Next Adventure: Asia

In 2017, we were planning our honeymoon to Phuket, Thailand. Flights, hotels, dinner reservations – everything was booked. We were headed to a swanky resort beachside and were going to explore Phuket for multiple days during our first month of marital bliss. It didn’t happen. The marital bliss part, yes, the going to Thailand part, no. A few days before I was set to leave, Stephen got a notice that he wouldn’t be able to enter the country because his passport expired in less than 6 months. No ifs and or buts. Trip canceled. All I wanted was to see elephants. I was distraught and knew we lost a ton of money from that cancellation.

With the support of our parents and some fast planning, we ended up having the time of our lives at an island off the coast of Italy – Sardinia. We went scuba diving, snorkeled, relaxed on the beach, and wined and dined together at our luxury hotel and fancy restaurants. It all worked out in the end. You can read about our honeymoon trip here!

Fast forward two years and it’s time for us to move duty stations and leave Italy. Usually, you are given 30 days before the time you leave your duty station to get to your next destination. Most people use this opportunity to go home and visit their friends and family or drive their home goods cross country. We decided to take this time to explore somewhere we’ve never been but have been thinking about since the time we met – Thailand! And not just Thailand… we’ll also be adding on Vietnam and Cambodia.

Planning Stage

We ultimately decided that there was no way I could plan this trip by myself. I didn’t have the time nor the patience to do that research, especially to a continent I’ve never been before. I’m the trip planner between the two of us, so it was hard letting go of the reins and handing them over to someone else, but after realizing that it would be *23* days of travel between three countries with countless transfers, I was more than happy to hand the baton over. It was a quick decision to consult with a travel agent and I knew just the one.

Although they specialize in all-inclusive travel to the Caribbean and Mexico and cruising, Tammy and Eric Overcash with Tropics and Beyond knocked us off our feet when it came down to planning this trip. They helped build an itinerary based around our wants and the trip they came up with will be an epic one.

The Trip

In our 23 days of traveling, we’ll spend 12 days in Thailand, 4 days in Cambodia, and 7 days in Vietnam. Here’s a quick rundown of the things we’ll be doing along the way:

Bangkok

• Visiting the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

Chiang Mai

• Thai Cooking Class
• City and temple tour
• Hiking Doi Inthanon, along rice fields and to a waterfall
• Elephant sanctuary (!!!)

Phuket

• Phi Phi Island Tour via speedboat
• Snorkeling

Koh Sumai

• Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan by speedboat, snorkeling, hiking

Siem Reap

• Sightseeing in Angkor
• Paddling

Saigon

• Vietcong military tunnels

Hanoi

• Viewing a downed B52
• Sightseeing
• Cruise along Halong Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay for a few days
• Explore caves, kayaking, swimming

Everything above plus way more that I haven’t mentioned was included in the package that was put together for us, along with all 3* and 4* hotels, transportation (excluding airlines), and most meals (minus alcoholic drinks).

Airline Tickets

We decided to book our own flights and saved thousands of dollars this way thanks to our credit card points that we’ve racked up over the past couple of months. Two round trip tickets to Bangkok, Thailand from Milan, Italy cost us a total of $195.21! We use the Chase Sapphire Reserve and absolutely love it. I highly recommend it if you travel/dine frequently. More about the perks in an upcoming post!

Any Advice?

We’ve had a lot of friends visit Asia during their time off and we’re excited to finally get the opportunity to make this happen. Any recommendations on food we should try, purchases to make, clothes to wear, or anything you’d like to see published after our trip? We appreciate any and all advice before we leave for our trip!

And finally, we want to thank our travel agents, Tammy & Eric, for planning this. Be sure you’re following along on Instagram here so you can catch every Instagram story during our trip and the most recent posts! If you haven’t subscribed to Outside This Small Town yet, now’s the perfect time to do it so you’ll be the first to read every published blog piece. Thanks for following along!