Backpacking Guides

Travel Itineraries and Budgets

Plan your backpacking trip with the help of these valuable guides, which are packed with all the information you need to create a fun-filled itinerary. I have complete budgets, walking tours, and insider tips to off-the-beaten-path locations.

Hong Kong on the Cheap

How Not To Blow Your Wad In Hong Kong (it’s a poker term)

The 2nd most expensive city in Asia, but there are plenty of ways to budget travel Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Budget Guide
While Hong Kong is generally raved about, it’s not typically a backpacker stop, mainly because it’s too damn expensive. I’ve seen a lot of lists putting it in the top five most expensive places to live in the world. Even worse, it’s the 2nd most expensive place to drink beer in the world.

Oh my god! Why would anyone even want to go to such a hellish place?

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10 Days in Vietnam via Ho Chi Minh City

A Very Detailed Travel Itinerary

Outside the market in Ben Tre, Vietnam

Tours are for foo-ls. I tried my best to make that rhyme.

While Vietnam may seem a little daunting at first, the country is not difficult to travel – especially if you have a great blog to aid you, with details on every leg of the trip, written by a man who lived in the country for years and who has sex appeal that is on par with Don Draper fixing a sink.

While 10 days in Vietnam certainly isn’t enough time to see everything, this detailed itinerary will insure that you have 10 packed days of adventure, amazing food, mountains, rivers, and culture.

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2 Days in Can Tho, Mekong Delta, Vietnam

A Guide and Itinerary for 48 hours in Can Tho

Tan An Market and river in Can Tho, Vietnam
Tan An Market and the Can Tho River

Can Tho (pronounced ‘can tuh’) is the largest city in the Mekong Delta area. The area’s uniqueness makes it one of my favorite places in the country. Thailand and the Philippines may have better beaches than Vietnam, Laos has a peacefulness that is difficult to find in Vietnam, Myanmar has the friendliest people, but none of those places have the Mekong Delta.

This guide and itinerary will give you step-by-step directions to making the most out of your 2 days in Can Tho.

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Tibet in China: An Alternate Way to Experience Tibet

From the Kampa Cafe patio in Tagong, Sichuan, China.

1 Week in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture – Tibet in Western Sichuan

Don’t let the overly wordy title scare you. The Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, may sound like a medical injury, but it’s actually an invigorating place. It is an area in western Sichuan that is mainly inhabited by Tibetans. An autonomous prefecture is a territory in China that has a population of 50% or more ethnic minorities. In Garze, there are around 880,000 people and around 78% of them are Tibetan. When my bus rolled into Kangding, the capital of the Garze region, it felt like I had entered another country. This isn’t your typical China. The Tibetan culture is here, which makes it a great alternative to traveling Tibet.

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The India Chronicles: 1 Month in Southern India

India Travel Videos - 28 days, 28 videos

This is more than just a 1 month guide to Southern India

I tried something new for this trip. I shot one video per day, and posted them day-by-day for my entire 28-days in India.

The results give you a pretty good look into what it’s like to travel for 30 days in India. Both the good and the bad.

Because I was shooting and editing every day, I didn’t have time to record the details (mainly costs) that I do with other guides (see my incredibly thorough $20/day Guide to Vietnam), but I do offer an authentic India itinerary that will have you in cool coastal towns, amazing mountain tea areas, mind-blowing temples, and real gritty India cities.

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Taipei, Taiwan on the Cheap: 1 Week – $300

Guide to Taipei, Taiwan on the Cheap
When it comes to traveling to expensive countries, Sara and I always tell ourselves, “We’ll go when were older, and richer.” While we are waiting to strike it rich, there are plenty of places to see that are inexpensive. That’s part of the reason we moved to Southeast Asia. However, when a cheap flight to Taipei came across our web browser, we couldn’t resist a week-long vacation to possibly the greatest food city in the world. We discovered that it was possible to travel Taipei, Taiwan on the cheap.

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Travel Itinerary and Budget for 1 Month in Vietnam

Fruit seller in the old quarters of Hanoi, VIetnam
While 1 month in Vietnam isn’t nearly enough time to see everything, it is a decent amount of time to travel from one end of the country to the other, getting a taste of the natural beauty, beaches, culture, and more. In this guide, I start in Ho Chi Minh City and head north, but this can easily be switched to north-to-south.

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Budget Travel Vietnam: $20 a day!

Get my guide to Vietnamese food with over 75 dishes.

Vietnam is a fantastic place for budget travelers. It offers beaches, bustling cities, small mountains, limestone karsts, fantastic food, possibly the best coffee in the world, and much much more. We managed to budget travel Vietnam for under $20/day. That includes hotels, buses, food, everything. Click on a city to read more about our adventures there, or scroll down to see a breakdown of the costs. We enjoyed Vietnam so much that we moved there. We hope you enjoy it too.

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