Hi Heather, congratulations. I did exactly the same as you and for much the same reasons. Laos is my far the cheapest country and you can do quite well on about $20AUD/NZ dollars a day which includes accomodation, food and sightseeing. I can really recommend a week exploring Luang Prabang. Throughout SEA, I stayed in locally owned guest houses. Why give your money to international conglomerates. All I did was book my flight in and out. Everything else I did as I went (with the aid of Lonely Planet SEA).
For Cambodia, it's only fractionally more expensive and your biggest expense will be the three day entry to the temples in Siem Reap, which isn't really expensive at all by our standards. Just on Siem Reap, make sure you stay in the market town itself. I feel the package tourists and 4 star tourists, really missed out staying on the strip from the airport.
Vietnam is a little more exxy and you will probably have to factor about $30 - $35 per day. Just be aware that the dong (Vietnam currency) is confusing. So don't make the mistake I did and not get enough out at the ATM on your first try.
For Cambodia and Laos it's a good idea to take USD as it is their second currency. There were also no ATM's for foreign withdrawals in Cambodia and Laos when I was there in 2004. It may have changed now.
It's a great adventure and if you take your time and go with the flow you'll have no problems. Be aware that it will get into your blood and you'll find it hard to not want more. Since my backpacking adventure in SEA, I've spent 2 months in India and 6 weeks in Europe. And ... I've already booked my trip to Egypt and Thailand next Feb.
Enjoy. This is your time to shine.
I'm another one who would advise against selling the house - though it depends upon how much equity you have in it, and how much your mortgage payments would be, and how easy it would be to rent to good tenants.
Nine years ago we rented our house, took out a line of credit against it, and used this money to travel (we had more than one property, so it was more complicated than that for us, but the theory is still the same). Now, nine years later, we can sell the house, pay back the now-larger, mortgage, and still have as much money as we started with, although we've had nine years of travelling - why is this so? Because of the capital gains over the nine years! Compare this with having sold the house, spent the money, and come back to nothing at 65.
With regard to travel budgets, you can certainly live cheaply in Asia. However if you want to go to other areas as well - Europe, Africa, South America, Central America etc etc they are definitely a lot dearer.
Would not be the best decision you have made should you decide to sell your house. Better to rent it out or remortgage it. Inflation will be a grat assist since house prices will continue to escalate. Just travel on plastic and deal with it later. Front load your credit card to help with your budget.
#8.
Been there. Done that. Recently. US dollars.
I generally travel at a bit higher rate, but if one needs to stretch their dollars it's quite possible to travel close to the $10 a day level by cranking up ones frugality dial.
Better to travel cheap than to stay home, IMHO.
As a rough guide I'd suggest that people try to have around $20 per day available to spend. And the ability to snag a few more dollars if that's what it would take to make that 'once in a lifetime purchase' or experience that 'once in a lifetime experience.
If you find that you like staying in budget guesthouses (I do) and eating/traveling with the locals (I do) and minimizing your time in more expensive cities (I do) then you are likely to arrive home with lots of nice leftover money (I often do) and you will have already started filling your 'next trip' piggy bank.
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Be cautious about selling the house. Once one gets out of ownership status it can be a bit hard to re-enter.
One time I went traveling for about five years. I sold my 'not so easy to rent' house in the country and bought a good rental house in a nice small town. Found a good management company and let them answer the phone/call the plumber. Later I sold the rental and used the money to finance my new home in the country.
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