The green Andaman Sea, the karsts that appear to jut from the ocean, and the iconic klong boats create a magical snapshot of Thailand

You Can Be Your Own Tour Guide in Asia

With a desire to take the family to Southeast Asia, I began the arduous task of determining if I could assimilate all the information that flows through Google and create a meaningful itinerary for the region on my own. And I did, and you can do it too.

I could imagine me on a bustling street in downtown Saigon, with scooters zipping around me and signs in a foreign language and foreign alphabet. And my family looking at me with the “So where do we go, Mom?” eyes and a jaundiced tilt of the head. I would spin around and just yell, “Help!” But that didn’t happen.

Let me tell you a few of my secrets of Southeast Asia planning.

1. Make a list of what you want to see. I started on Pinterest by typing “Southeast Asia itineraries” and reading blogs to determine what actually looked unique. Was Angkor Wat on that list? Ha Long Bay? What piqued my interest? And why did every listing have some of the same locations/ monuments/UNESCO sites? Were they that fascinating or have people not dived deep enough to discover different locations? Why do travelers want to go down into the Cu Chi Tunnels of Saigon?

2. Ask your family. Did my daughters want to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat? Or ride bikes through rice fields of Vietnam? Take their wishes and add them into your plotting.

 

3. Look at tours that may already be planned for travelers. There are numerous newer companies that offer trips like G Adventures, Backroads, and Active Adventures, as well as older companies like Tauck, Context Travel, and Road Scholar. Do they take you to the locations you believe are important? Or do they drive you to a pearl factory that you think is frivolous? Read their in-depth itineraries before making a decision to confirm that you want to visit where they take you.

4. Now go a bit deeper. You created your own itinerary, so now allow a company to create a plan specifically for your family. These don’t have to be expensive. I received itineraries from Indochina Travel, Indochina Tour, Travel Vietnam, and Asiana Link. I told them exactly what I wanted and let them price and craft a trip. And some were better than others at listening to my wishes!

 

 

5. Armed with this solid information, I tried to imagine our family of four on a vacation where a tour guide was with us 24/7. We are not good tour people because we love to wander and explore, so I surmised that a seven to fourteen day excursion might have all of us chafing a bit.You may find a guide to be the perfect tool – no more minutiae to research. You feel safe and secure in a foreign country with someone by your side. Run with it! I realized that these tailor made travel companies were doing what I normally do. They found the hotels and the experts in each country to take you to certain sites and experiences. If I could figure out the transportation logistics, you could do the same.

6. I researched lodging that included a free or nominal shuttle from the airport to their hotel. And found great hotels in each town that could accommodate us. The hard part was over. My language fear was allayed. You can find this today on booking, tripadvisor, or airbnb, and even on Pinterest by searching the city and country . Once you find lodging you like, email them directly to make reservations. I believe in personal contact.

 

7. Using flightsfrom.com, googleflights.com, or rome2rio.com, you can determine how to travel from one place to another and which airlines can take you there. We flew on Vietnam Airlines and Air Asia to connect us from HoChiMinh City to Siem Reap, and Bangkok to Koh Lanta, Thailand.

8. From Pinterest and Google, I discovered Back of the Bike Tours, Grasshopper Adventures, and Sinhbalo Adventures. Take a close look at Visit a City, Get Your Guide, and With Locals for your specific town. I loved our bike guide to ride with us to a perfect sunrise view over Angkor Wat. These were the only “tours” that we really wanted. Someone to show us their Secrets, but only for hours at a time.

The research for this trip was intense, but I loved every minute. Using these steps, anyone can plot a trip anywhere by themselves. We made the correct decision for our family that a tour trip was not necessary, but tour guides were indispensable for exploring the cultures of every country we visited. We could feel just as comfortable in Southeast Asia as we do in Europe. And we created memories to last a lifetime!