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Basic facts about the places I went:
South Pacific The South Pacific Islands, in-between Hawaii and Asia, have a very wide variety of cultures to explore, but they are separated by huge distances so it can be expensive. On Air New Zealand you get some free stopovers on the way from LA to Auckland. One of the possible paths you can take it is the Tahiti-Fiji route (it might have changed by now). In general, travel in the South Pacific is more geared toward tourists than to travellers on the cheap. In Fiji camping was an option; however, many of the places would rent tents and you may find later that your tent is more of a burden than a help. The more exotic places, such as the Solomon Islands or Vanuatu, are pretty inaccessable, but if you have the time and the money, they sound fascinating. New Zealand This country is a paradise for nature-sports types. Plan to blow your whole wad on bungy-jumping, white-and-black-water rafting, horsebackriding, trekking, parachuting, etc. Every possible type of natural wonder is represented in this tiny country of friendly, open-minded people. Where to stay: in the wonderful guesthouses. They typically cost $8 for a bed in a dorm or $15 for a double room, which is hard to get in on-season (summer Nov-Feb) but you can try to call ahead the day before if you know where you're headed. You can cook food in the communal kitchen. Some of these guesthouses are really cool little places in beautiful spots, others are more basic. There's also the option to stay on a farm in exchange for work, check in with the WOOF network (Willing Workers on Organic Farms). How to get around: I really liked renting a car and taking it between the two islands on the car ferry. A little more expensive, but you can get to so many more places. It's convenient to carry a big box of food around with you in the car, too. What to bring: We arrived on the first day of summer (September) and it was really cold the whole time. It was starting to warm up a month later when we left. So bring warm clothes. If you plan to do a lot of trekking (overnight backpacking trips), do it in the summer unless you're used to coldweather camping; but know that in the summer treks get crowded so you need to sign up in advance (they limit how many people can be trekking in an area). Otherwise, travel light and trendy clothes are pretty unnecessary. Australia Where to stay: Here too there are guesthouses (see the description above for New Zealand). How to get around: Driving here is not an option unless you want to stay a couple months, because of the vast distances involved. (If you do want to stay awhile, buy a hippie van and share it with a couple people). Otherwise get a bus pass from Grayhound or whoever. There are also companies like the Oz Experience that run bus tours for backpackers, which can be cool because you can hop on a bus whenever (if there's room) but you are forced into stopping only at certain places. What to bring: Unless you're going to be spending much time south of Sydney in winter (May-Sep) it will probably be balmy so travel light. You may want a trendy beach outfit if you feel the need to outdo Swedish college-age beachbunnies. SouthEast Asia
Where to stay: supercheap guesthouses run by locals. They're about $2 a night, usually, and often the people that work there hang out with you and give you advice on where to go. You never book in advance, just get advice from people who have just been there, or just arrive in a place and scout around. How to get around: you name it: public buses, bemos (little public bus/vans); horsecarts, ferries, cyclos (human-driven bicycle carts)... What to bring: my advice is: book a cheap one-way flight to Bangkok. Take nothing with you but a small daypack with your credit card, travellers checks, and underwear (one thing that's hard to find there is cotton underwear). Find a spot on Khao San Road for a few days while you shop and do research. Talk to people to find out where they've just come back from, and ask them about weather, VISAs, transportation, what's cool to do. Then buy a big cheap backpack on Khao San Road. Also buy your clothes; they're cheap, stylish (the Thais are slaves to fashion), and they fit the climate you're in, and when you rip them or wear them out you can get new ones. As for books, you can buy them from little bookshops in most major travellers towns; you can trade yours in but you don't get much for them. From Bangkok, the world is your oyster, cheap flights to anywhere...maybe relax on the beaches first to get into the groove. Money: We spent about $1200 each in 6 months in Southeast Asia. Definitely bring some travellers checks, but often they charge you high fees to change them and you're at the mercy of the local exchange rate. Credit cards are great because you get a better rate; plan to stop in major cities and get cash advances. The only countries in SouthEast Asia that aren't cheap are Singapore and Macau (a teeny tiny little kingdom); Malaysia and the Philippines are becoming more expensive quickly. Dangers and annoyances: In general, the countries I visited, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, and VietNam, are very safe even for solo women travellers. There are few weapons in these countries unless they happen to be in states of political unrest (right now Indonesia is in some trouble). There are several exceptions. Cambodia, tragically, is in perpetual anarchy. In Indonesia, Irian Jaya can be dangerous, and Timor has been in civil war for years. I didn't go to the Philippines but I hear that it is getting quite risky. Burma is a terrible place for the people but I doubt that travellers have much to fear. Malaysia is a safe place as long as you don't have any contraband (speaking of, Indonesia has draconian drug laws as well, except in Lake Toba on Sumatra).
Recent History: Obviously I can only touch on the subject enough to say that Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch, who took a relatively hands-off approach so have left few signs of their influence (in fact, you find more Indonesian restaurants in Amsterdam than you will find European restaurants in Jakarta, seems to me). Thailand was never colonized by a European power, while the French had a strict control over Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, a territory that they called Indochina.
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SouthEast Asia refers
to the mostly-tropical region between China in the north, Australia in
the south, and India in the west. This area is modernizing at a rapid pace right now.
The people:
Southeast Asia has a huge mix of ethnic groups and cultures. There are
many "primitive" ethnic groups who still practice their animist, or pagan ways, although the governments
in most countries are attemping to "civililize" them. As for the
majority ethnic populations: In Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia, you find
mostly Hinayana Buddhists. In VietNam you find Mahayana Buddhists but
with a large helping of Christians and 
