The biggest thing to remember is this: you aren't moving to Mars. Or the middle of nowhere. You're going to where other people live. You will have all the things that you need. If you're stuck on some specific brand, you're gonna have to bring it. But I seriously recommend not getting tied to any stuff like that. Pretty much ANYTHING except the kinds of things that come from REI you can find in other countries for cheaper. I'm sure there are other things I'll think of, but there's nothing I would die without. For whatever activity you want to do, there will always be things for that activity around you, just maybe not exactly what you would look for in the US.
Medical
There's all sorts of advice online, from travel clinics and from other travelers. Even just talking to other backpackers, the medical recommendations have been incredibly varied. Here's what I did and what I recommend: Go to the dentist before you go. Get your hair cut and bring enough contact lenses that you can lose a couple pairs and not worry to much. Make sure you are up to date on all your vaccinations. Get your tetanus and typhoid shots. I also opted for my Japanese Encephalitis shots. The odds of it are so low, but it has serious consequences and really no symptoms. I got my rabies shots, because there are a lot of dogs and cats running around in pretty much every city or town I have been in. I've just been very careful about the ones that I approach and the degree to which I cuddle them. I didn't take malaria meds until jungle time in Laos/Ecuador and Myanmar. The rest of the countries I visited are all relatively malaria-free unless you are wandering into truly rural/jungley areas. Laos is low-risk according to the CDC, and its really a good idea to take them for Myanmar. You can get any of the malaria medications over here for SO much cheaper. I bought three months of doxycycline for about $25. If you have the time, do as much of your medical care that's not covered by the US insurance in Thailand (If you're going to SE Asia). I got the second of my Japanese Encephalitis shots are a hospital in Bangkok. In total, seeing a nurse, taking my vitals, seeing a doctor, and receiving the shot cost me $45. In the US, the shot alone would have cost me $100. The hospitals in Bangkok are clean, safe and have lots of English speaking staff. In addition, I can walk into almost any pharmacy and ask for pills ranging from antibiotics to constipation pills to birth control. I even hear that in some pharmacies one could get amphetamines if you described your symptoms properly.
Packing
Everyone always brings more than they need. Myself included. Leave room in your pack because you will buy things. And a lighter pack is easier to lug around anyways. I brought tons of sunscreen because blogs told me that it was hard to find and expensive. Meh. I've seen it everywhere that it's sunny and warm. But lucky for me..... I have two big tubes of it I have been lugging around for months. Things that I have been happy I have (but I have found in stores here, just not every little mart): antiperspirant deodorant, contact solution, DEET bug-spray, tampons. You'll only find crappy brands of soap and shampoo here cheaply so if you have allergies or sensitivities, be mindful.
On my travels I have purchased a couple tank tops and a couple pairs of pants. The pants were acquired as I moved up to colder weather. For my hiking and stuff like that, I have been SO glad that I had my wool socks, wool long sleeve shirt, hiking pants and synthetic blend t-shirt. They don't get smelly and keep me warm SO MUCH more than cotton. Not end of the world if I hadn't had, just really nice that I've had them. I have a good pair of shoes for hiking, a pair of slip-on Toms that I wear for walking, and flip flops for showering and wearing around hotels. If you're in SE Asia, bring shoes that you can slip on and off really easily. So many places ask you to take your shoes off at the door. This even includes some restaurants and small marts. Laced shoes can be a pain in the arse. Funnily enough, while you are in S America, people wear shoes constantly. In Chile, they seem to think you'll catch a cold going barefoot inside. I was scolded by my host aunt multiple times.
As far as technology goes, I've been using my iPhone and my Acer Chrombook. The Chromebook backs all my photos up online so I have peace of mind about them. The Chromebook is definitely slowing down because I've take so many pictures. It's good piece of mind to know my photos are backed up to the cloud, but it runs slower than molasses on a crappy internet connection (aka several countries I've been in). I do a lot of my reading, hostel booking, and food pics on my phone. I've been reading books on my kindle. A kindle with a backlight would be nice. I don't have that kind.
Find a way to back up your photos. I use Google Drive because the free space came with my Chromebook. Only downside is that I have to find reasonable internet speeds for the photos to save. Travel insurance can replace a stolen camera, but not the photos on the card inside.
Budget
My budget is $40 a day in SE Asia, $50 a day in S America. I don't beat myself up if I have expensive days. It was very difficult to stay on budget in Chile. Some things are just going to cost more. But I balance those out with days where I do nothing. Or I do only free stuff and eat cheap street food. Every couple weeks, I look at my debit card statement with all my ATM withdrawals and make sure that I'm not going crazy with the spending. If I'm way under budget, that doesn't mean I get to live like a queen for the next few days, and if I'm over budget, I don't beat myself up. It's also been super easy to keep track of because aside from the odd hostel booking, I have been using cash for everything. If I could go back, I would have gotten a card that reimburses you for international ATM fees. I can pay anything from $1-5 for a withdrawal. In Vietnam you can't take out more than about $100 at a time. So many fees.
I generally pay between $5-$10 for lodging and $2-$8 for food depending on what I'm drinking and how fancy (western) I'm eating. You have to buy or boil water, so that ends up costing a couple dollars a day as well. I have found on a whole, S America is slightly more expensive than SE Asia. Obviously, prices go up in more conventionally touristy locations.
Information and Research
There's SO much information available online. Blogs, books, articles, reviews, TripAdvisor. Ahhhhhhhhh. Here's what I have been using: Lonely Planet's Shoestring Guide to SE Asia/S America. I use this for a general overview of the country I'm going to and transportation logistics. I generally pick out some cities or activities to research. WikiTravel can be downloaded as an app on your phone and read offline. I've killed lots of time on buses perusing WikiTravel. They also have reasonable reliable phrase-books for the languages of all the countries I've been to. TravelFish is the most reliable website in terms of advice that seems to be much more spot on. Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor have good info, but the reviews always have to be taken with a grain of salt ,and it seems like the audience always has fancier expectations than I do. Always take reviews with a grain of salt for this reason. Clean is an incredibly relative word. Read reviews for a hostel you're staying at and sometimes its hard to believe all the people stayed in the same place.
If there's something else that I really want to know more info about, blogs are great. You can really get a sense of a person's travel style and if it matches up with yours.
Agoda.com (SE Asia) and hostelworld.com are what I use to book hostels. It's really nice to book a hostel and know you have a bed waiting for you, especially if you are showing up later in the evening.
Common Mistakes
You will make dumb mistakes. And keep making them long after you should be a 'good traveler.' Just try to keep a good eye on your passport and debit card. Anything else you can replace.The one that keeps happening to me is that I arrive at the bus station and have no idea where I am in relation to my hotel. I'm essentially at the mercy of the taxi drivers. Bus stations don't have maps. The drivers won't speak enough English to explain to you where you are. Depending on the company you took the bus with, there may be multiple bus stations. Especially in Vietnam, the taxi-drivers are super eager to pile you into a taxi and try to charge you a ridiculous flat rate. Or drive you around while they run up their ridiculously fast-moving meter. Its never good when they take three rights and you realized they took you in a nice little square to get $10 from you. Awesome. Sometimes they will also try to tell you that your hostel is full. This is so they can take you to some other hotel that they have a deal with. Don't fall for that. If the hostel you do go to is full, they (or their wifi) can help you find another place to go without this oh-so-helpful taxi driver taking you around.
If you unlock your phone before you go, this can be pretty helpful. It means you know where you are at all times because you can get a SIM card and data. My phone only works if I have wifi to download the maps. If you safe locations offline, you can still view your location on the map, but this generally only works in smaller areas, not when you bus from one city to another.
Tours
The only good thing (in my opinion) about doing tours is the people you meet. I mean, aside from that, tours are the only way to access some of the things that you want to see. I've been on some super crappy tours and some super awesome ones. The super crappy ones (of course this is all subjective) are the ones that put you on a bus for a bunch of time, treat you like a sixth-grade field trip, and don't have any sort of authenticity or flexibility. The best tours I have had have been ones that I think many other tourists would be annoyed by. I would rather pay $15 or so to wander around in a national park with a guide to make sure I head in the general right direction. I don't really trust my own horrible sense of direction to get me through an entire day or two of wandering in a jungle. Please, point out random info about the birds or plants that we see on the hike. You're going to feed me lunch? Maybe even tell me some things about your own life or your family? That's not necessary, but I dig it. Don't parade me from place to place, stop me from asking questions or make creepy jokes.
Just be aware when you go into a tour, that you may get a really awesome day really digging into whatever it is, or you may get a day of watered down information in a flock of tourists that want things to be predictable and comfortable. Some online research and asking questions as you book the tour can help with this, but sometimes its the luck of the draw.
Health
Getting sick happens. Sit a bunch of travelers down and the conversation will eventually get to who was sick where and what it was from. It's not a contest, but its more camaraderie in that we have all been there. We've all had to deal with some bus trip motion sickness or had food poisoning knock us on our butts.I read all sorts of advice about not eating ice. Or not eating raw vegetables. Or brushing your teeth with bottles water. Ah hell no I'm not paying for the water I brush my teeth with. The avoiding fresh veggies and ice paranoia went out the window maybe two weeks into Thailand. Instead, I try to eat at places that are busy. If they're busy, the meat isn't sitting around. The turnover rate is high enough that no evil germs have time to grow. In addition, I try to eat a decent amount of yogurt or take a probiotic. This is especially helpful if you find yourself on some sort of antibiotic that's killing a lot of the bacteria in your gut.
It's been incredibly hard for me to keep any sort of exercise regimen going because my schedule is so different day to day. I'm learning that I really need to establish some sort of routine if I want to stick to a plan. I do a lot of walking and a little bit of yoga (I need to be doing a lot more). Doing things like drinking beers with fellow travelers just seems a whole lot more exciting than going to sleep early so I can wake up to do some yoga.
I have also found that after several days of intense sightseeing or just any type of busy in general, I start to feel like I need some me-time. Me-time usually comes in the form of literally doing nothing or putzing around on the internet catching up with the things I should be doing, like budgeting or reading about my next destination or writing a blog post. This post is coming to you on one of these do-nothing days at the beginning of a coconut water fast. I'll let you know how that goes later.
Really, what I'm saying is that after you've been traveling for a bit, be aware of how you feel mentally as well as physically so that you don't burn out or make yourself miserable.
Oh and get travel insurance. If you get really sick, you'll be glad you did. Most US carriers don't cover anything internationally unless you're near death. Mine is through World Nomads and is incredibly inclusive.
On another note, learn what a bedbug looks like. And its larva/eggs. Check your mattresses!!! Ideally before you pay. And try to avoid leaving a whole bunch of clothes on your bed all night. If you hate mosquito bites, you will hate these ones even more.
Safety
I feel safer in Asia than some cities in the US. Use common sense though. Watch your valuables. Lock them up. Don't walk along dark roads at night drunk. There is not a lot of violent crime in Asia, and I have only heard of camera/cash theft so far in my travels.
If you are traveling to a country with political unrest or instability, register your trip with your government. The US has a STEP program exactly for this. Generally, I don't care if the US knows where I am, but if any ish should go down, I would like them to look for me.
Safety has been a bit more of a concern in S America. The main types of crime are robberies. Pickpocketing, taxi robberies, or robberies just after withdrawing from an ATM. My guidelines: make sure taxis have numbers/ID cards for the driver, withdraw money during daylight from ATMs in public places, ask hostels where the best roads are to walk at night, don't carry things you care about if you're going out at night.
Traveling Alone
When I was back in the US, I was the only one leaving to travel, and it felt like such a solo journey. As soon as I got to SE Asia, it became apparent that I am not alone at all. There are all sorts of people bopping from country to country. Some are in search of crazy drinking stories, some are looking for epic photos, some are looking for ridiculous adventures. Some are only traveling for three weeks, and some have been traveling for years. It's fun trying to figure out how you fit into the mix. People are always thrilled to join forces for an adventure if the timing works out.
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| New England, Washington, Colorado. All at the same retreat in Cambodia. |
One of the things that I love about travelers is that no one thinks you're weird if you decide to go off on your own. Not feeling the plan that's being made by the group? People are totally ok with meeting up later for dinner. Or even meeting up again in a different town. No one thinks twice about it if you have your own stuff you want to do.
A pattern that is starting to emerge in my travels is that I have been switching between the central touristy areas where its great to meet other backpackers (but isn't all that authentic) and heading out into an area that is less touristy. This has been in to form of volunteering, hiking, or just heading off the tourist track to a smaller town. It's been really great to mix the two and meet people from a variety of countries.Something that was just posed to me and I really think is very important: by pushing the boundaries and trying to get away from "all the tourists that ruin the experience," you yourself are the one expanding the sphere of westernization by bringing tourists to previously untouched(ish) places. While this isn't necessarily bad, its just really important to realize that all your actions as a tourist and all the things that you choose to support with your money may have unseen ripples you didn't think about.
It is also important to be REALLY SURE something got stolen before you start implying where it went missing. You could be inadvertently costing someone their job at a guesthouse or restaurant. If it was stolen, to claim it for insurance, you NEED a police report to file the claim. For anything related to insurance, get documentation. All of the documentation.
For people who made it this far through this post and are traveling anytime soon: Remember, you didn't travel to a foreign country to do everything exactly the same!!!! Busses will be late. Things won't make sense. People will do things in an incredibly inefficient order. Accept the things you can't change and roll with the punches. Time works differently here. Take a deep breath and marvel at the way things happen in the various countries you're so lucky to get to spend time in.
Fellow travelers, I'd love to hear your thoughts/feels/mistakes/advice. We talk about all of this so much, I think this is something I want to try to get in writing. :)