16 years
Not very much. I have talked to someone who did exactly that in Cuzco, Peru. This is a major backpacker destination now, the streets are full of young "gringos" and a whole industry has sprung up to cater to them.
He did that a few years before that happened, so it´s obviously very important to have a clue about those trends. He bought a house big enough for a hostel just one block from the main square for only $ 12000, and spent a similar amount for renovations. That´s all.
Money won´t be your problem. Try to figure out which countries are stable enough (you don´t want to end up in the middle of a civil war - backpackers tend to avoid flying bullets) and which destination may be cool to travel to in a few years. I would really try to find a place which is not yet a popular destination with a lot of hostels already there. E.g., most hostels in South America which were opened before the big boom are Gringo-owned. You know what backpackers want and how to get them to stay in your place, this gives you a huge advantage over the locals who try to sell rooms to them. Use that advantage as long as it´s there because it´s the only one you have.
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