How much we spent travelling around Southeast Asia for 3 and half months

It's one of the first things you Google when planning a big trip: "How much money do I need?"

I can only tell you from my recent experience of how much my partner and I spent on accommodation, food, drink (mainly coffee and beer), and transport in Southeast Asia.

How much you'll need really depends on a number of things:

• how long you want to stay in places
• how many places you want to travel to
• how you get around, for example cheap buses vs planes
• if you like drinking lots of beer and coffee
• day trips and excursions.

Rule one: don't take life too seriously - it's only money

Our itinerary 

Over the 3 and half months we went to:

• Thailand - 1 month
• Laos - 1 week
• Vietnam - 1 month
• Thai islands - 3 weeks
• Malaysia - 2 weeks
• Singapore - 4 days

In total we spent just over £5,000. Now let's break down the costs.

Accommodation 

Overall we spent: £1,665

Thailand: £532 - average £22 per night (one of these nights includes a stopover in an elephant sanctuary)

Laos: £37 - average £9.25 per night
Vietnam: £434 - average £15 per night
Thai islands: £304 - average £20 per night
Malaysia: £161 - average £15 per night
Singapore: £197 - average £49 per night

Southeast Asia is made for backpackers, which means you've got a lot of choice when it comes to hostels and budget accommodation.

You can get:

• dorms (4-10 people)
• private rooms in hostels (shared or private bathrooms)
• low budget hotel room
• homestays
• Air Bnbs (you'd be surprised at how cheap some are - for 4 nights you can get a whole apartment in Hanoi for £58).

Authenticity vs run of the mill

What you choose will depend on where you are and what you want out of it. For example, we went to Sapa, Northern Vietnam, as we'd read and seen pictures of it that looked incredible. As soon as we arrived in Sapa town though, we realised it was a tourist trap - full of hotels and people trying to grab money off you. Thankfully, we were staying in a village nearby in a homestay that allowed us to see the real deal.

We only paid £13 a night for this view:

Beautiful homestay in Sapa

Hotel room vs hostel private rooms

We stayed in a few budget hotels, and whilst they were clean and modern, they really lacked atmosphere and character - you could literally be anywhere in the world and not know.

In places like Singapore, we couldn't help but stay in a hotel, because there's not many hostels available - with most being those funny little pod beds (which are very overpriced for what they are - still cool though). Also, you pay city tax in Singapore - so add on another £50 to your hotel room.

For the price of a hotel room, you can get a private hostel room (shared bathroom or on-suite) for a fraction of the price. But other than saving a few bob, you get the atmosphere and the buzz from other travellers - as well as hostel workers who can plan day trips for you and give you a guide around the local area.

Food and drink 

Overall we spent: £2616

Thailand: £542 in a month

Laos: £124 in a week
Vietnam: £700 in a month
Thai islands: £500 in 3 weeks
Malaysia: £250 in 2 weeks
Singapore: £155 in 4 days

We ate A LOT in Vietnam - so cheap and so good

Some of those figures even shocked me ha! You can definitely do it cheaper than us - especially if you're a single traveller.

Disclaimer: we are massive foodies who ate out everyday and didn't spend hardly anything else on clothes or gifts (that's my excuse anyway). We're also veggies, which meant we couldn't eat at the markets as much as we wanted to. I have to say though you'll be OK in most of the countries as we didn't have much of a problem finding alternatives.

Cheapest places to eat

On average, for 2 people, we spent no more than £30 a day - and sometimes it was as little as £14. That's for breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffees. It's worth saying though, most hostels do a free breakfast, but they're mainly just toast and jam - but if you're lucky you can get pancakes (Hola at Chill riverside hostel in Luang Prabang) or noodles.

I couldn't put a finger on where exactly was the cheapest place to eat overall, but an obvious answer is the markets in Thailand and Vietnam. We didn't find many food markets in Malaysia or Singapore - and when we did we found they were a little more pricey than what we'd experienced in other places.

Food markets are the best place to be in terms of the range of authentic food, the atmosphere of them and the experience of just walking around the many stalls.

Other amazing places to get cheap and delicious food were traditional Indian restaurants in Malyasia. They're so cheap and good it's hard to believe, and all vegetarian. We went to a couple in Kuala Lumpar and another in Little India, Penang called NRSweets.

All this for £2!!

Transport

Overall spend (about): £753

Thailand: 3 trains, 1 mini bus

Laos: 1 boat trip, 1 flight to Vietnam

Vietnam: 6 sleeper trains, 1 flight to Bangkok

Thailand: 2 trains, 2 boat trips

Malaysia: 5 trains, 2 boats

*The price includes taxis and tuktuk rides too

Just hitching a ride down the Mekong river

Trains over buses

I know a lot of travellers swear by buses - yes they're cheap and sometimes comfortable, however, from my experience you get all that with a train and the satisfaction of not breaking down or going off the road. 

We took trains all over Northern Thailand, all the way down the coast of Vietnam, then from South Thailand all the way to the bottom of Malaysia - we had no problems at all. Apart from delays here and there and hoping to god we wouldn't miss our connections; coupled with the added fear of not knowing who you're sharing a dorm with on a sleeper train - but hey, that's all part of the experience! 

For example, a local train from Ayutthaya to Lampang (which is about 10 hours) cost (for 2 people): £29.

In Vietnam, for a sleeper train we paid on average £25 - and that's accommodation for the night and travel.

Let go more - it's worth it

Priceless sunset over Zen beach in Koh Phangan

Now I am back in society and with the power of hindsight, I've realised I could have definitely let go more whilst travelling around Southeast Asia. 

I meticulously kept a record of how much we were spending and sometimes it prohibited us from doing something. I wish now I could have gone back and slapped myself in the face, because life should never be dictated by money.

If you think, oh shit, I haven't got enough money to go to that place or I can't afford that day trip to a tribal village, just do it and rethink your plan after - always remember to experience it and enjoy it to the fullest.