You need to be realistic. €2500 for three months is impossible. That is only €830 a month - and even living at home probably costs you close to that much without flying anywhere.

Maybe find out where there are cheap flights from Portugal and then shorten your trip to about a month/5 weeks.

OR - find a way to earn more money.

Sorry but that is not enough to go anywhere for 3 months! Just at a glance let's guess you'll need about 1000 of that for plane tickets and ground transportation. Take the 1500 that's left and divide by 90 days, the length of your trip, and that's only 16 euro per day for food and a place to stay. That's just not reasonable.

Agreeing with the post above you need to shorten the trip or earn more money.

Even if you didn't fly anywhere, hitchhiked, and camped somewhere in Europe... that's only 27 euro per day for all expenses (divide your total budget by 90).

Well, there are ways to sleep free, or close to free. Check out couchsurfing for a start. Food will be cheaper in Asia, especially southeast Asia. Think Thailand for a start.

You will find more useful info for low budget travel at Lonely Planet's thorntree.

So you think the budget is sufficient for a 3 month trip?

Thorn Tree was closed last week, but I see they've got it back up again.

A lot depends on the destination, the availability of free accommodation, and especially the cost of airline tickets, but I wouldn't give up altogether. Don't you remember the scruffy son traveling on close to no money?

hey I'm all for big adventure and cheap travel. But I think $15 a day for an 18 year old female who wants to be "safe" is too low.

Well, turns out you can fly from Lisbon to Bangkok, leaving first Monday in May and returning first Monday in August, for $876 - or 660 euro, which leaves 1840 euro, or 20 euro/day (euros, not USD).

Lonely Planet says that you can do Thailand, outside of Bangkok and the major islands, on 600-700 baht/day, or 15 to 17 euro. Laos the same. Cambodia is cheaper. All three are very safe places.

thanks for the research thursdaysd. i also checked plane fares and was surprised how low they were europe/asia. i have many friends who've done long-ish stays in thailand over the years and love it there.

suze - I wouldn't want to do it on so little, but I'm considerably older and like AC and en suite bathrooms, but even with those facilities SEA is very cheap.

If you decide on Thailand outside of Bangkok and the major islands, be careful about Southern Thailand as well. They've been having problems with rebel groups for years and there have been bombings in Hat Yai where tourists were killed.

Not to crush your dreams or anything, but if I were you, I'd either save up money or go after college. Nothing spoils your dream trip faster than running out of money and worrying about a roof over your head + food. Work a little longer, plan for it, and always, ALWAYS have a buffer or backup plan.

I'd understand not going after college because it's not fun waiting a few more years to go on your dream trip, and you may or may not be loaded with student debt after you graduate and thus be unable to go (and blame that nosy Fodorite who advised you to go after college ) But I've done what you did, flying off on my dream holiday with barely enough money to survive and optimistically thinking, "I'll make it somehow!" and then realizing being in my dream city and not being able to afford to enjoy it sucks. Just my $0.02! But go if you feel you should, or if you feel like you'll never have this opportunity again.

maccabee - I guess you haven't heard of gap years. They fit between school and university.

And there is a lot of Thailand north of Bangkok, few people visit the far south except on the way to and from Malaysia.

I also don't advise putting it off. I think now is the time to go. But I would consider making the trip just 2 months instead of 3 months, if you can't raise any more money. That would just give you a little more 'wiggle room' as far as daily expenses.

thursdayd - Sorry, I probably used the wrong choice of words. My intention wasn't to tell the OP to stay away from Thailand completely. I do know many people who have been to Hat Yai but not many outside Asia have heard of the bombings and violence there so I thought there was no harm in mentioning it. Northern Thailand is indeed beautiful and I highly recommend it.

As for the gap year thing, my understanding was that people can also take a year off after graduation and before entering the workforce.

How exciting... wish I was going away for 3 months. Enjoy!!

Hey, I went to Europe last time between finishing my BA and going to teacher`s college! A gap is a gap

I will say, though, that while traveling, little things really add up fast, and I really don`t think 2500 euros will be enough. I have $2500 CDN (about 2000 euros or a little less) saved for my 6-week trip in June and that`s having already paid for my flight, and taking into consideration that about 3 of those weeks will be spent with family, not paying room and board. I also hope to save up at least another $1000 before I leave, plus I have my credit card at my disposal in case of emergency.

What I`m saying is, especially as a solo female traveler, you will feel much safer having some back up money in case something goes wrong, in case certain things cost more than expected, or just to get yourself out of general, day-to-day fixes, like missing the last train and having to take a cab, for instance. Plus of course its always nice to be able to afford the occasional fancy dinner or a really special souvenir.

I know you said you don`t think you could save up more that 2500 euros, but I bet you would be surprised what you could save with a little creativity! Sell stuff on ebay, walk dogs, edit papers for friends, wash cars, cut coupons, help that elderly neighbor clean up her yard this spring, babysit...work your butt off until your trip and scrape together every penny you can!

One thing I do is make little `deals` with myself. For example, every time I resist a trip to Starbucks or buying something frivolous, I put whatever I would have spent toward my trip! I also contribute a dollar to my trip fund every time I go for a workout. I know it sounds kind of silly but I have managed to save about $50 this way since last month! Thats a couple nights in a hostel, if nothing else

Anyway, good luck! I hope it works out for you

For 3 months take a trip to Asia.

2500 euro for 3 mounth to BALI is posibel. But no hotel, you must rent a room/small home, not go to restouran you can eat to depot. my home 500 mil from kuta beach and this time is rain come. oktober summer time i can driving

El Camino de Santiago fits your requirements perfectly. Sign up as a pilgrim and your lodging is essentially free. You'll meet interesting people, experience a different culture, not spend a lot of money, and maybe even learn something about yourself.

830€ per month is totally doable if you decide to "backpack" it and stay in hostels or couchsurf. I wouldn't want to do it but it's certainly doable.

I managed on that same amount of budget when I did my gap year (of course this was 20 years ago). Still I think it's possible. Couchsurfing is OK, youth hostels are still relatively cheap. Stick to the cheaper countries: Thailand, India, Vietnam.

My trip was Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, India. Public transport in those countries is very cheap. I also travelled alone at your age, and am also female. It's way more fun though travelling with others and the advantage of staying in a youth hostel -- see the YHA for details -- is that you meet fellow minded travellers to hang out with. Safety aside, I found it simply more fun to be able to point to something and share what I felt about it with the person next to me rather than always being alone.

Your biggest cost will be airfare. Try a few airlines and see what offers you can get for flying standby -- particularly if you are flexible about when you leave. It may mean a lot of hanging around in the airport, but if you pick a "bad flight time" you may have more luck.

Your info is out of date. Flying standby is virtually impossible these days. You get the cheapest fares by booking early and using budget airlines. Also, there are safety issues with India - see the Asia board.

Shows how old I am... Ah the good old days of flying standby. I wonder who the killjoy was who stopped that lark!