About 3 years ago I traveled for 13 months with my wife (then girlfriend). Mostly traveled in Asia then the transiberian to Europe, some Africa and the middle east then a road trip across the US. Lots of awesome advice here. One thing I'd add is to not be afraid to do something just because western travelers rarely do it. There seems to be a lot of "common wisdom" about what is a safe/reasonable thing that is just off. As for money, I programmed 10 hours/week (mostly on overnight bus trips and the like) and our costs were approx $50/day/person in less expensive countries then $100/day/person in more expensive countries.