How much money do I need to visit that country? Are there any hostels? Will the streets be dusty? What about the wifi? Well, guess what… I have created the Travel Development Index (TDI) to answer those questions and help you prepare better for your next trip.
How is TDI measured?
- TRAVEL EXPENSES – accommodation, food, transport
- INFRASTRUCTURE – roads (paved vs dirt), utilities (electricity, running water vs. well, internet access), sanitation
Some important factors are excluded from the index
It’s because of the inconsistency with travel expenses and infrastructure:
- Safety – More expensive countries are not necessarily safer. I wrote more about safety & TDI below (cause it’s kinda important:)
- Visa fees: expensive countries tend to be visa-free for citizens of the EU, US, UK, Australia, etc. On the other hand, the poorest countries in the world tend to have very expensive visas.
- Sites and Activities Fees – They tend to vary greatly from country to country, and from activity to activity. Also, just like with visas, many cheap countries charge a lot for certain tourist activities.
TDI measures both touristy and offbeat parts of the country
Comparison with the other indices
TDI is strongly correlated with popular economic and social indices, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and the Human Development Index (HDI). However, in TDI, the focus is on the tourist experience. It’s not about how a specific country is for life & work, it’s about how it is for a visit.
Example #1 Barbados (TDI 3) is higher on HDI than the Bahamas (TDI 4)
Example #2: Ghana (TDI 1) has a higher GDP (nominal) than Nicaragua (TDI 2).
Comparison with cultural experience
This one goes in the opposite direction. Cheaper countries with lower-quality infrastructure tend to be more unique, more exotic, and more adventurous!
TDI categories 1-5 explained
Each of these five categories can provide a different traveling experience. Hence, each category requires a different approach.
TDI 1 – The most troubled countries
These are generally countries that ordinary people would never consider visiting. I would not recommend them to inexperienced backpackers.
Common situations when traveling in these countries include bucket showers, uncomfortable transportation, a more complicated visa process (but nothing unsolvable), wifi issues (either you buy a SIM card or go to an internet cafe), open sewers on many streets, electricity issues, and, of course, overpopulation. Since tourism is underdeveloped, hostels are scarce (local guesthouses or Airbnbs would be your best options). As much as it sounds bad, keep in mind that the average human can easily handle all of those issues mentioned above.
On the brighter side, those countries are cheap, and people are super friendly cause they are not used to tourists. Most importantly, the opportunities for adventure and cultural experience are by far the greatest! That said, every serious backpacker should visit a TDI 1 country sooner or later.
Examples: Haiti, Mali, Ghana, Somalia, North India, Bangladesh
TDI 2 – Developing countries
These countries tend to be more touristy (or tourist-friendly) than TDI 1. They are easy to visit and explore. No need to be a savvy traveler.
Transport is usually reasonable. Access to Wi-Fi, reliable electricity, and running water is more common than in TDI 1.
TDI 2s provide all the basic backpacker needs, and at the same time, they are very cheap and full of cultural experiences. Another thing to keep in mind: they are generally not more expensive than TDI 1 but are much cheaper than TDI 3.
Examples: Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe
TDI 3 – Advanced developing countries
They’re between the developing and developed countries. The prices are also somewhere in between. Credit cards are more common. Street markets and street vendors tend to be scarce. It’s much harder to have a unique cultural experience than in TDI 2. On the other hand, it’s easy to find shopping malls.
Generally, main roads and city centers appear westernized. Only when you go off-road will you feel like you’re in a developing country. That’s why I believe TDI 3 is great for various types of travelers. It offers experience from both the developed and developing world.
I’d recommend TDI 3’s to people traveling 1st time outside of the US & EU. They’re popular amongst digital nomads since they can easily organize themselves a western-style work environment while living more cheaply.
Examples: Colombia, Ecuador, Namibia, Botswana, Dominican Republic
TDI 4 – The Western countries
They are generally modern, organized, and pricey. However, it is possible to find cheap stuff (hostels in European cities), or less than ideal infrastructure (low-income neighborhoods or remote villages).
What I like about these countries is that they are often packed with immigrants. Because of their more traditional lifestyles, they could provide visitors with unique experiences (such as Chinatown in New York, for instance).
Examples: EU, US, Canada
TDI 5 – The most developed countries
They’re the most expensive and most organized countries in the world. Economic Utopia. In comparison to TDI 4, they have fewer immigrants, less crime, and fewer homeless people.
However, just like everywhere in the world, TDI 5’s also got plenty of beautiful things to see. Backpackers, make sure you visit them in the summer when you can camp, cause hostel prices are stunning!
Examples: Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
Something to keep in mind: the photos on my other posts are not necessarily a reliable indicator of TDI.
Is safety really that random?
Great question! It’s not completely random; it’s just that it would mess up the TDI scoring too much. But I can comfortably organize TDI by safety. It would look like this:
- the riskiest: TDI 3
- less risky: TDI 2
- safe: TDI 1 & 4
- the safest: TDI 5
I know, it is hard to believe that Mali (TDI 1) is as safe for you to visit as France (TDI 4). If I were not a world traveler, I wouldn’t believe it either! In all of my travels, I got mugged three times. It happened in the countries of TDI 3 & 4. Never in 1 & 2! And I’ve been to many 1s & 2s.
The thing is, in the TDI 1 countries, the robbers are afraid to hurt tourists, cause if caught, they would get in much bigger trouble than when hurting a local. That is the case in every TDI 1 country I’ve visited!
To summarize, when it comes to safety, I believe, it’s more about how you travel, vs. where you travel!
I’ve covered safety in-depth in the 25 Travel Safety Tips post.
So, where do I find this TDI?
Anywhere on this blog, if a country’s name appears in the title or subtitle, you’ll see its TDI right below. The score you’ll find is generally gonna be 1-3, cause the Underrated Destinations tend to be developing countries.
I am working on an Alphabetical Glossary of TDI for every country in the world. Meanwhile, if there’s a specific country you need a score for, feel free to ask in the comments below. If it’s a country I haven’t visited yet, I will reach out to one of my well-traveled friends.