Things You'll Know If You've Travelled Southeast Asia

Last Updated on 28th June 2020

Having travelled Southeast Asia for approximately seven months, there were a fair few things I saw/learned/experienced along the way.

So, of course, I decided to share my findings with you guys in case you’ve experienced similar things while travelling Southeast Asia.

It’s undoubtedly one of the craziest, albeit most amazing regions in the world and if you’ve travelled Southeast Asia yourself, you’ll likely have many tales and funny, relatable anecdotes that will hopefully resonate with my points in this post.

Enjoy!

The smell of Durian will always make you gag

Unless you’re one of the very rare (and frankly weird) people who actually like Durian, it’s likely that the smell of it will make you gag every time you smell it; and trust me, that will be a lot.

The smell of Durian wafts through the air all over Southeast Asia, so whether you’re near the Marina in Singapore, or in a tiny remote village of Cambodia, you’ll know that strong smell anywhere.

You’ll love street food more than restaurants

If you’ve read any of my Malaysia posts, you’ll know that I was absolutely obsessed with the food in Kuala Lumpur and George Town and that was largely due to the immense amount of street food.

Before we went travelling, I was pretty apprehensive about eating street food (and still was in many places), but once you’ve eaten it a few times and tried some of the most delicious, and most importantly cheap, dishes in SE Asia, you’ll find yourself preferring it to most restaurants.

The busyness never ceases – Southeast Asia travel truths

One thing you’ll know for sure if you’ve travelled Southeast Asia is that the busyness never ceases.

It can be pretty overwhelming at first – when we first arrived in Ubud, Bali I just wanted to cry at the sheer hecticness of the place – but you’ll soon find yourself becoming more accustomed.

Not that you’ll necessarily ever get properly used to it, but dodging cars and motorbikes while walking down the street will just become a part of your daily routine.

Anti-sickness tablets will be your best friend

Of course, this probably depends on where exactly you travelled in Southeast Asia, but chances are if you took any bus or boat journeys during your travels, you’ll have become well accustomed to anti-sickness tablets.

I never used to suffer from travel sickness all that much, but after my first boat journey in Indonesia, I was surprised that I made it to the other side without throwing up my dinner.

Thankfully, anti-sickness tablets are relatively easy to come by, and we were even provided them for free on one boat tour in Thailand.

Stray animals are EVERYWHERE

Another thing you’re sure to know if you’ve travelled Southeast Asia is that there are stray animals everywhere.

From cats to dogs to monkeys to cows and pigs, stray animals are certainly not an unusual sight in Asia and while it can sometimes be a little upsetting to see these animals without a home, it’s all just part of the way of life.

There’s no such thing as “too full” – Southeast Asia travel truths

I don’t mean this in the “I’ve eaten too much food” sense of full, I mean that means of transport such as buses, minivans and boats will always be cramped.

Just when you think that the tiny little 20-person boat taking you from Bali to Gili T is at full capacity, another 20 people (and their luggage) will pile in and you’ll be sat there questioning the logistics of physics and wondering on how earth it’s possible that you’re still afloat.

You’ll get used to not eating at the same time as your companion

In the UK, and I imagine many other countries around the world, whenever you order food with a partner or group of friends, every meal is usually served around the same time so you can all eat together.

However, that’s certainly not the case in Asia; your food is served whenever it’s ready, regardless of whether your partner’s is ready or not.

This means that you’ll often find that you’ve polished off your entire meal before your companion’s is even served. And don’t worry about seeming rude if you don’t wait and tuck into your meal; if you don’t, you’ll likely be waiting a very long time and your food will just go cold!

Health and safety is pretty much non-existent

Of course, this is quite a generalisation, but in many places in Southeast Asia, health and safety seems to be a thing of the distant future.

You’ll find workers stood on high rooftops without so much as a helmet, loose ladders propped up against the side of precarious-looking buildings and electrical wires swinging freely at neck-height.

Make sure you’ve got a very good travel insurance policy before you travel 😉

The translations and spelling are always very entertaining

This point is by no means a critique, if anything, I really applaud the locals for attempting to write menus/signs in English so that it’s much easier and convenient for tourists.

However, some of the translations and spellings can sometimes be a little “out there” and entertaining. One common example that I can think of is “buy one, get one” which obviously means “buy one, get one free” but the omission of ‘free’ leads me to believe that if you buy a drink, you simply just get that drink!

You’ll get used to the sound of grebbing and hacking up

Depending on your local dialect, I’m not entirely sure what you call it but I’m sure you can use your imagination to guess what grebbing means (hint: essentially a throaty spit).

Spitting in Asia is very commonplace and isn’t seen as rude or offensive by locals, but obviously as a British traveller, we found this very unusual and quite frankly, not nice to hear.

Your laundry is done by wizards – travel Southeast Asia

No matter how good you think you are at folding clothes, I can assure you that you’ll have never seen anything like it until you get your laundry done in Southeast Asia.

There were many times where Matt and I would have a giant bag full of dirty clothes and by the time they were returned to us, they were folded and neatly pressed into the tiniest, flattest bag imaginable.

Even after seven months, it still blew me away every time we received our clothes back.

You’ll definitely become a cheapskate

It’s no secret that most things are much more affordable in Southeast Asia than they are in most Western countries (I’m literally talking 50p beers and £1 meals in some places) but one thing that I never expected was that I’d become a cheapskate even in some of the most affordable places in Asia.

If I saw a beer for the equivalent of £2, I’d always be reluctant to purchase it as I knew that I could get it for cheaper elsewhere. Of course, a £2 beer in England is an absolute steal, but when you’re living in cheaper countries and you know that there’s cheaper alternatives, you can’t help but always trying to seek the best deal you can.

The air-con is either too much or non-existent

With average temperatures usually exceeding 30°+ on a daily basis, it’s an absolute heavenly Godsend that so many places in Southeast Asia have good air-conditioning systems.

However, if there is air-con, it can often be a little too chilly and overpowering. It’s unbelievably delicious when you first step into a shopping mall for example, and feel that instant coldness wash over you after being in the blazing sun for hours, but after just a few minutes, you’ll be desperate to get back outside again!

Alternatively, there are also a few places that don’t have air-con units (we stayed in a place in Kampot that only had a very old fan and it was almost unbearably hot!), which certainly makes it hard to sleep or even just function properly.

Seeing lizards and monkeys will become so normal

As well as seeing plenty of stray animals in Southeast Asia, you’ll also know just how common it is to see things like lizards and monkeys very frequently.

Seeing a group of monkeys swinging from trees at the side of the road was so novel at first and I always got so excited, but after a while it just becomes a part of your daily routine in many places.

You’ll still crave fast food – Southeast Asia travel truths

One thing I’m sure you’ll know if you’ve travelled Southeast Asia is that even when you’re surrounded by the most delicious, cheap food in the world, there’ll still be times where you just crave a Big Mac.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with craving fast food while travelling and while it might feel like you’re cheating somewhat, sometimes all we need is a McDonald’s or Burger King to sate our cravings.

After all, there’s only so much rice and noodles you can eat before you’re desperate for something much greasier!

One person has at least 5 jobs – travel Southeast Asia

Something that always fascinated me when we were travelling around Asia was that one person never just had one job.

For example, your taxi driver was likely also a tour guide and a builder and a chef and anything else you could think of. And, if they didn’t know how to do or sell something themselves, they would always know someone who could get it for you.

You’ll sleep anywhere (just like the locals)

I’ve always been someone who needs my sleep (and I still am) and while I would prefer a nice, clean and comfortable place to rest my head, that’s not always possible when you’re travelling on overnight buses or waiting for flights in Asia.

Therefore, just as the locals do (and trust me, they can sleep anywhere), you’ll find yourself being able to get to sleep in the most unimaginable and inconvenient places.

It’s way safer than you imagined

Another thing that you’ll be aware of if you’ve travelled Southeast Asia is that it’s way safer than you probably imagined.

Before you set off on your travels, you’ll have likely seen and heard many horrors online or in books that warn you that some places in Asia aren’t always safe.

While of course some places won’t be all that safe, it’s really not very common to experience bad and unsafe occurrences yourself.

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