Traveling the World

I was going to throw up the C./S. America thing. It would be more difficult without Spanish, but I met a few people that didn't speak a word that made it around without too many problems.

A few years ago I spent ~@2600 for 3 months in and around Guatemala, including plane tickets there. Pretty cheap for all that I did.

$8000 for 6-9 months could be a bit of a stretch in this day and age unless you're not planning on doing a whole lot. Staying put in one area will be way cheaper than constantly moving.

SE Asia isn't really all that cheap when you start doing the things people usually do there (beaches/parties/water sports/activities, etc).

Unless you spent a substantial time woofing, I don't know if you could stretch 8k for more than 6 months once you figure in a $1500+ plane ticket.

Another idea: Nepal is amazing and about the cheapest place I've been, then you could hit up India which can be cheap or a bit more expensive depending on what you're willing to accept.

Anyway, check out lonelyplanet.com and go to the thorntree forum there. They have loads of posts in their RTW forums (around the world) and you can get a ton of ideas.