A 10-Month Dream Itinerary Through Asia

I never wanted to go to Asia. It just never appealed to me. I think it’s because of the fact that it’s so foreign and the culture shock would be massive. But in the last few years, my desire to visit the eastern side of the Asian continent has grown into a full blown obsession.

When I quit my job in 2016, I went on a trip-planning craze. It started with the Brit and I thinking we’d go to Asia for his 30th birthday (it’s still our plan!). The itinerary started at 3 weeks, then suddenly out of nowhere I was at 3 months. I talked to a friend who went to Asia for 6 months and then my itinerary slowly grew even more from there. Before I knew it, it had turned into a 10-month long beast of an itinerary.

Whenever I go on a travel-planning frenzy like that, the Brit worries. But truly, I just love to plan travels! Even if I don’t ever intend to put these ideas into action. I don’t think the Brit or I would head to Asia for nearly a year, but it was so fun to plan. I discovered so much about every country I ‘planned to visit’ and I look forward to one day visiting them – because who knows, right?

This post is my fulfilment of this dream by sharing my itinerary with all of you. It’s a long one, but it’s mostly beautiful photos from a bunch of amazing bloggers!

MONTH 1: UAE, India & Hong Kong

Our first stop would be the UAE. The Brit has family there and we definitely need to visit. I would love to visit Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and head into the desert. 

From there, I would fly to India to visit a friend of mine in Delhi. He made me promise I would come visit if I planned this epic trip to Asia – so here it is 🙂 I would probably spend a week with him in Delhi.

The Brit doesn’t want to go to India, so he’d probably fly directly to the next destination – Hong Kong! He also has family living there and it could be a great home base while in Asia. We’d probably visit around Hong Kong for a week before heading out toward southeast Asia.

MONTH 2: Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand

Month #2 would be the start of the Southeast Asia leg of the trip. We’d go to Singapore first. (The Brit actually recently said he really wants to see it, so I’m definitely adding that to our future IRL list.)

From there, we would take the bus or train to Kuala Lumpur to see some of Malaysia. The lovely Anna from Slightly Astray is making me dream of Malaysia these days. 

From there, we would take the train to Thailand. Thailand doesn’t appeal to me that much, but it seems like it must be done – I also have a friend who moved there recently. If anything, I would love to see Bangkok and spend some relaxing time in Phuket.

MONTH 3: Laos

Laos is truly intriguing to me. At first I didn’t think to include it and then the more I researched it, the more I wanted to see all of it. From Luang Prabang, Kuang Si waterfall, Vientiane, Thakhek, and Si Phan Don. Thank you Pinterest for making me discover it all online. 

MONTH 4: Cambodia & Vietnam

From Laos, we would head down to Cambodia to see the famed Siem Reap and visit Phnom Penh. I did a lot of research and I’m not sure what else there is to see in Cambodia, but I’m quite excited to see Vietnam, so we would head out to this neighbouring country after a 2-3 weeks.

MONTH 5: Vietnam

Some friends of ours stayed for six whole weeks in Vietnam and absolutely loved it. It’s inspiring and I definitely want to see it all, from Saigon, passing by Hoi An, to Hanoi and Ha Long Bay. Both the Brit and I aren’t sea people, but I think this trip would push us to take a boat to go appreciate the famous bay.

I think we would probably finish the month at our home base in Hong Kong, before going on to the second half of the trip.

MONTH 6: Japan

Oh Japan. The country I just can’t wait to see! We’re actually planning on heading there this year but for only 1-2 weeks. But in reality, I want to see all of Japan and stay for as long as I can. The dream itinerary would be 6 weeks at the minimum.

We’d arrive in Tokyo and head to the northern island Hokkaido. After visiting, we would fly back to Tokyo and travel through the Nagano region, before going to Osaka. From being based in Osaka, I think we could see Kyoto and Kobe. We could then head even more south, passing by Hiroshima and Fukuoka.

MONTH 7: Japan & South Korea

While the first half of month #7 would be taken by Japan, from Fukuoka, we would fly into Seoul, South Korea. A blogger once wrote a guest post for me about South Korea and it looks amazing. I would love to see the capital and also head out to see Busan and the Gamcheon Culture Village.

MONTH 8: China

I think a good 3-4 weeks in China would be the shortest amount of time to see some of the greatest things that China has to offer. I want to see the Great Wall of China, of course, the terracotta army in Xi’an and the Chengdu panda rescue centre. Sorry, it’s all super cliche, but more research would have to be done before heading out for a month in China. We would finish our month back in Hong Kong.

MONTH 9: Taiwan & Philippines

I would love to spend a week in Taiwan to visit Taipei and see some of that beautiful island.

From there I want to fly to the Philippines. Two of my best friends are from there and it seems like such an intriguing country. I mean how can you pick among all these islands, right?

MONTH 10: Indonesia

Finally, we would finish our travels in Indonesia. I would love to pass through the island of Borneo, then hop on to Java before finishing the trip in relaxing Bali. How dreamy!

It’s funny, looking back at this itinerary it still looks too short. I love slow travel, but, despite it all, it would be an intense 10 months. But how worth it would it be, right?

Where would you like to go in Asia?xx