Travel Bloggin Archives - Page 7 of 8 - Lost Beaches Travel Co.

Category: Travel Bloggin

5 biggest mistakes you’ll make while backpacking through Thailand!

Posted on

Avoid these Common Mistakes while Backpacking through Thailand.  Backpacking can be an amazing adventure you quickly fall in love with, yet it can also be a difficult challenge if you fall into some common pitfalls. Knowing what can happen is the best way to prepare against it. Then you can focus on just having a great time for your entire trip!

Backpacking through Thailand is going to be an experience you never forget! There is lovely landscaping as far as the eyes can see. Get up close and personal with some of the wonders of the world. You may have about them in books and seen pictures, but nothing compares to what you will see with your own eyes! Avoid these common mistakes and you will have nothing but wonderful memories of your adventure. 

1. Don’t Over Pack!

We have all packed too many items for a vacation, backpacking is no different. It’s hard to decide what you will need and what you can leave at home. Fortunately, we are full blown experts when it comes to packing for backpacking through Thailand. There is no reason to add more weight to your backpack than you really have to. Narrow it down to the basics including a few changes of clothing and an extra pair of shoes. You need your hygiene essentials but leave the rest at home. Less belongings with you = much less to worry about.

Ladies, you can do without the makeup and all the hair products out there! Pack bug spray and sunblock. These are items you may need on a daily basis. Make sure you have some room in your backpack for items you may choose to add along the way. You may encounter some great items as you move along the trails. Don’t forget your camera (Phone for most of you millenials..) Personally, flip flops, sunscreen and board shorts are enough for me to go for days in Thailand. 

phiphibeach

2. Tours are the way to go!

It is always recommended to go backpacking through Thailand with a tour guide rather than on your own, especially on your inaugural visit. They are experienced and they can take you to the best locations. You also have their experience on your side should there be any type of incident or accident. You can often customize such tours so they will include where you want to go, free time, accomodations are always taken care of especially with Lost Beaches Travel.  Make sure you pick one with terrain that is acceptable for your fitness level.

It can be quite intimidating to get out there and backpack along the trails by yourself. You may feel overwhelmed by it which will prevent you from relaxing and really enjoying the time you have out there. Epic friends and epic times await the moment you get off the plane!

PHPHIBOAT

3. Don’t Plan too Much

While it is understood there is plenty you would like to see and do, you can’t fit it all in! One trip backpacking in Thailand simply isn’t enough. Instead, focus on the main things you would like to see and explore. You want time to relax and time to spend in areas that hold your attention the most. Don’t make your schedule so rigorous you don’t have any time to just take in the beauty of it all. Lost Beaches Travel prides itself on 

If you see something along the way you really want to take part in, go for it! The freedom to do so is going to be exciting. Most of us are tied down day after day with a time schedule so don’t do that to yourself while on vacation. 

As you explore, you will find things you wish you had known about sooner. Write them down so you don’t forget. You can make them part of your agenda for the next time you are in Thailand. By reducing the number of activities you take part in per day, you will feel better too. No one wants to spend vacation feeling exhausted!

khaosanfood

4. Don’t take the experience for Granted 

Put away your smartphone and other electronics. Pay attention to the culture, diversity, and beauty all around you.  Indulge. Try some unbelievable authentic cuisine of the area too. (See above.. Don’t worry they don’t bite.)  Chill, relax, let the sand run through your toes. Otherwise, you may as well stay home if you are going to engage in the same things on vacation you would do at home.  Really embrace where you are and try to spend some time interacting with the locals. It is fun to learn,travel, experience with them. Remember, travel through culture, not around it.

kohphanganpeople

5. Don’t Worry!

Stress can take away the joy and excitement of your travels out there as you are backpacking through Thailand. If you plan let your hair down and have a wicked group of fellow travellers with you, you don’t have anything to worry about. Don’t let the little things that may come up get the best of you and ruin your day either. This is paradise.. Enjoy it!

Wanna travel South East Asia but not really sure where to start? Check us out! Backpacking in Thailand has never been easier.The Lost Beaches team are experts and we’re happy to help out! Check out our epic tours in Thailand. ‘Like’ us on FB for even more blogs and follow us on Instagram (LostabeachesTravel)! for even more information.

WHAT TO PACK: BOYS

Posted on

Gentlemen, as our parents told us, accept solid advice when it is given and hear out to what our resident Lost Beaches Travel’ite,  Ola, has to say regarding fashion on the boats and the beach.

SUNSCREEN

This is a given. nobody likes a lobster face.

SWIMWEAR

Come on gentlemen, swimwear doesn’t have to be a trial – there are plenty of great European brands doing tasteful swimmers for men these days. Take the ultra baggy Billabong boardies and lycra to the charity shop and check out Vilebrequin, Orlebar Brown and Paul Smith for a selection of cotton swim-shorts in various tan-enhancing pastel hues and stripes.

SHIRTS

Tank tops will do – it is hot out here.

BEACH TOYS

Break the ice with an inflatable beach swan, a big-time frisbee or a classic  football. Use them for beach games  – note: Likelyhood of losing beach frisbee = 90%.

DON’T PACK THIS..

Approach the following articles with EXTREME GENTLEMENS CAUTION:

  • South of the mason-dixon line style Wife-beaters
  • Jesus-style Sandals
  • Ultra Deep V-necks (How low can ya go?)
  • Excessively thick/dark bodily hair. (This counts as a shirt if thick enough)
  • Boring sunglasses (Colour, style all factor in on a hot pair of shades)
  • You might love your latest iCrap or tech’d up techno camera like a newborn child,, but King Poseidons’ great underworld world doesn’t have a lost and found box. Just don’t lose them!
  • Nobody cares how much you spent on that super shiny pair of ultra sexy shades, leather silk european carry-case or velvet shoes. Leave your ego in the past and your judgement at home– Lost Beaches Travel is a place to relax and escape from the nasty pressures at home.

 

NOTE: Any/all of the above can work for the  right person. If in doubt, just avoid. In all seriousness, wear whatever the hell you want.

Killing it on Koh Phi Phi

Format ImagePosted on

After watching the sun set on 2013 back home with friends and family, I’m back in Thailand for a Long Beach sunset on Koh Phi Phi. Though I’m travelling with a motley but friendly crew of Thailand-lifers, I’m the only member of the LBT team here this week. As a part of the Lost Beaches prep for the 2014 tour dates, I’m dropping in on some of our accommodation and activity partners to lock everything up tight for those party rockers arriving in the coming months. And seeing as I’m LBT through and through I definitely couldn’t turn down the chance to drag some close peeps along with me for the ride. #bestjobever

When I first visited Thailand back in 2008, Phi Phi was the first non-mainland location my group shacked up on (specifically the island of Koh Phi Phi Don, the same place Lost Beaches visits today). My favourite memory from that first island day was the Viewpoint hike, to check out, from high above, where the water nearly meets at the ‘skinny’ part of the island. Despite the solid sweat it took to trek up the several hundred concrete steps, the moment I saw those two lagoons of crystal-blue water surrounded by lush, green forested mountains, I knew I had come to somewhere special.

And to be honest, the amazing experiences didn’t, and don’t, stop there. Many of the activities that Lost Beaches has again committed to in 2014 have become customer favourites, including the half-day boat cruise to Monkey Beach, Phi Phi Leh, and Maya Beach. Outside of the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan, the best beach parties in Thailand are on Koh Phi Phi, and they are always some of the high points on every LBT tour. Every night there are 7 or 8 restaurants serving dinner and cocktail hour, while you are entertaining by local fire dancers. And then right before your slightly inebriated eyes the same restaurants convert to dance clubs and party bars, each offering something slightly different. People have a great time well into the early hours of the morning, and as the dance floors spill out onto the adjacent beaches, the courageous join the locals on the fire jump rope!

There is just so much energy here all the time. Sometimes I tell myself that I’m going to take a slow day, enjoy a walk on the beach, and then this happens: monkey

For those Lost Beaches travellers looking to break away for a few hours during their time in KPP, there are bicycles for rent that be used to travel around the island. If pointed in the right direction there are loads of secluded beaches, mountain tops, and hiking paths that are not scheduled as a group activity.

During the day the beaches are happening spots for group-travellers and mainland day-trippers alike, whether you’re down for beach play, swimming, or lazy hammocks. Lots and lots of places to enjoy a midday booze bucket too – check out this bucket selfie!

The air and landscape is amazingly pristine, helped by a local ban on motorized vehicles and a 20 baht island entrance fee that is used to preserve the local environment. The lack of formal roads and gasoline helps keep the island running at a staggeringly relaxing pace (often referred to as “Thai Time” by us travellers), despite the wave of tourists these islands have experienced since the ‘The Beach’ was famously filmed on Phi Phi Lei. The main town on Phi Phi Don features an Irish pub, pool table bars, a wide selection of Europeanand Thai restaurants, and some of the only pizza-by-the-slice in Thailand – thankfully served late into the night.

These two islands hold a special place in my heart not only because it was my first mind-blowing island experience in Southeast Asia, but also because so much of what makes this corner of the world special is on display here! For that reason, as well as the countless others you’re sure to discover here, we always make sure that all of our 23 and 35 day travellers make it here no matter what!  #LIVEFREE #THAIHARD