Travel & Holidays Travelling SE Asia for a year

I'm going to be travelling around Asia this year. Countries like Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand are probably going to be the first couple of starting point. I wanna find a city where I can see myself coming back to and staying long term. I will be entering visa free for 1-3 months and then hopping around. Any thoughts on how to approach this?

 

Good stuff. Perhaps base yourself in a major city like Bangkok and use that as your hub to explore other areas. There are cheap flights out of there all the time.

 

Are you backpacking, budget traveling or doing it in luxury?

I've done it (about 6 months) backpacking which is likely different to what you are planning.

 

I'd plan on traveling one way through SE Asia & find hubs along the way to stay for up to a month.

Vietnam to Cambodia to Thailand to Malaysia to Singapore can be done in one circuit overland with short stays in/out Laos along the way.

You're then onto Island hops to see Borneo ( Malaysian states & Brunei worth a visit) & back across to Indonesia.

I like staying in Guest Houses & central apartments to break up the more hectic hotel/resort style stops.

 

Guesthouses and airbnb. Look on couch surfing for meetups with locals, expats and other tourists if you want to meet people who aren't just backpacking.

 

If you work online, there is alot of people based in Changmai, very cheap

 

Yeah and Chiang Mai has 5G internet too - super fast

 

Apart from the cost relativity, what's the appeal of Chiang Mai over Bangkok?

 

Its a large country town basically. Rents prob less than half of something similar in Bangkok. Other prices cheaper generally too.

 

As @Terry_w said. Chiang Mai used to be the capital many years ago. It is so cheap to eat and live there.

 

Chiang Mai tends to be dusty and smokey from fires and pollution etc. But wasn't bad last time I was there.

They speak a different dialect to standard Bangkok Thai, but everyone can speak standard thai from schooling. it is very north too and much cooler than in Bangkok. The most crowded place I have ever been was this market in Chiangmai, it was more packed and crowded than a Japanese train.

 

Might use it as an Asian base when we retire.

 

Maybe I am biased, but please consider Malaysia.
A few reasons: AirAsia is based there, good English everywhere, cheaper than Singapore....
Consider staying a couple of months in one house. Maybe a bit of volunteering.

 

The visa situation is much better than Thailand too.

 

Oh yes, how can I forget. Aussies get a visa easy, and it’s free! It always baffles me why the Malaysian Government is happy to let the Aussies in for free, whilst Malaysians need to pay visa fees to get here. Kinda funny.

 

Sounds like a great idea. I'm saving up to do similar around Europe for my LSL year. A full year will probably be too expensive though, I'd be happy with 6-9 months.

 

I guess you'd learn to adapt; maybe that's the reason Malaysians like to go out late at night til midnight. Lots of supper places and night life. Especially when you live there for a longer term. I used to get phone calls from friends, calling me for supper and late-night drinks.
They also get up late in the morning. It used to annoy me when half the shops only open after 10am and the other half open after 11am!

 

Thailand is a great place to start.

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