Round the world trips for every budget

For many people, booking a round the world trip is a distant fantasy, up there with “win a Grammy” and “marry Ryan Gosling“. But as most seasoned travelers know, there isn’t just one way to travel, and global adventures can be had at multiple budgets.

Our friends over at BootsnAll recently profiled 11 travel bloggers to uncover the real costs of round the world trips, getting them to spill the beans on itineraries, expenses, and travel tips.

On the low end of the per diem spectrum were Warren and Betsy, a married couple in their 40s who spent $34 per person per day on their round the world trip. They traveled through 11 countries in South America, Western Europe, and Thailand for 396 days, spending a grand total of $28,826. The couple stretched their dollar by using frequent flier miles to book tickets, and by taking a boat from South America to England. Their budgeting advice? “Take 2-3 minutes each day to track your expenses for the day. It will help you to know how much you are spending, but more importantly what you have left.”

Justin Troupe and his wife were a little less cautious about their spending, burning through $116 per person per day on their round the world trip through Europe, Asia, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean. The 150-day, 24-country adventure cost a total of $35,000. Their speed of travel was admittedly one reason for the high cost. Justin advises, “Slow the pace down, my trip was quite expensive because we did 26 countries in 4 months. It was expensive if you look at the cost per day, but not it you look at it from a per country point of view. $30,000 divided by 26 countries works out to $1250 per country, which is not bad.”

He continues: “The craziest part of Round the World Travel is that so many people think it is out of reach for them. Yet people waste money constantly on things that don’t make them happy. In life, you can buy things or you can buy experiences. I have found that experiences make me much happier. For the cost of a used car, you can actually go see the world. All it takes is the courage to dream big and then set goals and make it happen.”

With a little bit of planning, there’s no reason you can’t embark on your own round the world trip. You’re on your own with the Grammy and Ryan.

[via BootsnAll; flickr image via Steve Cadman]

BootsnAll launches new Travel Writers Platform

Our pals over at BootsnAll have been working feverishly to launch a new series of sites with writers focused on specific locations and topics. Now, all that hard work has paid off as the first wave of their Travel Writers Platform has begun to fill BootsnAll with incredible useful content. With a redesigned homepage and a slew of new writers, the site is looking pretty darn spiffy.

Their new experts focus on travel to Spain, Australia, France and Las Vegas, as well as the latest travel gear. The location-specific sites are still being developed, but the introductory posts look great.

So, after you’ve finished researching and reading about your dream destinations here on Gadling, be sure to check out BootsnAll. They’re a fantastic resource and getting better everyday.

BootsnAll call for guest writers

BootsnAll wants more content, and that’s where you come in.

You’ve probably heard about AOL’s arm, SEED, which allows you to submit articles to a number of AOL sites (such as Gadling, everyone’s favorite) for consideration. It’s great because some of our readers are just as good at this as we are, and it enables them (you) to get paid to blog with us.

BootsnAll is launching a similar program called the BootsnAll Travel Writer Platform which is targeted specifically at those of you who would like to be professional travel writers. Basically, you can sign up to write about what you love and get paid a “base pay of $100-500/month with profit sharing of 30-40%” — not too shabby!

If you’re interested in becoming a BootsnAll Travel Writer, just send in your application by March 15, 2010. Watch the video above for more info, and visit the website here to apply.

Gadlinks for Thursday, 1.28.2010

The weekend is almost here! Are you headed anywhere fun? I’m off to sunny Puerto Rico to escape Chicago’s latest cold snap. Here are a few bonus travel stories to keep you dreaming of warmer days.

  • Winter in the northern hemisphere means summer in Buenos Aires. If you’re headed down south, here are a few places to gorge yourself silly, courtesy of Matador writer Tom Gates. [via Matador Nights]
  • Nothing says summer like the sight of tan surfers catching some waves. How does a pro surfer globe-trot? Find out with BootsnAll’s How I Travel profile of surfer Holly Beck. [via BootsnAll]

More Gadlinks HERE.

Gadlinks for Tuesday, 1.26.2010

Happy Tuesday, Gadling fans! Here are a few more travel tidbits to help you through the week.

More Gadlinks HERE.