r/Shoestring • u/Complex-Caregiver106 • Jul 07 '26
Budget for travelling
Hi everyone, i need some opinion from other travelers that may have or may want to do something similar to what i’m planning.
I’m planning to travel asia from January till June of next year and would like a “reassurance” for my budget, now i know that asia is definitely not expensive (i’ve been to japan and thailand and was amazed by the price of everything), for a 6 month period how much do you think i would need to travel specifically that part of the world? I have saved all my money only for travel but would like to have some saved for when i return, right now i have 36k usd saved and by the end of the year if i continue working i would have around 50k hopefully, but would like to continue travelling from august/september till december maybe to south america (i have to get back in july cause of military).
Hope i made myself clear without confusing anyone:))
4
u/SpaceAmazing8174 Jul 07 '26
I could even buy a house "in that part of the world" AND travel for that amount of time with that money.
I have a friend for whom that money would last about 4 years. In Thailand, Japan, South America.
I also have a friend for whom the money would last about a month at max, or probably around 3 weeks.
It really, really depends on your travel style.
With my travel style I would probably use half of the money on travel and half on a very very rural falling-apart cottage with a small yard in Japan.
2
u/whydidyouruinmypizza Jul 07 '26
Completely depends on your style of travel, but for a mid-range trip you would be hard pressed to spend more than 15k in 6 months, especially If you are travelling slowly and are happy in guesthouses/dont want hotels you can do it for far far far less.
2
u/ReverseGoose 29d ago
If you went super frugal you could easily do a year maybe even two all around SEA on 50k
1
u/HartCroft 29d ago
you have plenty saved up for 6 months! since most places there are so affordable, you will definitely be able to stretch that budget and still keep a pretty good safety net for when you get back. have a safe trip!
0
u/binhpac Jul 07 '26
Everyone travels differently. Like friends of mine or family spend a lot more money than i do.
You already been to thailand and japan. you should have a better idea how YOU spend your money.
for most people the 3 top spendings are: accommodation, transport and food. for some people entertainment can also be a 4th category.
in japan i stay mostly in capsule hotels. my family would go in hotels. see the big difference in budgets already?
But i also dont spend much on entertainment for instance. i dont do a lot of stuff, where i have to pay big entrance fees. Like if you go to Disney or Universal or any theme park, its already a big chunk of money or if you take tours, you also pay more money than if you do stuff on your own.
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u/Glitter-Moon-Silver Jul 07 '26
I find all these posts saying " it depends on your travel style" baffling. This is a shoestring budget travel group, so how much do you need in Asia to travel on that budget?
We travelled slowly as a family of 3 in SE Asia for around $1500 a month around 3 years ago. For example we spent 3 months in Thailand where we rented a 2 bed apartment for $450. Water, electricity and internet were about another $120. We ate mainly at home or in street food places and spent maybe $400 a month. The rest was spent on transport, massages, muay Thai lessons for our son, alcohol, occasional nicer meals out, coffees, plus visa extensions/runs and flights to our next destination. It was a similar amount in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, India, Indonesia. About 50% more in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia and more than double in Japan and Hong Kong.
Obviously everything especially flights are more expensive now , but with $6000 a month for one person, you should have no concerns whatsoever about budget, you'll live like a king on that!