The Question Everyone Asks
When we first told people we were packing up our lives in the UK to travel full-time with our son, the reaction was almost always the same:
“That sounds incredible… but how can you afford to travel the world?”
It’s a fair question. Travelling full-time as a family can sound impossible, especially when you imagine hotel stays, expensive flights, and eating out with a hungry child every day!
The truth is, how we afford to travel the world has less to do with luck or a big bank balance, and everything to do with intention, lifestyle design, and a mix of creative income streams.
In this post, I’ll break down exactly what makes our full-time travel possible: how we earn, how we save, and the mindset shifts that made it all happen.
1. We Saved Hard Before We Left
It might not sound glamorous or fun, but actually most of our money comes from working hard and saving before we even left home.
Jeff is a builder and I work online as a TEFL teacher, and have a side hustle coaching, so we knuckled down in UK and put away as much money as we could over the year before we left. We went without little luxuries so we had more in the pot for our travels. Like I said, not fun, but absolutely doable if you have your heart set on long-term travel.
We also sold over half of our belongings – furniture, clothes, toys, books, our cars, and anything else that we either weren’t taking, or wouldn’t need to keep in storage….gone. (We have left some things at my mum’s house in UK – there are some things that we just couldn’t get rid of, but had no place in our backpacks).
Finally, we rented out our flat in UK. We own our lovely 2-bed flat and are super lucky that we have no mortgage to pay, so the rent we receive is all profit into our bank. I know this isn’t available to many people, but it has made a huge difference to our finances.
2. We Set up Online Income Streams
The next most important part of how we afford to travel the world is earning remotely. I’ve built a lifestyle around work that travels with us, not the other way around.
I combine different income streams:
- Coaching & Digital Products – I run an online coaching business, offering digital courses, products, and 1:1 sessions. It gives us location-independent income and flexible working hours.
- ✍️ Freelance & Remote Work – I teach English online through Preply, and occasionally pick up short-term freelance writing projects through Upwork and Freelancer that fits around our travel schedule. This keeps income steady without being tied to a 9–5.
- 🌐 Passive Income – Over time, we’ve built low-cost digital offers (PDF guides, courses, toolkits) that bring in small but consistent income every month, and this is something I’m working to build as our main source of income.
This mix allows us to adjust as we go: some months are more focused on work, others on travel. But the key is flexibility.
Tip: If you’re dreaming of this lifestyle, start by building one remote skill or offer – you don’t need it all figured out at once.
3. Slow Travel Keeps Costs Down
How we travel is just as important as how much we earn.
We travel slowly – staying in one place for weeks or months at a time. This approach saves us thousands every year and gives us more immersive, memorable experiences.
Here’s how slow travel cuts our costs:
- Fewer flights → Plane tickets are one of the biggest expenses for families. By moving slowly, we take fewer flights and often use cheaper overland routes – buses and trains are a fraction of the cost of flying, and it feels like a mini adventure on its own!
- Monthly rentals → Long stays mean we can rent apartments or houses at local monthly rates, which is usually far cheaper than nightly hotel prices.
- Housesitting → Staying in someone else’s home and taking care of their pets while they go away has been our favourite way to see more of the country we’re in, and not paying any rent at all. If you love animals, have access to your own transport (some housesits are in suburbia), and are pretty flexible, I would highly recommend this as a way to save on accommodation. Try www.trustedhousesitters.com
- Local food → We eat like locals – markets, street food, and home-cooked meals. It’s not only budget-friendly but also one of our favourite ways to experience a place. Of course we sometimes splurge on a tourist restaurant and treat Jai to ice creams and treats, but they’re not a daily expense.
- Simple adventures → Hiking, beaches, local festivals, free museums, playgrounds – the best experiences are often free.
Slow travel isn’t just cheaper, it’s calmer. It gives us time to find routines, connect with communities, and really live somewhere instead of rushing through.
We Plan Strategically, Not Rigidly
People often think that funding travel means having every detail nailed down. For us, strategy looks different:
- We book flights smart, using price alerts, off-peak travel, and budget airlines when it makes sense. Being flexible when booking flights makes a huge difference – we’ve saved hundreds by changing the day we fly, departing late at night, or being open to flying into a different airport (For example, we saved money by flying to Ho Chi Minh instead of Hanoi, then travelling through Vietnam by train).
- We build buffer savings before big moves, then top up income as we go.
- We travel with visas and onward flights planned, but not a strict itinerary. This gives us freedom to stay longer if we love somewhere (or move on if it’s not a fit).
This flexible planning approach helps us keep costs predictable without sacrificing spontaneity.
One of the most important things about how we afford to travel the world is that we didn’t start with everything figured out.
If you’re reading this and wondering if it’s possible for your family too – it is. But it probably won’t look exactly like ours. Your version might include remote teaching, seasonal work, or creative income streams you build along the way.
Intentional Choices Make It Possible
So, how we afford to travel the world isn’t one secret hack, it’s a combination of saving hard, earning online, travelling slowly, living intentionally, and planning smartly.
We’re not rich. We just made different choices about how we earn, spend, and live. And if we can do it, so can other families.
If this inspires you, stay tuned – I’ll be sharing more behind-the-scenes tips on budget travel, family worldschooling, and building freedom through slow travel.
Thinking about travelling the world with your kids? Or curious about what slow travel and life without school is really like? Drop your questions in the comments or connect with us on Instagram @realtravelfamily.