We travel to the Philippines once every 2-4 years and (economy) airfare alone can eat up ~$5,000-8,000 for a family of 4. I think on our last vacation, we spent something like $18,000 all-in (a significant portion of which are gifts).
Mind, we're in SoCal and live on less than $6,000 a month (not including savings). Of course, we're lucky the rent for our 2B/2B apartment hasn't increased too much (from $1,000 10 years ago to $1,500 now). Similar apartments are now going for $2,800+.
Not all of SoCal is expensive. It's just areas near Metro LA and San Diego.
Housing is the biggest expense. If you're lucky enough to have housing covered (purchased property before housing boom with fairly low property taxes thanks to Prop 13, living with parents, etc), it's actually not so bad. Living in the suburbs (where houses are cheaper) is also an option. Just be prepared for a 2-hour or longer one-way commute.
There are also plenty of illegal immigrants in LA (typically border jumpers from Mexico). You can frequently see a bunch of them hanging around Home Depot. Not sure what they eat but food is pretty cheap anyway (if you're spending $2,000/mo on groceries and restaurants, then you probably have pretty high end tastes). For housing, they sometimes have 10-15 people living in one apartment. Health insurance? What health insurance? Also no car. Just walk or take the bus.