We are two girls that often stick to the rules and like have clear defined plans in pretty much everything we do in life (ya we are those girls). However, we have been trying to incorporate a more laidback attitude into our planning. You know, truly embrace our new backpacker lifestyle. Therein lies the conundrum: how to be laid back so that you can enjoy the journey yet not get stuck spending outrageous amounts on tickets or all of the good accommodations being booked. We can't tell you how many times we have found Airbnb's that are perfect for us with a pool, gym, great location, free breakfast for an amazing price that was already booked for the dates we wanted. So we were forced to spend more on a place with fewer amenities.
In our short 18 days on the road here are some things we learned:
1) Not everyone shares the same opinions as you, so take reviews and travel blogs with a grain of salt. We stayed at several places highly recommended that we hated, while others that got mediocre reviews that we loved. When reading reviews it's helpful to think about the person writing the review, do they match your demographics? Are you the same type of traveler?
2) To avoid getting stuck somewhere we didn't like and give us more autonomy over our itinerary we learned to only look for places that have flexible cancelation policies. We also were able to book the best accommodations in advance so we knew they would be available if we indeed made it to those destinations as planned. Airbnb for example clearly defines whether a place has a easy, moderate or strict cancelation policy. Booking.com also has numerous locations in which you can reserve a room without even using a credit card.
3) It seems in SE Asia particularly in Vietnam, they are great at photoshop and many of the places we stayed at did not look at all like the photos. We got room catfished many a time. Be sure to check out photos taken by fellow travelers for a more accurate depiction. We love TripAdvisor for this reason, and attempt to photo compare places when possible before booking.
4) We have used several sites to book rooms: Kayak.com and Airbnb are our favorites as they often direct you to the best homes/hotels. Agoda.com in particular which is linked to Kayak, has amazing prices. The hotels we have stayed in often also give us a lot of freebies: free breakfast, bikes, cooking classes, which can add up to a larger value if you would pay for those things anyway.
5) It's nice to have the community hostels create. However, like life being like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get in terms of your hostel dorm room mates. Let me tell you, they won't all be your favorite flavor either. We got sick from some inconsiderate dorm mates that were sick as dogs who stayed up coughing and hacking all night right next to our faces. Que cold medicine and missing out on beach days and the savings of staying in a hostel were not worth it.
5) It's nice to have the community hostels create. However, like life being like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get in terms of your hostel dorm room mates. Let me tell you, they won't all be your favorite flavor either. We got sick from some inconsiderate dorm mates that were sick as dogs who stayed up coughing and hacking all night right next to our faces. Que cold medicine and missing out on beach days and the savings of staying in a hostel were not worth it.
Above all else, when in doubt just go for it. Some of our "mistakes" have landed us in the best locations possible that we loved.
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