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Budget SE Asia trip, Summer 2016 Updated real-time
I think it's time to start a PTR! I've started researching this trip in earnest, at least the parts that most interest me. (Disneyland Hong Kong!)
Who: Me 38, DS (will be 8 next summer), DH 51 What: Super-budget SE Asia tour. Current plan is to take train from Oregon to Vancouver, BC. Fly to Hong Kong. Overland into Laos to visit friends. Now have another contact in Malasia, so may be looking into that. Overland back to Hong Kong to fly home. When: ~June 20th-Aug 25th 2016 Why: I have summers off. DH and I want to see as much of the world as we can while we can. We've talked about Asia since way before DS was born. We love our family backpacker trips!
The trip is dependent on us really controlling our spending over the next 5 months. We'll be buying our plane tickets in Jan or Feb if the money is looking good enough. I have a thread going at The Office, kind of a savings challenge thread, if anyone is interested. Right now we already have enough saved to cover the train/plane trip there and back, so it's looking very good.
Great start! What an amazing adventure you all will have!
It's going to be wild. Really looking forward to some of it. I'm even looking forward to antimalarials. (They make me feel WEIRD. Whee! ) Not looking forward to dysentery, which I think is a given at some point. But yes! Thanks for following along!
I keep wanting to read more about the trip NOW! I'm looking forward to hearing the itinerary and route details, especially through China, as you should be going through the amazing scenery of Guangxi, right? Okay, I'll try to be patient and let the plans unfold in this PTR....
I keep wanting to read more about the trip NOW! I'm looking forward to hearing the itinerary and route details, especially through China, as you should be going through the amazing scenery of Guangxi, right? Okay, I'll try to be patient and let the plans unfold in this PTR....
Bwahahaha!!! Reminds me of checking in on your recent TR! I have to admit that I'm not too familiar with Chinese geography (yet), but yes, we will be going through Guangxi province, and seeing the limestone Karst formations of this region easily tops the list for things I want to see in all of China. We're so lucky that our route takes us right through this area.
For those less familiar than Laurie, here's a stock picture from the web:
It's right out of a classical Chinese painting. I cannot wait to spend some time in this stuff.
Bwahahaha!!! Reminds me of checking in on your recent TR! I have to admit that I'm not too familiar with Chinese geography (yet), but yes, we will be going through Guangxi province, and seeing the limestone Karst formations of this region easily tops the list for things I want to see in all of China. We're so lucky that our route takes us right through this area.
For those less familiar than Laurie, here's a stock picture from the web:
It's right out of a classical Chinese painting. I cannot wait to spend some time in this stuff.
Oh wow - that is just stunning!
One day, I want to tour China. I know what tour I want to take - it's just finding the time (in amongst everything else I want to do ) and the money, as it won't be cheap. Maybe for my 50th in 2022... Ok, now I said that out loud, that is far too far away!
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I love your budget trips. They are so different from the usual. Hope you get to buy your tickets in January. I wish I had summers off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huntermom
Getting even more exciting.
Thanks so much for following along, Huntermom. I'm glad you like reading about our low-income jetsetter experiences! I think I love finding the deals and the travel hacks as much as I like the travel itself. There's some weird stuff to see over there in Asia.
You work in law, right? Minimal vacation time? When I was looking into career choices, extended time off was the #1 consideration because of DBF to be DH's then-career as a comic juggler. He traveled May-Oct with the show. Now that I'm the sole breadwinner, I'm so glad I got myself set up with the time off. At least for now.
That said, I did really enjoy staying home this past summer. I grew veggies and swam in the river a lot. So, if my district ever goes to year-round school, or if I have to take another job with minimal vacation, I'll live with it. But I'm taking advantage now.
The tickets were under 1000 out of vancouver, and we looked at historic prices and realized we were in the bottom 15% of prices or so...And we figured we could do our traditional agonizing, hemming, and hawing and pay a few hundred bucks more for the pleasure (as tix go up) or we could "decide now, suffer later", which we aim to be our decision making motto.
A couple quick searches on kayak, and we found an even better deal out of SF. SO, we are flying
SFO to HKG June 20th 1:50am
HKG to SFP Aug 25th (arrive in SFO 9:10 pm)
EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! I can't beleive it.
I've never flown Singapore airlines before. It gets good reviews, though we will be in the super economy seats, of course. They have a discount for kid seats, they were about 2/3 the adult price, I think that's why they were so much less than the next airline up. Our average per-seat price was 870 bucks.
Singapore Airlines
Flight 1 SFO
Mon 1:15am
San Francisco, United States
(terminal I)
HKG
Tue 6:35am
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
(terminal 1)
14h 20m Economy Boeing 777-300ER Thu, Aug 25, 2016 - Nonstop Total flight time: 12h 45m
Singapore Airlines
Flight 2 HKG
Thu 11:30pm
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
(terminal 1)
SFO
Thu 9:15pm
San Francisco, United States
(terminal I)
12h 45m Economy Boeing 777-300ER
__________________
Themed environment junkie
Last edited by KimmyAnn1147; 09-19-2015 at 12:50 PM..
For those who followed P-sha's big adventure, you might remember I'm really excited to visit the Tonga Room in SF. Since we have a nearly 2am flight monday morning, we will have lots of time in SF (Amtrak is supposed to get us there at 8am) to see this!
OK, I'm freaking out. I've been planning this trip for over 10 years, it feels like.
I'm excited for you! Having the flights set makes it a reality. I didn't know any airlines offered lower prices for children any more. Singapore Airlines has a very good reputation. And a day in SF to play!
I'm excited for you! Having the flights set makes it a reality. I didn't know any airlines offered lower prices for children any more. Singapore Airlines has a very good reputation. And a day in SF to play!
I know! It's been a long time since I've been on a flight with meal service included in the ticket. Even though it's 14 hrs to get there, I'm looking forward to that. It's got in-seat screens! So fun, it's like I'm going back to my old life when I traveled a lot!
When I did the kayak search, the tickets were quoted at about 890 per person, but when I saw the actual individual prices, that's when I noticed that the adult tix were more and the child tix were less. DH thinks that it's part of Singapore's push to increase their birthrate. I'll take it!
Very excited about SF too! I have a few things I'd really love to see there, but we'll have our luggage, so it could be tough.
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It sounds like an amazing trip! 
) and the money, as it won't be cheap. Maybe for my 50th in 2022... Ok, now I said that out loud, that is far too far away! 
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