Long Term Travel: Budgeting in SE Asia

Although I love to travel, I've only spent 2-3 weeks here there and everywhere, but I try and go somewhere far off once or twice a year. Budgeting for both is difficult. You have to take into account the cost of traveling often, flights, whether you splurge because you're only somewhere for a few weeks, or need to stretch out your savings over a long period of time, and so many little things. 

For long-term traveling, I’m taking the following into account to make sure that I have saved enough money for lodging, food, transportation, supplies and then the items I need to worry about at home, like storage, car payments and a medical plan. The following numbers are estimates only, and based on our best guess and experience traveling in the specific countries I plan on going to. 

Our plan is to go through South East Asia and thoroughly explore both the culture and history that area has to offer. I’ll be going to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia. I have already been to Thailand and last year explored Bali, but now on my own, I want to go explore the world a bit more, and now is the perfect opportunity. I'm not saying that you can't or shouldn't go on long term travel with a significant other, I just want to make sure I can be selfish and see and stay where and how long I want to on my trip. There is something lovely about being transient and going with the flow when you're on a trip. Made a friend and want to keep traveling with them? Do it! You find that you despise where you are staying? Move on! 

Moving on, here is what I'm planning on budgeting for 5-6 months of travel and how much I'm budgeting for each. I'll start by laying out how long I plan on going for and then break it down from there.

Vietnam: 21 Days (3 weeks)

Cambodia: 14 Days (2 weeks)

Laos: 14 Days (2 weeks)

Thailand: 30 Days (4 weeks)

Myanmar: 14 Days (2 weeks)

Indonesia: 60 Days (8 weeks)

Malaysia: 7 Days (1 Week)

Philippines: 21 Days (3 weeks) 

Daily Budget for Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia

In all of the research I've done over the last few months, and looking up average costs on Booking.com and Hotels.com, I've found that the average price of lodging is about $10 a night. Keep in mind that I'm okay in staying in less than luxury hostels, as I'm looking to meet people. Food is found to be on average less than $5 a meal, and can be way cheaper should I choose to eat street food. To be safe and to, I'm going to account $10 a day. I've given myself $10/day for entertainment and activities. Again, although I don't plan on spending this everyday, it would be nice to have the extra saved away should I want to splurge and go scuba diving, or a tour that has an entrance fee. I've budgeting $10 for transportation which will include the buses, and a scooter rental should I go that route. I've left all flights in a separate category. I'm choosing to budget high so that I have enough of a cushion left over just in case. It's better to have this should something arise.

Daily Budget for 174 days at $45/day: $7,830.00

Daily Budget for Malaysia - $70/day

Malaysia is a little more expensive, but I also only plan on spending a week there exploring. Plans may change, but I have to say that I'm likely to only spend a short amount of time here. I need to be saving my money and spending wisely. 
Daily Budget for 7 Days: $490.00

Other expenses:

TRAVEL INSURANCE

I wouldn't want to travel without some sort of travel coverage, so I looked into a few options and found World Nomads Travel insurance to be the best coverage and seemingly the most reliable from the reviews. I've budgeted approximately $486.00 for travel coverage from November 1 to April 30. If I need to extend the coverage for longer, it isn't the end of the world. 
Travel Insurance: $486.00

STORAGE

Unless you're lucky enough to have family or friends with room to store all of your stuff while you're long term traveling, you'll have to put it somewhere, or sell it! There are a few things I refuse to part with like my dress collection or my king size bed, so I have to try and find places to store my things while I'm gone. 

My recommend is to sell what you can and find a place that is inexpensive, but also has good security. If you can leave any valuables with family or friends, you can have peace of mind that should someone break into your locker, those prized possessions are safe. I've budgeted approximately $250 per month for a climate controlled 10X10. That means I'll have to massively cut down on my amount of possessions, and I'll need to sell most of my things. 10X20 and so forth increase in price and leave you with more stuff to come back and sort when you get home. 
Storage Costs: $1,500.00

VACCINATIONS

Make sure to look ahead and see what you need to get before leaving. There is nothing worse then getting there and realizing your Typhoid shots aren't up to date. Set up a meeting with your local travel clinic and asking them what they need. I have one at the hospital close by to me, and it's immensely helpful to just go and check with them first. They'll tread on the side of cautious, and you can see what the total will cost before you go and get them all done. I'll plan on going there at least a month ahead of time to make sure I have enough time to get everything done before leaving.
Vaccinations: (Covered by healthcare for me) $350.00

BACKPACKING GEAR

Before I leave I had to get a new backpack. My 35L backpack just isn't going to cut it anymore, and Ive recognized that I need a larger and more versatile backpack. I won't go into too much depth, but check out my backpack selection guide in my other post here. I'll definitely have to stock up on a few things that I'm packing and i'll write a packing guide later on and closer to the trip. For the purpose of the budget, I'll add an additional $1,000 for backpacking items.
Backpacking Gear: $1000.00

VISAS

I have quite a few Visa's that I need to get ahead of time, and my breakdown on this and exact cost will come in another post. I'll budget approximately $250.
Visa's: $250.00

VARIOUS FLIGHTS

Who knows when I'll need to fly somewhere instead of take a train or bus and I want to be prepared for these. Ideally, I'll just take a bus or ferry, but for some of the border crossings are in slightly sketchier areas and I'd rather not risk it. I've left myself $2,600 for those and I hope to come in drastically under that price. I don't include my flight there in this budget. I'll be using travel miles to pay for my flight there and potentially back.

Flights: $2,600

In total with everything I plan on doing and a contingency fund of $2,000 in case I decide to stay longer, need something in case of emergency, or need to take more flights than normal.

Daily Budget for 174 days at $45: $7,830.00
Daily Budget for 7 Days in Malaysia: $490.00
Travel Insurance: $486.00
Storage Costs: $1,500.00
Vaccinations: (Covered by healthcare for me) $350.00
Backpacking Gear: $1000.00
Visa's: $250.00
Flights: $2,600

Total: $16,506.00 CAD

Anything you think I'm missing or should be adding to my budget? I'll let you know the actual expenses once I'm done my trip, but I think that this is pretty close.

Keep following my prep for my trip and let me know if you want me to write something specific on getting ready.

Love, E