After finishing school in Germany, I traveled for 9 months in Australia, New Zealand and Bali.
I didn’t track my expenses, but I have an overview of what I had before and earned there.
This is mostly helpful when you are going abroad on a working holiday visa and are able to work in that country or if you are planning to stay in one area for a bit longer (starting at 2 weeks).
If you are backpacking without being allowed to work, I would recommend having your finances secured before you go or having financial help from family.
I also got help from my parents, but a lot of it I paid for with my own money as well.
Beforehand
In the years in school, I always had several mini jobs.
Not because I desperately needed the money, but because I had the time and motivation to work and wanted to be able to save some money for when I needed it.
And that was my travels.
I worked as a babysitter and at my local church for many years, and before I went away after school, I worked at a tax office for 2 months.
All of my jobs were pretty flexible, and I made enough money to just safe a bit.
I never really got pocket money regularly, but got most of my expenses paid by my parents, so what I earned was most of the time not used.
So if you have the chance to work and the wish to travel, it can give you more security financial wise if you earn a bit of money beforehand.
Oftentimes for a visa you also need to prove that you have enough money to buy a flight back if you don’t have a return ticket yet.
Working
In Australia, I did an au pair for 6 months.
During that time I didn’t have to pay for accommodation or food, except I was eating out with friends or did any activities without the family.
I earned around 240 AUD a fortnight and I worked 2 weeks in a month.
I got to admit that I used that money to travel during my time with the family because I was free for the other 2 weeks in a month and used these for my own travels in the area and around Australia’s east coast.
An au pair is definitely a good option to keep expenses at a low.
If working with kids is nothing for you, you can definitely find any other job.
I know people who worked jobs and lived in a hostel for a while, others that rented a shared flat for that time and others who got accommodation by their work place.
The last one was the case in some restaurants in rural areas in Australia or when you are working in a snowfield.
You just have to check work sites on the internet, and could take a look at backpacker working groups on Facebook.
Oftentimes you can get a job through that as well.
And then you have to apply and be a bit lucky.
Just be sure that the work you do can be long hours and hard, but in Australia, for example, you can earn a lot of money in a short time like that and spend that money on your travels afterward.
Volunteering
In New Zealand, I volunteered on a cow farm for 2 weeks.
I helped them with milking the cows and in return I got accommodation, food and a good kiwi experience for free.
I didn’t earn any money there, but I was able to save a lot of money like that.
If you would like to do work exchange, I can recommend the sites “workaway” and “worldpacker” to you.
In France, I did another work exchange and have many good experiences and have saved a lot of money during my travels like that.
Oftentimes hosts don’t accept you, if you have under 2 weeks though, so make sure you find the time to do that, and I am sure you will find a lot of wonderful volunteering options.
In the end, I will say that there is no excuse to not travel if it is your dream.
There are a lot of options to work in other countries and if you don’t have the financial means to do it yet, you might have to earn a bit beforehand or can get financial help, but it is definitely possible to travel if you don’t have much money.
Also, in many Asian countries the cost of living is pretty low, so you will get away with spending little money there.
There are always options, so don’t let money be the reason to not travel.