South East Asia has a huge backpacking culture, it’s always my go to if I don’t know where to go. The common route also known as the ‘Banana Pancake Trail’ explores so many different countries and cultures while also allowing you to meet so many people from all around the world as well as party…hard. This trip is the perfect start to backpacking, if I was asked where somebody should go as a first time solo traveller, I would always say SE Asia without skipping a beat.

The Route

Generally there is a set route that people stick to is in no particular order are Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Some people throw in other countries that I would highly recommend like; Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. A common route people will take is below along with how long you should stay there in my opinion;

Thailand

Bangkok - 2 nights

Chiang Mai - 3 nights

Pai - 4 nights

Chiang Rai - 1 night

After Vietnam

Bangkok - 1 night

Kao Sok National Park - 1 night

Koh Phi Phi - 3 nights

Koh Samui - 2 nights

Koh Tao - 4 nights (or longer if you are planning on getting your dive cert!)

Apps you need to download before travelling SE Asia

• Grab & Gojek - A rideshare app kind of like uber. Make sure you download this app and sign up before you leave your home country as you will need to get a OTP to your phone number!

• Hostelworld - Great for looking through the hostels at the destination you are headed - make sure you look through reviews, look at the map and figure out if there are attractions, convenience stores and restaurants close. Sometimes l use Hostelworld just to find the place I want to stay then book it somewhere else for a better price.

• Booking.com - Booking.com is a great app as when you sign up you can get discounts on hotels, hostels and other accommodations. Make sure you always check Booking.com when booking anything to check their price. A lot of the time you can book accom without a credit card, so you can just pay at the place!

• Maps.me - A must for any travel, this app allows you to download maps and you can use it just like Google Maps when you are offline! You can download up to 10 maps on the free version, if you want unlimited maps you will need to pay for the full version.

• Google Maps - Google maps I use to save places I want to visit and put them into a list for that country and a category like food, bars, attractions, surf spots, etc. When you get a recommendation from anyone or tiktok it’s great to jot it down in one place, google maps is the perfect solution!

• 12GoAsia - The easiest way to book any of your transport between places in SE Asia! I don’t use the app except to scroll through to find the best bus, train or boat. I will go onto the website and book through there. Before I book with 12Go make sure you check the companies website that you are booking with, most of the time it will be cheaper to book direct!

Budget

Asia as a whole is generally less expensive than other backpacking routes like Europe and Latin America, however, this doesn’t mean you can go with no money! There are so many activities to do along this route and they can add up quickly, however, you will generally save money on food and drinks as meals generally won’t be more than $5-10AUD. Here are some tips for saving money and a general budget you can try to stick to!

Food - $15/day

One of the best parts of Asia is having access to fresh delicious food! Eating local food is a great way to save some money, and it’s super easy to do this because it is so delicious!

Food should account for around $15 of your daily budget if you are sticking to eating local food, of course, sometimes you are feeling homesick or want to eat something that might be a bit more expensive, but this is on average how much I spent!

Drinks/Partying - $20-25/day

This can vary so much, depending on how often you are drinking, what you are drinking and where you are drinking. Some tips I have would be head to a local minimart or convenience store, grab a couple of beverages and head somewhere to pre before going out. A beer can range from $1-10AUD all over Asia. I won’t lie I was drinking A LOT in SE Asia, but that is by my standards I wasn’t having more than 5 drinks on a night out (sometimes way more but, whoops) of the hostel. I would make sure I wasn’t drinking a lot at the club and just pre-ing with the happy hour deals at hostels. Also a lot of hostels just randomly give out free drinks so keep an eye on deals like that. There are always ways you can save money when it comes to drinking you just have to think outside the box a little bit. I would try to stick to a max of $20-25AUD a day on drinking, sometimes I would go over and sometimes I would stay under. This is an average if you have a day off or one day you accidentally buy a round for everyone you won’t be going too much over the budget, it all balances out in the end.

Activities - $25/day

Again this varies a lot, in Laos, I went very over budget on activities because I just did things I wanted to do and didn’t want to miss out on anything. I have absolutely no regrets doing this because realistically you don’t know if you will ever find yourself in that place again (I’ve never heard anyone say yeah I regret going on that hot air balloon in Vang Vieng or ziplining through the Laotian jungle). There are days you don’t spend a single cent on activities, walking around towns or cities sightseeing, but then there are days you spend $350AUD on a 2-day tour to stay in a treehouse (worth it). I would put aside $25AUD a day this will accumulate and you will be able to spend it on the pricer activities when you get to them.

Accommodation - $10/day

Depending on the city you are in, hostels will cost anywhere from $5-30AUD, the hostels I stayed in averaged out at about $7 a night. I would always look into the hostel via the reviews, making sure I wasn’t just choosing the cheapest hostel as I still wanted a social vibe. If you are staying in a Mad Monkey definitely make sure you download the Mad Monkey app, you can get discounts the more you book directly through them, and even free drinks every night.

Transport - $15/day

Whether its a travel day or a day of exploring the city the cost of travel will obviously change. If you are travelling to a new place every second day you will need to increase this. Booking grabs around the city, overnight buses and so on can add up, to save costs make sure when booking longer buses or trains you look at the companies website directly to see if you can save some money.