{"id":9566,"date":"2023-12-06T09:22:34","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T09:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mouthymoney.co.uk\/?p=9566"},"modified":"2025-03-03T09:00:17","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T09:00:17","slug":"the-true-cost-of-travelling-pre-travelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mouthymoney.co.uk\/budgeting\/the-true-cost-of-travelling-pre-travelling\/","title":{"rendered":"The true cost of travelling – before you even leave"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sophie King outlines the pre-travel expenses for her long-term Australian adventure including visa, flights, vaccinations, and travel gear costs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Travelling Australia is going to be expensive but you\u2019re going to be spending a fair bit before you\u2019ve even taken off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d reached my savings goal for Australia a couple of months ago – this was the amount I\u2019d wanted to go with which would mean I\u2019d be able to travel around for a bit before finding a job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then there were quite a few things I had to pay for which I should have factored in first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A first tip if you\u2019re planning on moving abroad, particularly Australia, would be to get your visa first before booking your flights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might be that it\u2019s rejected or takes a while to come through and you wouldn\u2019t want to lose the cost of your flights because you don\u2019t have a visa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve seen too many Facebook posts from travellers who have a flight within days but are still waiting for their visa to come through – don\u2019t let this be you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A working holiday visa for down under costs around \u00a3330, then you\u2019re looking at at least \u00a3700 in flights just to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of that, if you\u2019re going to be visiting locations that require you to have vaccinations, you\u2019ll need to pay for those too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way to cut costs before even leaving UK soil could be to consider getting a Round The World plane ticket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This type of ticket will include several destinations across several continents at a much cheaper cost than buying them all individually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on who you book with you\u2019ll have a minimum and maximum amount of stops you\u2019ll have to make to qualify for the ticket – you\u2019ll be literally going all the way round the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, you could fly from the UK, to Singapore, to Perth, Sydney, Los Angeles and then back to the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, make sure you\u2019re comparing single flights on comparison sites like Skyscanner – it might be that it is cheaper for you to book flights individually depending on the location. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The downside to a Round The World Ticket is that your flights will be booked in advance. So if you\u2019re someone who would prefer to go with the flow then it might not be for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These types of tickets can be changed, but they\u2019ll come at a cost and you could end up spending even more money than you wanted to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another cheeky thing airlines can make you pay for are seats and it\u2019s usually for the longest flights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It cost me \u00a329 to choose my seat to fly from San Francisco to Sydney and as it\u2019s my longest flight and I had sitting in the middle, I paid for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you\u2019re not as bothered, it\u2019s worth waiting until the very last minute as the airline may decide to reduce the price, or make the seat reservation free, if no one else has chosen it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the only risk here is that you won\u2019t get the seat you wish for, your call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With travelling of course comes packing and having to whittle a year\u2019s worth of clothes down to one 65L backpack is no easy task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I managed to find my backpack on sale from Mountain Warehouse for \u00a370 and it came with a smaller day pack, a strap to hold the big bag over my shoulder and a waterproof cover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel backpacks can cost anywhere from \u00a350 to \u00a3200 so it\u2019s really up to what to go for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one mistake I feel I made was that I didn\u2019t get a bigger one such as 85L – my backpack was full to the brim which leaves me no space for any new items I pick up along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this is your first time travelling and you have absolutely no items already, see what you can borrow from family and friends. People can be so generous and there\u2019s no point in buying a fly net (for example) if someone else already has one (another mistake I made – sorry for saying no to yours, mum!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a list of things I had to buy beforehand and their rough cost (doesn\u2019t include clothes and other bits and bobs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n