SonofTime

G’day.
I’m new to these forums and really don’t know how it all works, and don’t know if I’m in the right area so I hope you will be patent with a new chum.

I’m an older retired bloke that has never travelled outside Australia but would like to visit Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

I hate city’s and everything in them, I would like to spend most of my time in small villages to experience the true feel of the country including the food and their lifestyle, I live a basic and fairly Spartan lifestyle in a remote and isolated part of Aus without power and all the basics that town and country people in Aus take for granted, so nothing would be a surprise me, I only mention this because some of you that read this will not think doing it hard would be new to me.

I have looked at a few other sites and have found this and joined as a last resort to get some answers, I would like to find a guide that speaks English that would be willing to accompany me for a week or more starting in any of the above mentioned countries all expenses paid including travel accommodation, food plus a fee.

I found one site that was offering guides in Thailand and the guides were asking more than I made a day as a heavy equipment operator on some jobs.

The plan is to have a good look around and find the right country and village to call home for six months of the year, some place that is friendly and cheap to live, the reason is because where I live is cold, wet and miserable for six months of every year and I’m bloody sick of it.

So why don’t I go north to the tropics? Too expensive, been there and done that, I want new experiences and meet new people, the cost of a return trip to Asia would be less than the fuel costs to drive to Queensland and return.

If anyone has some ideas I would like to hear them.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

aBroadAbroad

Welcome to FlyerTalk. I've moved your post to the Asia destination forum where it is more likely to get a response from those members who are knowledgable of the subject.

NOTE: This thread originated at the flame-free Information Desk — please reply accordingly.

Thanks all, and good luck to the OP.

~Moderator

GB

Search on TripAdvisor under "Activities" for the destination. We found a very good guide for Saigon this way. Many are listed with many reviews of each of them.

susiesan

Why don't you just book a multi country private tour? There are a number locally based companies who can tailor a trip for you and have a guide go with you. You would be paying his/her travel costs though along with your own.

The other option is to decide which countries you want to vsit and get a private tour in each one with a different local guide for each country. You can buy your own plane tickets from country to country. be aware you will need visas for most of the countries except Thailand,Malaysia, and Singapore.

SonofTime

Thanks for the reply, I took the time and made it as clear as possible that I know absolutely nothing about traveling.
You ask "why don't I " the answer to this is as I said, I know nothing about travelling, so how can I possibly know about booking a multi country private tour?
1. You give no indication of who these locally based companies are.
2. As I said in my post I have already made the decision as to what countries
I want to visit.
3. I did state that I was repaired to pay ALL expenses.

The only info you have given me that is of help is that I don't need a visa for Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia (I have no interest in going there)
Once again thanks for the reply and I appreciate your time.

SonofTime

Thanks for the help, I'm finding it difficult to find my way around here.

Thanks GB, maybe that would be a good thing if I knew where to find trip adviser or activities, Looks like everyone speed reads posts and absorbs nothing,
bellow is the first paragraph of my post.

G’day.
I’m new to these forums and really don’t know how it all works, and don’t know if I’m in the right area so I hope you will be patent with a new chum.

I think I'm wasting my time here too.

aBroadAbroad

I'm sorry you're finding the site so frustrating. Let's see if we can get you sorted out a bit.

First off, I've distilled your query down to the key points as I understand them. Let me know if I got it wrong. Please understand that the members of FlyerTalk are a helpful bunch, but we tend to be very do-it-yourself when it comes to travel. That is why the responses you're getting may be less specific than you had hoped. They mean no disrespect by posting suggestions that may strike you as too vague or with too much jargon, so please be patient, and you will find that most members are only too happy to get you pointed in the right direction!

I want to start by emphasizing that the likelihood of finding a guide who will travel with you from start to finish, and who can skillfully cover all of those very different countries, is slim. And yes, if s/he exists, it will cost you a tidy sum. In my opinion, you will be much better off relying on several local guides, each one being thoroughly knowledgable of his or her own locale.

So, given that you're completely new to international travel, and since you are interested in undertaking a complicated trip that would be challenging for even the very experienced travelers on this site to plan out, I would strongly encourage you to use a travel agent who specializes in Southeast Asia travel. A skilled agent will help you to develop a sensible itinerary, with the right amount of time in each place, and in the right order based on air travel, etc. A specialist will definitely be able to book the types of accommodations you've described, possibly including a home stay (with a local family), village camps, small guest houses, or even hostels. Such an agent will also be able to set you up with reliable local English-speaking guides in each locale, and can even arrange for this person to meet you at the airport when you arrive. Very importantly, the will handle the necessary visas for Vietnam and Cambodia, and can give you all sorts of other advice about things like changing money, what to bring, etc.

Not all travel agents (also known as TAs on this site) offer airline bookings, so make sure you select one who does, because you will have to set up several flights, and will greatly appreciate having somebody you can call to fix things for you if something goes awry with a flight schedule mid-journey.

This type of agent will charge a fee, but it will be much less than the cost of a companion for the entire trip.

Unfortunately, the only Asia travel specialists I know personally, tend to focus on a more high-end type of travel than you've described, so I can't really recommend one. However, try searching google or bing for "Asia Travel Specialists" and you'll see plenty! Also, as mentioned by another member, you might do some reading on websites like www.tripadvisor.com and www.lonelyplanet.com and www.roughguides.com for ideas of places to see, recommendations of agents and accommodations, etc.

As far as a retirement destination is concerned, I think you will probably want to focus on Thailand and Philippines. Both have been destinations for many, many western expatriates and retirees for decades, and you'll find that English is widely spoken in most of the more populated areas. I'd start your research with Chiang Mai in northern Thailand (just have a hunch you might like it).

Good luck, and let us know if you have more questions!

susiesan

[redacted]

My husband and I have been traveling around the world for 30 years trying to find a country to move to permanently when we retire. As we've narrowed down the list we have made return trips to the top contenders and looked into immigration requirements only to find out it was too expensive for the visa (Australia) or the political situations in those countries have changed (Thailand). There's a lot more involved to living abroad than just showing up.

Here is a website that may interest you:
http://www.expatforum.com/
Sign up, start reading and asking questions.

For Vietnam here is the company I used for a 2 week private tour with a guide who traveled with us:
http://www.vietnamvacations.com.au/
They have an office in Australia and Hanoi.

SonofTime

Thanks, this is exactly the information I have been hoping for.
Thank you, thank you.
You have done all the hard yards for everyone thinking of doing this, I have been doing some research on different locations in Aus and found what may be the answer to my situation. plus a couple of cruises each year. I'll P.M. you if I can figger out how to do it

dtsm

The tripadvisor site is easy: tripadvisor.com. Under each country, there is a plethora of links, info, etc. to get you started. Here's one to guide you: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g...Vacations.html

One suggestion when you skim through this site -- look for folks that post particular long reviews/comments and try to contact them with more specific countries. Many of them have their own blogs with insightful information of interest.

susiesan

To send a PM just click on my name and go to send a message.I'll get a notice that there is a message for me when I log in here the next time.

JonB110

I have used and had several friends use a guide named Nook in Thailand. We have only used her around Bangkok and the surrounding towns, but I believe she has done trips throughout SE Asia with other clients. I would highly recommend her, she charges a reasonable price, is very friendly, and speaks excellent english. Her email is below.

c n n c h i n l a w a n (at) h o t m a i l (dot) c o m