I'm curious about people who managed to backpack around SEA (specifically Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia) on an extremely low budget but without volunteering or working in exchange for accommodation/food.

How little did u actually spend and for how long were you able to travel?

I’m planning a roughly 6 month trip (leave Dec 2027) around SE Asia, myself, wife and 8yo daughter.

I’m just looking for a bit of advice around speed of travel and how long families with similar age children stayed in each place before moving on.

I’ve done lots of research and have an itinerary in mind, there is a handful of places that we will stay for 8-14 days, the majority are 5/6 days and then a small amount that are 3/4 nights.

My question is do you think that’s too much moving with a young (ish) child in tow?

Any thoughts, feedback and experiences will be greatly appreciated 😊

Planning an 8-week trip. Have only just start planning so research is somewhat limited and I would love any opinions or recommendations - I am 23M and flying from New Zealand and trying to keep the budget relatively low, love all things traveling, nightlife, culture, cities, beaches, everything. Note that I have already travelled Vietnam so don't really feel the need to go back through the whole country

Bali - 8 nights

Bangkok - 7 nights

Koh Phangan - 7 nights

Koh Tao - 4 nights

Koh Samui - 2 nights

Khao Sok National Park - 3 nights

Ao Nang/krabi - 4 nights

Phuket - 2 nights

Siem Reap - 5 nights

Phnom Penh - 2 nights

HCMC/Saigon - 5 nights

Hi!
My boyfriend and I are travelling to Indonesia and Vietnam soon for about 3.5 weeks. We’ll be flying into Bali, but we’re probably planning to move on to Lombok fairly quickly. Then, after around two weeks in Indonesia, we’ll fly to Hanoi and spend the rest of the trip exploring northern Vietnam.
Do you have any tips or recommendations for the trip?
We’re especially interested in doing the Ha Giang Loop in Vietnam, but we’re still unsure whether to ride ourselves or go with easy riders. Neither of us has a motorcycle licence, so we’re leaning towards easy riders, but we’d really like to find a group that is relatively calm, safe and not too party-focused.
Thanks so much in advance for any tips!
Best,
Kiki

I (man, Romanian citizen) and my partner (woman, Senegalese citizen) live and work in France and we booked months ago a flight for Vietnam. We planned doing around 16 days with a quick stop to Cambodia.

However, after applying for the e-Visa, she got a request for additional information. She's just provided the maximum of details of our itinerary, but we've also seen that there's some kind of soft ban on many African passports.

I've also applied for the e-Visa, even though I think I didn't need too. I didn't get any reply yet.

I've heard there are "visa counselor" service like joeyvisavietnam dot com or Emily Visa Company (no website just a telephone number found on google). Are these legit ? Should I wait 1 or 2 weeks more to see what happens withthe official e-Visa request and then try the visa counselor if they keep requesting info ?

We're prepared to cancel going to Cambodia and demand another e-Visa for single entry to Vietnam, maybe that might pass easier ?

Hello!

We (27m, 27f) have just bought our plane tickets to Manila on 29th of january and return tickets from Singapore on the 13th of march next year, so about 6 weeks in total. So far we are totally open for ideas and suggestions, as we havent planned anything. Does anyone have any good ideas for places to go or maybe an itineary, where to spend the most time? We like a good mix of nature, culture, snorkeling, relaxing and cities (we want to spend least time in big cities)

This year we went to Vietnam and Thailand. We especially loved Koh Lanta, and seeing the nature and caves in Phong Nha and Ninh Binh.

Hi everyone,

I am planning to visit Indonesia in November (I know it will be wet season). I am just trying to figure out my itinerary. I am planning to stay for 2.5 weeks, maybe 3 weeks if I need more time.

These are the places I want to see:

• East Java, specifically Bromo and Ijen
• Bali, Ubud
• Komodo Islands
• Lombok

Would love to hear any recommendations, suggestions on how to break this trip down.

Thanks!

Where are the top places anyone has visited in SE Asia that they would not take off an itinerary? And how long do you realistically need in these areas and do they work as a route?

For each category: culture, city, beaches, food, physical landscape etc, where is top for each?

Trying to build a 3 week itinerary want to feel like I’ve done as much as possible without over doing it.. and want to avoid super busy party central areas as much as possible.

TIA