Wherever it is you may have flown to, if the airline you used has some kind of air miles loyalty rewards programme and it also flies to any of the Southeast Asian destinations, you will have probably gotten some special promotions hitting your inbox. Thailand in particular is quite the popular destination in that part of the world, so too Indonesia and even the Philippines.
If you’re contemplating actually going on one of these trips, first of all you should totally go; otherwise I’m going to share with you what you can expect of the quintessential Southeast Asian experience.
A dollar goes a very long way
One of the biggest reasons why a lot of people from all over the world tend to flock to Southeast Asia on a whim is because of just how cheap it is over there. A dollar does indeed go a long way and your biggest expense will probably be your flight there and back. Of course this depends on what you plan to get up to once you’re there and how long you plan to stay.
Just to put things into perspective, one of the most prominent digital nomads turned blogger/vlogger carried out what was a very comprehensive practical experiment in which he lived with his girlfriend in Thailand for an entire month and came to the conclusion that it was definitely possible at a cost of around $500-$600.
Pretty much everything is cheaper, but of course it all depends on how you spend your money. If you want to splurge on five-star luxury accommodation for example, that’s exactly what you can get at the price to match, but if you’re smarter about it then you can enjoy your time in comfort that’s more than satisfactory at a price that won’t have you breaking the bank at all.
Cuisine
As far as the cuisine goes, if you really want to fill up on some of the food you’ve become accustomed to wherever it is you come from then you can definitely find that in the likes of Bangkok, Bali, etc.
You probably didn’t fly all the way across the world to experience what is your daily life while you’re trying to live it up in Southeast Asia, so naturally you’ll want to try the local cuisine. What you can expect of the Southeast Asian dining experience is generally light food that is prepared with a heavy emphasis on flavour. By “light” what I mean is that you get small portions of many different food items so that you can go on what is really a culinary adventure.
Entertainment
I’m not going to beat about the bush with this – we all know what some of the leading choice of entertainment is for people who visit the likes of Bangkok, Pattaya, etc and stay for a bit, but Southeast Asia has more than just the cheapest night life you can find on offer. Visit Phuket for example and you’ll have ample opportunities to come away with those iconic postcard-worthy images of some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll see.