I'll refer to some paraphrased advice from "Vagabonding" by Rolf Potts. Once you decide you want to travel, stop by EVERYTHING. Make no new purchases. Every shirt you don't buy puts you closer to being in some faraway place. Every lunch you pack from home gets you a little closer to crazy foreign street foods. Every pregame session and snuck in flask put you that much closer to drinking a local beer in a new country. You can save way more than you think. But you gotta stop making all purchases. And spend as little on recreation as you can. You can save up thousands like that in no time. And you could go to SE Asia for 4 months on $5,500. Guaranteed. Flights included.