Having travelled a fair bit of SouthEast Asia, I’m hoping this guide can help those feeling a little lost in where to start and what to look for when beginning your travel plans.

General Research

Maybe you know you want to see a certain country/countries but you don’t know where to start. I recommend sitting down and listing out the countries/ any areas of interest/activities you want to do/ food you want to try (e.g. see elephants in Sri Lanka, see the tunnels in Ho Chi Minh). Even if you don’t know what to do, watch some YouTube, read blog posts, watch TikTok’s/instagram Reels and find out what interests you. Once you have a basic idea, I would get on a map and map out each place you want to see so you have a better understanding of the country/countries and where you’re going and distances between each place. Now you’ve got your starting point and an outline of where you want to go, the rest is easy.

Flights

Assuming you’re flying from your home country to somewhere in SEA, you’ll want to book these main flights early. Like any major flight I’d recommend booking these flights a few weeks in advance. Whether you’re going for an indefinite amount of time or you’re using 2 weeks annual leave, you want the comfort knowing these flights are set.

Depending on how long or how far you’re going, you might need to (or prefer to) fly between countries. These flights are generally very cheap and stay pretty consistent unless they are during local holidays. A factor to consider if you’re travelling with large luggage you will have to pay extra. You can book these in between flights a few days in advance and the price won’t change much.

For flights, I recommend looking at skyscanner.com or google flights to get an overview of your options. These websites always give you third party options to book with travel planning sites (the flights tend to be cheaper). If you’re happy to do this then I say go for it! However, I personally prefer to book directly with the airlines as if there are any issues you’re likely to get sorted quicker or receive money back rather than going through a third party. As an added bonus, I like to rack up frequent flyer points so if there are partner airlines I prefer to go with them.

Trains/Buses

While travelling within a country, whether it’s Malaysia, Vietnam or Thailand, buses and trains are generally your cheapest option especially if you’re travelling with baggage. You can take overnight trains/buses and generally these are fine if you don’t mind being a little cramped for a night. Generally, the trains book out faster (especially overnight ones) so I’d recommend booking these a few days in advance. Buses are more frequent and therefore you can book these a day or two before.

12goasia.com is pretty much the flight equivalent for buses and trains however it is a third party website. It is pretty reliable in terms of organising your travel plans however I did find you could be waiting in random huts in the middle of nowhere waiting on your transfers for hours as they tend to amalgamate lots of bookings to save costs and time.

Accommodation

There seems to be this misconception that booking accommodation in SEA is easy and you can just rock up and book the day before or the day of. I simply don’t find this to be the case anymore. Don’t get me wrong, you can book a couple days before and still find pretty decent accommodation but it’s not as easy as you’d expect. There are definitely areas that are easier than some (Canggu in Bali, for example), just because they’re more saturated with tourists. Accommodation prices fluctuate a lot more than transport prices so this is why I’d give more attention to booking places to stay.

My methods in booking accommodation are as follows; research areas to find the best spot, search google hotels, Agoda and booking.com. I like to look at the rates on a few different sites just to see where I can book the best price. I also look at the reviews on each of these sites so I can get a better overview of what people generally say about the accommodation (cleanliness is my biggest factor).

If I find a more local place, I tend to reach out directly to the owner as you often get better rates by speaking to and booking with them directly. It’s beneficial for both you and the owner (as they don’t have to have some of their fees cut). If it’s a bigger organisation I’ll just book the best price I can find.

I do recommend booking accommodation around 5 days in advance to give you time to thoroughly look at your options and find something within your budget.

Activities

For the most part, you could book an activity the day before you want to do it and you’ll be guaranteed a spot on whatever tour you want to do. There are certain tours (generally the ones that are a couple of days long rather than day tours) that require booking in advance so if there is something you’re super keen on doing I’d plan ahead otherwise booking the day before is sufficient.

Insurance/Health

The first time I left for SEA, I had every medication I could possibly need. This time I have nothing with me. The matter of fact is that you can get pretty much anything you’d ever need either over the counter or for a fractional price from a doctor. The best part is that it’s not uncommon to see places selling packets of medication in quantities of 1. I also believe the local medication is actually better than the stuff we bring overseas. The one thing I’d tell you to bring is suncream as it is marginally more expensive here and if you have fair skin and like to lather it on, you’re better bringing it to save you money. That being said, you can find it here, it’ll just cost you.

As with any travel, insurance is a must. You’re likely going to be doing activities you wouldn’t normally be doing at home and there’s always a possibility of sickness. Seeing a doctor for a one off prescription isn’t expensive but if something more serious were to happen, that’s where the bills would start to rack up. Travel insurance is really up to you and what you’re doing and what fits best. I personally use Safetywing, you pay on a rolling monthly basis and can always add on extras if you’re feeling more adventurous one month.

Weather

The different seasons in SEA can determine the entirety of your trip so I’d recommend doing a bit of research on your intended places. This includes

I have found that even though research has suggested weather be a certain way, I haven’t experienced it at all. For example, we flew to Thailand during the start of monsoon season yet we experienced maybe 2 days of rain throughout our entire month there. You can check out my blog post about the weather seasons in SEA to find out the best times of year to travel.

Packing

As I mentioned earlier, having large luggage can be more expensive if you’re flying between countries. To be honest, the first time we left to travel we had 70 litre backpacks to hold everything we thought we could possibly need. This time I have a 35 litre backpack and Ben has a 15 litre backpack. Tbh I think I still have too much with me.

You want to pack light clothes, as even during the monsoon season the temperatures are still high. I’d also recommend at least 1 pair of long trousers and a top for when you’re travelling as air conditioning can be cold on transport. Trainers, maybe some waterproof shoes or crocs/flipflops. All the toiletries and electronics your heart desires. To be honest, I think you’re good after that!

A lot of people would say it’s best to bring copies of documentation with you but I never needed any of it tbh. I think with the digital age, you don’t need to do it anymore. If your phone is stolen you can always log on to your iCloud or email or whatever you store your documents on someone else’s phone.

You can read my one bag travel post if you’re looking to travel minimally with just a hand luggage size bag.

I hope this post has helped give you a better overview of the tasks required to have a seamless SEA trip. I hope you enjoy wherever you travel to! ❤️