**I just want to preface this post by stating that I’m South East Asia’s biggest fan and I recommend it to anyone I meet. But I did do tons of research before my trip and nobody really talked about some of the not so amazing bits. Thus, I sacrificed myself as tribute. Live and learn baby**
1. GETTING RIPPED OFF
Again and again and in ways you never saw coming. Some classic scams are…
Taxis! (especially from the airport). You just landed, you are tired and confused and easily rip off-able. They tell you a price and you pay it. You later do the conversion and realize you just paid 50 dollars. Boo.
To avoid this next time look up beforehand on the magical internet how much it should be. You can also set the price before you get in orrrrr the best option would be to use the local ride sharing app. In a lot of Southeast Asian countries it’s Grab. Basically Uber but cheaper…like dirt cheaper. What makes Grab unique is that you can also book a motorbike. Just hop on the back with your bag and you’re ready to go! Also very reliable and great customer service when you leave stuff in the car like I always seem to do.
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Tours! A hostel will sell you a fun tour for way more than it’s worth. The pro to hostel tours is that you get to go with people from the hostel so it’s a good way to meet new friends. I often did this and accepted I was getting ripped off.
But if you want the cheapest option then you should walk down the street and find a tour being offered by a local company. They are always cheaper and 99% identical. You just might be going solo or with a random Turkish family. I once went solo and the tour guide and I just chatted the whole time. It was great and he still follows me on Instagram. Loyal follower, shout out Chi Chi!
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Corrupt Cops! They will set up checkpoints and ticket anyone riding a motorbike without an international license (I rode a bike almost everyday, as most people do, and nobody had an international license). They will also ticket for riding without a helmet, so make sure to wear one. Sometimes it’s cheaper to pay off the cop rather than pay the ticket. I’ve gotten out of a ticket by claiming I had no cash on me and that I would go to the station and use my card. Then you just drive away. Morals who?
I’ve even heard horror stories of cops planting weed on travelers and trying to make them cut a deal instead of getting arrested. Basically these cops want your money. They couldn’t care less if you are being a safe driver or abiding by the law. Try paying them off or eat the ticket. Worse things have happened. Don’t be like me and try to out drive the cop because it ended in a crash that landed me in the hospital. Story on that coming soon.
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Shopping! Buying clothes and souvenirs, the prices are always jacked up. But don’t fear because you can bargain! It’s actually expected and it’s fun as well. The back and forth banter and the final deal, it makes it an experience.
But if you buy something for the price as is, you 100% just got ripped off. Sometimes when you are bargaining and you do the conversion, you realize you are arguing over 2 dollars. Often times I just let myself get ripped off as the money is more valuable to them. And hey, what’s 2 dollars in the long run.
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Sometimes the scams sneak up on ya and you get a bit trapped. This happened to me in Vietnam when this nice lady selling bananas starting chatting me up and asking about my life. It was a lovely interaction at first so when she asked me if I wanted a photo of me holding the bananas I thought, sure why not!
2. PICKPOCKETS
Boy oh boy does stuff get stolen. You will hear about it a million times and then when you least expect it, it will happen to you. Over my time traveling I have had stolen from me:
3 iPhones (on three separate trips), prescription glasses, 2 wallets with debit cards/ ID/ and cash inside, silver rings, and shoes. Ouch.
So how can you prevent this and not be like me?
For women, wear a cross body purse or fanny pack that’s harder to get into than just a flap cover. If your phone is in your pocket, always have it be your front and never the back pocket. Make sure to always look behind you when you get up and leave a bus or bench.
But the harsh truth is I always did these things and more and yet… 3 phones gone. It just happens and it’s part of the price of traveling. You are especially vulnerable when intoxicated, so be extra careful on nights out. Also while riding motorbikes, there are locals who drive by next to you and take the phone you are using for maps out of the bike holder. They will also zoom past you and take the purse off your shoulder. So always ride with valuables inside the seat, never on your body!
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Try not to stress too much as there are some things you can do to cushion the blow if something is stolen.
Backup your phone to the cloud or Google Photos. For Apple users, have FindMyPhone turned on. Share your location with multiple people to try and track it. Put all your passwords into a Google Doc folder–trust me, resetting all your passwords because you forgot is infinitely more difficult when your account tries to verify your identity by texting the phone number that you no longer have access to.
I recommend bringing an old back-up phone just in case. Before my most recent backpacking trip I actually bought a used iPhone 6 just to have in case my phone got stolen and lo and behold… it was stolen. I was so thankful I didn’t have to go buy some overpriced phone from a weird off-brand technology store. I’ve had to do this too and I ended up buying the store owners personal cell phone because it was the only smartphone available. (He didn’t even wipe the phone, it still had pictures of his family on it lol).
Sometimes when you aren’t in a big city you don’t have a lot of choices. As a solo traveler having a smartphone is a necessity. It’s your maps, music, Netflix, flashlight, and calculator. It’s the way you find hostels and transportation. So bring a back up!! There is also some theft at hostels. It has never happened to me but I’ve heard many stories. Lock up your stuff in the lockers provided and know you have to bring your own padlock with you. You can also rent one but it costs money and doing that at every hostel isn’t very feasible.
3. CRAP WEATHER
Sadly humans haven’t mastered the art of controlling the weather…yet.
In SE Asia the weather varies greatly depending on what season you go in. It also depends where you are in the country, like the North and South of Vietnam are basically two completely different climates. So there will be days where you get rained in or days so hot you can’t even be in the sun. You gotta roll with the punches, don’t let it ruin the day. Find fun alternatives instead!
On a rainy day I love to go to the movies, it feels like a little slice of home. Another solid option is staying at the hostel, playing cards, and drinking some beers with new friends.
The best part of traveling for an extended period of time is that bad weather doesn’t matter because you have unlimited days. Is it pouring rain when you had a tour planned? No problem, I’ll just do it tomorrow. You will see people on a 2 week trip freak out about bad weather because that is one precious day gone that they can’t get back. So whenever possible, travel for as long as you can to avoid being dependent on the weather.
4. UNRELIABLE TRANSPORTATION
It’s always unreliable so in a way it’s reliably unreliable?
Bus says it leaves at 9am? Try 11am. Hostel says transportation will pick you up between 2-4pm? They come at 4:05pm. So next time you show up late and then they come at 1:50pm. Crap. There will also be times you buy an overnight sleeper bus ticket that says it will take 9 hours going from point A to point B. Instead it makes 8 unknown stops where locals get on and bring their personal lawn chairs to set up in the aisle ways and then you have to change buses 3 different times in the middle of the night. Oh and it took 12 hours. Classic.
I think I’ve gotten on a bus on time 3 times my entire time traveling. Wow I just said time 3 times…ok moving on. If you start to expect this unreliable transportation then it’s no longer bothersome. Expectations are everything.
There will also be times where the bus randomly stops and doesn’t tell you why. Is it a 30 minute lunch break or a 5 minute bathroom break? Learn to ask other people or even find the bus driver and ask them yourself. It’s rare they make an announcement to clue you in as most times the buses are filled with locals who know the drill.
Make sure to remember which bus you got off as well because the places they stop for food are often where 4985738 other buses are too and they all look similar. They will 100% leave without you on it so I got used to making at least one bus friend so they know if you aren’t there and can ask the driver to wait. I’ve been saved multiple times by these bus buddies!
5. SUNBURNS
Oh the sun, you devil you.
If you are a whittie like me you know the pain of a searing sunburn. They are worse when you travel because you are often doing something in the days when you are slowly healing. Sitting on a 15 hour bus ride with a sunburn down your back is truly the worst, most uncomfortable experience.
Don’t be like me, wear sunscreen. Then wear some more. The sun is stronger in Asia as it’s closer to the equator. So do the responsible thing and lather up baby.
6. FOOD POISONING
Ew gross we all hope it won’t happen to us and then it does.
Since going vegetarian I haven’t gotten it (perhaps it’s meat that’s the culprit).
The one time I did get food poisoning I was in Koh Phi Phi, Thailand and I ate chicken fried rice at a beach side restaurant. We then had to fly back to Bangkok and when I got on that flight my stomach was doing somersaults. In lieu of going into too much detail…it was the worst flight of my life. Soaked with sweat and clenching like there was no tomorrow.
The innocent looking fried rice that destroyed me
Ways to avoid this? Don’t eat weird looking meat. Don’t eat street food that isn’t prepared fresh. Don’t drink the tap water. Bottled only. Sorry environment 🙁
If you do get it, the BRAT diet will help you when you can finally stomach something again. Bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. Best of luck.
7. UNSANITARY EVERYTHING
Backpacking isn’t always as glamorous as Instagram makes it seem.
Sometimes it’s a hole in the floor for a toilet or suspicious looking sheets. Restaurants are not up to health code, hostels are not cleaned like a hotel is, and buses reuse the pillows and blankets they give you on long trips.
I am a bit OCD when it comes to cleanliness, I like it clean and when it’s gross it’s only okay if it’s my gross, not someone else’s. But I had to slowly swallow my standards and be okay with the current state of things: unsanitary and uncleaned.
To avoid this as much as possible I would choose hostels with great cleaning reviews. Pictures sometimes lie but reviews don’t. In general it’s not always avoidable so get used to the fact that things aren’t going to be squeaky clean.
9. POOPY PEOPLE
In general the locals are kind and the travelers are friendly and welcoming. But occasionally you get a shitty person. And they suck.
They bring down your mood and lose your faith in humanity a little. Try to get away as soon as possible, don’t hang around them. A negative nancy is all you need to ruin a perfectly good day.
The locals who so clearly see you as money bags, don’t let it bother you. They need money. You have money. Just try and walk away.
A lot of people selling stuff on the streets will call out to you or restaurants will yell at you to eat there. I like to put on headphones whenever I’m out strolling alone. People bother you way less when you don’t make eye contact and keep on walking. When you look, they get encouraged to keep trying with you. Sometimes they will walk with you and you have to be a bit forceful and tell them to go away. Sometimes that’s all they need to finally give up.
9. BUGS
Ya can’t live with them ya cant live without them…JK I could 1000% live without them.
I’m not a bug girl, I’ve always hated them and I always will. Mosquitos are everywhere and you will most definitely get attacked unless you are one of those people who just like never get bit omg idk why haha I must have the right blood type or something lololol. NO. f*ck u.
An unsolicited bug bite picGet some bug spray (although it doesn’t help) but it keeps your sanity in check.
There are also bed bugs but I have never personally encountered any. But I have seen people with the bites and it does not look fun. To avoid this make sure you choose a hostel with good cleaning reviews or bring a little sheet to put over your bed.
There are also bugs of other sorts that I’m too lazy to mention. You will discover them as you go 🙂
10. INJURIES
Yup, me always.
Somehow I’m always falling. Either because I tripped myself or crashed a motorbike. Everybody ends up getting something, but let’s hope it’s as menial as a scraped knee.
The first crash. I did you a favor by not posting the second one…
To best be prepared always carry a first aid kit in your pack. Iodine and antibiotic ointment are your best friends. Also get travel insurance in case anything big happens. I am an idiot and thought I was invincible so I didn’t get insurance. It was totally fine until I was in a motorbike accident and had to get stitches… then those stitches got infected. Ending up with a whopping bill of 3,500 USD. So do yourself a favor and get the dang insurance.
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