There were large, sweating bottles of beer that had been replenished several times over the course of two hours. I dropped the zeroes, divided by three, double-checked the trickier-than-it-should-be conversion of baht to dollars and—it was still $65.

But buying a bunch of different one way tickets to get to your destination also sounds like a bit of nightmare to me, especially since I don't like to be at airports any longer than absolutely necessary.

Four years ago, Billfold pal Jodi Ettenberg quit her job as a lawyer and bought a one-way ticket to Chile. She has been roaming the globe every since, and gives a lot of really terrific advice on how to travel on a budget on her blog, Legal Nomads.