please help | Travel on a shoestring - Lonely Planet Forum

ONLINE

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 17:27:02 +0000

I’m a 19 year old English male planning a backpacking trip in august. I have a pretty low budget of around £2,500. Ideally I would like to travel a country on a low budget for around 6 – 12 months working to prolong my stay.

My plan was to get a flight to Sydney in August and push at getting a backpacker job e.g. fruit picking shortly after arrival. Having looked into the weather (AV 14°C) and job opportunities (low at this time of year) I have come to the conclusion that this may not be the best option. This also seems to be the case for New Zealand.

I have heard that Thailand is a great budget travel location but once the budget is spent there is no opportunity for prolonged stay by finding work. I have also considered Europe but concerned about the language barrier with regards to work.

I realise I may be way off the mark with the above and would like some advice on 6 – 12 month working backpacking destinations on a budget in august.

ONLINE

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:50:12 +0000

I presume you have organised a work visa for Australia..

If not, why not ??
There will be work for you in the north of Australia.
Find a map, draw a line from Rockhampton on the east coast and across to say Broome on the west coast.
There will be lots of opportunity for an energetic, go-getter, anywhere north of that line.
The weather will be magic up there BTW.
August, September, October is a high tourist season in the tropical north.
At the very least you should score a job at a backpackers hostel, should be plenty of dishpig work going, but most certainly lots and lots of work available on farms. Its the dry season up there and so the farmers are flat out getting ready for the next wet season that usually kicks in around November.

Good luck mate..

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ONLINE

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:21:02 +0000

No matter where you go - you will need to get a job to help travel. 2K wont get you very far. Even in a budget orientated country like Thailand.

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ONLINE

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:00:41 +0000

Your answer is Southeast Asia. You can fly Air Asia direct from London to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. From there, you can easily get to Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, etc. If you watch the flights, you can get the Air Asia flight for incredibly little. I know you mentioned Thailand - it's actually more expensive than several of the other countries in the region. Your budget in Indonesia would last your for quite some time, especially ouside of more touristy areas like the main backpacker areas of Bali. If you went to Bali, you could easily learn your way around then start working as a tour guide for foreign tourists. Also, there is a pretty high demand for English teachers in many parts of Asia. Bouncing around in the region is incredibly cheap, especially once you learn enough about the key discount airlines (Jetstar, Air Asia, Tiger, Cebu Pacific, etc.). Almost anywhere in SE Asia (even Singapore), you can eat pretty well on less than 3 or 4 pounds a day. I know in a lot of places, you could easily eat on less than 2 pounds a day.

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