your accommodation you will earn rewards back such as free room upgrades, 15% off certain bookings or complimentary breakfasts! Another tip, is to get an Airbnb with a kitchen! They are so much more practical and affordable for longer stays.

4. Food

We can't recommend fresh fruit and veg markets and grocery stores enough while travelling on a budget with kids! You can stock up on breakfasts, snack, drinks etc.. and only then need to eat out once a day or if traveling fulltime you'll most likely be getting your dinners as well! South East Asia is the exception to this because a lot of the time it's easier and cheaper to eat out at the street food markets than to cook at home!

5. Travel Off Peak 

When it's school holidays in Australia for instance it won't necessarily be in another country. Or follow the shoulder seasons. This is either right before or right after the 'peak' time and usually the weather is still great in most places! Or even completely risk it and go in the off season, rainy season etc.. we did this in Thailand and the Philippines and ended up having the most perfect weather at half the price!

6. Rent a car to avoid tours & internal flights

South East Asia and surprisingly Europe is very afforable when it comes to car hire. We managed to rent a car for as little as $30 AUD per day in some places! This enabled us to Road Trip and see so much more of a country, avoid tour companies because we had our own means of transport and we were able to drive from place to place rather than fly! 

7. Flights

We found Google Flights and Sky Skanner to be the best when it came to browsing the cheapest flight prices. Once we discovered which airline was the cheapest we then booked direct with the airline company to avoid the 3rd party booking fees!

In Summary traveling on a budget does not mean you won't have a great experience or you will need to compromise on enjoyment, it simply just means your money will go further and you will need to pre plan better. But hey, the planning phase of a trip is half the fun. Especially when it comes to choosing your destination!