By Talker Staff
The average American would drop everything and travel the world if they had $287,731 in the bank.
That’s the verdict of a new survey of 2,000 people which pinpointed the financial amount the average person feels they’d need to quit their current job and pick up their suitcase.
Not surprisingly, the amount needed to drop everything and pursue their biggest travel dreams rises the older a person is: Gen Z named $211,000 as their quitting point, while boomers wouldn’t do it for anything less than $335,000.
The survey, conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Travelbinger, saw that people won’t drop everything cheaply. A third (32%) of respondents said it’d take more than $500,000 to prioritize seeing the world.
Although, one in six (18%) would set sail for less than $50,000 and a similar number (17%) said there’s no figure at all they could be paid that they’d take to go and travel the world.
The survey then asked respondents how they would spend a travel budget of $1 million if it landed in their laps today.
Generosity topped the list as Americans were most likely to say they’d start off planning their million-dollar spending by taking their friends and family on a dream vacation.
Exploring historical sites and world wonders like the Great Pyramids, the Colosseum and the Taj Mahal was the second-most common answer to how to prioritize a million-dollar travel budget.
The second most popular thing would be to hit the open road– nearly a quarter said they’d indulge in road-tripping across the U.S. or another country.
Building a bucket list of travel goals and working through them for things like African safari, the Northern Lights or diving the Great Barrier Reef also featured prominently.
Naturally with a nice travel windfall, many would indulge in sampling luxury resorts and accommodations.
While 18% said they’d embrace the art of slow traveling–taking their time in each location to really experience each place.
And 4% said that if they received a million dollars for travel they would give it back as they aren’t interested in traveling.
TOP WAYS AMERICANS WOULD SPEND A MILLION-DOLLAR TRAVEL BUDGET
- Taking family or friends on a dream vacation (37%)
- Road-tripping across the U.S. or another country (24%)
- Visiting famous landmarks (21%)
- Exploring historical sites or world wonders (19%)
- Building a 'travel bucket list' and ticking off every item (18%)
- Frequent weekend getaways to new destinations (18%)
- Slow traveling—spending months in each location (18%)
- Luxury accommodations (17%)
- Extended stay in a dream destination (15%)
- Volunteering or giving back while traveling (12%)
- Immersive cultural experiences (11%)
- Traveling to every continent (11%)
- Booking luxury transportation (9%)
- Learning a new skill or language while living abroad (9%)
- Luxury worldwide cruises (13%)
- Private jet travel (8%)
- Around-the-world plane tickets (8%)
- Exploring off-the-beaten-path destinations (8%)
- Attending major global events (8%)
Survey methodology:
Talker Research surveyed 2,000 general population Americans with 1,000 men and 1,000 women; the survey was administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Friday, Jan. 31 and Monday, Feb. 3, 2025.
We are sourcing from a non-probability frame and the two main sources we use are:
- Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
- Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in
Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey is fielded, dynamic online sampling is used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.
Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.
Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.
Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:
- Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of the interview are disqualified as speeders
- Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
- Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
- Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once
It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.
