How much cash?

hi!i'm hoping to go traveling, mainly around asia austrailia and south america after i finish uni for a year with a few friends and i was just wondering if anyone has any idea's how much this would cost me as i havnt done anything like this before!
cheers!!

Really depends on what you plan to do. The big cost will be transportation. If you hop by air from the US to SA, then to Oz, then to Asia, then back to the US, you can count on $5k-10k just for the air fares, although there are ways to cut that down. Are you planning on bumming it or staying in hotels?

The days of the famous $5/day trips are long gone. You can keep costs down by camping, youth hostels, and such. If you buy food locally in the open air markets in SA and Asia and prepare it yourself, you can keep food costs down. But some countries frown on "bums" and "hippies", especially the 3rd world very poor countries that have dictatorships. A friend got a lot of hassle in a couple of SE Asian countries because he had long hair and dressed like he did on campus back here. Some countries have started a policy of requiring you spend a certain amount of money per day in their country, so check before you arrive there.

Another way to keep costs down is to plan on working for pay at several points along the way. I did that in SA and it got me close to the people there and invited to stay with several local families.

So what style do you and your buds plan to travel?