You Too, Can Have An Overseas Holiday.

[Banjo]

Pensioners and others on limited incomes fall apart when they think about getting away to the tropical beaches or jungle covered mountains of South East Asia.
No way, that stuff costs BIG bucks.

But there's a whole subculture of budget travellers out there, many doing it three or four times a year, courtesy of Centrelink regulations.
There are secrets involved, tricks of the trade we take for granted.
OK, so lets share.

First you need a passport. There's no way around this.
$226 at last count.

Then you need a plane ticket, once again there's no way around this. Australia is an island, you have to fly to get off it. There is no budget sea travel.

A 30 second google shows an Air Asia promo flight, Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur... $239
You can leave Aussie on a last minute decision with just your pension in your pocket and still hit the tarmac at KL with $480 in your pocket.

You are now an international traveller.

(To be continued)

[Banjo]

Good post, keep 'em coming Ruddy.

[Banjo]

So what do you take?

Let me tell you now, what you take you will have to carry, keep the weight down.
You will be entering shorts, tee shirts and thongs (flipflops) land. It's all 95% of the locals ever wear
And what's more you can buy them for a pittance locally unless you're of unusually large size.
Toiletries are cheap, Asian girls have beautiful hair and they work hard to keep it that way. You've never seen a hair care section in a super market until you've been to Bangkok.

Medications of course, I always carried them until I worked out I could buy most of them cheaper over the counter in Asia.
Bring vitamin tabs if you believe in them, I do.
A few books, train and bus journeys can be lengthy, they pass the time and there's second-hand book shops you can exchange them in most big cities.
Some sort of budget travel guide is handy, Lonely Planet gets a lot of knockers but it can be useful to find guest houses and in working out local transport.
They are expensive, download the ones you want from a torrent site and print off the pages you need.
You're going to leave stuff home you'll want and carry shit you never use. We all do.
Who gives a rats?

Ask questions on forums, local expats love to show off how smart they are. (Present company excepted).

[Banjo]

Many people worry that they may not be able to eat the local food and have to spend up big on imported and Western food in restaurants.
There's always something you can eat, one of the cheapest and simplest dishes in Thailand is an omelette with boiled rice.
Fruit and salad vegetables are abundant in local produce markets, Asians love little cakes and biscuits... supermarkets sell cooked food that you can inspect before you buy, BBQ chicken, sausages, bread rolls and packaged foods like cheese and crackers are all commonplace.
Most big cities have Western fast food outlets, I've eaten KFC in Kota Baru and Kunming, MickeyDs breakfasts in all sorts of strange places.
I knew an English guy who worked as an agricultural scientist in northern Laos, he hated rice and all Asian food. He lived for months at a time on fruit and hard boiled eggs and looked pretty healthy.

[Banker]

Jan 29, 2011 10:05:43 GMT 7 Banjo said:

So what do you take?

Let me tell you now, what you take you will have to carry, keep the weight down.
You will be entering shorts, tee shirts and thongs (flipflops) land. It's all 95% of the locals ever wear
And what's more you can buy them for a pittance locally unless you're of unusually large size.
Toiletries are cheap, Asian girls have beautiful hair and they work hard to keep it that way. You've never seen a hair care section in a super market until you've been to Bangkok.

Medications of course, I always carried them until I worked out I could buy most of them cheaper over the counter in Asia.
Bring vitamin tabs if you believe in them, I do.
A few books, train and bus journeys can be lengthy, they pass the time and there's second-hand book shops you can exchange them in most big cities.
Some sort of budget travel guide is handy, Lonely Planet gets a lot of knockers but it can be useful to find guest houses and in working out local transport.
They are expensive, download the ones you want from a torrent site and print off the pages you need.
You're going to leave stuff home you'll want and carry shit you never use. We all do.
Who gives a rats?

Ask questions on forums, local expats love to show off how smart they are. (Present company excepted).

Just a couple of things to enhance Banjo information:

I live in Cambodia: Medications be careful here there are some fake meds on the market. I have been using the same pharmacy for four years and the lady owner gives me some good deals.

All Prices are in U.S. $.

Voltarin for Arthritis imported from France $1-50 for a strip of 10.
Paracetamol box of 100 made locally $1-70.
Ibuprofene box of 100 made locally $1-60.
Tramadol very strong pain killers Imported from Korea Box of 50 $6.

All medications can be bought over the counter no script needed.
Some meds imported from Thailand can be bought cheaper here than in Thailand (work that one out)

Books: Most books you buy here are copied, I just had a 400 page book copied & bound for $4.

The cost of living is a lot cheaper here than in Thailand.

Cigarettes from .25c a pack (If you smoke)

Alcohol is very cheap here as I dont drink I can not quote exact prices but its cheaper in the Supermarkets than at the duty free at the Airport.

Coffee: I buy Laos Coffee for $8 a kilo. I think Vietnam coffee is the same price.

Milk, Butter and Cheese are expensive as they are imported.

Meat: Chicken breast fillets no bone,no skin or fat $4.75 a kilo. Imported from Thailand.

Pork: Loin Fillet no fat or skin $4-50 a kilo.

King Prawns $6. a kilo.

Vegetables: Potatoes about $1. a kilo depending on supply. Most vegie range in price from .25c to .75c a kilo depending on the time of the year, like now Chinese new year all prices go up.

Fruit: I always buy what is in season, hand of bananas between .50c & .75c.
I have bought Mangoes for as low as .50c a kilo.

Eating out: One must be careful here as food hygiene is not high on the Khmer agenda. I dont eat out that much because I prefer my own cooking. ;D

I have also lived in Thailand and the Philippines so this is to be continued.

Perhaps there are other members that have lived in Cambodia can add to this list.

Cheers
Banker.

[Banjo]

Certainly a whole new ballgame if you decide to stay somewhere long enough to rent a place with cooking facilities.
Like the virtuous Banker I don't drink either but a dozen large bottles of Leo, a pleasant but strong lager type beer, goes for about $15.
Once you start getting into locally made spirits you're on a very cheap drunk indeed.
Thai restaurants and night spots add very little to this price, the doubling and even tripling of the price of drinks once you get them served at a bar or table doesn't seem to happen. (Unless you're in a tourist bar).
Smokes are about $2/$3 a packet for local brands.

I stay in the mountains of the far north so food is cheap in the markets as a lot of the population are not ethnic Thai but hills tribes or Burmese and Lao refugees. They are on very small incomes so prices have to be low in staple items. Most seasonal fruit and veg are between 50c and a dollar a kilo. Less if the quality is a bit low.
You can get a nice small house for about $150 a month if you go out of town a bit, most locals have a motor scooter but the local version of buses are a cheap if leisurely way to get into town.
Live fish go for $2 a kilo.
Meat seems to be about the same as in Cambodia, we get freshly killed beef as well, about $3 a kilo but quality varies. It will all make a good beef curry if cooked long enough though.

[Banjo]

I always say that the key to living in countries like Thailand, Cambodia etc is dependant on what you pay for rent.
If you can get a decent place for less than $200 a month then everything else is easy.
A couple of hundred dollars a week for food, drink and entertainment on top of that and you can live far better than you can in Australia and save money for emergencies.
Having said that it is also very easy to get into a scene where you can run through your savings very quickly.
Avoid the big cities and find a nice country town near the beach or in the mountains.