You’ve just introduced me to the term herping which I’d never heard before! I’m afraid I don’t know such specific tours, so this is perhaps a question for the herping community 🙂

Do you know of any tours that include some herping on them aswell?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reptiles_of_Thailand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_of_Vietnam

Just off the top of my head, one idea is to go north from Singapore to Malaysia and southern Thailand, ending in Bangkok. Fly to somewhere in Indonesia from either Singapore or Bangkok. It could be Bali for a holiday island experience (very touristy but it’s fun) or to Yogjakarta for a trip in Java for instance. Overlanding through Sumatra would involve pretty huge distances so I would not consider this option.

Loved to read your blog and this was very helpful!
This is my first time planning a trip round southeast Asia.
We are planning of going for 1 month starting from Singapore and would like to end in Indonesia. What travel route would you recommend?
Thank you so much in advance for your help!

Thanks Dave! That sounds like a fantastic family adventure. I hope to re-visit a lot of places myself when my daughter is a bit older 🙂

I’ve been to Kinabatangan and it’s quite exciting. Oranguntans are not guaranteed but lots of wildlife for sure. Malaysia in general I think is good with kids… a bit more developed, calmer, and with lots of fun stuff to do. When I briefly worked for an adventure tour company many years ago, Malaysia was one of the more popular family adventure destinations.

In several Malaysian nature reserves there are canopy walks that are really cool. Mainland Malaysia also has great train connections which could allow for some backpack-style travel but without hilly terrain 😉 Trains in Thailand, Vietnam, and Java in Indonesia are good really as well… could be a nice compromise from using buses.

Maybe Malaysia + Thailand would be a fun option. Things like the ethical Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Khao Sok boat tour + hiking, bicycling and waterfalls around Kanchanaburi, visiting floating markets, etc. all strike me as great activities with kids. Good islands/beaches in both countries too. Hope this helps!

Hey Claudia! The one country where I’ve had personally issues with one-way tickets (and that I’ve heard other people have issues too) is the Philippines. I have some tips for this here. Thailand, Vietnam, etc. are generally easy and have good visa-on-arrival systems.

Just off the top of my head, I would maybe suggest starting in Thailand and going north to Chiang Mai. From there you can find flights to lots of places, so you could go to Vietnam from there for instance. Then the logical sequence might be Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, but it depends a bit on when you travel and the rainy season in each country 🙂

I just wanted to start by saying how much I appreciate your amazing and insightful blog! It’s been incredibly helpful in planning my travels.

I’m currently planning a three-month trip to Southeast Asia, and I’m hoping to visit Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. I’m a bit unsure about the best route to take and where to start and end my journey. Additionally, I’m concerned about dealing with visas, especially since many of them require a two-way ticket. Do you have any advice or recommendations on how to tackle these challenges?

Thanks in advance for your help!

We (2 x adults, 11 year old and 8 year old) are heading to the Far East in June 2025 and I’m struggling to come up with a route for this that will see us get some adventure, pool time (and beach) while hoping to allow our children to gain as much as they can from the experience. Also, trying to make that decision on will we ‘backpack’ it or ‘suitcase’ it (herself has a fear of bus travel on hilly terrain.

First stop (as I’m thinking it would be easier to do it in reverse) is Sandakan, Borneo for a 2n/3d trip on the Kinabatangan river (it has always been ‘herselfs’ dream to see orangutans in the wild) and a couple of days in Sandakan. From here we are at a loss as to how much to fit in, direction to travel etc etc etc.

I was fortunate in the past to get to spend about two weeks seeing Siem Reap, Luang Prabang, Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh and we have both spent time in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Tioman Island. We don’t mind revisiting – in fact I think the kids would absolutely love Luang Prabang and the waterfalls – but as there is so much to do it is exhausting trying to come up with an itinerary.

Thinking Siem Reap (would love the Cambodian islands but think it will be wet season), Ha Long Bay, Luang Prabang before spending the remaining time in Thailand. Perhaps this is too much.

Will definitely have 4 weeks, quite possibly 5.

It is a lot of fun researching the Far East though and coming upon great sites like this.

Hey Aaron! I just posted this new article with 2-week itineraries for Southeast Asia. You could chain some of these together for your big trip.

It’s hard to recommend things very specifically without knowing the person’s interests. But just as an example: Bangkok -> Kanchanaburi/Sukhothai/Chiang Mai in 1 week -> fly to Hanoi, see Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, Hue and/or Phong Nha in 2 weeks -> fly to Bangkok, chill on the islands/coast -> fly to Bali.