Asia Trip for 6-8 months
 

Hello,
my girlfriend and i are planning to save 20k for 2 people. I wonder if china, india, nepal and southeast asia will be enough for 20k. I will stay in Hostels and couchsurfing. I will eat a lot of street food. I will probably volunteer from WOOF or Helpx. So is 20k good enough for 6-8 months? we will use a lot of overland transportations.

20k of what currency?

Is that amount including emergency health insurance? And I can't imagine 6-8 months in hostels. Why not rent an apartment at some point along the way and be able to cook your own food which saves money and is probably better for your health and stamina throughout the 6-8 months?

Happy Travels!

20K for 240 days is more than enough if it's US$ or GBP, but before you can calculate your per diem you have to net out the cost of airfare which will be your most significant expense.

India, China and Southeast Asia are huge geographic regions and getting from place to place will eat into your time if you travel by surface and will eat into your budget if you travel by air.

So your first step would be to plot out a rough itinerary of cities and places that you want to cover and add up how much transportation cost you have to subtract from that 20K.

You should also look at the visa requirements for the countries that you want to visit. Some have restrictions on the validity times so you have to plan where and when to have them issued. I also wouldn't count on volunteering as a source of income.

So 10k/person-does that include the cost of flights? What currency? Does that include visa fees?

Let's be conservative and say flights/transport from your home country to Asia and then intra-Asia, and your visas total up to $3000.

That's $7000 left over. For simple math, let's say you're gone 7 months. $1000/30 days = $33.33 a day. In Cambodia that works, but probably not China.
Also, something to think about- you're in Cambodia and want to see Angkor Wat, well you need a pass. A 1 day pass is $20. Plus a Tuk-Tuk for the day could be $10. Now, almost your whole daily budget is gone.

Of course, you can buy a multi-day pass and save $ (a 7 day pass is $60) but you really need to plan ahead as to what you want to do while you're there. True, there are lots of free activities but spending a week in SR but not being able to afford a trip to Angkor would seem a tad silly.

I agree that volunteering won't bring in any income, since it's voluntary after all...