Hi,
I just paid for my flights to leave next June and I'm worried that all this money and savings will be wasted!
Did anyone else get this panic? Was it worth it for those who went?
Also, is budgeting around £600 a month realistic?
Is it worth it?
I think those feelings are natural; for me it was so worth it and I'm sure it will be for you too!
Which countries will you be visiting? This will determine whether your budget is realistic.
Thanks 
We'll be going to India, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Chile, Argentine, Bolivia and Peru.
xxx
600 maybe enough for amonth, just don't expect too much of luxurious stuffs.. anyways, money is always an issue in everything that we do, ok almost everything, but its only at the beginning and at the end... during that time when you are finally enjoying, the money is all worth it. the good news is that you have control on how to budget it and use it wisely..
£600 per month would be more than enough in the Asian countries, but you'd be looking at double that amount for Australia and New Zealand, and around £1000 per month, on average, in South America. Also bear in mind that the exchange rate is poor at the moment if travelling with sterling in Australia and New Zealand so you may be surprised at how expensive things seem.
600 a month is great for south east asia, peru and bolivia. Chile is quite expensive as is Oz and NZ. This is quite cool for travelling on a budget though in Oz and NZ:
-snip-
[ Edit: Sorry, no promos please. ]
Every trip is worth it, for the experience and the learning.
Whether it's a weekend trip to Amsterdam or a month in Fiji, you'll come back with more knowledge than you had before you went and there'll be good and bad tales to tell.
Just do it ! !
I spent a most of my money, but it was not wasted. The experiences will be with me forever. I have so many crazy stories and I am much more social than I was before I traveled.
Also because I spent a ton of money and put myself in a tough situation. I ended up staying in Auckland longer than I wanted to and I met the coolest, cutest, funniest irish girl!
I had the same panic and it took me a month to actually to give my ticket broker my credit card number!
But I figured this may be my only chance to do this. If you got this far go with your instinct and run with. I never regretted it and had the time of my life.
Southeast Asia is easy to budget for. South America and OZ will be much more expensive. You really need to incorporate hostels, couchsurfing, WWOOFING.
You got plenty of time to figure out the accommodations and adjust your budget accordingly.
I can only speak from the perspective of the US roadtrip - 6 weeks in August/Septemeber. It was worth it every step of the way. One issue though - we lost our Mastercard in Yosemite (Northern California) and had to wait five days for a repalcement one which was delivered to our address in Las Vegas. We were relieved - but when we went to use it, it was hopeless, as no emergency cards can be used in Vegas (the bank machines it is claimed, cannot read the emergency new numbers on the back of the cards, and they cannot imput them manually). So we wired money from home from Western Union. Our folks were not told about the correct limit on such money and WU would not pass on our money to us. We pleaded with them on the phone in the casino bank for five hours and still they said we would have to have the money re-wired, which was a nightmare due to time differences in Ireland and the post office closing on a Sunday. I was reduced to tears and we were stranded with two small children to mind. We eventually got the money the following working day and continued on our journey. PLEASE check out all conditions on Mastercards, and on Western Union transactions. I would hate for anyone to go through the week of stress we had. It can be very lonely away from home with no money. The upside - everyone helped to make our holiday the best and we have fantastic memories for the rest of our trip. Another idea - Don't go to Vegas - EVER.