Middle Aged Back Packer Help Needed!

[UtahGirl12]

As the title says really! I'm planning a 6 week holiday to SE Asia in January/February with the DH. We plan to fly into Malaysia then onto Vietnam & Cambodia, finishing in Thailand with a mixture of cities and island hopping. We will be doing numerous short flights as well as the long haul one, plus taking ferries/speedboats so taking a rucksack seems easier than a suitcase.

I have. large rucksack but am unsure what to take. We will be doing day trips to places such as temples, palaces etc as well as museums such as the genocide museum. We will also be visiting an elephant sanctuary. I know I will have to dress modestly to visit temples etc and make sure my shoulders and knees are covered, so will take a large scarf with me.

I am super aware I can't carry much. I have a silk sarong skirt, and 2 silk sari material dresses and a light weight Lucy & Yak dress which I love. I will get a pair of long linen trousers, probably in a stone colour and take a few vest tops/t shirts.

Any other ideas? For info I am 56, huge boobs, only 5 foot 1, and look awful in shorts although I will probably take 1 pair. I have a lot of weight to lose; too much to lose in the 20 weeks I have lol. I am a size 18.

Has anybody done anything like this before and have the perfect capsule wardrobe to take, or just any advice in general? I will be taking a bikini because life is too bloody short and I will probably never have a holiday like this again!

As for Vietnam, the Southern part will have nice weather at that time. You can consider Phu Quoc island for some beach time.

How physically fit are you? Are you accustomed to carrying a heavy rucksack around intermittently over several days? Do you regularly do lots of walking, in suitable footwear, on uneven ground, or up and down flights of stairs?

I ask because while all travel is more or less arduous, your planned journey does sound dependent on your being very fit - if you want to enjoy it. So carrying extra weight really isn’t about style here - more about whether you’ll be able to cope.

Given 20 weeks you could lose a noticeable (but not extreme) amount of weight with careful intermittent fasting. Is that something you might consider?

Sorry but those are clothes for luxury hotels,.not backpacking. You need black or navy for the linen trousers, not a light colour like stone. Silk is a bad idea unless you want to spend your whole holiday hand washing them.

In SE there are cheap and wonderful laundry services everywhere which you'll need during the six weeks, so bring things that can be washed and dried in commercial dryers.

Please don't visit the elephant sanctuaries where you wash the elephants, observation-only is best.

I’m a little bit younger but about to do something similar with children. I have been looking at YouTube videos of what others do and have decided roughly on the following.
1 long trousers (I have wide leg but be aware these aren’t going to be great for squat toilets)
2 dresses (with at least shoulder cover)
2 shorts
4 T-shirts/tops
1 shirt
bikini and turkish towel that can be used as a sarong
sandals or flip flops
trainers
shawl, hat, scarf for hair, sunglasses

This leaves space to buy bits at the markets if needed.

if you want to loose weight, then great. But don’t do it because you feel you should for the beach. Beach bodies look great because of confidence, not because they are a size 8.

This was my packing list for a month in SE last Dec. Btw I would consider dropping a country, 4 in 6 weeks is a lot. I spent 2 weeks in Thailand and only managed Bangkok and 2 islands. 2.5 weeks in Vietnam and I barely scratched the surface!

Trainers
Arch support flip flops
Black linen trousers
Jean shorts
Nylon shorts with zip pocket (for beach or sleep)
Windbreaker
Bathing suit
LS UV protection top
2 long sleeve linen tops
1 tee shirt
Compression socks, 3 pairs normal socks
2 bras, 7 undies
1-2 short sleeve woven tops

Crossbody bag
Tote bag
Baseball cap, sun hat, mini uv umbrella

If you're going to rainy areas, you'll want leather trainers and a few plastic ponchos.

Are you actually backpacking and staying in cheapish places, or are you going to nice hotels, but thinking to take your stuff in a backpack?
if the latter, then check whether you really need a backpack - a wheelie suitcase will be fine if you’re using cabs to trains/planes etc and will be easier to keep nice outfits looking OK.
However, if you are planning to properly backpack, then you want vest tops/T-shirts and shorts, etc.

Thanks for all your replies. I have referred to it as back packing just because I think taking a rucksack will be easier than a wheeled suitcase to get on and off ferries/boats etc. I totally get the being fit bit. It is something I need to work on, but I only think I need it for carrying the bag out of the airport and into taxis/onto boats etc. I do get that the heat and walking about/up steps/being on my feet for long sightseeing day trips etc will have an impact. I have built in rest days at each big city and will be spending 3 beach days at the start the help with jet lag and acclimatising and have 14 island hopping beach days at the end. I have done 2 partial Caminos where I walked for 6-18 miles per day carrying a rucksack with my stuff for 6 weeks in the heat.

We will be staying in budget type hotels, definitely not hostels or luxury resorts. I am used to washing by hand on my caminos, although I will use cheap laundry facilities when I can.

I know the amount of countries seems huge. We will only be flying in and out of Kualar Lumpur for convenience, with a couple if days in the city. No judgement please but I am only visiting Vietnam to see the Cu Chi tunnels due to a long term fascination with them, and Cambodia for Ankhor Wat and the Killing Fields. If time/money allowed I would absolutely spend longer as I know they are beautiful countries deserving of time.

I totally take on board black/navy would be more practical colours for the linen trousers, I just thought they would be too hot. I also have and love those Thai baggy elephant trousers so will take/buy those.

Loved the examples of what people took, will take a detailed look at those thanks.

I agree about the elephant sanctuary, definitely no bathing as it stresses them out.

Yes to the bikini, I have a body so I have a bikini body! I nay even rake 2 as there's no way I’d be able to buy my underwired cup size out there!

You don't want to wear lots of black or navy in a hot sunny place.

I want to suggest Very thin cottons or viscose, flowery would be cheerful, light colours. I imagine cargo shorts / or half length light cotton trousers (see pic) and very lightweight shirts & practical sandals would work.

I hope you have a great trip. x

I def wouldn't take linen trousers scrunched up in your rucksack!

When I did my travels I took 1 pair of shorts(better for me as I suffer chub rub, and linen trousers also rub through super fast! A pair of the elephant style trousers work better for me, you can get similar style in M&S or just buy out there.
5 t-shirts/vests and 1 dress that could be dressed up if needed.
A sarong that can double up as a towel on the beach, or if it is cooler on a flight or in the evening you can use as a shawl, or to cover shoulders if going into a temple (light to carry round).
1 pair trainers or hiking boots, and a pair of flip flops.
sunglasses and hat
1 lightweight rain jacket
Travel adaptor plug
mosquito repellent/plug in mosquito thingy and a decent first aid kit, including antibiotics if your GP will let you have them as a ‘just in case’
perhaps a bum bag to store valuables, and a small backpack as well for carrying round in the day

A few more tips...I too like silk even though I travel with cheap cotton and linen There's the Jim Thompson museum and shops and the Queen Sirikit museum (Thai Jackie O) in the palace complex in Bangkok.

Get an airolo e-sims that covers the 14 Asian countries. In Bangkok the airport is the best place to exchange money, in vietnam the gold shops. You can use USD in Cambodia and you can't bring their currency out of the country, and I don't think you can bring it in either so good to have some dollars on you for arrival.

In Cambodia the national museum and killing fields are really well done and moving if you can fit them in.

Download Grab, xe.com and 12go
apps. There are tons of blogs with great tips and recommendations. Remember to barter if appropriate and don't be afraid to say no if someone is giving a hard sell. Don't have anything of value in internal Vietnam flights, even papers with your home address, they'll tell you this at the airport. 7/11 is great for chilled water, little toiletries and matcha kitkats.

Random things to bring: packs of tissues for loo roll on the go but are cheap to buy there. There's not that many squat toilets (mostly rest stops) so don't worry about that. You might want soap leaves for Vietnam and Cambodia. Be prepared for your hair to go haywire

Tampons if you use them, hard to find. Sunscreen from the UK will be more reliable. Random but enough toothpaste and gum to last your trip- I found what you can buy there is not nearly minty enough, I didn't feel properly clean. Also don't forget your charging cable, I did and the ones I bought there both broke after
a few weeks.

Excellent suggestions, especially for the esim , money situation and about the internal Vietnam flights. Thanks @Aroastdinnerisnotahumanright 👌

When I was backpacking, I found it useful to pick a base colour for your lower half and then pick the tops that all go with that colour. So (for South America) I had navy long trousers, navy shorts, a long navy skirt with slits and knee length mid-blue skirt. And then all the tops could go with any thing, so no black for example. Also dresses, shoes, bikinis and sarongs were all in shades of blue.

Given the heat you might want to bin all the t-shirts before you head home as the sweat stains will not wash out.

We travel a lot, have been to Vietnam/Thailand/Malaysia, etc and I always take shorts (cycling type good too) and vest tops/Tshirts plus one v thin long sleeved shirt, one v light loose pair trousers (mozzies at night) and maybe a couple of light floaty sundresses. Sarongs are great for covering up too.

Will come back to this later - currently travelling and off out for the day 🤣

The colour really makes minimal difference to your temperature, especially if you are talking about trousers. Cut and material are more important.

I've been back packing a lot. My back pack is a 40L Osprey.

I travel very light though.

I would take
1 pair of light cotton trousers.
I pair of shorts
2 T shirts
1 pair of flip flops - for the shower or outside
Sunglasses
5 pairs of knickers
1 pair of walking sandals
A sarong
Toiletries
Small emergency medical kit
Nightwear- shorts/vest top
Small fold up rucksack for the day
Micro towel
Mozzie repellent, I use Avon
Sun cream

I take dark coloured clothes, all light cotton and easily washable

OP, get yourself on Mounjaro - see the threads on here. You'll lose a lot that way in 20 weeks. It'll make a huge difference to how you'll enjoy the holiday.

We will be staying in budget type hotels, definitely not hostels or luxury resorts. I am used to washing by hand on my caminos, although I will use cheap laundry facilities when I can.

You’ll honestly find cheap laundry facilities everywhere, I didn’t find it was worth hand washing anything when I went backpacking in that part of the world :)

I would say that we travel rather than go on holiday, so it's all about practicality and very little to do with looking good. I'm just back and we had a 3kg bag only (yes we are budget travellers too) so we literally wear one outfit and take one, one item of sleep wear and several changes of underwear. My trousers are 1 wide leg viscose and 1 cotton pantaloon style. I just wear cotton t shirts. We always either book accommodation with a washing machine or just use a launderette, in the heat the clothes dry in an hour so it's not a big deal. Always book a place with towels too as there's no way we'd have space/weight otherwise.
Have a great time OP, and don't worry about your weight. My dsis works in palliative care and says so many women in particular really wish they'd travelled more.

Look at Rohan, expensive but made for travel. And hot countries.

Just in case it applies elsewhere - at the Emerald Palace in Bangkok it was not sufficient for me to have a scarf over my shoulders, they insisted I wore a top with sleeves so I had to go and buy one in a nearby market.

Forgive my stupidity but I don't understand the thing about internal Vietnam flights, what does it mean about not taking anything of value and why not?
(I have flown on internal Vietnam flights in the past and don't recall being told this or there being a problem).

Excellent thread. I'm travelling at the moment and have been impressed with these wash leaves. https://amzn.eu/d/1wbaBUE.
Most useful item of clothing has been a very loose half sleeve linen dress. I also wouldn't be without my foldable wide brimmed UV blocking sun hat (caps are rubbish in comparison) or my foam earplugs.
I avoid vests as my shoulders burn too easily and I find I get less hot if I am loosely covered.
I love my cotton hammam towel, more than the synthetic travel towels.