travel asia for 6 months cost

What 6 Months of Traveling in Southeast Asia Cost Me (2023 Update)

09/25/2022 by Kristin Addis 210 Comments

2022/23 update: Since first traveling to Southeast Asia in 2012, I’ve revisited the region nearly yearly, logging over 2.5 cumulative years. Over that time some prices have changed, and this post reflects those numbers.

Back in 2012, I spent a glorious 8 continuous months backpacking in Southeast Asia on a long-term traveler’s budget. This meant staying in dorms, taking local transport, eating street food, and generally traveling on a shoestring budget.

In 2016, I returned with a more middle-of-the-road budget, and since then, have experienced the luxurious side of the region as well.

Over that time I’ve learned that whether you’re on a tight budget or have a bit more money to play with, your money will take you further in Southeast Asia than almost anywhere else in the world. Today, let’s answer the question – what does it cost to travel in Southeast Asia?

Table of Contents

On a Budget

I personally spent $7,958 USD (without SCUBA diving – $6,095) for six months in Southeast Asia, with a month each in Cambodia, Laos, northern Thailand, southern Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. With flights and pre-trip expenses, it added up to $11,000. Adjusted for today’s inflation, that would be about $15k.

Some guide books will swear that $30/day or less is sufficient for traveling in Southeast Asia – this is generally not realistic.

So how much will you need to budget to travel in Southeast Asia in 2022/2023? I wanted to give you the most up-to-date budgeting guide, and make calculations even easier with the addition of 1-month or 3-month breakdowns. With my recent trips back to Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia, a bunch of online research and the help of a BMTM team member who lives in Southeast Asia, here’s how much you should budget for an extended trip in Southeast Asia:

Pre-trip Expenses:

1. travel insurance.

This is one of those costs that’s annoying, but necessary should the worst occur.  I went with World Nomads travel insurance which happened to be cheaper than any other company I could find for US citizens.

Saving tip: If you know for sure how much time you’ll be away, buying more months upfront is definitely cheaper than extending periodically.

2. Flights: $1500

Flights might be totally different depending on where you’re coming from, but I usually end up spending about this much including flights from home and any inter-country flights once in the region. The first time I went, I bought two one-way flights to get from LAX to Southeast Asia and back. In hindsight, this may not have been the cheapest way to travel (I could have saved a couple hundred dollars by booking round-trip), however, I was unsure of my dates and departure city. Sometimes, the penalties and restrictions on moving flights ends up making a RT flight too much of a hassle.

Other ways to save are by making your itinerary logical, so that you can take overland transport most of the time and don’t have to cover huge distances all at once.

Saving tip: To reduce your flight costs, subscribe to flight deals like this one , especially if you are flexible on the traveling dates. Flights are also cheaper during shoulder and rainy seasons. You can also travel hack like I do to save money. Here are my best tips on making your economy long haul flights more comfortable.

3. Immunizations: $350

You’re out of luck if you’re an American when it comes to travel immunizations, because chances are you’ll be covering them out of pocket. I personally elected not to take malaria pills nor get rabies vaccinations because of costs associated and unlikelihood of either becoming a real issue.

Saving tip: In order to get immunized the cheapest way possible, visit the travel specialist at your local county healthcare clinic, or get the immunizations at one of the Bangkok hospitals, which is the name of a premier hospital chain with multiple locations, in Thailand.

4. Travel Gear: $400

My backpack alone cost me over $200, but was worth every penny as nothing ever broke and I’m still using it over 10 years later!  I also invested in Pacsafe products  to keep everything protected, which I do not regret! Check my guide out for essential travel items.

Saving tip: Limit your luggage to carry-on only , so you can save on check-in luggage. Southeast Asia is generally hot and humid year-round, so you will only need thin and breathable clothes. Things are also incredibly affordable so you can always buy things you need as you go.

I am all about winging it when it comes to a backpacking trip, especially in Southeast Asia. However, if you are on a budget, it’s best to decide on your length of stay in each country to avoid unnecessary visa fees. Here’s a complete breakdown for most nations:

On-trip Expenses:

1. food: $10-$15/day.

Eating local delights and choosing street food when possible are the best ways to keep food costs down. The food tastes better and costs much less when it’s a local dish vs. a western dish. Why order a disappointing burger for $4 when you could have amazing steamed pork buns, papaya salad, coconut soup, pad thai (the list is endless!) in Thailand for less than $1? If you are staying at a place with a kitchen, you can get groceries for cheap from the local market and make your own food. Note that at certain places, like Bali and Kuala Lumpur, eating out can sometimes be cheaper than cooking.

Saving tip: Check with your hostel receptionist for local recommendations. Eat where the locals eat. Don’t fear street food. It’s cooked right in front of you and may even be fresher and less processed than food available at home.

2. Accommodation: $5-$30/day

This really varied depending on high/low season and country, and whether or not your’e willing to stay in dorms. Cambodia and Laos were the cheapest while Indonesia and Malaysia tended to be more expensive and provided less value for the money.

Here’s how much you should expect to pay per night, if you were to book a hostel bed a week in advance, and pick one that’s clean and strategically located:

3. Transportation: $2-$10/day

Land transportation is generally very cheap in all of Southeast Asia. Taking an intercity bus typically costs about $10. The cost of renting a bike is around $8-$15/day. On the islands like the Philippines, public boat trips take ages but they are extremely cheap at about $2/ride.

4. Activities:

Diving: If you are a diver, you will be thrilled to find many, many affordable diving spots all over Southeast Asia. Prices go as low as $100 for a 3D2N stay with 3 dive trips, though when I returned to Southeast Asia in 2018, I went on a glorious 11-day liveaboard diving trip in Raja Ampat which now costs over $6000.

Island Hopping: An island hopping trip with 5-6 stops for less than $30? Only in Southeast Asia. Your negotiation skills will decide how much you pay for your island hopping trip, so negotiate away, and if the price offered does not make sense to you, walk away – there will be 5 more agents down the same street. Generally, you should expect to pay about $15-$30 for a full-day (typically 9am-3pm) trip that you share with others. For a private trip, it will be over $100. Read my comparison of El Nido boat trips here.

Group Tours: A walking tour is often the best way to get to know a new city. There are many tip-based, free walking tours available, and some of them are actually really insightful and fun. It’s the best way to meet new friends too. Paid tours typically cost about $8-$15.

Hiking: I love that this activity is mostly free, save for the occasional entrance fee! Even some popular hikes, like Mount Bromo , can be affordable if you do it independently.

Cooking Class: This delicious activity runs about $20-$40 for a class. Consider the skills you will gain and the free food you will make. I’d say it’s pretty worth it, especially if you’ve fallen in love with the local cuisine.

Popular Tourist Sites: Angkor Wat costs a whopping $62 for a 3-day pass, getting to the sky bridge of the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia requires $20, and the beautiful Gardens by the Bay in  Singapore  also requires $20 to enter. Pick and choose what you’d really want to see and factor the entrance fees into your overall budget.

5. Shopping:

Toiletries: If you can, buy from the small local stores instead of the big chain drug stores. They are likely to cost less, and you get to help the locals out. If you want to stick with familiar brands like Pantene and Nivea, the cost is similar to what you’d pay back home, if not slightly cheaper. Local brands cost less.

Clothes: They’re so cheap and awesome! You can get a funky top for $3, cliche but must-have pair of elephant pants for less than $5, and a beautiful silk scarf for less than $8.

Outdoor gear: There are many “counterfeit” hiking gear options available in Vietnam and Indonesia for a fraction of the original cost, but the quality is lacking, too. You can get a legit waterproof jacket for as low as $12, but if you bring it from home, it’ll last longer.

First Name:

Why couldn’t I travel on only $30/day?

The $30/day benchmark does not take into account gear, insurance, flights, and immunizations.  It’s also easy to forget that things like soap, shampoo, toothpaste, sunscreen , batteries, adapters, mosquito repellent, medication, and visas all need to be periodically purchased on the road. The cost seems small but when budgeting only $30 for one day, $4 on a small bottle of shampoo can really add up.

The $30 benchmark is more than realistic, if not a little rich, when staying in one place for an extended period of time in one of the cheaper countries.  I was able to spend $3/night on accommodation and around $10/day on food and drink in Otres Beach, Cambodia , for example.  I didn’t spend a dime on activities because the beach was free.  But what about the days when I moved around?  What about the times I had to spend $40 on a visa, $9 on a bus ride, and $3 on a water taxi?  My budget was blown before I even bought food or a bed for the night.

What about the days that I wanted to visit Angkor Wat, go SCUBA diving, or jungle trekking?  An extremely low budget is only feasible if you hardly move around and never spend anything on activities, but why travel to the other side of the world only to miss out on these things?

If I had not SCUBA dived, climbed  Mt. Kinabalu , or gone trekking in Bukit Lawang or  Mt. Rinjani , I would have shaved over $3000 off of my trip, easily. I also never spent more than a week in any one place.  Had I moved more slowly, I could have saved a lot more.

More saving tips:

• All hope is not lost if you have a smaller budget to work with.  To keep costs low, use services like Couchsurfing for free accommodation. Not into it? Stay in dorms.  They are a great way to meet people and save some cash. House sitting is also a possibility though less so in Southeast Asia.
• Always travel local instead of by private or tourist coach, even if that means travel days are longer. If you’re rich in time but not in funds, this is the best way to do it.
• Eat local foods and abstain from alcohol. The biggest budget eater is partying, by far.  If you never buy drinks, you’ll literally save thousands .  Really, thousands!
• Use a debit card that doesn’t charge fees and refunds the ATM fees assessed by other banks. The only one I’m aware of is Charles Schwab.

For a country-specific budget guide on each place mentioned above, I go into more detail in each of these posts:

Malaysian Borneo

Philippines

How much do you usually spend on traveling?  Do you have any budget travel tips to share? 

Best Places in Southeast Asia for Solo Travelers

The ultimate southeast asia itinerary, what to pack for backpacking in southeast asia.

*Some links in this post are affiliate links for products and services we personally use and love. Any purchase you make through them supports us at no extra cost to you. Thanks so much!

About Kristin Addis

Kristin Addis is the founder and CEO of Be My Travel Muse, a resource for female travelers all around the world since 2012. She's traveled solo to over 65 countries and has brought over 150 women on her all-female adventure tours from Botswana to the Alaskan tundra.

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09/04/2013 at 9:18 am

Great resource! Thanks for sharing that with us!

Kristin says

09/04/2013 at 11:58 am

Glad you find it helpful!

Anonymous says

10/11/2017 at 2:03 pm

Thanks! Without the scuba diving, it would come right on budget with $30.45.

09/04/2013 at 9:19 am

I can’t wait for my trip to SE Asia after the World Cup in Brazil. I need to start saving!

Good luck! I’m loving how travel-focused we Gauchos are!

OCDemon says

09/04/2013 at 3:13 pm

I definitely thought this title was going to be more personal, like, the answer was going to be “MY SOUL.” Oh well though. Info is great too!

09/04/2013 at 3:53 pm

Hahahaha! Well that too! More like my heart.

TammyOnTheMove says

09/04/2013 at 9:50 pm

I think you budget is more realistic. If you are traveling in a country and not take part in certain tours, then you might as well not bother (i.e. Angkor Wat). Love Otres beach. So stunning!

Jo (The Blond) says

09/05/2013 at 3:46 am

I think $11,000 for 6 months travel, including everything is not bad at all considering that you did trekking, scuba diving and things like that.

09/05/2013 at 10:44 pm

Yeah and when one really adds in the extras like flights, immunizations, and insurance, that’s a pretty realistic budget.

Joanna says

09/05/2013 at 6:22 pm

I loved how you broke everything down! I get some frustrated looks when I can’t give one price tag for any one of my trips because it really depends on how you travel and what you do!

As much as it’s great to get advice on how to stay on budget, some experiences are priceless and would be a waste to pass while you’re RIGHT THERE.

Rika | Cubicle Throwdown says

09/05/2013 at 6:36 pm

Awesome breakdown!! I love how sometimes it’s just way better to separate the ‘real cost’ from the ‘I have an expensive scuba habit’ cost 🙂

09/05/2013 at 10:45 pm

Hahaha! Exactly. I had to state that hey, a lot of this was due to this habit I have of spending a lot of time under water. I’m a bit of a junkie. I know you can relate!

09/06/2013 at 2:47 am

Awesome 😀 , I always envy reading your blog :'(

I hope some day, I will take my own journey same like you do 😀

thak’s for the “VIRUS” hahahah

09/06/2013 at 11:22 pm

Awesome and you’re welcome 🙂

09/06/2013 at 6:38 am

Great breakdown. I wish I had the discipline to do that. Did you have any issues with the one way tickets and the airlines wanting you to have proof of departure from the destination country?

I have a way around that 😉

Chris Fitz says

05/11/2016 at 12:26 pm

I’m planning on traveling soon, and being only my 2nd time out of the country, don’t want to run into any unnecessary issues 🙂 what is your way around this?

Kayleigh says

09/06/2013 at 3:42 pm

Here I am sitting behind a desk bemoaning every hour of ridiculous corporate america. For the past year, I got away with playing the game my way. Was always on the ball with my work so I took advantage of countless travel opportunities and unpaid vaycay because I could care less about the money so long as I have enough to travel. Well for regulatory reasons I can no longer escape dreaded weeks, nor escape for an hour or 2 during the day for a yoga sesh when there is not work to do. 🙁 talk about killing my soul. Anyway, I can’t tell you how many people I tell about your blog and right you are, people just don’t get it. I guess taking the safe, traditional road (the road too highly traveled IMO) is what people feel comfortable with and so they stick with what they know. So here I am, trying to balance holding a job, saving the dough until I can take off on the trip of a lifetime! So glad I stumbled upon your site-absolutely love it!

09/06/2013 at 11:26 pm

Aww thanks so much for your comment. Hang in there, you’ll be back on the road and it’ll all be worth it.

Michelle | Lights Camera Travel says

09/08/2013 at 5:22 am

Thanks for sharing Kristin! It’s always helpful to see these posts. I generally budget the same, $1000 for ground expenses, and things like flights, visas, expensive activities (i.e scuba diving) on top and that usually works for me!

09/08/2013 at 11:56 am

1k is a great budget for the extra stuff.

Arianwen says

09/08/2013 at 10:36 pm

This is a really useful overview! I’m pretty bad at keeping a close eye on exactly what I’ve spent so when people ask me about my trip to South America, it’s a very rough estimate! Nice one keeping track!

09/09/2013 at 4:18 pm

I had a lot of going back through my bank account withdrawals to do!

Turner says

09/09/2013 at 10:00 pm

Not too bad. I would be about spending $30 a day too, as per Lonely Planet suggestions, that is if all that weed and hookers didnt get in way. Sigh.

09/11/2013 at 12:41 pm

It’s the ping pong shows and lady boys that really kill my budget.

Morgan says

09/10/2013 at 9:54 am

This is amazing! Thanks for putting it together. I’m also an American and just started vaccinations – the rabies and japanese encephalitis will probably be put on the back burner due to prices (It’s outrageous!). Do you think you went the correct route skipping those?

09/10/2013 at 12:31 pm

I couldn’t even find Japanese Encephalitis when I was getting my vaccinations. I understand it’s kind of important if you’re spending a large chunk of time in SE Asia though, as it’s a pretty serious disease. You can definitely find it in Thailand, although I’m not sure how much it would cost. I personally don’t have that immunization and, well, I’m still alive and kicking!

09/10/2013 at 3:05 pm

Great story and thank you for laying out your expenses like that. Helps those of us who are looking into long trips some very valuable info

09/10/2013 at 8:13 pm

Glad you found it helpful!

Jennifer says

09/11/2013 at 1:35 am

I love your breakdown and it’s really realistic. Just did the same and I’ve come to pretty much the same conclusions. It’s easy to be on the cheap in SEA, but not everywhere and all the extras add up really fast!

09/11/2013 at 11:12 am

Thank you! Yes the extras do add up.

Joey Rana says

09/12/2013 at 1:14 pm

please visit the philippines. plenty of places to visit and part of south east asia. many travelers often neglect the philippines and hope you can make an exception.

09/12/2013 at 8:20 pm

I will. Next year!

09/24/2013 at 1:53 am

Brilliant post, thank you so much! My trip is rapidly approaching and this has really helped.

09/25/2013 at 7:55 am

Hello! I came across your blog and found it really inspiring! I am planning a 3 week trip to HK and maybe Thailand in October. I will attempt to blog my journey and looking for blogs to follow as well as increasing my number of followers so feel free to explore and please join my site while you are at it!

09/25/2013 at 1:15 pm

Thanks Vera! HK is awesome

Simon Lee says

10/08/2013 at 12:00 am

Hi Kristin, Dropping by for the first time. I am from Malaysia.

I am surprised that you spent the most money for accommodation in Borneo as there are quite a number of budget accommodation in the area.

Did you checked out some of the islands off the coast of Semporna? Widely known as a scuba diver paradise and i am sure you will like it as diving is what fascinating you:)

Cheers, Simon

10/09/2013 at 8:08 am

Well, it had more to do with the fact that I had been spending closer to $5 in most other countries. Yes, Borneo has budget accommodation, especially in the cities, but it’s not as cheap as other places in Southeast Asia – Malaysia in general is not as cheap. I went diving in Sipadan and it was amazing!

Manfred says

11/27/2013 at 8:44 pm

We just finished 6-7 months around SE Asia as a couple and spent an average of just under $30 each. We started and finished in Bangkok though, so didn’t have the additional cost of flights to/from SE Asia. We also didn’t get any immunizations, as our doctors here didn’t recommend any. We also didn’t need to buy any travel gear, as we both already had suitcases. I think this would be the case with most travelers. We wrote a book about our experiences if anyone is interested. See our blog.

11/27/2013 at 8:51 pm

Oooh Yikes I would DEFINITELY suggest everyone at least get the Hepatitis vaccines and Tetanus. Very important!

12/25/2013 at 4:26 pm

hi, i wanna go to Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. but i am confused how to get a visa to Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. can you help me out?

12/25/2013 at 10:41 pm

It really depends on where you’re from! You should check your country’s travel advisory website for more info. If you’re from the US , Canada, or EU, you can get a visa on arrival for all of those countries.

12/26/2013 at 12:19 am

What country are you from. If from US, UK, etc, you don’t need visa for Malaysia or Singapore, and can get visa on arrival for Indonesia. For Indonesia you need to have a flight booked to leave the country before arriving.

12/27/2013 at 5:17 am

That’s helpful info because I actually got a two month visa for Indonesia prior to going there while I was in Kuala Lumpur. I was told I needed proof of an onward flight but they never asked, and I didn’t have one!

01/20/2014 at 8:24 am

Maybe it’s different if you have a visa in advance. Also, sometimes people need onward flights and sometimes they don’t check. But I know people that haven’t be allowed on their flight because they didn’t have onward tickets. I wish they had proper rules, but it’s all a bit hit and miss.

01/20/2014 at 8:32 am

You don’t *really* need anything booked onward. There are ways around that but I know what you’re saying. Thailand and Indonesia are often that way and the Philippines is as well.

01/19/2014 at 11:17 pm

This is awesome as I’m planning my next adventures. Im currently in New Zealand but i just wondered in which currency was your budget for Asia?

01/20/2014 at 8:15 am

Ah I should note that on the post. USD 🙂

01/21/2014 at 9:26 pm

Looking to do a 6 week trip this Summer with a friend starting with a week in Thailand and ending with a week in the Philippines. Unfortunately can’t visit every country you described – did you have any personal favorites or must-sees!? My friend and I are both scuba certified as well – any great scuba spots would be much appreciated! Thanks, love the website!

01/25/2014 at 9:00 am

Sipadan in Borneo is the best diving I’ve done. You must book that kind of far in advance. Komodo in Indonesia is also amazing but the current is strong and you need at least AOW certification. I loved Cambodia and Laos but in 6 weeks I wouldn’t try to rush too much. A lot of people do and they miss a lot. Northern Thailand is great!

03/09/2014 at 5:26 pm

This was a really helpful post. Thank you for all the details. I’m trying to decide where to visit on my way back from Australia to the UK. Cambodia and Vietnam are looking like they might come out top, although I really want to see the Philippines too! I see this trip extending…!

03/09/2014 at 6:13 pm

I just did a budget post on the Philippines and it’s more expensive than I thought it would be. I have one on Vietnam going up today so check that one out! I really loved Vietnam!

03/19/2014 at 8:53 am

I love your helpful breakdown, but I do think that hostels eat up a lot of the travel budget, so I almost always try to couchsurf or stay somewhere as a Workaway volunteer whenever I travel in Asia or Europe. I think hostels are my last resort because I’ve had a couple negative experiences in hostels, but also, when you CouchSurf (which doesnt always mean you sleep on a couch btw!) or stay as a volunteer with a local, first of all, it’s FREE–plus you get free meals as a Workaway volunteer, and your CS host may also invite you to join him/her or their family for a meal or two. And second of all, you are gaining a truly authentic experience and perspective of the lifestyle, and you have a local to help you and offer you excellent advice for your stay! 🙂

03/20/2014 at 7:55 pm

Great suggestions and agreed, especially in more expensive countries. I’ve couch surfed in Europe and in China.

Sidney says

03/23/2014 at 2:36 pm

Thanks this helped alot!

03/23/2014 at 8:15 pm

I’m currently planning my trip for this summer, and just wanted to say this post/site is extremely helpful! I just got all my vaccines last week. Japanese Encephalitis set me back $500 alone. Yikes! I’m now on to gear. Taking your advice w/ a 40L pack. As for travel insurance, I just got a quote online from World Nomad that says it’ll be $386 for 6mo. coverage. Why was yours so much more expensive? Was it the timing? Or maybe $793 is for a full 10 mo?

03/24/2014 at 12:54 am

I got the adventure plan which covers SCUBA diving, etc., and that was for the full ten months as well. I wish I had just bought it all at once upfront because it’s actually cheaper that way. Oh well! You live and learn 🙂

Allen Espy says

03/24/2014 at 6:04 am

I did a similar trip in 2000. 6 months, about eight countries. Semi-backpacking. $12,000

03/28/2014 at 9:08 pm

Did it cost money to get visas’ to these countries? Were visa’s even required if you’re not working?

03/28/2014 at 9:24 pm

Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia are free. Cambodia ($20), Laos ($35 but depends on where you’re from), and Indonesia are all visa on arrival but they cost money. Vietnam must be procured before you land and it’s expensive. I paid $20 and then $45 for a stamping fee.

04/21/2014 at 11:13 pm

Hey Kristin – thanks for sharing this! I will say that traveling as a couple makes the cost a lot better. Rob and I did six months in SE Asia and with all flights and a lot of scuba, we came out to a bit over $30/day per person. We always stayed in private rooms with private bathrooms, although we did do a fair amount of haggling.

When you add in shots and flights to Asia, the costs do go up. But that’s what frequent flier miles and pre trip health insurance are for :o)

05/05/2014 at 1:17 am

Splitting taxis is a huge help. The months that I did most of my traveling with friends were definitely cheaper.

Christopher K says

05/02/2014 at 12:38 pm

Hey Kristin!

I’m getting ready for my trip to SEAsia in mid-June, arriving in Bangkok on a one-way ticket as well, and I just wanted to ask you about your experience flying with such a ticket.

Apparently one of the requirements for Thailand’s free 30-day tourist visa is to have proof of “an onward or return airline ticket within 30-days of arriving.” I’m planning on flying to Bangkok and staying there until my 30 days expire, at which point I’ll heading to Cambodia –> Vietnam –> Laos via LAND transport however (i’m planning on buying my bus and train tickets when I get there).

My question is: Did you happen to have another airline ticket (out of thailand within 30 days) purchased and ready to show to the immigration officials and/or airline when you arrived? How’d it go for you? Do you think the airline could bar me from getting on the plane if I show up to the airport in new york with nothing but the one-way ticket to bangkok and my passport?? :S

It’s just one of my scruples at this moment!

Hope that all made sense! Thanks so much!

05/05/2014 at 12:55 am

Sometimes the agent at the check in counter will ask for onward travel proof and if you don’t have it they won’t let you check in. I’d suggest editing an old e-ticket from a different airline with a future travel date and printing that to bring with you.

05/21/2014 at 3:03 pm

Thailand also has (or had 5 years ago) cheap rooms. I got a single or double bed room for 3-4€ outside of bangkok on different occasions. I plan for round trip with Thailand, Vietnam and Laos now and it is great to hear that I won’t be completely broke at the end of it. 🙂 Also one hint: An Indonesian friend showed me some Indonesian booking sites and they seem a lot cheaper than the American/European ones. Try tiket.com for instance.

Barbora says

05/28/2014 at 9:28 pm

Your website is freaking awesome! No nonsens lifestyle generic scribbling, but actual useful practical advice. Big thank you!

05/31/2014 at 3:09 am

Wow. THANK YOU!

matthew says

06/01/2014 at 2:05 am

I just got home from a 18 month trip all over SE Asia, Singapore 3x, Malaysia 6x, Indonesia 1x, Thailand 2x, Philippines 1x, and did the whole 18 months on $8200 USD including my separate 1 way flights back and forth from the US. It helps to make friends on the way, lots of free food and places to sleep.

06/02/2014 at 4:13 am

Couchsurfing and staying with friends definitely helps a lot. I tend to buy meals or pay my share or bring a gift, though, which does increase my costs. To me, it seems like the right thing to do.

06/22/2014 at 6:00 pm

Hey, I love your post and have found it particularly useful whilst planning my own trip, I’ve got a question about currency.. How did you handle money over there? Did you have lots of different currency on you at all times or did you literally just withdraw money in each country when you needed it? Also, how did you cross from each country to the next and have you got rough prices for them? Thank you 🙂

06/23/2014 at 2:45 am

I just withdrew money when I needed it. I crossed overland for the most part and typically you want to pay visa fees in US Dollars so always have some of those on you.

06/23/2014 at 11:08 am

Travelling is enjoying the different food: should be careful as paying too low …you might be fed with rat meat instead of pork… especially in poor country, meat is still expensive. If the meal is a buck, I’m not sure it’s pork or rat….? A 3 to 4 dollar meal should be very satisfying… if your budget could not afford that then I was wondering what would you enjoy in your travel? My idea is to save a bit more before your trip and really enjoy the time there …. if you find yourself penny-pinching then wait for another season and build those extra bucks…The worst thing is to see something that your friends enjoying while you couldn’t afford.

Wd you sleep in a place where rats came out at night to say hi? It is much more enjoyable to stay at a 5.00 or 10.00 room and enjoy the night rather than sleepless because of those vermins….

06/23/2014 at 5:43 pm

That’s absolutely ridiculous. You can see the meat before you eat it, usually raw, at the street stall. I think we all know that beef ribs look nothing like rat meat, and it’s possible to just go vegetarian as well. I also eat food locals eat and take pride in making. It’s insulting to them to claim they’re cooking rat’s meat.

$1 streetside soup in Vietnam (with a giant pork shank in it, I might add) is delicious.

Lastly, most rooms I stayed in that year were around $5-$10 per night. I now often spend a bit more but I wanted to see if it could be done for $30/day back then.

Kaylin says

07/24/2014 at 5:28 pm

After doing some number crunching, it looks like you spent about $34/day not including the scuba (which wouldn’t necessarily be something alot of people would do on such a trip) or the flights (which most people don’t include in their daily budget). So really it’s not so far off the $30/day recommendation! Either way, this is a great article showing real expenses on your trip. I have been to Thailand and Cambodia before for 2 weeks, but I want to go back and do a much longer trip to more countries in the next couple years, so I will definitely keep this budget in mind 🙂 You are so right that not drinking saves SOOOOO much money. I feel like half my budget in Cambodia was for those $5 buckets LOL.

07/29/2014 at 5:27 am

That’s true, but I think a lot of people have one or two expensive activities they just really want to try, so it’s worth budgeting that in. Cutting out drinking would actually make it much cheaper than $30/day considering where I was staying and the types of transport I was taking.

07/30/2014 at 4:04 am

Hey Kristin,

Great blog!! I was wondering if you had any advice on obtaining visas on your travels?? I have a one way ticket to thailand this upcoming November, and I was honestly just going to wing it as far as determining my length of stay in certain countries/areas. Any help would be appreciated!!

07/30/2014 at 7:36 am

I did the same. Most countries, except for Vietnam, you can just get a visa on arrival (depending on which country you’re from, of course), and it can be pretty easy to extend.

Ian Limbonis says

08/10/2014 at 11:12 am

Im on my 111th day today, and so far spent <1500$. Tracking all my expemses daily to meet the least possible expensiture, though i must say coffee, cigarette, and seldom beers can help lower this doen further.

08/11/2014 at 1:05 am

Wow you’ve done a great job then!

08/11/2014 at 1:59 am

Not as much as how you organized your expenses ;-). Im glad how quite basic i’m becoming

Michael says

08/25/2014 at 11:23 pm

Wow thats cheap.. good for you!

09/02/2014 at 10:54 pm

I tried! Could do it even cheaper and certainly more expensively as well.

Paul Durano says

08/27/2014 at 9:11 pm

If your in Cebu, Philippines by mid Jan – May 2015, I help you find a place for $20 per day. Living with local family.

Samantha says

08/29/2014 at 4:45 pm

Hey Kristin, HUGE fan of your blog and the advice you give. You have really helped me out as I plan for my backpacking trip to SEA, Australia, and New Zealand (leaving in 65 days!!–but who’s counting?!). Quick question: did you get a credit card for this trip? I opened up a Charles Schwab account for the ATM card, but I wanted to get a credit card with 0 foreign transaction fees as well, just as a precaution. Do you have any banker recommendations? :). Thanks again!

09/02/2014 at 10:43 pm

Glad to have your readership! I use a Capital One Venture card and would also suggest having some kind of back up as well. Airline mileage cards also often are transaction-fee-free.

09/18/2014 at 1:01 pm

Hi Kristin,

For your southeast asia travels you got immunizations for Hepatitis A and Tetnus?

Did you get any for: Fly or Typhoid or Hepatitis B or Japanese Encephalitis or Rabies?

Also, you mentioned you chose not to take medication for Malaria? Any concern why?

My mother wants me to inoculated for every conceivable transmittable/contagious disease but to save both money and side effects I want focus on the truly most necessary vaccinations.

Thank you! Haley

09/18/2014 at 10:21 pm

I got Tetanus and Hep A, already had B, as well as Typhoid. Did not get rabies and Japanese Encephalitis wasn’t even available at my clinic. I have never taken anti-malaria medication. I’m in that part of the world for way too long for that.

Stephanie Be says

10/03/2014 at 10:58 pm

I just wrote an article on tips for Thailand, and one of my tips was that it is NOT as cheap as people make it out to be. I couldn’t agree more with the misconception that it’s “easy” to live on a shoe string budget in developing countries. There are many costs, and chances are that most travelers WANT to experience things like an elephant reservation park or Angkor Wat.

Nice to hear it from you too!

10/04/2014 at 6:14 am

Southern Thailand is definitely more expensive than the middle and north as well!

Franca says

10/04/2014 at 1:33 am

I forgot how cheap SEA can be and after being traveling around Europe for more than 1 year, it seems like a dream being able to spend so little and still enjoying yourself so much! We spent a lot less than you have, but mainly because we didn’t do the activities you did and we took some extra vaccinations (rabies for instance because we volunteered in dog shelters) and malaria pills in some areas. Sometimes I miss these countries, maybe we should go back and explore the countries we haven’t been yet. There is too much of the world I want to see, my list gets longer instead of shorter 🙂

10/04/2014 at 6:13 am

Same here. I am over in Europe now, thankful that I now have a bigger budget but definitely do still love SEA, both for how cheap it can be and how amazing it can be.

Victoria says

10/04/2014 at 5:12 am

Definitely agreed $30 isn’t realistic if you want to see and do things, although I think as an American you have it way worse! In the UK immunisations are free, I go to TK Maxx for my travel gear so we’re looking at maybe £30-40 on a bag and then flights cost me about £400-£500 RETURN if I don’t care what day I travel on. When I did Phuket for a month it cost $400 US for my room ($13 per day) and then I spent roughly $10-$20 on food and I literally wasn’t doing ANYTHING except working on my computer and going to the beach. So really $30 is only do-able if you decide to do the ‘living somewhere’ option and do nothing.

10/04/2014 at 6:10 am

Definitely true. Moving around is expensive due to traveling costs, but living in one place or moving very slowly makes things much more affordable.

10/08/2014 at 8:00 pm

Hey Kristin, We shall be traveling Indonesia in June and we wondered if you had any tips on where to go? we figured we’d stop off in Bali (its the cheapest island to fly to) plus my friend works there as an instructor and I’m going to take my DM course there. Other than that we’ve seen that Sumatra and Flores look good, but we don’t really know anything about them. Also, how expensive is it to take a tour with the orang-utans? i’ve looked online and it said 20,000Rp… that seems pretty cheap to me, does that sound about right? Finally, how expensive is it to island hop? we traveled south thailand via boats and busses and it work out pretty cheap but will it be the same in Indo?

Thanks for your advice and your amazing travel blog! Keep up the awesome work! Emily 🙂

10/09/2014 at 11:41 am

Definitely I wrote a lot about it in the Indonesia https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/category/destinations/southeast-asia/indonesia/

Here’s the info on Orangutans https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/bukit-lawang-trekking/

Here’s info on island hopping local style https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/how-to-get-from-flores-to-lombok/

whitney says

10/16/2014 at 2:28 am

what backpack did you buy for $200 and what do you do for income (or has the initial funds from liquidating your assets not run out yet)? also do you still maintain and contribute to a retirement plan? lastly, i assume travel insurance makes up for not having employer sponsored health benefits? i too am a banker and im wondering how i can make this a reality for myself.

10/16/2014 at 8:04 am

Yes I contribute to a retirement account, which was pretty heavily invested in with my old job. I make money off of this blog and freelance writing. Check out my series on how to start a travel blog if that interests you! https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/category/travel-prep/how-to-start-a-travel-blog/

11/05/2014 at 4:04 pm

i wanna backpack for 6- 8 months in Asia , and is like 10.000 dollar enough ??

11/06/2014 at 4:07 am

Well you can see how I laid out my expenses here, so I’d say that no, it is not, if you add in things like flights, gear, and insurance. It is if you don’t party much and don’t do expensive activities and stay in dorms, eat street food, and take local transport. It boils down to your way of traveling.

TeachingTravel says

11/24/2014 at 8:25 am

You really missed out by not spending as much time in Vietnam! Vietnam is extremely cheap. However I didn’t spend as much time in Cambodia, this time i’ll make sure to check out the beaches! Last time I just hit the temples of Cambodia and skipped right through!

Also traveling with someone else would really bring these costs down!

11/24/2014 at 8:53 am

I ended up returning to Southeast Asia and spending a month in Vietnam after writing this post. Traveling with someone else would definitely cut the costs down but I’m a solo traveler and that’s the focus of this blog 🙂

Claire says

08/28/2016 at 1:08 am

I’m so curious, why and what would all the reasons traveling with a partner cut the costs down??

09/07/2016 at 3:24 pm

You split cabs and private rooms

Muzammil says

12/17/2014 at 2:11 pm

Hey! Amazing article and love your website!

Can you please let me know how many flights did you have to take in your 10 months Oceania & SE Asia trip? And what were those flights?

Thanks! Muzammil

12/17/2014 at 3:19 pm

I probably took around 6-8. If you just stayed in Southeast Asia you can do almost all of it overland. You can get very cheap last minute ones on local airlines and on Air Asia. I really like Bangkok Airways in Thailand, and Tiger is also good.

12/17/2014 at 3:26 pm

Thanks for the response! When you say overland, are you referring to taking ferries/boats between countries like Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, etc.?

12/18/2014 at 2:14 am

You could do that but it takes a VERY long time and in that case I’d just fly.

12/29/2014 at 9:18 pm

Wow , I really want to do this how do you find all the places to sleep and not end up paying for hotels

12/31/2014 at 12:50 pm

Stay in hostels/guesthouses and especially dorms to save money.

Lesh @ NOMADasaurus says

01/03/2015 at 9:48 pm

What an awesome breakdown Kristin. I know what you mean about $30 a day. Sometimes it happens but most of the time not. There are so many awesome activities to do all over South East Asia and we were not missing out on them. Love your tips for cheap travel. We love eating locally and traveling locally too. It is not just cheap but such a great experience. We have met some wonderful people on some journeys. We have been taking a budget daily so we can keep track of our spendings. The fact it is there on paper has really helped us budget. Over spend one day, lay low the next day. It is crazy how much alcohol can add up too and how many stories I have heard of people spending all their money partying and have not enough to see the rest of the country. The country always comes first for us. Thank you.

01/04/2015 at 2:04 pm

Thanks Lesh. I definitely agree it’s better to buy experiences than beers, but if you can do both, even better! 😉

01/04/2015 at 6:29 pm

Hey Kristin, great breakdown – I’ve managed on $30 in Asia, but on the basis it was covering food and accommodation only and no sightseeing. Also, these kind of simple ‘figures’ just don’t work in places like Singapore, Tokyo, etc. It annoys me when I see guides/books/etc. encouraging this as an ‘option’ because there must be so few people who manage on something like $30 a day and still get to see and do everything they wanted! Bring more – see and do more.

01/05/2015 at 4:52 am

True Singapore is a lot more costly and I actually haven’t been there yet. If any guide books are suggesting $30/day is doable in Tokyo I’d toss that right out the window!

01/12/2015 at 6:26 am

How am I only just finding this blog? Good stuff

01/13/2015 at 1:23 am

Aw thank you.

01/25/2015 at 10:42 pm

Never tried this myself, but I would imagine $30 (3000 yen) in Tokyo is possible. Well, I am in Tokyo now working (I am from Canada) but will travel abroad in November.

3000 yen breakdown possibility (if not relied on heavy tourist travel-style) – of course, it all depends on what you want to do that day; the list of what to do is endless:

1. Yamanote Line (most of the touristy places are on this line): 730 (day pass; it is even less that if you want to stay in places that require less than 730 yen) 2. Food ~1000 a day IF cheap, healthy, and convenient food places (i.e. Sukiya) –> much less required if rice balls and other smaller foods bought at convenience stores or McDonalds (100 yen options) 3. Accommodation – Couchsurfing! (0 yen) 4. Others (museum fee, drinking, whatever you choose)

Total: 1730yen plus additional

I do not know how much travel insurance is needed. Nor visa. However, when sites that say $30/day is possible, I do not believe that cost includes visa, insurance, etc. I think it means just travel expenses (food, accomodation, and such).

And for visa, I have never bought it before. But according to my Japanese passport Visa requirement for travel in Europe, I can travel in Europe for 3 (or 6) months at maximum without visa, so I am sure Visa is not required if less than 3 (or 6) months?

01/27/2015 at 7:28 am

Thanks for that! I had no idea it could be so cheap since Japan is always thought of as so expensive. You can get a VOA for fewer than 3 months in Europe, yes. You can only stay for 3 out of every 6 months.

02/06/2015 at 1:55 am

I went for a month in December/January of last year and found it expensive, probably because I wasn’t able to find as many dorms and it was over the holidays which is an understandably expensive time.

sashlah says

02/22/2015 at 8:06 am

We are spending around 15/20$ a day in two in North Thailand. We rented a huge house with 3 bedrooms for little more than 150/month. We always cook at home buying stuff at the market.

02/23/2015 at 1:40 am

Northern Thailand is really nice and cheap. Cooking at home is cheaper than street food? That’s my favorite part of Thailand!

02/23/2015 at 9:11 pm

Thanks for the great advice! One thing to add, when I was traveling for 6 months through Western Europe, I got charged about $5 per ATM withdrawal– I have Chase. BUT, I called and asked them, and kind of sweet talked them, into refunding me the charges! It wasn’t a lot since I went to the ATM as few times as possible but every dollar counts!

02/23/2015 at 10:16 pm

I’d suggest Charles Schwab which refunds all ATM fees and doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. I really think they’re the best option. Great customer service, too. Wow I sound like an ad but honestly I love them.

01/14/2016 at 6:05 am

do you by any chance know how this works for Europeans? Can, say a Belgian guy, get an Charles Schab account? 🙂 Have you met Europeans troughout your trip who managed to solve or eliminate these fees?

01/16/2016 at 1:01 pm

I believe Schwab is only in the US, these are some good suggestions: http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/avoid-paying-bank-fees-traveling/

03/07/2015 at 6:08 pm

First off I want to say I’m a huge fan of your blog! Your posts are always great and so interesting! I’m very grateful for this post in particular. I’m considering homeschooling my son for a year and spending the time traveling SE Asia. So I have a few questions for you: what is the point of travelers insurance? Is it health insurance? We have health insurance and I cover my electronics through my homeowners insurance (it’s very cheap btw) so I don’t think I need travelers insurance, right? Did any areas seems unsafe at all? My son is 13 so he’s not a baby but I still don’t want to put him directly in danger of course. When you reference “dorms” is that the same thing as hostels? What is high season in SE Asia? What language is most widely spoke? I was thinking about spending a few weeks in one spot to take courses on a foreign language. Anything else you think I should know? Thanks and keep up the great work!

03/11/2015 at 7:03 am

Hey Kristin! Depends on which country you’re in regarding which language is spoken the most widely. In Thailand that would be Thai, Malay in Malaysia, etc. However, most places you’ll find you’ll be fine communicating as locals speak at least some English and much communication isn’t verbal anyways, as I’ve learned through the years. I also don’t think a few weeks is enough time to learn much of a language, though I wouldn’t want to discourage you!

As for insurance, you can check if your health insurance covers you abroad. Mine didn’t. I have travel insurance so that I’m always covered and if I need to be flown home for medical care, I’m still covered. Hope that helps.

03/11/2015 at 9:35 am

Yes that helps a lot! Thank you!

05/07/2015 at 7:40 am

I find your post realistic! And refreshing knowing that I’m not able to always stick to $30/day either. Currently traveling in Northern Thailand and doing my best with level of comfort, while staying cheap. Probably the biggest money saver as you mention is indeed when I go a week or so without drinking. 🙂 Thanks for the honest post and keeping up with your site. Inspiring!

05/07/2015 at 7:32 pm

Thanks Erin! Yep the biggest budget killer is alcohol, even though each drink individually is cheap, it adds up!

05/29/2015 at 5:41 am

Awesome! I got to understand on how much should I be needing and what do I really want before exploring outside my country in SEA!

Very informative post! 😀

Liem @ Holiday Bays says

06/20/2015 at 10:28 pm

Hey Kristin, when will you visit Vietnam? We can go for coffee and eat some local food. I live in the Mekong Delta area. Love your blog by the way! 🙂

06/22/2015 at 4:10 am

I spent one month there in 2014 but would love to return. I love the food and the coffee so much!

07/18/2015 at 3:40 pm

Good write-up

The Wife & I traveled SE Asia for 3 months last year and are hooked! On seeing more. We did things a different way financially so are kinda setup now but it meant foregoing this earlier on. But also means work is almost optional now. We spent about $8k across 7 Countries and that’s staying in Hotels ranging from $50-$100 per night. Everything is cheap there and most things are just so much better. They live a good life and we now see that Western world has it all wrong

07/19/2015 at 2:16 am

Can definitely see where you’re coming from with that. Wouldn’t say they all live a good life though. It’s easy for us to do so because we were born with privilege, a passport that provides mobility, and the ability to earn in a strong currency.

Jasmine says

08/09/2015 at 6:49 am

My main question in all of this was how did you go about traveling to these countries once you started in Thailand? Are there cheap (significantly cheap) flights available from one to the next or are you able to cross the border in a local bus? *I’m trying to convince my friends of a southeast Asia tour and the only way I can persuade them is if this factor is relatively inexpensive lol.*

08/10/2015 at 5:01 am

Hi Jasmine, I generally crossed overland though I flew to Malaysian Borneo and did a few flights in Indonesia as well. For the most part busses and trains are the method of getting around, and they’re cheap! So are Air Asia flights so I’d suggest signing up for their newsletter and taking advantage of sales. I scored a flight for $18 with them previously.

Charmaine says

09/30/2015 at 12:52 pm

Thanks for all your tips! I’m looking to do some backpacking soon and one thing I’m concern about are bank fees! You mentioned Charles Schwab doesn’t have any fees, can you elaborate more on this? Were you always banking with them or only as a travel account? Is it only available to US citizens (I’m from Canada).

10/12/2015 at 6:38 am

Hi Charmaine, I don’t know if it’s available in Canada but I don’t think so. This post is a pretty good resource: http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/avoid-paying-bank-fees-traveling/

Izy Berry says

11/26/2015 at 2:30 pm

Is not that expensive !! Incredible is very economic

KeepCalmAndWander says

12/27/2015 at 7:44 am

Going back to Cambodia soon and I hope the country is still cheap! 🙂

12/27/2015 at 1:10 pm

It’s still cheap.

Christian Vielma says

12/29/2015 at 10:54 am

Nice post! My wife and I traveled this year around Asia, including SEA. We also find the $30 limit not very realistic unless you stay for long time and live more like a local (preparing your own food instead of restaurant)

12/31/2015 at 4:18 am

I feel like eating street food is superior to cooking your own when traveling in Asia. It’s fresh, cheap, and lots of it is healthy.

Darren Bush says

01/11/2016 at 11:06 pm

Hey Kristine, I just want to thank you. As your blog is super helpful for me. I will keep all your points in my mind as i am thinking of visiting few countries in southeast asia.

Oliver Mortimer says

01/13/2016 at 6:07 am

Great article, Myself and my girlfriend are travelling on the 10th of February for 167 days. We will be going to Thailand Laos Malaysia Indonesia and Cambodia. We will be taking with us just over 9000 euro and have our flights booked travel insurance bought and vaccinations done.

I’m wondering if you think this will be enough money? We would like to see and do as much as we can and will be mostly eating street food but will be staying in our own rooms and not in dorms.

01/13/2016 at 8:41 am

If you take local transport and don’t party too much it could work. You might have to stay in dorms sometimes but the main thing that eats a budget quickly is partying for sure.

01/14/2016 at 3:25 am

Thanks for the reply. We’re not going over to party, so hopefully we’ll be ok with the budget we have….

robbie says

01/20/2016 at 4:03 pm

is it best to book hostels and such before or just go on the go

01/22/2016 at 3:27 pm

I generally do it on the go unless it’s a holiday in which case they can book out for months ahead of time.

Natasja Trujillo says

01/25/2016 at 6:54 pm

Love your blog. What would you say this budget would be for 2 people?

01/28/2016 at 10:49 am

That was just for me. For two double the food costs and add for busses and flights too. I stayed in dorms as well so I paid a single amount but for a private room or a dorm for two you’ll pay double. It’s not entirely double the cost but I’d budget as much for cushion.

yuyazz says

02/03/2016 at 8:03 am

Hello i’m sorry but i really need to write on maximum english blogs because after 6 months of travel in South East Asia, it is my duty to prevent the maximum person from countries such england or australia Everywhere we went, thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Burma, Malaysia, and Laos, we encountered the same type of travelers, loud, arrogant, completely disrespectful of other travelers and local poeple or places..A on several occasions we had to change guesthouse to find a more quiet place, especially away from you english people. You have a tendency to shout rather than speak, to make noise, in couple or group, always acting as if you were alone in earth..Even if you know that the owner of the guest house sleeps just next door, even if his childrens have to sleep to go at school the next morning, it will not matter, you continue until late at night yelling like pigs, in total disrespect of your neighbors .I therefore ask you this: learn to respect your neighbors, cease to believe you higher because the whole world must understand you and speak your language when you do not speak any other language except yours..the local bad feel towards overseas is due in large part to your behavior..Vang Vieng but the Thai islands are the best examples of your behavior incredibly bad.English women love to put almost naked, where the local dress head to toe in all sacred places or elsewhere, you English women you absolutely not respect the modesty of local people, in bikini everywhere..we thing that you really behave badly, the whole world hates you for that, but you don’t care and continue..if ever someone notice it to you, you laugh..You, English, you must to know it, please, SHUT UP, and respect local cultures and your neighbors..your culture based on easy friendship, nudity in public places, and “shouting” must stop!!!.Please be respectful and forget your huge egos!!! … you are the shame of Western europe to abroad …you have to know and to behave in consequence please..if some of you think that i’m exagerating, just look and listen, everywhere in South asia, and certainly everywhere in the world..you are in holidays, ok..but maybe your neighbors or the local people around you are NOT in holidays!!! -so 1 : be quiet -2 : stop wearing bikinis and show your muscles to the whole world.. if people comme here to read these comments, be adise that you are not really appreciated in the world…especially because of young travellers who just care about themselves, and just think about making party… I had no bad idea about english or autralian before, not at all..now after six month travelling, i just hate you, and can’t stand anymore your fucking behaviour..

02/05/2016 at 6:41 am

I wasn’t going to approve because it’s racist this but then again, there are some nuggets of wisdom in here. People who travel elsewhere only to behave badly and disrespect the locals but partying like crazy are the scourge of Southeast Asia and a big reason why I tried to get away from the Thai islands and find other places that weren’t ruined yet.

Also, I’m not English. Not Australian either. Your problem is with the bad eggs, not the entire race of people. Calm down.

Brennan says

02/07/2016 at 7:04 pm

Hey Kristin, this is a great site and very helpful…kudos to ya for setting it up and providing all of the valuable information! I have been pondering leaving my job for some time now to travel Southeast Asia for a year. I have been fortunate that I can travel twice a year while still having my job, and I have been to a few countries so far (Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines) but I really want to spend more time there than just a few weeks per year. What are your thoughts on being there for a year? Do you think it’s too long? Also, after your 8 month trip and you returned to the States what was your takeaway from it and are you more motivated to travel now or less? What would say was the best part of the trip?

02/10/2016 at 12:39 pm

Altogether I’ve spent 3 years of my life in Asia and I STILL feel like I haven’t seen it all so there’s no way that a year is too long. I loved the interactions with locals when they happened. Have fun!

03/29/2016 at 2:36 am

This blog is friggin amazing! Thanks for all the great advice. I’ve been saving for the last two years and I’m about to embark on an across the globe backpack journey, living on 20 dollars a day.

04/04/2016 at 4:43 am

Thanks a lot for sharing!! I’m planning a trip to Southeast Asia and this is the first article that actually helped me to calculate expenses. Thank you for all the helpful information

A Pin on the Map says

05/23/2016 at 10:36 am

Thanks so much for the invaluable info! Thinking of heading to Vietnam and Cambodia next summer and this post will be perfect to re-visit before I book my trip. Thanks for sharing!!

Julie Rog. says

05/24/2016 at 4:08 am

Thanks for all the great advice! I want to travel now ^^

NickPomata says

05/26/2016 at 4:40 am

i think 11.000$ is too expensive i also paln a 6 months travel, in southeast asia but probably 4000/5000 will be my budget

07/29/2016 at 2:47 am

Hi NickPomata, are you still traveling? And how about yourt target 4000/5000 per 6 months? Thank you!

Steeve says

07/08/2016 at 6:33 am

I am always amazed on how much expenses keep piling up when I am on vacation… Even when I don’t do anything fancy. I now try to do some volunteering work. I receive accommodation and meals and in return I do some work. It is the best way to travel with minimum expenses and to get to know some local people and the local culture. I did it last year in a yoga ashram in India called Arhanta Yoga. It was the best experience ever. I am now looking for a place in Cambodia, if any body has any suggestions… I would love to know!

Emilia @ mythicalasia.com says

07/13/2016 at 10:29 pm

Southeast Asia is a wonderful destination for the families with kids. Also for many travelers, this region is their first introduction to Asia.

Maddie says

07/23/2016 at 12:03 pm

Took my first trip to Southeast Asia summer of 2015 and spent 10 days in Thailand going through Ayutthaya, Lopburi, and then finally Bangkok. Even spent my 18th birthday in Bangkok and stayed on Khaosan Road! Best experience of my life, planning another trip summer 2017 with my dad that takes us to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and finally Thailand. We both want to hopefully move somewhere in SE Asia in the next few years and this breakdown of costs and your experience helps with the planning process!

07/25/2016 at 4:18 am

That’s wonderful! So glad that you had such a great time 🙂

Naciholidays says

09/12/2016 at 2:57 am

Vietnam is also a good suggestion, I visited Ha Long Bay is very beautiful there and Nha Trang, Sai Gon … Maybe you’ll like it

James Crosby says

08/22/2016 at 11:32 am

If you really put young urban mind to it $30 a day overall is very realistic. I did that ciircuit as part of a larger trip and it can be done on around $18 a day. Couchsurf, hitchhike, and that’s your two biggest costs wiped out. As far as food, you can easily eat breakfast for $1 and evening meal for $3. Use a steripen so you can drink tap water, never drink alcohol. Also don’t take tuktuks unless you really need to. Wake up early and walk everywhere. Some days I would walk in excess of 20km to explore places. Keeps you fit and it’d free.

08/22/2016 at 4:56 pm

I’d say the biggest part of that advice that helps with costs is not drinking (and for the sake of argument, not doing activities that cost money). Eating local and sleeping cheap are great ways to save but I also think most people can’t resist indulging when they travel, in all of the fun stuff, so I’d rather spend a bit more to have more fun.

10/13/2016 at 2:06 am

My Partner and I are planning a 6 month trip to South East Asia with our 16 month old son.

We want to do it as cheap as possible and we’re thinking of buying a van and decking it out with a mattress etc.

Do you think this would be safe and efficient way to travel South East Asia? We are planning on going to Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam & Cambodia.

10/13/2016 at 11:07 am

I don’t really think that’s necessary. Busses and private rooms at hostels are so cheap, and I never really saw anyone self-driving there except for on a motorbike.

10/21/2016 at 1:44 pm

So true about the $30 a day and just totally going over with even just a visa fee or transport! Transport prices are what surprised us! I did not get any immunizations though and I flew from Australia so my flights were much less as well. Love your honest breakdown. Very helpful for first-timers to SEA 🙂

Äventyrsresenär says

12/11/2016 at 6:11 am

Hi there Kristin,

Just stumbled on your blog and as a former expat in Asia I’m glad to see you covered some useful tips and advice when traveling around this region. I haven’t read all of your posts for this particular adventure… you mentioned some stuff you did in the south of thailand and indonesia and malaysia, was it scuba diving? Would love to know more, did you write a post about these travel experiences as well?

Have a great weekend, Sam aka “Äventyrsresenären”

12/11/2016 at 11:15 am

Sure did! Scroll down to SCUBA diving on this active adventures page and you can see what I wrote about: https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/outdoor-travel-blog/

12/13/2016 at 3:22 am

I am going away for 6 weeks on boxing day to Thailand, Vietnam & Cambodia. What would you say is the best way to carry money as i will need three different currencies.

12/15/2016 at 8:59 pm

get it from ATMs

Agness of a TukTuk says

02/14/2017 at 12:39 am

Wow, this is great! I learned a thing or two I could’ve done better when I was in SEA. It’s affordable travel, but it could even be made more affordable. There’s something about the people in SEA that totally makes me want to go back.

02/22/2017 at 9:29 pm

Hi Kristin, Thank you for the tips, I have traveled around the world but most of them were with the US Marine Corps. I am just finishing up grad school this May and will travel for the first time that is not work related. I will be traveling for 3 months and want to start with Thailand, and end in Australia. I don’t drink (I am hoping that will save me some money) and I don’t have any other habits that will cost me more (want to get a scuba license though). I like the couchsurfing idea (do you know any other option if I don’t find accommodations for free?). What safety advice would you give me (specially if I was in military in my past life) and i believe I have most of the immunization done through military deployments. Where would I be able to learn to surf for cheap or even free in any of these countries that you have visited in SE asia? Thank you, Michael

02/22/2017 at 11:50 pm

There’s no surf except for in Indonesia, I’m fairly certain. As for safety, just be smart. If you don’t drink then that’ll help a lot with money and with not getting into trouble. Dorms are so cheap, if you can’t couchsurf then go for those.

Therie says

03/12/2017 at 7:35 am

You really can’t miss scuba diving in SE Asia. It’s a must and the experience is absolutely worth the money. Thank you for putting this together Kristin! Your blog is so awesome, great tips and recommendations, keep it up!

03/14/2017 at 6:48 am

Glad you liked it! I totally agree, I wouldn’t have wanted to experience SEA without the diving. It was worth every penny!

06/15/2017 at 11:43 am

Has anyone tried camping in South Asia or have any experience with it? I’m considering that 🙂

Piotr Kowalski says

09/26/2017 at 4:53 am

This is a very good post and I definitely was looking for something like this. I’m planning a long term trip to Asia next year and the information you have put here will make me change my plans a little. I didn’t know that Laos and Cambodia are so damn cheap, $2 for a bed is nearly like for free or to put it into perspective, I couldn’t even buy a nice sandwich in Europe for that amount. Which place/country you liked the most from them all that you’ve seen in south east Asia?

09/26/2017 at 7:03 am

I like them all for different reasons! Laos was pretty special, though, as was Cambodia, because they were a little less popular.

Abdulrahman Ameen says

11/26/2017 at 7:44 am

This is what I was just searching for. I’m planing to go to a trip to Southeast Asia soon but I have already visited Malaysia, So now I’m Planing to go to Cambodia,Vietnam,Indonesia, Philippines ,Thailand and Myanmar. But a lot of people told me Laos, Vietnam And Cambodia are much similar and they told me you can just go to Cambodia so what do you think of that? and how long should I take to visit these countries with how much budget like estimating ?

11/26/2017 at 9:26 am

I don’t think they’re similar at all. Each has its own unique culture and landscape and things to see. I think a month in each country is good if you can.

Valentina Greene says

07/28/2019 at 1:11 pm

Love reading your posts. Thanks for sharing.

07/31/2019 at 8:44 am

Thank you for sharing! I enjoyed reading your post, and it is very helpful for me to plan my next trip.

08/02/2019 at 4:46 am

Great post! It will be very helpful to those who are planning to the trip and the pics are very nice.

Daniel Gallo says

08/30/2019 at 12:20 am

Where do you get the money to do this if your on Min. Wage? im lucky if after all the bills are paid i have 100$ left. like a 1k a year. it take me over a decade to do something like this?

09/02/2019 at 9:53 am

You might find this helpful https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/how-to-afford-solo-female-travel/

Brendon says

11/16/2019 at 5:27 pm

Great article. I always save up and pay for insurance and the main flight ahead of time and then just pretend that money vanished ? And then I budget from there with my remaining money. Fortunely I’m Canadian and don’t have to pay for immunization. But again the CAD dollar is much weaker thanks USD. Stay in places longer and travel slower saved me hell of alot more money ?

Mary Smith says

01/03/2020 at 2:39 am

Great post! it will be very helpful for planning any trip to Aisa.

01/21/2024 at 11:11 pm

Great article. I’d also suggest a good tip on money in SE Asia. Atms are a good way of getting cash and you can use apps like ATM Fee Saver – it helps finding the fee-free and lower fee Atms in the region along with withdrawal limits for foreign card holers. worth adding to your list of tricks!

How much does it really cost to travel in Asia for six months?

“But I (we) don’t’ have enough money to travel for half a year!”

This is maybe the biggest objection people have against traveling. If that sounds like you, then this is a must-read.

Nicole tracked every single Euro she has spent on the road and we have decided to give you our exact and real numbers on:

• How much did we spent traveling six months from Tehran to Bangkok
• What exactly did we spend this money on by category
• How much money did we spent in each country
• What kind of luxury can you afford with this kind of budget
• And where the biggest potentials are to save a buck or two 

The absolute number for one person

7006,52 Euro.

Well, that’s it? Yes, that is the exact amount Nicole has spent in six months traveling through Asia (Kevin’s number is basically the same though there might be a couple of extra beers ;-)).

Obviously, simply having a number doesn’t necessarily help. After all, there are very different styles to travel. We have met some people who were mainly hitchhiking and spent less than 500 Euros a month.

So, what does 7006,52 Euro buy you?

Travel budget breakdown by category

Food: 1005.21 Euro

All in all, we mostly ate out in restaurants or grabbed some street food (extremely good value for money in China and most of South East Asia). When we enjoyed the luxury of having a kitchen we also cooked though in lots of places it isn’t necessarily cheaper than getting street food. The 350 Euros we spent on buying food in (super-)markets also includes our gigantic appetite for chocolate and Snickers :)

Flights: 1039.05 Euro

Even if you are a frugal traveler, flights can really mess up your budget. Generally, they are the most expensive (and probably most environmentally unfriendly) way to get you from A to B in Asia. So we tried to stay off them, which was not entirely possible. We flew

• From Frankfurt to Tehran (to start our trip)
• From Beijing to Hong Kong (for a visa run)
• From Chengdu to Denpasar, Bali (otherwise it’s really hard to get from China to Indo)
• From Denpasar, Bali to Bangkok
• And from Bangkok back to Munich (to end our trip)

We booked most of our flights on Skyscanner, but we avoided AirAsia because of their horrible records of incidents ;-).

Other modes of transport: 1305.28 Euro

This includes trains, long-distance buses, other buses, taxis and UBER, a couple of crazy boat trips and scooter and bike rentals.

Although this may seem like a low price tag for 180 days on the road we almost never chose the cheapest option available. For instance, in Iran, we always took VIP buses, in China, we traveled mostly by sleeper trains and in South East Asia, we regularly opted for the minivan instead of the larger (slower) buses.

However, we avoided private transport (such as hiring a driver for getting around) as much as possible and when we were in bigger cities, we also opted for public transport most of the time.

Visa: 467.15 Euro

Health Insurance: 203.81

Entrance fees: 210.08 Euro

Organized trips and tours: 640.06

We traveled mostly independently, but now and then, we booked an organized tour. Among others, this includes horse-trekking in Kyrgyzstan, a road trip through the Pamir mountains in Tajikistan and a guided trekking tour through hidden villages in Laos.

Sports and Fitness: 557.64 Euros

This amount is probably one you might not necessarily spend while travelling. But as our goal for spending a month on Bali was to improve our surf skills, we took a lot of surf classes. In addition to that we joined a couple of Yoga classes and rented climbing equipment for some days in China and Laos.

Clothes: 204.63 Euros

We almost never went shopping or bought anything (our backpacks were anyway full and didn’t allow for shopping). Still, while “settling” for some weeks on Bali, we didn’t entirely manage to avoid the many small, fancy shops :). Also, both of us bought board shorts and shirts for surfing.

Medicine & Cosmetics: 65.84 Euro

The Rest (a.k.a, bars, massages, souvenirs and miscellaneous): 205.45 Euro

What’s not included?

The above number doesn’t include travel gear that we bought before the trip (we will do an extra blog post on this one) and necessary vaccination and other medial check-ups (cause they are free in Germany, duh, but we know that depending on the country, this may be quite some extra money). Also, not included are subscriptions that just ran along during the trip like Spotify, Netflix and ExpressVPN.

Travel budget breakdown by country

Azerbaijan: 44.45 Euros

We only spent five days in Azerbaijan, so the amount is heavily inflated by the boat trip we had to pay to get over the Caspian Sea. We feel like that Azerbaijan is about comparable to Iran.

Kazakhstan: 25.87 Euros

Again, not really representative since we only spent four days in Kazakhstan. Generally, organized tours seem to be pretty expensive: We were quoted USD 60 per person per day for hiring a driver to get us into the desert (which we didn’t do).

Uzbekistan: 17.86 Euros

Heavily underrated and cheap country! This budget includes the Uzbek visa, some pretty expensive tours, double room accommodation and several taxi transport between cities!

Tajikistan: 45.01 Euros

What, isn’t Tajikistan supposed to be rather cheap? Yes, overall, it should not be more expensive than Uzbekistan. However, the majority of the cost comes from hiring a car and driver for several days to roadtrip the Pamir as well as the visa.

Kyrgyzstan: 26.23 Euros

Another really affordable country. This budget includes a three-days horse trekking tour as well as crossing the Torugart pass into China. We don’t know why we did it, but that was USD 200 for each of us (at least the views of the pass were amazing and it saved us some time and extra train rides in China…). If you exclude the Torugart pass, you would arrive at a whopping 19,74 Euros per day!

China: 29.41 Euros

In China, a lot depends on how you travel, what you eat etc. Since we traveled all the way from Xinjiang, the very West of China, to Beijing, then flew to Hongkong just to travel back up north, we spent an average of 11,74 Euros per day for staying on the road, which is really expensive. On the other hand, we saved some money because we stayed at Kevin’s family for about 10 nights in Beijing and Yichang. Otherwise, hostel accommodation is about 50 RMB (or 6 Euros) per person per night, street food is about 15 RMB (or 2 Euros) per meal, so rather average. Entrances are on the expensive side compared to Iran or Uzbekistan.

Indonesia: 42.99 Euros

Our most expensive country! Even excluding the flights to get there and away, we spent 34,59 Euros per day per person. The big difference here is our rich leisure program, which included a lot of (!) surf and yoga classes and the more than average shopping we did on Bali. We also spent more money on food in Bali because psychologically, we weren’t ready to survive on Nasi Goreng only. So we ate lots of organic, hipster bowls.

Thailand: 27.45 Euros

We only spent three nights in Bangkok, so not a really representative number. Our feeling is that hostels in Bangkok are quite expensive. Food is ok if you stick to the streets.

Cambodia: 36.49 Euros

Pretty average costs in general. The budget includes a very expensive tour to an elephant sanctuary as well as the expensive (but obligatory) ticket to Angkor Wat.

Laos: 32.52 Euros

Cheaper than Cambodia with regard to food and transportation. The most expensive single experience was a hiking trip through hidden villages in the north of Laos which significantly drove the average cost up. Renting climbing gear for a couple of days in Thakek was cheap (compared to Germany), but still added up.

What kind of luxuries did we afford?

Double-room accommodation

The standard and cheapest accommodation for backpackers is obviously the shared dorm. Traveling as a couple however, we mostly opted for the added privacy of a double room. Added bonus, in most of Central Asia as well as China, it’s about the same or only slightly more expensive than dorms.

Sleeper trains, VIP buses and non-AirAsia flights

We definitely had above average costs on the road. We took the luxury of not using the crappiest mode of transportation ever. That means: VIP sleeper buses in Iran, minivans instead of buses in South East Asia (much faster) and sleeper trains in China. Also, to get to and from Indonesia, we decided against AirAsia because of their horrible safety record.

Pamir Highway, Torugart Pass, surf, yoga and other expensive tours

Every once in a while, we spend some ridiculous amount of money on some really expensive tours and activities. But hey, that’s the main reason we travel anyway right?

Top moneysaving tips!

Make use of differing exchange rates!

This didn’t seem very important to us in the beginning. But in some countries, it really matters. For instance, in Iran, the exchange rate may differ tremendously from exchange booth to exchange booth and all of these are still cheaper than the official one! Also, in Uzbekistan, the exchange rate for both USD and Euros was essentially the same. But since the one Euro is worth about 20% more than one USD, exchanging Euros would lose you a lot of money!

AirBnB and scooter on Bali:

As we have already mentioned, Indonesia was quite expensive for us, mainly because of all the surf and yoga. We tried to save money elsewhere. On AirBnB, there are often hefty discounts if you rent a place for a week or a month (sometimes up to 50%). So if you know you are going to spend some time to recover in one place, book early!

Same goes for scooter, which is already way cheaper than taxis or hiring a driver. But again, you can get serious discounts if you just rent one machine for the entire duration of your stay.

Independent trekking:

Organized tours are always really expensive no matter where you go. We were able to save a lot by going independently. Specifically for Kyrgyzstan, there is tons of information online and you can rent (sort of) decent equipment in the big mountain hubs which makes a tour mostly irrelevant. Apart from Kyrgyzstan, we also hit the road on our own in Iran and China, though it would be more difficult to rent equipment.

Couchsurfing in Iran:

As we have mentioned, hostels in Iran are pretty expensive. And couchsurfing doesn’t only save you some money, but also gives you an authentic glimpse into the culture of local people!

So, as you can see, traveling does not have to cost a fortune. In fact, living for half a year in Germany/Europe is often much more expensive. This is the case even if you just don’t want to sleep in dorms or use crappy buses anymore. And as we have already said, you would be able to travel for a couple of months in Central and South East Asia with an even lower budget than we did! So, start saving some extra Euros each month and you would be able to start your trip quite soon!

What kind of luxuries do you afford while you travel? What are your favorite money-saving tips? Let us know in the comments!

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• Travel Destinations

What 6 Months Of Traveling In Southeast Asia Cost Me

Published: October 1, 2023

Modified: December 27, 2023

by Roselle Moffitt

• Budget Travel

Introduction

Embarking on a six-month journey through Southeast Asia is an exhilarating and enriching experience. From the bustling streets of Bangkok to the tranquil beaches of Bali, this region offers a diverse tapestry of cultures, landscapes, and adventures. However, before delving into the enchanting details of my travels, it's essential to shed light on the financial aspect. Many aspiring travelers often wonder about the cost of such an expedition. In this article, I aim to provide a comprehensive breakdown of my expenses during this six-month sojourn, offering valuable insights for those considering a similar adventure.

Throughout this narrative, I will delve into various cost categories, including pre-trip expenses, transportation, accommodation, dining, entertainment, and miscellaneous costs. By sharing these details, I hope to offer a realistic portrayal of the financial implications of long-term travel in Southeast Asia. Whether you are a seasoned globetrotter seeking to compare experiences or a prospective traveler yearning for an authentic understanding of the financial commitments involved, this article aims to provide clarity and transparency.

As we delve into the intricacies of my expenditure, it's important to note that the costs are subjective and influenced by personal preferences, travel styles, and individual circumstances. While some may prioritize comfort and luxury, others might opt for budget-friendly alternatives. Therefore, the figures presented here serve as a reference point, offering valuable insights rather than concrete benchmarks. With this in mind, let's embark on a captivating journey through the enchanting lands of Southeast Asia, where culture, adventure, and discovery await at every turn.

Pre-Trip Expenses

Before setting foot on the vibrant soils of Southeast Asia, thorough planning and preparation were essential. The pre-trip expenses encompassed a range of crucial elements, each contributing to the overall cost of the journey. Visa fees, travel insurance, and vaccinations constituted the primary financial considerations. Securing appropriate visas for the multiple countries on the itinerary involved varying costs, depending on the duration of stay and entry requirements. Additionally, investing in comprehensive travel insurance was imperative to ensure peace of mind throughout the expedition.

Another significant pre-trip expense was the procurement of essential gear and equipment. This encompassed durable luggage, versatile clothing suitable for the region’s climate, and reliable travel accessories. Furthermore, acquiring a quality backpack, sturdy footwear, and travel-sized toiletries added to the initial expenses. Additionally, electronic gadgets such as a reliable camera, power banks, and universal adapters were indispensable investments for capturing and documenting the journey.

Moreover, the cost of necessary vaccinations and medical consultations cannot be overlooked. Prior to departure, obtaining vaccinations against prevalent diseases in the region was crucial for safeguarding personal health. Medical consultations and prescriptions for essential medications also factored into the pre-trip expenses, ensuring a healthy and secure commencement of the adventure.

While the pre-trip expenses may not contribute directly to the daily costs incurred during the journey, they are integral to the overall financial planning and preparation. As I reflect on these initial investments, I am reminded of the significance of thorough preparation and the peace of mind it affords throughout the ensuing expedition.

Transportation Costs

Traversing the enchanting landscapes of Southeast Asia involved a diverse array of transportation modes, each contributing to the overall expenditure. The region’s extensive network of buses, trains, ferries, and flights offered a myriad of options for navigating between countries and exploring within each destination. The cost of transportation varied significantly, influenced by factors such as distance, mode of travel, and seasonal fluctuations.

Bus travel emerged as a prevalent and cost-effective means of intercity and intracity transportation. The extensive bus networks in countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia provided convenient and budget-friendly options for exploring diverse locales. The affordability of bus travel allowed for seamless connectivity between cities and facilitated immersive experiences within each region.

Furthermore, train journeys through picturesque landscapes added a touch of nostalgia and adventure to the itinerary. The cost of train travel, although slightly higher than buses, offered a unique perspective of the region’s topography and cultural tapestry. From the iconic Thailand-Cambodia railway to the scenic routes in Malaysia, each train journey contributed to the overall transportation expenses.

Additionally, domestic and international flights were essential for covering extensive distances and venturing between countries. While flight costs constituted a significant portion of the transportation expenses, strategic planning and early bookings often presented cost-saving opportunities. Navigating the archipelagic beauty of Indonesia and connecting between major hubs involved a combination of flights and ferries, each contributing to the transportation expenditure.

Reflecting on the transportation costs incurred throughout the journey, it is evident that the diverse modes of travel in Southeast Asia catered to various budgets and preferences. From the budget-friendly bus rides through scenic countrysides to the exhilarating flights over turquoise waters, each mode of transportation contributed to the tapestry of experiences while shaping the overall financial implications of the expedition.

Accommodation Expenses

Throughout my six-month odyssey in Southeast Asia, the spectrum of accommodation options varied widely, encompassing budget hostels, guesthouses, boutique hotels, and occasional luxury resorts. The diversity of choices allowed for tailored experiences while significantly impacting the overall expenditure on lodging.

Opting for budget-friendly hostels and guesthouses presented an economical yet immersive approach to accommodation. These establishments, prevalent in backpacker hubs and cultural enclaves, offered basic yet comfortable lodging options at affordable rates. Shared dormitories and communal spaces facilitated interactions with fellow travelers, fostering a sense of camaraderie while minimizing accommodation expenses.

Furthermore, venturing into rural landscapes and off-the-beaten-path destinations often involved unique lodging experiences such as homestays and eco-friendly retreats. These unconventional yet enriching accommodations not only provided insight into local lifestyles but also contributed to sustainable tourism practices. While the cost of such accommodations varied, they added a distinct dimension to the overall lodging expenses.

As the journey unfolded, occasional indulgences in boutique hotels and beachfront resorts punctuated the itinerary, offering moments of luxury and relaxation. While these upscale accommodations incurred higher costs, they provided respite and rejuvenation, complementing the immersive experiences garnered from budget-friendly stays.

Moreover, the duration of stay in each location significantly influenced the accommodation expenses. Longer sojourns in cultural capitals and exploration hubs often warranted negotiations for extended-stay discounts, contributing to cost savings. Additionally, leveraging online booking platforms and seasonal promotions presented opportunities for securing favorable rates, further impacting the overall expenditure on accommodation.

Reflecting on the diverse array of lodging experiences and their financial implications, it is evident that the accommodation expenses encompassed a spectrum of choices, each contributing to the richness of the journey while shaping the overall budgetary considerations.

Food and Dining Expenses

Exploring the culinary tapestry of Southeast Asia was an integral part of the immersive travel experience, with each destination offering a vibrant array of flavors and dining options. The region’s renowned street food, bustling markets, and diverse dining establishments provided a captivating exploration of local cuisines, accompanied by a spectrum of dining expenses.

Embracing the allure of street food became a hallmark of the journey, offering an authentic and budget-friendly culinary odyssey. From savoring aromatic bowls of pho in Vietnam’s bustling alleys to relishing flavorful satay skewers in Indonesia’s vibrant night markets, the street food culture encapsulated the essence of each locale while minimizing dining expenses.

Furthermore, patronizing local eateries and family-owned establishments allowed for immersive culinary experiences at modest prices. These hidden gems not only offered delectable regional specialties but also provided insights into the local way of life, enriching the dining experiences while contributing to cost-effective dining options.

Occasional indulgences in upscale restaurants and beachfront cafes added a touch of luxury to the culinary exploration, albeit at higher dining expenses. These experiences, often intertwined with breathtaking vistas and cultural performances, offered moments of indulgence and relaxation, reflecting the diverse dining landscape of Southeast Asia.

Moreover, the cost of groceries and self-catering options factored into the overall dining expenses, particularly during extended stays in certain destinations. Exploring local markets, preparing simple meals, and savoring picnics amidst scenic landscapes presented economical yet memorable dining experiences, influencing the overall expenditure on food.

Reflecting on the gastronomic escapades and their financial implications, the dining expenses encapsulated a spectrum of flavors and dining settings, each contributing to the richness of the journey while shaping the overall budgetary considerations.

Entertainment and Activities

Immersing in the cultural tapestry and natural wonders of Southeast Asia entailed a diverse array of entertainment and activities, each contributing to the overall expenditure while enriching the travel experience. The region’s captivating heritage sites, adrenaline-pumping adventures, and vibrant cultural performances offered a spectrum of opportunities, accompanied by varying costs.

Exploring iconic landmarks and heritage sites often involved entrance fees and guided tours. From the awe-inspiring temples of Angkor Wat to the ancient ruins of Bagan, these historical marvels provided profound insights into the region’s rich heritage, albeit at a cost. Additionally, engaging local guides for immersive experiences and historical narratives added to the entertainment expenses while enhancing the depth of exploration.

Moreover, the allure of natural landscapes beckoned exhilarating adventures such as trekking through lush jungles, diving in pristine waters, and embarking on wildlife safaris. The costs associated with equipment rentals, guided excursions, and national park fees factored into the overall entertainment expenses, offering unparalleled encounters with the region’s biodiversity and natural splendor.

Delving into the cultural fabric of Southeast Asia often involved attending traditional performances, art exhibitions, and local festivals. The expenses related to tickets for cultural shows, art galleries, and immersive workshops enriched the travel experience by offering insights into the region’s artistic heritage and vibrant traditions.

Furthermore, partaking in recreational activities such as cooking classes, wellness retreats, and water sports contributed to the entertainment expenses, offering moments of relaxation and skill enrichment. These experiential pursuits, although incurring additional costs, added depth and diversity to the overall travel experience.

Reflecting on the diverse array of entertainment and activities experienced, it is evident that the financial implications encompassed a spectrum of cultural, natural, and recreational pursuits, each contributing to the richness of the journey while shaping the overall budgetary considerations.

Miscellaneous Expenses

Amidst the immersive journey through Southeast Asia, a spectrum of miscellaneous expenses emerged, encompassing a myriad of unforeseen and incidental costs that added depth to the overall financial considerations. These miscellaneous expenses, while varying in nature and significance, played a pivotal role in shaping the holistic financial landscape of the expedition.

One of the prominent miscellaneous expenses stemmed from communication and connectivity. Acquiring local SIM cards, accessing internet services, and staying connected with loved ones incurred recurring costs throughout the journey. Additionally, the procurement of travel apps, language translation tools, and digital resources contributed to the overall expenses related to communication and connectivity.

Furthermore, the acquisition of souvenirs and mementos from the diverse locales traversed added a touch of nostalgia and cultural significance to the expedition. The costs associated with purchasing local crafts, artisanal products, and symbolic keepsakes contributed to the miscellaneous expenses, encapsulating cherished memories and cultural connections.

Additionally, unforeseen medical expenses and wellness-related costs factored into the overall financial landscape. From over-the-counter medications to occasional health consultations, prioritizing personal well-being and health maintenance incurred incidental expenses throughout the journey.

Moreover, navigating visa extensions, border crossings, and administrative formalities entailed miscellaneous expenses, including visa renewal fees, exit taxes, and administrative charges. These incidental costs, although sporadic, contributed to the overall financial considerations and logistical planning.

Reflecting on the spectrum of miscellaneous expenses incurred, it is evident that these unforeseen and incidental costs added depth and intricacy to the financial landscape of the expedition, encompassing a myriad of essential yet often overlooked elements that enriched the overall travel experience.

Embarking on a six-month sojourn through the captivating realms of Southeast Asia unveiled a tapestry of experiences, cultural encounters, and enriching adventures. As I reflect on the comprehensive breakdown of expenses incurred during this odyssey, it becomes evident that the financial landscape of long-term travel in Southeast Asia is as diverse and dynamic as the region itself.

From the meticulous pre-trip expenses encompassing visa fees, travel insurance, and essential gear procurement to the diverse array of transportation modes and accommodation choices, each financial aspect contributed to the holistic portrayal of the journey’s cost implications. The culinary odyssey through vibrant street food, local eateries, and occasional indulgences added a flavorful dimension to the dining expenses, while the spectrum of entertainment and activities enriched the expedition with cultural insights, natural wonders, and immersive experiences.

Moreover, the spectrum of miscellaneous expenses, ranging from communication and connectivity to unforeseen medical costs and administrative formalities, underscored the intricate financial considerations inherent in long-term travel. Each category of expenses, while contributing to the overall cost of the journey, also encapsulated the richness of the experiences garnered and the diverse array of choices available to travelers.

As I conclude this comprehensive breakdown of expenses, it is imperative to acknowledge the subjective nature of travel costs and the influence of individual preferences, travel styles, and regional variations on the overall expenditure. While the figures presented serve as a reference point, it is essential to recognize that the financial implications of long-term travel in Southeast Asia are shaped by personal choices, adaptability, and the dynamic nature of the travel landscape.

Ultimately, the journey through Southeast Asia transcended the realm of expenses, offering invaluable insights, cultural immersion, and transformative experiences. The financial considerations, while essential for planning and budgeting, pale in comparison to the wealth of memories, encounters, and discoveries that define the essence of long-term travel in this enchanting region.

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• Travel Planning Guide

Asia Travel Cost Rankings

• Travel Budgets
• Country Travel Cost Rankings
• Cheapest Cities
• Country Budget Comparisons

What are the cheapest and most expensive countries to visit in Asia?

The following travel cost rankings for countries in Asia are calculated based on the travel budgets of real travelers. Also referred to as a Travel Cost Index , or a Backpacker Index , the countries below are in order from most to least expensive by their average daily travel price, per person, per day

• 1 Maldives $ 299.31
• 2 Hong Kong $ 173.04
• 3 Singapore $ 154.13
• 4 Macao $ 145.31
• 5 Japan $ 122.09
• 6 Taiwan $ 112.12
• 7 South Korea $ 107.08
• 8 Bhutan $ 91.38
• 9 Thailand $ 81.25
• 10 Malaysia $ 81.22
• 11 China $ 79.41
• 12 Philippines $ 66.60
• 13 Cambodia $ 62.83
• 14 Vietnam $ 60.18
• 15 Indonesia $ 59.08
• 16 Myanmar $ 55.18
• 17 Pakistan $ 52.56
• 18 Bangladesh $ 51.84
• 19 Sri Lanka $ 51.35
• 20 India $ 39.16
• 21 Nepal $ 37.54
• 22 Mongolia $ 25.75
• 23 Kazakhstan $ 22.28
• 24 Laos $ 14.87

The Cheapest Cities for Other Regions

Country rankings for other regions, what are the cheapest countries to visit in asia.

The least expensive countries for travel in Asia are currently Laos ($14.87), Kazakhstan ($22.28), Mongolia ($25.75), Nepal ($37.54), and India ($39.16).

What are the most expensive countries to visit in Asia?

The most expensive countries for travel in Asia are currently Maldives ($299.31), Hong Kong ($173.04), Singapore ($154.13), Macao ($145.31), and Japan ($122.09).

Affordable Travel in Asia

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The Cost of a Six-Month Trip to Asia: A Budgeting Guide for Long-Term Travel

With its diverse and captivating cultures, breathtaking landscapes, and rich history, Asia is a continent that begs to be explored. And with six months at your disposal, you have the opportunity to truly immerse yourself in the local way of life and experience all that Asia has to offer. But how much will such a long-term trip cost? Here’s a guide to budgeting for a six-month trip to Asia.

The first thing to consider when budgeting for a long-term trip to Asia is your destinations. Some countries in Asia, such as Thailand and Vietnam, are generally more affordable than others, such as Japan and Singapore. Determine which countries you want to visit and research the average costs of accommodation, transportation, and activities in each destination.

Accommodation is likely to be one of your biggest expenses when traveling, so it’s important to be mindful of your budget in this area. Consider alternative options such as hostels, guesthouses, or Airbnb rentals, which can be more cost-effective than hotels. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could also try couchsurfing, which is a website that connects travelers with locals who are willing to offer a free place to stay.

Food is another area where you can save money while traveling. Street food is often delicious and cheap, and it’s a great way to immerse yourself in local culture. If you’re staying in a guesthouse or Airbnb, consider cooking your own meals. Not only will this save you money, but it can also be a fun and authentic way to experience the local cuisine.

Transportation costs will also be a significant factor in your budget. Public transportation is generally reliable and affordable in Asia, so consider taking buses, trains, and subways instead of taxis or private car services. If you’re traveling with a group, consider renting a car or van, which can be a cost-effective way to get around.

Finally, don’t forget to budget for activities and excursions. While many activities in Asia are relatively affordable, it’s important to plan ahead and budget for any high-cost activities you want to experience.

Overall, the cost of a six-month trip to Asia will depend on your destinations and travel style. With careful planning and budgeting, it is possible to experience all that Asia has to offer while keeping costs under control.

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Southeast Asia Travel Guide

Last Updated: November 27, 2023

Backpackers have been traveling through Southeast Asia since the late 1960s and early 1970s, leaving a well-worn trail around the region.

Starting in beautiful Thailand, the trail makes its way to up-and-coming Laos, through Vietnam, and to the temples of Angkor Wat. It then winds back into Thailand, where people head south to party in the Thai islands before moving down to Malaysia and Singapore.

There are a few variations to the trail, but this is what it mostly covers.

I’ve been visiting this region since 2004 and spent years living in Thailand . I love backpacking Southeast Asia and have written extensively about it as I know it like the back of my hand.

It’s an especially great region for new travelers because it’s easy to travel around, it’s safe, and there are lots of other travelers you can meet. But it’s also perfect for veteran travelers too as there are tons of off-the-beaten-path destinations that the standard backpacker trail doesn’t cover.

In short, Southeast Asia has something for every traveler — and every budget.

This Southeast Asia travel guide will help you travel the region like a pro, ensuring you save money and make the most of your time in this fun, gorgeous, and lively corner of the world.

Table of Contents

• Things to See and Do
• Typical Costs
• Suggested Budget
• Money-Saving Tips
• Where to Stay
• How to Get Around
• How to Stay Safe
• Best Places to Book Your Trip
• Related Blogs on Southeast Asia

Click Here for Country Guides

Top 5 things to see and do in southeast asia.

1. Admire Angkor Wat

One of the greatest human creations in history, the Angkor Wat temple complex is best explored over the course of a few days. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site created by the Khmer Empire and absolutely enormous. Temples to visit include Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple which has 216 gigantic stone face carvings, and Ta Prohm. I spent three days here and that simply wasn’t enough. A one-day pass is $37 USD, while a 1-week pass is $72 USD. If you’re here for multiple days, be sure to hire a driver and see some of the more out of the way ruins away from the main temple complex (and the crowds).

2. Explore Bangkok

Bangkok is the hub of travel activity in Southeast Asia. You can get anywhere you want from here. Though I hated it at first, the more I’ve spent time here the more I love it. Bangkok is like an onion whose many layers need to be peeled back. Some things not to miss include the spectacular Bangkok Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Chatuchak Market and Asiatique, and a canal trip on the Chao Phraya River. This is a city for foodies and wild nightlife.

3. Relax on some tropical islands

No visit to Southeast Asia would be complete without a visit to at least one of the thousands of tropical islands in the region. My top five include the Perhentian Islands (Malaysia), Rabbit Island (Cambodia), Ko Lanta (Thailand), and Boracay (Philippines). Lombok Island (Indonesia) has a chill vibe with unspoiled, perfect “desert island” beaches. There’s so many islands to visit. Be sure to add at least one to your trip. The country guides will have more information for you.

4. See Ha Long Bay

Sailing trips to this island-filled bay with stunning emerald waters, limestone formations, and marine life give you an appreciation for the natural beauty in Vietnam. Tours from Hanoi start at around $110 USD for two-day trips and increase from there. I love the colorful grottoes, hanging stalactites, and stalagmites of Surprise Cave (Sung Sot), Fairy Cave (Tien Ong), and Heaven Palace (Thien Cung). Make sure you go with a reputable company though as some of the cheaper boats are less than ideal. If you’d rather just visit for one day, day trips from Hanoi cost $55 USD.

5. Wander Kuala Lumpur

Other things to see and do in southeast asia, 1. go jungle trekking.

This region of the world is covered in amazing jungles with diverse wildlife, plentiful camping opportunities, and cool waterfalls. The best jungle treks are found in northern Thailand, Western Laos, and Malaysian Borneo (the latter are also the hardest and most intense). Some of my favorites include Danum Valley (Borneo) for its incredible wildlife; Ratanakiri (Cambodia) for its pristine wilderness and thousand-year-old trees; and Pu Luong Nature Reserve (Vietnam). Costs vary but jungle trekking generally costs $30-50 USD per day.

2. Attend the Full Moon Party

The biggest one-night party in the world welcomes up to 30,000 people with a party that stretches until dawn. Cover yourself in glow paint, grab a bucket of booze, and dance the night away with new friends on the island of Ko Phangan in Thailand. As the name would suggest, the party is on the night of the full moon. If you miss it, there’s always the half-moon party, quarter-moon party, and black-moon party. Really, every night is a party on Ko Phangan . Just avoid the flaming jump rope that occurs — I’ve seen people get burned badly!

3. Learn to dive

There are many great dive sites around the region for those interested in underwater exploration. You can learn to dive here at a fraction of what it would cost back home too. Some of the best places are Ko Tao (Thailand), Sipadan (Malaysia), as well as Gili Islands (Indonesia) and Coron, Palawan (The Philippines). A typical diving course is completed in three days. A PADI course typically runs $275 USD in Thailand, including three nights’ accommodation, though at smaller schools you can often negotiate down to $250 USD. Day trips for certified divers start at $165 USD. For information on Ko Tao, check out this blog post .

4. Eat street food in Singapore

Singapore is a foodie’s heaven. Try the hawker stalls of Singapore as well as Little India and Chinatown for some of the best and cheapest food in Asia. If you’re looking for a nice place to sit down and eat, eat at Singapore’s famed restaurants during lunch when restaurants offer discounts, making them a great deal. You’ll also find the most affordable Michelin-starred restaurants here (Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice and Hawker Chan), offering world-class meals for just a couple of bucks!

5. Overload on temples

You can’t turn a corner without seeing a Buddhist temple in this part of the world. You’ll get temple overload at some point but visit as many as you can as each is unique to the country and region of the temple. There are so many places with high concentrations of ornate and beautiful temples. Check out Chiang Mai’s Wat Doi Suthep Temple and hike up the 300 steps to the golden Chedi that’s 600 years old!; Bagan’s Shwesandaw Pagoda from the 11th century with its stunning golden dome; Angkor Wat’s Ta Prohm is covered in iconic vines and enveloped in ancient jungle roots; Hue’s colorful Thien Mu Pagoda is perched atop a lush green embankment; Hoi An’s Quan Cong Temple with incredible Chinese architecture with hand-carved beauty and skill, and Luang Prabang’s Vat Xieng Thong with its golden, canopied roof. Most are free to enter, however, dress codes are enforced (you need to have your shoulders and legs covered).

6. Dive Sipadan

Located off Malaysian Borneo, Sipadan is one of the best dive sites in the world. If you have your dive certificate, make sure you venture out here. I absolutely love this area because it’s teeming with live turtles, diverse cave systems, sharks, dolphins, colorful coral, bright fish, and everything in between. Not a lot of people make it to this part of Malaysia, but it’s worth it to go the extra mile and make your way off the tourist trail a bit. Don’t miss Barracuda Point and The Drop-Off. Keep in mind that only 176 permits to dive at the island are issued each day, costing 140 MYR per person. The resorts on the neighboring islands each get a specific number of permits per day and require divers to stay with them for a few days. So you’ll need to stay at those resorts and dive into the surrounding areas before they can get you a Sipadan permit.

7. Fall in love with Bali

Bali is the most popular destination in Indonesia, and its famous Kuta beach is known for its wild parties and surfing ( though I think it’s overrated ). However, there is much more to Bali than just wild nights and sun-soaked days. If you’re a thrill seeker, hike up to the top of Mount Batur, an active volcano, for a breathtaking sunrise. Paragliding and white water rafting are also super popular here, as is surfing (it’s an affordable place to learn if you’ve never done it). There are also lots of hot springs to enjoy, the Ubud Monkey Forest (a popular temple and nature reserve home to hundreds of monkeys), and numerous places to scuba dive, including the Liberty wreck and Manta Point.

8. Take in Ho Chi Minh City

Frantic, chaotic, and crazy, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam is the embodiment of the controlled chaos that rules Southeast Asia. You can’t quite figure out how this teeming mass of people and cars work together, but it does. Highlights here include touring the tunnels used by the Viet Cong in the 1960s, taking in the view from the Saigon Skydeck, eating your way through the street food scene, and seeing the city’s numerous temples.

9. Admire the sunrise over an Indonesian Volcano

One of the most popular tourist attractions on Java is Mount Bromo and its National Park. Don’t miss out on getting a photo of the smoldering Bromo volcano as it lies surrounded by the almost lunar landscape of the Sea of Sand. Get up early to catch one of the most memorable sunrises of your life. If you’re there in mid-August, you’ll be just in time to see Upacara Kasada, the traditional Hindu ritual of the Tenggerese, a Javanese tribe of the region.

10. Hike in Khao Sok National Park

Located in southern Thailand, Khao Sok National Park is constantly rated as one of the best parks in Thailand, with incredible trekking, camping, limestone karsts, cooling rivers, and a glistening lake. Visit for semi-challenging hikes, tons of wildlife, walking paths, and breathtaking sunsets. Park entrance costs around $6 USD while full-day guided tours are $95 USD. I highly recommend spending at least one night here to get the full experience.

11. Visit Kampot

Most people come to Kampot to enjoy the scenic riverside views, as well as the rolling hills that surround the city. Since you can explore easily enough on foot or by bicycle, Kampot is a great place to slow down and relax. There’s not much to do here but have lazy days by the river, chill, and eat (don’t miss the famous Rusty Keyhole for BBQ!). Don’t miss the pepper farms, as this region of Cambodia is filled with pepper farms where you can learn about the history of the spice, see how it is grown, and pick up what is considered some of the finest pepper in the world. Tours are usually free.

12. Take a cooking class

Food from this region is as varied as the countries themselves and learning how to cook a few dishes is a great souvenir of your time here. Even if you don’t plan to cook back home, you can still spend a day making and eating scrumptious food. Most big cities have cooking schools offering classes of 2-6 hours, often including a trip to the local market beforehand to select ingredients. I absolutely love cooking classes and urge you to take one at least once. They are a fun experience!

13. Take a food tour

If you’d rather eat instead of cook, taking a food tour is a fun way to gain insight into the region’s amazing noodle dishes, fresh seafood, sweets, and street food while learning about the history and culture behind the cuisine. Most major cities in Southeast Asia offer food tours. These include tours around local markets, street stalls, and tours to locally-owned restaurants and cafes where you can sample the local cuisine and connect with a local chef. If you’re nervous about street food, this is a great way to try some in a controlled setting. Tours usually last 2-4 hours and include multiple stops and several different dishes, with prices costing $40-75 USD per person.

14. Visit an elephant sanctuary

While riding an elephant is on many a Southeast Asia bucket list, once you know how much the animals suffer from abuse in order to provide these rides, you might think twice about taking one. An even better way to interact with elephants is to volunteer at or visit the Elephant Nature Park near Chiang Mai in Thailand. It’s a phenomenal place, allowing you to give back to the community and these magnificent animals all at once. After coming here, you will understand why you should NEVER ride an elephant. A one-day visit costs $70 USD.

15. See The Killing Fields

A visit to Choeung Ek, also known as the Killing Fields, may not be the most cheerful way to spend an afternoon, but it makes for an educational and memorable experience. Over 3 million people were killed by Pol Pot’s regime, including countless women and children. I recommend getting a guide so you can really understand what you’re seeing as you explore the area. Also, this horrific tragedy took place less than 50 years ago and is still very present so please be respectful as a visitor.  The site is located 10 miles from Phnom Penh. Half-day guided tours start at $66 USD.

16. Swim with Whale Sharks in Donsol

If you’re in the Philippines, check out the Donsol Whale Shark Interactive Ecosystem Project because there are not many experiences quite as adrenaline-inducing as swimming with a whale shark for the first time in crystal waters. These incredible creatures are around 45 feet (14 meters) long and yet incredibly gentle and curious. I loved floating at the surface being able to look below and see them slowly swim below me. Get some people together and rent a boat for a half day, explore the area, and go ‘shark-seeing’ for a good cause.  

  For a ton more information, visit my country specific travel guides for more detailed information on each place:

• Cambodia Travel Guide
• Indonesia Travel Guide
• Laos Travel Guide
• Malaysia Travel Guide
• Singapore Travel Guide
• Thailand Travel Guide
• Vietnam Travel Guide

Southeast Asia Travel Costs

Accommodation – Accommodation in Southeast Asia is really cheap, making it the perfect place to travel if you are on a budget. Hostels are plentiful, as are budget guesthouses and hotels. It’s also very cheap to splash out here if you’re in need of some luxury.

Generally, you can find hostel dorm rooms for as little as $6-8 USD in Cambodia and $3-6 USD in Laos. In Thailand, 4-6-bed dorm rooms are $8-12 USD, while in Vietnam you can expect to pay $5-7 USD. In Indonesia, prices range between $5-10 USD for a 4-6-bed dorm room. Expect to pay at least $15-20 per night for a private room with air conditioning. Free Wi-Fi is standard in most hostels, free breakfast is common, and many hostels even have pools. In more remote areas, hot water isn’t common so make sure to check in advance if that’s an issue for you.

Simple guesthouses or bungalows throughout Southeast Asia generally cost $12-20 USD per night for a basic room with a fan (sometimes air conditioning) and hot water. If you want something nicer that includes a more comfortable bed and a TV, expect to pay $25-35 USD per night.

For backpackers, budgeting around $10 USD per night for accommodation is pretty safe no matter where you go in Southeast Asia. If you’re looking for a higher-end hotel room with more amenities, expect to pay $20-50 USD per night for a room. Anything over that is luxury territory.

Camping is available in certain areas, usually for just a few dollars per night for a basic tent plot without electricity. However, this is about the same price as hostels so it’s not really any cheaper.

Food – While each country’s cuisine varies, overall, Southeast Asian food is aromatic, spicy, and flavorful. Typical spices and herbs include garlic, basil, galangal, cilantro, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, chilies, and fish sauce. No matter what region you’re in, you can expect to find a variety of curries, salads, soups, noodle dishes, and stir-fries.

Rice and noodles are central to Southeast Asian food, while the meat is usually pork, chicken, fish, or seafood, which is everywhere on the islands and coastal areas.

While traveling Southeast Asia, street food is the most popular food and cheapest option. On average, these meals cost $1-5 USD. You find these stalls throughout this region lining most streets and every market. They are ubiquitous in the region. In Singapore, street food (from “hawker stands” as they’re known there) costs around $4-5 USD for a meal. Even if you go into small local restaurants, the price doesn’t increase that much.

Food that costs $2 USD at a street stall generally only costs $4-6 USD at a local restaurant. If you went into a restaurant in Thailand, you’d pay around $3-4 USD for a pad Thai that would have cost $1-2 USD on the street.

In Cambodia, street food is around $1-2 USD, while restaurants charge around $3-5 USD for a dish like amok (a coconut milk dish) or luc lac (pepper gravy beef).

Western meals, including burgers, pizza, and sandwiches usually cost around $7-10 USD. But these generally aren’t that great. If you want something that actually tastes as it does back home, expect to spend at least $10-12 USD for your meal.

While cheap, alcohol can take a bite out of your budget if you’re not careful. Those $1-2 USD beers add up! Wine and cocktails are more expensive, generally around $3-5 USD. A cappuccino is typically around $2 USD. Bottled water is plentiful and costs less than $1 USD.

There’s a growing cutting-edge foodie scene in the region and, if you want to splurge, you can do so on some really good meals. Big cities like Bangkok, KL, and Singapore, all have world-class Michelin star restaurants as well some incredible fusion restaurants.

Since dining out is so cheap in the region, there’s no point in grocery shopping unless you’re looking to get some pre-made salads or fruits. Additionally, a general lack of kitchens in most hostels and hotels makes it difficult to cook even if you wanted to. If you do purchase your own groceries, expect to spend around $25 USD per week for basic groceries like local produce, rice, and some meat (while avoiding expensive imported items like cheese and wine).

Backpacking Southeast Asia Suggested Budgets

On a backpacker budget of $45 USD per day, you can stay in hostel dorms, eat out at local markets and street stalls, limit your drinking, do mostly free activities, minimize paid activities, and use public transportation to get around. You’re not going to be able to splash out but you’ll be able to live the typical backpacker experience without really stressing over expenses.

On a mid-range budget of $85 USD per day, you can stay in budget hotels or private hostel rooms, eat more restaurant meals, do more paid activities like cooking classes, take some taxis, and enjoy a few more drinks. You won’t live large, but you won’t be missing out either.

On an upscale budget of $150 USD or more per day, you can stay in nicer hotels with more amenities, eat out as much as you want, do more paid tours including private tours, hire a driver, fly between destinations, and basically do whatever you want. The sky is the limit with this kind of budget!

You can use the chart below to get some idea of how much you need to budget daily, depending on your travel style. Keep in mind these are daily averages — some days you’ll spend more, some days you’ll spend less (you might spend less every day). We just want to give you a general idea of how to make your budget. Prices are in USD.

Southeast Asia Travel Guide: Money-Saving Tips

Backpacking Southeast Asia is cheap. There’s little opportunity to spend a lot of money since everything is already so inexpensive unless you intentionally are trying to splash out on fancy meals and high end hotels. The two reasons why most travelers end up overspending is that they eat a lot of Western food and drink way too much. If you want to save money while traveling in this part of the world, cut down on your drinking and skip the Western food. While country guides have more specific ways to save money, here are some general ways to save money in Southeast Asia:

• Stay with a local – Accommodation is cheap in Southeast Asia but nothing’s cheaper than free! Use Couchsurfing to stay with locals who have extra beds and couches for free. You’ll also meet great people who can show you around and share their insider tips and advice.
• Book tours and day trips as a group – You have more negotiation power when you’re with a group of people buying multiple spots or tickets. Traveling alone? Meet a friend at a hostel and see if they want to join the same tour as you. I’ve met some great friends over the years doing this and highly recommend it.
• Don’t book in advance – Don’t book any tours or activities before you get to your destination. They’ll be much cheaper when you arrive as you’ll be able to negotiate a lower price as you’ll find companies are often offering the same tour and competing. Anything you see online is more expensive than you need to pay!
• Eat on the street – The street food is the best food. The food is the best and cheapest you’ll find. It’s a great way to try new foods and get to chat with locals as well. This is where locals eat so if you want insight into local culture, good food, and savings, eat the street food. Look for where locals are eating to ensure that it’s safe to eat.
• Bargain hard – Nothing is ever at face value here. Bargain with sellers as most of the time, the price they’ve quoted is way higher. There’s a haggling culture in the region so play the game and save some money. It’s important not to convert it in your head to your own currency because it will usually sound cheap even though you might still be getting ripped off. You’ll never get the local price, but you might come close!
• Minimize your drinking – Drinks really add up. Even with cheap drinks, if you’re not aware, you’ll end up spending more money on beer than on food and accommodation. If you want to drink, head to the supermarkets, drink at the hostel, or check out the local happy hours.
• Pack a water bottle – A water bottle with a purifier comes particularly in handy in Southeast Asia since you can’t usually drink the tap water. Save money and thousands of plastic bottles and get a bottle that can purify the tap water for you. My preferred bottle is LifeStraw as it has a built-in filter that ensures your water is always safe and clean.

Where to Stay in Southeast Asia

I’ve been traveling Southeast Asia since 2005 and have stayed in hundreds of places. Here are some of my favorite places to stay in Southeast Asia:

• The Siem Reap Pub Hostel (Siem Reap)
• Onederz Siem Reap (Siem Reap)
• Mad Monkey Siem Reap (Siem Reap)
• Onederz Sihanoukville (Sihanoukville)
• Monkey Republic (Sihanoukville)
• Onederz Phnom Penh (Phnom Penh)
• Sla Boutique Hostel (Phnom Penh)
• The Magic Sponge (Kampot)
• Indigo House Hotel (Luang Prabang)
• Sa Sa Lao (Luang Prabang)
• Sanga Hostel (Pakse)
• Nana Backpackers Hostel (Vang Vieng)
• Dream Home Hostel (Vientiane)
• Traveller Bunker Hostel (Cameron Highlands)
• De’Native Guest House (Cameron Highlands)
• Kitez Hotel & Bunks (Kuala Lumpur)
• Sunshine Bedz Kuala Lumpur (Kuala Lumpur)
• Ryokan Muntri Boutique Hostel (Penang)
• Mad Monkey Hostel (Bangkok)
• D&D Inn (Bangkok)
• Kodchasri B&B (Chiang Mai)
• The Royal Guest House (Chiang Mai)
• Green Leaf (Khao Yai)
• Lonely Beach Resort (Ko Chang)
• The Sanctuary (Koh Phangan)
• Na-Tub Hostel (Koh Phangan)
• Pineapple Guesthouse (Phuket)
• Dream Lodge
• The Pod Capsule Hostel
• The Scarlet
• Under the Coconut Tree Guesthouse (Hoi An)
• Fuse Beachside (Hoi An)
• Pretty Backpackers House (Da Lat)
• Hanoi Old Quarter Hostel (Hanoi)
• Luxury Backpackers Hostel (Hanoi)
• The Hideout (HCMC)
• City Backpackers Hostel (HCMC)

How to Get Around Southeast Asia

Public transportation – Public transportation costs from a few pennies to a few dollars, with Singapore and Malaysia offering the most comprehensive public transportation systems. In Thailand, local buses cost around $0.25 USD per trip, while the Metro and Skytrain in Bangkok cost $0.50-1.50 USD per trip. In Cambodia, a bus ticket in Phnom Penh costs just $0.40 USD per ride.

Major cities generally have subway systems but mostly you’ll be using the bus or shared taxis to get around.

Tuk-tuks (small, shared taxis with no meter) are available around much of the region and require a bit of haggling. They usually have 3-6 seats and generally cost more than public transportation but are faster. To find a reputable driver, ask your accommodation as they usually know someone. Tuk-tuk drivers can often be hired for the day for a discounted rate (this is what a lot of people do to visit the Killing Fields and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, for example).

Taxi – Taxis in the region are generally safe, though it’s not uncommon to have to haggle. Scams to rip you off aren’t uncommon either, so always ask your accommodation to call you a taxi whenever possible so you know you’ll get a reputable company.

In Singapore and Indonesia, taxi drivers do put on the meter. In Bangkok, you can get taxi drivers to use the meter, but if you’re hailing one in a tourist area, he might try to avoid using it. In Vietnam, the meter is sometimes rigged, but if you can get a reputable company like Mai Linh, you won’t have any problems.

Ridesharing – Grab, DiDi, and Gojek are Asia’s answer to Uber. They work the same way: you hire a driver to take you somewhere via the app, and you can pay via the app or in cash. It’s often more affordable than a regular taxi, though drivers are a bit unreliable as the practice is not as widespread here as in other parts of the world.

Just keep in mind that some drivers are driving motorcycles so be sure to double check what kind of vehicle is picking you up if you don’t want to ride on the back of one.

Bus – The easiest and cheapest way to travel around Southeast Asia is by bus. The backpacker trail is so worn that there is a very well-established tourist bus system to take you anywhere. Buses costs vary between $5-25 USD for a 5-6 hour journey. Overnight buses cost $20-35 USD depending on distance (they often have reclining seats so you can get a decent sleep).

You can check ticket prices and book tickets for all the different bus companies across Southeast Asia at 12go.asia.

Train – Train service is limited in the region and not something to really consider when you travel Southeast Asia. You can take a train up and down the coast of Vietnam and there’s some limited scenic rails in Malaysia. Thailand is the only country that has an extensive train system that lets you travel all its regions (and onward to Singapore) from Bangkok.

The train prices in Southeast Asia are determined by distance and class. Night trains with sleeper cars are more expensive than day trains. The night train to Chiang Mai from Bangkok takes twelve hours and costs $27 USD for a sleeper seat. However, that same train during the day is $8-9 USD. In Vietnam, trains run up and down the coast and cost $60 USD from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.

Flying – The cost of flying around Southeast Asia has come down in recent years due to the rise of low-cost airlines. Scoot, Jetstar, and AirAsia are the biggest. Nok Air has a lot of flights within Thailand , and VietJet Air is popular in Vietnam . Lion Air serves Indonesia , but its safety record is really spotty and I personally would not fly them. If you book early, you can save on fares, as most of the airlines offer deeply discounted fare sales all the time, especially Air Asia.

Just make sure that the airport these budget airlines fly into isn’t too far out of your way (transportation from the secondary airport sometimes negates the savings from using the budget airline itself).

Also, keep in mind that you usually must pay to check your baggage on these cheap flights. If you wait to pay for your luggage at the gate, you end up paying almost double. Travel carry-on only to avoid this added cost.

All in all, I only recommend flying if you are pressed for time or find a super cheap deal. Otherwise, stick to the bus.

Hitchhiking – Hitchhiking in Southeast Asia is safe, though popularity of the practice varies by country (it’s more common in Malaysia, but not so much in Cambodia). Dress respectably, smile while making eye contact with drivers, and use a cardboard sign to tell people where you’re headed. Be prepared for long bouts of no pick-ups, especially if you’re traveling through more rural areas. Pack plenty of water and food. Also, make sure the people picking you up understand you’re hitchhiking and not flagging down a taxi.

Hitchwiki is a great resource for hitchhiking tips.

Car rental I don’t recommend renting a car in Southeast Asia. Rental cars are expensive ($40 USD per day or more) and the roads here are in poor shape. I would never drive around the region.

When to Go to Southeast Asia

The best time of year to visit Southeast Asia is from November to April when temperatures are milder (though temperatures vary drastically by region). It may be mild in Thailand in January and hot in Malaysia but in Northern Vietnam, it’s cold! Also, one of the biggest mistakes people make is not taking into account the rainy season. In some cases it won’t make a big difference but definitely does if it’s a beach trip.

In Indonesia, the best time to visit is April to October. Temperatures average 24-30ºC (75-86ºF), and the weather is mostly dry. July to September is the peak holiday season and when you can expect to pay the highest rates. December to February is the rainy season.

In Malaysia, January-March and June-September are the best time to visit, as these months have the lowest average rainfall. It is still hot and humid during this time though. The rainy season is from October to December. Singapore’s climate/weather is much like Malaysia’s.

In Vietnam, the weather varies by region. In Central Vietnam (including Hoi An and Nha Trang), January-May is the best time to visit because it is dry and the temperatures average 21-30°C (70-86°F). June to August is also a decent time to visit. If you want to stick around Hanoi, March to April is great, or October to December (for mildest temperatures). The rainy season is May-September.

Thailand has three seasons: hot, hotter, and hottest. It’s always warm, though the weather is nicest between November and February (which is also peak tourist season). Bangkok is “coolest” and driest during this time (but still averaging a hot 29°C/85°F each day). April and May are the hottest months, and the rainy season is June-October. The gulf islands get pretty rainy from August to December.

The dry season in Cambodia is from November-May and the cool season is from November-February (and when most people visit). Temperatures during this time are still high, but humidity is lower. Laos has the same cool season as Cambodia, with the dry season running from November-April.

In the Philippines, it’s mostly warm all year long with an average daily high of 26°C (80°F). There are rainy and dry seasons and temperatures are hot and dry from March-May and cooler December-February. The best time to visit is between January-April when it’s less humid. Monsoon Season is July-October.

For more information on when to go to places, visit the specific country guides.

How to Stay Safe in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is an incredibly safe place to backpack and travel — even if you’re traveling solo and even as a solo female traveler. Violent crime is super, duper rare. Petty theft (including bag snatching) is the most common type of crime in Southeast Asia, especially around popular tourist landmarks. Always keep your valuables out of reach on public transportation and in crowds just to be safe. Never leave your valuables unattended while at the beach and always keep a hold of your purse/bag when out and about as bag snatching is common.

That said, outside touristy areas, theft is really rare. Heck, it’s pretty rare in touristy areas too! But a little vigilance goes a long way and it’s better to be safe than sorry.

There are some common scams around that you’ll want to be aware of, such as the motorbike scam. This involves a bike rental company trying to charge you for damage to the bike that you didn’t cause. To avoid this, always take photos of your rental before you leave so you can protect yourself from baseless claims.

Another common scam involves a tuk-tuk driver taking you somewhere you didn’t want to go in hopes you’ll buy something from the shop/restaurant he dropped you off at (he gets a commission if you do). Simply refuse to buy anything and demand to go back to where you were — or find another driver.

For other common travel scams, read this post about major travel scams to avoid in the region .

Solo female travelers should feel safe here, though it’s generally a good idea to avoid walking around alone at night just to be safe. It’s always a good idea to carry some extra cash to get home in a taxi if you need to. Additionally, always keep an eye on your drink at the bar and never accept drinks from strangers. Be sensible when it comes to dating while traveling and meeting people in public places. As I’m not a woman, please check out some solo female travel blogs to get the best insight.

Overall, the people who get in trouble here tend to be involved with drugs or sex tourism. Avoid those two things and you should be fine. Keep in mind that it’s not always obvious how old someone is or if they’re a sex worker so be mindful when getting involved in romantic interactions. Also, penalties for drug use in this region are stiff so even if you’re here to party, skip the drugs.

Always trust your gut instinct. Make copies of your personal documents, including your passport and ID. Forward your itinerary along to loved ones so they’ll know where you are.

For more in-depth coverage of how to stay safe in Southeast Asia, check out this post that answers some frequently asked questions and concerns.

The most important piece of advice I can offer is to purchase good travel insurance. Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. You can use the widget below to find the policy right for you:

Southeast Asia Travel Guide: The Best Booking Resources

These are my favorite companies to use when I travel. They consistently have the best deals, offer world-class customer service and great value, and overall, are better than their competitors. They are the companies I use the most and are always the starting point in my search for travel deals.

• Skyscanner – Skyscanner is my favorite flight search engine. They search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites tend to miss. They are hands down the number one place to start.
• Hostelworld – This is the best hostel accommodation site out there with the largest inventory, best search interface, and widest availability.
• Agoda – Other than Hostelworld, Agoda is the best hotel accommodation site for Asia.
• Booking.com – The best all around booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation. In all my tests, they’ve always had the cheapest rates out of all the booking websites.
• Get Your Guide – Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions. They have tons of tour options available in cities all around the world, including everything from cooking classes, walking tours, street art lessons, and more!
• SafetyWing – Safety Wing offers convenient and affordable plans tailored to digital nomads and long-term travelers. They have cheap monthly plans, great customer service, and an easy-to-use claims process that makes it perfect for those on the road.
• LifeStraw – My go-to company for reusable water bottles with built-in filters so you can ensure your drinking water is always clean and safe.
• Unbound Merino – They make lightweight, durable, easy-to-clean travel clothing.

Get the In-Depth Budget Guide to Thailand!

My detailed 350+ page guidebook is made for budget travelers like you! It cuts out the fluff found in other guidebooks and gets straight to the practical information you need to travel around Thailand. You’ll find suggested itineraries, budgets, ways to save money, on and off-the-beaten-path things to see and do, non-touristy restaurants, markets, bars, safety tips, and much more! Click here to learn more and get your copy today.

Southeast Asia Travel Guide: Related Articles

Want more info? Check out all the articles I’ve written on Southeast Asia travel and continue planning your trip:

The 4 Best Hostels in Singapore

The 6 Best Hostels in Bali

The 22 Best Things to Do in Bangkok

5 LGBTQ Travel Tips for Asia

Is Southeast Asia Safe for Travelers?

Backpacking Cambodia: 3 Suggested Itineraries for Your Trip

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• Booking Resources
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6 Months in Asia | Our Travel Route

by Humble and Free | Jul 22, 2019 | Travel | 0 comments

Planning a trip to Southeast Asia can feel like a monumental undertaking, whether it be a two-week vacation in Thailand or a six-month backpacking trip throughout Asia. We have been there; searching for the best trip planner, route guide, or travel itinerary to help give us some ideas. To help you, we’ve put together a route guide for all the places we visited, in our nearly six months spent, traveling across Asia.      

A bit of our story…

After almost twelve years together and about two years into our marriage, we were feeling restless. We had done everything   right   and fit perfectly into that expected American mold of high school, to college, to getting those goal jobs, to getting married and then…

Well… the predictable next step is to buy a house and start popping out babies. It’s what our friends were all doing, so naturally, that was just next up for us.

But… it wasn’t. We felt incomplete and were facing crippling indecision and struggling to commit to the next step. Our   perfect   life felt stale and lacked adventure. We were hungry to see and do far more than we had up to that point.

It was, here, in this restless and deep soul searching moment of our lives (call it a quarter-life crisis) that we conceived our journey through Asia.

We realized that the worst thing that we could do is nothing at all. So, we had nothing to lose. Our initial thoughts and discussions centered around a three-month trip that would have us moving from place to place rather quickly. We felt this would more than adequate time for us to depart from the world we had grown so accustomed to and return with rich with new life experiences.

This was the first trip of its kind for us. Neither of has had ever been away from home for longer than two weeks. Nor did we have any idea what life on the road would be like. This idea was far out of our character and well outside our comfort zone.

Our previous travels together consisted of Europe trips with our families and a few getaways to Mexico. Asia was a different dragon we knew of only in legend. For that reason, it was incredibly enticing and offered many chances for us to be challenged together and, ultimately, grow together. We worked out a rough idea of the places we wanted to visit and some of the significant activities we wanted to do while we were there. Our list of destinations included the countries within southeast Asia but also extended to parts of South Asia and East Asia. It was the most exciting undertaking of our lives!    

One of the first challenges we ran into was determining a route of travel and trying to lay out the optimum path. I found myself trying to track down other travelers’ routes through Asia to give us some ideas. No two journeys are the same, nor did we want to replicate someone else’s, but it was incredibly helpful to see how other travelers moved through the region. I found many routes and countless itineraries that were beyond helpful to us. Because of that, I wanted to pay it forward and put ours out there for others who may be finding themselves in the same clueless boat we were in.

In planning our route, I tried to work out a path that would have a coherent beginning and endpoint. I wanted our journey to be like a flowing river where the means of getting there were just as rewarding as the destination at the end. With that said, things do happen that interrupt that river; like weather or the dates of festivals/events that we were hoping to experience. So, we did have to exercise some patience and understanding when things didn’t go exactly according to plan.

Our modes of transportation from place to place were based on several factors;

     – what made the best sense?

     – what was available?

     – and what was the best value?

We flew only when we had to, took trains when we could, ferries and boats when necessary, and buses/mini-buses when there were no other options, or it was worth the cost savings.

Our journey through Asia began on the 13th of October and ended on the 27th of March; for a total of 168 days on the road. In that time, we visited eleven different countries and Malaysian Borneo. I specify that last destination because it technically isn’t it’s own country, but we still got a passport stamp for it!

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Budget For 6 Months Traveling In Asia: Cheapest Country And A Few Saving Tips

In this post, I will give you full disclosure of our budget and how we have been doing for our first 6 months traveling in Asia. One month ago we hit the halfway mark of our travels with 6 months on the road, and it was time to make a status of our money situation to get an overview of our expenses available for the remaining 6 months of our trip. It is obvious that one of the most important factors, when you are traveling for a long time, is to keep track of the money you spend. We keep a very close eye on all our money, and every single expense we have is being written down and put into our budget. After each country, we then calculate our estimated expenses per day per person.

How To Keep Track Of Our Spendings

I keep it very simple in a small notebook, where I categorize our purchases under 6 categories:

• 1) Food (anything we eat unless it’s included in the course/tour price)
• 2) Drinks (beers, water, and drinks that we have bought separately from our meals)
• 3) Trips (surfboard rental, yoga classes, museums, massages, diving trips, entrance fees, etc.)
• 4) Transport (scooter rental, bus ride, boat rides, train rides, gas for the scooter, etc.)
• 5) Stays/accommodation (hostels, guest houses, Airbnb)
• 6) Miscellaneous (doctor, bits and bobs, tattoos, hair cuts, clothing, items, souvenirs, etc.)

We have made our budget based on a day to day living cost of USD 30 per day per person which is definitely possible in Asia. We have been able to live around that amount but mostly a bit above, and we will have to be a bit more strict about it for our remaining 6 months traveling if we intend for it to last long enough. However, we did 10 countries within the first 6 months, and we will travel much slower for the remaining 6 months (6 countries only) so it shouldn’t be a problem keeping to our budget. The thing that really costs is when you move around a lot within a country, and getting from country to country (flights, visa fees, etc.) so if you really want to keep your money going for long – travel slow!

Categorized Costs And Spendings for 10 Countries In Asia

I wanted to share what we have spent in each country, as I thought it might be useful for someone who is planning a longer journey, or you might just be curious about what we use our hard-earned money on for such an extended trip. I have categorized the countries based on the cheapest first (India) to the most expensive (Hong Kong) of those countries we have visited in our first 6 months.

Please take note that the below expenses does not include our flights out of each country nor does it include major expenses such as our massage courses, guided trekking trip in Nepal or diving certificate. We decided to keep track of any major course or training is kept aside where we use our ‘buffer-money’).

1) India – daily average budget USD 26 per person

Total cost over 34 days: DKK 11,606 / USD 1,740

Food: DKK 3059 / USD 458 (24 %) Drinks: DKK 182 / USD 27 (2 %) Trips: DKK 1622 / USD 243 (13 %) Transport: DKK 3407 / USD 678 (35 %) Stay: DKK 1812 / USD 272 (15 %) Miscellaneous: DKK 1524 / USD 228 (11 %)

It’s no surprise that our transportation costs in India are the highest post. Since we traveled to so many places within our 5 weeks in India (from Delhi to Varkala it’s 2850 kilometers) with huge distances in between. As a result of that, we didn’t stay more than 2-3 nights at each place which also makes everything more costly. The more you move, the more money you spend, that’s just how it is.

2) Indonesia – daily average budget USD 33 per person

Total cost over 29 days: dkk 12,897 / usd 1,934.

Food: DKK 2498 / USD 375 (19 %) Drinks: DKK 904 / USD 136 (7 %) Trips: DKK 1484 / USD 223 (11 %) Transport: DKK 1571 / USD 235 (12 %) Stay: DKK 3804 / USD 570 (29 %) Miscellaneous: DKK 2828 / USD 424 (22 %)

In Indonesia our biggest expense was our accommodation which was for 2 reasons. First of all, we had my mom on a visit for 3 weeks, so obviously we wanted to stay some nice places with her. Secondly, we, in general, stayed in Airbnb’s because they were so nice and still cheap compared to the standard you get. In terms of accommodation, you get some of the most beautiful places in Bali for the fraction of the price elsewhere, with every detail just perfectly put together to create a nice little nest. Had we gone for some more budget options for hostels we could definitely have done it a bit cheaper.

3) Thailand – daily average budget USD 33 per person

Total cost over 29 days: dkk 12,719 / usd 1908.

Food: DKK 2927 / USD 439 (24 %) Drinks: DKK 977 / USD 146 (8 %) Trips: DKK 2461 / USD 369 (19 %) Transport: DKK 2463 / USD 370 (19 %) Stay: DKK 3085 / USD 463 (24 %) Miscellaneous: DKK 806 / USD 121 (6 %)

Our miscellaneous is quite small here compared to all other countries where it’s been between 10-20 % of our budget, but we didn’t really spend a lot of money on stuff in Thailand other than necessities, as we found it a bit expensive compared to the other places we had been by this time (Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar). Especially when it came to clothing, services and things as souvenirs, it had been a lot cheaper elsewhere and we still had many months to go so we did not want to carry any stuff (we were carrying around 16 kilos each by this time).

4) Malaysia – daily average budget USD 34 per person

Total cost over 33 days: dkk 14,954 / usd 2,244.

Food: DKK 2584 / USD 388 (17 %) Drinks: DKK 885 / USD 133 (5 %) Trips: DKK 594 / USD 143 (6 %) Transport: DKK 4238 / USD 636 (27 %) Stay: DKK 2180 / USD 327 (15 %) Miscellaneous: DKK 4473 / USD 671 (30 %)

Malaysia was at the beginning of our travels and we bought a whole lot of stuff while there such as a camera lens and clothing which is why our miscellaneous post is so high. Also, the drinks post is quite low here. Reason being that Malaysia is a Muslim country so it is not local custom to drink alcohol, and therefore beer was expensive compared to other Asian countries, so we kind of avoided it for the most part.

5) Nepal – daily average budget USD 35 per person

Total cost over 22 days: dkk 10,861 / usd 1628.

Food: DKK 1922 / USD 288 (18 %) Drinks: DKK 270 / USD 40 (2 %) Trips: DKK 2902 / USD 435 (27 %) Transport: DKK 1610 / USD 241 (14 %) Stay: DKK 2113 / USD 317 (20 %) Miscellaneous: DKK 2044 / USD 307 (19 %)

I really don’t think our budget in Nepal shows the actual costs of living here. The country is super cheap and you get amazing local food for really good prices. One of the main reason that our budget is so high is because of the trekking gear that we bought (USD 250) and then shipped it home (USD 45). We could have brought the things from home if it wasn’t because we were traveling for so long. We also didn’t drink any alcohol at all in Nepal so that post only shows teas (which we needed in the cold), soft drinks and water and was therefore super cheap.

6) Myanmar – daily average budget USD 38 per person

Total cost over 11 days: dkk 5,681 / usd 852.

Food: DKK 929 / USD 138 (16 %) Drinks: DKK 190 / USD 29 (3 %) Trips: DKK 1401 / USD 210 (25 %) Transport: DKK 799 / USD 120 (14 %) Stay: DKK 1171 / USD 176 (21 %) Miscellaneous: DKK 1191 / USD 179 (21 %)

Since we (unfortunately) only had a short time in Myanmar our costs where much higher than it actually is to be there. Myanmar is super cheap to live in and travel around, but we did quite a lot (3 places in only 9 days) which is also affected on our budget where Trips and Transportation have been one of our highest costs. It was my birthday in Myanmar so we spoiled ourselves with a few massages and stuff which is why the miscellaneous is high – this can definitely be done cheaper as well.

7) China – daily average budget USD 46 per person

Total cost over 24 days: dkk 14,930 / usd 2,240.

Food: DKK 3142 / USD 471 (21 %) Drinks: DKK 1198 / USD 180 (9 %) Trips: DKK 1580 / USD 237 (10 %) Transport: DKK 4736 / USD 710 (32 %) Stay: DKK 2932 / USD 433 (19 %) Miscellaneous: DKK 1342 / USD 201 (9 %)

Our transportation was the most costly post in China due to the massive distances we covered. We went all the way from North to South which in total is 2100 km. So we had a couple of fast train rides and one inland flight as well. Our miscellaneous is quite low which is a bit surprising since we actually bought a few things in China. But on the other hand, it is really cheap to buy stuff, as most of it is made there anyway.

Most Expensive Countries

The last three countries don’t give a proper picture of the actual living costs, as they have actually all been the most expensive ones. However, since we didn’t spend more than 2-3 nights and we didn’t do much other than sleep cheap and eat cheap, it doesn’t really show. As for Singapore, my mom was visiting us so we shared a lot of the costs with her so luckily that came out quite cheap. Even though it’s the most expensive country we have been to in terms of food and overnight stays.

The overall prices were as follows (and Hong Kong was mind-blowingly expensive):

8) Singapore – daily average budget USD 24 per person 9) Brunei – daily average budget USD 32 per person

10) Hong Kong – daily average budget USD 85 per person Total cost over 3 days: DKK 5,681 / USD 852 Food: DKK 929 / USD 138 (16 %) Drinks: DKK 190 / USD 29 (3 %) Trips: DKK 1401 / USD 210 (25 %) Transport: DKK 799 / USD 120 (14 %) Stay: DKK 1171 / USD 176 (21 %) Miscellaneous: DKK 1191 / USD 179 (21 %)

When we were in Hong Kong everything just seemed expensive and it is the place where it was hardest to find low-cost food and accommodation. It is definitely a city driving by money. Therefore you can get a lot of luxury (if you can afford it), but it is difficult as a backpacker. Our Trips post came out most expensive which is crazy since we only did a museum and a ferry trip.. but it gives a good idea of how expensive living and traveling costs in the country really is.

A Few Savings Tips For A Year-Long Backpacking Trip

When you go traveling for a long period of time it is important to know what you spend. Otherwise, your money spending is probably going to get out of control. We have relayed a lot on the budget that we made for 6 months in Asia. It has been crucial for us to be able to travel that long.

Money-saving tips: Do as the locals, be cautious with your money, drink less alcohol and avoid arranged trips!

A few money-saving tips we have learned over the last 6 months have been:

1) Do as the locals. From everything to where you eat and how you do transportation, this will be a key saver for a long trip.

2) Be cautious with your money. Meaning, do not buy every nice dress or statue or bag that you see. It is very tempting because there are so many nice things to buy out here for little money, but you also have to carry all these things around which will just be a hassle in itself. Every country has something nice to offer, so if you have to buy a piece of clothing or souvenir in every country, this will quickly add up to be a big expense. My souvenir from each country has been buying a flag and then sewing it onto my backpack. Looks super nice and is always a great conversation starter when you are on the road.

3) Avoid arranged trips and entrance fees. This can be a huge expense as most of these trips are bumped up a lot since it is typically only foreigners that are using these type of services. With a little extra research and arrangements, you can do most of the things on your own for a fraction of the price. Also, a lot of attractions out here in Asia have a special price for foreigners that are usually 10 times the price of what locals pay. Therefore you have to pick and choose from which one you are going to visit, or it will dig a hole in your wallet very fast.

4) Cut down on the alcohol. This, of course, depends on what kind of travel you are looking for, but cutting out some vacation beers can really give you some extra bucks. You can then use the money on life long memories instead (and you will be able to remember them too).

Have you had the same experience money-wise from the above-mentioned countries? I’d love to hear from you and your money-saving travel tips!

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My 6-month Southeast Asia Itinerary

Southeast Asia is one of the most popular destinations when it comes to taking a gap year, with it’s vibrant variety of cultures, tasty cuisines, history, temples and beautiful beaches – it’s not surprising why. Not to mention the fact that it’s super inexpensive! 

A lot of travellers like to plan things as they go, but for me, I like to have a pretty good idea of what my travels will entail – not only so I can come prepared but also so that I have a better idea of a budget. 

Disclosure: This post may contain some affiliate links, meaning that if you click one and purchase/book something, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a little commission. Read more here . 

First things first, I’d recommend checking out my gap year category where you’ll find posts including some packing posts and  how to plan a gap year . If you’re looking for advice on where to go, how to budget, best time to visit SEA, some more specific packing tips as well as more information like how to get around Southeast Asia, visas and culture sock – check out my post ‘ The Beginners Guide To Travelling Southeast Asia ‘. 

In this blog post I’ll be talking to you about where I went and what I did on my gap year in more detail as well as some extra tips.

So let’s get started… 

My 6 month South East Asia itinerary

Day 1 – 23: indonesia .

We started our adventure in Kuta, Bali on a group tour with INTRO Travel . Back in 2017, I embarked on my first group tour ( 25 days around China ) and so was expecting this 9 day tour with 4 different locations to be quite intense and fast paced. I felt like Intro Travel definitely had more of an easy-going pace and covered all of the classic activities and stops that one would typically experience in Indonesia. I felt that although we could’ve easily spent longer in each place, that we weren’t really missing out.

Intro Travel is an award winning travel company that have “been providing life changing travel experiences to 18-40 year olds in some of the world’s most incredible destinations” since 2005. They offer 19 trips across 7 different countries, with a variety of trip length.

INTRO Travel Bali 9 Day Tour – REVIEW

Day 1 – 3: kuta, bali.

Our first few days were spent in Kuta; exploring the beaches, watching the sunset at Sky Garden Lounge, and checking out the night life.

I really don’t think there is that much to do in Kuta so I felt that 3 days was more than enough here and it gave us time to adjust from rainy depressing UK weather to the Indonesian sunshine.

Where we stayed in Kuta:  Bendesa Accommodation 

Day 3 – 5: Canggu, Bali

Brit & I absolutely loved Canggu. So much that after our tour with Intro Travel had finished, we returned as we had some spare time.

Whilst on the tour, we had a surf lesson on the incredible ‘black beach’ – one of the world’s most iconic surf destinations. We also visited Tanah Lot Temple, went on a bar crawl and hung out at Old Man’s.

Where we stayed in Canggu: Frii Bali Echo Beach

Day 5 – 6: Lovina, Bali

On our way to Lovina, we stopped off at Git Git waterfall and Jatiluwih Rice Terraces.

Lovina is usually a day-trip kinda thing but Intro Travel have their own private villa up there so we were able to get some group time which was great. Whilst in Lovina, we searched for Dolphins on a traditional outrigger boat as well as visiting a local family to learn about basket weaving and see their farm.

Day 6 – 8: Nusa Lembongan, Bali

Usually on this tour, Intro Travel would’ve taken us to Gili T instead of Nusa Lembongan but due to the 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami, it was deemed as too ‘unsafe’ for us to visit as apart of Intro Travel.

So we caught a ferry from Bali to Nusa Lembongan (make sure to research this journey if you’re planning on doing it as there’s lots of different options), and spent a couple of days chilling at our hotel, laying around on the beach as well as visiting Cafe Pandan, watching the sunset at Devil’s Tears and lots of snorkelling.

Where we stayed in Nusa Lembongan:  Mahagiri Resort  &  Walet’s Paradise

Day 8 – 11: Gili T, Lombok & the end of our group tour 

Even though we were unable to visit Gili T with Intro Travel, we still managed to visit solo. Our tour guide Morgan helped us to sort a ferry from Nusa Lembongan to Gili T and we stayed there for a few days.

Due to the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami, it was much less hectic and busy than we’d heard and this made our time here a little different to what we had expected, but just as, if not better, than expected.

We spent our time relaxing on the beach, exploring the island by bicycle as well as watching some of the most beautiful sets and taking those iconic swing photos.

Where we stayed in Gili T: My Mates Place

Day 11 – 12: Sengiggi, Lombok 

We didn’t really spend much time in Sengiggi but it was a stop available to us via our ferry transport so we took it. We loved our hotel here, it was one of the places where we really felt like we were welcomed into someone’s home.

Popular things to do in Sengiggi, Lombok is to go scuba diving, check out the amazing views from the top of Malimbu Hill and go surfing.

Where we stayed in Sengiggi: Mama Bella’s Retreat

Day 12 – 16: Kuta, Lombok

Kuta, Lombok is a lot different to Kuta, Bali – so don’t get the two mixed up. Kuta in Lombok is a small surfer’s town and often used as a base for backpackers wanting to explore Lombok’s beautiful beaches. I’d really recommend hiring a scooter here.

As we didn’t have a scooter and there wasn’t that many taxis around when we visited, we found it hard to explore but loved the location of our hotel so spent a lot of our time wandering around there.

Where we stayed in Kuta: Kuta Baru 

Day 16 – 19:  Ubud, Bali

Ubud is one of my favourite places on my whole gap year. There was so much culture as well as an art vibe within this town which I loved. In Ubud, we spent ages looking at the markets and shopping but we did also visit the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, visit the Tegallalang rice terraces (and get that swing pic) as well as visiting Goa Gajah, Tukad Pejeng and finding a café with a great view of Mount Batur.

We also stayed at the cutest little place called Kailash Bali Homestay  – they had the most adorable dogs and the staff here were so cute and friendly.

Day 19 – 22: Canggu, Bali (again) 

Yes, we loved Canggu so much that we returned. The second time we visited we spent a lot of our time exploring the town itself and checking out all of the cool markets (like Love Anchor), checking out the street art and chilling on the beach.

Where we stayed in Canggu (second time round): Waterborn

Day 22: Back to Denpasar, Bali

Our last day in Indonesia was spent making our way back to the island’s capital, ready to board our plane for our next adventure.

INDONESIA ROUND UP:

Although I loved my time in Indonesia, I really wish we’d have had more time to explore more of the islands such as Java, Flores and Komodo island. I would’ve especially like to have seen Pink Beach and Borobudur Temple. Bali is extremely Western and very touristy but there is still a lot of culture to explore there. All in all, I think it would’ve been much cheaper and more convenient if we’d have done the whole Indonesia section solo but for our first destination on our gap year, I think doing a group tour was a great way to get things started and we met so many great people.

Day 23 – 54: The Philippines

Day 23 – 24: manila.

Our Philippines adventure started in the hustle and bustle capital – Manila. We didn’t have much time to spare and through our research we decided to skip Manila. We only spent 1 night there and thanks to our early 1:25am flight from Bali, we spent the majority of our time sleeping. The next morning we caught a flight out. 

Where we stayed in Manila: Lub D Makati

Day 24 – 28: Bohol 

If you have the money to spare, I’d recommend getting a flight straight to Bohol’s airport. But we flew to Cebu and then hopped on a ferry to Bohol as this was the cheapest option at the time. 

Our time in Bohol was short and sweet. We spent our first day relaxing and exploring. We did tour ‘tours’ in Bohol; one where we saw fireflies and then a day tour where we visited the butterfly park, rode a buggy to the chocolate hills, visited the Tarsier sanctuary, walked along the twin bridges and we also went on the loboc river cruise.

Where we stayed in Bohol: Moon Fools Hostel

Day 28 – 32: Oslob, Cebu 

Getting to Oslob from Bohol should be pretty easy as long as you get the right ferry (and don’t do what we did). Get the ferry from Bohol to Argao. We spent most of our time in Oslob relaxing in our hotel which was right on top of the beach (lush). We also went to swim with the whale sharks but I would not recommend this activity. 

Where we stayed in Oslob: Down South 118 Beach Resort

Day 32 – 36: Moalboal, Cebu

Getting to Moalboal from Oslob was relatively easy. We asked our hotel receptionist where the bus stop was, to which followed up with her waiting for the bus with us for 20 mins. She told the driver that we wanted to go to Moalboal and she made sure that we were ok. We got off of the bus at Bato, to catch a different one heading for Cebu. Just ask the bus driver if it stops in Moalboal before you get on the bus to make sure and you’ll be fine. It took about 2 hours or so all round. 

Moalboal was one of my favourite locations on our trip. I loved exploring the town and the beach, the banana pancakes were some of my favourite here. We also visited the famous Kawasan Falls whilst here, which is one of my all time favourite days. We didn’t have the budget to do the official canyoneering so we did our own DIY version of it which was pretty fun! 

Where we stayed in Moalboal: Moho Hostel  

Day 36 – 37: Cebu City, Cebu

We spent a night in Cebu city as we were flying out early the next day, unless you plan on exploring the city then I’d recommend skipping it like we did. Most people only stay in the city to then take day trips to Moalboal and Oslob. 

You can get a bus to Cebu city from Moalboal for like £1-4 but we managed to grab a good bargain to catch a taxi for like £3 each so we went for that. It took about 3 hours to get there. 

Where we stayed in Cebu city: Naps X Adventures  

Day 37 – 40: Boracay 

We only had one full day in Boracay, which we spent beach hopping. Where I found my all time favourite beach:  Ilig – Iligan. 

Boracay had only re-opened to the public a week before we’d arrived, it was closed for 6 months to tourists due to overtourism. The 3.98 square mile island went from being called “the best island in the world” by Travel+Leisure magazine in 2012 to the current president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, calling it a “cesspool” earlier in 2018 which led to the temporary closure. 

Although it had re-opened no more than 8 days before we’d arrived, the island was very busy. White beach is the main area of the island where everyone socialises and there’s lots of quirky shops, bars and henna stalls. Our hostel was on the other side of the island and a 5 minute walk to a super quiet, white sandy beach. 

One of my all time favourite things throughout our time in the Philippines was watching the sunset on White Beach. All of the boats sail past the sun and it is so beautiful.

Day 40 – 47: El Nido, Palawan

Our time in El Nido was definitely one filled with some crazy memories. We spent the majority of our time catching rays, snorkelling and drinking alcohol. We explored Corong Corong, Las Cabanas and Nacpan beaches as well as embarking on the famous A+C tour where we visited the secret beach, big lagoon, small lagoon, helicopter island, 7 commandos beach, secret lagoon, Shimizu island, Matinloc island, hidden beach and Tapiutan island. 

Where we stayed in El Nido: Outpost Beach Hostel  & The Cavern

Day 47 – 50: Port Barton,  Palaw an

To get from El Nido to Port Barton, just get a mini bus ticket at one of the tour agency stalls in El Nido town. 

When we visited Port Barton (Nov 2018), there were no ATMs, banks or wifi. So make sure you have cash before you head down there and if wifi is essential, maybe look into a sim card. 

There isn’t too much to explore in Port Barton, but the sea life is awesome. We spent one day exploring the beaches and the other on a tour ran by our guesthouse where we visited fantastic reef, lagoon reef, wide reef, German island, twin reef & starfish island. Twin reef was absolutely beautiful, and one of my all time favourite snorkelling places. 

Where we stayed in Port Barton: Tribal Xperience

Day 50 – 54: Puerto Princesa

The bus station you arrive at in Port Barton, you can also get bus tickets to Puerto Princesa which is what we did. 

There’s quite a lot to do in Puerto Princesa, but we only had 2 days there, and a tight budget. So we spent the first day chilling at our hotel and checking out the mall. The 2nd day we did a trip to the underground river. The river is 1 of six World Heritage Sites in the Philippines and a natural wonder.

Where we stayed in Puerto Princesa:   4C’s Tourist Lodge

PHILIPPINES ROUND UP: 

I loved the Philippines so much. We travelled around by public transport a lot as well as befriending a lot of the locals we met so I really felt like we were able to embrace the Philippine lifestyle! 

The only thing I regret about my time in the Philippines, is that we weren’t there long enough. I would’ve loved to have had the chance to visit Coron and Siquijor! But I’ve got my whole life ahead of me to return. 

Day 54 – 91: Singapore & Malaysia

A lot of you may know that we actually took a break from South East Asia and headed over to Oceania for a while, where we explored New Zealand , Australia ,   Fiji  and we also visited India at the end of our trip. But this itinerary concentrates on just SEA so I have cut those bits out. 

From Singapore all the way through Malaysia and up to Thailand, we got coaches and mini buses via our Bamba pass which you can read about here .

Day 60 – 61: Singapore 

We made a small stop in Singapore before flying to Borneo as for some reason it made our flights cheaper. On this day, we didn’t really get to explore much as we arrived quite late and flew out quite early. 

Day 61 – 68: Sepilok, Borneo, Malaysia 

We made a mistake when booking our flights to Borneo, and actually flew into Kota Kinabalu rather than Sepilok. This meant that we then had to get an internal flight to Sepilok instead of just flying straight there. But on the bright side, this meant that we had a day either side to explore the capital of the state of Sabah. 

We spent four nights in Sepilok, and loved every second of it. Sepilok is of course famous for the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, founded in 1964, and is the world’s most famous place to spot and see Orangutans in their natural habitat. Not only did we manage to spot some Orangutans in the wild, but we also made a visit to the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary and Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, as well as taking a trip down Kinabatangan river to spot even more wildlife. 

Where we stayed in Sabah:  JK capsule hostel  in Kota Kinabalu & Sepilok Jungle Resort  in Sepilok. 

Day 68 – 75: Singapore 

Once spending a week surrounded by jungle and wildlife, it was a little bit of a culture shock returning to the hustle and bustle city of Singapore. 

The 5 days we spent in the one and only city-island-nation in the world, were magical. Some of my highlights were simply just exploring the city and checking out some cool spots, visiting Gardens by the Bay and spending all day at Adventure Cove on Sentosa Island.

Where we stayed in Singapore:  Atlantis pods @ Bugis  & Bond Boutique . 

Day 75 – 78: Melaka 

From Singapore, we got a coach through the border to Malaysia and stopped for a few days in Melaka. Although we only stayed a little while in this UNESCO world heritage coastal town, it’s definitely one of my favourite places I’ve visited. From the street markets to the history, to finding out why it’s known as ‘the food capital of Malaysia’ – there is so much to explore. 

Day 78 – 81: Kuala Lumpur 

One of my favourite things that we did in Kuala Lumpur was a ‘foodie experience’ – where we went on a little group tour of the food markets and tried lots of different foods. We spent a lot of our time exploring Kuala Lumpur by rail, and this meant that we had the opportunity to explore so much more. 

We visited the Petronas Towers, explored Little India & Chinatown as well as all the markets and of course, visited the Batu Caves – well-known for the rainbow stairs and monkeys. 

Where we stayed in Kuala Lumpur: Iron inn

Day 81 – 84: Cameron Highlands

We spent as little as possible in the Cameron Highlands, as we heard that there really wasn’t much to do there unless you’re a big walker. So we hopped on the most popular thing to do; get a tour that explores the tea plantations, strawberry farms, a butterfly park, the mossy forest and some other stops along the way. 

Where we stayed in the Cameron Highlands: Sleepbox Hotel

Day 84 – 87: George Town, Penang 

We LOVED George Town! It is very westernised but still filled with so much culture, art and vibrance! We loved the food, exploring the little funky bars and cafés around the lanes and especially loved finding the street art. 

Where we stayed in George Town: Heritage Sixteen

Day 87 – 91: Langkawi 

We caught a flight from Penang to Langkawi and really enjoyed spending a few days on this little slice of paradise. There is much to explore here such as the museums, skybridge and one of our favourites – the Art in Paradise 3D Museum. This is also where I did my first ever scuba dive! Langkawi will always have a special place in my heart. 

Where we stayed in Langkawi: Rembulan  

MALAYSIA ROUND UP: 

Malaysia really surprised me and I genuinely fell in love with it. We had a lot of experiences that we wouldn’t have necessary planned on or were typical ‘backpacker’ things to do and I loved that. We took part in a local school’s project in Melaka. I loved the wildlife and jungle style of Borneo, the history behind Melaka, the art and culture of Georgetown and the chill vibes that Langkawi offers.

I regret not visiting the 130 million year old tropical rainforest; Taman Negara as well as more of Borneo.  

Day 115 – 139: Thailand 

We started our Thailand adventure down on the southern west coast. Our Bamba pass took us from Penang through the Thai border to Krabi. The journey took about 10 hours but made the land border crossing much nicer. It was a lot easier than the land crossing from Singapore into Malaysia. 

Day  115 – 1 18: Krabi 

We didn’t spend long in Krabi and arrived quite late as well as leaving quite early on day 118. So really we only had one day there, which we spent on a boat tour exploring the bluest of seas and most beautiful beaches. In the evening we headed to Ao Nang beach with some pals we met on the boat tour and spent all night partying with them! 

Where we stayed in Krabi: Nomads

Day 118 – 121: Koh Phi Phi 

We hopped on a boat to Koh Phi Phi and as we pulled up, I fell in love. I loved Phi Phi as you could walk the whole island in a couple of hours and yet still find funky cafés and bars every time you wandered. 

In Phi Phi, we did one of my favourite boat tours as well as spending a lot of our time exploring; oh and we also got a bamboo tattoo! 

Where we stayed in Koh Phi Phi: Dormsin

Day 121 – 123: Phuket 

We only really spent one day in Phuket, similarly to Krabi, we arrived late and left early. But what we saw of Phuket we loved. We spent our one night here exploring and came across a huge night market with some awesome food as well as clothes, accessories and other bits and bobs for sale. 

Day 123 – 128: Koh Phangan 

Our first few days in Koh Phangan were absolutely incredible. We partied every night and snorkelled a lot. And to be honest, we just loved it. 

Where we stayed in Koh Phangan: Phanganist

Day 128 – 131: Koh Tao 

We caught a ferry to Koh Tao from Koh Phangan and within a few hours we decided that we wanted to go back to the party island. 

Koh Tao is very popular for diving, which unfortunately, we didn’t have the budget for at the time. We spent our couple of days here relaxing on the beach and exploring the main strip. 

Where we stayed in Koh Tao:  Prik Thai Resort

Day 131 – 138: Back to Koh Phangan 

So, we returned to Koh Phangan and spent just over a week partying here again. This time attending the full moon festival at Haad Rin beach!! The full moon has always been something that I have wanted to attend so when Brit & I found out we were just a few days short, we changed up our itinerary to fit some extra partying in! This resulted in a lot of hangovers and Brit needing 4 stitches… sidenote – always wear shoes. 

Where we stayed in Koh Phangan the second time: ​ My Palace Inn

Day 138 – 139: Bangkok 

Before starting our SEA Adventure with the Dragon Trip , we spent one night in Bangkok as we were flying from Bangkok to Laos the next morning. We spent all of day 138 travelling all the way from Koh Phangan to Bangkok, which was around 12 hours and consisted of both ferries and bus.

Day 139 – 145: Laos

Laos was our first destination of our 31 Day Southeast Asia tour with the Dragon Trip!

The Dragon Trip: 31 Day South East Asia Adventure Tour – REVIEW

Day 139 – 142: luang prabang.

We flew into Luang Prabang from Bangkok and at the visa control, we spent about 40 minutes trying to look for/borrow a pen to write out our arrival card so, little tip – bring a pen. Once we cleared that, we got a mini-van type taxi to our hostel, ready to meet the other dragons tomorrow!

One of my all time favourite places is located in Luang Prabang, and that’s Kuang Si Falls. We loved exploring Luang Prabang! We visited Wat Xieng Thong, popped by the night market and also ate some of the best food ever!

Where we stayed in Luang Prabang: Vongprachan Backpackers Hostel

Day 142 – 145: Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng is most famous amongst backpackers for what is pictured below… Tubing down Nam Song river and stopping off at bars along the way! When we visited it was absolutely chucking it down but we still had the bestest time. We also headed to the blue lagoons and spent the day jumping off of the platforms and relaxing.

Where we stayed in Vang Vieng: Vangvieng Rock Backpacker Hostel

LAOS ROUND UP:

Although we only spent just under a week in Laos, it was great. A lot of people suggest to do Laos in 2 weeks but I really think that our time here was just about right. The only thing I really regret about our time in Laos is that we didn’t visit the capital, Vientiane. Vientiane is on nearly every backpacker’s route in Laos, and it must be for good reason, so I’m kinda sad we didn’t get to visit but again – got my whole life ahead of me for that.

Day 145 – 166: Vietnam 

We then flew from Vang Vieng as a group to Hanoi where we were then picked up by our Vietnam tour guide! 

Day 145 – 150: Hanoi 

Most of our time in Hanoi was spent partying and then recovering from that. We visited the Hoa Lo Prison which was very interesting as well as checking out the iconic “train street”. 

Where we stayed in Hanoi: Hanoi Central Backpackers Hostel

Day 150 – 154: Sa Pa

From Hanoi we got our first sleeper bus in Vietnam – very strange. We spent our first day in Sa Pa hiking around and checking out the beautiful views. 

After this monstrous trek, we then stayed with a local family in a small village. Whilst here, we explored the tiny village and enjoyed trying out the local food and lifestyle.

Where we stayed in Sa Pa: Whilst in Sa Pa, we stayed in a homestay in a tiny little village. 

Day 154 – 155: Ha Long Bay

From Sa Pa, we got a mini bus and then hopped onto our booze cruise. We spent all day cruising, stopping off a lot to jump in from the boat or snorkel. 

We then spent the night in a small beach party hostel! 

I can’t remember where we stayed in Ha Long Bay! 

Day 155 – 159: Phong Nha 

Phong Nha isn’t your ‘typical’ backpacker spot in Vietnam, but I really enjoyed our time there! We rented scooters and rode to ‘Pub with cold beer’ as well as singing our hearts out at karaoke and enjoying local nightlife. 

Where we stayed in Phong Nha: Phong Nha Gecko Hostel

Day 159 – 162: Hội An 

Hội An is my favourite place in Vietnam (typical backpacker, I know). I loved exploring all the funky shops, cafés, markets and bars so much. Hội An is also where we got to do and see so much, like ride in a lantern boat, go cycling and take an educational bucket boat ride. 

Where we stayed in Hoi An: Backhome Hostel & Bar

Day 162 – 166: Ho Chi Minh City 

We spent a lot of our time in Ho Chi Minh learning about the history and exploring the nightlife. Whilst here, we also checked out the floating market and the Tra Su Forest.

Where we stayed in Ho Chi Minh: VBH Saigon

VIETNAM ROUND UP: 

Honestly, Vietnam is one of my favourite countries. There was so much for us to see and do, including it’s rich history and culture, beautiful scenery, the crazy nightlife, as well as some of the best food I’ve had. I think I loved Vietnam so much because it really is a mix of everything. My biggest regret with Vietnam is trying to rush it. Speaking to all the backpackers we met there, there was so much we had missed and I wished we had taken things at our own pace rather than tour group fast. When I return (which I definitely will), I want to visit Huế, Trang An & Cuc Phuong National Park, and Da Lat. 

Day 166 – 174: Cambodia 

From Ho Chi Minh, we spent the day at the floating market and then onto the Tra Su Forest, where we then spent the night in Ha Tien (at Ha Tien Happy Hotel) before making our way to Cambodia. 

Our Vietnam tour guide took us to the border crossing at Ha Tien. When crossing the border into Cambodia, we had a little issue where the officials tried to get more money off of us, and I think if it were not for being in a group of backpackers, we would’ve fell for it. On the other side we met our Cambodia tour guide and took a bus to Sihanoukville before catching a boat to Koh Rong island. 

Day 166 – 169: Koh Rong 

We spent 3 nights on Koh Rong island. The first at a small campsite on a private section of the island. We spent the day on a boat snorkelling and also catching the fish that we would then eat later. There are multiple bioluminescent bays across the world , and that evening, we were able to swim with the  bioluminescent plankton – which was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever experienced. We then spent the night sleeping in hammocks under the stars on the edge of the beach. It was absolutely insane. 

The next 2 nights we spent at another part of the island, nearer to the main part. We spent our time here relaxing on the beach, sleeping in hammocks, and heading to Police Beach to rave. 

Where we stayed in Koh Rong: Malibu Hostel

Day 169 – 171: Phnom Penh

We got a boat back to Sihanoukville and then a bus to Phnom Penh. Our first day in Phnom Penh was spent mostly travelling and as soon as we arrived we hit the bar. 

The next day we visited the S21 prison and then the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek.

Where we stayed in Phnom Penh: Mad Monkey  

Day 171 – 174: Siem Reap

I loved our time in Siem Reap. Coincidentally, it was Songkran for the entirety of our stay. This definitely spiced things up! On our first day in Siem Reap we tried some bugs and met a local family, and then spent the afternoon having fun at the hostel. We actually also bumped into a friend that we’d made in Thailand at the hostel so we had a good catch up with him. 

The next morning we were up at 4:30am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. After watching the sunrise, we then stopped off at a few of the other temples of Angkor.

The Ultimate Angkor Wat Guide

Then some pals and I spent all night having fun at the main strip of Cambodia and enjoying Songkran. People were throwing flour and there were water guns, water balloons and also huge hoses involved. It was a once in a life time opportunity and I’m so glad I got to experience it. 

On our last day in Cambodia, we spent all day partying at the hostel, not ready for the long journey back to Bangkok in the morning. 

Where we stayed in Siem Reap: Funky Flashpacker  

CAMBODIA ROUND UP:

I feel like I’ve said this for every country now, but I loved Cambodia. I wish we could’ve stayed longer in Siem Reap to experience more of Songkran but also to see it in day-to-day life and check out the markets. 

Day 174 – 187: Back to Thailand

Day 174 – 179: bangkok .

We caught a 10 hour bus to Bangkok from Siem Reap. This was the longest bus journey EVER. We then also had to queue for 5 hours at the land border crossing, in the 37 °C heat with no air con or fans. Honestly this was the worst part of my whole Dragon Trip 31 day adventure, and it’s obvious why. 

We finally arrived at our hostel in Bangkok at 11pm, and we all fell straight to sleep. The rest of our time in Bangkok was spent exploring. We checked out Khao San road, and also tried to see the Grand Palace and Wat Pho Temple but the queues were huge and it was way too hot to stand outside in them all day. 

My favourite thing we did was spending the day at Chatuchak market – the largest market in Thailand, with over 15,000 stalls!!! Make sure you do your research and get a map, it’s so easy to get lost inside.

Where we stayed in Bangkok: Yaks House Hostel

Day 179 – 180: Chiang Mai 

We only stayed one night in Chiang Mai itself, and this is one of the biggest things I regret about my time in Thailand. But unfortunately, we were on a very tight schedule as we started our volunteering week the morning after and then flew out to India the night it finished, so really, we just didn’t have the time. 

Whilst in Chiang Mai, we wondered around the town and explored the street market which was awesome. 

Where we stayed in Chiang Mai: Rainforest ChiangMai Hotel

Day 180 – 187: Elephant Nature Park 

We then spent just under a week living and working at Elephant Nature Park , just north of Chiang Mai. Although a lot of this week consisted of picking up shit, it’s one of the best weeks of my life. I absolutely loved working alongside Elephants and getting to see these beautiful beings up close in an ethical way, was incredible. 

My Time Volunteering At Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand

THAILAND ROUND UP:

My time in Thailand was longer than I’d planned, but not long enough. I’m grateful that we got to visit a lot of the islands as well as some of the North but my biggest regret with Thailand is not seeing more of North Thailand. 

End notes...

So there we have it. That’s my 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary! As you probably can tell, I loved every bit of this trip and the only things I regret are not spending more time in places, and not visiting more. But obviously in 6 months you can’t do everything. 

This trip really changed who I am and if you wanted to check out the rest of my time away, you can by looking through my Gap Year category and also by searching via destinations . 

If you have any thoughts or questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

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The Ultimate 6 Month Southeast Asia Itinerary

So you’re looking to create a 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary but don’t know where to start? Well luckily for you, I’ve put a lot of research into my two previous trips to Southeast Asia and even more into my upcoming 5-month trip there. So by combining all my past experiences and future plans together, here is my run down of the ultimate 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary. You’re welcome…

Table of Contents

Southeast Asia itinerary – Thailand 1 month

1. Fly into Bangkok and start your trip with 2 – 3 days exploring the sights of one of Asia’s most vibrant cities.

Related article – Top things to do in Bangkok

2. Next travel south and spend 2 weeks discovering Thailand’s beautiful coastline. Places to go include Krabi for the beaches, Koh Phangan to party, Koh Samui for chill time and Koh Tao for activities like diving.

3. After beach and island hopping in the south, head up to the northern city of Chiang Mai for 4 – 5 days. It’s a great place for visiting elephant sanctuaries, jungle trekking in the nearby national parks, or just simply chilling out.

Related article – Coolest things to do in Chiang Mai

4. After Chiang Mai, hop across to Chiang Rai for at least 2 – 3 days, where you can visit the famous White Temple and Black House.

Related article – A short guide to the White Temple

Related article – A short guide to the Black House

Southeast Asia itinerary – Laos 3 weeks

5. From Northern Thailand, the first place to head to in Laos is its old capital city, Luang Prabang . Spend at least 3 – 4 days here including a trip to the stunning Kuang Si Falls.

Related article – Top things to do in Luang Prabang

6. After Luang Prabang, travel down to Vang Vieng for 3 – 4 days, where you can explore its many lagoons, caves and rice paddies.

Related article – A short guide to tubing in Vang Vieng 2018

7. Next up is Laos’ new capital Vientiane . Quite a lot of travellers say Vientiane is a bit dull, but if you’ve got the time I would still spend around 2 days discovering the city.

Related article – Top things to do in Vientiane

8. After Vientiane, make your way down to the southern city of Paske . Although there isn’t that much to do in Pakse, it is the starting point for exploring the amazing waterfalls and landscapes of the Bolaven Plateau.

9. So the Bolaven Plateau ! The best way to see everything it has to offer is by doing the big loop (or small loop if you’re short on time) by motorbike with overnight stops along the way – you’ll want to allow at least 3 days for this.

10. Last on the list for Laos is the Four Thousand Islands in the Mekong Delta. Spend 4 – 6 days here for some proper relaxation time. The islands of Don Det and Don Khon are the main places to stay.

Related article – A short guide to Don Det & Don Khon

Southeast Asia itinerary – Cambodia 3 weeks

11. If you’re travelling from Laos, your first destination in Cambodia should be Siem Reap , where you can spend 3 – 4 days exploring the famous temples of Angkor Wat.

Related article – The ultimate one day Angkor Wat guide

Related article – Top things to do in Siem Reap (other than Angkor Wat)

12. After Siem Reap, head up to the city of Battambang for 2 – 3 days to ride the Bamboo train and chill out.

13. Next up, it’s time to hit Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh . Like Laos’ capital, this city has been dubbed uninteresting by some travellers. But if you’ve got time, it’s still worth stopping there for a couple of days to explore its attractions.

Related article – Best cheap & free things to do in Phnom Penh

14. Escape the busyness of Phnom Penh by travelling down to Cambodia’s coast. Spend 5 – 6 days relaxing in the riverside town of Kampot and the nearby seaside town of Kep .

Related article – How to spend 48 hours in Kampot, Cambodia

15. Finish your Cambodia itinerary by travelling across to Sihanoukville and get then get the ferry to Koh Rong island for up to a week of relaxing on the beach.

Southeast Asia itinerary – Vietnam 2 weeks

16. First up on your Vietnam itinerary is the capital, Ho Chi Minh City . Here, you’ll need at least 2 – 3 days exploring including a day trip to the Chu Chi Tunnels.

17. Travel north, stopping off at the old port town of Hoi An for 3 – 4 days of beaches, shopping and world-class cuisine.

18. Continue up the country to the city of Hanoi , where you can spend 3 – 4 days soaking up its sights and culture.

19. From Hanoi, you can go on an overnight tour of the magical world heritage site Halong Bay .

20. End your Vietnam trip with a visit to Sapa in the far-flung northern mountains for 2 – 3 days of trekking and learning about region’s tribal villages.

Related article –  2 week Vietnam itinerary

Southeast Asia itinerary – Singapore & Malaysia 1 month

Singapore & peninsular malaysia – 2 weeks.

21. Fly from Hanoi to your first stop in Malaysia – George Town . Here, you can easily fill at least 2 – 3 days exploring the city’s world-renowned foodie scene, colonial heritage and street art.

22. Next up, it’s time to head to Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur . 3 – 4 days should be enough to see all the main sights including the famous Petronas Towers.

23. After a few busy days in the city, it’s time for some relaxation. Travel across to Tioman Island on the east coast for 3 – 4 days of snorkelling, diving and beach hopping.

24. Travel down to the vibrant city (and country) of Singapore . There’s so much to do here I would advise you spend no less than 3 – 4 days discovering everything it has to offer, but if you don’t have that much time my guide below might help.

Related article – How to spend 48 hours in Singapore

Borneo Malaysia – 2 weeks

25. Fly from Singapore to the city of Kuching in the western Sarawak region. Kuching is not just a great city to explore but is also a good base for visiting the surrounding national parks too, so you’ll need at least 3 – 4 days here.

26. If you have time after Kuching, make sure to spend 2 – 3 days in the Batang Ai National Park , where you can spot wildlife, visit the Iban tribal people and learn about their way of life.

27. Travel across to Sandakan in the eastern Sabah region where you can spend the next 6 – 7 days. Although there’s no much to do in the city itself, the area offers plenty of opportunities to see wildlife including overnight visits to Turtle Island and Kinabatangan River tours.

28. Finish your Malaysia itinerary in Kota Kinabalu . 2 – 3 days should be enough to explore the city and a few of the little islands that sit just off the coast.

Southeast Asia itinerary – The Philippines 1 month

29. From Kota Kinabalu, you’ll need to fly to Cebu City first, before heading onto Moalboal . There are plenty of attractions to keep you busy including the Kawasan Falls and Malabuyoc Hot Springs, so you’ll need at least 4 – 5 days to see it all.

30. After Moalboal, move on to the most spiritual island of The Philippines, Siquijor Island where you can spend up to 5 – 6 days discovering the jungles and lounging on the beaches.

31. After Siquijor, head across to Bohol . With lots of activities and day trips on offer, 4 – 5 days should be enough to discover the island’s unique landscapes and wildlife.

32. Travel across to the Palawan archipelago to the beautiful El Nido , where you easily fill at least 6 – 7 days island hopping, diving and relaxing.

33. Close to El Nido, next up on your list should be Coron , where you can also spend 6 – 7 days exploring the lagoons, mountains and beaches of the area.

34. Finish your time in The Philippines in Manila . 3 – 4 days should be plenty to soak up the city’s sights and culture and maybe take a day trip to the Banaue Rice Terraces.

Southeast Asia itinerary – Indonesia 1 month

Although there are hundreds of islands that make up Indonesia, this itinerary focuses on just three of them: Bali, Lombok and Java.

35. Once you’ve flown into Bali, head across to the luxury beach resort area of Seminyak . With plenty of high-end bars, restaurants, spas and shops, you can easily spend 3 – 4 days splashing out and relaxing.

36. Next, get the ferry over to the smaller islands of Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Penida and Nusa Dua . Each island has its own unique collection of natural wonders, so you’ll need at least 3 – 4 days to explore them all.

37. After you’ve finished island hopping, travel back to the main island of Bali and up to the town of Ubud for 3 – 4 days of culture, art, yoga and beautiful landscapes.

38. A world away from Bali’s main hub, the humble fishing villages of Amed are a great place to chill out after Ubud. However, you probably won’t need more than 2 – 3 days here.

39. From Amed, you can get a fast boat across to the Gili Islands where you should spend at least 6 – 7 days. Gili Trawangan is the party island, Gili Meno is the honeymoon island and Gili Air is somewhere in between the two.

40. Head over to Lombok island and to the main tourist strip of Senggigi . 2 – 3 days is enough to enjoy its beautiful beaches, bays and mountains.

41. Next up, make your way to Kuta on the southern part of the island. There are plenty of beaches and natural wonders to discover along this coastline so you’ll need 3 – 4 days (and preferably a moped) to explore the area.

42. Fly from Lombok across to the city of Yogyakarta on the island of Java, where you can spend 2 – 3 days visiting the Borobudur and Prambanan temples complexes.

43. The final destination on your Indonesia itinerary is a trip to Mount Bromo and Mount Penanjakan. First head to the city of Probolinggo and from there you can travel onto both mountains for sunrise or sunset!

It goes without saying, there are plenty of other places that I would love to fit into my Southeast Asia itinerary and should should also consider for yours! Myanmar, Brunei and Sri Lanka to name a few. But hopefully the list above gives you at least a good starting point for planning your own Southeast Asia itinerary. Have you been anywhere I’ve missed off my list? Let me know in the comments below!

You might also enjoy:

5 Top Places to Visit in Vietnam

Top Things To Do in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

A Guide to Selingan Turtle Island, Malaysia

How to Get From Kuala Lumpur to Penang

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Se asia travel costs – 6 months, 7 countries.

Posted By: Renegade Travels | Posted in: Cost of Living

7 countries, 12,000 km, 194 days – how much did it all cost? Surprisingly little. In fact, we found out that it’s cheaper to travel than it is to stay at home . We kept a note of all our costs from start to finish, and broke them down into four main categories – accommodation, food and drink, transport, and miscellaneous. We made a separate note of expenses such as visas, airfares and a few other things, as we wanted to be able to compare actual living costs between countries. Adding a $300 airfare to one country would distort this comparison. Note that I’ve rounded the figures to the nearest $1, so the figures below won’t always add up precisely.

Days : 60 Places : Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Chiang Khong Accommodation : $825 Food & Drink : $1,339 Transport : $112 Miscellaneous : $233 Total : $2,510

$21 Per Person Per Day

Thailand turned out to be the cheapest country of all, which surprised us a little. We expected some of the poorer SE Asian countries to be cheaper, but they weren’t. Thailand is an amazing country, and very affordable. If you can only afford to visit one SE Asian country, then Thailand should be the place you head for. We spend most of our time in Chiang Mai, so be sure to also check Cost of Living in Chiang Mai if you’re headed there.

Days : 5 Places : Huay Xai, Pakbeng, Luang Prabang Accommodation : $52 Food & Drink : $132 Transport : $8 Miscellaneous : $50 Total : $241

$24 Per Person Per Day

We only spent five days in Laos, so the daily costs might not really be representative of a longer stay. Two of our five days were spent on a slow boat traveling along the Mekong River. And another two days were in Luang Prabang, which is probably the most expensive town in Laos.

Days : 29 Places : Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City Accommodation : $693 Food & Drink : $610 Transport : $253 Miscellaneous : $75 Total : $1,631

$28 Per Person Per Day

Costs here were quite reasonable, with the total being bumped up by the traveling costs from the north to the south of the country. We didn’t like Vietnam as much as we expected to, and so only stayed a month instead of three, which was our original plan.

Days : 41 Places : Phnom Penh, Siem Reap Accommodation : $1,060 Food & Drink : $1,102 Transport : $73 Miscellaneous : $110 Total : $2,344

$29 Per Person Per Day

We really liked Cambodia, especially Phnom Penh, and stayed longer than we had intended to. We would have stayed even longer if our visas weren’t due to expire. There aren’t too many places in the world that I can imagine living long-term, but Phnom Penh is one of them. Also see Cost of Living in Phnom Penh .

Days : 28 Places : Kuala Lumpur, George Town, Johor Bahru Accommodation : $692 Food & Drink : $549 Transport : $100 Miscellaneous : $59 Total : $1,399

$25 Per Person Per Day

George Town in Penang was another of our favorite places. I’m sure we’ll be heading back there sometime soon. We’d also like to explore some other parts of Malaysia, as just a month is hardly any time at all to cover it. Also see George Town Living Costs .

Days : 3 Places : Singapore Accommodation : $271 Food & Drink : $92 Transport : $23 Miscellaneous : $2 Total : $387

$65 Per Person Per Day

If you’re on a tight budget, then Singapore is a place to avoid. While Singapore is one of the cleanest places I’ve ever visited, it’s also probably the most sterile place. I could never imagine myself living there, and have no desire to go back.

Days : 28 Places : Ubud, Denpasar, Banyuwangi, Surabaya, Jakarta Accommodation : $717 Food & Drink : $588 Transport : $120 Miscellaneous : $26 Total : $1,450

$26 Per Person Per Day

We loved the relaxing two weeks we had in Bali and also the climb down into Ijen Crater. Indonesia is a large country that needs much longer than a month to explore. For a more in-depth look at our Indonesia costs, see Bali & Indonesia Travel Costs .

Grand Total

Days : 194 Accommodation : $4,310 Food & Drink : $4,411 Transport : $688 Miscellaneous : $555 Total : $9,964

We spent an additional $1,331 on visas, flights and tours. So that brings the grand total to $11,295, which comes to $29 per person per day.

You should note that we started and ended our travels in Bangkok, so didn’t have any additional costs at the start and end of our travels. If you’re traveling from outside SE Asia, as most of you will be, then you’ll need to factor in the cost of flights to and from SE Asia.

Hotels In SE Asia

We booked most of our hotels via Agoda. Click the link below for some great hotels at great prices.

Renegade Travels is here to show you how to travel the world (specifically Asia) on a budget, while still having a fantastic time.

We cover Southeast Asia in depth, particularly Thailand, and have also added around 15 countries in Europe.

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6 Month Southeast Asia Itinerary & Backpacking Route

This post about the ultimate 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary contains affiliate links.

Backpacking Southeast Asia has become more and more popular over the years with the increase in accessibility and availability to travel to the likes of Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam on a budget.

We spent almost 7 months travelling Southeast Asia and during that time we visited 7 different countries, and while it was incredibly challenging at times, it was also such a rewarding trip.

I think a backpacking trip around Southeast Asia is a definitive experience in any traveller’s life and whether you travel for 6 weeks, 6 months, or 6 years, it’s still a place that I think needs exploring at least once in your life.

This guide is pretty extensive and includes details about everything you need to know about the best Asia travel route, including a thorough itinerary of each country/city plus all the best things to know when planning a backpacking trip in Southeast Asia!

6 months backpacking Southeast Asia tour highlights

Planning your 6-month backpacking trip to Southeast Asia? Here’s a quick summary of the top tours and attractions I’d recommend!

• Day Trip to Nusa Penida , Atuh & Diamond Beach from Bali
• Snorkelling Tour of the Gili Islands
• El Nido Tour A – this was one of my favourite experiences in the Philippines !
• Bohol Island Day Tour – a great option if you don’t want to hire motorbikes
• Batu Caves Tour from Kuala Lumpur – one of my favourite places in KL!
• Universal Studios Singapore – definitely worth a visit!
• Wat Pho and Grand Palace Tour in Bangkok
• Island Hopping Day Trip to Phi Phi Islands
• Angkor Wat Sunrise Day Trip from Siem Reap
• Cu Chi Tunnels Day Tour

6 month Southeast Asia itinerary summary

• Indonesia – 1 to 2 months
• The Philippines – 1 month
• Malaysia – 2 to 4 weeks
• Singapore – 1 to 2 weeks
• Thailand – 1 months
• Cambodia – 2 to 4 weeks
• Vietnam – 1 month

How much money do you need for 6 months in Southeast Asia?

Now, I know the first question that’s gonna be on your mind is how much did we spend in total while backpacking Southeast Asia?

While I didn’t keep track of absolutely every single purchase, since we returned home, I’ve combed through our bank statements meticulously to find out a very close estimate of how much we spent…

We spent £5,550.03 each during our 7(ish) months in Southeast Asia. This works out to approximately £792.87 each per month.

Of course, we spent more in some countries than others ( Singapore for example, was pretty expensive, whereas we spent significantly less in Cambodia and the Philippines ), but a good estimate of how much you’re likely to spend backpacking Southeast Asia is between £700 and £800 each, each month.

This will depend entirely on exactly which countries you’re travelling to and the type of travel you plan on doing – e.g. extreme budget, mid-range or luxury travel.

Our expenditure is a very accurate representation of a low to medium-range budget.

Read more: How Much Money We Spent Travelling NZ, Australia & Southeast Asia

Indonesia – backpacking Southeast Asia route

Length of stay: 1-2 months

Where to go in Indonesia – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Before we flew to Indonesia , I had no idea just how big the country is – it’s frigging enormous . In the grand scheme of things, we barely scratched the surface of places to go in Indonesia and I’ve mentioned it before, but it really isn’t my favourite place in the world .

While we did enjoy Gili T and Nusa Penida somewhat, Bali just didn’t live up to the incredibly high expectations I had of it from all the hype I’d heard on Instagram and from other travellers. However, I still think it’s a place that’s worth seeing for yourself, especially if you’re planning on doing an epic trip around Southeast Asia.

We spent two months in Indonesia as we travelled very slowly, spending weeks at a time in most places. However, you could easily spend just one month there, depending on where you want to go and how much time you want to spend in each place.

Here are a few recommendations of where to go in Indonesia.

Read more: My Top 13 Favourite Experiences in Indonesia

Bali – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

My relationship with Bali really is an odd one as, at the time, I was kind of mega frustrated with how much I wasn’t enjoying it when all I’d heard were good things about the little island.

However, so many travellers absolutely adore Bali and my opinion of it really isn’t gospel so I would still always encourage you to decide for yourself.

We spent almost two full months in Indonesia as we extended our visas (if you’re from the UK, you’re only entitled to spend 30 days in Indonesia unless you extend). I’ve written a comprehensive guide on how to extend your visa in Indonesia here .

Top things to see/do in Bali:

• Ubud Monkey Forest – book a guided tour here
• Tegallalang Rice Terraces
• Mount Batur
• Lempuyang Temple (read about what I really think of it here!)
• Agro Santi Coffee Plantation

Read more: Why I Didn’t Love Bali As Much As I Thought I Would

Nusa Penida

Nusa Penida was possibly my favourite island in Indonesia. It was much quieter than Bali or Gili T (although this might not always be the case) and it’s an absolutely stunning place.

The island is pretty easy to get around as it’s not huge and many travellers hire scooters to get around. However, we decided against hiring a scooter as the roads aren’t exactly in the best shape and we didn’t feel comfortable riding a scooter at the time so we hired a private driver to take us around on the day trips instead.

Top things to see/do in Nusa Penida:

• Diamond Beach (absolutely stunning beach)
• Kelingking Beach
• Angel’s Billabong
• Thousand Islands Viewpoint
• Broken Beach

Read more: Nusa Penida Day Tour – Diamond Beach, Kelingking Beach & More!

Gili Islands

The Gili Islands comprise of Gili Trawangan, Gili Air and Gili Meno and all three islands are just a short (albeit often very rocky) boat ride from Bali.

We spent 10 days in Gili T and then did a brief boat trip that took us to Gili Meno as part of a snorkelling trip. There aren’t an awful lot of things to do on the islands and you definitely don’t need to spend 10 days on Gili T in order to see everything; we only spent that much time so that we could relax for days on end.

Top things to see/do in Gili Islands:

• Snorkelling
• Scuba diving
• Bar Crawls with the Irish Bar
• Bingo Night at Lava
• Jiggy Boat party

Read more: An Epic 10-Day Travel Itinerary for Gili Trawangan

Philippines – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Length of stay : 1 month

More guides to the Philippines here!

Where to go on a Southeast Asia backpacking route in the Philippines

We spent pretty much one full month in the Philippines and I think that’s a good amount of time to see a fair bit of the expansive country.

As the Philippines is so huge and is home to more than 7000 islands, it can be hard to narrow it down to just a few places to spend time in while you’re there. While we did visit numerous islands/cities during our time there, we still barely even scratched the surface and I’d definitely like to go back one day.

Here’s some inspiration for the top places to visit in the Philippines during your Southeast Asia backpacking route.

Read more: 1 Month Philippines Itinerary: Coron, El Nido, Cebu & More!

Manila is the capital city of the Philippines and it’s the place that we flew into from Bali. It’s also one of the worst places I’ve ever been and even though we were only there for around 6 hours, it’s a place that I never want to have to return to.

Many travellers we met agreed with us and said they hated Manila too, so if you can, I’d recommend just passing through there if you have to fly in or out of Manila.

After the brief 6 hours in Manila, we took the overnight ferry to Coron ; the ferry was an experience to say the least and not necessarily one that I’d particularly love to embark on again.

The little area of Coron itself isn’t really up to much but it is home to some fabulous islands that you can take day trips to see. I’d highly recommend spending at least a day or two in Coron so that you can see the beautiful islands, corals and beaches for yourself.

Top things to see/do in Coron:

• CYC Sand Bar
• Siete Pecados Marine Park
• Calachuchi Beach
• Kayangan Lake
• Hidden Lagoon

Read more: The Ultimate Coron Island Hopping Day Tour Itinerary

El Nido – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary and route

El Nido was a place that I wanted to visit for many years, even before we started travelling and I think it definitely lived up to my expectations.

Again, while it’s not necessarily the most beatific place itself, it’s surrounded by the most incredible islands, ocean and beaches and the day trips you can enjoy from El Nido are unlike anything you’ll have likely experienced before.

There’s also a great backpacking scene in El Nido itself, with plenty of hostels, cheap bars and many affordable places to eat.

Top things to see/do in El Nido:

• Big Lagoon (somewhere I was desperate to see and enjoyed every minute of)
• Small Lagoon
• Seven Commandos Beach
• Shimizu Island
• Miniloc Island
• Nacpan Beach
• Secret Lagoon
• Matinloc Island
• Helicopter Island

Read more: Ultimate El Nido Tour A Island Hopping Day Trip Itinerary

After El Nido, we headed down to Puerto Princesa to catch a flight to Cebu where we spent a couple of days.

Cebu isn’t really somewhere you need to spend a long time in as there aren’t tonnes of things to do, but it is a good place to base yourself for a day or two for getting around the Philippines.

Top things to see/do in Cebu:

• Taoist Temple
• Fort San Pedro
• Cebu Westown Lagoon

Bohol/Panglao

From Cebu City , you can take a short ferry ride to Bohol Island and Panglao . Panglao was actually probably my favourite place in the Philippines; we stayed there for a good few days, at a tiny hostel just 100m from the beach.

Panglao was also the first place that we hired and rode a scooter for the first (and only) time while travelling as everything is pretty spread out across the adjoining islands.

Bohol and Panglao are absolutely stunning places and I’d highly recommend adding them to your Philippine itinerary while you’re backpacking Southeast Asia.

Top things to see/do in Bohol/Panglao:

• Libaong White Beach
• Bohol Chocolate Hills
• Alona Beach
• Bilar Man-made Forest
• Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary

Read more: 5 Things To Do In Panglao/Bohol

Malaysia – backpacking Southeast Asia itinerary

Length of stay : 2-4 weeks

Where to go in Malaysia – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

If you’ve followed me on Instagram since we were travelling, you’ll know just how much I adore Malaysia . In fact, within just a few days of being there, I decided that it was one of the best countries I’d ever been to.

Many people overlook Malaysia when backpacking around Southeast Asia and usually only view Kuala Lumpur as a layover city , but it definitely isn’t; I really think it’s a place that you need to spend some proper time in.

We spent almost 6 weeks in Malaysia in total and split our time between Kuala Lumpur and George Town.

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur was the first place that we visited in Malaysia and I absolutely fell head over heels in love with it. While many people brush it off and use it only as a stopover when travelling around Asia and beyond, I personally adored it.

It was never somewhere that crossed my mind to visit, as no one I knew really raved about it, but we spent three fabulous weeks there and we’ve already talked about moving there for a couple of months one day.

From the food (SO good), to the people, to the beautiful architecture and things to see and do, KL is undoubtedly one of my favourite cities in the world.

Top things to see/do in Kuala Lumpur:

• Petronas Towers
• Wilayah Mosque
• Tapak Urban Street Dining
• KL Eco Forest Park
• Jalan Alor Night Market

Read more: 17 Best Things To Do In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

George Town/Penang

After our incredible experience in Kuala Lumpur, I really didn’t think I could love anywhere in Malaysia as much but George Town proved me wrong yet again and it also turned out to be one of my favourite places we visited while travelling.

It’s the cutest little town, filled with so much incredible food (seriously, the food markets here are to die for ) and stunning street art; George Town is 100% a place that you need to add to your Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary.

Top things to see/do in George Town/Penang:

• Kek Lok Si Temple
• Kapitan Keling Mosque
• The Top at Penang
• Antarabangsa Enterprise
• Penang Hill

Read more: 10 Best Things To Do In George Town, Penang (Malaysia)

Singapore – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Length of stay : 1-2 weeks

It’s no secret that Singapore is incredibly expensive so it’s a place that a lot of travellers avoid when backpacking Southeast Asia, however, it is still possible to visit Singapore on a relatively strict budget.

We actually spent Christmas and New Year in Singapore which definitely wasn’t cheap at all , especially for accommodation, but there are still ways to save money in the famed city.

We found some of the food in Singapore some of the cheapest we ate in Southeast Asia as there are a tonne of Hawker Markets and street food stalls that not many people seem to realise.

My point is, if you really want to see Singapore but you’re worried it’s going to be too expensive, then you just need to come up with more inventive ways to save money while travelling .

On our second visit to Singapore in December 2023, we spent two nights at the YOTEL Orchard Road hotel branch which is one of the best and more affordable accommodation options located right in the heart of Orchard Road!

Top things to see/do in Singapore:

• Gardens by the Bay
• Marina Bay Sands Hotel
• Universal Studios
• Singapore Flyer
• ArtScience Museum
• Clarke Quay
• Merlion Park
• Stay at YOTEL Singapore Orchard Road
• Haji Lane and Arab Street
• Southern Ridges
• Little India

Read more: 25+ Best Things To Do In Singapore

Thailand – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Where to go in Thailand – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Thailand is synonymous with being a backpacking haven for travellers from all over the world, and while many parts of it is great for backpackers, it wasn’t quite as impressive as I was expecting it to be.

Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed our time in Thailand and it’s an amazing country, but it just wasn’t quite as cheap as everyone told us it would be.

We spent roughly a month travelling around Thailand and during that time we saw and did an awful lot of awesome stuff. Here are some of the top places I’d recommend visiting in Thailand during your Southeast Asia backpacking trip.

Read more: The Ultimate 1 Month Backpacking Thailand Itinerary & Guide

Bangkok – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Bangkok is often cited as the pinnacle mecca of backpacking life in Asia and from the amount of other travellers you’ll inevitably meet there, it’s easier to see why.

However, you’ll soon have to become accustomed to a much quicker pace of life in Bangkok as it’s without a doubt one of the craziest and busiest cities I’ve ever been to. It’s also not quite as affordable as you might think; especially down the world-famous Khao San Road – expect to see a lot of scantily-clad women too!

Top things to see/do in Bangkok:

• Wat Arun Ratchawararam
• Khao San Road
• Muay Thai at Baan Chao Praya Gallery
• Chatuchak Weekend Market 
• Bangkok Marriott Hotel The Surawongse rooftop bar
• The Grand Palace
• Wat Anongkharam Worawihan
• Erawan Shrine

Read more: Three Days In Bangkok – What To Do, See & Eat

We actually started our time in Thailand in Phuket as we flew there from Singapore just after New Year’s.

We spent around five days on the island and while I definitely don’t think you need to spend that long there, as we were travelling pretty slowly compared to most other travellers, we didn’t see the harm in being there for a little while.

Phuket is renowned for being quite a rambunctious party island and we definitely experienced that side of things, but it’s also filled with awesome cultural excursions too that you shouldn’t miss out on.

Top things to see/do in Phuket:

• Island hopping day trip to Phi Phi Islands
• Phuket Old Town
• Wat Chalong
• Promthep Cape Viewpoint
• Karon Viewpoint

Read more: Phuket Island Hopping Day Trip To Phi Phi Islands

Koh Lanta was an island that I really wanted to visit after hearing a few fellow travellers rave about it and I have to say, it really is a fab little place.

There aren’t a tonne of things to see and do there, but it is the perfect place to base yourself for a few days if you want to do little else apart from eat, drink, lay on the beach and watch endless beautiful sunsets.

Our little homestay was situated just a 2-minute walk from the beach so we headed there every evening for sundowners and to watch the most magical sunset over the ocean.

Top things to see/do in Koh Lanta:

• Mu Ko Lanta National Park
• Pra-Ae Beach
• Island hopping

Chiang Mai is situated at the very top of Thailand and is another great place for backpackers. We took the overnight bus there from Bangkok which isn’t exactly the most enjoyable journey, but it’s very cheap and pretty easy to embark on.

I really enjoyed Chiang Mai and I think it’s definitely a place you need to have on your Thailand travel itinerary.

Top things to see/do in Chiang Mai:

• Blue Daily Elephant Care Sanctuary
• Wat Chedi Luang
• Wat Phra Singh
• Old City Temples

Read more: Blue Daily Elephant Care Sanctuary Chiang Mai

Kanchanaburi

Famed for being the home of part of the Death Railway and the Bridge on the River Kwai , Kanchanaburi is unfortunately often a place that’s overlooked in Thailand, with most backpackers sticking to places like Bangkok , Phi Phi and Phuket.

However, we spent a couple of days in Kanchanaburi largely just to see the Death Railway and I’m really glad we did because it was an awesome, albeit slightly harrowing experience. We actually rode the train along the railway all the way to Nam Tok where the tourist route ends.

Aside from the River Kwai and numerous bars and restaurants, there’s not much to do in Kanchanaburi itself, unless you take a few day trips. It is remarkably easy to get to and from Bangkok however, so many people just opt to take a day trip there.

Top things to see/do in Kanchanaburi:

• Bridge on the River Kwai and Death Railway
• Erawan National Park (day trip)
• JEATH War Museum
• Tiger Temple

Read more: Death Railway and River Kwai Bridge, Kanchanaburi – Ultimate Guide

Cambodia – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Where to go in Cambodia – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

The next place on our Southeast Asia backpacking route and a place that’s very easily accessible from Thailand was Cambodia.

Cambodia always receives such mixed views and opinions from various travellers; one girl we met claimed it was her favourite place in the entire world, whereas other backpackers have said that it really wasn’t up to much and would happily never go back again.

I think I’m somewhere in the middle. Some places we visited in Cambodia were pretty cool such as the Angkor Wat Temples and a little city called Kampot . Whereas the capital city, Phnom Penh, wasn’t up to much and the southern coastal city of Sihanoukville was undoubtedly The Worst Place On Earth.

I’m always a huge advocate for people forging their own opinions about a place and I would never tell you not to visit anywhere, but I think it’s a good idea to note that Cambodia isn’t the best place in the world, in my opinion, at least.

Read more: The Ultimate Guide To Backpacking Cambodia On A Budget

Siem Reap – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Siem Reap, the home to the world-famous Angkor Wat temples and the city that is often mistaken for the capital city of Cambodia is a place that pretty much every backpacker visits if they’re in the country.

It’s a great little city for backpackers as there are plenty of affordable hostels and cheap eateries and the nightlife is great, especially if you hop on one of the many pub crawls (like we did).

Of course, it’s most famous for Angkor Wat and all the surrounding temples which are definitely worth seeing for yourself as they’re so unbelievably otherworldly.

Top things to see/do in Siem Reap:

• Angkor Thom
• Ta Prohm (my personal favourite temple)
• Bayon Temple
• Pub Street (literally what it sounds like)
• Phare, The Cambodian Circus

Read more: The Ultimate Angkor Wat Guide – Ta Prohm, Ta Keo & More

The capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, was actually pretty anticlimactic and we really didn’t do an awful lot there apart from visiting the incredibly harrowing S21 Prison (Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum) .

Phnom Penh is home to an awful lot of horrific history surrounding Cambodia so it felt like a pretty sad place to be. However, I do think it’s worth spending a few days there, even just to learn more about the happenings at the Killing Fields , S21 and the history of the Khmer Rouge .

Top things to see/do in Phnom Penh:

• Royal Palace
• Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
• Killing Fields
• Central Market
• National Museum of Cambodia

Koh Rong/Koh Rong Samloem

If you follow me on Instagram , you may have seen me talk in great depth about the coastal city of Sihanoukville in the south of Cambodia.

Once famed for being the gateway to the Cambodian islands, Sihanoukville is now a city that’s in a perpetual state of construction since Chinese investors overtook it and built hotels and casinos at an impressive speed. The entire city is now a derelict construction zone and quite frankly, it’s not an enjoyable place to be. In fact, I’ve often cited it as The Worst Place On Earth.

However , being avidly curious travellers (and because I had to travel there for a company I was working with so I could write about it), Matt and I headed to Sihanoukville for two nights before heading on to Koh Rong Island.

I’ve written more about Sihanoukville in my Cambodia itinerary post and I would seriously advise you to undertake your own research on the city to determine whether you think it’s worth visiting, just to get to the islands.

If you do decide to make your way there, check out a few of the top things to see and do on Koh Rong/Samloem.

Top things to see/do in Koh Rong:

• Koh Toch Beach
• Sok San Beach
• Royal Beach
• Pagoda Beach
• Koh Rong Samloem Lighthouse

Aside from seeing all the incredible Angkor Wat temples in Siem Reap, I think Kampot was my favourite place in Cambodia and it’s a place that I’d encourage you to add to your Southeast Asia backpacking route, largely just for the abundance of awesome places to eat that you’ll find in Kampot .

We ate so well while staying in Kampot and there are dozens of restaurants, cafes and bars in this tiny little city. It didn’t feel too touristy at all, but I loved that it did still cater to tourists in terms of food, bars and the fact that the locals spoke pretty good English.

Kampot isn’t exactly teeming with exciting activities or excursions, but it’s a lovely little place to spend a couple of days just walking around, eating as much yummy food as possible and experiencing some of the local culture.

Top things to see/do in Kampot:

• Eat lots of food
• Salt Fields
• Watch the sunset on the river
• Durian Roundabout
• Preah Monivong Bokor National Park

Read more: The Best Places To Eat In Kampot, Cambodia

Vietnam – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Where to go in Vietnam – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

The final country on our Southeast Asia backpacking route and a place that I would recommend to everyone is Vietnam .

We originally planned to spend a full month in Vietnam so before we even travelled there, we extended our visa from 14 days to 30 days (you have to do this online before you travel to Vietnam). However, due to the bloody awful COVID-19 pandemic, we had to cut our travels short and fly home much sooner than we’d intended.

Anyway , we still spent a good few weeks exploring Vietnam and we travelled pretty much the full length of the country; from Ho Chi Minh City, all the way up to Hanoi, with multiple stops in various cities in between.

I really loved Vietnam and I’m excited to head back hopefully one day soon to finish off the things that we missed out on.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Ho Chi Minh City was the first place we visited in Vietnam as we took the bus all the way from Phnom Penh in Cambodia to HCMC.

We were there for a full week and as we were there over Matt’s birthday, we splashed out somewhat on a slightly fancier Airbnb apartment that provided us with the perfect base for our time in Ho Chi Minh.

HCMC is a fab place in Vietnam and I would 100% recommend adding it to your 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary.

Top things to see/do in Ho Chi Minh:

• Cu Chi Tunnels
• Cafe Apartment Block
• Tan Dinh Church
• Bitexco Financial Tower
• Ben Thanh Market
• Bui Vien Street
• War Remnants Museum

Read more: 3 Days In Ho Chi Minh Itinerary – Best Things To See & Do In Ho Chi Minh

After Ho Chi Minh, we headed to Da Lat which is a cute little town in the mountains.

There are lots of great day trips to enjoy from Da Lat, and we created some of my favourite Vietnam memories there.

Top things to see/do in Da Lat:

• Datanla Waterfall
• Datanla rollercoaster
• Hành Trình Trên Cao High Ropes
• Crazy House

Read more: Top Five Fun Things To Do In Da Lat, Vietnam

Nha Trang was probably my least favourite place in Vietnam. It was a nice enough place but it was absolutely overcome with tourists, particularly Russian tourists and even though we were there just as the COVID-19 pandemic was starting to outbreak, it was still very busy everywhere.

On the plus side, there are lots of great places to eat in Nha Trang, in order to accommodate the many tourists so you won’t struggle to find a plethora of amazing restaurants!

Top things to see/do in Nha Trang:

• Long Son Pagoda
• Ponagar Tower
• Vinpearl Water Park

Hoi An – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Hoi An, on the other hand, is an absolutely fab place and it’s definitely somewhere you should have on your 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary!

While there’s not a crazy amount of “big” activities to do in the city itself, it’s a truly beautiful place to spend a few days. Hoi An is famed for its abundance of lights and lanterns that make the city come magically alive at night.

Top things to see/do in Hoi An:

• Japanese Covered Bridge
• Hoi An Night Market
• Ancient Town

Read more: Hoi An Photo Diary – 20+ Photos To Inspire Your Trip To Vietnam

Da Nang was the last proper place we explored before we had to head straight to Hanoi to catch our flight home back to the UK.

Da Nang is such an incredible place with lots to see and do and it’s definitely somewhere that I’d go back to again.

From the world-famous Golden Hands Bridge to the Sun World theme park, to the beautiful beaches, Da Nang is somewhere you need to include in your Southeast Asia itinerary.

Top things to see/do in Da Nang:

• Golden Hands Bridge
• Sun World at Ba Na Hills
• Marble Mountains
• Dragon Bridge
• My Son cultural heritage site

Hanoi – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

The last proper place we “visited” in Vietnam and consequently the last place we were before our world trip came to an abrupt end, Hanoi is somewhere that I was longing to visit for a long time and it was such a shame that we weren’t able to stay there very long.

Unfortunately, we only managed to stay in Hanoi for 12 hours before we had to catch a flight home so we literally didn’t do anything there apart from spending 4 hours in McDonald’s…

I’ve still collated a few ideas of the best things to see and do in Hanoi to give you guys inspiration in case you head there yourself.

Top things to see/do in Hanoi:

• Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
• Temple of Literature
• Thăng Long Imperial Citadel
• Hoàn Kiếm Lake
• Ta Hien Beer Street
• Tran Quoc Pagoda
• St. Joseph’s Cathedral

And there you have it! A fully comprehensive 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary and backpacking route!

Related posts:

• Backpacking Southeast Asia Ultimate Packing List
• 12 Best Bahn Mi In Hanoi, Vietnam
• The Ultimate Vietnam Backpacking Guide
• A Guide To Backpacking Cambodia On A Budget
• The Ultimate 1 Month Backpacking Thailand Itinerary & Guide
• One Month In The Philippines Ultimate Itinerary

Pin for later – 6 month Southeast Asia itinerary

Which places are on your Southeast Asia backpacking route? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram at @imjustagirl_16 .

Things You’ll Know If You’ve Travelled Southeast Asia

6 Months Travelling New Zealand, Australia & Asia Itinerary

Southeast Asia Packing List Essentials – Ultimate Packing Guide For Asia

Wow, this whole trip looks like it was amazing! I didn’t expect it to meet a COVID-19 ending (SUPER sad) but it looks like you had a wonderful 7 months!

Thank you so much!

This looks amazing, and so useful for a good guide! What month you started your 6 months?

Thank you! We arrived in Indonesia in August.

Super useful guide!! Thanks Chloe. I’d also suggest a good tip on money in SE Asia. Atms are a good way of getting cash and you can use apps like ATM Fee Saver – it helps finding the fee-free and lower fee ATMs in the region along with withdrawal limits for foreign card holders. worth adding to your list of tricks!

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The World on my Necklace

A Travel Blog by Katie Chavez

Our 6 Month Travel Itinerary: Oceania and Asia

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through an affiliate link, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support.

I originally published this 6 month travel itinerary in November 2019 at the beginning of what was going to be a 6-month trip. Unfortunately the last part – Nepal – was derailed by the pandemic (we finally visited in early 2023) but the rest of the trip was incredible and I wanted to republish this post to inspire anyone else that is interested in doing a similar itinerary. Enjoy!

I can’t believe I am already over a week into my big international trip! I have been thinking about it a lot the last few months, and realized that I hadn’t really told you guys what our plans were, other than a casual mention here and there.

Although I am pretty much always traveling – I am in year five of living nomadically – we tend to travel most of the year within the US.

Toby works about eight to nine months of the year building festivals and events around the country, and since July last year until April this year, I was going through the process of getting my green card, which meant that we weren’t able to do our winter international trip last year.

That’s why we are traveling for six months this winter, rather than our regular two-three months.

Now that Toby’s jobs are all over for the year and I have my green card, we are finally ready to do an epic international trip again, and we have been looking forward to this one for a long time!

So without further ado, here is our 6-month travel itinerary:

6 Month Travel Itinerary

End of october: hawaii.

I left the US to start the trip on the 29th October, and spent two nights in Waikiki to break up the otherwise long flight to Sydney.

I only had one day there so spent it relaxing at the beach, enjoying fish and chips and a lava flow cocktail overlooking Waikiki Beach, and eating Leonard’s famous malasadas – it was great to be back, if only for a short while.

November – December: Australia and New Zealand

On the 1st November I landed in Sydney where I spent six nights visiting friends, returning to my favorite haunts from when I lived there, and beach-hopping and hiking. I love visiting Sydney in spring because the jacaranda trees are blooming all over the city and it is so pretty.

From Sydney, I flew home to New Zealand – my first time back in 16 months – which is where I am now.

Toby was meant to be joining me here but we found out his visa was going to take months longer than we originally thought, so we changed our plans around, and I will be spending four weeks here before joining Toby in Asia, visiting friends and family in Auckland , Tauranga, Hamilton, Matakana , and Rotorua. 

Me and my bestie Kurt are also planning to do a little road trip through Taranaki, spending two days hiking the Pouakai Circuit in Egmont National Park, then visiting a friend in Tokoroa, and visiting the stunning Blue Spring in Putaruru.

December – January: Thailand and Laos

We were originally meant to be spending this time traveling around the South Island of New Zealand, but I am excited to return to Thailand to visit one of my last countries in Southeast Asia – Laos.

We start our time in Bangkok at the beginning of December for a week, where I have to get more work done on my teeth. Hopefully, we will also have time to explore more of Bangkok – there are so many things to do in Bangkok !

From there we want to visit Koh Kood, Koh Mak, and Koh Chang, meant to be home to the most beautiful beaches in Thailand, then after a possible return to Bangkok to have stitches cut out, we will fly up to Luang Prabang in Laos, working our way south to Cambodia.

I can’t wait!

January – February: India

India has been on my travel radar for a very long time, and we are finally going there for a month from mid-January!

The plan is to be super tourists and visit Rajasthan , Delhi, Varanasi, and Agra for our first visit, but as we have a whole month I am hoping we can get a bit off the beaten path in this region.

In Rajasthan, we want to take trains between Jaipur, Udaipur, Bundi, Jaisalmer, Jodphur , Pushkar, the Great Thar Desert, and Ranthambore National Park. If you have any other places we have to visit in Rajasthan – please let me know!

My Dad is going to join us for the whole month, and my brother-in-law is planning to meet up with us at some point too. 

February – March: Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is another country that I have been wanting to visit for a long time and we are finally making it there! I want to travel all over the country, visiting historic sites, beautiful beaches, tea plantations, and mountain villages.

I am yet to start my real travel planning for Sri Lanka but know a few key places I want to visit including Kandy, Ella, Galle and Sigiriya.

March: India

As you can get two one month visas for India pretty easily these days, we thought we would return to celebrate Holi after our time in Sri Lanka for around ten days to two weeks.

I have heard that the Holi celebrations around Goa are pretty great so we will probably explore some of the more chilled beaches there, then head east to Hampi, an ancient village and UNESCO World Heritage site that is full of temples.

March – April: Nepal

Our month to six weeks in Nepal will be all about hiking – well mostly. I want to do at least two weeks of the Annapurna Circuit, if not the full three weeks, which will take us between mountain villages and stunning scenery in the Himalayas. 

I am also interested in doing the Poon Hill hike while we are there, but that will depend on how we are feeling after the Circuit!

Along with hiking the Circuit, I am also looking forward to experiencing chaotic Kathmandu and chilled Pokhara.

May: Hong Kong and Macau

We should be finishing up in Nepal around the end of April or beginning of May and looking to fly back to the US. From what I have seen, a lot of the flights from Kathmandu into the US are through Hong Kong , so depending on the state of affairs there in May, I want to add a one-week stopover there.

While in Hong Kong, I would also like to spend a day or more in Macau but we will see.

So that’s it, our travel plans for the next six months! To say I am excited is an understatement – it already feels good to be back out on the road.

If you are planning your own extended trip, make sure you get travel and health insurance. Safety Wing is my go-to and they are cheap and easy to claim with – it also auto-renews every month unless you turn it off so you don’t have to think about it.

Check out my Travel Itineraries and Bucket Lists for further inspiration:

• My Travel Bucket List for 2019
• My Travel Bucket List for 2018
• My Travel Goals for 2017
• My 2015 Travel Plans Revealed
• Update and my Travel Plans for 2014
• Summer in Alaska Itinerary
• The Ultimate Big Island 7 Day Itinerary

6 Comments on Our 6 Month Travel Itinerary: Oceania and Asia

This trip sounds amazing! I’d love to spend six months in this part of the world. Can’t wait to hear about all of your adventures!

Thanks – I am so excited!

Wow, I really envy you your Nepal plans, it looks so beautiful there! I hope you would have an amazing time there (and everywhere else). 🙂

Thanks Lucie – so excited about Nepal!

Happy and safe travels! Glad to see you’re back on the road this winter. I’ve been a lot more circumscribed this year due to moving costs and changing availability of work and things, so I’ll live a little vicariously through you!

Hey Lisa – great to hear from you! Are you still in the UK? Yes I’m excited to be doing a big International trip again 🙂

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Home » Itineraries » Southeast Asia Backpacking Itinerary: A 6 Month Route

Southeast Asia Backpacking Itinerary: A 6 Month Route

This Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary is designed to help you plan a great trip around the region. It covers the typical backpacking route of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. It then moves onto Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia, with Singapore to finish. These are great diverse countries with lots to do and see. I have also included Myanmar at the end, should you wish to visit, however this is dependant on the political situation in the country.

This route is by no means rigid and you can amend it as you see fit. Its purpose is to inspire you, to help you decide where to visit, should you visit the region. Use this as a guide to plan to your trip to see what appeals to you. Of course if you want to follow the entire route I think it really does cover the area well.

This Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary should take around 6 months to complete if you are travelling at a ‘standard’ pace. This means where you can spend a few days here and a few days there. Do as feels right without any need to rush.

It covers a wide variety of places and is designed to show you not only the highlights of each country but some real local gems to. It is based on staying in hostels or guesthouses, and generally taking buses or minivans as the method of transport. Though you could also catch trains in parts of Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Start and end points

Bangkok is selected as the starting point as it’s a major transport hub. It’s an easy city to introduce you into the Southeast Asian way of life. From here you can start exploring the rest of Thailand. The country receives millions of tourists each year and is well set up for backpackers. This is great as you can settle into your rhythm and find out what works for you.

Singapore makes a natural end point, though Bali in Indonesia might be a better option. As with Bangkok, Singapore is a major transport hub, from which you can continue your travels elsewhere or head home. 

If you decide to visit Indonesia then I would still recommend Singapore as your last destination. You can always head straight from Malaysia to Indonesia, or go via Singapore and then head back. This is unless you are heading to Australia, New Zealand or surrounding countries. In that case you are probably best to fly out from Bali. This is based on the idea that generally you can get cheap flights from Bali to Singapore, though of course you might find a better deal going from Bali elsewhere.

They key is to be flexible and check your options before you commit.

I haven’t covered The Philippines or Borneo in this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary. I intend to visit them in the future and add them as extensions.

The route this Southeast Asian backpacking itinerary takes goes like this:

• North Thailand
• South Thailand
• Peninsular Malaysia

If your starting point is Australia or New Zealand, I would recommend doing this route in reverse, beginning with Indonesia and then moving onto Singapore, then onto Malaysia etc.

You can also find Myanmar (as an option, please check the political situation) at the end of this post. If you do visit Myanmar, it make sense to fly there from either Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. So for the above 6 month route insert it between/around South Thailand and Malaysia. You can check current UK government travel advice for Myanmar here: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/myanmar

Have a play around with the map to look at the route and the destinations. Hopefully you will feel inspired and it will help with planning your ultimate 6 month Southeast Asian backpacking itinerary!

Thailand (Round 1 – The North)

Lets begin!

Start your journey by flying into Bangkok   and taking a couple of days to explores its temples and acclimatise yourself to the region. It’s a great city to start any Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary as it’s well set up for backpackers. The Grand Palace and Wat Pho can be done together in a day. They make for a nice introduction to Buddhist culture. Khao San Road is big backpacker area so you can easily find people in hostels to go out there with. It’s a great place to make some new friends right away.

Before you head north go westwards, pop over by bus or minivan to Kanchanaburi . Here you can see some World War 2 history in the form of the infamous Bridge Over The River Kwai and the Death Railway. Take a day trip to the beautiful Erawan Waterfalls and view its 7 layers. Go early so you can bus it back into town as they stop running late afternoon.

Then it’s time to start your path up the country. It’s incredibly cheap to catch a train from Bangkok to Ayutthaya   and only takes a couple of hours. It and Sukhothai   (you can take a train to Phitsanulok then bus it there) are both home to UNESCO world heritage sites. These are ancient ruined Thai cities and are well worth 3 or so days between them to explore. Both are former capitals of kingdoms that preceded Siam (which in turn became Thailand).

Embrace culture in Northern Thailand

Then it’s onto Chiang Mai   with its many attractions. Spend up to a week in the area visiting temples, enjoying great food, trekking in Doi Inthanon National Park and visiting the Elephants at the Elephant Nature Park , a sanctuary which seeks to help and protect them. Take a minivan to Pai which is a backpacker town in the mountains. Chill out for a few days, visiting waterfalls, hot springs, caves and backpacker bars! Pai is a big hub for backpackers, and many stay quite awhile. When I visited I planned on 3 days and stayed for 6!

Next up is Chiang Rai , home to the famous Wat Rong Khun (The White Temple) and its effective counterpart Baan Dam (Black House). Since I visited a ‘Blue Temple’ has now also opened and comes highly recommended.

Last stop for now in Thailand is the border town of Chiang Kong. It’s easily reached by local bus where you can stay the night before crossing the border to Laos. Whilst it may not have the big attractions of the above places, it’s nice to see what life is alike in a small border town.

Northern Laos

Once you’ve got your visa and headed into Houay Xay and secure your place on the 2 day, 1 night Slow Boat journey along the Mekong. It’s a fun way to enjoy the slow-paced river life and make new backpacker friends aboard the boat. You’ll stop for the night in Pak Beng where there will be a scramble for guesthouse rooms.

Once you arrive in Luang Prabang take your time to explore the laid back city and be sure to famous the famous Kuang Si waterfalls, renown for their natural beauty.  

Then head north to Nong Khiaw . You can spend some time in the town if you like it, it’s very scenic, and then head by boat along to Muang Ngoi Neua   where you can chill for a while and then do some trekking with a local guide to stay with a hill tribe.

Central Laos

Head back to Luang Parabang then onwards to the backpacker town of Vang Vieng , known for tubing and parties but also a nice place to chill out and appreciate life. Just pick your accommodation carefully if you want to be able to sleep! You can also spend hours just sat in a cafe watching Friends! The 90’s TV show is a popular one here with bars/cafes based around its viewing!

Then it’s onto Vientiane which is a good place to sort your visa for Vietnam, though you will have to know the dates of your visit. Whilst it is the capital of Laos I don’t think it’s that great for backpackers. So don’t plan to dwell long! I’d advise to get the visa sorted asap. However do be sure to stop by the COPE museum. Here you will learn about the horrors inflicted on the Laos people in the ‘secret war’. This was an American bombing campaign inflicted upon Laos in the Vietnam war.

Then it’s time to head off the beaten track again, and Konglor is a great place to get away from the traditional route as it has very few overnight tourists, just handful each day, though there is a steady stream to visit Konglor Cave. Some people also choose to do the (Motor) Bike Loop from Thakhek (which includes Konglor) and everyone I know who’s done it has enjoyed it.

Southern Laos

Heading down the country will require at least passing through Savannakhet and given the sheer amount of time the bus journeys take it’s wise to stay in Pakse for the night, even though the town itself is nothing special. Although very backpackers go there I really recommend a day in Champasak as it has the largest Khmer ruins outside of Cambodia which are fun to explore for the afternoon, and you can spend the evening relaxing by the riverside in what is a very quiet peaceful little town.

The 4000 Islands are a wonderful place to spend a few days doing not a lot. Don Det is the main backpacker island here, turn up and grab yourself a bungalow (I recommend West facing for great views of sunset) and chill out in a hammock for a while. You can also head over to Don Khon to see the beautiful Somphamit Waterfalls. Consider a boat trip too around the islands for sunset. It’s a great spot on this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary to recharge before journeying on. 

Then it’s decision time – Vietnam or Cambodia?

It’s easier to get to Cambodia from the 4000 islands, but personally when I made this trip I went for Vietnam. This required me to head back up to Savannakhet and then across to Dansavan. I crossed the border and somehow flagged down a minivan. They took me to Đông Hà and then put me onto another van which took me to my goal – Huế.

It wasn’t easy and if I had to do it again I would do it differently. I’d take a night bus from the 4000 islands back to Vientiane. Then I would either fly or long distance bus it to Hanoi from there.  

Why Vietnam first? Because you can work your way from top to bottom of the country. Then head into Cambodia and from there into Thailand again with relative ease.  You can see from the map points how it makes logistical sense once you’ve got from the 4000 islands to Hanoi.  Of course you could skip the 4000 islands all together. Though they are an awesome place to relax for a few days! Do what feels right for you.

But if you want to visit Cambodia before Vietnam simply swap the 2 countries around here. Then do Vietnam in reverse order, flying from Hanoi to Bangkok at the end.

Northern Vietnam

The capital Hanoi is a great base for backpackers and there are plenty of museums to keep you occupied when you’re not wandering the streets of the old quarter dodging motorbikes or hanging out in backpacker bars.  

Take the bus to SaPa  and go trekking with a local hill tribe guide. The mountain scenery is superb and the area is famous for its rice terraces. You can stay overnight in a home stay which is a really worthwhile experience.

After passing back through Hanoi over to Cat Ba Island from which you can also take a tour of the scenic Halong Bay .  If you’re feeling active Cat Ba is a good place to go rock climbing or Kayaking. The local operators will take you out to their own private islands which is very cool!

The Middle Bit

Phong Nah has only opened up to tourists in the past few years. Its home to the largest cave in the world, Hang Sơn Đoòng. Whilst you won’t be able to see that (only 400 people per year and a few thousand dollars in price) there are plenty of other caves to explore. Phong Nah Cave and Tien Son Cave are 2 you can reach by river boat. Join a tour of the park where you can do the longest zipline in Vietnam and experience the Paradise Cave and Dark Cave. Bring swimwear – to say it’s muddy is understatement of epic proportions! Don’t worry they have lockers.

Huế is home to the Imperial City. Whilst it was badly damaged by French bombing and fighting in the Vietnam-American war it’s still worth checking out. There are also some cool Pagoda’s and a good backpacking scene.

As you head downwards next stop is Hội An , with its beautiful old city which served as a trading port from the 15th to 19th centuries and has an interesting blend of cultural influence including Japanese and Chinese. Its also famous for its tailors and pretty shop fronts. Be sure to stay out by the beach for a day or 2 as well for some relaxation. An Bang has some good accommodation options right by the beach. This includes the wonderful ‘Under The Coconut Tree’ which has dorms and private bungalows.

Southern Vietnam

There is a lot to see and do in and around Da Lat , and be sure to check out the 100 Roofs Café which blends a bar with a maze with a haunted house. Sound fun? It is! The designer also built the Crazy House which has to be experienced to be believed. Outside the city you will find the Dalanta Waterfall complete with one of the coolest roller coaster experiences. Then head to the mountains where you can get great views from LangBiang. Plus my all time favourite hostel, Cozy Nook, is located here!

When in Mui Ne   take a tour of the fairy stream, fishing village and sand dunes (white and red), they are cheap and it’s worth it. The chill out on the beach, which has many kite surfers to watch (or join in if you fancy it!)

The frantic Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) can be a bit much at times. Loads of traffic and people hassling you in the street (in the backpacking district). But still a trip to the Củ Chi tunnels used by the Viet Cong and a visit to the War Remnants museum will really hit home the horrors of war.

The Mekong Delta – heading to Cambodia

Be picky when choosing a tour of the Mekong Delta , go for one which has good reviews online as they can be a bit hit and miss but are worth it for their look at local life on the waterways. Plus you can take one that includes border crossing by boat into Cambodia.  Which is a lot quicker and easier than the bus routes!

The capital

Start your time here with a trip to the royal palace grounds in Phnom Penh before preparing yourself to learn about the genocide of the Khmer Rouge with visits to the S21 Prison and the Killing Fields. It is a harrowing experience.

Pop up to Kratie to see the endangered Irrawaddy river dolphins in the Mekong river.

Take note that a lot of travel in Cambodia will require passing through Phnom Penh whichever way you’re going.  The infrastructure here is understandably lacking given what happened under the Khmer Rouge.

Those famous ruins

Siem Reap is the base from which to see The Temples Of Angkor , including of course Angkor Wat and many others. You can buy a 3 day pass to the Temple zones. Unless you’re on a flying visit this is advised as there is a lot to see! Siem Reap itself is a bit of  party town, its main street is named ‘Pub Street’ after all.

Head on over to Battambang where you can watch over a million Bats leave their cave in a stream that lasts for over half an hour, as they head out hunting for the night. Visit the killing caves to learn more about the horrors of the past.

The south coast

The riverside town of Kampot is a nice place to relax for a couple of days. Be sure to head up into the mountains to see the ruins of Bokor, a French colonial mansion and church. Kep is only 45 minutes drive away, with a pleasant beach and a national park you can wander around in. If you fancy it you can visit the secluded Rabbit island from here. 

Sihanoukville is somewhat overrun with tourists whose main purpose is to drink, but venture away from town to the Otres beaches for some quiet and to be rewarded by beautiful sunsets. It’s also the gateway to the islands of  Koh Rong , Koh Rong Sanloem and Koh Ta Kiev . Koh Rong’s main beach isn’t that pleasant but the others on the island are superb. Sok San’s white beach in particular where you can rent a bungalow for a while! Koh Rong Sanloem’s M’Pai Bay is a chilled out backpacker village.

Many people choose to cross back in Thailand at Poipet but this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary recommends going via Koh Kong . You can take a night or 2 town and take a tour to visit the uninhabited island.  It’s owned by the military and overnight stay is forbidden, which means empty beaches! The border crossing itself is easy. Take a Tuk Tuk to the border. Then once you’ve sorted your Thai entry you can take a minivan to Trat.

Thailand (Round 2 – The Islands)

Island life

Trat.  Whether you stay a night here or not is up to you. There’s not a lot to see in truth, it’s really just a transit point. Go by ferry to get to the nearby islands, or head by road to Bangkok. The main island nearby is Koh Chang (Big) which has multiple beaches. Lonely beach is the popular party spot so you might want to stay elsewhere then head there in the evening. Pyjamas hostel is right by Klong Prao beach so is a good backpacker option. If you fancy it you can always visit the islands of Koh Mak or Koh Kut whilst here too.

Then it’s time to head back through Bangkok before you head down south. Take your time to get supplies if you need them. Bangkok is also a great place to do things like go to the cinema or browse shopping malls, so if you need a small time out from backpacking consider staying a few days.

Next up take the train to Chumphon as it’s pretty cheap. From here you can take the ferry to 3 of Thailand’s most famous islands. Koh Tao , famous for its diving and scenic viewpoint, Koh Phangan which hosts the Full Moon Party so is the big party spot once a month, but quieter other times, and Koh Samui which has both quiet and loud spots. The ferry’s tend to go early in the morning, so you’ll probably need a night in Chumphon before catching them.

If you want to do a Full Moon party, check here for dates .

Once you’ve finished visiting these islands you can then take a ferry to Surat Thani on the mainland. From here where you can catch a bus or mini van to your next stop on this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary. 

Stop for a night or two in Krabi Town and visit the Tiger Cave Temple (no actual Tigers).  Here you can climb up a long flight of steps (1,237 steps to the summit) to get a great view of the surrounding area. Krabi is on the mainland but still has parts that can only be reached by boat. This is due to the area’s dense jungle. Head to Ao Nang to catch a boat to Tonsai   which is backpacker village in the jungle, a haven for hippies and rock climbers. You can walk across the beach or through a small part of the jungle to reach Railay which has beautiful beaches (West Railay and Phranang) and is a very popular destination. Stay here if you don’t fancy a jungle bungalow, though the prices are significantly more.

More Islands!

Head back to Krabi town before deciding where to head next. If you’re enjoying the popular islands then Koh Lanta , Koh Phi Phi and Phuket are all nearby. The latter is the largest island in Thailand and a very popular holiday destination. Koh Phi Phi’s popularity soared after the film ‘The Beach’ was filmed there. If you fancy something more quiet, head up to Ranong and take a ferry to Koh Phayam . It’s a quiet paradise island with beautiful beaches and very few people on them. Nearby is the smaller Koh Chang which is of the same theme. Both are ideal for a few days away from it all!

Moving on Thailand you could either head south and cross by land or return to Bangkok and take a flight.

This segment of the Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary covers Peninsular Malaysia .  Many backpackers explore what Kuala Lumpur has to offer in a couple of days, the Batu Caves and the Petronas Twin Towers are the 2 big ones here. Though invest some more time in the city and you can discover much more. Highlight include the amazing Islamic Arts Museum and the view from the KL Tower. From here take a bus to Cameron Highlands and see the impressive tea plantations, stay in Tanah Rata which is the biggest of the towns in this old British Colonial Hill Station. The take a bus and boat trip to the village of Kuala Tahan . From here you can explore the oldest rainforest in the world, Taman Negara !

Colonial History

This Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary now move onto with the British Straits Settlements. Explore the streets of  Georgetown on the island of Penang . Here you will find street art and Chinese temples, and can take a bus Penang Hill too for great views over the city. Then Malacca which has interesting blend of history and culture from in Chinese influences as a trading port. It also has some great street art to check out. It’s easy to get a bus from here to Singapore to continue this 6 month Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary. Stop at Johor Bahru if you want one more night in Malaysia and experience life in a border city. Or alternatively head back to Kuala Lumpur for a flight to Indonesia.

Singapore and Indonesia

At this part of your Southeast Asia backpacking trip it would be wise to have a plan in action regarding flights. It could work out best for you to go next to Indonesia, either straight from Malaysia or via Singapore. Or it might make sense to visit Singapore first and then end this route by flying out of Bali.

For the purpose of this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary I’ve decided to go with Indonesia first, and end with Singapore. But it could also work the other way around, have a good look at flights and figure out what gives you best value (in both time and money).

The listed countries in this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary cover around 6 months worth of travel. If you want to extend this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary then Indonesia is a great choice to spend more time in. It is of course a huge country, comprising of 17,508 islands. What I’ve listed here for this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary covers around 3 to 4 weeks worth of travelling. You could add places like Sumatra and Sulawesi and really explore the country. Be sure to check visa requirements though, generally a visa on arrival grants you up to 30 days. So you would need to get a visa in advance if you’re thinking of doing much more.

Culture and Nature 

Yogyakarta  is great place to start, you can fly here direct from Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. It’s a cultural hub and you can visit the amazing temples of Borobudur and Prambanan from the city. Then head to Mount Bromo and take a look into an active volcano! Crossing over to Bali you can experience Balinese culture and religion in Ubud . The beautiful rice fields are a great thing to see here too. Then check out some of the beaches. You also have the opportunity to visit another active Volcano. A trek up Mount Batur for sunrise is a popular excursion here.

Sunsets and Dragons

From Bali you take a boat over to the Gili Islands . Gili Trawangan is the party island here. The other 2 are more relaxed. Gili Air is the best for backpackers who want a social vibe without the party pressure. Flying from Bali (or taking a boat via Lombok) you can reach Flores. From here you can take a boat tour to explore the Komodo National Park . The major highlight for many here is the opportunity to see the Komodo Dragons who live in the islands. Afterwards head back to Bali for your flight out of the country.

The city-state is major transport hub and therefore a natural end point for this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary. A good stop whether you are planning to continue to Borneo or The Philippines, head home or go on elsewhere. But lets not focus just on the end of the journey here, Singapore is worthy addition to any Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary in it’s own right. There’s plenty of attractions to keep you busy for a couple of days (or longer) before you do.

The Gardens By The Bay are awe inspiring modern construction, with an amazing light show every evening. China Town and Little India are well worth explore, especially for the food! And there are many museums including the Asian Civilisations Museum which has a huge detailed collection covering the region. Singapore really has a lot to offer and if it’s your last stop on your Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary then it’s a good one to end with.

Visiting Myanmar

The political situation in Myanmar has changed a lot over the last decade. When I visited it was before the 2021 military coup and this will obviously have an effect on travel to the country going forward. I really recommend checking the political situation before you and checking what travel restrictions are in place. I strongly advise not visiting until democracy is restored. The country is in a civil war at present. If you do decide to visit Myanmar be sure to have sorted an e-visa online before you head there. It’s probably best to fly into Yangon from Bangkok, and out via Mandalay.

Starting out

Fly into Yangon   and spend a couple of days here. There’s plenty of Buddhist sites here including the huge Shwedagon Paya. The downtown area is full of interesting colonial buildings and local life. 

Myanmar’s central plains are home to the magnificent temples of Bagan . Over 2000 temples constructed between the 9th and 13th centuries still remain here, marking its legacy as the capital of the Kingdom Of Pagan.

The 3 day trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake is a popular highlight and it’s easy to see why, you stay with locals and get a really good insight into life in the area as well as trekking through its amazing scenery. Sort the trek when you arrive in Kalaw. Be sure to meet your guide beforehand and check other options if you’re not keen on them. There are usually groups going so you can join one (if you don’t have one yourself). It makes the journey more fun as you have people to chat with.

When you arrive at Inle stay in Nyaungshwe where the wonderful Song Of Travel hostel caters for backpackers, along with numerous guesthouses. You can take a boat tour of the lake to see local life on it.

Getting off the beaten track

If you’re feeling adventurous head down Loikaw . Not visited by many backpackers, you can take a guide to see local villages and the tribes that inhabit them. It may be worth trying to arrange this whilst in Nyaungshwe. These villages have only just opened up to tourists and there’s little infrastructure in place.

The bus journey to Hsipaw is a long and windy one but it’s worth it as it’s a friendly town with good trekking options to stay with local villages. Mr Charles is the big guesthouse in town and has good options but i’d recommend Lily The Home as the trek I did with them was great.

Afterwards take the train across the Gokteik Viaduct, it’s a really scenic ride and crossing the viaduct is an experience you’ll remember! Get off at  Pyin Oo Lwin and enjoy the beautiful National Kandawgyi Botanical Gardens for the afternoon.

Take a shared taxi to   Mandalay where you can explore the religious sites and visit the famous U-Bein Bridge before your flight out of the country.

This brings the destination part of this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary to an end. Now for some advice about how to organise your trip.

Planning the details.

Before you head off there are of course somethings you need to consider.

When to go?

November is the ideal month to begin this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary, should you be able to pick as you please. This is so you can avoid ‘rainy season’ and acclimatize yourself to the heat. It won’t all be sun, you will come across some colder conditions in Northern Vietnam in December and January time. And should you choose to visit, Myanmar does get very hot in April. But on the whole, starting your 6 months in November should give you a good balance.

Of course this date might not be practical, so as a guide for planning bear in mind the following. March to August is generally going to be very hot in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Rainy season generally starts around May, and the storms can be very big. There can be flooding, for example Bangkok has suffered much with this in the past. September and October are when raining season is at it’s most wettest.

Take note that this is different in Malaysia and Indonesia. Malaysia’s west coast experience’s its rainy season from around April to October. East coast Malaysia then gets its rainy season from November to March. Indonesia generally experiences its dry season from May to September.

Air pollution is also a factor to consider. I would advise against travelling to Northern Thailand between January and March as air quality can become very low and hazardous. This is because of ‘smoky season’ where the farmers burn the land to prepare it for crops.

Budgeting for this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary

Generally South East Asia is very cheap to travel, especially when compared to Europe or North America. Of course how much you spend will vary depending on how many activities you wish to participate in. Things like rock climbing and kayaking are great fun but do add a big chunk to your daily spend. You don’t want to miss out though so always have some extra cash for activities.  And of course alcohol adds a big chuck to your budget to, if you’re a big drinker! This Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary covers many spots where it’s easy to meet other backpackers. And whilst partying isn’t the focus on this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary, there is plenty of opportunity to do so if you wish.

Treks however are great value for money when overnight accommodation and meals are included. Don’t forget that when negotiating a price, it might seem expensive but don’t forget about these 2 things.

In general i’d say plan for around 1000$ a month. This is including everything apart from your flights to and from the region. And your immunizations before you go of course! Don’t forget them.

Cultural considerations

You may be packing for many beach days but don’t forget that you will need to ‘cover up’ when you visit temples. This means covering your shoulders and your legs to below the knee. If you don’t you will cause offence in Buddhist temples and other holy sites. You would likely not be allowed entry if they have staff working there. Usually there are clothes available to rent to cover up but it’s better to wear your own.

You can read my specific advice on Buddhism here .

Note that this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary covers several predominantly Buddhist countries but you will encounter various religions over the region. Especially in Malaysia, which is a Muslim country also home to many Hindus as well as Buddhists. And also Indonesia, which is Muslim with a significant Hindu population in Bali and Christian populations dotted around.

Visas 

Make sure you check the visa requirements for your nationality before you enter a country. Whist many countries in South East Asia do offer ‘visa on arrival’ make sure you qualify for it. Check how much you will need to pay so you have the currency ready at the border post.  It will be time limited too. Vietnam for example offers 14 days for some nationalities. I personally don’t think this enough time to really explore the country, so I got a visa in advance in Laos. Also before you fly out check your airline’s requirements. Sometimes ‘visa on arrival’ technically requires you to have outbound travel booked. Often airlines are much more concerned with this than border officials.

If you are planning to get visas in advance at embassies remember to check public holidays and visa process times. You don’t want to get stuck somewhere for longer than intended because you are waiting for a visa. For example during the Buddhist celebrations of Songkran in Thailand and Thingyan in Myanmar you will find their embassies closed. Make sure you check the dates first.

Going alone?

There are loads of people who travel solo and Southeast Asia is a popular place for it. Don’t worry about meeting people, you will come across loads who want to hang out. Staying in hostels is a good way to do this. Use hostel booking sites to read reviews before you go, so you can find an atmosphere you will like. For example to check whether it’s a party hostel or not, you may or may not want that so find out beforehand. For some more tips check out my Solo Travel Advice.

Making your own Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary

This Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary is of course not rigid. I have made it to help people plan their own journeys, not for it to be stuck to precisely. If you have your own particular interests then you will want to focus more on them. Research is of course fun but don’t be afraid to figure stuff out as you go. Other backpackers are a great source of information. The key is to be flexible, don’t book stuff too far in advance unless you absolutely you have to. Give yourself room to amend plans and you will be happier for it.

I also recommend using this post in conjunction with my Southeast Asia Highlights to help build your bucket list. It features a collection of my favourite experiences in the region.

Yes, it is relatively safe. Violent crime is low. Your main concern should be petty theft, which means always keeping your stuff safe. But this goes for travel anywhere, I wouldn’t say Southeast Asia was ‘worse’ than anywhere else. In fact, it’s safer than many western countries.

These are of course real concerns, and I advise taking precautions. In terms of malaria you should check with your medical provider before you go. If you’re planning to enter any high risk zones, it’s definitely advised to take antimalarials. In terms of dengue, there is currently no specific treatment available. You should do what you can to prevent yourself being bitten by mosquito’s. Put on bug spray that is 50% DEET (children use 15% to 30%). Try to cover to your wrists and ankles. Wearing loose fitting clothes as they can bite through tight clothes. If you can sleep under a mosquito net.

Yes. I really recommend that you get everything you can. Plan in advance as some courses take months to administer.

I wrote this itinerary based on six months as that is generally regarded as a decent amount of time to backpack the region. I have certainly met many people doing six months here either before or after working in Australia, for example. Personally though I say if you can do longer than six, then do longer.

Want more Southeast Asia backpacking tips? Click here to check them out.

More detailed itineraries:

As well as this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary I have also developed more detailed itineraries that cover the areas mentioned here. Click the relevant link below to go to the itinerary:

I hope you found this Southeast Asia backpacking itinerary useful and are inspired to go on your own trip! If you enjoyed this article feel free to connect with me on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram !

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Love and Road

6 months traveling around the world – Costs and Secrets

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Time flies when we are having fun! This quote has never been so true! We are celebrating 6 months of traveling around the world. Our Love and Road Travel Project turned into a life-changing experience. 183 days of happiness, fears, smiles and tears.

Half of a year is gone and after the celebration (October 24th) we decided to put some numbers together and make our first traveling around the world spreadsheet. Prepare to be amazed by some figures, scared about some details, and laugh at our misadventures.

It´s time to reveal our secrets! Keep reading because at the end we share our costs of traveling and how it was cheap to see the world for 6 months then live in Brasil. 

Traveling the world kick-off

On April 24th we left Brazil for an open plan long-term trip. Just one-way ticket, savings, some secrets to budget backpacking , and lots of dreams. The idea to start a travel blog was born a couple of months before and that´s how Love and Road began.

Love and Road 6 months journey

Continents – Africa , Asia and Europe

Countries – Croatia , France , Italy , Monaco , Morocco ,  Portugal , Spain  and  Turkey

(during this trip just 8 countries, but in total, we already visited 29 countries since 2006)

Cities – 57

Different Languages – 7 (Arabic and Croatian are damn difficult)

How we traveled during these 6 months?

To cross all the 8 countries we traveled by different modals.

By Boat – 2 times

By Bus – 14 times

By Car – 2 times

By Flight – 6 times (we use Skyscanner to check the best fares)

Hitchhiking –  8 times

By Train – 6 times ( EURAIL Pass is awesome!!! BOOK HERE!!! )

Where did we stay during these 6 months around the world?

We are big fans of Comfy + Clean + Well Located & Cheap Accommodation. Following these features we stayed in:

Campervan -1 time

Car – 1 time

Flat/Studio – 2 times

Friend’s house – 3 times

Hostels –  2 times

Hotel –  4 times ( Booking.com and Agoda are our choices for searching and booking hotels)

House sitting – 2 times

Shared House/Apt – 13 times

Tent – 2 times ( Moroccan Desert and SONUS Festival )

What did we buy during this period?

Apart from accommodation, transportation and food, there were some essentials (and non-essentials) that we must buy, and here are they:

New clothes:

Rob – 1 T-Shirts + 2 pair of jeans + underwear + socks + 1 jumper

Nat – 2 tops + 1 pair of flat sandals + 1 skirt + 1 pair of jeans + 1 legging

Electronics:

1 Notebook Asus F200M

Toiletries:

As usual, we had to buy soap, shampoo, body lotion, toothbrush, and all the stuff we need to be clean and beautiful. Talking about beauty, I will make a confession: we bought anti-aging for the first time!! We are not getting any younger so we invested in a Day & Night Clinique Face Care ! I loved it and Rob… He doesn’t want to talk about it! 

1 small Backpack

2 Dry Fast Kingcham Towels

We are traveling around the world with a big backpack and a small front bag. That´s what fashion calls a minimalist style! So everything we bought was to replace some old items. What did we do with our used stuff? We donated. We made some bags and give them to homeless people in Istanbul.

Getting sick! More painkillers, please!

Rob says that is the weather, but I keep annoying him that he´s getting old and weak. Botton line, we got sick and hurt ourselves a couple of times in these 6 months traveling around the world. Nothing major, but bad enough to make us homesick and meh.

Sickness Scores:

Rob – 5 (2 times flu, cold sore crises,  diarrhea, and a twisted ankle)

Nat – 6 (I win!!! Back pain, mosquito bites allergy , urinary infection, keen injury, flu, and diarrhea)

All the problems were sorted out with medicines we bought at the local pharmacy. We do have travel insurance but didn’t need to use it. To avoid getting sick we are trying to eat healthily, drink lots of water and do some exercise.

Talking about travel insurance, here is a guide about long-term travel insurance . We listed the companies we use and recommend, plus what you need to know before buying insurance and using it. 

What did we LOVE during this worldwide trip?

Food – Italian (we both agree that Italians are masters in cooking and eating)

City – Barcelona  and Izmir . We couldn’t decide between these two sunny cities.

Beach – For me is Cala San Pedro, Rob chose Playa dos Muertos, both are located at the Cabo de Gata Park , Spain.

Best Party – Hard to pick just one party, but definitely was the week we spent in Barcelona. The summer parties were better than the Sonus Festival we attended in Croatia.

To see all the pictures about these places check our  Instagram !

Beautiful Strangers and the amazing people we met!

We met awesome people in these 6 months of traveling around the world. Old friends, former work colleagues, new friends, and a bunch of nice strangers crossed our way. Each one made a special contribution to our story. The moments we spent together are recorded in our hearts and souls.

Thank you guys! You are amazing! After meeting all these new people we can say:

Most handsome Men – Turkish, especially from Istanbul. (Believe me, girls, they are stylish and good-looking)

Most beautiful Women – French (Rob wanted to include the Russians and Polish, but they are out of this trip.lol)

Friendly People – Italians

People that talk to themselves – Porto, Portugal

Party Animal People – Spanish (I love them!!)

Worst moment of long-term traveling

For us, the worst moment was when we got the news that my cat had passed out. That was our first loss while traveling, the first moment we talked about going back home.

Best moment of our 6 months traveling

So far the highlight of our trip is the Moroccan Desert. Such a unique experience, a dream that came true!

It´s not a regret, but we would organize our Moroccan Tour in a different way. Would spend more money to get a private tour around the countryside and desert.

Also, I regret we didn’t start the Love and Road blog before traveling. It´s hard to manage time between travel, work and study.

We are Proud of

We are proud and happy of catching up with old friends. During these 6 months of traveling around the world, some of the meetings were meant to happen others were by destiny.

It was awesome to see you guys: Dariia Makarova (4 times we ran into each other), Hudson, Paulinho, Belem & Haiko, Captain Dario, Paolo, Senem, Saoro and Mehmet.

You can live a simple life because at the end of the day you will miss the people you love not the things you bought.

Relationship vs Traveling

Not easy to live together 24 hours, seven days per week… I think we didn’t kill each other because Rob is super patient and I am great fun! 😉

Work Hard, Play Hard

The Love and Road blog is part of our life project, however, we didn’t imagine that it would be so time-consuming and tiring. We are doing it with love and I´m really enjoying it, but it´s hard work. Actually, blogging is a full-time job and if you want to know more, our friends Nick & Dariece put together great tips on how to start a travel blog, click here to read it .

We know there are lots of details that we have to improve on the website, however for four months (the blog was launched in July) I think it´s going pretty well!

What do you think? Leave your opinion in the comments! 😉

How much does it cost to travel for 6 months?

With a tight budget and expensive tastes, we are courageously traveling around the world. Not easy but totally possible. After checking our spreadsheet and here are our expenses figures:

Accommodation – USD 3.902,00

Attractions – USD 1.201,49

Eating out – USD 3.329,57

Groceries – USD 1.856,21

Party – USD 1.231,46

Pharmacy – USD 390,87

Purchases – USD 651,13

Souvenirs\Post  – USD 122,75

Transport – USD 2.901,00

WC – USD 13,55

Average per person / per day: USD 53,95 (that´s less than we used to spend per person per day in our daily life in Brazil).

If read until here you might want to have a look at our travel budget for 1 year and 2 years traveling the world. Right?

1 Year around the world – Travel budget and saving tips

2 Years around the world – costs, tips and how we live a nomad life

In the beginning, I thought it would be boring to write this article, but actually was an amazing way to remember our story. Six months traveling around the world doesn’t sound like too much, but if you start thinking about moments, feelings, memories it becomes an eternity.

Crazy Lovely Life. At this same time last year, I was at our home in Brazil, maybe working or organizing the house, dreaming about travels. Today I’m writing this post inside a night bus, leaving Pamukkale and heading to Cappadocia in Turkey.

Rob is already sleeping beside me, outside pouring rain and darkness. No big plans for the future just some booked destinations, and I never been so happy. I’m so grateful for these 6 months of traveling around the world, and hope our journey won’t finish soon!

Lots of LOVE from the ROAD!

42 thoughts on “6 months traveling around the world – Costs and Secrets”

This is a well written article and very informative. So seldom do travelers include actual costs and in such detail. I know I didn’t/don’t even keep such accurate records, but probably should. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Dale!!

The idea is to show how it is possible to travel the world without being rich, and have tons of fun! As we have a tight budget we have to keep everything under control. We take notes of our daily costs so we can organize our money.

Keep following us because we´ll be posting how much we spent in each country we visited. So far we already talked about Portugal, and there are plenty of new information to come! https://loveandroad.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-travel-in-portugal/

All the best and safe travels!!

Olá! Esse é o primeiro post que leio do blog e adorei. A forma como é organizado, bem escrito e engraçado. Impecável. Parabéns. Planejo largar o emprego e fazer o mesmo, sozinho, em março do ano que vem. Vamos ver se consigo manter a coragem. hehe

Sucesso com o blog!

Espero que tenha dado certo!!

Fico super feliz em saber que curtiu o post e o blog!! 🙂 Se tiver algum dica ou dúvida para organizar sua viagem pode contar com a gente. E parabéns pela coragem!! Largar tudo é “Viver a Vida” é para poucos… Muitos usam a desculpa da falta de dinheiro, mas na verdade só é preciso ter sonhos e acreditar!!!

Tudo de melhor! E quando estiver na estrada manda notícias!

Great post! It’s fun to see other travelers post the details about their travels and budgets. Were your costs per person or as a couple? We lost some weight too, but not as much as you did – great alternative to a diet, hey?

Happy travels!

Hey Landon!

Glad that you liked the post! That is a 100% true… Not easy to keep all the records, but I think it’s worth! I´d say travelling is an amazing diet! Good for your body and soul! 😉

All the best! Nat

What a great way to recap your six months! And very interesting to see what it can take to get away and travel like that by looking at what it costs – on average – per day.

Great photos and I’m looking forward to reading more about your travels!

Hey Patricia!!!.

So glad you enjoyed reading the post… The truth is that you don`t need lots of money to travel, you just need to organize your priorities and save some cash… There are plenty of ways to travel on a budget and have tons of fun! Happy Holidays!

Ha, I think the hardest language for me was Greek – hopeless from the start! Great recap.

Tks!!! Greek is really hard too! Don’t remember a word in Greek 🙁 Safe travels!!!!

You guys are fab and inspiring! Intend to travel around the world for 6 months. Just trying to get all the right destinations and Stack up a little more cash. It is on my bucket list and I guess an adventure to remember for eternity!

Go for it Clavier!!!

Travelling is one of the most rewarding things you can do in life! We just celebrate one year on the road, and no regrets at all!! All the best to you and if you need any tip just let us know. 😀 Nat

Wonderful to read your story and experience while traveling. Your details of people you met, times you were sick, and costs tell your story in an intricate and meaningful way.

Tks Brooke! This is something really special, the people we met. I think we are very lucky for meeting such nice and welcoming people! cheers!

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Heyyy,Heyyy !!! 🙂 Both of you are awesome! I am following your adventures as much as I can and thinking of you sometimes,hope all is ok…

When I see my name & Izmir on the article ,I really feel very very happy! Thanks for that!

Crossed my fingers to see you both again, somewhere, somehow…

Hi Mehmet, We are so happy for meeting you!!!! And tks so much for making our stay in Izmir sooooo good! For sure we will return to Izmir!!!! Hope to see you soon! Cheers!

Great writeup! Thanks for all the detail. Looks like an amazing time.

Hi Penny!! We are having a wonderful time indeed! Glad that you like the post! Thanks for stopping by! Cheers, Nat

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What a cool article. I’m glad you did what you did. It feels great to travel and we have done the whole NZ like that in 6 months with absolutely next to nothing. We had so much fun like you did with no regrets. Keep up the great work.

Thanks Marc!!! NZ is on our list!! There is no better thing in life than travel and live the moment, enjoy every second and every place you visit!!! Thanks for stopping by! Cheers,

Awesome! and yes, Croatian is a difficult language:)

Hi Tanja!! Croatian is difficult, but now that we are in Asia, I have to say that Thai and all the Asian languages are damn hard to learn. hahahaha Cheers, Nat

Que delícia de post! Estou voltando a Portugal agora, ao final de fevereiro, e ficarei 3 meses pelo menos pela Europa! Já larguei meu trabalho antigo e,finalmente, iniciei uma nova jornada na minha vida: criei o trabalho que amo e virei nômade digital! Bora viver! Vou acompanhar o site de vcs. Parabéns ao casal! !

Que bom que gostou do post 🙂 E parabéns pela iniciativa! Bom ver mais e mais “almas livres” rodando o mundo. Pode fuçar o blog que vai achar matérias sobre a Europa, Ásia e África. Beijos e boas viagens!

Hey Nat Thanks for sharing…I’m going to leave my life behind for 6 months to travel yayyy. I don’t have a travelling companion. Are there any countries you think are unsafe for me as a single female? Thanks Lisa

Hi Lisa, It’s hard to list the countries that are unsafe, I have friends that have travelled alone in India, Marocco, Turkey and never had a problem, even though these countries are on the list of “not so safe for women travelling alone”. I would say, to go wherever you want to, just be careful. Read about the place and the costumes before travelling, dress respectfully and look after yourself. There are way more good people in the world than bad ones. Happy Travels, Nat

This is such a good way to make sure you are on track! Perhaps I’ll try to keep as good of a record as this… perhaps I will get lazy and forget haha!

That’s so true Courtenay, It’s hard to remember and take not of everything, but that’s the only way you can keep track of your expenses 😉 All the best, Nat

Gostei muito do site e da coragem de vocês de viajar pelo mundo. Fiz um pouquinho isto com meu marido, mas apenas por Marrocos numa autocaravana e gostaria de dar umas dicas para uma próxima viagem por lá. Para viajar bem por Marrocos não precisa de muito dinheiro. O Câmbio favorece o Dólar e até o Real, mas acho que a melhor maneira é ir de autocaravana. Viajar sem destino, comprar comida nos lugares públicos, fazer a sua comida. O turismo lá é muito forte em quase todo o país e o turista é muito bem tratado. Se fizer amizade com alguém lhe levam para casa e comem com eles. É um lugar mágico onde cada cidade tem seu jeito de viver e antes de tudo muito respeito a sua cultura. Acho que esta é a dica para viver bem em qualquer lugar. Em muitos locais é bom cobrir o cabelo, evitar roupas decotadas, estar sempre junto do marido. Os marroquinos acediam muito uma mulher sozinha. Curiosidade…. O único problema para um casal viver uma vida nômade assim são os filhos. Se isto não está nos seus planos ok. Caso pensem. Até os primeiros 5 anos eles podem estar todos os dias consigo. Depois precisam ir para uma escola formal. Conheci muitos casais nômades, que chegou o momento que o filho pediu aos pais para ter uma vida dita normal e isto era mesmo importante para seu desenvolvimento como pessoas. Passado a fase escolar, pé na estrada novamente. Boa sorte e que continuem com muitas histórias para contar.

OI Divane!! Obrigada pelas dicas, o Marrocos é realmente um país incrível! Imagino que viajar de caravana tenha sido um experiência maravilhosa! Pois é, filhos ainda não estão nos nossos planos, quem sabe no futuro. Por enquanto seguimos viagem, fazendo amigos e conhecendo novos lugares. Tudo de melhor para você, abraços Nat

Hi Rob or Nat

My partner and I (uk) are thinking of doing this but after her studies in forensic anthropology and archeaology so we’re looking at working our way around countries. I am 59 so would be 60 but have a military background dee is 51 so would be 52 worked all her life bringing up daughter and spent last 3 years doing degree.

How would be the best way to begin looking into this as I’ve seen Kenya Cyprus Falklands and quite a few others but dee has never been abroad due to not having a pp. As this will be a gap year were looking at student accommodation and working or researching are way around so as dee can pick up info for her masters.

Any ideas pls

Hello Keith,

Sounds like you guys have an exciting year ahead!

The key is to decide the for how long you want to be on the road and the itinerary. From there you can start checking the accommodation options. Pay attention on the Visa requirements, some countries have different policies for researchers/students.

I have been wanting to do this for a while now, busy with business and child raising but the closer they get to graduating high school the more I know I have to do this. Where should I start to do this research of where to go first? And is a woman by herself even recommended? Are you guys still doing this? Thanks

Hi Aura, Yes, we are still traveling 🙂 We recommend a few books on this page . and yes, there are a lot of solo female travelers out there. Cheers,

Hi there! I’m about to leave on a 6 month journey abroad, on my own. I leave the USA in 12 days. I just wanted to let you know that your post pumped up my excitement to get going!

So happy to hear that Anna! Happy travels!

Very helpful!! Thank you so much for including costs!

You are welcome!

Hi Anna, I want to stay my worldwide trip soon , How is your trip going with all these restrictions worldwid

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Cost To Travel Asia For 6 Months

Exploring the Cost of Traveling in Asia for 6 Months : Budgeting for Accommodation Costs Embarking on a six-month journey through Asia involves careful consideration

Peter Lonsdale

Table of Contents

Exploring the Cost of Traveling in Asia for 6 Months

: budgeting for accommodation costs.

Embarking on a six-month journey through Asia involves careful consideration of accommodation expenses. The cost of lodging varies depending on the chosen country and type of accommodation. For budget-conscious travelers, expect to spend approximately $10 to $30 per night for a bed in a hostel dormitory. Alternatively, guesthouses and budget hotels usually charge between $20 and $50 per night. Those seeking a touch of luxury can find mid-range hotels starting from $50 and going well above $100 per night. It is advisable to book accommodations in advance to secure the best deals and ensure availability.

: Navigating Transportation Expenses

Efficiently getting around Asia for six months entails considering various modes of transportation, such as flights, trains, buses, and ferries. The cost of transportation fluctuates depending on factors like distance, country, and means of travel. Flights tend to be the most expensive option, especially for long-distance travel between countries. While budget airlines can offer cheaper fares, additional charges for baggage and extra services should be taken into account. Trains and buses typically provide more affordable alternatives and allow for a deeper immersion in landscapes and local culture. To optimize transportation costs, careful planning of itineraries and budgets is essential.

: Savvy Spending on Food and Dining

Asia’s reputation for diverse and delicious cuisine means that expenses for food and dining can vary significantly from country to country and depending on personal preferences. Street food and local eateries typically offer affordable options, with meals ranging from $1 to $5. Restaurants in touristy areas and upscale establishments may have higher prices, generally between $5 and $20 per meal. Exploring local dining spots provides the opportunity to savor authentic flavors without straining the budget. Additionally, allocating funds for snacks and drinks throughout the day helps maintain energy levels while exploring.

: Exploring Sightseeing and Activity Costs

Asia boasts a wealth of cultural heritage and a wide array of sightseeing options and activities to enjoy. The costs associated with these experiences vary depending on the country and specific attractions. Popular tourist sites may charge entrance fees ranging from $1 to $20. Guided tours and activities such as cooking classes, trekking, or wildlife encounters can range from $20 to $100 or more, depending on duration and complexity. Thorough research and prioritization of must-visit destinations enable visitors to allocate their budgets wisely and enjoy a well-rounded experience.

: Managing Miscellaneous Expenses

In addition to the major expenses, there are always unforeseen miscellaneous costs to consider when undertaking a six-month journey in Asia. These may include visa fees, travel insurance, SIM cards, toiletries, and souvenirs. It is crucial to allocate a portion of the budget for these miscellaneous expenses to ensure a smooth and stress-free journey. Proper advance research and having a contingency fund can help manage unexpected situations, allowing travelers to enjoy their trip to the fullest.

The Expenses Involved in Traveling around Asia for Six Months

: visa fees.

Planning a six-month journey across Asia necessitates consideration of visa fees. Visa policies differ across Asian countries, resulting in varying costs. Some countries offer visa-free entry or visa-on-arrival options, while others require obtaining a visa beforehand. It is crucial to research the visa requirements and associated fees for each country on your itinerary to ensure accurate budgeting for your travel expenses.

: Travel Insurance Costs

Also read: cost to travel asia for 3 months cool places to travel in asia

Another critical factor to account for when estimating the cost of traveling in Asia for six months is travel insurance. Having comprehensive travel insurance is highly recommended to safeguard against unexpected medical emergencies, trip cancellations, or lost belongings. The price of travel insurance varies, taking into account factors such as age, coverage options, and trip duration. To find the best plan that suits your needs and budget, it is advisable to request quotes from multiple insurance providers.

: Currency Exchange Rates

Familiarizing yourself with currency exchange rates is essential for effectively managing expenses during an extended trip in Asia. These rates fluctuate daily, impacting your budget significantly. Staying informed about exchange rates ensures you get the best value for your money. It is recommended to exchange currency at reliable and competitive exchange offices or withdraw money from ATMs to avoid additional charges.

: Budgeting Tips

When planning a six-month trip to Asia, effective budgeting is crucial to ensure a hassle-free and enjoyable experience. Researching the average costs of accommodation, transportation, food, and activities in your chosen destinations can help estimate your daily expenses. Opting for budget accommodations, utilizing public transportation, and trying local street food are some ways to save money. Setting a budget for each expense category and regularly monitoring your spending can help you stay within your limits.

: Strategies for Saving Money while Traveling

Embarking on a six-month journey through Asia on a tight budget requires strategic cost-saving measures. Here are some tips to help you save money during your exploration of the continent:

• Plan your trip during the shoulder seasons or offseason to benefit from lower prices on accommodations and flights
• Consider participating in volunteering or work exchange programs like Workaway or WWOOF, which offer accommodation and meals in exchange for your services
• Indulge in local eateries for authentic cuisine at more affordable prices instead of touristy restaurants
• Opt for public transportation or walking whenever possible, rather than relying on taxis or private transportation
• Make the most of free activities and attractions available in each destination
• Select hostels or guesthouses with communal kitchens to save money on meals
• Explore local street markets where you can find inexpensive souvenirs and items

By implementing these money-saving tips and being mindful of your spending habits, you can effectively manage your travel expenses and make the most of your six-month journey across Asia.

The Expense of Traveling Across Asia for Six Months

Sub-heading 1: air travel expenses.

One of the key factors affecting the overall cost of a six-month journey through Asia is the sum spent on air travel. Depending on the point of departure and the countries one intends to explore, ticket prices can greatly differ. It is vital to plan meticulously and scour for the most favorable flight deals. Utilizing flight comparison platforms and subscribing to airline newsletters can help in acquiring discounted fares. Furthermore, scheduling flights during off-peak seasons or selecting budget airlines can also lead to significant savings.

Sub-heading 2: Train and Bus Fare Considerations

Opting for train or bus travel is a popular and cost-effective choice when traversing several Asian nations. The expenses incurred for train tickets and bus fares largely depend on the distance covered as well as the level of service selected. To secure lower prices, it is advisable to book long-distance train tickets in advance. Taking advantage of local public transportation options can also contribute to reducing expenses while exploring bustling cities and charming towns.

Sub-heading 3: Costs Associated with Car Rentals

For certain regions in Asia, renting a car can offer flexibility and independence. However, the accompanying expenses related to car rental should be taken into account. Aside from the basic rental fee, factors such as fuel, tolls, parking fees, and insurance should be considered. Comparing various car rental agencies and opting for smaller vehicles with better fuel efficiency can be effective in managing costs.

Sub-heading 4: Local Transportation Expenditures

Asia boasts a wide range of local transportation options, such as metros, trams, and ferries. The cost of local transportation varies from one country to another and within different cities. Conducting thorough research on the local transport systems and acquiring prepaid travel cards or passes can save money on daily commute expenses.

Sub-heading 5: Expenses Involved in Taxi Services and Ride-Sharing

Taxis and ride-sharing platforms like Uber or Grab can be convenient for shorter journeys or when public transportation options are limited. However, these services can accumulate costs rapidly, particularly if they are utilized frequently. It is advisable to negotiate fares before entering a taxi or compare prices offered by different ride-sharing applications to ensure one is attaining the most competitive rates.

Asia Travel Cost Breakdown: A Comprehensive Guide to Budgeting for a 6-Month Trip

Sub-heading 1: Must-Visit Tourist Spots and their Price Tags

Asia is a treasure trove of captivating destinations that allure countless globetrotters annually. From the bustling streets of Tokyo to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat, every Asian country offers unique and unforgettable experiences. Nonetheless, it is essential to consider the expenses associated with each sought-after location. While cities like Singapore and Japan may be pricier, countries like Thailand and Vietnam offer more budget-friendly options.

Sub-heading 2: Wallet-Friendly Asian Paradises

If you aim to make the most out of your travel funds, contemplate exploring pocket-friendly countries in Asia such as Cambodia, Indonesia, and Nepal. These nations not only exhibit awe-inspiring natural landscapes, but also boast an array of reasonably priced accommodation choices and inexpensive local cuisines. Venturing into off-the-beaten-path destinations within these countries will enable you to immerse yourself in the local culture without straining your finances.

Sub-heading 3: Affordable Hidden Gems

Asia is graced with numerous hidden gems that provide unforgettable experiences without burning a hole in your wallet. Places like Laos, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka are increasingly gaining popularity among backpackers due to their affordability and unspoiled beauty. Whether you opt for a trek through the verdant mountains of northern Laos or embark on an exploration of the ancient ruins of Bagan in Myanmar, these hidden gems allow you to have an extraordinary and budget-friendly adventure.

Sub-heading 4: Comparing the Cost of Living in Different Asian Destinations

Prior to embarking on a long-term journey across Asia, it is crucial to grasp the cost of living in various countries. Although nations like Indonesia and India are renowned for their low expenses, cities like Hong Kong and Singapore can be rather costly. Understanding the price range for accommodations, transportation, and food will enable you to make informed decisions regarding where to allocate your time and money throughout your six-month escapade.

Sub-heading 5: Valuable Tips for Scoring Affordable Accommodations and Activities

Traveling on a tight budget necessitates meticulous planning and research. Fortunately, Asia offers a plethora of inexpensive lodging options such as guesthouses, hostels, and homestays. Additionally, there are countless activities that can be enjoyed without draining your finances, including exploring local markets, venturing into natural parks, and participating in complimentary walking tours. By employing these savvy strategies, you can optimize your six-month journey without straining your financial resources.

Expenditure Breakdown: Traveling in Asia for Half a Year

Ensuring safety: the financial aspect.

When organizing a six-month escapade across Asia, it is crucial to consider the expenses tied to safety and security. Such expenses may encompass travel insurance, vaccinations, and visa fees. Investing in travel insurance guarantees your protection in unforeseen events, like accidents or medical emergencies. Vaccinations, on the other hand, safeguard your well-being against prevalent diseases in various Asian countries. Additionally, some countries may require you to obtain a visa, often entailing a fee.

Maintaining Well-being: Medical Costs

Mindful budgeting for long-term travel in Asia should account for health and medical expenses. This includes not only potential medical charges but also the cost of necessary medications, health insurance, and travel medical kits. Seeking advice from a healthcare professional before embarking on your journey is advisable. They can provide guidance regarding specific health risks in different Asian countries and suggest precautionary measures.

Seamless Connectivity: Communication Costs

In this digital era, staying connected while exploring is increasingly vital. Communication expenses may comprise the purchase of local SIM cards, mobile data plans, or international roaming services. These costs vary according to the countries visited and the trip’s duration. Researching and comparing different options allows you to identify the most cost-effective ways to stay connected with loved ones and access the internet throughout your journey.

Souvenirs and Retail Therapy: Shopping Expenses

Embarking on an Asian adventure is inevitably tempting when it comes to unique markets and shops. However, it is crucial to allocate shopping and souvenir expenses wisely. Prioritize the purchase of items that hold true value and designate a specific amount for these acquisitions. Remember to factor in additional costs like baggage fees or shipping charges if you intend to bring back larger, bulkier items. Adopting a balanced shopping approach ensures you take home meaningful mementos without exceeding your budget.

Solid Financial Strategy: Planning for Long-Term Travel

Long-term travel in Asia necessitates meticulous financial planning. Determine your budget based on various factors such as accommodation, transportation, food, sightseeing, and daily expenses. Conduct thorough research on the average costs in each country you plan to visit and create a detailed daily or monthly budget. Consider employing budgeting apps or spreadsheets to effectively monitor and manage your expenses. Additionally, it is advisable to have contingency funds available, such as an emergency savings account or access to remote banking services.

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Southeast Asia with Kids (6 Months of Travel)

Updated May 13, 2020 By //  by  Kris . This post contains affiliate links. This means we may make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

After 6 months of travelling around Southeast Asia with kids, I would like to share my experiences with you. This is the info I wished I had when planning for our trip and I know it will help you plan yours. You see, Southeast Asia with kids is easy if you know-how. Taking an extended trip with your family is easy too if you know-how.

Table of Contents

Meet our Family

Firstly, let me paint you a picture of us. My husband and I were big travellers pre-kids. We backpacked all over the world on extended trips. Our plan usually involved working for a few months, and saving all the money we could, then quitting our jobs and heading off for 6 months to a year of travel. Since we started reproducing these trips changed into 2-week vacations for the most part, as with kids seems to come mortgages and more and more commitments.

Somehow amongst all that we had an opportunity to travel around Australia for a year in a caravan with our 3 kids under 4. This showed us that long-term travel with kids was possible!

We got Itchy Feet

5 years and an extra child later, we decided to recreate the trip around southeast Asia that we had done as fresh backpackers in 2004. Sort of anyway. So we scrimped and saved, sold our car and our much-loved caravan, rented out our house and put everything else into storage.

We quit our jobs, bought one-way tickets to Bali and here we are, still going strong 6 months on with our 4 kids who are aged 2, 6, 7, and 9. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram to see more of us.

Where to Go

Southeast Asia is the area of Asia as far south and west as Indonesia, east to the Philippines, north to the border of China.

• Philippines

When planning your trip have a close look at the map and you can see a perfect path to travel overland between many of these countries, or to save time (and sometimes money too) you can opt to fly between centres.

Sample Itinerary

For us, our 6 months with our 4 young kids looked like this:

• One month in Bali – Uluwatu, Canggu, Amed, Sidemen and Ubud
• Flight from Denpasar to Phuket
• One month in Thailand’s south – Khao Lak, Ao Nang, Koh Lanta, Koh Phi Phi, and Phuket
• Flight from Phuket to Siem Reap, Cambodia
• One month getting to know Siem Reap
• Flight from Siem Reap to Bangkok
• A week in Bangkok, then flight to Chiang Mai
• Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai for 3 weeks
• Flight to Hanoi, Vietnam
• Hanoi, Sapa, Halong Bay, Hoi An and Da Nang over 6 weeks
• Flight from Da Nang to Kuala Lumpur
• 6 weeks in Malaysia

Overland Path

An epic overland trip would look more like this. This would be better suited if your kids are older than ours, and can carry their own packs:

• Arrive into Singapore
• Head north along the west coast of Malaysia – Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi
• Cross the border into Thailand (this border crossing can be dodgy so with kids, I recommend flying from Langkawi into Phuket instead)
• Spend a month exploring the islands of Thailand’s south
• Fly from Phuket to Cambodia – either Siem Reap or Phnom Penh
• One month exploring Cambodia
• Fly to Bangkok and head north
• Cross into Laos and catch the 2-day slow boat down the Mekong to Luang Prabang
• Fly from Vientianne to Hanoi
• Overland from Hanoi to Hoi Chi Minh

When to Go to Southeast Asia

If you are going for an extended length of time, there is no right or wrong time to go. You just have to go when you are ready . Our 6-month trip went from March until September.

We have had the hottest weather in South Thailand, Siem Reap and Hanoi, the monsoon season in Vietnam, and the major summer holidays for Chinese and Vietnamese.

But it didn’t matter. If we were here in peak season, we would instead have bigger tourist crowds and more expensive accommodation costs.

Have a look at some of our country-specific weather posts here which outline each place’s peak and off-peak travel periods:

• Thailand Weather
• Vietnam Weather
• Cambodia Weather
• Bali Weather
• Malaysia Weather

What Age Kids are Best?

Each child has their ups and downs when travelling. Mister 9 misses his friends the most, and I suspect this will get worse as he gets older. Mister 7 is probably the most cruisy of the lot. Miss 5 is at a delicate age as this is her prep year, and I have to teach her to read and write! Little Miss 2 is definitely at the most difficult age for travel. But having said that, 2-year-olds are difficult by their very nature. She would be challenging if we were at home too, but she would be better at sleeping and have a routine in place.

The most important consideration when planning your trip is how long you can spend in each country either with a visa or visa-free. We are from Australia, but these rules apply to passport holders of major western countries too.

• Indonesia – Visa waiver 30 days ( Bali Visa Requirements )
• Malaysia – Visa-free 90 days
• Thailand – Visa-free 30 days ( Visa Requirements Thailand )
• Vietnam – Visa for 30 or 90 days ( How to get Visa for Vietnam )
• Cambodia – Visa for 30 days ( How to get your e-Visa for Cambodia )
• The Philippines – Visa waiver 30 days
• Laos – e-Visa or Visa on Arrival 30 days
• Singapore – Visa-free 90 days
• Myanmar – e-Visa 28 days
• Brunei – Visa on arrival 14 days

Proof of Onward Travel

Many countries require proof of onward travel on entry too. This seems to be mainly the airlines who ask to see proof though, as they will be responsible for a return flight if you don’t get let in.

To get around having to book an onward flight if you are unsure of your plans, we recommend these options:

• Book a fully refundable flight with a carrier such as Singapore Airlines
• Use Expedia as they sell flights that you can cancel within 24 hours
• Don’t book anything and wait until asked and then hurriedly book something at the airport before departure

All countries require you to have at least 6 months of validity left on your passport. This is a non-negotiable and I have seen people denied boarding as their passport only had 5 months and 20 days left.

Protect your passports in a family passport wallet such as this one is a godsend. I love having them all in the one place with room for other essentials such as spare credit cards, cash and a pen.

Keeping in Touch

Every hotel, Airbnb, restaurant, cafe and fast food joint has free wifi. I also recommend you bring an unlocked phone and buy a local sim card in each country. These will cost between $5 – $10 to set up with around 5G of data and unlimited calls and can be easily topped up at convenience stores.

Getting Around Southeast Asia with Kids

We have found using 12GoAsia to be invaluable when planning transport around Southeast Asia. Here you can compare prices across all the below transport options, view timetables and book.

Flights are cheap with Air Asia and this can be a great way to travel around Southeast Asia with kids. It definitely saves time, and airfares are super cheap. You will have to pay extra for your luggage though.

Long-distance buses are great for travel around Asia. I personally max out my bus trips to around 4 hours. The buses do not often have a toilet, but they will make refreshment stops. Malaysia has the best bus service.

Private Minivan

We used these a lot, especially in Bali, Thailand and Vietnam. A private luxury van was the best way to get from Hanoi to Sapa for example. However, in Malaysia, they are just not cost-effective.

Trains can be a great way to travel. I love them with kids as we have extra room to move around, and they are a gimmick too. The overnight trips are comfortable as long as you get a cabin all to yourself (I pay extra to secure 6 beds in a cabin). It is cheaper combining travel and accommodation all in one.

It’s also great not to have to worry about the crazy highways in some countries (such as Vietnam). However, the train does not always get you to exactly where you want. Some great train journeys in Southeast Asia with kids are:

• Bangkok to Chiang Mai
• Hanoi to Da Nang (and Hoi An)
• Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh (and Cameron Highlands)

If you are island hopping or travelling down the Mekong, you may need to catch a boat. These options are also found on 12GoAsia . For small kids, it is advisable to bring your own lifejackets.

Ferries from Phuket to the islands, from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, and from Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang are some excellent trips you can do by boat.

Locally, getting the Grab app and using the app to order and pay for your taxis is the cheapest and easiest way to get around. This is basically Asian Uber. They have options for motorbike taxis (great for solo trips), normal-sized cars (just Grab) and 6 seater cars (Grab plus). They also deliver food too!

Download the app before leaving home, and get a local SIM card in your airport arrivals hall in each country to make life very easy.

• Get Grab for Android
• Get Grab for Apple

Other taxis abound, just make sure they turn the meter on. We had problems in Bangkok with drivers not wanting to use their meters which was frustrating.

In Bangkok, and Siem Reap, Tuk-Tuks are the preferred transport options. They are cheap and fun to travel in. In Siem Reap, short journeys around town only cost $1 and they easily fit the 6 of us in. In Bangkok, the fares are more expensive and you have to bargain hard. And the traffic can be pretty heavy so travelling long distances in the fumes might not be that fun.

Renting a Car

This can be a viable option for getting around the place. Cars are cheaper in some places than others. Thailand is cheaper than Malaysia for example. And you wouldn’t drive in Vietnam because the highway is just too crazy.

We hired a car for a week and explored Chaing Mai to Chiang Rai , and it was awesome!

We also hired a car in Malaysia which was the best experience!

You will need an International Driver’s Permit to hire a car in Southeast Asia.

Motorcycles

Hiring a motorbike is a fun way to get around. We have done it in Bali and Thailand too. It is perfectly legal here to ride around with as many kids as you need to fit, helmets or not. Know the risks and don’t be an idiot.

Please make sure you are covered for travel insurance and be incredibly careful of hazards such as monkeys and chickens. We only travel at a super slow pace, and only in really quiet places.

Some places are easy to explore via bicycle. We had bikes in Chiang Mai , Tam Coc and Hoi An . The bikes will usually have a back luggage rack which is perfect for a small child. (Just watch out they don’t get their foot stuck in the spokes as ours did).

This is the best way to discover a new city. Beware that traffic conditions are not the same as you may be used to. Cross the road with caution. Watch out for motorbikes driving along the sidewalk randomly. The footpath may be non-existent or may have big holes or hazards. Wear closed in shoes, and watch where you tread.

In Vietnam, they drive on the right, everywhere else in Southeast Asia drives on the left.

Safety in Southeast Asia for Kids

The locals in Southeast Asia are so friendly and love kids. We get so much more interaction with people thanks to travelling with children. And because 4 children is an oddity in Asia, that doubles the attention we get.

The craziest interactions though were in Cambodia. All of the Chinese tourists at Angkor Wat were clamouring to take photos of our kids. They didn’t ask permission and would grab the kids’ arms and try to drag them in for a photo. Not cool. They would make my kids cry!

The girls got very good at saying ‘no touching’ after many attempts to pat them on the head. And miss 6 with her curls is especially great at ducking out of the way, just in time.

Travel Vaccinations

Getting your kids up to date with their normal vaccination schedule is imperative when travelling here. That means making sure they have been dosed with measles, polio and tetanus for a start. The flu shot is advisable for any international travel. Hepatitis A and Typhoid are also highly recommended.

Depending on your trip, your GP may also recommend malaria, and rabies prophylaxis too. See your GP or travel health professional at least 3 months prior to travel.

Check out our detailed articles below:

• Vietnam Vaccination Requirements
• Thailand Vaccination Requirements
• Bali Vaccination Requirements
• Cambodia Vaccination Requirements

Do not drink the water out of the tap in Southeast Asia. Drink only bottled water, and even use this to brush your teeth. To lessen your impact of plastic bottles on the environment, you may want to consider a filtered water bottle such as Lifestraw.

Traveller’s Diarrhoea

We found the kids got sick more frequently when we first started our trip, but since then must have developed some immunity. We have had our share of tummy bugs in 6 months but no more than we would have had if we were at home attending school.

The most important thing is to make sure they don’t suffer from dehydration as a result. We always travel with Gastrolyte or Hydralyte electrolyte replacement. They even come in ice-blocks which are great for younger ones.

Also, taking a pro-biotic for a few months prior to your trip is a great way to protect your gut while travelling.

Prevention of mosquito bites is the easiest way to stop the spread of dengue fever and malaria. Cover up, especially at dawn and dusk with long sleeves and long pants. Use a repellant containing DEET (bring one from home), and spray your room before bed with a bug killer spray. Sleep under a mosquito net.

Travel Insurance

You will need to have a comprehensive family travel insurance policy in place. We have our insurance through our Commonwealth Bank credit card. This covers us for up to 12 months, for free, if we book flights on the card.

Doctors and Hospitals

There are International Medical Centres in each destination if you should need them. Some are better than others. And some doctors will make house calls.

I always make note of the nearest one for me, in each new place in case of an emergency. Read the reviews on Trip Advisor and Google. Your hotel receptionist and taxi drivers are also good resources for locating good doctors.

I can personally recommend Dr Cuong in Hoi An.

What to Bring

We have a list of what we packed in the beginning. Our contents have evolved a little as we have gone along though.

Mostly, the climate is going to be hot, with not much respite. We have only pulled out our cardigans in Sapa, Vietnam and one the occasional freezing cold aeroplane trip.

I definitely used my jacket when I ascended the top of the Fansipan Mountain (via cable car) in Sapa. This is Southeast Asia’s highest peak and was cold, wet and misty at the top.

You can buy awesome light cotton clothing all over the place for cheap. I think that buying climate-specific clothes is great. A pair of long light pants and a long-sleeved shirt is great for mosquito protection. Swimwear is definitely important too, including sun protection.

Packing cubes are essential.

Don’t Worry if you Forget Something

Anything you forget to bring is readily available. There are shops everywhere. Suncream and insect repellant are not great though, and super expensive so bring your own. You can easily find nappies, wipes and baby formula, though they may differ from your trusted brands.

Stroller or No?

We started off bringing a compact travel stroller but found there were no footpaths to speak of in many places, so ended up ditching it early on and preferring the baby carrier. Miss 2 is getting a bit heavier now, and the footpaths have been better lately in Malaysia. So it depends on what suits you and your bub.

First-Aid and Medicine

A good medical kit is essential when travelling in Southeast Asia with kids. We have been grateful for ours on more than one occasion. If there is anything you forget or run out of, or find that you need, you can always buy stuff over the counter at the many pharmacies around the place too.

• Paracetamol
• Ondansetron (anti-nausea wafers, from GP)
• Immodium (anti-diarrhoea)
• Norfloxacin (take with Immodium for diarrhoea, from GP)
• Anti-histamine
• Electrolyte replacement sachets and iceblocks
• Nappy rash cream
• Compact travel first aid kit

Travelling with only carry-on would be ideal. I just can’t do it. We would save money on flights, and save hassle too. But with 4 kids, I need more luggage than that. We travel with:

• 120L Kathmandu Duffel Bag with wheels ( read our review here )
• Mountain Buggy Bagrider ( read our review here )
• Tula Toddler Carrier ( read the review here )
• And a surfboard (don’t ask)
• Laptop bag (with 3 laptops for school and blogging)
• GoPro (Hero 7 Black)
• Drone (DJi Mavic Air is the most compact drone for travel – read our review )
• Small carry-on bag each

Fun Things to Do in Southeast Asia with Kids

This is such a fun destination. It is nice and cheap, so your dollar definitely goes further here. Which is why we are able to spend at least 6 months travelling with a family of 6. There are not many places you can achieve this.

Some of our most fun things to do with kids are detailed in these posts:

• Bangkok with Kids
• Hanoi with Kids
• Vietnam with Kids
• Siem Reap for Kids
• Malaysia for Kids

Also, check out:

• Kidzania, Bangkok
• Elephant Sanctuary, Chiang Mai
• Finn’s Recreation Club, Bali
• Waterbom Bali (coming soon)
• Artbox, Siem Reap
• Legoland Malaysia
• Ba Na Hills, Hoi An
• Ho Tay Water Park, Hanoi
• Ice Skating in Hanoi

Accommodation in Southeast Asia with Kids

With 4 kids, I will be the first to admit that finding somewhere to stay has been challenging at times. Sticking to our budget of $50 per night was easy except for in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok where we had to spend more like $100.

Family rooms on most hotel booking sights such as Booking.com are really aimed at 2 adults and 2 kids. But you can sometimes find listings which have the capacity for extra beds, or a mattress on the floor.

At a pinch, we have stayed in these rooms with 2 double beds and put our compact hiking mattress on the floor for miss 5 to sleep on. Or look for a room with a couch.

Favourite Hotels in Thailand for kids

• Little Bear’s Home , Chiang Mai Old Town, Thailand. Cute family rooms in an awesome location close to excellent restaurants and street markets. Heaps of stuffed teddy bears in the room. The family room had 2 king beds and a couch.
• D & D Inn, Khao San Road, Bangkok. Family room with 2 double beds. Avoid the rooms in the street wing as they are super noisy. Fantastic rooftop pool with views across to the Grand Palace.
• Sanctuary Lanta, Long Island, Koh Lanta, Thailand. Very low key budget a/c huts right on the impeccable white sand of Long Beach. The best beach on Koh Lanta!

Favourite Hotels in Cambodia for kids

• Naga Gate Boutique Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia. This place was so beautiful we stayed for 2 weeks! Stunning interconnecting rooms with rich timber floors and the comfiest beds in Southeast Asia. Excellent breakfast included by the luxury swimming pool.
• Neth Socheata Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia. This place was a great budget stay, right in the heart of town, hidden in a stylish alleyway. Breakfast included too!

Favourite Hotels in Vietnam for kids

• Golden Palm Villa , Hoi An, Vietnam. This is 1 km from the Ancient Town, but has free bicycles, a lovely pool, delicious breakfast and heaps of eateries nearby. A Family room has 2 big beds, and extra beds are available.
• Hotel de la Coupole, Sapa, Vietnam. the most beautifully decorated hotel I have ever seen taking pride of place in Sapa with endless valley views. Even if you don’t stay here, go up and have a cocktail at the rooftop bar.
• Hotel Muong Thanh , DaNang, Vietnam. Awesome sea view apartments in this perfectly located highrise.

Airbnb has been very useful in Asia. We have been finding more often that listings are duplicated on both Booking.com and Airbnb with different prices too! So it is important to check both. If you haven’t joined Airbnb yet, use this invitation link and you will get a decent discount off your first night’s stay.

We love Airbnb because we can usually get enough beds for all of us for the same price as a hotel room. They also have a kitchen and laundry, saving you money on food and washing. And they will usually offer discounts on week and month-long stays.

Favourite Airbnbs in Thailand for kids

• Baansuan Farmstay in Ao Nang, Thailand was one of our favourites, though it may not please everyone. 2 bedrooms in a traditional thatched farmhouse complete with giant geckos, cats, and baby goats set in a gorgeous tropical garden. The owner is kind and helpful and makes a delicious breakfast each morning. It is a couple of km from the beach, so you will need to hire scooters.
• In Chaing Mai, you have to stay at Rakang House . A beautiful space with 4 king beds in a cute and stylish neighborhood. Free bikes and great coffee nearby made us stay for ages.

Favourite Airbnbs in Bali for kids

• Just outside of Ubud, Bali, you will find this beauty – Teman Home . It is about 20 minutes to town but the owner who lives downstairs will drive you anywhere. Meals available and breakfast is included.

Favourite Airbnbs in Vietnam for kids

• The best place for a bigger group in Hanoi, Vietnam , KemKay Homestay is the best location and the comfiest beds you can possibly find. Loved it.
• This Beachfront Condo with Views for Days is in Da Nang, Vietnam . On the 29th floor, you can see the whole city and the beach too.

Favourite Airbnbs in Malaysia for kids

• In Kuala Lumpur , stay at this stylish apartment which is walking distance to everything in Bukit Bintang including the famous food street Jalan Alor. You can see the Petronas Towers from your loungeroom! And the view from the rooftop jacuzzi is even better.
• Silverscape Apartments is the best place to stay in Malacca, Malaysia with awesome views across the Malacca Strait. The Elements Mall is right next door and features a movie theatre and indoor playground.

Money in Southeast Asia

When travelling for a long time, you need to have a budget in place. For our budget, we aim for around $100 – $150 AUD per day for everything. If we blow the budget by say, doing an overnight Halong Bay cruise, then we will spend a quiet few days not doing much and self-catering.

How Much Money do You Need?

We sold our car and caravan, saved as much cash as we could, and rented out our house in order to afford this trip.

We quit our jobs, but you may have other ways around this such as long-service leave, maternity leave, or leave without pay. You might be lucky enough to have a job you can take with you. The wifi connection is quite excellent and reliable all over Southeast Asia.

We Spent…

In trying to have as much fun for as cheap as possible, we have spent around $25,000 AUD in 6 months which is closer to $1000 per week.

We believe in having a good time too, so we have a few beers and visit the attractions. We catch taxis around, and occasionally splash out on a flash dinner.

In cities, you will spend more, and flying around costs more too. Tours will set you back a bit, but if you use online booking agents such as GetYourGuide or Klook to book, these can save you money on tours and admission costs.

Price of Food and Beer

Food is cheap in Southeast Asia for kids and adults. In places like Thailand, the street food is amazing and only sets you back a couple of dollars to feed the whole family! Right now we are in an apartment in Malaysia where we do a lot of self-catering with vegetables, eggs and rice.

Beer is the cheapest in Cambodia and Vietnam by far. I’m talking about $0.50 cents per beer. Bintangs in Bali cost around $2 – $3 from the convenience store, and in Thailand, they are more like $4 from a 7-Eleven. In Malaysia, the taxes are extreme so beers are the same price as Australia. $7 for a tallie from a convenience store or $3 for a small can.

Different Currencies

ATMs are our favourite way to get cash out, we never use money exchange. However, some machines charge hefty fees. Thailand ATMs added $10 to each transaction! To avoid this we have an ING Orange Everyday Visa Debit card which refunds international ATM fees (under conditions) Check it out.

Here are some important posts detailing the money situation in some of the countries we have visited so far:

• Currency in Cambodia
• Money in Thailand
• What you need in Bali
• Money in Malaysia

Food in Southeast Asia for Kids

I thought after 6 months here, that our kids would be loving Nasi Goreng or Green Curry. But, I was wrong. They have tried things, but haven’t been super into Asian dishes at all.

Finding Western Food

Luckily, at most restaurants, you are able to order some sort of Western food. Wood-fired pizzas are very popular across the region, and you can usually get french fries and burgers too.

Well-known chains such as McDonalds, Burger King and KFC can be found if you are desperate. (No McDonalds in Cambodia though).

Our kids also loved the toasted ham and cheese sandwiches at 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand.

Get Breakfast Included

We have found that getting a place with breakfast included is super helpful when travelling with kids. Or find an Airbnb with a kitchen, and buy some cereal. We also know that after a big day of sightseeing, our kids are not keen on going to another restaurant for dinner. If we self cater, we can usually buy pasta, or rice, eggs, corn and broccoli. There are heaps of fresh fruit vendors.

Get it Delivered!

Another option for dining in is to order dinner on your phone and have it delivered to your door via the Grab app (the same taxi one, available all over Asia) or Food Panda (Thailand and Malaysia).

Homeschooling the Kids as we Travel

After discussions with our kids’ class teachers, we have devised an educational plan for them which is based on the Australian Curriculum.

We have to teach our 6, 7 and 9-year-olds as we go and we try to spend an hour each morning, every morning doing school work.

Homeschooling Resources

• Signpost Maths books for their year level
• New Wave Literacy
• New Wave Maths Mentals
• Reading Eggs Workbooks
• Blank white paper and pens

Online resources – we have the paid versions of these but most offer a free trial and free version:

• Maths Online paid memberships
• Reading Eggs online paid membership for Miss 6
• Study Ladder paid membership
• Minecraft Homeschool subscription

We actually found we finished all the workbooks easily after 6 months so now we are just doing revision. One of the projects we enjoy doing is researching each country we visit, learning some basic language, and currency conversion.

This should keep all the kids up to the curriculum at home so that when we do settle back into mainstream school again next year, they will be on track.

The Best Bits of Longterm Travel with Kids

We definitely have become closer as a family. Our trip through Southeast Asia with kids has meant we get to spend every minute of every day together (see also the bad bits). Our little one has enjoyed playing with her siblings all day long, instead of them leaving her all day to attend school.

We have seen southeast Asia through their eyes, and been happy to visit all the water parks and theme parks we come across! It has been so much fun!

I know deeply the strengths and weakness in the kids’ learning. And it has been a pleasure watching them grow as people, from shy little guys to confident and friendly little people now. They get so much interaction with locals over here.

Minimalism and Gratitude

Living and existing with minimal items has made us appreciate what we do have. This will definitely overflow to our lives back at home. We are no longer going to fill rooms with things we don’t need.

Our family has also learnt to be grateful for what we have, for where we are from, for each other and our beautiful country Australia too. We are so privileged to be in the top 1% of the population who actually have the means to do a trip like this. And we appreciate it.

The Bad Bits

There are definitely some bad times too. Miss 2 has plenty of public meltdowns when things don’t go her way. Routine is fairly out of the window, as each day is different to the one before. The kids stay up too late at night. They don’t eat enough vegetables, and they drink soft drink way too often.

And spending all day every day together can be hard too. You literally don’t get a break. We have had to find creative ways to snatch some ‘couple time’ too! The challenges of having a sex life with 4 kids anyway are multiplied when on the road.

Homeschooling is hard. Everybody needs to be motivated to make it successful, and that ain’t always the case.

I worry about them constantly. Going missing, getting kidnapped, sickness and injury. So they are always getting nagged when we are out and about. And anxiety makes me cranky.

The Verdict – Is Southeast Asia for Kids?

If you can do it, 6 months in Southeast Asia with kids is an epic adventure. It has changed our life! We have had so much fun travelling as a family. We knew we could do it thanks to our past holidays. But actually taking the plunge and re-visiting our favourite places of our pre-children life has been amazing!

6 months is a perfect amount of time, as it will allow you a month in each country, slow travelling your way around. Sometimes we spend 2 weeks in a place, just because it has a good feel and a comfy bed.

Time to go Home

But now, our travels are winding down. We are conscious of money stocks dwindling, and we need some cash to set ourselves back up when we go back to Australia. After this amount of time, you start to miss home and your people.

I have had enough of being a teacher. The kids have probably had enough of me too. And I miss my coffee machine and being able to cook an awesome steak on the Weber.

We probably have another 2 months or so left in Southeast Asia with kids, and then we will begin the journey home. Until the next time!

Reader Interactions

January 15, 2023 at 8:05 pm

Hi, I really enjoyed reading your families blog! What an epic adventure and just the type of thing we wanted to hear after lots of disapproving comments from family and friends.

We’re a family of 4 with children who will be aged 6 and 4 by the time we are hoping to travel at the end of this year, the main concern about South East Asia was to make sure the children are kept healthy as possible and the potential for dengue is kept low, on your travels other than tummy bugs (which we always seem to have in the UK anyway!) were you all kept in pretty good health on the road? Your itenary looks like you had lots of downtime along the way, definately want to make sure we’re travelling at the right pace for them. Anyway, thanks for posting! Here’s to many more travels along the way.

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