Korean Job Discussion Forums

[abigolblackman]

So I'm thinking of my exit strategy and I decided I would leave the ROK when I had saved up enough to travel South East Asia for 6 months. How much ya'll reckon I would need?

[Perceptioncheck]

How long is a piece of string?

[Kimchifart]

�4-6000

�3000 on a very very tight budget.

There is a travel forum by the way.

[northway]

I would budget about $1,000 a month if you want to keep things decent and interesting.

[decolyon]

It depends on where you're going in SEA. Thailand is not as cheap as it used to be. In fact, if you stay in the tourist areas, I'd say it costs as much to go an do there as it does here. Getting off the beaten path will ease things up a bit though.

Lao, Burma, Cambodia are still stupid kinds of cheap. You can live fat on the hog for next to nothing there.

Indonesia is pretty much in the middle, once you're out of Jakarta. They do lots of eco/nature tours there. Not cheap, but not expensive either. If you go to Bali though, expect to it to probably be the most expensive vacation spot in that part of the world. Well, maybe second to Boracay.

Which brings me to the Philippines. Manila and Cebu are still tourist priced kinds of places. On smaller or out of the way islands it can be much cheaper. However moving from one island to the next is going to cost.

Malaysia is still dern cheap. Even inside KL you can live quite well on just a little. Singapore is unholy expensive. Avoid at all costs.

So, I'd second the rule of having $1,000 a month. Some places will be less, others will be more, so it should balance out But still that means you're going to have to stay in low budget hotels, eat how the locals eat, and just pick a few little nick nacks along the way. Serious shopping can't be done.

[northway]

Bali's still dirt cheap. You can get a really decent room (cable, hot water) there for $25 a night. You can get a five star for $80 a night. Local food costs nothing, foreign food is still quite cheap. Drinking can be expensive, but can also be awfully cheap.

Thailand isn't crazy Vietnam/Laos cheap, but it's still way, way cheaper than Korea when you account for transportation and food costs.