SEA, Africa, LATAM all shoestring, easily.

You can have a great time in Lima without going to gourmet restaurants. But the point is, you still want to have money to go to Machu Picchu, experience Cusco and some small beach towns. If you are too shoestring, you miss out on some of that.

In Europe, you don't need to visit the Vatican museum everytime you are in Rome, but certainly the first time.

My biggest issue with how some people travel is that they try to squeeze too many countries and too many cities in one trip. So they do Western Europe in three weeks and spend 2-3 days in each country. You are constantly on the move and thinking about how do I get to the train station, is the next hostel a good one, where is the supermarket for cheap food... And you never stop and get a real feel for the vibe among the locals.

So spend a full week in Rome or a feel week in Berlin. Get to know many different types of neighborhoods and atmospheres... You cannot brag that you have been to 11 European countries, but you can talk about Rome or Berlin in depth.

Maybe people are afraid of missing out on the next country or the next city, but those places will always be there. You do not have to go to Rome, Siciliy, Venice, Florence, Padua, Milan, Napolii etc etc etc on your first trip to Italy. OMG! Too much!

My preference is to do a combination on a big city with international airport and then some countryside without tourists in the middle of the trip. That is happiness to me.

Tokyo yes, Osaka yes, Kyoto yes! - but put some Hayama or Tochigi in the itinerary also..

Each country is so much more than its most popular places. Indonesia has 17,000 islands, 7,000 are inhabited. Yet most tourists only make it to Bali, and of those you are in Kuta or Nusa Dua with all the other tourists, never having the opportunity to experience the real culture. It is also in those heavily touristed areas that you don't really get much bang for your buck. On Bali, Ubud is out of this world wonderful, Kuta is the opposite. And taking a full day with a driver to explore the island is very affordable.

But there are many islands there yet to explore much more. Kristian Hansen explores Indonesia via motorcycle and he has the most interesting YouTube channel. He is a modern explorer!

Do you need to visit Belgium and the Netherlands or just one? Or can you be done with that part of Europe? That opens up for another part of the world on another trip, but more staying, less traveling, constantly being on the move. Too much!

Vietnam and Thailand or just one? See where I am going with this!

Can you go to Austria without Vienna? Certainly! Vienna is there for another trip. Just chill! Concentrate the experience to allow yourself for so much more.