Dan Seymour, 33, has been travelling non-stop for the last three years as he still manages to hold down a full time job.
He has a regular paycheck from his remote role as a senior content manager and also makes about £50 to £60 a month through his blog, Dan Round The World, something that has allowed him to stay on the move.
Dan, from west London, is one of many workers who have used remote working as an excuse to live abroad for great lengths of time.
All of his team work remotely and the hours are flexible, although he says he sometimes has to attend meetings at “strange times” depending on where he is in the world.
Although travelling sounds like an expensive business, he says mostly it is easy to keep track of spending.
He said: “I’m pretty strict with keeping notes and categorising everything.
“In some countries it’s easy to do because most is spent on card so I can go over my account at the end of the day and input the amounts. In cash based countries, I enter it straight away or keep notes on my phone and enter it later on.”
He doesn’t have a strict amount on how much he can spend a month, but he takes into account his salary minus tax and what he puts into savings, ISAs and investments.
“I also know it varies by country,” he said. “In Macedonia recently I spent under £1,000 for the month on everything. But then I spent some time in the Caribbean which was more expensive so I am quite flexible with it.”
Although he once found himself with a bank balance of below $5 when waiting for a paycheck to come in, he has otherwise not faced any other major financial difficulties.
He also keeps between £1,000 to £2,000 in an emergency fund in case he ever needs to fly home.
However, working full-time while travelling isn’t possible for everyone – so some people choose to save up a large chunk to live on instead.
‘We saved up £40,000’
Megan d’Ardenne and Alex Lee have spent the past two years saving up £40,000 and will start their travel journey next month.
The couple, from London, said they moved in together to halve their living costs and also haven’t taken a holiday for two years.
When travelling in the UK, they would swap trains for cheaper coaches – and they also made everyday savings such as buying non-branded items in the supermarket, only drinking coffee at home and selling some of their clothes.
They will be heading to southeast Asia and have budgeted £1,000 a month each.
As they are planning to be away for at least 18 months, they decided to round the total to £20,000 each so they could travel comfortably and have a surplus in case of emergencies.
They are also planning to keep their funds topped up by creating freelance content on their food Instagram accounts ComeDineWithMegs and AlexsFoodieFinds.
‘I’ve travelled non-stop for three years’
“It wasn’t just like ‘hey I’m going to go travelling tomorrow and sell all my stuff’,” says Stephanie Ritz, who has been travelling non-stop for three years.
It took plenty of research to find out how much money she needed to live on each month, and also building up an emergency fund of $25,000.
Stephanie, who is from Philadelphia in the US, said she wanted to make sure she had six months’ worth of living expenses saved for both herself and her adult son, who isn’t travelling with her, just in case.
When she decided she was going to go see the world, she was working a corporate job and putting money into savings while planning her travels. She sold most of her things and keeps a small storage locker for extra clothes and other items she doesn’t want to get rid of.
She began cutting back on expenses such as going out for drinks or going on holiday, and started her own consulting and coaching business alongside her 9-5.
For her first year she travelled across the US and stayed in hotels and Airbnbs while she built up her business, but once she felt it was enough of a success she left to travel the rest of the world.
Now she’s travelled everywhere from South America to Europe to Southeast Asia, and she splits her time between exploring new places and running her consulting business.
She also runs a podcast called Wanderlust at 35+ and a travel blog called The Luxe Life Abroad.
Stephanie spends about $2,500 each month, although this can vary dramatically depending on location. This includes accommodation, transport, food and experiences. It doesn’t include things like travel insurance or other personal expenses.
She says you have to have “self-discipline” to make sure you’re keeping on top of work and making money, rather than getting caught up in seeing a new place.
She also says some people can go wrong by no longer keeping up with the financial habits they would have at home, such as paying into a retirement account or putting money into savings.
“I come from a financial background so I always have a pulse on my income and pay off my debts every month,” she says.
How can you save money while travelling full-time?
Travel expert Wayne Kask, who runs Discover West Central Florida, says travelling full-time doesn’t have to be expensive – the key is “spending wisely”.
“When I spent six months in South-east Asia, I saved a lot by staying in local guest houses instead of fancy hotels, eating street food, and using public transportation,” he said.
Another way of saving can be to slow down and spend more time in one place, he said, and to focus on making memories through photographs and writing about your adventures rather than collecting souvenirs.
Something else for travellers to factor in is how expensive their destination is.
Sarah James, deputy digital editor at Condé Nast Traveller, said places like South-east Asia (think Vietnam or South India) and eastern Europe (Lithuania, Albania) are good places to start.
However there are some “surprising” options too – the Post Office ranked Lisbon as the most affordable city break in Europe in 2023.
“Wherever you go, do your research and then make an appropriate budget and stick to it,” she said.
“If you’re travelling for extended periods of time, there’s no need for a scarcity mindset when it comes to how you’re spending your time. Spread out bigger expenses with low-key, cheap activities such as beach days or free museums.”
Don’t miss out on currency exchange
You can also boost your money abroad by being smart about how you exchange currency.
Many tourists buy currently at physical exchange offices – but Robert Blaszczyk from global fintech company Conotoxia says these offer “unfavourable rates”.
The more popular the location, the worse the exchange rates will be.
Mr Blaszczyk said you can get a better rate by using an online service – and these can be used 24/7, even while you’re waiting to check in at the airport.
If you still have a long time before you’re travelling, you can also keep track of the exchange rates and consider exchanging your pounds in several instalments – meaning you can average the purchase rate and limit the impact of any sudden changes.
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