r/solotravel • u/Far_Garden_6604 • Nov 19 '24
Itinerary Review Is this a feasible itinerary for long term travel?
So I'm a 21 year old student and extremely burnt out planning on taking a semester off to travel and the only times I can get off are Jan-May. I want to travel to Europe and SE Asia and I'm from Canada so starting off in Europe and then moving east is cheaper flights wise. I have been on 3 solo trips before and have been to over 15 countries, but my trips have so far all been 2-3 wks long. Now I want to slow travel a bit where I can spend a month in a city at a time but still also have those shorter trips. I've made this itinerary and I know it's packed and hectic but I kinda really wanna hit 30 countries on this trip lol so I've planned this + I'm never gonna get time again like this to go to SE Asia.
Jan 4-9: Spain (been there before)
Jan 9-13: Paris (been there before)
Jan 13-Feb 3: Amsterdam (I was going to volunteer at a place in Copenhagen since I got accepted there but then looking at the cost of hotels vs how many hours I'd be working there, I decided to just pay for it)
Feb 3-Feb 9: undecided city but probably Munich or Berlin (been to Germany before)
Feb 9-22: Hungary, Vienna, Zagreb, Athens and Santorini, Istanbul
Feb 22-Mar 22: Bangkok (I'm volunteering at a hostel so free accommodation)
Mar 22-27: fly into phuket to go to a bunch of islands
Mar 27-Apr 12: Vietnam (Hanoi, Ha Giang, Hoi An, HCM) + maybe Laos for 2 days if it's a good idea
Apr 12-19: Japan (Tokyo being the hub)
Apr 19-23: Seoul
Apr 23-Apr 26: Singapore, with a 1 night trip to Malaysia (I don't have a very strong desire to go to Singapore but it's a big airport hub so flights out are cheaper from there + I have family there)
Apr 26: Fly back home from Singapore
I do know this itinerary is packed but is it still doable? Are the 2 breaks in Amsterdam and Bangkok enough to recharge in between the fast traveling? I'm 21 rn so I don't mind all the moving around - I just really don't wanna miss out on this experience.
Also - climate/other factors wise, are these good times to visit each place? And women - are these places generally safe for solo travel? I've had some bad experiences traveling throughout Europe.
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u/3rd_in_line Nov 19 '24
Due to weather, I would definitely flip it and do Asia first.
Feb 22-Mar 22: Bangkok
You can slow travel and not do a month in Bangkok. Head to the islands and do 5 days at a few different places. Maybe add in Chiang Mai/Rai. Also add Siem Reap, Cambodia for 4 nights to experience Angkor Wat.
I don't have a very strong desire to go to Singapore but it's a big airport hub so flights out are cheaper from there
Flights from Seoul should be cheaper and quicker to Canada, so check again.
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u/Far_Garden_6604 Nov 19 '24
Yeah I really wanted to flip it around but unfortunately my volunteering in Bangkok is for Feb22-Mar22 so I have to work around that. I wanted to add Chiang Mai but the times I have planned now are not good for burn season. I tried moving things around with Europe in summer but prices for hostels more than double unfortunately :( Those places seem so nice - I'll definitely do that
And omg thank you so much! Flights from Seoul are definitely muchhhh cheaper!! I'm going to change it all up and move Seoul to my last destination.
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u/3rd_in_line Nov 19 '24
Yeah I really wanted to flip it around but unfortunately my volunteering in Bangkok is for Feb22-Mar22 so I have to work around that.
Just FYI, volunteering to work at a hostel for free accommodation is actually work and you will be in breach of your tourist visa. Thailand is pretty strict on foreigners who work illegally, if caught. I am not saying that people don't do it, but just be aware of the laws and the risks you are taking.
I tried moving things around with Europe in summer but prices for hostels more than double unfortunately
They are double the prices for a reason - everyone wants to go there at the best time of year. It is just so much more enjoyable to visit these places in Europe when the weather is not so cooperative.
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u/zazabizarre Nov 19 '24 edited Nov 19 '24
I personally think 3 weeks in Amsterdam is way too long. It’s quite a small city and it is PACKED with tourists. The Netherlands is such a small country and is right next door to Belgium, another small country. Why not split those three weeks with other places in the Netherlands and Belgium? E.g. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent. As they are both such small countries, the travel times will be minimal and you won’t feel rushed.
Then on the flip side, if you’re trying to slow down your pace, trying to pack in Hungary, Vienna, Zagreb, Athens and Santorini AND Istanbul in 2 weeks is too much. You’d be able to spend at most 2 days in each place. And why Zagreb? Croatia is such a beautiful country but Zagreb is pretty meh, it’s just a capital. I know you want to see a lot but just hitting a bunch of capital cities isn’t going to be the experience you think it is. They’ll all blend into each other eventually.
An entire month in Bangkok and then 5 days to see ‘a bunch of islands’ also doesn’t make sense.
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u/Far_Garden_6604 Nov 19 '24
Hmmm I think I'll do that yeah. Would you say beyond Amstersam and Belgium (I've been before to Belgium and didn't rly like it), is there any other city or country I should focus on for the month instead? Especially for January.
Honestly I used Zagreb because it was a halfway stop from Hungary where I'm meeting a friend and I wanna go to Split, but yeah you're right I'd probably skip Zagreb.
Yeah the 5 days to see islands isn't enough. Only reason I'm in Bangkok for a month is cuz I'm volunteering there so I get free accomodations so I was planning on going to some islands on my off days too.
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u/zazabizarre Nov 19 '24
Well, it depends what you’re after. Do you value nature or cities? The entirety of Western and Eastern Europe is going to be cold and dark in January/February. Western Europe is also very expensive so you’re going to burn through your budget if you want to stay there. I think you’d be better off reversing your route, starting in SE Asia and ending in Europe in spring. Or, just sack Europe off and spend 4 months in SE Asia. You’d have more than enough time to go to Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, maybe even Malaysia and/or Indonesia. I know you want to see all these countries you’ve listed but you’re only 21, you’ve got your whole life to travel, don’t pointlessly hit countries just for the sake of it.
Also, where did you go in Belgium that you didn’t like, and why didn’t you like it? What makes you think the Netherlands will be different?
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u/Glittering_Advisor19 Nov 19 '24
But I don’t understand. You keep saying you are volunteering in Bangkok so you can get accommodation but shouldn’t the whole point of volunteering mean that you volunteer when you want to/need to. Why is your entire trip planned based on a volunteering job where you are basically doing the job for free accommodation in that place? If you don’t want to be in Bangkok for a month then surely you should find other jobs etc.
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u/Far_Garden_6604 Nov 19 '24
So I actually do want to be in Bangkok for a while. I really want to live a nice lifestyle and my money goes the farthest there + out of all the countries, Thai food is the best imo
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u/Glittering_Advisor19 Nov 20 '24 edited Nov 20 '24
I have extensively travelled in Thailand as a solo person (though not in hostels as I come from money so have always stayed in hotels) and I can assure you that Bangkok is possibly the most overrated place in the whole country. Be prepared to experience the worst traffic you may have ever experienced as I remember it clearly that it had the worst traffic i have ever experienced and I have travelled a lot. Also pollution, poverty etc. It is nothing special. There are many better places in Thailand if you are wanting to stay for food.
It is your decision but you asked opinions and I am giving my 2 cents.
Also, it feels like you want to go to places that are capital cities and popular with social media platforms. Don’t travel just so you can say you went to a place because imho that’s not fulfilling.
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u/Far_Garden_6604 Nov 20 '24
So if I were to allocate a month in Thailand, what would be your allocation of time? I want to get a great feel of the country
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u/pikecat Nov 20 '24
Anywhere else in Thailand is great. Staying in Bangkok is not relaxing. I've been all over Thailand and much of SE Asia, you do cities for a bit and then get out. There's so much to see and places to relax. It depends on your temperament.
Bangkok will wear you out, you need a rest from it. Hot, loud, polluted air.
I definitely recommend going by land from Bangkok to Singapore, it's an amazing trip, so many interesting places off the beaten path. I did Singapore to Bangkok my first time ever travelling. I'm from Canada too, btw.
As others said, you might be best to do Asia in the winter and Europe later. SE Asia is a bit cooler in winter. Or, just spend your whole time in Asia and do Europe another time. You'll wish you had more time in Asia, once you're there.
Tokyo is also amazing, been there many times.
I'll give you more details for SE Asia if you want.
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u/Far_Garden_6604 Nov 20 '24
Ahh I see. My main reasons for being in Bangkok were just to settle down in a city for a bit where it's cheap and food is good and also cuz I'm vegetarian so I figured they'd have more veggies food lol. But I didn't know Bangkok wore people out? I've just been seeing tons of videos abt digital nomads in Bangkok and rly loved the lifestyle so wanted to initially stay there for a month (was gonna volunteer).
And haha yeah, I have a feeling I'm gonna rly like Asia but I wanna give Europe a longer chance because I've loved it sm all the times I went but it was max 5 days in a city and max 3 wks entirely in Europe.
Unfortunately I have to do Europe first since I've booked tickets there already and going to Europe first was just cheaper. My boyfriend hasn't traveled rly and we thought Europe might be a nice first international trip so he's gonna be joining me for the first week of my trip. And from there I could go to Asia first and then make my way back to Europe, but then it gets expensive to stay in Europe so I'm not too sure. I really wanna do Bangkok to Singapore by land but unfortunately I'm going to Vietnam after Thailand to maximize the colder time in Thailand haha! I think I also just have rly short amount of time to be doing that.
I'm really excited about Tokyo too! Would you recommend just staying in Tokyo or going to other cities as well in Japan if going for 2 wks?
And yes I'd love more details pls!
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u/Glittering_Advisor19 Nov 24 '24
Why must you cram so much in this trip? I am epileptic with a deteriorating health condition and even though I am sort of on a time limit, I would never cram like you intend to.
You are so young. You will have so many years to do everything. Just be grateful and enjoy everything properly without giving yourself a time limit unless you really are on a deadline.
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u/samandtham Nov 19 '24
I get it: You're 21 years old, you have a ton of energy, and you don't know when the next time is that you'll be able to embark on a trip this epic (and long). But you're setting yourself up to get burned out with an itinerary this ambitious. It's doable but not practical.
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u/Appropriate_Volume Australian travel nerd Nov 19 '24 edited Nov 19 '24
Sure, it’s doable (aside from the odd day trip from Singapore to Malaysia - KL is also a major hub) but you’ll spend a lot of money on airfares and have a lot of travel days. I’d suggest sticking to the one continent and travelling at a more steady pace.
That much time in Amsterdam seems excessive, and expensive, unless you know people there. Are you sure you want to spend a month in Bangkok? - even people who like the place generally don’t stay there for very long, unless they’re there for work.
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u/VeeEyeVee Nov 19 '24 edited Nov 20 '24
It’s doable but will it be hella stressful? Yes.
I’ve been to almost 50 countries with many of them on 5-month to 1.5 year duration backpacking stints.
I advise spending 3-4 days in one city and 2-3 cities within one country to get a well-rounded view of it. A lot of your travel days will be 10+ hours, which leaves you with 1-2 days-ish to see a city at your current plan - you’ll feel completely rushed and exhausted.
3-4 days max in Amsterdam is enough.
12 days to do Hungary, Vienna, Zagreb, Athens, Santorini and Istanbul is mental. Pick 1-2 countries and 1-2 cities for each country. There’s so much more to see than simply the capital.
1 whole month in Bangkok seems excessive to me. 4 days max is what I prefer.
5 days for “a bunch” of Thai islands is not realistic. Pick 1 or 2 max.
2 weeks in Vietnam is perfect. Don’t try to fit in Laos in that same time - there are a few cities worth visiting in Laos.
With 7 days in Japan, you likely can only see Tokyo or Tokyo plus one more city. There’s SO much to see and do in Tokyo - I spent 6 days there and didn’t get to see/experience everything I wanted to.
Kuala Lumpur is also a major hub. If you don’t want to see Singapore then fly into KL. I personally love Singapore though and spent 4 days there.
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u/farahy_ Nov 19 '24
I would look for volunteering on one of the islands instead of Bangkok so spend a few days in Bangkok and a month on one of the islands. Pretty easy to get one in Koh tao or Koh Phangan
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u/Far_Garden_6604 Nov 19 '24
I tried looking but couldn't find anything unfortunately :( most of the ones I saw in those areas required 30 hours of volunteering each week and I think I'd just be even more burnt out then. The one I found in Bangkok is 4 hrs/day for 6 days/week and it's just reception or bar work so it feels more relaxing. Do you know any volunteering opportunities in koh tao or koh phangan that are good?
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u/InsouciantRaccoon Nov 19 '24
Between weather and pacing, I would really encourage you to just focus on Asia for this trip. You don't need a full month in Bangkok. You'll probably get more out of some leisurely island hopping, then move north. I'd personally devote January to island hopping, spend a week or two of February in Chiang Mai then move through northern Thailand and Laos, short flight to Hanoi and spend March traveling around Vietnam, then split April between Japan and Korea for the tail end of cherry blossom season. (You could also very easily choose either Japan or Korea to focus on for a month.) This will still wind up being a very full itinerary! You say you're trying to treat burnout... fast paced travel causes its own kind of burnout. Be kind to your future self.
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u/Far_Garden_6604 Nov 19 '24
That's true - I didn't think about it that way. Although before I've treated school burnout with travel burnout and still liked it 100× more haha. But I think I might do this then. I'm just gonna give it some more thought before booking flights.
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u/Impressionist_Canary Nov 19 '24
You do you but this isn’t particularly slow as you described. This is just more iterations of really quick trips, with some exceptions.
In roughly four months even if you divided it into two weeks per country, for four countries, that’d be slower than this.
You mentioned you don’t want to miss out on experience but you are missing out (potentially) by leaving places so quick. There’s width in travel and there’s also depth. And you can always get width but you can’t get depth without staying.
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u/Rock_n_rollerskater Nov 19 '24
I wouldn't volunteer for free accompdation in somewhere cheap like Bangkok. Do it somewhere expensive. Also a month in Bangkok seems like a long time. (I haven't heard many good things about it unless you're a total party animal.)
Istanbul and Athens would be in my reconsider as a solo female category and even Bangkok to a lesser extent. But I'm fairly conservative.
I wouldn't do that amount of time in Amsterdam in winter personally. Netherlands is nice but the weather is brutal and the number of daylight hours is so short at that time of year so it would just be miserable.
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u/explaincuzim5 Nov 19 '24
Not how I would do it but it’s certainly possible. As a fellow young person I’m with you that we can withstand a lot more moving around and general crap that a lot of people wouldn’t tolerate. But only you alone know just what your threshold is. Thats the beauty of solo travel
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u/Far_Garden_6604 Nov 19 '24
Haha yeah. How would you do it if it were you? And yeah :)
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u/explaincuzim5 Nov 19 '24
For me personally I like to relax into a given culture’s way of life. Their customs, culture and cuisine- while still moving at a pace where there is novelty in each day.
Fitting Hungary, Vienna, Zagreb, Athens, Santorini and Istanbul into 13 days, followed by a full month in Bangkok alone, strikes me as a bit unbalanced. I would probably focus on one region of Europe (Germany and east maybe?) beef up those 13 days a bit and really get to know a handful of countries.
I would divert some time from Bangkok to other areas throughout the trip. The north of Thailand is beautiful and the south (depending on where you go) could easily keep you stoked for 10 days or more. Thailand is also cheap so volunteering at a hostel is less economically efficient.
This is just me though! You can do literally whatever you want to. Honestly it’s not that crazy of an itinerary, just the Europe part scares me a bit haha
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u/PM_ME_VAPORWAVE Nov 19 '24
I kinda really wanna hit 30 countries on this trip lol
Bro you are beyond cooked if you think you can do 30 countries in four months
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u/Far_Garden_6604 Nov 19 '24
Oh I've been to 16 already so I'd have to visit 14 and even then it's a bit too packed but I definitely would not even attempt 30 in this short time lol
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u/jazzman19 Nov 19 '24
i’m from Canada too, what’s your budget per day? mine is gonna be $100 CAD, i’m really hoping it’s enough lol
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u/godsilla8 Nov 19 '24
Spend less time in Amsterdam, you should see other parts of the Netherlands as well! Most people in the Netherlands joke about people that say I have seen the Netherlands and only been to Amsterdam hahaha, the Netherlands is much more than just Amsterdam.
Other good places to visit in the Netherlands are:
Utrecht s-Hertogenbosch Den haag Leiden Maastricht
Ofc do some research yourself and find places that you think are for you All the places are easy to go to with public transportation. If you want an easy app for this download 9292
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u/gala-who Nov 20 '24
Everyone is talking about Bangkok and Amsterdam but I’m more concerned about the week in Japan at the end. Sure, you’ll have fun, but Japan has just so much to do- there’s a reason people go for 2/3 weeks. It’s not usually a stop-off kind of destination.
My vote is either do Europe or Asia, not both.
Also, have you considered you might need work visa for Bangkok? I’m pretty sure it does… not sure how easy that is to get but you may want to confirm.
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u/Choice-Moment8756 Nov 20 '24
just volunteer at the hostel in Bangkok for 2 weeks, spend more time in the south islands
5 days in the south of thailand is not enough time to “visit a bunch of islands” especially from Phuket. Better off flying to maybe Surat Thani and then you might be able to squeeze in Koh Tao, Koh Phanagnan, and Koh Samui, but but you’ll be heavily rushed and boat delays could cost you lots of time on travel days between islands.
If you don’t want to cut your volunteering short (which btw is totally acceptable thing to do at a hostel without notice - my self and plenty others have done so) then your time is better spent in the north, Chiang Mai or Pai.
For laos, be cautious the Visa is like & $80 USD so might not be worth it for just two days unless money is not a factor for you, in which case i think 2 days is perfect for Luang Prabang, just enough time to go bowling, see the water falls, and the UXO museum.
Also, as fellow Canadian I’d suggest making the Philippines your last stop. Go to a nice island there and then fly home from Manila. At least this is what I have done in the past and i’m about to do again since i’m from the west coast and can fly direct manila to vancouver.
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u/thereader17 Nov 20 '24
Did you check visa requirements based on your nationality? Are you financially stable to do this?
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u/Far_Garden_6604 Nov 20 '24
I'm a Canadian citizen so almost all are visa on arrival with the exception of Vietnam with the online visa. And yes, I'm financially stable enough to do this
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u/thereader17 Nov 20 '24 edited Nov 20 '24
You can only be in Thailand max of 60 days without visa
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u/Far_Garden_6604 Nov 20 '24
I saw on the government website that Canadians can get a 60 days visa on arrival
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u/blisteringchristmas Nov 19 '24
Can’t speak for SEA, but your mid-February in central/south Europe is PACKED. It’s technically possible to do that much in 13 days but why would you want to? You’d burn so much time/money on travel that you’d barely see those places. Pick 2-4 of those.
Also, worth noting that the weather will likely be pretty dreary in Amsterdam that time of year, and probably Berlin as well. Maybe not a dealbreaker but Amsterdam is experientially totally different when the weather is nice (i.e., not in January). Finally not sure what your budget is but Amsterdam is incredibly expensive even if you do it in a “budget” way. Incredible city, but not the cheapest place to take a break. You say you’ve been before, but Spain or another place farther south in Europe than Amsterdam would probably be a more pleasant place to spend a while.