I agree. Did most then too. You're less hung up about nice things and creature comforted too which brings cost down.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

We (the better half and I) made the decision about 9 months ago to leave our great country (Aust) and go travelling for as many years as possible. Our plan is to leave in another 8 months at the end of the year and so far things are tracking well.
Starting from scratch.... with nothing this is how we have financed things so far.
We had a good win with some shares that got transferred to the US when the Aust dollar was high and then we cashed them out 6 months later when the Aust dollar had crashed, so we won both ways; that bought the bike. With the remainder we both work in construction and have been working 13 day fortnights (one day off every 14) for 6 months and living off my wife's wage and banking all my wage. Its bloody hard and we dont have a life atm.... and the only thing that keeps us working like robots is our goal, so each day we drag ourselves out of bed and do it all over again..... day in day out. Our plan is to try and save $70,000-$100,000 (aust) before we leave which is doable and if it takes a bit longer to get to this goal then so be it. We have built a shed up the back yard to store all our furniture in as we priced self storage and for the cost over the period we could build the shed and have an extra asset at the end. The plan is to rent the house out which should cover the mortgage with all the furniture packed in the shed. If tenants / anyone wants to break into the shed while we are away and carry a flat screen or leather lounge down the yard then good luck to them..... plus its insured anyway. Everything else should work out...... we hope!!!!
If possible it would be good to try and get some work while moving around but I dont know how successful that will end up, with Visa's etc. Other than that we simply have to watch our money while we are away and try and budget to keep things going. That's the idea and while many around us have said it cant be done, what we say to them is #$@%!
David & Em

Good luck to you both!
With your skills (construction) I'm betting you'll be able to find work in many areas you travel. I only really know Latin America well and can tell you ... they need BIG TIME help in the trades. Plumbing? Not a clue. Electrical? Nearly as bad.
Structural? Better but spotty. They are pretty good at concrete, floors, tile, brick masonry, steps but horrible at most things in terms of legit, safe construction practices.

In Mexico I was traveling with an Electrician friend. He is maintenance supervisor in a US Govt 30 story hi-rise, so serious skills beyond electrician. His office building houses FBI and IRS, plus the Federal Court. So everything works.

At one motel in Mexico the owner had serious electrical trouble. My buddy offered to help ... and once the owner realized what he could do ... we never paid for a room or a meal or drinks!

We drank LOADS of his Tequila. (my head still hurts) The Rat's nest of horrible and dangerous wiring was really scary. My friend Patrick was able to sort most it out in about a week, working 4 or 5 hours a day. By the time we left the guy was gob smacked. Everything worked. Stuff that hadn't worked in 10 years was working again. No blown breakers, no smoke, no fire. Biggest problem is getting proper parts.

I don't know your speciality ... hopefully you can do a bit of everything. Everything is what they need. They won't pay much compared to Oz or USA, but I'm betting you can do pretty well if you find the right client. There are people with money ... and often times they just cannot find skilled tradesman ... at all. You will be stunned by the down right shoddy work everywhere. If you have true skills ... you will never starve, that is certain.