backpacking to SE Asia...
Hey guys,
I had this great plan of backpakcing with 2 friends to SE Asia (Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos) for about 3 weeks in January, but they all canceled it this week. I've backpacked by myself once to Japan for 10 days, but the situation here is a bit different, much because these countries are more 'exotic and unknown' to me, so I'm scared as hell to doing it. I know this is a common question you guys are kinda tired to answer, but is it worth it? I've read a lot of blogs and pros and cons about doing it by yourself, but I'm still not sure on what to do, so i wanted to ask experienced travelers like yourselfs for advices. I'm 20 years old and Brazilian. I have to spend a month in South Korea anyways, so that's why i planned this. Thanks a bunch in advance!
Reply to this I left home at 19, throwing myself into the unknown and I have never looked back, so I'd say just go for it!
I've lived in Vietnam for almost 3 years and it is by far one of the safest countries I have ever had the pleasure of living in. Cambodia strikes me as being relatively safe too.
The biggest problems in this part of the world are petty theft and robberies (but this generally only happens if you are out frequenting dodgy areas, late at night). If you keep your wits about you and use basic common sense then you shouldn't have a problem at all.
Also, if you stick to the backpacker circuit, you will meet plenty of travellers, some of who will be more than happy to let you hook up and travel with them.
[Edited: 2011 Nov 02 14:37 - Cockle:46288 ]
Reply to this Hello Lee 😊
I first left home when I was 19, and moved to another country. Since then, I have gone to live in other countries by myself a number of times, and travelled by myself a lot of times.
The biggest challange for me when I was young and alone in other countries was loneliness. This applied more so , when I worked in other countries. While travelling it was a bit less, because I was free of the challanges and stresses of workplaces, and I also met new people on a more frequent basis while travelling around.
...but is it worth it?
What about you go do it and find out. When people ask me if it is worth spending the time and money and giving up other things to travel, no answer I can give seems convincing, except to tell them that travel has always turned out for me to be more of an experience than I ever expected, and so worth making the effort to incorporate into my lifestyle. In fact, if I ever had to give it up I think I would be unhappy. That may seem unreasonable or over reacting, but this is how much I fell in love with travel, after my first backpacking experience of travelling accross Europe for 4 months, when I was 19.
Mel
Reply to this Marcos,
You are going to have a great time-- do it.
Although my recommendation is that if you only have three weeks I would spend the entire time in Vietnam or split your time between Cambodia and Laos.
All three of these countries offer public transportation that will allow you to move around easily and cheaply. You will not regret making this trip.
Same old advice-- do not go out alone at night. You will be so busy during the day that you will be tired and happy to stay in at night. As stated above you will find others to hang out with in the hostels.
We can recommend an itinerary for each country if you have any interest.
Let us know what other assistance we can provide.
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