Seizing the day

It's one of the first things you Google when planning a big trip: "How much money do I need?" I can only tell you from my recent experience of how much my partner and I spent on accommodation, food, drink (mainly coffee and beer), and transport in Southeast Asia. How much you'll need really depends on a number of things: how long you want to stay in places how many places you want to travel to how you get around, for example cheap buses vs planes if you like drinking lots of beer and coffee day trips and excursions. Rule one: don't take life too seriously - it's only money Our itinerary  Over the 3 and half months we went to: Thailand - 1 month Laos - 1 week Vietnam - 1 month Thai islands - 3 weeks Malaysia - 2 weeks Singapore - 4 days In total we spent just over £5,000. Now let's break down the costs. Accommodation  Overall we spent : £1,665 Thailand : £532 - average £22 per night (one of these nights includes a st...

We didn't have many expectations for Luang Prabang, but when we left we were gutted we didn't spend more time there. This post includes: How to get to Luang Prabang What the atmosphere was like Kuang Si Falls The Alms Giving Ceremony  Coffee tasting The Utopia bar How much we spent The beautiful Mekong River at sunset Atmosphere Classed as a world heritage site in 1995, Lurang Prabang is the ancient capital of Laos. The town is full of charm and quaintness with its beautiful French-indochinese architecture with hints of modern influences. It feels like it's a place that doesn't know what to do with all the attention it gets, but doesn't care at the same time. Comparing it to other places we’ve been so far, I’d say it’s got the chill vibes of Pai mixed with a bit of Chiang Mai, but not as busy. To get around town I'd highly recommend hiring a bicycle. It's not too busy on the roads, unlike it's neighbouring countries Thailand and Vie...

Loads of our friends told us that we must go to Pai, so we did - and it turned out to be the most relaxing time we've had since starting our journey. A colourful welcome to Pai This post includes: how we got to Pai from Chiang Mai where we stayed what the atmosphere was like where we ate and drank things to do and see how much we spent overall impressions Getting there From Chiang Mai we took a mini bus that we booked via our hotel. It seemed liked the most convenient option because they pick you up directly from where you’re staying so you don't have to faff about in the heat carrying your bags. This cost us 403 baht (£9.48) for 2 people. Mini buses seem to be the most popular option to get to Pai as it's not on the train route. You can fly as well, but I think the planes are those flimsy little ones, which scare me. The mini bus takes about 2 hours and travels up the winding roads though the mountains where Pai sits on the other side. If you...

Like a kid at Christmas, I didn't sleep the night before I went to the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai. I was so excited and also a little apprehensive, because like any sane person I physically detest animal cruelty. This post covers: why it's important to do your research first what we did at the Elephant Nature Park how we got there from our hostel overall impressions One for the family album Do your research You'll be bombarded with elephant trips when you travel to Thailand or Laos. With most offering packages that include riding and bathing the elephants. Despite elephants being pretty big animals, it really hurts their back to have some silly ass human(s) on them - so don't add to the problem. Later in our travels, we were in Luang Prabang in Laos where every elephant package advertised riding them. Having spoke to a few travellers on the way, most seem to be against it - so I think slowly people are starting to realise that it's wrong...

After a short 2 hour train from Lampang, we arrived in the famous Chiang Mai. This post covers: how we got to Chiang Mai from Lampang where we stayed good places to eat and have coffee how much we spent overall impressions Anyone who has ever been to Thailand says you must go to Chiang Mai, it's the best. Now we could see for ourselves what all the fuss is about. Street art in Chiang Mai Getting there We took the local train from Lampang to Chiang Mai (23 baht for 3rd class seats). We were a bit dubious about it as we were picturing standing up all the way with chickens around our feet. Much to our happiness, it was fine. It was just like your standard train really, with comfortable enough seats and windows. Bit like the London Overground without the grumpy arseholes Atmosphere and getting around With a lot less hustle and bustle then Bangkok, Chiang Mai is a travellers haven. You can do allsorts here, from visiting elephants, Thai cooking classes to...

Travelling can be rather stressful at times: booking hostels, haggling with taxis drivers and getting extra charges on your card for silly admin fees. If like us you've saved all your hard earned cash on the trip of a lifetime and you want to it to go as far as possible, then hopefully some of these tips might help. 1) Transport Grab - Taxi app Grab is a Taxi app much like Uber that operates all over Southeast Asia in most of the cities. TIP : you should never take a driver who's got a low rating - always take the higher rated ones to be on the safe side. You don't have to connect any credit or debit card to Grab, just simply download it and book your trip. When you enter your destination from A to B it will give you a fixed price there and then. This saves you haggling a taxi on the street - who by the way, often charge you double and never have their metre on! Also, look out for promo codes in hostels you're staying in or near you. We found one and g...