both financially and emotionally. Have you got the opportunity to defer this 6 months (say) and start to save ? Use some of the suggestions on here: overtime, extra part-time job, one less beer on a Saturday night, cut out the coffee shop - the usual boring but practical stuff. Even if you then have to borrow a little bit you'll be confident that you can repay it. I spent 5 months in Asia a few years ago, and it was the best time of my life. I went with little money, and no job to come back to, but things always work themselves out. You have a job to come back to so can easily pay back the debt. You can put it off and put it off, and eventually it will never happen. Or you can book the flights today and make it happen. On a side note, I spent roughly 4,000 in 5 months including flights. So, if you look at it that way you will be practically saving money when you're away. I had a chance when I was 30 and (now 45) and grabbed it - a year of wonder, which I still look back on and think WOW! - whilst lots of friends of all ages conjured up admiration for my 'bravery' and a hotch-potch of reasons why now wasn't the tight time for them. I'm thinking about doing it again in the next 3-4 years and some of those friends still haven't got