An Essex girl's advice to SE Asia
Oh hey doll....
The last 9 months I have been on
the most amazing journey.
9 ferry's, 12 buses, an overnight
train, an overnight bus (with a bed)
5 countries, 21 cities, 3 Intro Travel Tours
all with my best friend by my side.
Meeting some of the coolest people,
and friends for life. I just had a real
URGE. To share everything with you
guys. Whether you want to go, need that
push, or just being nosey, enjoyyyyyy.
WHAT MADE ME GO?
So what made me up leave my job?
Leave my family? Leave my life in
England? Well apart from going to work
in the dark and getting home in the dark...
I have always wanted to go travelling, but
never had it in me to to just make the decision
I never believed that I could ever save that
much, that anyone else would come with
me.
Until we changed up our girls holiday
one year and decided to travel around
Thailand with Intro Travel. That changed
everything. That was a peak into
what travelling would be like, and I just
knew this is what I wanted. We went
as a tour group, the majority of the
people was only on the start of their
travelling.
I fell IN LOVE with Thailand
the culture, the freedom, meeting new
people, the lack of stress, I had no cares
no worries, wasn't obsessed with my
phone, I didn't care what people
thought of me, I felt free. I knew that
I wanted more of that. So as soon as I
got back to England, and was out of
that bubble I just did it. Me and stac
booked 2 tours with intro a flight
and started planning.
By far the best decision I have
EVER made.
HOW DID I PLAN IT?
I absolutely LOVED planning the
route for our travels. I was just so
excited just wanted to know everything
and get more excited about the places
we was going. As soon as the tours and
the flight was booked it was full steam
ahead. We booked the Vietnam and Cambodia
and Bali tour. We used that as our base.
So I printed a map, I had the tours and
then started researching places around it
in Asia. We decided to start in Thailand as we
had been there and knew it. I drew a line
From Thailand to Laos to Vietnam to Cambodia
to Bail to Philippines to Kuala Lumpur to
Singapore. (Btw everything changes so much
when you travel). Then we used the tours to
work out the dates and how long we would
spend in each place.
We never had an exact amount of time
we would be in Asia. This is IMPORTANT to
know in my opinion booking everything in
one go is the BIGGEST mistake.
If you decide to go travelling don't pre book
to much, if your booking tours thats fine, but
if not DON'T pre book flights, hotels internal
travel, too many events and excursions. As
explained above things change constantly.
Me and Stac booked one flight to Thailand
we booked our hotel when we got there &
our first hostel in Phi Phi apart from that,
we booked everything else as we went.
If you want to stay somewhere longer you
can, if you want to leave earlier you can.
Also the unknown is my fav part of travelling.
When planning what to do in each country
I stalked the sh*t out of people and
places in instagram. I would search a tagged
place for example Note Cafe Vietnam,
it would then come up with loads of people
mostly travelers that had been there.
So I would go through and see where
these people had traveled. This helped
me massively seeing where was the
best places to go. I created the below list.
After a few months of researching
the best places to go In the countries
we was travelling to we have a
SOLID plan. Feel free to have a look
at my insta as I tagged everywhere along the way.
WHERE I ACTUALLY WENT!
(Click on the places to see the best pic from each place)
- Thailand
- Laos
- Vietnam
- Cambodia
- Bali
- Sydney (Current Location)
& OF COURSE THERE WAS MISTAKES!
Typical Essex's girls we are we strolled through
Asiawith 20kg worth of clothes on our back
NO NO NO. I am so glad I have made the
mistake for you HA!Even though I
was told by plenty of people 'NO YOU DO
NOT NEED 15 BIKINIS AND 30 OUTFITS'
but course me being me, I needed all of it!
What a mistake!
but.... as they say you live and you LEARN,
the moment we had to walk along Phi Phi beach
with 20kg on our back in 40 degree heat
(Which was 3 days in) was the moment I
wish I would have just listened.
See when your in Asia fashion
isn't a thing, you end up wearing
the same pair of shorts for 2 weeks
running, it's been 9 and half months
and I still have clothes I HAVE NOT
& WILL NOT wear! I would take less
that the next time I go, because carrying
that bloody thing + unpacking and packing
again is not what you want sister! TAKE IT
FROM ME!
THE BIGGEST QUESTION OF ALL.... COST!
So the question I am asked all the time...
How much did you save? How long
did it take you? How did you get all
that money? THE ANSWER
I made a decision, I worked my butt off,
& I made it happen!
From a girl that could never save
to a girl with 10k in her
bank in 8 months. If I can do it,
TRUST ME you can. Me and Stac
both were the girls in the group
that lived paycheck to paycheck,
we just loved spending money.
We loved a good time and saving
didn't matter to us. UNTIL we
decided we wanted to see the world.
From the day we booked the tour,
that was it. We both worked 2 jobs,
7 days a week and stopped spending.
THAT WAS IT GUYS. It might seem
impossible but I'M TELLING YOU (from 2 girls
that never knew how to save you can) All you
have to do is make it a priority.
YOU ARE WELCOME.
All that saving paid off we have had the
BEST 9 months ever. & if your
going to save money for anything
this is the thing to save it for!
MY FAV PART OF TRAVELLING.....
Apart from seeing all this AMAZING places
in the world.. It's the PEOPLE you meet.
It's the RELATIONSHIPS you create. The
BONDS & FRIENDSHIPS are like nothing else.
I have made some of my BEST BEST BEST
friends since travelling.
ADVICE..... SAVE & GO AND TRAVEL.
(cliche BUT..... I promise you it will be one
of the most UNREAL experiences, you will
learn so much and the memories you make
with the people you didn't know a year
ago CLASSSSSS)
So what made me up leave my job?
Leave my family? Leave my life in
England? Well apart from going to work
in the dark and getting home in the dark...
I have always wanted to go travelling, but
never had it in me to to just make the decision
I never believed that I could ever save that
much, that anyone else would come with
me.
Until we changed up our girls holiday
one year and decided to travel around
Thailand with Intro Travel. That changed
everything. That was a peak into
what travelling would be like, and I just
knew this is what I wanted. We went
as a tour group, the majority of the
people was only on the start of their
travelling.
I fell IN LOVE with Thailand
the culture, the freedom, meeting new
people, the lack of stress, I had no cares
no worries, wasn't obsessed with my
phone, I didn't care what people
thought of me, I felt free. I knew that
I wanted more of that. So as soon as I
got back to England, and was out of
that bubble I just did it. Me and stac
booked 2 tours with intro a flight
and started planning.
By far the best decision I have
EVER made.
HOW DID I PLAN IT?
I absolutely LOVED planning the
route for our travels. I was just so
excited just wanted to know everything
and get more excited about the places
we was going. As soon as the tours and
the flight was booked it was full steam
ahead. We booked the Vietnam and Cambodia
and Bali tour. We used that as our base.
So I printed a map, I had the tours and
then started researching places around it
in Asia. We decided to start in Thailand as we
had been there and knew it. I drew a line
From Thailand to Laos to Vietnam to Cambodia
to Bail to Philippines to Kuala Lumpur to
Singapore. (Btw everything changes so much
when you travel). Then we used the tours to
work out the dates and how long we would
spend in each place.
We never had an exact amount of time
we would be in Asia. This is IMPORTANT to
know in my opinion booking everything in
one go is the BIGGEST mistake.
If you decide to go travelling don't pre book
to much, if your booking tours thats fine, but
if not DON'T pre book flights, hotels internal
travel, too many events and excursions. As
explained above things change constantly.
Me and Stac booked one flight to Thailand
we booked our hotel when we got there &
our first hostel in Phi Phi apart from that,
we booked everything else as we went.
If you want to stay somewhere longer you
can, if you want to leave earlier you can.
Also the unknown is my fav part of travelling.
When planning what to do in each country
I stalked the sh*t out of people and
places in instagram. I would search a tagged
place for example Note Cafe Vietnam,
it would then come up with loads of people
mostly travelers that had been there.
So I would go through and see where
these people had traveled. This helped
me massively seeing where was the
best places to go. I created the below list.
After a few months of researching
the best places to go In the countries
we was travelling to we have a
SOLID plan. Feel free to have a look
at my insta as I tagged everywhere along the way.
WHERE I ACTUALLY WENT!
(Click on the places to see the best pic from each place)
- Thailand
- Laos
- Vietnam
- Cambodia
- Bali
- Sydney (Current Location)
& OF COURSE THERE WAS MISTAKES!
Typical Essex's girls we are we strolled through
Asiawith 20kg worth of clothes on our back
NO NO NO. I am so glad I have made the
mistake for you HA!Even though I
was told by plenty of people 'NO YOU DO
NOT NEED 15 BIKINIS AND 30 OUTFITS'
but course me being me, I needed all of it!
What a mistake!
but.... as they say you live and you LEARN,
the moment we had to walk along Phi Phi beach
with 20kg on our back in 40 degree heat
(Which was 3 days in) was the moment I
wish I would have just listened.
See when your in Asia fashion
isn't a thing, you end up wearing
the same pair of shorts for 2 weeks
running, it's been 9 and half months
and I still have clothes I HAVE NOT
& WILL NOT wear! I would take less
that the next time I go, because carrying
that bloody thing + unpacking and packing
again is not what you want sister! TAKE IT
FROM ME!
THE BIGGEST QUESTION OF ALL.... COST!
So the question I am asked all the time...
How much did you save? How long
did it take you? How did you get all
that money? THE ANSWER
I made a decision, I worked my butt off,
& I made it happen!
From a girl that could never save
to a girl with 10k in her
bank in 8 months. If I can do it,
TRUST ME you can. Me and Stac
both were the girls in the group
that lived paycheck to paycheck,
we just loved spending money.
We loved a good time and saving
didn't matter to us. UNTIL we
decided we wanted to see the world.
From the day we booked the tour,
that was it. We both worked 2 jobs,
7 days a week and stopped spending.
THAT WAS IT GUYS. It might seem
impossible but I'M TELLING YOU (from 2 girls
that never knew how to save you can) All you
have to do is make it a priority.
YOU ARE WELCOME.
All that saving paid off we have had the
BEST 9 months ever. & if your
going to save money for anything
this is the thing to save it for!
MY FAV PART OF TRAVELLING.....
Apart from seeing all this AMAZING places
in the world.. It's the PEOPLE you meet.
It's the RELATIONSHIPS you create. The
BONDS & FRIENDSHIPS are like nothing else.
I have made some of my BEST BEST BEST
friends since travelling.
ADVICE..... SAVE & GO AND TRAVEL.
(cliche BUT..... I promise you it will be one
of the most UNREAL experiences, you will
learn so much and the memories you make
with the people you didn't know a year
ago CLASSSSSS)
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