I did make the best of the past 4 months in Asia — but not likely to return.

I traveled Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines, and Taiwan (which is actually in Asia, not S.E. Asia).

S.E. Asia is ideal for young party animals without much money — who want to ride a crappy rented motorcycle in a thong bikini while drinking cheap beer on the way to the beach.

It’s not great for me as multi-day hiking and cycling cultures are near non-existent.

MOST of the outdoor activities are water related. 🐟

I believe the ocean should be avoided due to box jellyfish and sea monsters.

I’d only gone to S.E. Asia because two Gymnastics competitions were scheduled there. Both excellent. I was happy to be at both with a media credential.

• World Championships 2025 Jakarta
• World Jr Championships 2025 Manila

BEST of my Holiday

• Best nation for tourists ➙ Vietnam
• Least expensive nation for tourists ➙ Vietnam
• Best hike ➙ Mt. Rinjani, Indonesia
• Best day tour ➙ 3 Waterfalls Tour, Da Lat, Vietnam
• 2nd best day tour ➙ Island Hopping El Nido, Philippines
• New home-away-from-home in Asia is Singapore. Hong Kong now dead to me because of their dictator-for-life.
• Best new-to-me adventure ➙ Motorbike Touring Vietnam
• 2nd best new-to-me adventure ➙ 4 day  boat trip from Lombok to Komodo, Indonesia
• Best personal bucket list destination ➙  Borobudur Temple, Indonesia
• Favourite hostel ➙ Meander 1948 in Taipei
• Best photo op ➙ Bromo Volcano at Dawn

If offered a private jet to fly back to just one destination ➙ perhaps the Gili Islands, Indonesia.

Click PLAY or watch Vietnam highlights on YouTube.

Problems for the Tourist in S.E. Asia

I hate personal motor vehicles. But it’s literally the only way to get around.

S.E. Asian cities are polluted, littered, and mostly should be avoided.

Even in Manila, public transit is too lined-up to be time efficient.

Super keen to finally get to Taiwan, ultimately I was disappointed as a tourist.

I got used to the heat and humidity of S.E. Asia. NOT my favourite climate, however.

On the upside, I saw very few mosquitoes. Only one cockroach. Second hand smoke is not nearly as bad as Europe.

MANY rats. Most in public parks eating garbage litter and around outdoor street food kiosks.

Many would list food as a highlight of S.E. Asia. Personally, I quickly tired of rice based meals. Most of my cravings were for western comfort foods. Toast, in particular. I ended up in McDonalds often as it’s clean, fast, and you can pay by credit card in a machine.

One pet peeve is trying to check-out of any grocery or convenience store. I can’t recall Canada EVER being so slow. Philippines has dozens of people in a grocery store doing something, but still makes customers. spend 20 minutes in a check-out line.

Cash based economies seem so backwards to me now.

S.E. Asia, in general is super inefficient. I do love Singapore, however, exactly the opposite. Everything is fast and well organized.

Many things are closed. Nobody knows why. Nobody knows if and when they will ever reopen.

What Asian nations will I likely visit in coming years?

Mongolia. I’m planning an adventure there in the next year or two.

Pakistan too.

Oman.

Nepal, of course.

I’ve only been to South Korea once. Would love to get back.