It went alright. Wish I did more research and had a stronger "ground game" when I landed. I did cursory searches and lined up some fiber optic splicing gigs, but things went sideways. I eventually developed that ground game and improvised a lot, but in hindsight I wish I'd done more due diligence.
Hostels get old pretty fast, and hitchhiking is pretty effective (caveat: only in some places). AirBnBs are usually overpriced. Couchsurfing was hit or miss.
I had good experiences looking for "learn X language" classes in big cities, and/or "learn English classes" where I'd show up and help them practice English. Learning some basic local language helped a lot. Just getting a feel for tonal languages and practicing them a little helped considerably.
Hostels get old pretty fast, and hitchhiking is pretty effective (caveat: only in some places). AirBnBs are usually overpriced. Couchsurfing was hit or miss.
I had good experiences looking for "learn X language" classes in big cities, and/or "learn English classes" where I'd show up and help them practice English. Learning some basic local language helped a lot. Just getting a feel for tonal languages and practicing them a little helped considerably.