How I Travel on $35 a Day (and Still Have the Time of My Life)
People always ask me how I afford to travel for months at a time. They assume I'm trust fund rich or making influencer money. I'm neither. I deferred my last semester of uni and saved $8,000 from working bar shifts for six months. That's it. That's the fund.
Eight months later, I still have money left. Not a lot. But enough to keep going for a bit longer. And I haven't felt like I'm missing out on anything.
Here's the actual maths.
The $35/Day Breakdown (Southeast Asia)
This was my average across 4 months in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bali. Some days were $20. Some were $60. But it averaged out.
| Category | Daily Average | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | $6-10 | Dorm beds (6-8 bed rooms) |
| Food | $8-12 | Street food + one sit-down meal |
| Transport | $3-5 | Local buses, Grab, walking |
| Activities | $5-10 | Temples, markets, hikes (many free) |
| Connectivity | $1 | GOAN eSIM ($29/month = ~$1/day) |
| Misc | $3-5 | Laundry, water, snacks |
| Total | $26-43 | Average: $33 |
Vietnam was the cheapest. I had days in Dalat and Phong Nha where I spent $18 total including a cooking class. Thailand was mid-range. Bali was the most expensive in SEA, mainly because Canggu prices have gone full tourist mode.
The $50/Day Breakdown (South America)
South America is more expensive than people expect. Colombia was affordable. Argentina was a rollercoaster depending on the exchange rate that week.
| Category | Daily Average | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | $8-15 | Dorms, occasionally a private room |
| Food | $10-15 | Local markets + almuerzo (set lunch) |
| Transport | $8-12 | Buses are long and not always cheap |
| Activities | $5-10 | Hikes mostly free, tours can add up |
| Connectivity | $1 | Same GOAN eSIM, worked everywhere |
| Misc | $3-5 | Altitude sickness meds, sunscreen |
| Total | $35-58 | Average: $47 |
The big difference in South America is transport. Distances are massive. A bus from Medellin to Cartagena is 13 hours and costs $25-35. You can't avoid these unless you fly, which is often the same price anyway.
The $55/Day Breakdown (Southern Europe)
Europe is where budgets get tested. Portugal and Greece are manageable. Italy and Spain push you if you're not careful.
| Category | Daily Average | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | $15-25 | Dorms in big cities are pricey |
| Food | $12-18 | Markets and supermarkets save you |
| Transport | $5-8 | Walking + metro, occasional bus |
| Activities | $5-8 | Free walking tours, beaches, churches |
| Connectivity | $1 | GOAN. Still the same plan from SEA. |
| Misc | $3-5 | Laundry, museum entries |
| Total | $41-65 | Average: $53 |
The trick in Europe is accommodation. Book hostels with kitchens and cook 2 out of 3 meals. A supermarket lunch in Lisbon costs $3. A restaurant lunch costs $12. Over a month, that difference is $270.
Where I Save
Accommodation: dorms, always
I haven't paid for a private room in 8 months (okay, twice, but those were mental health days). A 6-8 bed dorm in SEA costs $4-8. In Europe it's $12-20. Compared to a private room at $25-60, the savings are massive.
Tips that actually help:
- Book on Hostelworld, but check the hostel's direct website too. Sometimes it's cheaper.
- Look for hostels with free breakfast. Even if it's just toast and coffee, that's $3-5 saved daily.
- Work-exchange hostels (Worldpackers, Workaway) give you free accommodation for 4 hours of work per day. I did reception at a hostel in Hoi An for two weeks. Zero accommodation cost.
Food: eat where locals eat
The golden rule: if the menu is only in English, you're about to overpay.
In Vietnam, the best pho I had cost 35,000 VND ($1.40). It was at a plastic-stool place on a random street in Hanoi with zero English signage. The pho at the tourist restaurant two blocks away? 120,000 VND ($4.80) and half as good.
Follow the locals. Eat at markets. Cook when you can.
Transport: slow is cheap
Night buses in SEA are a backpacker's best friend. You save on accommodation (you're sleeping on the bus) and transport (you're getting to the next city). A night bus from Hanoi to Phong Nha cost me $12 and I woke up at my destination.
Trains in Europe are expensive. Buses (FlixBus, BlaBlaCar) are usually 50-70% cheaper for the same route.
Connectivity: one plan, everywhere
This is the hack nobody talks about. If you're buying local SIMs at every border, you're spending $5-8 each time plus 30-60 minutes of your time. Over a 4-month trip across 5-6 countries, that's $30-48 in SIMs alone, plus hours of wasted time.
GOAN's eSIM is $29/month and works across 105+ countries. One plan, zero border hassle. I set it up once in Sydney and haven't thought about data since. That's not just a money saver. It's a sanity saver.
Where I Splurge
Budget travel doesn't mean deprivation travel. I'm very intentional about what I spend more on:
Experiences over things
I spent $45 on a cooking class with a grandmother in Hoi An who taught me to make cao lau from scratch. I spent $60 on a two-day trek in Sapa with a local Hmong guide. I spent $35 on a surf lesson in Sri Lanka that turned into an all-day beach session with the instructor's family.
These are the memories that define the trip. I will never regret spending money on them.
Safety
I don't cheap out on anything safety-related. Good travel insurance ($40-60/month), a proper padlock, a power bank that actually holds charge, and reliable phone data. These are non-negotiable line items.
The occasional good meal
Once a week, I sit down at a proper restaurant and order whatever I want without looking at the price column. After six days of street food and hostel kitchen pasta, a $15 meal at a family restaurant with actual plates feels like the Ritz.
Money Tracking
I use the Trail Wallet app to track every single purchase. Every coffee, every bus ticket, every $1 temple donation. At the end of each week, I know exactly where my money went.
This sounds obsessive. It is. But it's also the reason I've made $8,000 last 8 months. When you see in black and white that you spent $23 on drinks on Thursday, you naturally adjust on Friday.
The Real Budget Killers
These are the things that destroy backpacker budgets:
Drinking. A night out in Bali can easily cost $30-50. Three of those per week and your budget is blown. I limit big nights out to once a week.
Tourist transport. Taking a taxi when you could take a local bus. Getting a private boat when you could take the public ferry. Always check the local option first.
FOMO bookings. That Instagram-famous restaurant, that viral TikTok waterfall tour, that "must-do" experience that costs $80 and is just okay. Not everything viral is worth your money.
Carrier roaming. I cannot stress this enough. If you haven't sorted your phone data before landing, you'll either spend a fortune on roaming or waste time and money buying SIMs at every stop. Get an eSIM before you go and cross this off permanently.
Monthly Summary
| Region | Monthly Budget | Liveable? |
|---|---|---|
| Southeast Asia | $900-1,050 | Very comfortable |
| South America | $1,350-1,500 | Comfortable |
| Southern Europe | $1,500-1,700 | Tight but doable |
These numbers include everything. Accommodation, food, transport, activities, connectivity, the occasional splurge. They don't include flights between regions (that's a separate fund).
The Mindset Shift
Budget travel isn't about going without. It's about being intentional. Every dollar I don't spend on an overpriced tourist restaurant is a dollar that buys me another day on the road. Another sunset. Another hostel kitchen conversation with someone from a country I've never visited.
I'd rather have 8 months of this than 2 weeks at a resort.
If you're building your own travel fund and want to understand the connectivity costs, check out my comparison of eSIM vs physical SIM cards. Short version: an eSIM saves you both money and time compared to buying local SIMs at every border.
