Hello Southeast Asia!

And once again, my backpack and I are off to faraway destinations. This time Southeast Asia.

Two factors combined in planning this trip. Firstly, if you’ve read about my recent trips to Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, you might be away that South America keeps calling me back one way or another. I have so much love for that continent, but there’s a big wide world out there to see, so I made a point of booking a trip somewhere else. Southeast Asia has always held some mystery for me, and for a while I’ve wanted to explore some islands, after really enjoying time on Ilha Grande, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Isla Mujeres, and this part of the world is packed with island beauty. Secondly, I’ve been very lucky to travel to some amazing places, but every trip I’ve had my flight home booked before I left the UK. This always meant that while I still had a lot of freedom, from the first day I already had a destination in mind, and was subconsciously working my way there. I’ve always wanted to do an extended travel, where I leave without a plan for how I’m getting back, and get to go wherever the wind (or a long distance bus) takes me. In short, I’m taking the gap year I didn’t take when I was 18.

While I’m purposefully travelling without much of a plan, the geography of the region will dictate a lot of the route, as I’m planning to fly as little as possible and rely on land and sea transportation. The likelihood is I’ll head up the Malay peninsula through Malaysia and Thailand before heading further east, but my first stop is at the very south of that peninsula - Singapore.