A year ago, Robert Alejandro and Jetro Rafael shared their experience of traveling through Southeast Asia on a shoestring budget: 9 countries (including China, Macau and Hong Kong), 3 months, for only Php 50,000. I was amazed at this figure they presented, because I was able to easy spend roughly the same amount in just one country for 14 days back in 2006. Right at that moment, I decided to give Southeast Asia another go, and really try to stick within my budget this time.

Though my trip was only through five countries for one month, I aimed for the same amount, knowing that I do have a habit of overspending. Well, as I finished adding up the travel expenses from my June backpacking trip through Southeast Asia, I realize that traveling on a shoestring is not for me. Well, I still travel on a budget, but I do believe in indulging once in a while.

So how much did I spend for one month in Southeast Asia?
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Today is the first day of my backpacking trip, and I… overslept. I’ve actually been in Singapore since Saturday, and I’ve been going around the city reacquainting myself with old favorites (the Esplanade, China Square Central) and discovering new ones (the National Museum of Singapore). I had grand plans of going on several walking trails today, but after the weekend’s activities, I decided to just to it when I come back at the end of the month and just spend the day at home.

Selamat Datang

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