In a nutshell
- Our packing list is suitable for globe-trotters, travel photographers, and backpackers heading to Southeast Asia — and it works for both short trips and long-term travel.
- A valid passport, vaccination records, an international driver’s license, credit cards, and travel health insurance are absolute must-haves for a Southeast Asia trip.
- Mosquito nets, solid rain protection, and sunscreen are non-negotiables — don’t even think about leaving these behind.
- Less really is more: we’ve done six-month trips with carry-on luggage only, and we’ve never once wished we’d packed more.
Who is our Southeast Asia packing list for?
Since 2015 we’ve been traveling regularly in Southeast Asia for several months at a time, and with each trip we fine-tune our packing list and keep it as up to date as possible for you.
The list works for both short-term and long-term trips. Because as you’ll see, you need the exact same things for a week as you do for six months or a year.
This packing list is suited for:
- Short-term travelers
- Long-term travelers
- Backpackers, flashpackers, and regular travelers
- Travel to Southeast Asian countries
- Travel to warm countries in general, even outside of Southeast Asia
In this article we’ll tell you in detail why we packed certain things. And so you don’t forget anything, we’ve put together a checklist you can print out and check off.
Packing right: Our packing tips
Since 2015 we’ve been living and working location-independently, carrying our lives around the world in two backpacks. Over the years we’ve gotten pretty good at packing, and today we’re sharing our best tips with you.
Less is more!
In our first year we traveled to Southeast Asia with carry-on luggage only — and for six months! Sounds crazy? It really isn’t.
Of course it’s no problem to fill two huge backpacks. But if you limit yourself to the essentials, you definitely won’t miss a thing and you’ll feel just a little bit freer on your trip. We promise.
Instead of asking yourself “What do I need to pack for Southeast Asia?”, ask yourself: “What do I actually need for my trip?”
We’ll tell you what we really need in this article. We’re regularly on the road in Southeast Asia for between four and six months at a stretch, and we truly only bring what we show you here.
Do we always travel with carry-on luggage only?
No! Even though we still find carry-on-only travel really appealing, it hasn’t worked out for us long-term. That’s mainly because we now travel with two kids, and that just requires a little more stuff.
In this packing list, though, we’re focusing on traveling without kids. If you’re heading out with children, check out our packing list for vacations with children.
How to make sure you never forget anything!
When we travel for longer periods, we start making checklists a few weeks before departure: one for clothes and shoes, one for toiletries and medications, one for tech, and one for safety and comfort items.
Writing everything out separately has been incredibly helpful for getting organized and figuring out what we actually need. It let us break free from the typical “maybe I’ll need that someday” mindset and pare down our luggage to the true essentials.
By now our own Southeast Asia packing list has taken us through Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Myanmar, Qatar, Dubai, Indonesia, Laos, and Vietnam. So far we haven’t missed a thing.
By the way, this approach to packing doesn’t just work in Southeast Asia — it works in Europe too. The only difference is that the contents of our backpack differ in a few ways from what’s on this list.
We’ve also written up our packing list for city trips in Europe. But it doesn’t only work in Europe — it works in pretty much any country with a similar climate. We used it for our Japan trip planning, for example.
Okay, now we’re baring it all and unpacking our backpacks for you. Here’s our complete packing list.
Our backpacks
First up, we’ll show you which backpacks we bring to Southeast Asia. They’re not just practical for Asia — they’re great for any trip.
Our backpacks
Blok Large by Pinqponq (40 liters)
Osprey Farpoint 40 (40 liters)
Travel Trekker ND60 by Lowe Alpine (60 liters) – unfortunately no longer available
For a long time we both traveled with the Osprey Farpoint 40, which we highly recommend. It’s carry-on sized, though we’ve also checked it as luggage on occasion.
These days, though, we carry so much tech that we swapped one of our 40-liter backpacks for a 60-liter one. Jenny has also replaced her Osprey Farpoint 40 with the Blok Large by Pinqponq.
Backpack 1: Pinqponq Blok Large
The Blok Large is a perfect carry-on backpack. It has a laptop compartment on the back panel that you can access separately through a zipper on the side, along with lots of other great features.
The backpack is available in select online stores.
Backpack 2: Osprey Farpoint 40
We swear by our beloved Osprey backpacks — the Farpoint 40, which we have in blue and black. We either take the Pinqponq as a carry-on backpack, or one of our Osprey Farpoint 40s.
Alternatives & additional options
Not everyone likes traveling with just a backpack. Here are a few alternatives that don’t scream “backpacker” and can also be combined with suitcase-style travel:
Our tip: For Southeast Asia, we’d always recommend going with a backpack — the roads and paths here really aren’t made for dragging a rolling suitcase around.
If you’re going from hotel to hotel and always traveling by taxi or private driver, a suitcase is definitely an option though.
Documents packing list: What documents do you need?
In this section we’ll list all of our travel documents. This is essentially the core kit of any Southeast Asia trip.
Almost everything can be replaced somehow, but the most important documents are the ones you absolutely cannot forget.
Travel documents checklist
- Passports
- Vaccination records
- Driver’s licenses
- International driver’s license
- Passport photos for visas (if you’re traveling to multiple countries that require a visa)
- 50 euros in cash – for exchanging in an emergency
- International health insurance card (digital copy)
- Travel credit cards (withdraw cash in the local currency & save money)
Why you absolutely need to pack these documents
Of course you shouldn’t forget your passport — that goes without saying. Having vaccination records with you is always helpful in an emergency too.
If you want to ride a scooter or drive a car, you should have an international driver’s license in addition to your regular license. In some parts of Thailand, for example, the police check for this regularly.
We’ve also scanned all our important documents and saved them to our Google Drive. That’s really handy if something goes missing — plus, you occasionally need a digital copy of your passport.
Money and credit cards
In Southeast Asia, you’ll want to rely on credit cards rather than cash. We keep only a small amount of cash on hand for emergencies and use cards for everything else.
Our tip: If you travel a lot, getting one or two good travel credit cards is seriously worth it. Look for cards that let you withdraw cash fee-free worldwide — they can save you a surprising amount of money over a longer trip.
Travel health insurance
Don’t skip travel health insurance — in a serious emergency, whether illness or accident, costs can quickly run into five or even six figures. It doesn’t cost much, and the peace of mind is absolutely worth it.
We save our insurance card digitally. For simple medical bills, you just submit them to the insurer afterward. But if you end up in the hospital for several days — which we hope won’t happen — hospitals typically want your insurance information upfront. That’s when you’ll need your policy number.
Travel accessories packing list: The travel gadgets we swear by
In this section we’ll list all the items that fall under organization and comfort.
Travel accessories checklist
- Packing cubes – For keeping your backpack organized
- Travel pillow – So you always feel at home
- Silk sleeping bag liners – For comfort and mosquito protection
- Mosquito net + mosquito net hanging kit – Essential in Southeast Asia
- Document pouches – Keep your documents organized
- Travel yoga mat – For relaxing and working out on the go
- Sleep mask – For those sensitive to light
- Soft earplugs – For a good night’s sleep
- Headlamp and/or flashlight – You’ll need them more often than you’d think
Why you should pack these things
This category is really important, and even though these items take up a little space in your backpack, we’re super glad we packed them.
The right mosquito net
Mosquito protection is very important in Southeast Asia. Mosquitoes aren’t just incredibly annoying — the little critters unfortunately also carry diseases like dengue fever and even malaria.
Even in nicer accommodations there often aren’t mosquito nets, and we use ours regularly. It’s also just a good feeling to have a hole-free net on hand and know you can fall back on it if needed.
We recommend bringing a box-style net, since you often won’t have a hook above your bed — even though a lot of people claim otherwise.
Our mosquito net can be stretched with four straps on the long sides and three straps on the shorter sides. In practice you really only need about four to six cords to set it up.
Another advantage of a box-style net is that it doesn’t hang on you at the foot of the bed or along the sides, so no part of your body is directly against the net at night. Otherwise, mosquitoes will just bite you right through it. Bottom line: a box net is the only option that makes sense for us.
Something else you absolutely need to pay attention to when buying a mosquito net is the mesh size. There are countless cheap nets out there, but most of them aren’t suitable for all Southeast Asian countries because their mesh isn’t fine enough. The mesh density is listed in product descriptions as “mesh” or “sq.” — definitely check this before buying.
The WHO recommends a mesh size of at least 156 sq for malaria zones and at least 196 sq for countries with sand flies. Our mosquito net has 600 mesh.
During our research, we read that such a fine mesh density isn’t ideal for hot countries because it barely allows for air circulation.
We bought it anyway, because the extra-fine mesh protects against all mosquito species: Culex mosquitoes (malaria), Aedes (dengue fever, yellow fever, chikungunya), sand flies, and midges.
On top of that, there were plenty of positive reviews from travelers who had used it in Southeast Asia — and sure enough, we’ve had zero issues with air circulation and are very impressed with the quality.
The net is extremely well made, has proven to be very durable, and has held up through a lot. It’s easy to hang up, packs away quickly, and has a relatively compact packed size.
Buy the mosquito net hanging kit online
The perfect travel pillow
The travel pillow is something Jenny has strong feelings about — she spent a long time searching for the ideal solution. Some people can sleep on almost any pillow (like Basti), and as admirable as that is, Jenny can’t.
She’s a stomach sleeper, and if you are too, you can probably relate to how difficult it is to sleep on a twelve-inch-high, rock-hard pillow — which you’ll find very often in Thailand, for example.
She tried sleeping on her folded-up sweater or a towel as an alternative. Not exactly comfortable.
After a long search, we finally found the answer, and Jenny is now super happy with her travel pillow from Therm-a-Rest. Not only does it compress easily, it’s genuinely comfortable. It’s also a great gadget for sleeping better on a plane.
Another bonus: you can just toss it in the washing machine and even the dryer.
Packing cubes to keep your bag organized
We’ve grown to love our packing cubes — they let us actually keep our backpack organized.
We’re often in one place for longer stretches, but in between we move around so much that we’re somewhere new every two days and have to unpack and repack constantly.
Staying organized is a real challenge in those situations. But with packing cubes it works pretty well and we can find everything fairly quickly.
Yoga mat for relaxing & working out
We both thought for a long time about how we could stay fit on the road. When you’re traveling a lot, constantly in a new place, and spending all day sightseeing, that might not even be necessary.
But in practice we try to stay in one place for several weeks at a time so we can focus on work. That means we’re often just sitting in front of our laptops, only stepping outside for lunch and dinner. Not exactly a healthy lifestyle!
Staying fit is only one reason we pack a yoga/fitness mat, though. When you travel a lot, you also need a way to wind down.
For Jenny, that’s yoga and fitness exercises, which require a good mat. It wasn’t easy finding one that’s both lightweight and high quality, but we found the right one in the end.
Even Basti uses it for his workouts. He uses the “Seven” app, which puts together a full-body workout in seven minutes.
A great tip for anyone who doesn’t like going to the gym and doesn’t want to spend much time exercising. The app is available for Android and iOS — Seven for iOS / Seven for Google Play.
Buy the travel yoga mat online
Light, so you’re never in the dark
We actually use our headlamp and flashlight quite often.
On Koh Lanta, for example, the path to our accommodation wasn’t really lit, and the beach was pitch black at night — which meant we’d have had to walk back from the beach bar in complete darkness.
In Sri Lanka and the Philippines, power outages are also a daily occurrence, so we were grateful for our flashlights there too.
Another reason to bring a flashlight: you no longer have to climb out of your mosquito net just to turn off the light. Otherwise, you’ll end up covered in bites.
Safety packing list: How we protect ourselves and our gear while traveling
Safety is always an important topic when planning a trip. The last things we need on the road are a downpour that destroys our tech, or opportunistic theft that leaves us without money, credit cards, and passports.
But you can minimize the likelihood of both with minimal effort. Here’s how we go about it.
Safety checklist
- Pacsafe – Travel safe for valuables, tech & camera gear
- Waterproof backpack – For downpours, ferry rides, or boat trips
- Rain cover for backpack – Protects all your luggage
Why you absolutely need to pack these things
This is a really important category, and even though these items take up a bit of space in your backpack, we’re very glad we packed them.
Pacsafe travel safe
Every single time, we’re incredibly glad we decided to pack the Pacsafe. If you’re not familiar with it, here’s a quick explanation: the Pacsafe is a wire-reinforced bag that you can lock to a fixed object using a steel cable and a combination lock.
Many accommodations don’t have a safe, and even when they do, it’s usually not bolted down anywhere or simply too small.
We carry so much expensive equipment that we’re genuinely relieved not to have to just leave it sitting around the room.
With the Pacsafe, we can at least protect our laptops and credit cards from the typical opportunistic thief, since cutting through the wire is simply too much trouble. We’ll never travel without it again!
Rain protection
Rain covers for backpacks, waterproof dry bags, a dry sack, or alternatively a waterproof backpack are, in our opinion, absolutely essential for any Southeast Asia trip.
Because in Southeast Asia it doesn’t rain like it does back home — it usually pours buckets. Always keep this in mind and make sure your valuables (especially electronics) are protected at all times.
Buy a waterproof backpack online
Buy a rain cover for your backpack online
Camera gear packing list: The photo equipment we bring on trips
Here we’ll list the most important camera equipment we bring. If you want to bring home better photos in the future, check out our camera buying guide for a full breakdown of different camera systems.
Camera gear checklist
Cameras
- 2 x Sony Alpha 7 ii + lenses
Camera bags
- Camera bags from our former online shop
Travel tripod
Safety & protection
- Camera wrap – To protect your gear if you don’t have a camera bag
- Silica gel packets – Protection against moisture
- Blower – For cleaning the camera
- B+W lens cleaner – For cleaning the lens
- Microfiber cleaning cloth – For cleaning the lens
- Anti-static brush – For cleaning the camera
Miscellaneous
Why we packed this camera gear
We usually travel with two Sony Alpha 7ii cameras. Since photography is an important part of our work, we travel with professional cameras. Of course, not everyone needs that.
A solid and more affordable alternative is the Sony Alpha 6000, which we used ourselves for a long time and can definitely recommend.
Also super important for us is the Rollei travel tripod — it’s just perfect for travelers thanks to its compact size and low weight!
A few more photography resources you might find useful
Looking for the right camera? Read through our camera buying guide, where we walk you through the different camera systems and explain which one is the best option for you.
More photography tips here: Our photography tips.
Do you have a Sony Alpha 6000 or another Sony camera with an E-mount and are looking for the right lens? We explain which lens is best for you here: Sony Alpha 6000 lenses – Overview and our recommendations for E-mount lenses.
Tech packing list: The tech we travel with
Tech checklist
- 2x MacBook Pro – our work tools
- 1 x iPad – perfect for watching movies and browsing in bed or on a plane
- Kindle – lots of books on one device
- Sony headphones MDR-1000X – Noise canceling – incredible! We’ll never give them up!
- 2x AirPods – handy for working out, great sound
- 1 TB SSD hard drive – for backing up photos
- Travel adapter – Different countries have different outlet types
- 3-port USB charger – for charging multiple devices
- 2 x USB cable – also for charging
- Power bank – for charging on the go (Note: Must go in carry-on luggage, not checked baggage!)
What should you absolutely pack from this list?
We definitely carry more tech and camera gear than clothing. But that’s a good thing — since we work location-independently, we’re pretty much lost without our tech.
Headphones that make life better
Jenny’s headphones save her from any noise she doesn’t want to hear and let her work focused no matter where she is. They’re also her way of switching off and retreating into her own world when she needs some peace and quiet.
What’s great about these headphones are the features. The noise canceling function lets you completely block out ambient sounds, and the ambient sound function means you won’t miss an important announcement at the airport or train station even while wearing headphones.
And the headphones make one more thing so much easier. This might be a very personal problem, but maybe you can relate: you’re wearing headphones, someone says something, and you can’t hear a word. So you have to take them off every time — annoying!
With these noise-canceling headphones, Jenny just taps the outside of the right ear cup with one hand and the music gets much quieter so she can hear what the other person is saying. These are small things, but once you get used to them, you never want to go back!
Solid external hard drives so nothing gets lost
We now only travel with SSD hard drives because we can work directly from them. On the 1 TB SSD we store the raw photo files and can edit our photos directly with Lightroom while connected to the SSD.
On the 480 GB SSD drive we back up all the new photos taken during the trip. Our video files are stored there too, so we can edit our travel videos directly from the SSD.
When we have a good internet connection, we also upload the photos to our Synology.
Buy the 1 TB SSD hard drive online
Toiletries packing list: The hygiene products we travel with
In this section you’ll find all the toiletries we bring on the road. Here too we keep things pretty minimalist and have found our perfect setup by now.
Our silicone bottles in particular have been with us from the start and we never want to give them up. More on that below.
Toiletries checklist
- Toiletry bag of your choice – we swear by the Osprey toiletry bag
- Silicone bottles – filled with shampoo, conditioner & body wash / Alternative: solid shower gel & shampoo, e.g. Carlos Cocos by Duschbrocken
- Sonicare electric toothbrush
- Toothpaste & dental floss
- Nail file & nail clippers
- Tweezers
- Hairbrush – small and compact
- Aluminum-free deodorant cream by Wolkenseifen – The stuff is seriously great!
- Wet razor
- Beard trimmer (Basti)
- Mascara (Jenny)
- SPF 30 sunscreen – Usually much more expensive locally!
- Lip balm – SPF 50
- Face moisturizer
- Tampons/menstrual cups (period underwear unfortunately doesn’t work well on long trips)
Which toiletries you absolutely should pack
This section of our Southeast Asia packing list naturally depends a lot on each traveler’s personal needs.
But here too we’d like to give you a few pointers.
Our first tip: Don’t stress about forgetting something. People in other countries wash their hair and shower too. You’ll be able to find everything you truly need locally.
Silicone bottles you’ll keep forever
Something we can definitely recommend are our silicone bottles. Up until now we’d always used those small plastic bottles you can buy at any drugstore — they’d regularly break after a few weeks and we’d have to buy new ones. So annoying!
Before one of our trips we stumbled across these silicone bottles, almost by accident. Such a simple but brilliant invention! The bottles are incredibly durable and their size makes them carry-on friendly too.
An electric toothbrush
A toothbrush obviously belongs in every travel kit. We’ve been using an electric toothbrush for years and can only recommend it. If you have one too, you’ll know exactly what we mean when we say you never really want to go back to a regular toothbrush.
Honestly, an electric toothbrush on the packing list isn’t a must — just a general recommendation from us.
Buy the Sonicare electric toothbrush online
From Jenny to all the women out there: Tampons
One thing women should definitely think about beforehand is tampons. In many Southeast Asian countries it’s very difficult or nearly impossible to buy tampons. So make sure to bring an adequate supply.
Over the years we’ve specifically kept track of where you can buy tampons so we can share our findings:
Thailand: In the larger cities you can find tampons in various sizes (mini, regular, and super). Just head to a bigger supermarket or a 7-Eleven in more touristy areas. Drugstore chains like Boots and Watsons also carry tampons sometimes. On the islands, though, the search can get exhausting — or fruitless.
Philippines: It’s significantly harder there. In Dumaguete and Cebu, mini tampons were available in the really large supermarkets. In smaller stores and on the islands, you definitely won’t find any.
Sri Lanka: Tampons are now available in the larger branches of the Foodcity supermarket chain.
Myanmar: Mini tampons are available at the “Citymart” supermarket chain in Yangon and Mandalay. And that’s about it.
Indonesia: On Bali we forgot to check. But since we even spotted them in mini-markets on Gili Air, we assume they’re now widely available there. Outside of Bali, though, it’ll definitely be much harder.
New! A few women have now told me they use menstrual cups and are very happy with them. I haven’t tried them myself yet, but after a quick initial search I’m very intrigued! It’s definitely worth giving them a try.
Travel pharmacy packing list: The medications we always bring on trips
In this section we’ll tell you which medications we keep in our travel pharmacy and share a few useful tips.
Travel pharmacy checklist
- Bite healer – A miracle worker for mosquito bites
- Perenterol Forte – Effective and natural remedy for diarrhea
- Imodium Akut – Also for diarrhea, but only for absolute emergencies, e.g. during bus rides
- Activated charcoal tablets – Combined with Perenterol Forte, perfect for diarrhea
- Electrolytes – Replenishes essential nutrients when you have diarrhea
- Band-aids – Can be used for all sorts of things. Always good to have.
- Bepanthen wound and healing ointment – Also always useful
- Paracetamol – For pain relief, also available locally
- Kaufmann’s skin cream – For the lips
- Motion sickness tablets and motion sickness gum – For sensitive stomachs
Prescription only
- Fucidin – antibiotic ointment for infections
- Malarone (For emergencies only!)
- Broad-spectrum antibiotic (For emergencies only!)
What you absolutely need in your travel pharmacy
In general, pharmacies are very common throughout Southeast Asia. The challenge is finding a pharmacist who speaks good English. In Asia they tend to reach for antibiotics right away for everything, which obviously isn’t ideal.
Ibuprofen or anti-diarrhea medication is usually fairly easy to find locally. But we always keep a supply on hand so we don’t have to go hunting for a pharmacy in an emergency.
Mosquito repellent
Mosquito protection is absolutely essential. That said, we recommend only packing a small supply. You can find insect repellent everywhere locally — the stuff you get there is often even more effective and costs a fifth of the price.
Medications for emergencies
There are certain things that absolutely belong in a travel pharmacy for Southeast Asia.
For us, those are mainly the things you might urgently need on the spot if the nearest pharmacy or doctor is too far away. That includes a pack of malaria standby tablets, anti-diarrhea medication, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, and an antibiotic ointment (e.g. Fucidin).
Especially on longer trips that take you off the beaten path, a solid basic medical kit is essential.
A bite healer: The miracle cure for mosquito bites
Mosquitoes are annoying and especially sneaky. You lather yourself in repellent from head to toe and they still find a spot and bite you multiple times. Little pests!
The slim white device you see in the photo is our bite healer. We always have it on hand — because if you use it right after getting bitten, it actually works really well!
The tip heats up and the device signals with a beep to let you know how long to hold it on the bite.
Anti-diarrhea medication
The best anti-diarrhea medication is Perenterol, because it also helps rebuild your gut flora at the same time. You should keep Imodium Akut on hand for all situations, but only use it in the most dire of emergencies.
Getting Perenterol in Asia is nearly impossible. Your best bet is to ask at a pharmacy for probiotics — you’ll get something similar.
Links:
Buy Perenterol Forte online
Band-aids: the ultimate MacGyver tool
A roll of band-aids is not just a secret weapon for covering blisters on our feet (we haven’t needed it for that yet), but also for MacGyver-style repairs or simply to tape a T-shirt over the air conditioner if it blows directly onto the bed.
Band-aids are also great for patching holes in a mosquito net. For us, they’re definitely a travel essential.
Why you don’t need to worry
Depending on where your trip takes you, you really don’t need to stress at all — you can get almost everything locally too.
Pharmacies in Thailand in particular are very well stocked. Even in the smallest towns in Sri Lanka there was a well-equipped pharmacy.
In general, the real challenge is more of a language barrier. Your best bet is to know the name of the medication you need and show the pharmacist the active ingredients.
You should also be aware that in a Thai pharmacy you’ll often be handed antibiotics for just about any complaint — because they’re not prescription-only there. If you don’t want that, say so clearly, or better yet, look up online which medication you should ask for.
And it bears repeating: make sure you have travel health insurance that covers your costs in an emergency. It doesn’t cost the world, and in a serious emergency — whether illness or accident — costs can quickly run into five or even six figures.
Here again are our international health insurance options:
International health insurance for 1 year (max. 8 consecutive weeks)
Long-term international health insurance
Clothing packing list: What clothes we bring
The next section is all about clothing. What should you absolutely bring, and what can you safely leave at home? We’re opening up our packing cubes and listing everything out in detail.
Basti’s clothing – For men
- 1 x thin long pants
- 2 x shorts
- 1 x hoodie
- 7 x T-shirts
- 7 x boxer shorts
- 2 x ankle socks
- 1 x long socks
- 1 x swim shorts
- 1 x sunglasses
Jenny’s clothing – For women
- 1 x thin long pants
- 1 x Thai pants
- 2 x shorts
- 1 x hoodie
- 1 x thin long-sleeved shirt
- 6 x T-shirts
- 1 x short dress
- 7 x underwear
- 2 x bikini
- 2 x bra
- 1 x belt
- 2 x ankle socks
- 1 x long socks
- 1 x sunglasses
What clothing do we recommend for your Southeast Asia trip?
Now we get to the section where a lot of people trip up. We all know that feeling of coming home after a vacation and realizing you didn’t wear half of what you packed.
Now imagine if your closet only had clothes for exactly seven days plus one change of outfit. Terrifying? Maybe. But it’s also incredibly liberating, because you stop thinking about what to wear. And besides, you’ll only pack the clothes you actually love wearing most.
Only a small selection of warmer items
Something that’s simply not necessary for Asia is more than one pair of thin long pants. You’ll probably only wear them on the flight, in an air-conditioned bus, or if you go out somewhere nicer in the evening.
The same goes for a sweater or similar. You really only need it for the flight and to survive bus rides within the country (where it often feels like a frigid 50°F).
What is handy, though, is an extra pair of Thai pants, which you can buy everywhere in Southeast Asia for about 3 dollars.
A tip for women: You can also just wear leggings or tights under a pair of shorts as an alternative.
Also, in every country there’s the option to drop off your laundry cheaply or wash it yourself. In Thailand, for example, we drop off our laundry and pay 200–300 baht (about $5–8) for a full load or 40–60 baht (about $1–1.50) per kilogram.
And of course you get your things back washed, dried, and folded the same day or at the latest the next day.
So there’s really absolutely no reason to bring more than the clothes on our packing list.
Shoes packing list: The best shoes for Southeast Asia
A very important topic! Here we’ll tell you which shoes work perfectly for us on a trip to Southeast Asia.
Shoes checklist
Jenny
- 1 x Birkenstock Gizeh thong sandals
- 1 x Nike Free sneakers
- 1 x Birkenstock EVA sandals – for anywhere things might get wet
Basti
- 1 x Teva flip-flops
- 1 x lightweight sneakers
What shoes do we recommend for your Southeast Asia trip?
Good footwear is something we feel really strongly about. That means solid but lightweight shoes and comfortable flip-flops. We both love our Teva flip-flops and haven’t found flip-flops yet that are more comfortable to walk in.
Unfortunately, Jenny had to finally retire her beloved Teva flip-flops after seven years, and the new model just doesn’t fit her foot the same way. Very sad! She now wears her cork Birkenstocks almost exclusively.
She’s also added the same style of Birkenstock in EVA (plastic) to her lineup. They’re great for rainy days (no water absorption) and you can even step into the shower with them if you don’t want to go barefoot.
If you don’t like walking around in flip-flops all day like Jenny does, we recommend packing a pair of comfortable sandals or Birkenstocks in addition to regular flip-flops. Birkenstocks do need to be broken in before they become truly comfortable, but once they are, they’re the most comfortable shoes out there.
Jenny’s tip: Birkenstocks run large. Jenny normally wears somewhere between a US 8 and 8.5 and wears a 7.5 in Birkenstocks. For regular footwear, Jenny can recommend the Nike Free. They run about half a size small, and she wears a size 8.5/9 in those with her normal size of 8/8.5.
Conclusion
In general, “less is more.” With the exception of a few essentials like your passport and travel credit cards, you can get pretty much everything else on the road. You can buy clothes everywhere too, and we promise that one week’s worth of clothes is absolutely sufficient.
