Sure, it may be possible to travel on a low budget in Southeast Asia, but first you have to prepare. And that is expensive. Immunizations, while not required, are pretty much standard. I’m running at about $1000 so far, (and insurance will not pay for the shots… think they will pay if I actually get Japanese Encephalitis and my brain swells up out of my head?) Still have to get typhoid fever and malaria pills. The malaria pills I have to take once a day, for the whole time I am over there. I am pretty sure that insurance will cover all of the pills except for my co-pay, which will only be bad because I have to buy a years worth of pills at once. (No reliable way to get them in Cambodia…)
I also have to get travelers insurance, and the right equipment for the trip.
-Ben