In case you missed it, last week I shared the exciting news that in February my boyfriend and I are going traveling for six months! Yup, six months of exploring SE Asia and all it has to offer. Excited is a bit of an understatement I guess - we're counting down the days already.
Last time I briefly explained the reasoning for our trip. Essentially, it's a case of if not now, when?
This trip has been a long time coming; we decided on Christmas Eve 2014 and have spent all of 2015 saving, planning... and building excitement! So I guess this post is about how we've gone about organising our trip and the things we still have left to decide on. I'm hoping others who have traveled the countries we're planning on visiting will be able to pass on some hints and tips - as well as maybe giving others that nudge to consider a big trip.
Both Rich (boyfriend) and I have visited Asia before. We went to Malaysia together two summers ago and packed KL, the Perhentian islands (my second time), Penang and Langkawi into a two week trip. Previously I spent a month in Malaysia and Indonesia with Kat, again visiting the Perhentian islands (heaven on earth), KL, Bali and the Gili Islands. Rich has also visited various Thai islands with his friends - so we feel we've had a good taste of what Asia has to offer already.
You may be thinking - why are you going back? Spread your wings! And we thought exactly the same. We initially planned on spending the six months in South America, but after looking into it some more we realised our hearts lie in Asia. All our travels have done so far is whet our appetite - we want to see more! So this time we will be skipping most of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Thai party islands and instead seeing more of what Asia has up it's sleeve.
We've decided on the following as definites:Philippines - likely splitting our time between Palawan and BoracayMalaysia - returning to Penang as we loved it before and didn't get to see enoughThailand - Krabi, Phi Phi and then moving up to Chaing Mai and PaiMyanmar/Burma - Yangon and Inle lakeVietnam - Hanoi and all the way down the coast to Ho Chi MinhCambodia - Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville
All we've done so far? Booked our flight out there and a return, coming back in August. We're flying to the Philippines to start and coming back from Bangkok. The rest we will be (largely) figuring out when we're there!
I'd love to hear from anyone who has visited SE Asia and any of the places we're planning on seeing - or any others we've missed out and must see! Any feedback would be gratefully received.