Travelling

[SimpleJoee]

First and foremost, I'm posting in this section because General chat is full of button bashers, and people causing arguments over what flavour squash is nicer (it's lemon btw). This section may also have some members that have visited such destinations, and have some pictures.

Me and my Girlfriend are starting to plan our Travelling 'experience' I suppose you would call it. We've decided on the South East Asia Route (I believe it is), seeing Thailand and the likes. The aim is the head out in either 2018/2019, which gives us plenty of time to save, and more importantly plenty of time for me to gather the essential camera/recording equipment. Before I waffle on too much, I'd love to speak with someone if possible that has done such a trip, even better the trip we're planning. I'm pushing myself right out of my comfort zone, as I cannot stand flying, I went away for the first time in over 10 years this year, and I'm a little bit of a home bird.

We're trying to plan places to visit around that area, but as you may or not be able to tell, I've yet to broaden my horizon. I've not a clue what country's/cities are out that way, that have many things to offer. We're not the type to bagpack for days and days on end sleeping in the roughest of places, but we both thoroughly love getting out and exploring nature and seeing new places. The problem is, we're both stuck where to start searching for ideas, and how to actually go ahead and plan at least some sort of route.

On a side note, what would people's choice of Lenses and equipment be in such places? Nothing is too off the limits, but I do want to sort of budget the equipment, as I imagine the holiday itself is going to cost in excess of £4000 each (Forgot to mention we're planning 3 months).

Tips, guidance, how to's, advice and any general information would be awesome.

*Edit*
I've read this back, and my god I waffle on a lot.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Right,
I've not travelled where you are going but I've taken enough camera gear on various holidays to know what to take with me now. I'd keep it fairly small and light ish.

What kit do you have already?

I'd take a decent zoom (24-105) and a prime (50mm 1.8,nice and light) . Maybe take a GoPro or similar and a small travel tripod.

 

[v15ben]

I've travelled a lot in that area in recent years and various others as well. The most recent time, we had our DSLR and all our kit with us. What do you want to know?

 

[SimpleJoee]

Right,
I've not travelled where you are going but I've taken enough camera gear on various holidays to know what to take with me now. I'd keep it fairly small and light ish.

What kit do you have already?

I'd take a decent zoom (24-105) and a prime (50mm 1.8,nice and light) . Maybe take a GoPro or similar and a small travel tripod.

Kit lens, and 50mm 1.8, so there's one ticked off the list.

I'll be purchasing a Canon 10-18mm lens hopefully in the Sales at the end of the year, and also a Tamron 70-300 F4-5.6 off my Girlfriend for Christmas.
A 24-105 is, and has been on my list for some time, but it's a pretty expensive lens considering my 750D cost me around £600 new.

I've also checked out the prices of Go Pro's lately, and they have plummeted a fair bit since I last looked, with the newer versions coming out it's made it a certainty to go for a 3 or the likes.

 

[SimpleJoee]

I've travelled a lot in that area in recent years and various others as well. The most recent time, we had our DSLR and all our kit with us. What do you want to know?

It's a bit of a vague question, but both me and my Girlfriend are complete noobs to this. We're not exactly sure how to plan the trip out, and so far we've maybe got a couple of places to visit. Just general insight from people like yourself who has been. What sort of places did you visit, a rough cost per time period, any regrets etc.

 

[Stay Puft]

My girlfriend and I are planning to go after we finish uni, so May 2017 for 10 weeks. We want to do Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos.

We are budgeting 2k each, not including return flights, £400ish.

 

[SimpleJoee]

My girlfriend and I are planning to go after we finish uni, so May 2017 for 10 weeks. We want to do Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos.

We are budgeting 2k each, not including return flights, £400ish.

I've literally just been looking at all of the above bar Thailand mate!
The problem we have is that we've no idea how much anything is going to cost, whether that be hotels, travelling back and forth to destinations etc. I also want to make the most of it and do as much as physically and financially possible.

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

I'd consider a cheaper gopro alternative tbh, if it gets knackered it won't be as bad of a loss.
There's a thread on here with various alternatives.


Look at the sigma 10-20 to rival the canon 10-18 and the canon 55-250 against the Tamron. There's also a Canon 18-200 iirc it's heavy, but also a decent focal range.

 

[Stay Puft]

I've literally just been looking at all of the above bar Thailand mate!
The problem we have is that we've no idea how much anything is going to cost, whether that be hotels, travelling back and forth to destinations etc. I also want to make the most of it and do as much as physically and financially possible.

There's so much info online mate, although a lot is a bit outdated. You can get hostels for a couple of quid, and a half decent hotel for £20, which is only £10each between you and your mrs which is a bonus. The general attitude online is that 'doing as much as possible' is wrong and you'll end up not enjoying it and actually missing a lot because you're rushing so much.

 

[Stay Puft]

Here is a decent reply from when I asked a similar question:

Ive just got back from 2 weeks in Sri Lanka as it happens.
Have done 2-3 weeks each time in Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, Lombok (Gili Meno) & Singapore over the past 5 years.
We take a rucksack, but dont stay in hostels, using Booking.com/Agoda, you can get some epic lodgings for not that much money.
Our budget is usually £1 for flights, £1k for accommodation/spending money for 2 weeks - thats each BTW :up:

Haha, not baller at all, but not student no.
First time we went (Singapore, Krabi, Phi Phi, Chiang Mai, Bangkok) we did 3 weeks for £600 each excluding flights, still staying in hotels/beach huts etc. So £2k each for 10-12 weeks would be easily doable.

 

[Tim.]

I did a similar thing albeit 12+ years ago, and went for a year.

My advice - sort the big flights in and out and everything else can be done there, either on sleeper trains, overnight buses or small domestic/international flights.

Also, don't make too many plans, just have some rough ideas and work the rest out, otherwise you run the risk of missing out on something if you're obliged to stick to a rigid plan.

One route plan option...

Bangkok - Chiangmai - Luang Prabang - Vang Vieng - Vientiane - Hanoi down through Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh City - Cambodia - Bangkok - Koh Samui / Phan Ngan / Tao - Bangkok - Home

 

[v15ben]

Agree with others that you shouldn't make too many specific plans in advance. Being flexible is part of the beauty of travelling like this. I would say though get a list of your must see places and must do activities to make sure you don't miss out on those.

I'd book the main flights from the UK. Probably to Bangkok as that's central to everywhere and with Air Asia, it's easy to fly anywhere in SE Asia from Bangkok.

I'd spend my first night in Bangkok, then go on from there.

Cost wise it's not mega expensive but local flights and accommodation can add up depending on what level you want. I'd get a Halifax Clarity credit card for free overseas withdrawals/payments and use that to pay for everything.

There are several people who've travelled that area on here. I've probably spent 6 months of my life out there! Just ask away.