By Teah Gillingham
Credit: Andrew Stutesmen
When I was nineteen, me and my twin sister embarked on a six-week trip to South East Asia; we went to Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and spent a night in Thailand.
We went there with our eyes closed and a little bit of money in the bank. Who needs to plan a trip?
All that research would have been a waste of time…. WRONG! We laugh about it now; I didn’t even Google any of the countries or even how they looked on a map.
I was very naive and thought it would be so easy to get around and know the best places to go.
If I could go back, I wouldn’t change how we went about our first ever experience of travelling. We thought we had to see every temple in every place we went to; we didn’t let ourselves have many chill days. We thought we always had to see the sights and soak in the culture.
Yes culture is great but days and nights on the beach drinking beer are also amazing. Which we did do a good few times.
Aside from the lack of planning and direction, it was a great trip. We experienced immense highs and lows which no one ever talked to us about.
When you’re travelling whether that be for three weeks, three months or a year. You are away from home, in a different country, completely different culture and time zone. It can be hard, so I was lucky to have gone away with my sister where we could be open and have someone to talk to.
However these are my top tips for travelling that I have learnt over the last five years since my first independent trip.
It works out to be just over £30 a day and like I said previously that was forking out for private rooms the first half of the trip.
We went there with our eyes closed and a little bit of money in the bank. Who needs to plan a trip?
All that research would have been a waste of time…. WRONG! We laugh about it now; I didn’t even Google any of the countries or even how they looked on a map.
I was very naive and thought it would be so easy to get around and know the best places to go.
If I could go back, I wouldn’t change how we went about our first ever experience of travelling. We thought we had to see every temple in every place we went to; we didn’t let ourselves have many chill days. We thought we always had to see the sights and soak in the culture.
Yes culture is great but days and nights on the beach drinking beer are also amazing. Which we did do a good few times.
Aside from the lack of planning and direction, it was a great trip. We experienced immense highs and lows which no one ever talked to us about.
When you’re travelling whether that be for three weeks, three months or a year. You are away from home, in a different country, completely different culture and time zone. It can be hard, so I was lucky to have gone away with my sister where we could be open and have someone to talk to.
However these are my top tips for travelling that I have learnt over the last five years since my first independent trip.
- Stay in shared dorms, it is a great way to meet people and is so cheap. I was too scared on my first trip and ended up spending so much money the first few weeks till I thought this is just like throwing money away.
- Research, research, research. But at the same time, just go with the flow. Plans change, you miss buses. It is not the end of the world.
- Always haggle on prices! It is so easy to get ripped off without you even realising it.
- You do not need to see every temple! Yes they are magnificent and hold great stories and culture but don’t let it take over your trip. You are there to see the sights but to also enjoy yourself.
- Drink local beer and eat local food. Nine times out of ten it tastes great and is even better for your wallet. If the locals are eating there then you know it is probably good food.
- Finally take it easy. If you want to lay on a beach every day then do that. Do what you want to and not what you think you should do. You are there to have fun after all!
It works out to be just over £30 a day and like I said previously that was forking out for private rooms the first half of the trip.
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