Gap Year Asia Tour Recommendations for DD

[Piknik]

DD (21) and her friend have just graduated after going straight to Uni from 6th form so planning to travel early next year. Plan is around 4 months taking in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Bali and Malaysia.

They have been talking to a very passionate and experienced travel rep at Trailfinders and he has put an itinerary together but it is very regimented and 'tour' heavy - for example the whole 17 days in Philippines is a tour - no free days at all. Ditto Cambodia (which is only a week at the moment) whereas there seem to be nearly 40 days allocated to Thailand with no touring at all.

I think he is pushing for them to book tours with a favoured provider so they are sort of being shoe-horned into those start dates and then moved on to the next country/tour. DD would like more flexibility and to shorten some of the tours so she has time to be more spontaneous/chill on a beach for a few days etc. I think she is going to have to book these independtly of Trailfinders who are not offering much flexibility. Can anyone recommend good and reasonable tour providers for any of the countries listed? Ideally aimed at young people and ideally tried and tested?

Agree with the majority that booking in advance is asking for trouble and likely much more expensive. The whole idea of gap years is to immerse yourself and find your own way around, own work, own bed and board for the first time to get an idea of what you want to do with your life - usually before Uni. Given their ages they should be a little more independent.

I spent three weeks in Laos after doing some work out there with teachers. I really liked it but the country is mostly set up for French tourists and there is very little by way of tourist infrastructure and what there is does not even begin to measure up to western health and safety standards.

the temptation is to assume that alcohol/driving/tourist trips are as safe as they are at home (or as safe as they are in Thailand) and they are absolutely not.

Vang Vien was nice but has fuck all to do unless you drink or go tubing in the river both of which are a bad idea.

Luang Prabang is genuinely lovely but I can’t see backpackers appreciating it - it’s more your middle aged western foodie tourist type thing.

the water isn’t safe to drink anywhere in Laos and food needs to be treated with caution unless in a western style restaurant.

on the plus side it is cheap.

it’s the least developed and least safe of all the countries in that area.

DD is pretty independent. She has been flying alone to stay with family
abroad since she was 14 and has done lots of long haul trips with friends - including Thailand. She is pretty streetwise and wants to just go with the flow. In other words, she would agree with everyone on this thread. I really wanted to reassure the other party that there were lots of opportunities to join mini/shorter excursions and trips should they decide they want to 'swim in a specific waterfall' followed by island hopping to a specific island or whatever. And that booking in advance was madness!

Same here, my 18 yr old organised everything for her and her friends herself - they travelled for 3 months. They actually decided to missed out one of their planned countries once they were over there. It's much better I think to leave lots of scope for flexibility - they didnt book their return flight until quite near the end of the trip and booked the onward flights and any trips as they went along.

My only reservation about what you have written is the travel companion. Are they like minded enough? Dd was very careful who she went on her gap year with. She has friends she is fond of but wouldn’t travel with. The lovely friend she went with is and was brilliant. Your dd sounds quite different to the friend,

They actually get on really well and have each other's backs which I think is really important when you're travelling. Friend would not abandon DD for a bloke or random. She is just more cautious and was the one who was on the phone to Trailfinders for two hours so was more talked into it all than DD.

I backpacked alone at her age and would encourage her to do it now - her friend sounds a ball ache

The whole point of backpacking is to have a general route in mind but adapt as you travel and meet people. Just book the flights and accommodation for the first couple of nights and decide when there. So many more interesting places to discover from other travellers rather than the usual tourist routes.