With $5,000 and no schedule. Any recommendations for a place or places to go spend a few months?

What interests you? You could do Thailand for a few months on that budget or if you're adventurous somewhere in Africa.

Yeah I was looking at Thailand. Which airport would you fly into?

Bkk typically. My parents just got back and said prices have increased a lot in part because our dollar is so bad. On a backpacker budget you should still be ok.

I agree with Thailand. Fly into Bangkok. Flying around Thailand is super cheap to or take the train. Most bungalows of about $20-30 per night Canadian. I couldn't believe how cheap life was there. I want to go back so bad! Just wing it if so do Thailand. We prebooked everything ahead of time but I wish we hadn't cause we could have got things even cheaper.

I disagree with Thailand...EVERYONE does it. It's full of non-etiquette beginner tourists, trashed ecosystems, and early twenty somethings just there to spread their wings. Try something more unique, more adventurous...Iceland, Morocco, Japan, inner China, just to name a few.

South or central America

Any idea to where in south or central?

My friends say Peru is amazing. Brazil is really cool. I've met the most amazing Chilean folk in my travels.

Ecuador is wonderful. Food is cheap once there. Great little town in the Mindo Cloud forest that has lots of Cdn and US staying there

Brazil? Be careful, I have been there and I will never go there again, can't trust them, not safe for tourists

Any of them. Ecuador was the same - crime is high in any 3rd world countries I also would go to a town called San Pancho in Mexico. Clean and quaint.....on ocean. Just north of Puerto Vallarta

Guatemala or Indonesia

Two words Zika virus.

I have lived in Chile for 4 years - lots to see and do. Your question is rather a broad one!

Another vote for coastal Ecuador.

I recommend you buy this book at Chapters ( we bought ours in Calgary) or see a TA to match your interests etc

South East Asia

Good airfare deals to Manila. Enjoy beautiful beaches there.

Of note, my daughter was somewhat is the same position couple of years ago...she ended up in Zimbabwe working for an animal rescue - major donations from Spencer Foundation (Lady Di's estate), very safe etc. She loved it as she felt she was doing something that made a difference and met other volunteers from all over the world. Just a thought

Thailand! South is more expensive but there is still a ton to do on the cheap. Chang Mai is awesome and guest houses are a great option. Better then hostel and almost always include breakfast. Rent a scooter, explore the land. Airfare is cheap between cities. Two of us did Thailand for 10 days for about $3500 and we did a tone of stuff and went to Krabi, Chang Mai and Bangkok. Road Elephants, did a ton of tours. And stayed from fancy to basic guesthouse. trip advisor is great for this stuff.

Cambodia and/or Vietnam, fun and a bit less touristy than Thailand, plus it's cheaper.

Thailand / indonesia and around or guatemala belize Nicaragua!

Thailand is good but I love Bali (and surrounding areas). Vietnam is good too.

Barcelona and the Mediterranean coast

A girlfriend just did a month in an ashram in india and then is continuing from there - is having the time of her life

The Seychelles, and when you get tired of paradise and it warms up, northern Spain.

Belize is beautiful - hotels are reasonable unless you want all the amenities - then they get a bit pricey. I am referring to Ambergris Caye particularly

Sri Lanka - https://vimeo.com/32490821
VIMEO.COM
SRI LANKA 2011 - SriLankan Airlines Pro

How many peeps travelling?

Just me

I'm a solo traveler...I really dislike the Thailand option...been there twice. I loved being solo in the Yellow mountains in Inner China. Peru, Iceland, and Egypt are next on my list these next 2 years. I also really enjoyed Kauai for hiking the Kapalua Trail.

Peru, Cuba, Thailand, Cambodia - Have fun and be save wherever you end up

France

You could try housesitting in a bunch of places. Check out Trustedhousesitters.com, or a similar agency.
TRUSTEDHOUSESITTERS.COM
House Sitting Made Easy: TrustedHousesitters.com

Brilliant!

My mom house sits all over the world and loves it ...you should look into it

Kim: That's awesome. I fantasize about selling everything and doing this.

Cindy one day ...make that dream come true

I have to convince my husband. Lol!

the smaller Greek islands

One word: oddysey outlander!

How is that one word?

Fell for the trap. Knew some one was gonna say that lol

The island of Roatan in Central America period beautiful untouched very cheap very safe and still close enough to get home in case of emergency

Guatemala or Indonesia

I'm planning a trip in SE Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia) this spring and have found that it is very inexpensive and looks absolutely amazing! Cheap flights, great cheap accommodation with excellent ratings through booking.com, and very affordable day tours. Indo and Vietnam are definitely the cheapest of the two so far.

Hey Samantha, sounds like you have done your research, but just a few things...airasia.com is soooo cheap to fly within these countries and we found them most reliable. One thing that we wished we wouldn't have done is book everything before we travelled. There were places we would've stayed longer, and definitely places we didn't want to stay and some sites don't let you cancel without penalty so we took a few hits. HAVE A GREAT TRIP!
AIRASIA.COM
AirAsia | Cheap flights to Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Siem Reap, Taipei | Book online now

Alisha Robar thank you!! I have booked two flights with AirAsia and am happy to hear a good review!! What were your favourite places that you visited and the ones you'd not visit again? I currently have my accommodation booked but only places with free cancellation so I can make changes as I see fit!

Vietnam favorites were Saigon, Nah Trang,Hoi An (by far a favorite, supposed to stay 3 days, extended to 10 and plan on going back)We stayed at Viva homestay that offered free breakfast, bike rental, a mini fridge, etc and was super clean for about $11 Canadian per night. Hue was nice for a couple days, and Cat Ba (we went to Halong Bay, not on one of those boat tours but preferred Cat Ba) if you don't feel the need to stay on a house boat overnight tour we probably wouldn't have gone north of Cat Ba. One of my favorite things in Vietnam was train travel it was CHEAP and so relaxed. My husband and I got a sleeper car from DaNang to Hue for $3 each. (2 hr trip) I would not stay in DaNang again but that is probably because we chose not to drive (saw too many injuries and accidents)and everything was too spread out and took forever to get around. Haiphong was not necessary, not much to do and no tourists (not that that is a bad thing but there wasn't much to do, a port town), when we told people we were going there they asked ,why? Halong Bay flooded while we were there and there wasn't anything to do unless you were going on a boat tour. I could go on and on...if you have any more questions let me know. We spent 2 months in Thailand/ 2 Vietnam.

Thanks so much for this!! I appreciate hearing about your experiences. I admit I'm a bit of a planner (I find the research and planning a lot of fun) and have lots tentatively booked already since we (my dad and I!) only have 3 weeks in Vietnam. But luckily most is adjustable!
The tentative plan is: start in Hanoi for 2 nights, go to Ha Long/ Cat Ba for 2 nights, night train to Hue and spend 1 night there, go to Hoi An for 4 nights then HCMC for 5 nights before heading into Cambodia for 5 nights. We are doing a mix of flights, trains and busses, and have found some craaaazy cheap prices!! It seems like such a great place to start the adventure and get me ready for the next lag of the trip which I'm going solo.

sounds amazing! only advice I have is do not pre book your train travel, at the station it was almost 75% cheaper then online

oh and buses are scary sometimes, depending on what kind of terrain you are driving through, the drivers are fearless lol

Good to know!! I was going to pre book our night train but will wait now for sure.
I've heard some interesting stories about the busses.. But I suppose you get what you pay for sometimes!!

we didn't do any of the overnight buses because, like you I am a planner and I asked tripadvisor and watched youtube and was horrified. I am a nervous passenger so this was my nightmare We only ended up taking 3 or 4 buses for long distances and a couple time I had to distract myself so I didn't have a panic attack. Any bus that we did take, like the reviews I read, always had the bathroom blocked off or locked, which makes for a long trip if you need to use the washroom.

Very good to know. We are currently deciding if we want to do the night bus to Siem Reap via Giant Ibis or fly with Cambodia Angkor and I think, even though it's 4x the price, the flight will win just for safety lol.

i'll ask a friend who has done the trip and let you know what they thought

that would be great, thank you!!

Thanks Dave!! I definitely think (okay.. I know) that I've over planned a bit! But perhaps I will cancel some of the plans I've made for Indonesia and just let that flow a bit more naturally!

I think that is the perfect way to look at it!! I always like to be prepared and know what I'm getting into so I don't miss out on anything I'm interested in.. But it would definitely be great to kick back and go with the flow too!!

Haha that is what makes a trip so memorable though!! I do have to admit though as I am travelling solo in Malaysia I really hope that doesn't happen to me because I think I'd freak out a bit haha

Traveling definitely makes you appreciated and see the good humanity again!! Thanks for sharing your experiences and I will definitely send some questions about Malaysia your way!!

I'm glad to hear!! I'm only spending a handful of days there but am happy to get a taste! Then I'll have a reason to go back

Agree on the not booking anything until you are in country! You can also negotiate hotel rates in person. See they are smart there, if the rooms are sitting empty they will take what they can get. Much better then nothing!

Alisha Robar The fun of the that is the "field" bathrooms! It took me a couple of stops to figure it out but the men went to the left and the women to the right.....haha.

When are you traveling?! I'll be in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam in March- April!

We will be in Vietnam and Cambodia March 6-27! Then I'm in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia for the end of the month and April. What's your schedule?!

Oh I may just miss you. We are leaving India in one week and going to Bali from Feb 27-march 13. I'm headed to aus from March 13-28th then Thailand March 28- April 8. Then Laos and Cambodia April 8-26th

I will be in Bali the same time as you!! I arrive the 31 and leave the 20!

oh crap. Of April. Dang!!

Aww darn. Well if plans change or what not let me know

I will for sure!!
have a wonderful trip if we don't get to overlap at all!!!

Thanks love. You too.

Bora Bora

Sahra Kanji-Jiwani
SE Asia!

India, so diverse you have world class beaches, the Himalayas and everything in between. It is very in pensive in many places.

Nice!

Let me know how it goes, not a bad idea all around I must say!!

You could tour Fiji, over to NZ then rest a month in Bali. Fabulous!

We also looked at renting a house in Panama for 2 months; 3500

Debbie, your first recommendation was sooo good..Panama was a step back lol...worst country in my opinion in Central America

Nicaragua. It was amazing and about one third the price of Costa Rica.

Really? Hmm

Yep that was our experience. We did both this past summer. Everything from food to accommodation and was about one third the price.
We also liked that it felt a lot less touristy but there was still plenty to do. Also we travelled between Nica and Costa by land which was very easy.

Scarlett thank you ?

Thailand. You could stay for ages.

For the person looking for more info on the animal wildlife volunteer program - sent you a PM - might be in your other folder

Volunteer tourists...hmmm...seem my fair share in Tansania...many there to holiday but stating they are volunteering, but majority of the time being used to travel on the cheap.

Eastern europe: hungary, czech republic, slovakia, poland, romania, bulgaria, serbia, croatia, lithuania, latvia, estonia, bosnia, montenegro, macedonia... You could stay in any of those places for 3 months on 5g