A woman who has travelled around the world twice on a £50-a-week budget has revealed how she did it – and why she has no plans to stop, despite having to camp in the snow and occasionally dumpster dive.
Helen Dainty, 46, from the West Midlands, is a full-time traveller after giving up her job in the travel industry to see as much of the world as possible.
Living on a tiny budget of just £50 a week, she has travelled 83,000km across 28 countries kilometres – equivalent to a double circumnavigation of the globe.
“At the start of the week, I put my cash into my wallet, and then I can watch how I’m spending by not using a card,” Helen told Luxury Travel Daily.
“I’ve been a traveller for about 20 years, but I’ve always had to sort of intersperse my year of travelling with a year or two of work.
“When I discovered bicycle touring, I realised I could travel a lot more affordably by carrying a tent and making my own transport.
“I realised that if I kept my budget low, I could just about eek a living through the small amount of money, about $100 Australian dollars a week (£50), that I was earning from a rental property in Sydney.”
Helen began her adventure back in 2018 and plans to continue for as long as she is physically able to.
She has now visited all seven continents, including Antarctica, which she describes as her favourite place to travel.
Helen’s tiny budget is used for food, the occasional guest house, and activities like museum entries.
She also has an additional budget of $1,800 AUS (£904), in case of any emergency situations, like her bike requiring expensive repairs.
She said: “I’ve just exceeded 83,000 kilometers.
“It’s 40,200 kilometers to go around the planet, so I’ve done two trips around the planet.
“The number of kilometres I do in a day really depends on the terrain.
“If it’s the Welsh coastline, then 50 or 60 kilometers is quite enough.
“If it’s flat through the desert, and the wind is behind me, and there’s nothing else to see, then 120 to 130 kilometers is possible.
“What I eat is generally whatever is local and plentiful and cheap – so in the Middle East, I ate a lot of bread and hummus.
“In Saudi Arabia, the cheap way to eat is at the local Pakistani restaurants.
“In Europe, I have to survive a lot more on bakeries and just maybe a can of soup in the evening if it’s cold.”
Helen is so committed to her tiny budget that she even dumpster dived for food, and she was delighted by what she found.
She added: “I have even dumpster dived, although I don’t have any pictures of the food – I was too ashamed at the time.
“But I found an abundance of high-quality bakery items, fruit, and even smoked salmon all in the original packaging, as if they wanted the food to be rescued!”
As well as her rental income, Helen created another income stream for herself around the time of the pandemic, documenting her adventures for paying subscribers on Patreon.
She is now hoping to cover her living expenses entirely from the money she makes while travelling.
However, when her bike required repairs this earlier this year, putting a temporary halt to her travelling, she continued to stick to her tiny budget by earning her keep at a family’s BnB in Italy.
She said: “I was making beds, cleaning, helping to serve breakfast while I waited on my bike being repaired – in return for lodging and meals.
“They were the most beautiful, amazing family. I’m so grateful to them.”
For the rest of the time, Helen said she keeps her costs low by cycling and sleeping in a tent, but she will stay in a hotel or guest house when she is able.
She said: “If I can afford to stay in a guest house, or if it just doesn’t feel safe to camp, then I’ll stay in some sort of guest house.
“Accommodation in Tunisia is very affordable – and in Iran, where just five Euros a night buys you a pretty decent room.
“Sometimes it’s been cold, and I’ve camped accidentally in the snow from time to time.
“But that’s not ideal as I’m not equipped to camp beneath four or five degrees.”
Helen is now planning to travel to Africa next year after stopping for a brief rest with her family in the West Midlands.
She said: “There are so many places I want to go and experiences I want to have, and food I want to eat, and people I want to meet, and cultures I want to understand, and languages I’d like to learn, that there isn’t enough time in a lifetime.”
When asked for her advice for others looking to travel on a budget, Helen advised visiting the Warm Showers community for cyclists and couchsurfing networks.
Helen, who is documenting her travels on Polar Steps, said: “I used to couchsurf a lot when I first started travelling 20 years ago – that’s another network for people.
“They will invite you to come and stay in their home, and maybe you will cook together, and it’s just a great way to meet local people.
“Warm Showers is an incredible network of cyclists who host cyclists.
“That’s an absolute lifesaver for any cyclist – it’s a place where somebody will put you up in their home, in their spare room or on their couch.
“They’ll probably cook you a dinner, and you can chat cycling and get advice about onward routes.
“These are amazing ways to save money, but I also think it’s important to meet local people.
“If we don’t hang out with local people in the towns and countries that we’re passing through, then we’re transiting at a very superficial level – taking nice photos and disappearing.”
