Backpacker budget: Southeast Asia on €30/day
Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia: how much it really costs to travel as a backpacker.
The real budget: 25-40 € a day
Forget the Instagram numbers. On 25 € a day in Cambodia or Vietnam you live well: hostel dorm, street food, local transport and the odd beer. On 40 € in Thailand or Bali you get a private room, a tour and decent dinners. What blows up the budget is not daily life, it is three specific things: domestic flights, organised excursions and party nights. The return ticket is the biggest single line of all and the one that varies most: compare flights months ahead and stay flexible with dates, because between a Tuesday and a Saturday there can be two hundred euros of difference.
Thailand
The classic, and for good reason: excellent infrastructure, spectacular street food at 1-2 € a dish, and cheap, reliable transport. Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the southern islands cover city, mountains and beach without needing to fly. Realistic budget: 30-40 € a day. The night trains between Bangkok and Chiang Mai save you a night of accommodation and are an experience in themselves. Watch out for the islands in high season (December to February): prices double and you have to book. And the agencies on Khao San Road sell tours at huge margins: booking once you are at the destination is almost always better.
Vietnam
Probably the best value in the whole region. A bánh mì costs less than a euro, a street pho 1.50 €, and a decent private room 10-12 €. The classic north-to-south route — Hanoi, Ninh Bình, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh — takes two or three weeks chaining night buses at 10-15 € a leg, which also save you a night of accommodation. Budget: 25-30 € a day without squeezing anything. Haggling is part of the game in markets, but not in restaurants. And mobile data is dirt cheap and works well across practically the whole country.
Cambodia
The cheapest of the four. Angkor Wat justifies the trip on its own, though the three-day ticket — around 60 dollars — is the biggest one-off expense you will make in the entire region: budget it separately so it does not catch you out. Outside Siem Reap, Cambodia is still incredibly cheap: meals for 2 €, a bed for 8. Kampot and Kep, in the south, are the quiet Cambodia almost nobody visits. Payment runs in dollars and riel at the same time, so always carry small notes. On 25 € a day you are comfortable.
Indonesia (Bali and beyond)
Bali has two faces: the touristy one — Canggu, Seminyak — at almost Western prices, and the real one — Amed, Sidemen, the Gilis — where everything costs half. Beyond Bali, Java (Yogyakarta, Mount Bromo) and Lombok are much cheaper and far less crowded. Budget: 30 € a day in Bali, 20 elsewhere. Renting a scooter runs 4-5 € a day, but you need an international licence: without one, your insurance will not cover you in an accident. And scooter accidents are by far the most common mishap in the region. Compare travel insurance that covers motorcycle riding, because many policies exclude it by default.
How to save even more
Eat where the locals eat: street food is not only cheaper, it is better. Travel overland instead of flying whenever you can. Book ahead only for peak dates; the rest of the time, comparing hotels and hostels once you arrive usually gets you a better price. Avoid airport ATMs, which apply the worst exchange rates of the trip. And do not buy a local SIM at every border: a regional eSIM covers several Southeast Asian countries on a single plan, activates before you fly, and stops you landing with no internet — which is precisely when you need it most.
