Traveling across Asia has been one of my key reasons why I took my mini-retirement. Almost two years into my mini-retirement, I have traveled 13 Asian countries, now totaling 33 across my life. I speak from experience when I say that travel can have its fair share of headaches. Whether it’s long delays or uncomfortable climates or technology hiccups, some times I debate whether it’s better to simply nest in Chiang Mai – and avoid flights and hotel nights altogether. I believe, however, that with proper planning, I can reduce some of these headaches and focus my time and energy on the reason why I want to travel in the first place – to experience what this beautiful world has to offer.
With this life-enriching goal in mind, I would like to share five of my travel hacks that have served me well, especially in the past two years as I have traveled across Asia. In no particular order:
- Get Priority Pass lounge access with a credit card – I am a frequent flier of AirAsia, which makes me a frequent traveler of Chiang Mai, Suvarnabhumi, and Don Mueang airports. And if you fly through these airports enough, you will find that access to the Coral lounges at these three airports is essential. They give you a quiet respite from the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, complimentary meals and drinks (I always grab at least a bottle of water), and the co-working combo of table + power outlet + wi-fi access to get some work done. The Priority Pass card also grants you lounge access to major hubs across SE Asia, including the very nice lounges of Asiana Business in Seoul and SATS Premier in Singapore. The cost for Priority Pass access? It’s complimentary with luxury-branded credit cards. I have access through my Citi Prestige card, which has a hefty $495 annual fee, but I offset this cost with the 4th hotel night free benefit. Given, though, that the Prestige card is continued, I would encourage you to check out the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant cards – both offer the Priority Pass benefit.
- Wear quick dry performance clothes – with the heat, humidity, and random rain showers across SE Asia, it’s very easy to drench your clothes with rain and/or sweat. In Bangkok, for example, I often need to take two to three showers a day just to wash off all of the sweat I accumulate in walking outside for 10-15 minutes at a time! One way I keep cool is to always wear quick dry performance clothes, such as UNIQLO dri-ex polos, Patagonia Capilene shirts, and Adidas performance boxer briefs. Packing these have several benefits. First, they don’t accumulate the sweat like cotton fabrics do (and don’t show the embarrassing sweat armpit areas). Second, they are easily washable – when the local cleaners or washing machines are too distant and you have to resort to washing your clothes by hand in your hotel bathroom sink. Third, they have minimal wrinkles and creases (from packing/folding), making them versatile for wearing to nice dinners, especially the black UNIQLO polo.
- Consider an e-SIM roaming package – Getting data on your device is essential when traveling to a foreign country. Thankfully for e-SIM, I no longer have to wait in long queues and potentially get scammed by the mobile services counter at the airport. However, prices on Airalo and Holafly can be quite steep. For example, on my recent trip to China, Airalo charges $16.50 for only 5GB while Holafly charges $21 for unlimited data. This is particularly expensive if travel to multiple countries is part of your itinerary, because you have to buy eSIM packages for each country! Luckily, roaming packages for my Thailand mobile service provider AIS are available. AIS offers 7GB for only $11 – and it can be used across multiple Asian countries. So I was able to use it for my recent trip across China, Japan and Hong Kong. Once I ran out of data, I was able to purchase another package – and it still came in way under the price if I were to buy three separate data packages, one for each country.
- Look beyond TripAdvisor at curated tour apps – There is a diminishing level of quality as the number of reviews increase. This is certainly the case with TripAdvisor, where the number of reviews gets aggregated for multiple users across multiple years; I have found reviews of certain attractions or tours to be unreliable because it could be driven by several “customers” from years before COVID. I have found much better quality with curated tour apps such as GetYourGuide and Viator. These apps showcase the top attractions for whichever destination you’re interested in, along with verified tour operators. My experience with these tour guides have been quite positive; sure, I get the occasional tour guide that pushes the ‘let me take you to a Sri Lankan wood carving shop’ or ‘this Vietnamese lunch spot is really good’ but overall, you get to see the highlights of a city, have a respectful English-speaking guide, and make some friends with fellow travelers who you can exchange notes with and keep in touch via IG and WhatsApp
- Use your mobile boarding pass to avoid baggage fees – as mentioned in another post, I travel light – just backpack and duffel. But AirAsia’s policy limits carry ons to just 7kg. I avoid paying the extra baggage fees by using my mobile boarding pass (either with the AirAsia app or the iPhone Wallet) or by printing the boarding pass at the airport electronic kiosk. However, some times the airline forces you to check in at the counter, usually to verify that you have a permissible visa to the country you are visiting. I know some people who like to avoid the baggage fees by hiding their bags or distracting the agent through conversation. But I have been burned one too many times with very hefty fees that I err on the side of caution and pre-pay the additional 7kg, which is ~$10 for my last flight (from Sri Lanka to Bangkok).
I hope these hacks serve you in the same way they have served me – giving me more peace of mind to weather through the travel hiccups that occur – so that you can focus on the joys of what this part of the world has to offer you.
~Lester T
Very informative and superb body structure of content material, now that’s user friendly (:.