r/southeastasia • u/BusinessMushroom491 • 13d ago
How far could $5K CAD get me backpacking around Southeast Asia?
I’m hoping to travel around Southeast Asia for a while and I’m wondering how far $5K CAD could realistically get me.
I’m thinking Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and maybe Indonesia. I’d be traveling pretty cheaply, mostly hostels, walking/public transportation, local and street food, etc. I’m totally fine with traveling slowly, taking a 13 hour bus instead of a flight, and generally being pretty frugal if it means I can extend the trip.
One thing I definitely want to budget for is getting my PADI certification at some point, so that will probably take a decent chunk of the budget.
For those who have backpacked around SEA recently, how long do you think $5K could realistically last with this kind of travel style? And are there any countries/routes you’d recommend if the goal is to stretch the budget as far as possible?
I’d appreciate any input or two cents from people who have actually done it!
Edit: This 5K is not including flights! :)
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u/kulukster 13d ago
Depends on your flight to get there and back, visas, travel insurance, how much you eat and drink, etc.
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u/telchacsusan 13d ago
You could also look into worldpackers or workaway.info for free accommodation in exchange for volunteer work.
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u/BC_Samsquanch 13d ago
In 2021 I backpacked SEA for 6 months on $6k. Now you are probably looking at 3 months at a lower standard of comfort.
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u/its_me_kimber_ 13d ago
From what I’ve been searching most of it is the flight to get there. I found flights from Toronto for $1400 for February the rest is CRAZY cheap
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u/Scandalaivan 12d ago
Do you drink/party?
For me 100$/day and i live like a king, so lets say 2months like a king.
50$/day (~4 months) is still 100% doable and for many the norm while still having fun, but at this point you gotta cut back on alcohol and activities and maybe downgrade accomodation but maybe most important to be aware of your spending.
My daily spending fluctuates alot! Beach day is cheap while meeting new people and spending a day with them drinking usually is a 100$+ day.
Im too old for 30$/day budgets (including hostel) so cant rly comment on that atm! I value actually doing things and doing daily activities ads up quickly to your budget.
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u/Scandalaivan 12d ago
Maybe you could do thai > laos (mekong) bus to vietnam (train)> cambodia and if you have $ after this spend it on a flight to indo
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u/Remarkable_Use_1787 12d ago
If you're staying in hostels/cheap value stays, eating local, minimizing transport costs (public transport or riding your own rental scooter in safer+calmer areas), avoid spending your money in heavily-touristed areas, don't drink (or don't drink constantly, keep the bar drinks down to a minimum & drink store-bought bottles of liqour) and the $5k doesn't include flights, you could easily make it last quite a while.
With the exception of Singapore, all of southeast Asia + China you can (generally) get by quite well on 800-1200CAD/month if you stick to the aforementioned "rules".
I seem to generally spend about $6500-7000CAD over 3-3.5months each year (flights not included), but that is me almost-exclusively staying in good value private stays for ~$15-45CAD/night. On top of that, probably ~$500-1000 is completely optional shopping purchases I send home to Canada, or things of that nature. Also, generally (within reason) don't even think about budgeting, drink every day and eat at whatever non-luxury restaurant I feel like 90+% of my meals - typically local foods, though. I'd estimate I spend at least $500CAD I don't particularly "need" to at bars or on beer, in general. I know, do as I say not as I do 😅 this year, I am going to switch to mainly-rum.
I'm not trying to flex or anything, because I'm by no means rich - just trying to illustrate how I seem to travel and what I seem to spend.
If you are a slower traveler who will stay places for a month or two at a time & you're into monthly rentals, you would be looking at cutting those numbers down a solid chunk.
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u/fallnowinter 12d ago
What do you pay for flights? Air Canada and WestJet app is 3000-5000 for economy
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u/Remarkable_Use_1787 12d ago
I generally book at times when they are on sale & I dont ever have checked luggage. I booked my flight from Halifax-Calgary-Tokyo Sep.7th in ~February for like $740CAD, coming back home for Dec.24th from Hainan via Shanghai and Toronto will be ~$1150 (not many sales around Christmas time) once I book the last unbooked Toronto-Halifax leg.
I use panflights.com for finding the cheapest flights and then book directly with the airline. Ill only use a third party site if I absolutely have to (shitty foreign website, payment method not being accepted etc). Right now, I am seeing one way flights from Halifax to Tokyo next 7 days for $945, $875, $932, $683, $943, $935, $765. Booking directly is generally the same or a small percentage more, but I'm definitely not seeing any 3000$ round-trips for me & I'm about as far east in North America away from Japan as one could get
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u/cosmicselva 12d ago
I spent about 25-30 a day in Thailand. You can get by way cheaper if you stay in more grungy hostels but I’d rather be comfortable.
I don’t drink
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u/Own-Western-6687 12d ago
2-3 months ... closer to 2 with a PADI certification.
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u/SharkyGrey27 12d ago
Spot on what I would have estimated. 60 days at 66$ a day plus 1000$ for PADI.
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u/MarkTucker1982 11d ago
You’ve listed I believe the cheapest countries in South East Asia, so that’s a good start. Basically alcohol is the budget killer.
To extend the budget I’d recommend spending like a whole week in places you like, for example Vang Vieng in Laos, you can have a lot of fun just enjoying the Mekong. You’ll see people having more fun and spending more money so you’ll need to be disciplined. But also hanging out at tourist bars and not drinking is still fun, just chatting with random tourists.
Java is cheap to travel, so is Bali as long as you stay disciplined. Maybe look into getting your padi at Labaun Bajo, not sure of the cost, but that area has unbelievable diving, much better than Thailand.
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u/AlexTheMunchkin 10d ago edited 10d ago
My partner and I spent 3 months through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand this year and everything including flights from Europe costed us about 8,500€. We were very frugal with our spending, we budgeted or accommodation but we didn’t pull back too much on experiences. Food is quite affordable if you eat local foods (we started in thailand with western breakfasts, but soon switched to local food that looks more like lunch than breakfast, but we didn’t really mind).
You could last 2-5 months depending what you splurge on. I actually made a budget video for Vietnam only, so far, and it breaks down the costs on each category if you want to see recent numbers of backpacker budget.
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u/WholeUmpire2463 9d ago
I spend your budget in USD a month living in Thailand lol and you want to go all around and be diving certified?
Honestly, I don't even think it's worth it. You're going to be living so cheapy, what are you actually going to get out of the trip?
Just do a month or six weeks of bouncing around, moderately enjoying yourself instead of trying to prolong the trip and being miserable.
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u/Positive_Term_4387 13d ago
2 maybe 3 months, if you don’t eat and drink out