How did you afford 9 months of travel?

Are you rich?  No

Is your family rich?  No

Did you win the lottery?  Nope

So, how did you have enough money to travel all those countries for 9 months?
I saved.  I was frugal.  I wanted it, bad.

But honestly, it's not that expensive if you keep to your budget, allow for those spontaneous ideas to have funding and move at your own pace.  I wasn't on a bus every other day because that's more expensive.  I tended to settle down for 3-5 days, on beaches sometimes 2 weeks!

When I left, my budget was to spend less than $1000/month.  Here's my mint spending from August '09-May '10.  It tracks all activity coming from any and all financial accounts.  Great way for me to keep an eye on where my money was going and most importantly, how fast it was 'going.'

Overall:  Spent just under $9,000 for the 9 months.  That included:  Spanish lessons, scuba diving, 4 flights, numerous buses, heaps of tours and hikes, a bit of food!, a bed each night and 8 countries of intense travel.  You can do it too!  And you should!