You can just .... wander around. That's the beauty of traveling alone. There is no mutually agreed upon agenda - just do whatever you want. Go from place to place for as long as you feel like. Decide last minute where you want to go next. This may or may not appeal to you depending on your personality, but I have found it to be exhilarating. You pick up and leave travel companions along the way. I spent about 4 months in SE Asia just wandering from place to place - even ended up going to some countries I didn't originally intend. :-)
I've also noticed that people are a lot more likely to come up and start a spontaneous conversation with me when I'm not already part of a group of people. I don't know exactly why that is.....
Regarding the money constraint - if you wanted to go pretty cheap you can fairly easily travel in SE Asia for less than $1000 per month. Hostels are cheap. The best food is also the cheapest. Lots of cool things to do for free or very little money.
I've also noticed that people are a lot more likely to come up and start a spontaneous conversation with me when I'm not already part of a group of people. I don't know exactly why that is.....
Regarding the money constraint - if you wanted to go pretty cheap you can fairly easily travel in SE Asia for less than $1000 per month. Hostels are cheap. The best food is also the cheapest. Lots of cool things to do for free or very little money.