I'm a budget traveller so I can do a couple of international trips a year. On the other hand, I'm not unwilling to splurge for a great experience. For example, in Thailand I stayed in a $13/night place in Chaing Mai and a $100+/night resort on Phuket. As for trying to blend in with the locals, trust me there's no way a 5'10" redhead is going to blend in with the locals in most of SE Asia....thus the busload of Chinese tourists at Xian that wanted to take pictures with me. I'm an American, but most often mistaken for Canadian or British (well, by a couple of Aussies) which I view as a positive. I'd rather not live up to the loud American tourist stereotype.