Tips on travelling SE Asia
I have spent the most time in SE Asia, and there are two things that are certain
Be comfortable with being uncomfortable
Be prepared for sensory overload
On the second point first…I was riding my scooter on Koh Samui (an island off Thailand). I was cruising down the street all very civilised, albeit trying to navigate a thousand pot holes. And then I noticed this scooter with a trailer attached to the side. And I was like that’s pretty cool.
Then I noticed this thing had smoke coming out of it. And I was like, shit, this thing is on fire. Then as I got closer I was engulfed with smoke, and a strong smell, then I noticed he was cooking something as he was driving.
Then a dog ran out on to the street, which I navigated. Then all of a sudden I was engulfed with four other bikes, then a bike from the other direction just started rinding at me….ha ha. This is SE Asia. Organised chaos.
It is a very beautiful region, but it can be intense. From smells, to overcrowded streets to bright neon lights. It can really overburden your sensors.
Then to my first point. Trippin through SE Asia, you really need to be comfortable in being uncomfortable. What do I mean by that.
It can be crowded, it can be very hot, it can very wet, it can be very loud, there can be lots of insects, there can be lots of rodents….and this can all happen in the space of an hour.
It’s not to say it is always like this. But believe me, if you are living in little local neighbourhoods, you are going to experience a lot of things that may put you out of your comfort zone.
If you just go and stay at 5 star hotels, well you are not going to really experience any of this. If it gets hot, you just go back to your room and put on the aircon. If it gets wet you just go back to your room.
But for me, I totally love living with the locals. And only on very rare occasions I will stay at a nice hotel. Mostly it is on transits or travel days where I can’t get an affordable airbnb.
Experiencing SE Asia is really cool and something that I would recommend everyone does. To be honest I probably had one of my biggest life changing events occur while I was travelling through Cambodia.
If I had of just sat at home, this would never have happened. So I am a huge advocate of trippin the globe.