{"id":42747,"date":"2016-07-28T09:56:16","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T13:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/?p=42747"},"modified":"2025-10-19T21:19:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T01:19:20","slug":"backpacking-family-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/backpacking-family-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"How this Family of 4 Traveled the World on $130 a Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/media.nomadicmatt.com\/family10months006.JPG\" alt=\"Cliff and his family in front of the Colosseum in Rome\" width=\"675\" height=\"395\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>Posted<\/strong>: 7\/28\/16<\/p>\n<p><em>It&#8217;s been a long time since we&#8217;ve had a blog post on family travel on this website so today, I&#8217;m excited to introduce to you Cliff. His San Francisco based family spent ten months traveling the world on a career break. They homeschooled and enrolled their kids in schools overseas, spent time with family, saw the world, and bonded as a family. And, they did so, on a budget this nomad is impressed with. <\/p>\n<p>Today, Cliff is going to share how his family did it \u2014 and advice for other families looking to do a big round the world adventure!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>My dream of taking my family on a world tour began in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/activities-to-do-nicaragua\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nicaragua<\/a> in the summer of 2012 with my two daughters, who were three years old and six months old at the time. <\/p>\n<p>Most people thought my wife and I were crazy to go to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/is-central-america-safe-to-visit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Central America<\/a> with two little girls. <\/p>\n<p>But, for three weeks, we relaxed at the beach in San Juan del Sur, rode horses through the countryside, and hung out in the bustling town of Granada.<\/p>\n<p>It was an experience we vowed to repeat.<\/p>\n<p>Over the next couple of years, we traveled together to various destinations, including Puerto Rico, Peru, Argentina, and Guatemala. We enjoyed these short trips but, the more we traveled, the more I wanted to go longer \u2014 I wanted a year-long trip around the world.<\/p>\n<p>In 2015, that dream became a reality as we spent 10 months traveling in 10 countries.<\/p>\n<p>But to make that happen we needed to be creative with how we saved and spent our money.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>How We Saved Money and Budgeted for Our Trip<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/media.nomadicmatt.com\/family10months001.JPG\" alt=\"Family of four while on their travels in Spain\" width=\"675\" height=\"395\" \/><br \/>\nMy family lives in one of the most expensive areas in the world: Silicon Valley outside <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-guides\/united-states-travel-guide\/san-francisco\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Francisco<\/a>, California. Housing prices are extremely high and the overall cost of living is higher than most cities in the United States. I worked as a marketing manager in technology companies while my wife took care of our two daughters.<\/p>\n<p>After our trip in Nicaragua, we decided that we would make family travel a priority in our lives. From July 2012 to December 2014, we saved approximately $40,000 USD, which equates to $1,333 USD per month. Saving that much money on one salary in one of the most expensive areas in the world was not easy. It took some crafty saving skills, but here is what we did:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>I worked freelance jobs.<\/strong> I earned extra money for work on short-term marketing projects, in addition to my full-time job. Now with the on-demand gig economy, there are many great options to earn extra money, including Uber and Lyft.\n<li><strong>We refinanced our mortgage.<\/strong> With a lower interest rate for our home mortgage, we saved over $500 USD per month.<\/li>\n<li><strong>I reduced my 401(k) and 529 contributions. <\/strong>Instead of putting all of my savings into my retirement account and my daughters\u2019 education accounts, I decided to reallocate about $500 USD per month to our travel funds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>We reduced our spending.<\/strong> We cooked most meals, capping our food budget at $1,000 USD per month. We also stopped buying unnecessary electronics, clothing, and toys, limiting our discretionary spending to $500 USD per month.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By earning more, spending less, and reallocating a portion of my savings to travel, our travel budget gradually increased to a point where we felt comfortable enough to take time off to travel the world.<\/p>\n<p>But in order for this trip to really make financial sense, we needed to do something about our house while we were away. We did this by renting our house with a family found through Craigslist. <\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, this area is in demand and after accounting for our mortgage, insurance, and taxes, we were making $500 USD per month profit from the renters, which helped pad our travel fund.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, we sold our SUV, which ended our $700 USD per month loan payment. We also sold all our furniture and about 80% of our electronics, clothes, shoes, and toys through Craigslist and some local Facebook groups. <\/p>\n<p>In total, we made about $5,000 USD from these sales.<\/p>\n<p>With about $10,000 USD of extra money from rent payments and selling our stuff and the $40,000 USD in savings, we created a budget of $50,000 USD for our trip. We knew we had to make our money stretch as far as possible by being savvy with how we saved and spent on the trip.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>How Much We Spent<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/media.nomadicmatt.com\/family10months002.JPG\" alt=\"Cliff's family on vacation on the beach\" width=\"675\" height=\"395\" \/><br \/>\nBelow is a list of some of the expenses of our trip per country visited. (Later I\u2019ll go into more detail about how we accomplished this.) With this information, I hope you realize that extended family travel around the world can be affordable and realistic. <\/p>\n<p>All you need is a curiosity to explore the world, flexibility, and a bit of budgeting skills.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Honolulu, Hawaii\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Duration: 1 month<\/li>\n<li>Accommodations: Free, stayed at my mother\u2019s place<\/li>\n<li>Transportation: $800 USD<\/li>\n<li>Flights: $2,400 USD<\/li>\n<li><i><strong>Total: <\/strong>$6,000 USD<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Phuket, Thailand<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Duration: 3 months<\/li>\n<li>Accommodations: $2,000 USD ($667 per month for one-bedroom apartment)<\/li>\n<li>Transportation: $400 USD ($133 per month)<\/li>\n<li>Schooling: $2,100 USD ($350 per month per kid)<\/li>\n<li>Visa extensions: $200 USD total<\/li>\n<li>Flight from Phuket to Hangzhou free with Star Alliance points<\/li>\n<li><i><strong>Total: <\/strong>$8,000 USD<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Duration: 3 days<\/li>\n<li>Accommodations: $150 USD<\/li>\n<li>Flights: $435 USD<\/li>\n<li><i>$750 USD total<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Hangzhou, China<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Duration: Approximately 2 months<\/li>\n<li>Accommodations: Free, stayed at my wife\u2019s parents\u2019 place<\/li>\n<li>Schooling: $400 USD total for 2 months ($100 per month per kid)<\/li>\n<li><i><strong>Total: <\/strong>$2,500 USD<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Europe (Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Duration: 2.5 months<\/li>\n<li>Accommodations: about $5,200 USD (average of $71\/night) for 73 nights<\/li>\n<li>Food: $3,500 USD (average of $47 per day)<\/li>\n<li>Shopping and leisure activities: $1,500 USD (average of $20 per day)<\/li>\n<li>Schooling: $800 USD for 4 weeks in Barcelona ($400 per month per kid)<\/li>\n<li>Flights and transportation: $5,000 USD<\/li>\n<li><i><strong>Total: <\/strong>$16,000 USD<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Hong Kong<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Duration: 3 days<\/li>\n<li>Accommodations: Free, stayed at friends\u2019 place<\/li>\n<li>Flights: Free stopover in Hong Kong on the way back to Hangzhou from Europe<\/li>\n<li><i><strong>Total: <\/strong>$300 USD<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Hangzhou, China<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Duration: Approximately 2 months<\/li>\n<li>Accommodations: Free, stayed at my wife\u2019s parents\u2019 place<\/li>\n<li><i><strong>Total: <\/strong>$2,500 USD<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Flights to Bay Area: <\/strong><i>$2,000 USD<\/i><\/p>\n<p><strong>Breakdown by Expense Type<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Flights: $9,000 USD<\/li>\n<li>Other Transportation: $2,000 USD<\/li>\n<li>Accommodations: $7,500 USD<\/li>\n<li>Schooling: $3,300 USD<\/li>\n<li>Food, shopping, and leisure activities: $17,750 USD<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>GRAND TOTAL: $39,550<\/strong><br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>How We Saved Money During Our Trip<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/media.nomadicmatt.com\/family10months003.JPG\" alt=\"Cliff's wife and two daughters in Thailand\" width=\"675\" height=\"395\" \/><br \/>\nIn order for our travel budget to last 10 months, we had to be efficient with the way we spent our money. We did this in a number of ways:<\/p>\n<p><strong>We Used Our Frequent Flyer Miles. <\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/earn-1-million-miles-per-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Using points and miles<\/a> was vital to our success. In total, I used 250,000 miles for free airplane tickets on Star Alliance airlines on this trip: 100,000 of those miles came from signup bonuses for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/chase-sapphire-preferred-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chase Sapphire Preferred credit cards<\/a> for both my wife and myself. <\/p>\n<p>After $4,000 USD spent on each card, we were awarded the signup bonus of 50,000 points, which were converted 1:1 for Star Alliance miles. It\u2019s our travel credit card of choice because there are no foreign transaction fees. Another 100,000 of those miles came from the accumulation of miles through flights flown by all four of us in the previous years. <\/p>\n<p>The remaining 50,000 miles came through spending on the cards over two years. A great site I use is <a href=\"https:\/\/thepointsguy.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Points Guy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/product\/guide-to-points-and-miles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matt has a great book on the subject too<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>We Purchased Cheap Flights<\/strong><br \/>\nFor flights that were paid in full, I used travel comparison sites like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/flights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google Flights<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kayak.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kayak<\/a> to find the best prices. <\/p>\n<p>In Asia and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-guides\/europe-travel-tips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Europe<\/a>, there were many budget airlines that made flying economical, so those flights didn\u2019t take a huge chunk of our travel budget. <\/p>\n<p>For example, for all four of us, one-way flights from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-guides\/italy-travel-tips\/venice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Venice<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-guides\/spain-travel-tips\/barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Barcelona<\/a> were $420 USD on Vueling Airlines and round-trip flights from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur were $435 USD.<\/li>\n<p><strong>We Stayed at Our Parents\u2019 Places<\/strong><br \/>\nFor about 45% of our time away from home, we stayed with my mother in Honolulu, Hawaii, and my wife\u2019s folks in Hangzhou, China. Not only did we spend quality time with our extended families, but we also saved a ton of money on accommodations. <\/p>\n<p>While our situation is unique in that we have parents in different parts of the world, there are great options for free housing, including sites like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/how-to-crush-it-on-couchsurfing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Couchsurfing<\/a>, Servas, Hospitality Club, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/house-sitting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">housesitting opportunities<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s not as easy as what we had but it still works and is an option families can use!<\/p>\n<p><strong>We Rented Apartments<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/guide-renting-apartments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Airbnb<\/a> was vital to helping us stay on budget. Especially in Europe, where accommodations costs can be expensive, we stayed in furnished apartments ranging from a studio in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-guides\/france-travel-tips\/paris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paris<\/a> to a two-bedroom apartment in Barcelona for an average of $71 USD\/night.<\/p>\n<p>Our accommodations costs were much cheaper than if we had stayed in hotels.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>We Did Free Activities<\/strong><br \/>\nThere are lots of free activities to do with kids while abroad, including going to beaches, parks, markets, shopping malls, churches, and outdoor festivals. Even for expensive cities like Rome and Barcelona, there were always free things to do. For example, from having read an article in <em>National Geographic<\/em>, we went to the Picasso Museum in Barcelona on one of its free Sundays, and we walked around the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona to watch the various street performers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>We Cut Our Transportation Costs<\/strong><br \/>\nIn Phuket, we rented a moped (for all four of us!) for $133 USD per month. In China, we took cheap taxis or rode the bus. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-guides\/europe-travel-tips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Europe<\/a>, we rode the subways or the buses, which were not expensive (e.g., $1 USD per bus ride in Florence and Barcelona). By taking public transportation or walking whenever possible, we kept our daily transportation costs low.<\/p>\n<p><strong>We Cooked Most Meals<\/strong><br \/>\nWith a kitchen at our parents\u2019 places or our <a href=\"https:\/\/airbnb.pvxt.net\/DJxzj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Airbnb<\/a> apartments, we ate a majority of our meals at home, especially in Europe. When we ate at restaurants, we ate simply or at inexpensive lunch buffets (e.g., $10 USD for a Japanese lunch buffet in Florence). <\/p>\n<p>In Asia, eating at restaurants was fairly cheap, so we didn\u2019t need to cook at home as much.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>FamilyTravel: Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/media.nomadicmatt.com\/family10months004.JPG\" alt=\"Cliff's family exploring one of many cities on their round-the-world trip\" width=\"675\" height=\"395\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Family travel can be stressful, with all the planning, movement, logistics, new time zones, new languages, different foods, and taking care of the kids. It\u2019s never really a vacation with children, because the majority of your time and energy will be used to take care of them.<\/p>\n<p>But family travel is also very rewarding.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When you travel together, you collect memories and build the bonds of your family through the shared experiences of being in different countries, interacting with different people, speaking different languages, and eating different foods. By getting out of your comfort zones and traveling the world, you allow your family to learn and grow in ways that could never happen at home.<\/p>\n<p>One of my warmest memories (and there are many) comes when we were living in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-guides\/spain-travel-tips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spain<\/a>. We found a trilingual preschool (English, Spanish, and German) that allowed our daughters to enroll for the entire duration of our stay in Barcelona. <\/p>\n<p>They became immersed in the Spanish culture and language, made local friends, and went on many field trips. It was amazing watching them learn to interact with the locals, learn a culture, and grow as people. <\/p>\n<p>They developed a cultural understanding that just wouldn\u2019t have been possible if we had stayed home. I know this is a positive experience that will live with them forever.<\/p>\n<p>Whether for three weeks during a winter break, three months in the summer, or a full year, budget family travel is possible. Traveling through 10 countries in 10 months with my family was a great learning experience and a dream come true. <\/p>\n<p>Despite all the headaches, fevers, upset stomachs, hot days, lost items, frustrating situations, and everything else that we went through during our trip, it was all worth it and we grew closer together as a family.<\/p>\n<p>And there\u2019s no better feeling than that as a parent.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"single-booking\">\n<h4>Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Book Your Flight<\/strong><br \/>\nFind a cheap flight by using <a href=\"https:\/\/skyscanner.pxf.io\/c\/214481\/1027991\/13416?subId1=%26currency%3DUSD&#038;associateid=AFF_TRA_19354_00001&#038;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skyscanner.com%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Skyscanner<\/a>. It&#8217;s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Book Your Accommodation<\/strong><br \/>\nYou can book your hostel with <a href=\"https:\/\/prf.hn\/click\/camref:1101lHtj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hostelworld<\/a>. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.booking.com\/index.html?aid=362916\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Booking.com<\/a> as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Don&#8217;t Forget Travel Insurance<\/strong><br \/>\nTravel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It&#8217;s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I&#8217;ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/safetywing.com\/nomad-insurance\/?referenceID=24768462&#038;campaign=footer-blue-box&#038;utm_source=24768462&#038;utm_medium=Ambassador\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SafetyWing<\/a> (best for budget travelers)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tkqlhce.com\/click-3032045-15403748\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">World Nomads<\/a> (best for mid-range travelers)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/insuremytripus.pxf.io\/q4vRWg\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">InsureMyTrip<\/a> (for those 70 and over)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/medjetassist.com\/nomadicmatt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Medjet<\/a> (for additional evacuation coverage)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Want to Travel for Free?<\/strong><br \/>\nTravel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation \u2014 all without any extra spending. Check out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-tips\/picking-a-travel-credit-card\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites<\/a> to get started and see the latest best deals.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Need a Rental Car?<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discovercars.com\/canada?a_aid=nomadicmatt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Discover Cars<\/a> is a budget-friendly international car rental website. No matter where you&#8217;re headed, they&#8217;ll be able to find the best \u2014 and cheapest \u2014 rental for your trip!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip?<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.getyourguide.com\/?partner_id=LLKQJ38&#038;utm_medium=online_publisher&#038;placement=content-top\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Get Your Guide<\/a> is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Ready to Book Your Trip?<\/strong><br \/>\nCheck out my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">resource page<\/a> for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can&#8217;t go wrong using them on your trip.\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re thinking about traveling with family, this post by Cliff Hsia shares how he traveled around the world for 10 months on a budget with his family of four. He breaks down how he saved money, how he spent money, the amount he budgeted, and why traveling with his young children was tough yet rewarding. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2048],"tags":[1151,2601,1142],"class_list":["post-42747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-travel-2","tag-budget-travel","tag-shfas","tag-family-travel"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How this Family of 4 Traveled the World on $130 a Day<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many families think world travel is mpossible but this article breaks down one family&#039;s 10 month RTW and shows you how it is possible.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/backpacking-family-budget\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How this Family of 4 Traveled the World on $130 a Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many families think world travel is mpossible but this article breaks down one family&#039;s 10 month RTW and shows you how it is possible.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/backpacking-family-budget\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nomadic Matt&#039;s Travel Site\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nomadicmatt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-28T13:56:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-20T01:19:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/family10months006.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"395\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matthew Kepnes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nomadicmatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nomadicmatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matthew Kepnes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/backpacking-family-budget\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/backpacking-family-budget\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matthew Kepnes\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6bb11d2db7d09be3c584f69ea2a840d0\"},\"headline\":\"How this Family of 4 Traveled the World on $130 a Day\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-28T13:56:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-20T01:19:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/backpacking-family-budget\/\"},\"wordCount\":1957,\"commentCount\":46,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/travel-blogs\/backpacking-family-budget\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/family10months006.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"budget travel\",\"Family &amp; 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