aussie69 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Just wondering if anyone on here has any tips for extensive CHEAP backpacking in other countries for long periods of time. Greatest question of all time is how to KEEP an income as you travel? Just thought it'd be an intresting topic of which i'm sure everyone on here could benefit from ~peace~ Austin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericb Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Nepal...when I was there, lodges were ~ 1 - 2 bucks a night. with food you could probably get by on ~ 10$-15$ a day....of course that was before the little Maoist issue they have goin on now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
111 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Thailand is/was cheap. go there while the gettin is good cause prices are risin faster than Dean Potter on El Cap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfinley Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 We were in Thailand and Nepal last fall. The Khumbu is getting rather spendy... and no matter what you do you're looking at a minimum of $15-20+ / day for lodging and food. In Thailand you could get by on $8-10 / day if you can avoid the pull of good coffee and coconut shakes and can go without electricity at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 The "maoist issue" made Nepal cheaper, except for the Khumbu which was "safe" so all the Westerners flocked there. It all depends on how much of a tightwad you are. No, I won't give out information. The stupid, lazy, and credit card bearing have already fucked up the world enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Southeast asia is a cheap place to travel, particularly Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, and India. You can probably teach english to earn $. I didn't do that but know plenty who have. However, whatever you're making now will probably dwarf what you'll make overseas so saving now might be the better way to go. It may be different post-9-11, but people out there are awfully friendly - much more so than anywhere I've been in the US. Go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 The "maoist issue" made Nepal cheaper, except for the Khumbu which was "safe" so all the Westerners flocked there. It all depends on how much of a tightwad you are. No, I won't give out information. The stupid, lazy, and credit card bearing have already fucked up the world enough Ditto for hypocrites... Never cracked open a guidebook or a perused a website/forum for information before setting out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 the most fun trips/sidetrips I took this year were done without consulting a guidebook or the interweb, completely seat of the pants. I find "sustainable" and backpacking amusing. It's not a sustainable point in the travel development scale (unless you consider the mega hostels of the Aussie Gold Coast "backpacking"), it's not sustainable at an environmental level, and it's not sustainable on a personal finance level. It's just self indulgent tourism that doesn't put as much money into the pockets of locals. As such, live it up while the gettings good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I agree. I presume that you are not exempting yourself from these charges. On my self-indulgent tourist escapades, nothing was more nauseating than the "I'm not a tourist, I'm a righteous and benevolent emissary of global understanding who's selflessly undertaken the task of righting the world's wrongs with my cultural astute and wholly altruistic choices in lodging, transport, and dining...etc" routine. I'm not sure that one can make a factual case that rich people who fly to isolated resorts and drink cocktails from coconuts on private beaches, or the hordes disgorged from cruise-ships are less beneficial for the countries they visit than the backpacker set. Speaking from someone else's experience living in Africa for a couple of years, the ideal visitor would: 1)Spend large amounts of money impulsively. 2)Shut-up immediately. 3)Go-home quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couloir Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 This sounds like a good idea for a Rachael Ray show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I'm not sure that one can make a factual case that rich people who fly to isolated resorts and drink cocktails from coconuts on private beaches, or the hordes disgorged from cruise-ships are less beneficial for the countries they visit than the backpacker set. The main difference I noted, particularly in Indonesia, is that the luxury resorts required substantial bribes be paid to corrupt officials for construction and operation and were often owned by dummy fronts of corrupt officials. In at least one case the resort was constructed on land seized without compensation from locals. Large scale graft on every level, and the local workers were paid less than they would be otherwise (the resort jobs seemed to be mostly people from other islands who'd migrated). At that level the tourist staying in a several room family owned and run guest house and eating at a family owned restaraunt is encouraging entrepeneurism at a local level and discouraging large scale corruption (the families likely pay bribes but thats a different scale of corruption). I realize I'm a hedonistic hypocrite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
builder206 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 This sounds like a good idea for a Rachael Ray show. Rachel Ray good, Maoists bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Maoists bad. For who? For Nepalese, probably. For people willing to go to Nepal, good, because they substantially decreased the number of foreign tourists. Cheap. "Unknown & Authentic". Safe. You can only pick two of the three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussie69 Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 All of you missed the point of the question other then the dude suggesting teaching english. Self sustaining. I.e. continuous travel while bringing in an income. From others that were able to comprehend... the best oppertunity out there (i've heard so far) is an organization that boards, feeds, and MINIMALY pays you for farm work. Another suggestion would be to set up a web site an sell pictures you take from your travels. But that would take photography skills... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couloir Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 All of you missed the point of the question other then the dude suggesting teaching english. Self sustaining. I.e. continuous travel while bringing in an income. From others that were able to comprehend... the best oppertunity out there (i've heard so far) is an organization that boards, feeds, and MINIMALY pays you for farm work. Another suggestion would be to set up a web site an sell pictures you take from your travels. But that would take photography skills... You may have thrown off everyone with the title of "Sustainable backpacking?" Sustainable climbing perhaps would have yielded you more succinct input. Give nwhikers.com a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Go look at Southeast Asia on a shoestring, the original Lonely Planet book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Another suggestion would be to set up a web site an sell pictures you take from your travels. But that would take photography skills... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Trippett Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 All of you missed the point of the question other then the dude suggesting teaching english. Self sustaining. I.e. continuous travel while bringing in an income. From others that were able to comprehend... the best oppertunity out there (i've heard so far) is an organization that boards, feeds, and MINIMALY pays you for farm work. Another suggestion would be to set up a web site an sell pictures you take from your travels. But that would take photography skills... The self-appointed world traveler police are quick to draw their (insubstaintial) weapons here and start shooting. They are quite sensitive and precious. I would suggest just heading out there and keeping your eyes and ears open for opportunity. Be friendly and keep an open mind. You'll have no trouble finding work or whatever you're looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 another turd from avitripp - you might want to learn how to spell substantial before you work up to insubstantial Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Trippett Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 wow Carl thanks!...did you think I was talking about you? geez....go figure! you're not one of those types are you?...I mean, you're always PMing me for travel advice...I'm sure I could dig up one of those messages here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I asked you for advice when I foolishly thought you might know something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Trippett Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Ok Carl, sounds good to me! I bet it was all a simple misunderstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Perhaps - there's also a difference between personal conversations and public conversations and the information content that should be contained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Trippett Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 exactly. best of luck to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 wow Carl thanks!...did you think I was talking about you? geez....go figure! you're not one of those types are you?...I mean, you're always PMing me for travel advice...I'm sure I could dig up one of those messages here... Oh my. Behold the hardcore travel-insider's equivalent of a Larry Craig moment, complete with tales of electronic toe-tapping, resurfacing at the most inopportune time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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