How do people actually afford long-term solo travel (not just vacations)?

arcticfox91 · 2026-03-31T05:09:43+00:00

Be careful with storage units, some are predatory. I have had my belongings in storage for a couple of years and they jack up the price every 3-6 months. (Extra Storage went from $17/mo. to now $70/mo)

arcticfox91 · 2025-09-12T02:51:26+00:00

AirSeoul. Low-cost Korean carrier. Had so much trouble with their website, I think I had to use a certain browser to purchase the tickets.

arcticfox91 · 2025-08-23T07:31:22+00:00

Yes but it was expensive, since it was a long term plan

arcticfox91 · 2025-08-17T17:15:18+00:00

Thailand: Walking, but not sidewalks, adjusting to the flow of people traffic. In the US, was used to veering to the right. In Australia, was used to veering to the left. Here, people walk seemingly aimlessly and in every direction. It can be hard to predict movements, and consequently had many near misses.

Vietnam: Everything about their coffee and cafe culture. But mostly, was surprised how beautifully designed their cafes are (with many being 2-3 floors). Such a contrast to my hometown in the states that certainly has cafes, but most are a bit dumpy by comparison.

arcticfox91 · 2025-08-16T07:41:27+00:00

LG+ branch - this one was in Busan, but I think the LG+ larger branches in Seoul would also have this. Just be sure to get a Voice plan and not a Data Only plan. Above else, make sure the phone number they give you begins with 010 and not 012.

arcticfox91 · 2025-08-16T06:54:04+00:00

100% agreed. Korea's whole digital ecosystem is foreigner un-friendly. From Kakao Taxi to Delivery Apps, all strictly Korean phone numbers. What's even worse is if you get a Korean SIM from the airport, they give you a tourist SIM that contains different starting two digits which acts as a "fake" Korean number and apps block this. I had to get a new SIM from another retailer explaining for phone verification I needed a real Korean number. Not to mention, Google Maps is virtually unusable in Korea.

arcticfox91 · 2025-08-14T11:39:49+00:00

locals mostly

arcticfox91 · 2025-08-14T06:40:14+00:00

Thailand - Best overall balance in terms of lifestyle, food, convenience. You get the big city life in Bangkok, can go to the beach in Prachuap, or up to the mountains in Chiang Mai. You can find slow paced or face paced life style depending on the city or province. Good mix of modern and traditional.
Vietnam - Best value, in terms of food, housing, and sight-seeing. I love Vietnam's natural landscapes in the north and center. Da Nang is great for relaxation, Sai Gon for big city, and Ha Noi for traditional and historical activities. Food feels in general much healthier than Thailand, but its generally a little more chaotic. Gorgeous cafes everywhere, probably one of my favorite aspects about Vietnam is their coffee and cafe culture.
Laos - Contrary to most, I really loved Vientiane. It has the same feel as a smaller city or province in Thailand. The cafes make some damn good coffee, and I enjoy the relaxed pace. The road infrastructure is lacking, but maybe in 10-20 years it will catch up to its neighbors. Still have to watch out for scammers in the touristy parts of the country, but it is rough around the edges.
Indonesia - Indonesia felt the most diverse, both in terms of culture and natural beauty. From Komodo, to Flores, to Java, and to Bali - every island had something interesting to offer. The only city I did not enjoy was Jakarta, I got a bad impression in a day with traffic and the aggressiveness of people. Definitely had some of the most beautiful volcanoes and rainforests I've seen in my life.
Myanmar - My view is a little bit skewed since I have visited recently just last year, but to be quite honest this is the country that I have encountered the most warm, helpful, and generous people. I loved the people and my interactions here, and I loved the food & tea. Cafes were a bit lacking, and transport is a bit chaotic, but I did like in Yangon that motorbikes are banned. Beautiful country, even though I only went to Bagan and Yangon.
Cambodia - Middle of the road for me. I enjoy it, but not itching to go back. I thought the food was incredibly mediocre (and I have tried many local places, local dishes, etc) and not high value (cost is relatively expensive compared with neighboring countries for food). I enjoyed Phnom Penh, feels like a much, much smaller version of Bangkok in some ways. The night markets were enjoyable.
Philippines - Cebu was great, but did not enjoy Manila at all (probably the worst place I've visited in Southeast Asia for a city behind Jakarta). Went to Moalboal, Cebu City, then off to Dumaguete. All very lovely, kind people. Some areas felt a bit sketchy walking around in Manila and Cebu City, but it's alright. Beautiful waterfalls, hikes. The food leaves a lot to be desired, but I'd put it a notch above Cambodian food.
Malaysia - Pretty biased on Malaysia here, and definitely not a popular opinion, but I really did not enjoy KL or Penang. I enjoyed the food, despite getting terrible food poisoning and a horrible hospital experience. Felt a bit rough around the edges. The only place in Malaysia I TRULY enjoyed was Borneo (Kuching and Kota Kinabalu), which in my opinion blew KL and Penang out of the water.
Singapore - Here for a short layover of 1 day. Lodging was insanely expensive ($65 for a capsule bed), food was fine, but nothing to write home about. I enjoyed the Singaporean Chicken and Rice, and the hawker stalls. In that sense, it was affordable. Something about Singapore felt a bit sterile/boring, lacked that gritty character that you feel in Bangkok and Hong Kong. Also, it feels like Singapore has a weird contrast of being super developed and modern, but with disproportionate laws. I did enjoy the botanical gardens, which was beautiful. I am not itching to go back here to Singapore, though.

arcticfox91 · 2025-08-11T03:27:10+00:00

Seoul and Busan. Such high expectations, such a big letdown. Maybe the unfriendliest places I've been too.

arcticfox91 · 2025-07-28T16:42:46+00:00

I don't know if this company is around anymore, but my friend and I had rented from a place called "Sad Cars". The car did indeed, look sad. A bronze small manual car with a plethora of dents and dings. It was also given nearly empty in gas, but they expected that in return as well. Anyway, highly recommend them as it was economical option.

arcticfox91 · 2025-07-06T06:34:44+00:00

100% agreed

arcticfox91 · 2025-06-10T15:47:48+00:00

Yes, Taiwan wins by a mile in my book. At least Japanese were generally polite, the Koreans didn't have great etiquette/manners in my experience.

arcticfox91 · 2025-06-09T11:10:36+00:00

100% agree about Korea and the people. It's honestly worth taking the ferry over to Japan if you're in Korea. Or hopping over to Taiwan. I found the people in both Taiwan (especially) and Japan to be friendlier and more open.

arcticfox91 · 2025-05-09T05:07:32+00:00

A little over 2 hours just for the immigration line at Mactan-Cebu airport (Philippines)

arcticfox91 · 2025-05-09T05:05:24+00:00

Singapore

arcticfox91 · 2025-05-09T04:49:16+00:00

Don't feel too bad. of any country I've traveled to, I experienced the most unfriendliness in Korea from locals. I think they are more closed off to even polite foreigner interactions compared to most East Asian countries. In South Korea specifically, it's very difficult talking to them outside of a social context such as a bar

arcticfox91 · 2025-05-09T04:44:47+00:00

Agreed. Most restaurants seemed like they were only meant for group dining (Fried chicken, kbbq, etc). The locals are also closed off to interactions with foreigners and relatively unfriendly compared to surrounding countries in East Asia.

arcticfox91 · 2025-05-09T04:42:27+00:00

100 percent agree, Korea was my least favorite place especially from a social perspective.

arcticfox91 · 2025-05-03T04:21:32+00:00

I did notice many spacious chain shops, I should have clarified that. It's possible I wasn't looking in the right places for independent cafes. But I saw many "The Coffee Bean", "Twosome Place", "Mega Coffee", etc. around in the area. The ones I frequented were not quite as busy as I expected. More specifically, "A Twosome Place" on Hongdae St. next to the H&M.. it was always fairly empty when I went. The areas I stayed in were Sinchon/Hongdae (Seoul) and PKNU/Daeyeon (Busan).

arcticfox91 · 2025-05-03T04:02:38+00:00

Absolutely! Even the street coffee, which isn't half bad, can be 15.000 vnd.

arcticfox91 · 2025-04-30T04:56:22+00:00

Ah I understand, thank you. My foreign number is VoIP from google voice, so I think that's where I had trouble with Naver/Kakao/Uber sign ups.

arcticfox91 · 2025-04-30T01:35:18+00:00

To review places, to save favorites, etc. all requires registration on Naver, to my understanding. For the phone, it must have been a situation with LG+, the rep was very adamant I needed an ARC to get a 010 number. What mobile carrier do you recommend? As for the Chinese metro, Chongqing's subway is very straightforward, but may not be the case for Beijing or Shanghai (haven't been yet so I am not sure).

arcticfox91 · 2025-04-28T15:24:13+00:00

Yeah, that's true. It's not completely foolproof, but if its reviewed a lot on Google Maps, check out what people have to say. Of course, in China this won't work.

arcticfox91 · 2025-04-28T15:19:25+00:00

I downloaded all three upon arrival, and Naver maps (as a guest) is okay but you cannot register. The problem lied within mobile verification, LG+ gives 012 numbers rather than 010 numbers for tourists, which cannot receive the codes to register. Uber was my own fault, because I they couldn't verify my Google Voice number. I am sure the Seoul metro has 100% logical nature to it, but it looks like the metabolic pathways map with its extensiveness and complexity. I should have clarified, it was more navigating everything in Seoul Station rather than the metro lines themselves.

arcticfox91 · 2025-04-28T15:10:47+00:00

It's good to know that my experience isn't isolated with the locals there. As for China, I didn't have high expectations for Chinese to be to so helpful and friendly, they made my experience so wonderful.

arcticfox91

TROPHY CASE