Woohoo you are going to travel for some time through Asia. How fun and lucky you are! In this article all my tips and everything I learned from taking my backpack and wandering around for 4 months. I hope these tips will come in handy.
Want to know more about Asia?
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All my tips
Money
Money: Always have a credit card with you. Also, take some money from home to convert into the local currency.
If you are planning to visit Cambodia and Indonesia, take US dollars with you. Especially in Cambodia, they often tell you the price in Dollars as well, as it is much easier than the Riels.
A friend told me once that she applied for her visa at the border and she could not get Riels at the border, as the machine was broken, but luckily, she could pay with dollars.
Next to that, it’s often cheaper when you convert money into the local currency than to withdraw money everywhere. So make sure to take some cash with you which you can convert. I took 1000 Euros with me from home and this was just enough to convert; the rest I did have to withdraw from time to time.
Want to know more about Cambodia? Read these articles.
Tips on Whatsapp / Facebook groups
Did you know that there are different Whatsapp groups for all countries to meet up with people?
- Thailand Backpackers group in English
- Vietnam Travel group in English
- Bali Travel Group (Dutch)
- Indonesia Travel Group
- Philippines Travel Group
- Cambodia Travel Group
- Find a Travel Buddy on Facebook
In the descriptions of the groups, there are a couple more groups that you can be part of. You can literally ask anything in these groups and most of the time, there are around 500 members. I asked once something about taxi apps when I flew to Cambodia (Passapp for example) and got some great tips that saved me money.
In the Thailand group, I once asked if there was someone in Bangkok that wanted to meet and met a fun chick that I am still in contact with, and so on.
On Facebook, there are also some groups to find travel buddies and I asked if someone wanted to join me (because I don’t like to travel solo), and this way I travelled with someone through Thailand, whom I did not know before travelling. Awesome right? We were a good match and she is still a dear friend of mine 🙂
Don't forget to book an activity in Asia
Backpack tips
- Always have some extra bags in your daypack. It could also be easy when you have some plastic bags. You can use this for garbage or other things.
I know not everyone likes plastic, so if you can use something else that would be nice - If you can buy a backpack that you can open in the middle; like a suitcase, it is so much easier. With my backpack, it isn’t possible and if I needed something in the middle, I always had to take everything out. My room was filled with clothes all over the floor.
- Buy packing cubes to organize.
- Last but not least; put your heaviest things in the bottom, so your weight is managed and you won’t fall forward while tying your shoe laces.
Extra tip: Atlas Beach Club
Laundry / Clothing tips
- Take some washing powder with you and clean your clothes every day after wearing them. I noticed that my backpack started to smell bad if I kept all the dirty laundry in for some days in my backpack. This way you don’t have to do your laundry every week, which saves you money.
- Take a small (laundry) rope with you. If there is no place to hang your clothes, you can hang them in your room and let your clothes dry.
- Buy a sarong in Asia! This way you can wear shorts while discovering a city and when you want to visit a temple, you can put your sarong around you and be respectful. A sarong does not cost much + does not weigh anything. It saved me and my friend a couple of times from not entering a temple.
Make sure to download these apps:
In the last few months, I have downloaded these apps.
Taxi apps
- Passapp (Cambodia)
- Grab (Thailand, Indonesia)
- Uber (all countries)
- Careem (UAE)
- Bolt (all countries)
The Waze app for navigating (I never used it).
Food delivery
- Deliveroo (all countries)
- Zomato (India)
- Talabat (UAE)
- NHAM24 (Cambodia)
- Gojek (Indonesia)
I hope these tips will help you. Let me know if you have any other tips or if you used any of my tips!
*Some of the links in the article are affiliate links, so I may receive a commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.
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