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It doesn't have to be expensive.
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It’s a common misconception that traveling or backpacking for an extended time is for the wealthy. But with the right mindset and willingness to explore, any eager person can match their budget to just about any destination.
What you first need to do is break down your monthly costs of rent, food, transportation, weekend activities, etc and compare these to the daily living costs of your destination(s). You can get a rough idea of these daily costs in guidebooks or through a quick google search.
At $20/day I found that I could easily travel in developing countries for an entire month on my monthly rent alone. You may have to make some sacrifices in comfort but it’s a small price to pay in the end for a wealth of experiences.
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Daily Costs.
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I budget roughly $45 US dollars a day on average for lodging, food, transportation, and entrance fees. This will swing down as low as $10 a day in developing countries so it fluctuates drastically depending on the countries you plan to visit.
Your main departing and returning flight will be a major expense but if you stick to overland travel and cheap budget airlines throughout your trip then it shouldn’t impact your bottom line drastically.
Adventure activities/tours will also be an expensive part of your travels if you decide to splurge a bit, so try to keep a healthy budget for them so you’re flexible. A little bit of planning here will help you get a rough idea of how much to set aside
Keep in mind that with hitchhiking, Couchsurfing or similar, and cooking your own food, expenses can be kept low in even the most expensive countries.
In the beginning of my travels I was an avid record keeper to make sure my budget was on track but I soon gave up jotting down every expense because it was tedious and made me constantly worry about money. Unless you really want the records, it’s a bit silly to have a bunch of numbers dictate what you can or can’t do. Keep a rough mental note of your budget from time to time and you’ll find it less stressful.
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Planning.
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This is one thing that I’ve started doing less and less now. I might have a general idea of where I might want to go before I visit a country but I no longer do any extensive research for transportation, lodging, or looking at dozens of photos. Usually you’ll be able to meet people who have already done this for you along the way or you can easily research a bit more info while there’s downtime moving from place to place. Going in with little to no expectations is the best thing you can do for your travel experience since you won’t be setting your expectations to an unrealistic level.
But do plan ahead for unusual situation. Check and see if your travel plans might interfere with major holidays or if you need to purchase tickets to sites/events ahead of time.
I’ve ditched guidebooks and now simply go with an off line app version of Wikitravel called Turdus. I use Turdus/Wikitravel for all my travel information needs instead of carrying around a heavy guidebook.