TRANSPORTATION IN THAILAND

Getting from point A to point B in SE Asia is pretty easy! There are numerous ways to travel like bus, train, plane, boat or even by car. The way you get there is really up to you and what you can afford. I thought I would share my tips on what I found to be the cheapest and most reliable! 

When traveling anywhere in Thailand my fiancé and I always stuck to taking the bus! The buses are fantastic, affordable and reliable! Depending how cheap you are you can get a pretty great deal. Traveling from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on a VIP bus that included free water, snacks, movies, blankets and pillows & reclining seats cost us 488 baht which is roughly $17 Canadian! Pretty awesome considering the bus ride was 10 hours long. 
The same went for when we traveled to Krabi province which was about 12 hours away. 
The bus terminals are easy to find and we found they always ran on time & never broke down. 

If your thinking of taking the train system throughout Thailand, I would highly suggest to double think that. The train system is never on time, always has delays & usually costs more. We also heard they are notorious for being de-railed. 

If buses are not really for you, another great means of transportation is by plane. The tickets are pretty affordable & you would save a ton of time! For anyone who isn't backpacking or is on a strict time line, the plane is a great option! 
Air Asia has tons of booths around Thailand & you can also buy your tickets online. To get from say Bangkok to Chiang Mai would roughly cost you $60 Canadian & the flight is about 1 hour! 

Boats!! Boats are great if your traveling the islands of Thailand! You get to see some pretty amazing scenery and the price is pretty affordable as well! You can usually hire your own personal long tale boat & haggle them down to a great price. We found taking the public boats from larger ports to be the best price! To get from Krabi to Koh Lanta cost us $4 Canadian & took about an hour and a half! 
An important note I wanted to mention about taking any boat in Thailand is that if the boat looks too full and they keep packing it full, get off!! Ask to take the next boat! These boats often tip or flip due to them being over packed. The boats run every hour on the hour so don't feel rushed! Use your own judgment & be safe! 

As for taxis, car rentals and Tuk Tuk's in Thailand they are always usually affordable unless they scam you! If you are in a taxi, always ask for them to use the meter. They will likely say no because it's too hot and the meter doesn't work but that's a lie! 
If your traveling from the Bangkok airport to Khao San Road (a popular tourist area where you will find cheap hotels & shopping) should cost you no more than 500 baht or $20! Do not let them scam you at the airport! 
As for Tuk Tuks... Anywhere but Bangkok they are a fantastic means of transportation! In Bangkok they are greedy & will never take you to your exact location without taking you to some sort of tourist shop where they get compensation. If you decided to take a Tuk Tuk in Bangkok, just be firm! Do not them stop at other locations and try and use exact change, if you don't have exact change they usually say they don't have change to give you & your out of luck. Also, if a Tuk Tuk driver says they are going to take you to a bunch of different temples that are only open for 1 day - don't do it! It's a scam! & beware of the people on the sidewalk who walk up to you & act like they are your friends & then recommend you to take a Tuk Tuk - these people work with the Tuk Tuk drives to increase their business! 

Overall it's pretty easy to get anywhere in Thailand, it really all depends on you and how you want to travel! My best advice would be to do your research & know how much your willing to spend. Again, we loved the bus system and highly recommend them to anyone who is backpacking and on a budget! 
I hope some of these tips helped & if you have any questions, leave them in the comments below! 
Thanks for reading! 

MY PERFECT BACKPACK & WHATS IN IT!

If I could have gone back in time and change what I decided to bring with me to South East Asia, I totally would!!
After backpacking for 2 and a half months now there is so much I wish I had done differently. Today I thought I would share my perfect backpacking and everything that's inside it!
As for the backpack itself... keep in mind you'll probably want to bring it as a carry on everywhere you go. It's way less of a hassle that way & you wont have to wait for baggage claim.
My backpack is made by Osprey and its 35 L & also has a rain cover. Most people would consider that a small bag for the length of time we are traveling but I love it! It's small and easy to carry around & surprisingly fits a ton!! 
Here's a quick break down of what I would have brought!

CLOTHING;
T-Shirt x 3
Tank Top - Loose fitting x2
Tank Top - Built in bra x1
Dresses x 2 or 3 (Up to you, I would have preferred to have 3!)
Leggings x 1
Elephant Pants x1 (Or loose fitting light weight track pants)
Shorts x 4 (One pair of jean shorts, the rest easy to wear light weight shorts)
Bathing Suits x 3
Underwear x 7
Bra x 1
Sports Bra x 1
Socks x 3
Hat x 1
Scarf x 1 (Great as a pillow, blanket & for covering up at temples)
Rain Coat x 1
Micro Fiber Towel x 1
Sandals x 1
Sneakers or Running shoes x 1

TOILETRIES:
Tooth Brush x2
Tooth Paste
Shampoo
Conditioner
Deodorant
Soap
Body Soap
Hair Brush

FIRST AID ITEMS & OTHER:
Band-Aids (Lots)
Pepto
Diarrhea Pills
Clove Oil (Great for tooth pains)
Halls
Advil
Bug Spray (Deet %30)
Eye Drops
Sunscreen (Lots)
Aloe
Kleenex (A few to go packs - super handy!! not all washrooms have toilet paper)  

COMFORT:
Neck Pillow
Eye Mask
Ear Plugs

PASS TIME ITEMS:
Cards
Books
Note Book & Pen

Keep everything simple! Its super easy to shop here & you'll definitely want to pick up some items while traveling so the less you bring from home the better!
As for doing laundry while traveling, that's simple! There are tons of places that do your laundry for you & its pretty cheap! However, if your like me and you want to save money, do your laundry yourself! Pick up a plastic bag & just add water and shampoo or body wash & mix it around! Let it hang to dry and your good to go!

Something you should also keep in mind - Showing off too much skin in SE Asia is frowned upon. Low cut tops & short shorts might not be the best idea. If you plan on seeing a lot of temples etc, make sure you do your research before & dress appropriately!

That's all for now! If I forgot anything, I will be sure to add it.
Comment below if I have forgotten anything important!
Safe travels!

WHAT I SHOULD HAVE PACKED

After backpacking for a little over 2 months now I have come to realize I missed a number of things while packing! I also realized I over packed on numerous items as well.
In this blog post I'm going to go over some of the things I wished I had packed and some of the things I wish I left at home!
So lets get into it...

WHAT I SHOULD HAVE PACKED...

T-SHIRTS - This was such a silly mistake on my part!! I honestly have no idea how or why I over looked such an essential item! T-Shirts are a HUGE item I wish I brought more of. Currently, I am only working with 1 t-shirt & I cant even begin to tell you how much it sucks!
T-Shirts are great for so much here in Asia! Since your in the sun almost all day they are great for covering your shoulders & back from the sun. I cant stress enough how important they are to bring!
LIGHT WEIGHT PANTS - Since one of the main things Cameron and I enjoy doing in Asia is visiting temples I really wish I had brought more light weight pants or sweat pants. Sure, there super easy to find here in Thailand and very affordable but they also rip very easily! I brought a number of leggings and workout style pants but they don't really do the job here. In some temples you are not allowed to wear tight fitting pants making my yoga pants off limits. So, if your going to be doing some temple visiting, make sure you bring some light weight easy to wear pants!
LOOSE FITTING TANK TOPS - Like T-shirts, tank tops are also great here, there easy to wear and very breathable.. however, the tank tops I brought were again workout tanks with built in bras from LuLu Lemon. These ones are cute BUT they get uncomfortable fast! I really wish I had brought some more cheap loose fitting tank tops.
MORE SHORTS - I brought 4 pairs of shorts but I wish I had changed some of my pants out for extra shorts! Shorts are great here because it does get super hot & there easy to pack! So ditch your
leggings for shorts!
SUNSCREEN - This is pretty obvious... I really thought I would have had enough sunscreen but when you wear it here everyday all day you go through it super quickly! Plus buying sunscreen at home is way more affordable then buying it here. In Asia for sunscreen the cheapest you'll find a small & I mean TINY bottle is about $10. So pack extra!!
SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER - This is also a small thing I over looked while packing. I thought it would be easy to buy both of these items here & I was wrong! Shampoo is super easy to find but it does get a little expensive. However, conditioner is impossible to find! If you do find it, you'll pay an arm and a leg for it! So stock up! If your like us and your cheap, a great way to save some money is when your in a hotel that offers shampoo - TAKE IT ALL! We would re fill a water bottle with any shampoo that was given at the hotel, it comes in handy for doing your laundry too!!

WHAT I COULD HAVE DITCHED...

PANTS - Simply too hot here for pants on the regular, you really only need them for bus rides & visiting temples. One pair will be fine!
FIRST AID ITEMS - I brought so many first aid items that I thought I might end up needed but honestly haven't even touched. Anything you may need you can find here at any local convenience store. A few good items to bring are: Band-Aids, Pepto & Advil! Other than then, leave the rest!
MAKEUP - This I know most people wouldn't have even brought but I did. I thought maybe we might go somewhere and ill want to throw on a little mascara etc but I honestly haven't even touched any of the makeup I brought.

If your deciding to go backpacking for more than a few weeks just remember to pack smart! I thought I had it all figured out but as the days go on I realize how much useless stuff I brought and things I really wished I had. Less is definitely more!! Make your bag as light as possible - that is the key since you might end up walking with your bag for hours & the lighter & smaller the bag the easier it is to get on flights, buses etc!
Keep checking back because in my next post Ill go over my perfect backpack & whats in it for traveling South East Asia!
Thanks for reading!

TRAVELING THAILAND - MY TIPS

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. Cameron and I are currently in Singapore on our way to Bali & while sitting in the airport I decided to write down and few tips I thought I would pass along to anyone traveling Thailand. So far, Cameron and I have only visited the south end of Thailand. So these tricks will include Bangkok and the islands! After we visit Chang Mai & the northern side of Thailand I will definitely update this! 

So here goes! 

• When arriving in Bangkok, we found there were numerous places to exchange money into Thai Baht, however, most of these places have a high exchange rate. A nice flight attendant told us that the best place to exchange in the airport was on the bottom level at one of the purple banks. We found there exchange rate to be much better than all the others on the main floor 
• Since on the topic of money and exchanging money, if possible, wait to exchange any money until you are out of the airport. The best bank to go to is SCB & it's bright purple! Also, take out enough money to last you the week, you'll pay less in service charges! & remember, always go to the purple banks! 
• Taxis are easy to find in Bangkok but they will all try and rip you off! Stick to the pink taxis or the blue and yellow ones & ask them to use their meter!! If you don't ask them to use the meter they will charge you way more! 
• Never use Tuk Tuks, it's a great experience to try once but from our experience they never take you where you want & always end up charging you more than what you bargained for! (This point is really only for Bangkok, we found all other Tuk Tuks around Thailand to be great!!) 
• Bargain! All of the shop owners will charge you triple the price the item is actually worth unless you haggle them! A great tip we learned from Cameron's sister was to tell them no & say the other shop owner told you half the price they are offering, if that doesn't work simply start walking away and in no time they will run after you and agree to the price you offered. 
• Most shop owners while bargaining will show you their calculator and say "how much you pay" ALWAYS low ball it!! My trick was to always say 150 baht unless the item was super cheap! 
• Bargain for anything! Even hotels! We would 95% of the time end up saving atleast 200 baht on a hotel by just asking "is that best price?" 
• Use Agoda! It's a great way to book hotels and save a little money here and there. It was a great tool to see if hotels were actually giving you a fair price in person as to what they were quoting online, just keep in mind not all hotels are as they seem online, read the reviews! People from all over the world rate hotels on Agoda and give you awesome advice! 
• Less is more! Pack as little clothing as possible! I over packed & I hardly brought anything. There is so much shopping here it's crazy! & everything is super cheap! 
• Pack conditioner, extra sunscreen and aloe!!! 3 things I wish I had packed more of because in Thailand they are either non existent or extremely expensive!! 
• Keep in mind that you cannot drink the water in Thailand so buying water is necessary, the Family Marts (similar to a 7-11) gives you the best price on water and always have promotions!! 
• To stick with the tip above, we almost always shopped at the Family Marts over the 7-11. This was because the prices were much better and we found them to be less busy! 
• This is a tip from Cameron for anyone who will be buying beers.. Buy the Big Chang beers that come in the 2 or 3 packs, you'll get more beer & pay less!! & for my lady drinkers, try the pink Spy's!! There wine coolers! Super yummy and the cheapest drink you'll find! (both always cheapest at the Family Marts) 

& those are all the tips I could think of right now! If I think of anymore I will definitely update this post!! 

I hope some of these tips helped you out on your trip to Thailand! 

xoxo Alicia 

A WEEK IN KOH LANTA, THAILAND

After a few nights in Ao Nang, Krabi, Cameron and I decided to head over to Koh Lanta.
We decided to spend a week here to really see the whole island. After getting off the fairy we took a tuk tuk to Long Beach. We had read great things about this little town and knew it was close to great beaches. Our first night we stayed in a private bungalow about a minute from the beach. Our bungalow was called Lantawade, we paid about $20 which was great! Super affordable!
The bungalow was cute and quite but wasn't exactly for us. 

The next day we took a walk & ended up finding a resort right next door called Raya Lanta Resort. The room was amazing!! It was huge and super clean! We even had air conditioning for the same price as the fan bungalow from the previous night. Not too mention free wifi in our room, something the bungalow also didn't have. We bargained with the owner of the resort and worked out a great price for the whole week. 

The first few days for us were beach days, we would wake up, have fruit for breakfast from a local vendor and then head right to the beach for a full day of soaking in the sun. After a full day in the sun, we would then head back to our resort and relax outside our room either playing cards, reading, or just chatting about life! We loved this relax lifestyle and fell in love with Long Beach and how easily accessible everything was. 

After a few days of pure relaxation we decided to rent a moped and tour the island! We toured the full island and found some amazing look out points and great restaurants! There was one restaurant that we loved so much we need to share! It's called the Panoramic. This place had the best food!! By far the best since we arrived in Thailand, everything was organic and the owner was fantastic!! Not to mention the view was phenomenal! 

We loved touring the island so much that we decided to do it a few more times that week, stopping at new beaches and view points each time. The moped was cheap too! It only cost us $9 CAD for the whole day! After a few days of scooting around the island, I ended up getting super sun burnt so our last few days ended up being relaxation days where we tried to stay out of the sun.

We were lucky to be in Koh Lanta when we were because they were having the Lanta Lanta festival! We went to the festival on our second last night and had a blast!! Tons of street food, clothing vendors and entertainment! We watched an awesome fire show & some great local Thai dancing. We even ran into and old friend, which was actually crazy because who runs into someone in the middle of a crazy festival on an island in Thailand! 
Overall out trip to Koh Lanta was fantastic!! We definitely recommend if you are ever in the area to make the trip to the beautiful island! Tons of great beaches and amazing scenery. If your budget can afford it, I would definitely recommend renting a moped and seeing the whole island! The island is small so only takes at most about an hour and a half to drive the whole thing. However! Make sure you stop at each viewpoint and make it a day trip! There is tons to see and some amazing views!Here are some more pictures of our time in Koh Lanta! 

TRAVELING THAILAND - PINE BUNGALOWS, KRABI

 After leaving Bangkok & being on a bus for 12 hours Cameron and I were very happy to arrive in Krabi! Krabi is a province in Thailand that is located on the south end near the islands.
In Krabi we found an amazing place called Pine Bungalows. Pine bungalows is situated on a very quite private beach that was about 15 minutes outside of Ao Nang. We LOVED Pine Bungalows.
We got our own private bungalow for about $15 Canadian.

We stayed a total of 3 nights here and loved every minute. We were roughly 50 steps to the private beach & also had a restaurant on site. The prices were a lot higher then other places we had been to but the food was fantastic and worth the money.
On one of our first nights we took a walk into the small town that was about a 5 minute walk from our small resort. The town had a cute little market where we picked up some fresh fruit and some essentials that we needed. On our walk back to our resort we saw a few signs and people setting up for some big festival, we asked one of the locals what was happening and he told us we were lucky to be in town. There was going to be a huge festival for the next 3 days where there would be a famous Thai band, dancing, food, and tons of shopping. We were so excited!!

After a good nights sleep we woke up and decided to make today a beach day! We had the water to ourselves and got an awesome spot on the beach with 2 hammocks side by side. After relaxing all day we decided to head down to the festival.
The festival was amazing!! So many great street foods and TONS of shopping! Cameron and I both got some new sunglasses at a combined price of $4 CAD.
As the night went on we decided to go watch the live entertainment and watch the bands play. We sat on the beach and got some drinks and enjoyed the music & entertainment for the rest of the night.

On our last day at Pine Bungalows we decided to take it easy and enjoy the scenery. We relaxed all day on the beach and couldn't have asked for more. After a busy few nights in Bangkok it was nice to unwind on the beach and just relax. We knew that after Pine Bungalows we wanted to stay in Krabi province and check out a few more great places, we did a little research that night and decided our next stop would be Ao Nang!

GETTING TO THAILAND

Hello Everyone! It's been a long time since I updated my travel blog, my fiance and I have been in Thailand for about a week now & have been doing so many things, I have lost track of time! I figured I would share our journey on how we arrived in Thailand!

We departed North Bay, Ontario on Feb 22nd, instead of taking a vehicle from North Bay to Toronto we found a pretty amazing flight deal with Porter Airlines. This flight took us right into the heart of Toronto. We then took city transit to get from downtown to the airport. Our flight with Porter was AMAZING! The flight was roughly 40 minutes & we got to indulge in some complimentary drinks and snacks! We also received complimentary alcoholic beverages!! Making our first day of vacation that much better! The flight was smooth & the staff was fantastic! I highly recommend flying with Porter! Even if you are just taking a trip into the city it was definitely worth the money! Our flight only cost $60!

After getting to the airport we had to wait 7 hours until our flight to Thailand. There was plenty of things to do in the Pearson Airport so our time flew by. We flew with EVA Air and I can not commend them enough for their amazing service!! Cameron's carry on bag was over weight and the lady who checked us in let it slide! She also let me take my bag as a carry on even though it was also a little large. Such a great start to our experience!

After boarding the plane and finding our seats we were even more impressed! We had read online about how small the seats were and that the food wasn't good. We totally disagree!! Our seats were very spacious and we felt right at home with a pillow, blanket & slippers! Once we took off, roughly 2 hours into the flight we received our first meal of two. IT WAS AMAZING!! Yummy noodles with chicken & broccoli, a bun, fruit and a yummy cheesecake desert! We received snacks throughout the flight which were great and also had complimentary alcoholic beverages the entire flight. Our second meal was breakfast. For breakfast Cameron and I had the same thing - we had scrambled eggs, bacon, roasted tomato and potatoes, yogurt, fruit and a brownie for desert.
We also had a lay over in Taipei, the layover was short and it was our first experience with a new culture. We decided while we waited that we would tour the airport and grab some food. We had a blast checking out all the shops within the airport and met a guy who was also backpacking Thailand like us! Once on our flight we got ANOTHER meal!! This time it was chicken with rice and broccoli, again with fruit and a desert. All around we LOVED EVA and thought the service and food was great!

After 22 hours of flying we finally arrived in Thailand!! We thought going through security was going to be tough since we didn't have proof of leaving the country which we heard they were cracking down on. We were totally wrong. It was so easy!! The officer took our passports, told us to look at the camera, stamped our passports and sent us on our way! This process took a total of 2 minutes! It was great! After leaving the airport the weather really hit us! It was humid and hot! We had to find a cab to take us to our hotel which was no problem at all since there were tons lined up outside of the airport. Our cab cost 500 baht which is about $19.00 CAD. Not bad considering it was a 40 minute cab ride!

Overall our journey getting to Thailand was a success! If your looking to book a trip to Thailand I would highly recommend EVA Air! The flight was very affordable and the staff, food & seats were amazing! I would recommend taking the over night flight, we pretty much slept the entire flight making it seem super short!
Stay tuned for more updates on our journey through Thailand!

Alicia xoxo

PACKING TIPS & TRICKS

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. My last post I covered what I was bringing on our trip to Thailand. Today I wanted to go over a few tips and tricks I use while packing.
These tips not only save space but they also make it a little easier to keep everything organized!

1. Rolling your clothes rather than folding. Not only is this great for saving space but its also great for wrinkles! Rolling your clothes will leave less wrinkles in your clothing so when you arrive to your destination there is no need to iron anything!

 2. To go along the same lines as my first tip, I find rolling my clothes by outfit helps with keeping things organized and also saves space! I do this by lying the largest piece of clothing down first and then lying the other articles of clothing on top and simply folding and roll it all together into a little ball! 

3. This tip is great for people who are going to be backpacking. I like to roll all of my clothes and then put them into packing cubs. Instead of using packing cubs I used plastic bags! Saves you money and also keeps your clothing dry if your bag gets wet. I like to organize my bags by tops, bottoms and bathing suits. This way when I reach into my bag and I need a pair of shorts I can easily see which bag I need to grab. The bags are also great for creating a somewhat dupe for a vacuum seal bag. Just roll and fold the bag as tight as possible! This saves you a ton of room!

4. Another small tip I usually use when traveling anywhere, even on a weekend vacation, is bringing a pillow case or extra bag for dirty laundry. I am a clean freak so I need everything to be organized and tidy and I find this helps me a ton! I love knowing all my dirty items are in one bag!

5. A little tip while packing is to make sure that you have an extra outfit or two in your carry on bag or if you're traveling with someone else, put an outfit in their bag or carry on in case your luggage gets lost!

I hope those 5 little tips and tricks helped while you pack for your next getaway! I will definitely be updating these tips and tricks as I continue to travel because I'm sure I will think of a few more!
Thanks for reading,
Alicia xoxo

PACKING FOR THAILAND - BACKPACKING EDITION

Hello Bloggers! Welcome back to my travel blog.
I get asked all the time from my colleagues how I decided what I was going to bring while backpacking. I thought I would share with all of you what I am bringing and how I decided on each piece!
Here's a quick snap shot of what I'm bringing!

Above is a quick snap shot of the items I am bringing. I thought I would also mention that the backpack I am bring is 30 Lt. I wanted a backpack that was big enough to fit everything but also small enough that I could bring it around with me on a daily basis. 

Here's a closer look into the tops & dresses I decided to bring with me! 

 

I decided to bring with me 2 different dresses I knew I wanted dresses that were easy to wear and comfortable with a breathable material.
The pink dress in the top left corner is from American Eagle. This dress is great because its a bright colour and the fabric is easy to wear and great for hot weather! It also has a build in bra which is great! This dress is great for day to day and also great if we decide to go out at night since you can totally dress it up!
The other dress I brought is also from American Eagle and again is very breathable and light weight. It will be easy to dry and its very easy to pack since its so light weight. I brought this dress as more of a cover up for the beach. 

I also decided to bring a cute romper, the one I'm bringing is from Boat House and has a cute open back. Again its easy to pack because the material is light weight and it will be easy to dry after I need to wash it or if it gets wet at the beach. A romper is a great idea because essentially its shorts and a top all in one! 

The three tops in the bottom left corner are from LuLu Lemon. I decided to bring these because they have a build in bra which is awesome and are also made from awesome fabric that is breathable and easy to wear! These shirts will be great for everyday use since they look good with jean shorts, a skirt and leggings. We plan on doing a lot of hiking and exploring so these tops will be perfect! Plus they are very flattering! 

The tops in the bottom right hand corner are two tops I can wear lounging around everyday or even if we need to run errands etc! The tye dye black top is from American Eagle and is a crop top, great for the hot weather and look good with the pair of high wasted shorts I am bringing. Again has a built in bra making it one less thing I have to worry about! The grey top with the skeleton bones on the front is from Sabo Skirt. This shirt will be great for sleeping, traveling and lounging. The material is light weight and easy to wear! Perfect for a lazy day but still looking cute!  

Here's a more in depth look at the bottoms & swimsuits I am bringing! 

The bottom two pictures are the bottoms I am bringing, the bottom right shows how I rolled my bottoms to make more room in my backpack! Rolling your clothes is a great tip for saving room! 

I decided to bring two pairs of leggings, one pair is a cropped pair of leggings from Joe Fresh & the other pair is a full legging from Winners. Both have great fabric that is super breathable and easy to dry & pack! I decided to go with pink colours so that it was a little more fun for the hot weather! Plus black attracts the heat and I didn't want that! Both of these bottoms go with either of my LuLu Lemon tops which is exactly what I wanted! 

I also packed a skirt with built in shorts. This "Skort" is from Bench its the blue one in the middle. Again sticking to the same fabric as before, very light weight and breathable. The skort option was great for me because I wanted something cute yet realistic. Great for traveling or everyday use! 

I also packed two pairs of shorts. One being a light weight very colourful pair of printed shorts I picked up from Stitches. These are perfect for hot weather! There cute and fashionable & they dry quickly! The other pair of shorts are high wasted white denim shorts from American Eagle. I thought it would be nice to have a pair of denim shorts for going out at night or going to the mall etc. These white ones are great for matching with any of the tops I am bringing above! 

Now for bathing suits! I decided to only bring 2 since I'm sure ill find some cute ones while in Thailand. I decided to go with a very bright bathing suite and a plain black suite that way I can mix and match both suits and get more use out of both!
 For underwear and socks I decided to pack them all in this great mesh bag I got from WhiteFox Boutique. This bag is great for a beach backpack and is great for storing all the undies and socks! I brought 7 pairs of underwear and 3 pairs of socks. I also brought 2 bras, a white and a nude. I also decided to pack 1 sports bra and one bandoue!

ALSO! Don't forget the outfit you wear on the plane counts as clothing too! Heres a quick look at the outfits I am wearing on the plane! 

My airport outfit took me the longest to figure out! I get FREEZING on air planes and knew I needed a good outfit to keep me warm but needed to keep in mind I didn't want to get too warm so knew I needed good layers! 

I decided to go with a pair of leggings, an Under Armour long sleeve to keep me warm and a nice golf sweater I had from Jasper that keeps you warm but isn't too thick for when I needed to pack it away. I also am deciding to wear a scarf, this will be perfect if I get extra cold it can double as a blanket or I can use it over my neck pillow for extra comfort! 

Im also wearing my tennis shoes because there super comfy and light weight to pack away after! 

While I was packing I made sure to pre plan my outfits. I picked versatile pieces that would make a number of different outfits. That would be my biggest piece of advice while packing your backpack. Pre plan outfits!! Saves you a lot of time! Another tip is if your heading to South East Asia like I am, I heard the shopping is AMAZING so don't over pack because you will find some amazing things while your there that you can pick up for half the cost it is here!

Thanks for reading!
Alicia xoxo 

MY D.I.Y FIST AID KIT

Hello everyone & welcome back to my blog! 

Today I wanted to share my do it yourself first aid kit for backpacking! 

Sometimes buying a first aid kit can get expensive and I was on a budget so I thought of another way to make my own! Most of these items I already had around my house so this was super easy to throw together! 

A good thing to remember is that depending where you are traveling you will likely be able to buy most of this stuff there. However, I am a crazy OCD freak and I didn't want to be stuck somewhere and not have the things I needed. Im also insanely cheap and knew I did not want to purchase things in another county when I knew I already owned them. 

Below is a picture of my DIY First Aid kit & how I organized it.

So now Im sure your wondering what exactly I packed and why?! So here goes, here is a list of everything I packed and beside why I packed it. 

Firstly, I packed everything in a 1 quart clear zip lock, this was because it will be way easier to get through airport security in a clear bag. Another reason why I chose a zip lock bag was because if anything leaked it would be easy to change the bag & it wouldn't get all over anything else I packed. 

SIDE NOTE - As you can see in the first picture I also put things into smaller individual bags so that it was easier to find the things I needed. For example, if I was sick with the flu I have a little flu bag or if I was cut I have a small first aid bag with band-aids etc! 

This also helps if anything were to spill or leak it will keep the mess to one contained area. 

WHAT I PACKED 

* Tissues - For obvious reasons, also for washroom situations where there might be no toilet paper since here in Canada Kleenex and toilet paper is a luxury item. 

* Vaseline - This was for my fiance as he gets bad chafe and the Vaseline is good for when your legs are rubbing. I also love Vaseline for chapped lips so thought it would be a great item to bring.

MINI FIRST AID BAG 

* Plysporin - Great for cuts 

* Burn cream - I get horrible sun burns so this is from my doctor, great for sun burns and or cuts! 

* Benadryl Cream - Great for cuts. burns, anything really! 

* Band-Aids - Obvious reason 

SICK BAG 

* Advil - I get horrible headaches so this was a must! 

* Halls Lozenges - Awesome for soar throats, or if you start to get sick 

* Benadryl Day & Night Pills - In case we get sick 

* Diarrhea Pills - Self explanatory..... 

OTHER MINI BAGS 

* Q-Tips - Good for applying any medication & also for our ears (mainly my fiances) 

* Eye Drops - Good for dry eyes or allergies 

* Clove Oil - In case we get tooth aches, clove oil helps with the pain - use q-tips to apply to tooth 

* Davids Tea - Cold 911 - Amazing for nipping a cold in the butt! 

* Tea Bags - To use for the tea or in case we need to make our own coffee

* Small Sewing Kit - For our clothes or if our bag breaks. 

* Extra Hair Ties and Bobby Pins - Just nice to have on hand! 

& That's it! Be sure to check back once we arrive in Thailand to see if I ended up needing any of these items and how useful this was! Again, all of these items I already had lying around my house. All I needed to do was put them into bags and draw a little first aid sign on the main bag! 

Thanks for reading! 

alicia xox 

WELCOME TO MY TRAVEL BLOG

Hello Bloggers, 

Welcome to my travel blog! My name is Alicia and I also have another blog where I talk about beauty and fashion. www.thebeautymanuel.blogspot.com 

 I decided to make this travel blog since I will be traveling to Thailand and Indonesia as of Feb 22nd this year! 

I wanted to write my first post and introduce myself! 

I'm a 23 year old from Canada and I currently work in the food and beverage industry. I recently got engaged to the man of my dreams & together he and I will be traveling South East Asia. 

Our first stop will be in Bangkok Thailand where we are staying for roughly two days. After that we seriously have no plans! We are going to take our trip day by day. There are a few places we have on our list such as Chaing Mai, Krabi and some surrounding islands. We will be leaving Thailand to travel to Indonesia mid march where we will be meeting my fiancee's sister and her husband in Bali! 

Like I mentioned, we have no serious plans just see where life takes us! 

I created this blog to document our travels to look back on as memories as well as to help others who are looking to start traveling! I thought I would share in my next few post some of my essentials that I will be bringing because I know at work I get tons of questions from people asking what I'm planning on bring to wear and how I decided what outfits to bring. I also wanted to show my first aid kit that I am bring and how I made it myself and what I put in it, 

Maybe Ill even share my secrets on how we got the best flight deals! You'll have to check back! 

So stay tuned everyone, there are some exciting things coming up! 

Alicia xox