As a newbie backpacker the first question you have after making the decision to go backpacking is how am I going to plan this backpacking trip? There is no right or wrong way to plan a backpacking trip. Some people want to have things planned more than others and others don’t want to plan at all. For those of you who do want to do some planning, but are feeling a little overwhelmed and not sure where to start, here is my best advice. Speaking from my experience of planning my own first ever backpacking trip to South East Asia.

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Where to start?

When Alex & I first made the decision that we were going to go travelling we had quite a few things to consider, but ultimately there were 3 main things. The 3 main things were duration, location and budget. These do all interlink, but once you have these nailed down it gets a bit more straightforward. At the time, Alex & I both had full time jobs that we were planning on going back to, but if you’ve been following my job and unsuccessful sabbatical updates on my TikTok you’ll know that is not the case for me now…

Our duration was decided on the amount of time we could get sabbaticals for and our budget. In terms of location, we both said the places where we really wanted to go and ranked them to see which countries and continents we had in common. In the end, Alex had Vietnam on his list and I had Thailand on my list so we worked our route around these two countries. It just made sense to add in Laos & Cambodia to the route along the way as neighbouring countries. We were then able to decide our budget between us we decided to be £10,000 (£5k each) which we thought to do things a little more comfortably and less extreme budget backpacker would be enough for 3 months. Canada came a close second, however, we knew money wouldn’t stretch for as long over there, and we wanted to go away for a bit of a longer period of time.

There are various routes you can do around South East Asia that include far more countries than what I am heading to. In general, South East Asia is an area that is well travelled by backpackers so in general it is relatively easy to navigate. Areas like South and Central America are also popular backpacking routes, however most newbie backpackers head to South East Asia first as it is cheaper and arguably slightly easier to navigate. It would also be worth considering the seasons each country is going into at the time you plan on going as this may alter your route.

@emilyvictoriatravels

its been a while since i sat down and did some planning! Focusing on things to do and all the travel info for Laos 🇱🇦 #emilyvictoriatravels #southeastasia #backpacking

♬ Please Please Please x Super Trouper – ALTÉGO

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How to Research Your Backpacking Trip?

Once you know which countries you want to visit, I found there are 3 places best to get information from; TikTok, YouTube and Google (usually through travel blogs). My favourite place is TikTok, there is honestly so much information and hearing about people’s experiences is the best place to inform yourself about a country. I save all the videos I see with useful information and the collate. Personally, I found the best way of collating all of this information was on a spreadsheet. On my spreadsheet I included what was most important to me; things to do, places to eat and where to stay. However, if for example you wanted to go to gyms whilst you were travelling you could also have a column for gyms in the area. If you would like a head start you can access my planners, templates and everything you need to know about backpacking Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam here.

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What’s Next?

Alongside the actual route and places you may visit along the way, here are some of the next things to consider researching:

• Vaccines you may need
• Travel insurance
• Travel bank cards
• What to take backpacking

Enjoy your Travels!

Em x

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