The Cost of Traveling in Central & South America

I don't know if this is a backcountry question, but I'm new so I'm posting here.

My question pretty much boils down to this: does it sound viable to travel through Central America (excl. Guatemala, Belize & Mexico, as I will already have covered them) and South America in the period of Juli 25 to December 20 on a budget of USD 11,000? I'm traveling as cheap as possible and I just want a general impression of the most important places.

I think you'll get better answers on a travel forum such as Lonely Planet. This forum is for wilderness trekking (American style "backpacking"), not budget travel.

Thanks, I thought the same thing when I looked into what backcountry meant. I'll go look there!

I think you posted last year, but if its still an option, I went from California to Matazlan-mexico. It took three weeks and found it very interesting once I got past the desert boundaries. Water on the trip was big issue. One book that may help a little is 99 days to Panama. Even if I did not speak spanish I always found help in translation and places to camp. Very nice people.