alright... i'm gonna both reply and repost on this topic
i have lived in SE asia for 3.5 years and yeah... if you're smart about it ( stay out of phuket, bargain like crazy and don't get ripped off on a daily basis), you can get away with very very cheap over there.
cambodia and north east thailand are very nice and very cheap
indonesia is a greaaat place (as long that you stay out of bali)
the philippines are just not to be missed but its a bit out of the way. so thats your call.
to be honest... you could spend your whole year in SE asia and you wouldn't be tired. once you got the drill, its very easy living. and with 25K, you live like a king
for south america. after SE asia, i moved to argentina for 8 months. i do think that south america in general is a lot more expensive than what people think (especially colombia and brazil). it does depend how you live but do expect to be a lot more restricted in comparison with asia. there's only bolivia that sounds comparable pricewise
people were talking about flights. i caught a flight from Kuala lumpur to buenos aires for 1400$ singapore dollar on malaysia airline. i don't think there's a cheaper way to get there by air
what you gotta realize about south america is how big the place really is. the bus are very nice though but a 12hours trip in argentina is ~100$.
flights in south america are stupidly expensive. expect to pay anywhere from 300-700$.
to go from colombia to panama, you can catch a boat which sounds a lot more fun and is probably cheaper.
the re-post.
I am currently planning a trip from mexico->belize->guatemala->nicaragua->honduras->costa rica->panama->colombia->ecuador->peru->bolivia->brazil. entirely by bus/boat/hitchhiking/etc
i do want to visit a few pyramids, national park, matchu pitchu, salar in bolivia, etc.
those activities do make a hole in the budget. you get charged for everything and the price of things are usually more expensive since they are touristic areas.
until i read this thread, i was budgeting 25000$US for ~6 months (which gave me 135$ a day but to be realistic, i also need to pay for buses, park entry fee, visas, border taxes, etc... so less than 135$ a day)
depending where you are.... i wouldn't expect to find 10$ room for the night for something descent. by descent, i don't mean something prestigious but i mean something with water, a bed that has a cover and no pubes on the matress, a moskito net and hopefully a ceiling fan (it gets freakin hot in some places...)
anyway, there's only in cambodia and indonesia where i have stayed in descent places for 10$ a night. a descent place normally requires you to pay at least 20-25$
(i can't remember how much we paid for a dorm in Argentina)
it is very true that 6 countries in 3 months is not a lot. i am now thinking that i will need 9-12months.
25000/365 = 68$/day
which should be "ok" to get by but see it this way
20$ - room
15$ - food
that leaves 30$/day for everything else (transport, visa, party, activities, etc)
it doesn't feel like i will be rich....
am i being paranoid about my budget? should 25k be enough for the length of this trip? the plan is that i go work in brazil (i probably have a job lined up over there)
PS: don't listen to the people who tell you to stay out of mexico... i went to tijuana and baja del sur very recently and its fine. just don't hang in the wrong places at the wrong time...
