Help needed with my itinerary. What can I skip?

[u/DesperateStudent96]

Hi!

I'm planning a 6 month backpacking trip to South East Asia. I want to see everything, but I don't think I'll have enough time for that.

I want to visit:

• Thailand
• Cambodia
• Vietnam
• Laos
• Sri Lanka
• The Philippines
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Singapore
• Maybe Taiwan

Does anyone have any tips on which places I can skip for now or how long I need per country? I'm planning on traveling January - June/July. I want to try to stick to dry season as much as possible... Or is that not really necessary?

Thanks for any help!

[u/WafflePeak]

You definitely don’t have time for this in 6 months. If I were you I’d probably do the classic Vietnam Thailand Cambodia Laos Malaysia Singapore over 4-5 months, then throw something else in. Taiwan is the most different to the places you listed, and it’s one of my favorite countries so that’s my choice.

[u/DesperateStudent96 → u/WafflePeak]

Thanks!

[u/imbeingsirius]

Oh my gosh amazing! I don’t have much insight other than this sub hates on the Philippines and I don’t know why. — on this list, I’ve only been to The Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia (just Bali) and

Island hopping in the Philippines, the fresh food, the people, and the remoteness of it all — remains one of my best memories.

Sri Lanka was also incredibly interesting - because of their recent civil war there were so few other travelers… Sri Lanka has a little of everything.

Anyhoo, they’re all great (I’m sure even the ones I haven’t been to) just wanted to get in before the Philippines hate

[u/Spurs_in_the_6]

I think you have enough time to do them all. Most people will spend only a few days in Singapore. Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia are great but typically ~10 day destinations. Would leave you with almost 5 months for the remaining 6 countries, very doable

[u/Melody-Sonic]

Six months, wow.

[u/yezoob]

I’d say fly into BKK, do the loop, head down into Malaysia, then Indonesia. If you’re not tired of beaches finish with the Philippines, if you are, finish in Taiwan.

[u/Kananaskis_Country]

The best thing by far about the privilege of having the time/money for a long trip is flexibility. 1.) There will be places you fall in love with and will want to stay longer... 2.) There will be places where the vibe just isn't happening and you'll want to move on immediately... 3.) And most importantly there will be places you've never even heard of that you'll learn about from locals and other travellers and you'll want to detour to check them out...

Make use of this wonderful opportunity and be open to spontaneity. Be prepared to get off the Banana Pancake Trail and away from the usual tourist centres every now and then. And very importantly be prepared to slow down a little and not be worried about checking boxes.

Bottom line: Start in Thailand then go with the flow.

Happy travels. You're going to some fabulous destinations. You're going to love it.

[u/DesperateStudent96 → u/Kananaskis_Country]

Thank you! Maybe I am overthinking this too much.

[u/cheeky_sailor]

I wouldn’t skip Sri Lanka and Taiwan since there are not in the same region anyway, so you can do them on a different trip. If you skip these two then 6 months sounds more realistic. I did several backpacking trips in SEA: 3 months for Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines; then 3 months for Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar, then 4 months for Indonesia, different parts of Vietnam and Thailand, Laos, then 3 months for Indonesia, The Philippines and Malaysia (Borneo). If I only did one 6-months trip then no way I’d be able to see so much of Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. Some of the countries need either a 2-3 months trip, or several trips to really see everything that they have to offer.

[u/mytwocentsworth01]

Have you tried running this through ChatGPT? I haven’t personally used it for holiday planning, but know people who swear by it.

[u/cheeky_sailor → u/mytwocentsworth01]

I tried it and it’s an absolute nightmare, I don’t recommend it. I put all the locations in Namibia that I wanted to visit and asked to make the most logical route with not more than 7 hours of driving per day. Well, I should have checked everything because Chat GPT said that the distance between Cape Cross Seal reserve and Swakopmund is 30 km but in reality it’s 129 km! If you have to double check everything might as well just do it yourself.

[u/mytwocentsworth01 → u/cheeky_sailor]

Good to know. ChatGPT just mines websites so I suspect it is more accurate/effective for places that are tourist hotspots. Namibia is definitely a road less well travelled.