Southeast Asia forum

My personal favourites were Cambodia and Indonesia. The best advice I can give you is that I always found the transport to the destination to be the best (slow boat to Laos, bus/boat to Lombok, trains through Thailand/ Vietnam). These are best for meeting people and give you a chance to see alot.

I really loved scuba diving in Thailand. My only warning is that it's addicting. Very cheap on koh tao but I liked phiphi alot more. Blacktip scuba on long beach is great gives smaller classes.

I'd head north on Indonesia and check some of the coast towns out. There very scenic and really relaxing. I can't remember specific names as it was a while ago.

One last thing is try to rent bikes. That's always been a highlight of my trip.

Enjoy and I hope you get better tips than
My rambling

shaun,

have you been reading the travelfish blogs? you can access them from the main page, along the lower left-hand column. i've been reading them lately and they are a lot of fun, as well as filled with good ideas of where to go, what to see, etc.

the features section similarly has great information on what to see and do in SEA.

for a long trip like yours, i'd say work out your travel insurance and money strategy well in advance. have a general route and itinerary worked out, but don't be too rigid in forming your plans. you may find that you like some places more than you expected and didn't like others as much as you thought you might. research what the weather is usually like in different places at different times of the year and use that to help plan your route. also, pay attention to your visa requirements for each county. many allow 30-day visa exemptions or paid visa on arrival, but not all, and you'll want to be sure you know exactly what is needed for each country so you can sort that in advance or at least know what your next visa need is while on the trip.

finally, don't try to do too much. even with a year to spend, you'll find that the time goes quickly and there is no way you can get to everything you want to do in each country, or even to each country you want to visit. often times less is more, and with the more time you spend in a place, the more of the feel of a location you can pick up as you get used to the customs and even pick up a bit of the language.

have a great time. a year sounds so awesome. i'm eating my heart out. cheers.