[Ixiaus]

It's a farce to say you can't afford it. I backpacked through India for two months and spent a total of $1,534.00 (excluding airfare to and from the country). I was well fed, sheltered, and had a blast. Many occidental countries and developed countries in general, can be pricey if you resort to convenience.

What's really funny, is, a hippie german couple I befriended in India came to travel through the US a year later; they stopped in my city and we spent some time together reminiscing. They told me they were spending less money in the US then they had in India, primarily because they adhered to little or no convenience and used what free resources are actually taken for granted here that aren't available in a developing or crowded country. Water was a big one, they said they got all of their drinking water from bathroom sinks instead of purchasing it (which you have to do in India because of sanitary issues, or you purify it).

The trick with going on a backpacking trip is to leave your job and pick up some under-the-table jobs in the countries you are staying in (if you run out of money and have no recourse, or want to stay longer than you saved for). This is the point many cultured US citizens are trying to make about our fellow "home-locked" brethren: the excuses made are vapid - you either want to go or you don't. There is, obviously, nothing wrong if you're a person that doesn't want to travel; but if you do, all it takes is some clever thinking and embracement of the dynamism of life (you will find a job when you get back, it might even be better than the one you're leaving).

[elai]

You'll spend at most 15 dollars a month on drinking water in those countries, they're doing it wrong!

[Locke1689]

It's nice that you have an employer who will let you leave for two months. Most people don't.

[leviathant]

I think you missed the part where he said to leave your job. I've done most of my longer-term (one month) vacations after getting laid off or quitting.

[Ixiaus]

It is, I'm now my own employer - for a very good reason (I'm a programmer, can easily do it, and I realized self-employment > employment on many fronts). When I went to India, though, I quit my job teaching personal self-defense and got a job working at an Italian restaurant when I came back (restaurants are excellent sources of short-term income and have many social/physical benefits that trump jobs in the software/knowledge industry).