When I was looking to travel I struggled to find an encyclopedia of knowledge other than TikTok that said everything I wanted it to. Across this blog series I will explore my travel experience and the reoccurring, most common topics I get asked. From the essentials to bring and what you don’t need to advice on booking in advance and how to budget.
What is essential to bring?
Two things I always tell people are essential are packets of tissues and hand sanitizer. In all honesty, you never know when you might need to go, and a lot of toilets in Asia won’t have tissue or somewhere to wash your hands. You’ll also regularly feel like you need some hand sanitizer, and is good to help try avoid getting ill.
The Uniqlo cross-body bag or something similar. This bag will save you. It fits so much in it (including a bottle of wine), which is so handy for travel days where you need lots of things to hand, when you go on day-trips and just day-to-day if you’re anything like me and carry around a load of crap. It is also pretty sturdy and even survived someone trying to grab my bag and mug me lol.
I wore Birkenstocks almost everyday travelling and they were super comfy, easy to get on and off and reliable. However, something no one ever told me, is how bad they will smell. Wearing them every day and as soon as they get wet will make them stink. I’d still recommend Birkenstocks but maybe bring a backup pair or Tevas or sliders made of rubber. I also took a pair of flip flops for the showers, a pair of trainers for hiking in and a pair of trainers for everyday when I wasn’t wearing my Birks (I went for converse as they fit smaller in my bag).
Invest in a really good backpack. They may seem expensive but this is going to carry your life around on your back. It will become your lifesaver and biggest pain (literally). I used the Lowe Alpine Escape Tour 55+15L Backpacking Pack. A lot of backpackers will also use the Osprey backpacks – there is even one they tailor to better suit a woman’s body shape. Make sure you research which bag suits you, go try some on to see what feels comfortable and think about what size you need. I went for a bigger one as I knew I’d need space, some people go for 40L so they can take it on the plane and don’t need to pay for hold luggage (you won’t be able to take liquids over 100ml for this which can be expensive in the long run to keep replacing). Some people go even higher than me, although I personally wouldn’t as mine was heavy enough (unless you’re big and strong).
Bring enough of your must have toiletries to last a while. Things like suncream and aftersun are really expensive in Asia and so I’d recommend taking plenty with you for a while, and if friends or family are coming to visit then ask them to bring some too. Other things to bring enough of are any skin products such as moisturiser. This often has whitening agents in, in Asia and can be hard to find any without.
For my menstruating readers, make sure you take plenty of tampons or pads if this is what you use. They are really hard to find in a lot of Asia. I personally used a menstrual cup. They really come in handy as you don’t need to worry about taking months and months supply of tampons or having to hunt them down in shops. They also can stay in longer than a tampon or pad, so if you’re on quite a long bus or train journey and you don’t have access to a clean toilet, those extra few hours can really come in handy. However, it will be hard to be able to properly sanitize the cup by boiling it. This is something I didn’t do at all in my 8 months travelling (oops), and I was fine. I just made sure to properly clean it with hot water in the shower every time.
Get a Starling debit card. You may have a similar card like Monzo or Revolut, but these only let you take £300 max out of an ATM a month before they start charging fees. Whereas Starling allows £300 a day. However, definitely get a Monzo and/or Revolut as well and keep separately as lots of people either have them sucked by ATMs or stolen and you don’t want to be without. Some cards will send a replacement to where you are in the world which is super handy if you do get completely stuck (but this does mean you will have to stay there and wait until it arrives).
Do I need…?
Straighteners… NO! Probably one of the stupidest things I brought with me lol. Unless you are going on a boujee holiday to beach clubs in Bali and Thailand, you really don’t need them. I did use them but purely because I had them with me, but wouldn’t have missed them, and it is so humid your hair just un-straightens anyway.
International drivers license. These you can get at the Post Office and get the correct vehicles stamped. Personally, this was a waste of money. I didn’t really end up riding peds (I heard and saw too many horror stories and can barely ride a push bike so was in everyone’s best interest I didn’t) and I don’t have a ped license in the UK anyway so you don’t get the correct stamp. However, it is definitely worth getting if you plan to ride peds and have a ped license in the UK; or are planning to drive a car, for example in Aus or New Zealand.
A torch? No! I literally used mine once or twice and even then was just because I had it. Not sure why all the Tik Toks say to bring one.
To bring money for every country. I personally wouldn’t but it depends how long you are going for. I didn’t feel safe carrying around lots of cash, and it is so easy to get cash out from cash machines. I would bring some for your first country so you don’t need to get some out right away, and then if you know you need to pay cash for certain visas then bring that too. If you’re going to Cambodia and Laos and intend to do it on arrival at the border, you will need dollars in cash. Make sure you bring extra for Cambodia as they are a wee bit corrupt and will charge you some extra fees.
Should I plan and book in advance?
Yes and no. I would plan your first place, maybe first two if you like. Then I would recommend going with the flow where you can. This is definitely an area where you have to use a bit of initiative and your own discretion. Some places I had to plan ahead or some I went with the flow then ended up in a tricky situation or stranded. However, there were also other times I planned ahead then wished I didn’t have a set next location or flight so I could go somewhere else. The weather is also very temperamental in Asia and you may need to quickly change your plans or base your route around this.
You never know who you might meet along the way, and you may want to stick with them a while longer as you’re getting on. You may absolutely love a place and want to stay or hate it and want to leave. When you’re travelling your emotions can also be a bit all over the place and you can get very tired, so you may not want to spend the day travelling or it may be the only thing you want to do.
Is x amount of time long enough?
This really depends how many countries you want to do, how many places you want to see in each, what your budget is, etc. But my advice is always go for however long works for you, your budget, and time. A small amount of time is better than none – you may just have to sacrifice some places along the way. Make a list of your top three to five non-negotiables and work around that.
How should I save and budget?
I personally set myself a goal by a certain amount of time and work backwards from that. This means I know how much I need to save minimum each month and will put that into a separate savings account and not touch it. Anything I can save on top of this is a bonus. Also, just be careful with your spending basically lol. To find out the total budget you need, do research into each country and the amount of time you want to spend there. Then, think about what your spending is like and how budget you are planning to be.
While you are travelling, set yourself a budget for each country and keep track of this. The best way to do this in my opinion is to use the Travel Spend app. On here you can set your budget and will tell you how much you have per day. As you track your spending this will then adjust. It is really handy to see if you are overspending or can afford to spend a bit more, and then make necessary adjustments.
Shop around for prices whether that be at restaurants, markets, booking transport, etc. Also, don’t be afraid to barter where appropriate as long as you don’t offend anyone; and eat at local restaurants too! Just use common sense about whether you think it will be okay for your stomach.
What route should I do?
It depends on the country. I will be writing a blog about each place I visited and will go into more detail for route for each. You can read my Thailand and Laos ones. Each country is very unique and will have either a very typical backpacker trail, such as Vietnam, or it can be a bit more random and shuffled, I found this is typically true of countries with lots of islands.
I hope this blog has answered some of your questions, and if you have any more, I hope they will be covered in my other blogs or ones to come.
