There is a gap between “I’m going backpacking” and the moment you actually buy a ticket. That gap is full of open tabs: visas, vaccinations, routes, insurance, a forum where one person swears you need three months and another says two weeks is plenty. And the longer you read, the bigger it all looks.
It is not that bad. There is a reason Southeast Asia is where nearly everyone does their first big trip: the backpacker trail has been running here for forty years, the hostels are good and cheap, the food is safe, and everywhere you go there is someone doing exactly what you are doing. You do not need to be an experienced traveller. You just need to know what to sort out in which order.
That is what this is: eight steps, from “which country?” to your first morning on the ground. Everything you need to do before you leave is at the top, everything that can wait is at the bottom. And that second part is the most important lesson here: most of it can wait.
Step 1: pick one country, not five
The temptation is to want it all. You have six weeks, you can see five countries on the map that all border each other, so why not?
Start with one or two. Every border crossing costs you a day, every new country costs you another day getting used to the money, the transport and the language, and those days do not come off your holiday. They come off the places you actually came for.
Thailand is the most popular place to start, and that is no accident: you can fly straight into Bangkok, more people speak English than in the neighbouring countries, the buses and trains run on time and there is a hostel everywhere. Want something calmer? Laos is small, slow and friendly. Want more going on? Vietnam gives you mountains, caves, cities and beaches back to back in three weeks. Cambodia is compact enough for ten days and has the most famous sight in the whole region in Angkor. And the Philippines is breathtaking, but the boats and flights between the islands make it harder to plan than the rest, so it makes a better second trip than a first.
Still want to string several countries together? There is a route that makes sense the moment you see it: our Southeast Asia backpacking route, including the four border crossings.
Step 2: look at the month first, then the country
This is the one planning mistake you cannot fix afterwards, and it is all about the season.
In Thailand, Laos and Cambodia the best time runs from November to February: dry, sunny, and cool in the mountains in the mornings. In the Philippines it starts a month later and the dry season carries on through May. Vietnam is too long for one climate, so in any month there is some part of the country with good weather.
Stuck with March or April? That does not have to cost you any fun, but do flip your route: those are the burning season months in the north of Thailand and Laos. It is all worked out per country in best time to visit Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and for the Philippines on our Philippines page.
Step 3: how much time you really need
For one country, three weeks is where it starts to feel relaxed. Two weeks works fine too, but then cut a region rather than staying one day less everywhere: that only gets you more bus rides.
We have written out the full route for each country, with how many days each place needs and how to get to the next one:
- Thailand in three, four or six weeks, twelve stops from Bangkok to the islands
- Vietnam in three, four or six weeks, fourteen stops from north to south
- Laos in two, three or four weeks, eight stops along the Mekong
- Cambodia in ten days to three weeks, five stops from Angkor to Koh Rong
- The Philippines in three, four or six weeks, eleven islands and stops
Got exactly four weeks and want to see what that gets you? Click your route together in My Trip: put the places in order and the planner works out the days and the budget for you.
Step 4: what it costs
Count on about €25 a day in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, €30 in Thailand and €35 in the Philippines. That covers your bed, your food, your drinks and the transport between places. A hostel bed costs €6 to €10, a plate of street food €1.50 to €3 and a beer €1 to €2.
That puts three weeks in Thailand at around €630 in costs on the ground, not counting your flight or the tours you book along the way. What each place costs, including the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive part of every country, is in the cost per day guides for Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines.
On top of that, bring a buffer you do not touch. A missed boat, a doctor, a flight you want to take earlier: it happens to everyone at some point, and it is a lot less stressful when the money is just sitting there.
Step 5: the five things to sort before you go
This is the whole list. That really is all.
- Your passport needs to be valid for at least six more months when you arrive. Check it today, because getting a new passport takes weeks, and this is the only step with a real waiting time.
- Your visa, or confirmation that you do not need one. That depends on the country and on your passport, and it changes regularly. On our visa page you pick your passport and see for each country what applies and where to apply.
- Your vaccinations. For Southeast Asia it usually comes down to a handful of jabs from a travel clinic. Some courses run over several weeks, so this is the second step with a waiting time: which vaccinations you need.
- Your travel insurance. Above all, check that riding a scooter and diving are covered, because those are exactly the two things you will do out there and they are often left out by default: how to choose travel insurance.
- Your money. A card that lets you withdraw cash without silly fees saves you dozens of euros over a whole trip, and you want two of them with you so you are not stranded when a machine swallows one: cards and cash in Asia.
Two more things that sometimes come on top: an eSIM, so you land with data instead of hunting for a SIM card at the airport (how to choose one), and an onward ticket if the border asks for one, which can already be checked at the check in desk on your way out (how to sort that).
Step 6: pack your backpack half empty
Everyone takes too much the first time. Not because you are bad at packing, but because you are sitting at home trying to guess what you will need three months from now in a country you have never been to.
Forty to fifty litres is plenty. Whatever you forget you can buy out there that same afternoon, usually for less than it costs at home. Only your documents, your own medication and a few things that have to fit you really need to come from home. The full list, with the reason each item comes along, is in the Southeast Asia packing list.
Step 7: book only your first few nights
This is where first trips most often get stuck: people book the whole trip from home, then find themselves in week two somewhere they want to leave with three nights already paid for. Or they hear about an island everyone is talking about and can no longer move anything around.
Book your first two or three nights and nothing else. There are plenty of beds, you book them a day or two ahead from your phone as you go, and then you choose based on what you know by then instead of what you thought at home. Only around Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year is it smart to book further ahead.
Where to stay in each place is on the destination pages themselves: every place lists hostels with their ratings, so you are not searching blindly.
Step 8: your first day
You arrive, probably early in the morning and probably wrecked. Four things, and then you are allowed to sleep:
- Take out cash at the airport, but only a small amount to get you through the first day. At the machine, always choose your own bank’s exchange rate, never the one the machine offers: that saves a few percent, every single time.
- Switch on your data, or buy a local SIM card in the arrivals hall.
- Take a metered taxi or just a Grab. Grab works in nearly every city in the region, you see the price up front and there is nothing to haggle over.
- Keep the first day empty. No temple, no tour, no night bus. You made it, and that is enough.
From day two it takes care of itself. That is not a pep talk, it is just how it works: everything that seemed complicated beforehand (booking buses, finding hostels, ordering food, crossing a border) turns into something you do without thinking within a week, because you do it every day and because you pick it up from the people around you.
What everyone gets wrong the first time
Three things, and all three are about pace.
You plan too many places. On paper two nights per city looks like enough. In practice half a day of every two nights goes on arriving and half a day on leaving, and what you mostly see of that city is the bus station. Three nights in the places you really want to see gets you more than ticking off five cities.
You underestimate travel times. A 300 kilometre bus ride does not take three hours out here. Look up what each leg really costs you in time; it is on the destination pages for every place.
You think you have to see everything. You do not, and the best part is: you will come back. Almost everyone who does this trip does it again.
Is a group tour a good idea for your first trip?
It can be, and for some people it is exactly the right first step. But for Southeast Asia you usually do not need one, and that is a more honest answer than it sounds. This is the easiest region in the world to do on your own: the route is already there, the hostels are full of people just as new to it as you are, and you book transport at the counter or on your phone as you go. What a group tour saves you is a few hours of research a week; what it costs you is the freedom to stay somewhere longer because you like it, and that is exactly what this kind of trip is about.
If what is really on your mind is setting off alone, that is a different question from whether you can organise it yourself. We wrote a separate guide for that: solo travel in Southeast Asia.
