Top 4 things to have at all time (Southeast Asia edition)

There a lot of things that you will need when you travel Southeast Asia, or anywhere for that matter. I’m not talking about in your backpack, I mean thing that you should be carrying everywhere at all times.

After a couple of months of travelling in Southeast Asia, Laurie-Anne Jeanty knows what she’s talking about. Here a 4 tips of what to bring on you at all time.

1- MOST IMPORTANT* Toilet paper roll

You’ll will realize fast enough that most places you will visit won’t have toilet paper. Some places offer some sort of butt washing system, but then it gets quite uncomfortable because you have nothing to dry the water off your ass… so you just pull up your pants, and have no choice but to endure the wet crotch until it dries. But by then you’ll probably have to pee again so… Just make sure you have toilet paper on you AT ALL TIMES.

2- Cash Money

If you are from a country where you mostly use your debit/credit card, forget about this in Southeast Asia. Actually, this tip is good for any third world country you will visit. Atm are hard to find and the fees will be crazy expensive; they can go up to 6$ per transaction. You might think that that is cheap, but think about it, let’s suppose you take money out maybe twice a week(so 12$), that literally the price of most hostel for TWO nights. Also, most places, like restaurants, hostel, activities… they don’t even take cards, so spare yourself a headache and make sure you take out lots of cash (then keep some in your hostel locker).

3- Hat and water bottle

We don’t want to sound like your mother, but this tip is VERY IMPORTANT! It’s quite easy to underestimate the heat of the sun (anywhere in the world). You will wake up, the weather is going to be great, but then in the afternoon, it will get extremely hot, and the sun will just be shining/BURNING you head. Just bring a cap, better safe than sorry, trust me. I’ve seen people in Montreal fainting because of the heat, can you imagine in countries like Vietnam or Cambodia? Which brings us to the next tip: bring a water bottle. BUT don’t use tap water, you can’t drink that!

4- SNACKS!!!!!!!

Stack up on your favorite snacks. Always have some on you, and life will go smoother. Laurie-Anne, has had a couple of experiences where you hop on a bus to get to a destination, and instead of getting there after 5 hours (as planned) it took 10 hours. Buses can get flats, they can break down, they can even run out of gas… so just make sure you have little snacks because you can’t predict where and when you will be hungry and stuck in the middle of nowhere.

If you follow these tips, you will definitely skip a couple of unwanted situations during your trip.