Traveling Alone on a Budget

First...how much money will you have to spend? An approximate total budget.

Without that no-one can give you accurate suggestions.

Second...how long do you want to stay away for (maximum time)?

2 weeks....2 months?

[www.travelindependent.info]

Sorry I forgot to add that well I have a budget around $5,000 but the cheaper the better and I'm looking to stay for around 2 weeks maybe a month.

ok.......well,2 problems with Nepal and 3 with NZ.

Both will cost you a lot in airfare
Both are not particularly good weather wise in your 'summer'-July/August? (I guess you are in the US?)
Its winter in NZ and rainy season in Nepal...very bad times for wildlife watching.

NZ has the added disadvantage that its expensive...at least Nepal is cheap.

IF you are in the USA....I'd be looking more at Peru/Bolivia....great for wildlife,better weather and (a bit)cheaper flights...or else Central America (maybe Costa Rica...though the weather there may not be so good).Bolivian Amazon is really cheap.....

Otherwise East Africa...its a great time to go and you can't beat it for wildlife.Obviously the flight will be your main expense...you might get a return from the US for around 1000$ if you search in advance.

As for safety...pretty much everywhere is safe if you are careful and take the necessary precautions.

Well, Latin America and Africa in general are much less safer than Europe, Asia or the Middle East.

That said milions of tourists travel to Latin America and Africa each year and 90% of them don`t have any problem with safety.

Africa in general is very expensive even for backpackers.

I recommend two regions for you:

1. Indonesia and Malaysia

Cheap, safe, wonderful nature and plenty of animals. Summer is the best time to travel there, because it`s the dry(I mean less rainy) season. The disadvantage is that Indonesia off the beaten track can get quite daunting for a first time traveller.(Little English spoken, basic facilities, diffucult, slow and uncomfortabe transport.)

[www.east-indonesia.info]

1. Southeast Europe

Relatively cheap(but more expensive than Indonesia or Malaysia), safe. The nature is wonderful, but animals are less exotic or plentiful than in Indonesia. The advantage is that it`s a well developed region, lots of hostels.

[www.balkanology.com]

The disadvantage for both regions is that summer is quite hot and it`s the main tourist season.

Agree with Indonesia........apart from cats and dogs you are not likely to see many animals in the Balkans though ;-)

The safety question depends to a great extent on A) your behaviour and B)what kind of safety you are talking about...

A)......lock your backpack....use a money belt...don't flash valuables or expensive jewellery...don't get drunk and wander around on your own at 2am etc etc. You can reduce your risk to the minimum by not making yourself a potential victim.But there is still a risk...everywhere.

B) Are we talking about muggings? pickpockets? murder?natural disasters?cruise ship sinking ;-)?.............or more mundane things like road accidents (I'm sure far more tourists are injured or die in this way than from criminal attacks).

There are NO reliable statistics on which places are safer for tourists.....there are only general crime rates (99% of which don't affect tourists) or word of mouth...which is not reliable.

I can tell you that I've ben pickpocketed in Guangzhou and held up at gun point in Paris...and at knife point in Indonesia.Conversely i've travelled in supposedly dangerous places like South Africa,Colombia and Guatemala without any problems.

That doesn't mean France and China are less safe than Colombia.........

#8

If seeing wildlife is your priority you can see many animals on the Balkan if you take your time and have a bit of luck.

You can see brown bears and wolfes in the Carpathians, birds in the Danube Delta, griffon vultures on Cres, dolphins in Greece or Croatia.

OK, it`s very difficult to see wolfes or bears in nature, but how many people have seen orangutans in nature in Borneo?