We Visited Over 50 Countries With Our Van Spending Only $8 A Day (UPDATED)
We are young travel bloggers from Poland who did not have a lot of money but we wanted to see the world. We bought an old van for $600, painted it, took tents and supplies of food and just took off.
In 6 years we visited more than 50 countries and we traveled more than 150.000 km on 5 continents. We never paid for accommodation (we sleep in the van and in tents) and we eat what we cook. Here’s a short story, in pictures.
UPDATE: Since many of you were asking how we manage to travel spending only $8 a day, we wanted to explain it a bit further for you. The main cost is the fuel – that’s why other people travel with us and share fuel costs. We travel slowly and often stay in one place for a few days, so we save on fuel. Also lots of people are ordering a postcard from our trip – they get a postcard from a beautiful place, and we get the money for one liter of fuel.
We do not pay for accommodation because we sleep in the van or in tents – on beaches, cliffs, mountains. Often, strangers invite us to their homes. Poles living abroad often help us. The food we buy in supermarkets and eat what we cook – we do not pay for restaurants. For example, in Australia we ate kangaroo steaks because it was the cheapest meat.
When the car breaks down – we repair it, beacause during the trip we have learned how to do this. And when we need mechanics help, they very often do not take money from us because they are impressed with our trip and want to help us and be a part of our adventure. We have our own electric shower and 150l water tank on the roof so we don’t pay for showers. Sometimes we just use rivers or lakes. Between continents we transport the car on the ship. It is very simple.
We sometimes have sponsors – when we have to spend a lot of money on something. For example, the transport of car across the ocean to Australia and the US – sponsors paid for it in exchange for their advertising on the van. Logos on a car is advertising for such companies, which helped us to transport the car through the oceans. Our blog is the most popular travel blog in Poland – now we work as bloggers and thats how we earn money. And thanks to that we can be still on the road because we just need a laptop and internet to work. We published two books about our trips and they give us some money. We do photo sessions for companies or doing advertising clips in exotic locations and companies pay us for it. We sometimes also work as graphic designers and IT specialist (online).
More info: busaroundtheworld.com | Facebook
We are young travel bloggers from Poland who are traveling around the world in an old van
Image credits: Wojciech Lewandowski
We wanted to travel but we did not have a lot of money so we bought old van for $600 and converted it to a travel car
We took tents and food supply and just took off
We visited over 50 countries on 5 continents in 6 years and we drove over 150.000 km
We saw the beautiful mountains of Grand Canyon..
And mesmerizing fields of lupins in Iceland
We bathed in hot springs in Iceland…
Looked at incredibly green fields in Iceland…
Made selfies in the most beautiful places…
Climbed to the top of huge rocks in Norway…
Relaxed in Venice, Italy
Photographed wild sheep in Iceland
Rode camels in Sahara
Saw this beautiful house in Iceland
Visited the monument valley, USA
Saw The Valley Of Fire, USA
Dinned with the view of Grand Canyon
And celebrated Christmas in our van
We never pay for accommodation. We sleep on beaches, cliffs or in the mountains
Image credits: Paweł Jagiełło
We don’t pay for restaurants also, we eat what we cook
Our old car breaks down very often, but we learned how to repair it during the trip
Because we sleep in the wild, we always meet a lot of wild animals
Like this wild emu, who is trying to race our car
Blog about our adventures became popular in Poland, and people began to join us
Readers of our blog and accidentally met people join us and share fuel costs
Other cars sometimes also join us
All the time we meet people who change our point of view
Finally, we got engaged in the Sahara desert
…and we are still on the road!
Image credits: Paweł Jagiełło
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Share on FacebookHey Vermon come and join us! https://www.facebook.com/events/1225905424090628/
Load More Replies...8$ a day and 150.000 km in 6 years, don't be silly. It's barely cost of fuel...
Yes, but they have sponsors and are not including the money/ in-kind donations given to them by the sponsors.
Load More Replies...I've done 25000 km on a bicycle over 2.5 years. 2/3 of this time in Latin American countries, which are considered cheap. It was fully self-funded trip, so every penny counted. Most of the time I slept in tent and ate whatever can be cooked on camping stove. And yet it was extremely hard to keep the cost down to $10/day. So if it wasn't for the sponsors, the cost of this guys' trip would never be $8/day. Good storytelling and beautiful pictures are essential for a travel blogger who wants to get sponsors and make living out of his travels. But I wouldn't take this stories too serious, they are good for a bed-time read.
As they said, they could cut down the cost by inviting more people into the van, so splitting up the fuel and food cost through i think up to 6 people. gues what, you maybe can manage to get to 8$ a day, and as she said they stay longer at one place, which reduces the fuelcost per day again...
Load More Replies...Guys great job great story great pictures and great journey :-) :-) it takes lots of courage to do what you do.
Hey guys. I think what you're doing great and completely support you but I also feel you're not being completely honest by saying you're doing it for $8 a day. Anything that someone else has given you to get you through your trip is money, such as your sponsors, the mechanics fixing your van, people buying a postcard for gas, etc. Do you have an actual figure showing the cost per day with all expenses? Because if someone wanted to replicate what you are doing, they would need those figures. Just be curious and making a point. Love your blog and you guys :) Keep up the fun adventures.
Yeah, ok...so are they in a court of law are they? They have put an update of how they got where they were why do they need to prove it to you?
Load More Replies...You forgot to mention the (hundreds?) of corporate sponsors who paid for that trip. How many are advertised on that van? Unbelievable.
exactly what i was thinking. that van isnt crossing oceans without a little help $. but you have to have a gimmick to have a story to tell
Load More Replies...This is all nice really but i just don't get how the hell did you drive from Grand Canyon in USA to Norway or Sahara? Your car knows how to swim? I know there is a boat option also but that costs, it's not cheap. Fuel costs for 150000km? Maybe you have a 007 car...i belive you are hippies, but I don't belive you are poor (meaning, always have someone at home to send you some money). Just saying, life isn't that pink. You look great anyways! :D
They paid to ship the car. I agree with you about their money situation. Furthermore, what does the $8 cover? Looks like food only.
Load More Replies...How much did you get from the sponsors? You forgot to mention it...
everything from "sponsors" (its not sponsors at all - we WORK for them, like you work for someone) we spent on things like shipping van from one continent to other. We made a big sacrifice to travel like this so please respect it. More info on busaroundtheworld.com
Load More Replies...good for you :) im so jealous:( try to be iranian and you have to spend a lot of money and time just to get a visa ifff they give you one
don't worry Baby, being Ukrainian is almost the same but I am finding the way to travel. You can do it too;)
Load More Replies...It's not possible to do all that on just $8 a day. One has to buy the raw material for the food they were cooking add to it the cost of the fuel they were using for cooking. That alone would amount to at least $10 a day for two people. Who are they trying to fool??!!
I left the rat race in 2001 and I am still traveling, so I know a thing or two. No way to do it on $8 a day. (If counting all expenses, including transporting the van between continents, with absolutely no money from sponsors or freebies)
Quick math, 8$ a day 365 days a year for 6 years =17520 that's not exactly a low number. I'm tempted, but in some countries including my own that is a laaarge sum ( minimum wage for working 8h/day is about 200 euro a month so roughly 200-220$). It's an awesome dream, but not every has mechanical skills or can blog, so it's very frustrating to see this "everyone can do it" pretense. Not everyone can ditch family and responsibility, if everyone would quit working to travel the economy would collapse. Still, awesome travels, wish it could be me.
I don't think it is that important at all. You can shower anywhere you want starting from public baths and ending showering in McDonald's restroom sink;)
Load More Replies...Come on guys... All of you know that they have counted the money they have spent from their on pocket.. Simple calculations 8 * 365 * 6 :) This is not enough for the gas alone :) They have had sponsors, friends, family who gave away money just to advertise sth or just help them to realize what they have wanted to. This is a happy story which tells life is good when you realise your dreams ;) Yea no clear picture about the total amount they have spent. So picture is clear if you wanna do something similiar be sure that you can count on someone or have already arranged the funds ;) Good job ! Congrats for being an inspiration for the whole world !
Amazing, but if you would switch the van to bicycles, you would see and experience 10 times more while saving the fuel cost as well. Not to mention pollution reduction and the healthyness of your body..... :)
What a fabulous post and it was very impressive as well. Well done.
Really a great job guys u guys r inspection for me once I want to meet you guys great job all the best ,please try to visit INDIA, I will get u guys to lot of places of wonder's
How can they afford to ship that vehicle between continents and pay for import fess etc? Sorry they are full of BS.
Where there's a will ...... There's a way - positive amazing journey well done
I am not sure focusing on the dollar amount per day is the point of what they are doing. Yes, there are people and companies that help out with travel costs. But they are travelling the world, writing about it and photographing their travels. What a dream! Focus more on the experience than the monetary value. I would love to do something like this, in a VW bus or bug, and teach yoga along the way. I have a few more years before I can even think of doing this but even if I do it one summer, I'd be happy to take the plunge and adventure across this planet meeting new people, exploring places I've never been and focusing on the beauty of exploration. WAY TO GO, guys!
Hola hermosas imagenes !!!! Vinieron a Argentina hermoso pais . Saludos
No one noticed this article is sponsored by turkish airlines?!?! their travel its an utopia for most of us, 8$ per day it cannot be true....
Really you made my day thank you for giving this awesome idea i vll try in my country.
Hey guys, are you going to share your story and photos on "Kolosy" in Gdynia? I would love to see your speech!
Can i translate this material and post it on my web site with link on this page?
where was the picture with the description 'all the time we meet people who change our point of view' taken?
We ddidnt have a lot of money so we bought a van for 600$ ?Sorry not having a lot of money is not being able to afford to buy something and repaint it and tune it and buy tents...sorry.
You can suck on someones d**k for only 8 dollars a day. Sorry but that would be freakin impossible I understand they eat what they cook but...cmon....8 dollars..haha ok.
I'm up for this. I love to travel and can keep spirits up, anyone else?
Nice trip, but how did you manage to bring the car on the american continent without exploding the budget ? :(
Beautiful life experience! It's sad that more people don't chose to this. Sounds very fun! Congratulations! :)
Do it if you can! What an incredible journey! Sure beats the 9-5.
8 Dollars per day? How many did you spend to bring the car in Iceland and in Australia and in the US?
absolutely stunning, what is the total cost untill now? i think you must pay to take a boat to USA, this is inspiring to others, thank you very much!
Super ! I love the low-cost concept you have. And the true passion for exploring! Keep on going ! Visit Latvia some day ;)
So, fuel, tourist visas, highway fees, ferry fees and bridge fees... don't cost anything on your planet?
Super! Tak trzymać! Dajcie znać jak będziecie w Londynie! Pozdrawiam!
How did you cross the ocean with your van? Started in Poland but visited the grand canyon....
Amazing, but if you would switch the van to bicyles, you would see and experience 10 times more while saving the fuel cost. Not to mention the pollution reduction and the healthyness of your bodies..... :)
How did you cross the ocean with your van?? From Poland... Went to grand canyon...
Guys come one, of course they take on sponsors, noone would ever be able to pay for this themselves, short of being a millionaire, at which point you take your private jet rather than a van. Also, they don't hide that fact or pretend otherwise: http://www.busemprzezswiat.pl/wspolpraca/sponsoring/ However, admittedly those 8 dollars/day should not be posted in this article, that may be the averaged food cost ;)
I'm confused.. did this van have wings? Iceland - Sahara- Grand Canyon?
Between continents we transport the car on the ship ;)
Load More Replies...Wow, what a trip. It made you feel like you must travel the world and meet some places. Beautiful pics ^-^
With us over 150.000 km, but odometer was broken when we bought the car - we think that total mileage is about 1.000.000 km
Load More Replies...Why u think u can't do this? I think u can!
Load More Replies...Great Post, I have a question though :) How do you manage to take the van with you between different continents ?
on the ship ;) - it's very easy, there are many companies doing that
Load More Replies...Hey Vermon come and join us! https://www.facebook.com/events/1225905424090628/
Load More Replies...8$ a day and 150.000 km in 6 years, don't be silly. It's barely cost of fuel...
Yes, but they have sponsors and are not including the money/ in-kind donations given to them by the sponsors.
Load More Replies...I've done 25000 km on a bicycle over 2.5 years. 2/3 of this time in Latin American countries, which are considered cheap. It was fully self-funded trip, so every penny counted. Most of the time I slept in tent and ate whatever can be cooked on camping stove. And yet it was extremely hard to keep the cost down to $10/day. So if it wasn't for the sponsors, the cost of this guys' trip would never be $8/day. Good storytelling and beautiful pictures are essential for a travel blogger who wants to get sponsors and make living out of his travels. But I wouldn't take this stories too serious, they are good for a bed-time read.
As they said, they could cut down the cost by inviting more people into the van, so splitting up the fuel and food cost through i think up to 6 people. gues what, you maybe can manage to get to 8$ a day, and as she said they stay longer at one place, which reduces the fuelcost per day again...
Load More Replies...Guys great job great story great pictures and great journey :-) :-) it takes lots of courage to do what you do.
Hey guys. I think what you're doing great and completely support you but I also feel you're not being completely honest by saying you're doing it for $8 a day. Anything that someone else has given you to get you through your trip is money, such as your sponsors, the mechanics fixing your van, people buying a postcard for gas, etc. Do you have an actual figure showing the cost per day with all expenses? Because if someone wanted to replicate what you are doing, they would need those figures. Just be curious and making a point. Love your blog and you guys :) Keep up the fun adventures.
Yeah, ok...so are they in a court of law are they? They have put an update of how they got where they were why do they need to prove it to you?
Load More Replies...You forgot to mention the (hundreds?) of corporate sponsors who paid for that trip. How many are advertised on that van? Unbelievable.
exactly what i was thinking. that van isnt crossing oceans without a little help $. but you have to have a gimmick to have a story to tell
Load More Replies...This is all nice really but i just don't get how the hell did you drive from Grand Canyon in USA to Norway or Sahara? Your car knows how to swim? I know there is a boat option also but that costs, it's not cheap. Fuel costs for 150000km? Maybe you have a 007 car...i belive you are hippies, but I don't belive you are poor (meaning, always have someone at home to send you some money). Just saying, life isn't that pink. You look great anyways! :D
They paid to ship the car. I agree with you about their money situation. Furthermore, what does the $8 cover? Looks like food only.
Load More Replies...How much did you get from the sponsors? You forgot to mention it...
everything from "sponsors" (its not sponsors at all - we WORK for them, like you work for someone) we spent on things like shipping van from one continent to other. We made a big sacrifice to travel like this so please respect it. More info on busaroundtheworld.com
Load More Replies...good for you :) im so jealous:( try to be iranian and you have to spend a lot of money and time just to get a visa ifff they give you one
don't worry Baby, being Ukrainian is almost the same but I am finding the way to travel. You can do it too;)
Load More Replies...It's not possible to do all that on just $8 a day. One has to buy the raw material for the food they were cooking add to it the cost of the fuel they were using for cooking. That alone would amount to at least $10 a day for two people. Who are they trying to fool??!!
I left the rat race in 2001 and I am still traveling, so I know a thing or two. No way to do it on $8 a day. (If counting all expenses, including transporting the van between continents, with absolutely no money from sponsors or freebies)
Quick math, 8$ a day 365 days a year for 6 years =17520 that's not exactly a low number. I'm tempted, but in some countries including my own that is a laaarge sum ( minimum wage for working 8h/day is about 200 euro a month so roughly 200-220$). It's an awesome dream, but not every has mechanical skills or can blog, so it's very frustrating to see this "everyone can do it" pretense. Not everyone can ditch family and responsibility, if everyone would quit working to travel the economy would collapse. Still, awesome travels, wish it could be me.
I don't think it is that important at all. You can shower anywhere you want starting from public baths and ending showering in McDonald's restroom sink;)
Load More Replies...Come on guys... All of you know that they have counted the money they have spent from their on pocket.. Simple calculations 8 * 365 * 6 :) This is not enough for the gas alone :) They have had sponsors, friends, family who gave away money just to advertise sth or just help them to realize what they have wanted to. This is a happy story which tells life is good when you realise your dreams ;) Yea no clear picture about the total amount they have spent. So picture is clear if you wanna do something similiar be sure that you can count on someone or have already arranged the funds ;) Good job ! Congrats for being an inspiration for the whole world !
Amazing, but if you would switch the van to bicycles, you would see and experience 10 times more while saving the fuel cost as well. Not to mention pollution reduction and the healthyness of your body..... :)
What a fabulous post and it was very impressive as well. Well done.
Really a great job guys u guys r inspection for me once I want to meet you guys great job all the best ,please try to visit INDIA, I will get u guys to lot of places of wonder's
How can they afford to ship that vehicle between continents and pay for import fess etc? Sorry they are full of BS.
Where there's a will ...... There's a way - positive amazing journey well done
I am not sure focusing on the dollar amount per day is the point of what they are doing. Yes, there are people and companies that help out with travel costs. But they are travelling the world, writing about it and photographing their travels. What a dream! Focus more on the experience than the monetary value. I would love to do something like this, in a VW bus or bug, and teach yoga along the way. I have a few more years before I can even think of doing this but even if I do it one summer, I'd be happy to take the plunge and adventure across this planet meeting new people, exploring places I've never been and focusing on the beauty of exploration. WAY TO GO, guys!
Hola hermosas imagenes !!!! Vinieron a Argentina hermoso pais . Saludos
No one noticed this article is sponsored by turkish airlines?!?! their travel its an utopia for most of us, 8$ per day it cannot be true....
Really you made my day thank you for giving this awesome idea i vll try in my country.
Hey guys, are you going to share your story and photos on "Kolosy" in Gdynia? I would love to see your speech!
Can i translate this material and post it on my web site with link on this page?
where was the picture with the description 'all the time we meet people who change our point of view' taken?
We ddidnt have a lot of money so we bought a van for 600$ ?Sorry not having a lot of money is not being able to afford to buy something and repaint it and tune it and buy tents...sorry.
You can suck on someones d**k for only 8 dollars a day. Sorry but that would be freakin impossible I understand they eat what they cook but...cmon....8 dollars..haha ok.
I'm up for this. I love to travel and can keep spirits up, anyone else?
Nice trip, but how did you manage to bring the car on the american continent without exploding the budget ? :(
Beautiful life experience! It's sad that more people don't chose to this. Sounds very fun! Congratulations! :)
Do it if you can! What an incredible journey! Sure beats the 9-5.
8 Dollars per day? How many did you spend to bring the car in Iceland and in Australia and in the US?
absolutely stunning, what is the total cost untill now? i think you must pay to take a boat to USA, this is inspiring to others, thank you very much!
Super ! I love the low-cost concept you have. And the true passion for exploring! Keep on going ! Visit Latvia some day ;)
So, fuel, tourist visas, highway fees, ferry fees and bridge fees... don't cost anything on your planet?
Super! Tak trzymać! Dajcie znać jak będziecie w Londynie! Pozdrawiam!
How did you cross the ocean with your van? Started in Poland but visited the grand canyon....
Amazing, but if you would switch the van to bicyles, you would see and experience 10 times more while saving the fuel cost. Not to mention the pollution reduction and the healthyness of your bodies..... :)
How did you cross the ocean with your van?? From Poland... Went to grand canyon...
Guys come one, of course they take on sponsors, noone would ever be able to pay for this themselves, short of being a millionaire, at which point you take your private jet rather than a van. Also, they don't hide that fact or pretend otherwise: http://www.busemprzezswiat.pl/wspolpraca/sponsoring/ However, admittedly those 8 dollars/day should not be posted in this article, that may be the averaged food cost ;)
I'm confused.. did this van have wings? Iceland - Sahara- Grand Canyon?
Between continents we transport the car on the ship ;)
Load More Replies...Wow, what a trip. It made you feel like you must travel the world and meet some places. Beautiful pics ^-^
With us over 150.000 km, but odometer was broken when we bought the car - we think that total mileage is about 1.000.000 km
Load More Replies...Why u think u can't do this? I think u can!
Load More Replies...Great Post, I have a question though :) How do you manage to take the van with you between different continents ?
on the ship ;) - it's very easy, there are many companies doing that
Load More Replies...
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