I can't wait to hear the responses.

For my two copper...I'm planning on joining the Peace Corps after graduation. When my term is up, I plan on traveling through Tibet and then through India. Hopefully I'll have been able to save enough money between now and then. There's a lot of organizations that you can volunteer with while you're there. If you're able to do it as a study abroad through your school/university, financial aid might be available.

Good luck.

The last time I went to India I was able to take the time off of my two part time jobs. One month. One job we shut the shop down for the month. (We both went to India.) The other job someone took my shifts for the whole month.

But neither job pays well enough for a month in India. We used credit cards and used the months after the trip to pay for what we couldn't afford up front.

The first time I went to India I was between jobs. I actually recommend doing it that way, because you can stay in India as long as you want to then.

It doesn't cost as much for daily expenses in India as it does in America. That helps.

I have a job that's done over the internet (medical transcription) and was able to bring my laptop and do it while living in India. Power outages were a hassle until I got a personal back-up generator. My american pay with the Indian cost of living was a great combination.

My friends are there right now www.dreamtimecircus.org

I'm going to meet up with them around the 8th of March.

Their travel plan is what inspired me to go. I've been reading travel logs and checking websites.

This has been in the works since last spring. So the planning time has been different for each person that has been or is there now on in my case about to be there.

I'm an admin assistant and billing coordinator in a law firm. I was going to quit, but my employer is advancing me my 3 weeks of 2008 vacation time, then I'm having a week without pay. This is was possible because I've been with them for almost 8 years. So I didn't have to ditch the job to do this. I wanted to go badly enough I would have quit, had they said no.

Aside from the credit card I'll take, I've lent myself money to take this trip from my 401K. This is because I tend to put $$$ there as opposed to an actual savings account that I'd have direct access to said funds.

As for a budget while there, my friends that are there have given me an idea of what they've been spending and it's translated to under $20 a day. I'll see how it turns out when I get there. I'm budgeting twice that just to make sure I don't run out of money :) plus I want to shop a bit when I'm there.

My first trip to India happened in literally days. I had a dream that I was living in India. The next day I booked a flight. It costs so little to live if you stay away from the tourist traps. Someone mentioned 2K. Well, if you're not taking expensive workshops or staying at the Taj, that kind of money can last 4 months easily, 6 months a little more frugally and even longer if you go on the cheap.

Things are changing though. Prices are definitely going up for foreigners.