12 Things I Wish I Knew Before Backpacking SE Asia

I set off to SE Asia on a one-way ticket. Now, a months in and (sadly) with an end date set for my backpacking trip, I thought I’d share some of the things I learned on my trip backpacking SE Asia so far.

These are all things I wish I knew earlier, and I hope you they help you on your own trip backpacking SE Asia!

1. Don’t have any set plans

This one is probably the most important one.

I recently read a Facebook comment in a backpacking group saying that all the people posting their itineraries weren’t really backpacking. Because planning every single step of your trip isn’t what backpacking is about.

The great thing about backpacking is buying a one way flight and just going with the flow. Sure, you should have some general plan, but you have the freedom to spend just one night in a place you don’t really like and a week or more in a place you fall in love with.

And most backpackers you meet are doing the same thing, so you all have the freedom to change plans to travel with your new friends.

Flights are the only thing you really need to have planned ahead of time to get a better deal, but try to limit those. Buses, trains and boats are a good way to meet other backpackers, and are usually much cheaper.

You should try to limit the amount of things you book online too. Just last night I paid $3 for a room that was $7 online because I was able to haggle down the price in person. This only worked because it was low season though, so be aware this doesn’t always work out if all places are fully booked.

Play it by ear, go with the flow and don’t plan too much ahead. It will all work out!

2. Get recommendations from fellow travelers

After my first few stops, I did virtually zero online research into where I was going or what I was doing. My entire trip in Thailand and my upcoming travels in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam have come from recommendations from people I met traveling who already went to those places.

It’s much easier and more reliable to get your information from people who were just in the countries you want to visit than by spending hours scouring the internet for information.

And don’t forget to give back by recommending your favorite places in a country to people you meet who are traveling there next 🙂

3. Get comfortable being on a motorbike as soon as possible

Because in SE Asia, it’s usually the cheapest way to get around. I first got on a motorbike when I ordered a Grab bike, since the motorbike taxi was half the price of a car.

The motorbike taxis were also a good introduction into learning how to ride one myself.

After crashing on my first try (just with the ground while trying to turn for the first time; not anything serious), I later learned how to ride one in the mountains of Thailand. I now feel much more confident using this cheap form of transportation to scoot around the region.

4. Don’t settle for prices; haggle everything you can

I couldn’t haggle at all when I first started backpacking SE Asia. I had to learn in Indonesia, where you have to haggle down prices for literally everything, and where you are actually expected to haggle.

And now I even enjoy it, where it used to cause me incredible stress.

Some tips for haggling: research what the fair price is first. Check online or ask travelers you meet what they paid so that you know how low you can go. Then quote a lower price than the fair price, and settle in the middle at the fair price you were willing to pay.

5. Don’t pack so much

This especially rings true right now when I’m almost three months into my trip and have to resist the urge to buy souvenirs because there’s no room in my bag.

The funny thing is, I’m an over packer so I thought that I wasn’t packing much. And although I’ve used all the clothes in my bag on my trip so far, I usually go a week wearing the same outfit for the sake of convenience. I could definitely ditch a few outfits, and I probably will soon. (EDIT: I did. I found a clothes donation spot in Hanoi and left behind some clothing; it felt so freeing!)

If you think you’ll need more clothes than you packed, you can buy almost everything you want abroad, and way cheaper too if you’re backpacking in SE Asia. If I could go back, the one thing I’d do differently is bring less clothes so that I could buy more out here.

6. Don’t give yourself so many responsibilities

I started my backpacking trip thinking I would have time to work and write.

I was planning to work on blog, write on my book, do freelancing gigs and continue volunteering online for the two organizations I was working for. How cute.

I’m used to overloading myself with work because I need to feel productive every day, and I made the mistake of thinking travel would be leisurely.

At the risk of infuriating people stuck working difficult and draining jobs, I must say that full-time travel is tiring. Not in the same way as working full-time in an office would be, of course. And while it’s very worth it, it does drain you.

Not knowing where I’ll be sleeping tonight (I’ll figure that out once I publish this), trying to figure out how to get from place to place and planning new adventures takes a lot of time and effort, especially when you’re trying to do it as cheap as possible.

Also be aware that you won’t have much access to wifi when you’re out traveling. And the time you do get you’ll want to use contacting your friends and family back home. Or, you know, finding a place to sleep that night.

That being said, if you’re a writer too (psst, did you know this blog, Voyage Scribe, is for writers who travel?), I do have some tips to force yourself to write while traveling. If you want to do any other work while traveling, this post might be useful for you too.

7. Give yourself time to relax

At the beginning of my trip, I did sightseeing every single day. I felt guilty not doing anything, and as a result, I was exhausted.

If you travel long term, you have to schedule days when you don’t really do anything.

Hang out at your hostel making new friends. Go spend the day just laying on the beach or strolling through a park. Get some laundry done and catch up writing in your travel journal. Plan the next few days of your trip.

You need rest days, because travel can really get tiring when you do it for so long.

8. Know you won’t be able to see everything

Along the same lines, this was something I struggled with teaching myself.

I was always the traveler who wanted to cram in as much sightseeing and activities as possible in one day. And because of this, I was burnt out after just one week of travel into my four month trip.

It took me a while to teach myself this, but with long-term travel you have to stay satisfied with seeing and doing only the things you’d really be upset about missing out on.

9. Learn to be patient

Particularly while backpacking SE Asia, it’s important to practice patience when traveling. Time isn’t very strict over here, so when you’re told a bus or boat will leave at a certain time, it will probably leave later.

You will also probably find yourself in a situation where you book a tour or transport and not be told what’s going on.

Almost all tours I’ve booked involved me being shepherded from van to car to boat to van, not being told where exactly I was going or what was happening next.

Patience is crucial for such experiences.

You should also be patient with other solo travelers. It’s such a great thing to travel with people you meet, but you won’t be able to do this if you aren’t patient with other people’s plans.

10. The real charm of backpacking is the people you meet

And because of this, you need to make sure you have the time to socialize. Backpacking solo can be lonely, even for people like me who like being alone. But it’s so easy to meet people, and if you do it right you’ll never be alone.

Because the world is filled with tons of other people solo backpacking, especially in SE Asia. And almost all of them want to meet travel buddies too.

11. It’s really easy to make travel buddies

All you need to do is say hi and ask someone where they’re from. Almost all of my travel friendships started like this.

Most people who are traveling alone are also looking for people to hang out and travel with. At the very least, solo travelers are motivated to pair up with others to split costs on things like transport. But usually, most are looking to make friends.

You can make friends to travel with at anywhere from hostels to tours to bars to cafes to buses to just saying hi on the street. Yeah, I’ve seen it all.

12. Be ready for the sadness

The worst part of solo travel, for me and for the other solo travelers I’ve met, isn’t the traveling alone part. It’s the parting of ways when you and your new travel friends inevitably have to say goodbye.

I have made so many friends on this trip. And the longer I traveled with a group, the harder it was to say bye and start all over again meeting new people.

While it’s heartbreaking and tiring, it’s all worth it. Because you’re left with the great memories and friends from all the world you can someday visit.

It’s one of the best parts of travel, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.