Travel options for students during summer.

Intervention

Hi guys, I am a 21yr old male student on my summer holidays. Like a lot of people at the moment I am without a job and finding it very tough to find one. I am from a small enough town so this does not help. Anyway I had planned on going away to Australia for the summer but things are not really working out as planned.
I am now looking for an alternative. I really just want to get away for the summer as I have not many friends at home. Aside from the J1 to USA, I am not too familiar with student summer destinations. I have about €2,000 saved so where do you think that would take me? I would obviously intend to work while I am away.
Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks,
Niall

RATM

With €2,000 why bother working? Get a cheap flight to Asia for €600 and the remaining €1400 would easily see you live like a king for nearly two months traveling around Laos, Cambodia, Thailand.

Intervention

RATM wrote: »

With €2,000 why bother working? Get a cheap flight to Asia for €600 and the remaining €1400 would easily see you live like a king for nearly two months traveling around Laos, Cambodia, Thailand.

That sounds amazing but I really don't think I could do it alone. I'm one of those people who needs to be around people and while I am sure I would meet lots of great and interesting people, I just think the travelling element would be too tough to handle on my own.

I am terrible with organizing things also and could use a level headed companion. I was thinking more along the lines of settling in one place over the summer months. I would love to go to Berlin or some where but I don't speak German. The states would be great but I don't think I would survive long with the limited funds I have. I also would not have the right to work as I would only be a holiday visa.

RATM

Trust me as long as you are a friendly outgoing person you wouldn't be on your own for long in Asia. Traveling isn't tough to do, people just convince themselves it is so they have a reason not to go. Thailand, laos and Cambodia are well worn backpacker trails, it really isn't that hard or difficult at all- just ask anyone you know who has been.

But if you don't speak a language but want to work abroad Id say get yourself down to any of the major resorts in Spain, Greece, etc and try to find bar/restaurant work in establishments mainly frequented by Irish/English patrons.

Not as much fun as a backpacking adventure in Asia without having to do any work IMO but horses for courses....

Intervention

RATM wrote: »

Trust me as long as you are a friendly outgoing person you wouldn't be on your own for long in Asia. Traveling isn't tough to do, people just convince themselves it is so they have a reason not to go. Thailand, laos and Cambodia are well worn backpacker trails, it really isn't that hard or difficult at all- just ask anyone you know who has been.

But if you don't speak a language but want to work abroad Id say get yourself down to any of the major resorts in Spain, Greece, etc and try to find bar/restaurant work in establishments mainly frequented by Irish/English patrons.

Not as much fun as a backpacking adventure in Asia without having to do any work IMO but horses for courses....

Where do I start with Asia? Do you have any website recommendations or other resources? Do you think it would take long to organize? Also, do you think €2000 would actually be enough excluding flights?
Cheers mate!

RATM

Bangkok would be most peoples starting point for Asia- if you got a return flight to there you'd do alright.
With two months you could see some (but not all) parts of Thailand as well as Laos and Cambodia for around 2 weeks each.- In Thailand its your choice what to do- go down south to the islands laze and party or go up north and trek and party Cambodia is known for the stunning Angkor Wat and the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh, both are worth a visit. And Laos is more of a chill out with other backpackers kind of place with river tubing and other goodies available.

Most people just travel to Asia without any solid plans and sort them out when they get there- there are tons of travel agents selling tours/bus/plane/boat tickets going any place you can think of and they can give good advice about whats available.

Its really not hard to organise, just buy a flight, pack a bag and you are off. How you spend your time and what you do is entirely up to yourself.

A good thing to do would be to buy a guide book on the area, research where you wanna go and then take it from there.

Two good websites for Thailand/Laos/Cambodia region are www.travelfish.org and
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forum.jspa?forumID=51 The FAQ section of that site has a ton of info on travel/attractions in Thailand.

Regards money, yeah Id say you can easily survive in Asia for 180-200 per week. Cities like Bangkok are relatively expensive but once you get into the countryside things get a lot cheaper.
Cambodia is cheaper than Thailand and Laos is even cheaper again (eg €2 beds for the night, €1 for a beer, €2-3 for a good meal, etc). So as long as you didn't go blowing your budget on things like scuba diving or paragliding, etc then 180-200 will get you 3 solid meals a day, transport, bed for the night, a few beers and entrance to royal palaces, museums etc.

Trust me man I first went traveling to thailand alone when I was 19 and I didn't regret it for a single moment, in fact I had the time of my life. :cool:

Intervention

Thanks for all the tips man, I really appreciate it. I will get looking in to this.
Cheers

Intervention

RATM, just one more thing. Where do you advise to best organize flights to Thailand? Would you recommend going in to a travel agency, or booking independently online? Also, have you any idea roughly what I would expect to be paying? Just trying to get an idea of cost.
Thanks

RATM

With sterling the way it is at the moment you be best to buy it with a credit card from a UK travel agent.It just means that you will have to get your own Ryanair cheapie to London Gatwick or Heathrow with Aer Lingus but you will save money doing it this way. By all means check out Usit and Trailfinders here but Im doubting they can beat UK agents on price.

As you are a student and under 26 I'd try www.statravel.co.uk and make sure you tell them you are a student to get a discount. It might be better to ring them because their new website is pretty crappy.

Also some of the big online agents can sometimes be just as cheap like www.expedia.co.uk. Another one to check is www.flightcentre.co.uk - they guarantee to beat any price on flights.

As you are going in summer the prices won't be as cheap as they are normally but I'd expect to pay around €550-650 return or so. Middle Eastern airlines like Etihad, Gulf Air and Kuwait Air are generally always the cheapest to get to Bangkok so make sure your agent sells those airlines or you won't be getting the cheapest fare.

ThE_IVIAcIVIAIV

i don't want to be a party pooper but isn't it rainy season in asia during our summer? and not 1/4 as many tourists as peak time?

RATM

Yeah the monsoon is on for summer alright. IMO it can be the best time to go precisely because there are less tourists.
It generally doesn't rain for too long- like it can rain cats and dogs for an hour and a half and then nothing for the rest of the day. In any case because of the temperatures it is 'warm rain'- not the kind of flu inducing rain we are used to here.
Ive been to Asia twice during the monsoon and I really wouldn't let it put me off going, its really nowhere near as bad as some people think.

breadmonkey

Yeah don't worry about the monsoon. I've spent months and months in asia during the mosoon and it's no big deal.

hopalong85

I'd go with what RATM said here. I spent the last two summers in Asia and can't recommend it enough. If you're careful you can easily live on 200 per week there. With regards to flights, I flew with Etihad last summer and it cost me 680 iirc. As far as I know, Air Asia are now flying from Heathrow to Kuala Lumpar. This is the Asian version of Ryanair and is definitely worth looking into as I believe flights start at very low prices, you'd need to check this yourself.

Travelling alone is not a biggie in SE Asia. Many people do it and trust me you won't be on your own for long. Also, travelling independently means you can do what you want, when you want. It's pretty liberating and I say go for it! Best of luck with whatever you decide.:)

TillyTwanda

hi guys...there seems to be a few people on this with experience of travelling thailand ...i'm thinking of doing it too i'm 20 and female would it be safe to go by myself, there are some countries i wouldn't dream of going alone is thailand one of them?? also want to go to cambodia, laos and vietnam ..again safe??

james1983

Intervention wrote: »

Where do I start with Asia? Do you have any website recommendations or other resources? Do you think it would take long to organize? Also, do you think €2000 would actually be enough excluding flights?
Cheers mate!

Be wide about going on your own and that is just being sensible. If you don't feel up to it then don't go on your own - i hate this attitude of just go for it without any thought. I say this because i have travelled the world on my own and while had the time of my time, i really don't believe it is for everyone. I saw many, many single travellers not enjoying themseleves and i wondered what they were doing travelling on their own. I found a lot of single travellers strange to be honest and running away from problems, relationships, etc. If you are a normal friendly chap who will put themself out there then go for it. If not then don't it and thats just friendly advice.

eire2009

Im going the end of july .. flying back to do my final year in college on 17 sept . I got flights for 377 sterling from www.netflights.com Ive found places on the net for 40 cent a night(The overstay) ha mad or what.

If your going you have to get a 60 day visa from the thai consoulate www.thaiconsulateireland.com/ Its suppost to be free now but I sent the 40 quid anyway. I got my stamped passport back with 20 quid inside(fair enough I guess).

dory

They probably thought you were trying to bribe them eire!
You should definitely head to Asia. Kuala Lumpur is a great place to start, it's a very beautiful, modern city and not too expensive.
Then you could head up to Thailand from there. If you've never travelled really before Bangkok might shock you, but after a few weeks in Malaysia you might be ready for it.

And I also went during monsoon, it was fine. Much better weather than your average Irish summer anyway!