Why I Left Everything to Backpack Asia (And What I Actually Found)
Some people travel to relax. Beach, cocktail, Instagram photo, fly home Sunday.
That’s not why you’re here.
You’re here because something’s been eating at you. Maybe you’ve got a job, or you’re about to graduate, or you’re staring at a path that looks exactly like the one everyone around you is walking, and something deep down keeps saying this isn’t it.
You’re not broken. You’re not lazy. You’re searching.
I know because I was you.
The Moment I Decided to Go
Like many high schoolers, I didn’t know what I wanted. The pressure to pick a career path was intense, especially since I went to a dual enrollment school, taking university classes from the age of 15. I drowned my sorrows with gaming. Playing CSGO and League of Legends with my friends for hours a day after school.
During my second semester of Sophomore year (2nd year), I cracked. I started sleeping in class, and didn’t do a single homework assignment the whole semester. I got home and didn’t even game… I was in quite a depressive state. Just getting home and laying down to contemplate life.
Shout out to my supportive teachers by the way. I probably would have been a dropout without them.
I was fortunate enough to have my parents suggest that I go see family in Japan, over the summer holidays, with my other half-Japanese friend together. I had about two grand savings from working summer jobs, and my parents very kindly bought me a round trip ticket as a special birthday present.
Liam and I made a triangle around Tokyo, where his grandparents lived, Toyama, where my dad lived for 10 years, and Kyoto, where my mother is from. One month of true freedom. A mix of the novelty of seeing new plants, animals, people… and the new found freedom I never experienced before. I remember crying myself to sleep at Liam’s grandparents’ house while we were talking about how amazing it all was.
It wasn’t even a crazy holiday. We just walked around and talked about 90% of the time. I remember our first day, we woke up, left his grandparents place and I decided we should try to train hop the local lines without using a map and see where we end up. Then we somehow ended up walking from Shibuya to the back alleys in Ebisu without a care in the world.
After returning, my life felt like there was finally a reason to keep trying. And so travel holds a special place in my heart. It’s still how I travel to this day. I mostly walk around everywhere and rack up nearly 50,000 steps a day on some occasions.
So anyways, I made my goal to get a job I can work remote and travel, so I pursued a business degree majoring in marketing along with some I.T. skills. One of the only fields at the time in a pre-covid time where fully remote work was very possible.
And so I had a plan. It was a fine plan. It just wasn’t mine.
So I packed a bag, one big old 40 liter bag I got from my dad. The bag had a musty smell you can only create from fermenting in an attic for years. But it was good enough for me. I bought a one-way ticket, and planned on disappearing into Asia for 3 months on $1500 a month… which quickly changed to 8 months on $500 a month. No corporate safety net. No guaranteed return date. Just the question that had been sitting in my chest for years finally getting permission to breathe.
What Most Travel Blogs Won’t Tell You
Every travel blog out there will give you the itinerary. The best hostel in Chiang Mai. The cheapest street food in Hanoi. Which island has the clearest water.
That stuff matters, and I’ll give it to you too.
But none of it answers the real question you came here asking.
Here’s what they don’t say: most people who leave on a big trip aren’t running from something. They’re searching for something. A signal. Proof that there’s more than the version of life they were handed. Permission to build something different.
Travel doesn’t hand you that. But it creates the conditions for you to find it yourself.
What 3-12 Months in Asia Actually Does to You
I’m not going to tell you it transformed me into a monk. It didn’t.
I still had bad days. I still second-guessed myself. I still woke up in a hostel in Laos at 3am wondering what I was doing with my life.
But something shifted, slowly, then all at once.
When you strip away your routine, your social circle, your city, your comfort, the version of yourself that was built by your environment starts to quiet down. And underneath that noise, you start to hear something closer to who you actually are.
I got bit by a stray dog in Pai, Thailand. I went to the hospital and they said I was fine. But about 10 days later, I was telling the story to new friends I made at the hostel, and they urged me to get the rabies vaccines.
The nurse told me that it was too late, and if I contracted rabies, I would probably still die… So for the next month, I literally thought I could start foaming at the mouth any moment. Haha, not a fun way to live life.
But I’ll save you the full story and tell you, I realized one thing. The most important thing to me is being around good people. Good people make a good life.
It wasn’t some religious awakening, but it does give you a better understanding of who you are when you have the ultimate freedom.
That’s what travel does, if you let it. Not the Instagram version. The real version.
The Question Nobody Asks
Everyone says they don’t regret traveling.
That’s true. But here’s the question nobody asks after:
Then what?
You come home. Or you keep moving. Either way, at some point the trip ends, and you’re standing there with a clearer head, a worn-out backpack, and a life that needs to be rebuilt from scratch.
Most blogs stop right there. You did the thing, good job, here’s a packing list.
I’m not going to do that.
Because the trip isn’t the destination. The trip is the tool. The question you’re really asking, who am I, what do I want, what am I supposed to do with my life. That one only gets answered by you, in real time, with real decisions.
What I can do is be your compass while you figure it out.
And I’ll tell you right now, I didn’t have anything planned. Sure it can work out, but it can also go south very quickly.
I ended up luckily doing a homestay with a family friend at my last destination of my backpacking expedition, in Toyama City, Japan.
It went from a 3 month homestay before I went back, to falling in love with a girl and staying for a quarter of a decade. I was able to find many part-time jobs to fund my stay, improve my Japanese, and make some good friends.
But I still had the desire to travel and with bigger goals for the future. So I started working on my online income, and made the leap of faith to Da Nang, Vietnam. I’m currently digital nomading here, and will continue on my journey wherever life takes me.
If I didn’t take the leap of faith, I’d still be working in a restaurant in Japan, getting yelled at by a control-freak boss. And if it all fails, you can always go back to the life you had before. Just remember that.
So this blog will help you think about your next steps even after your travels.
So Here’s What This Blog Actually Is
Barefoot Surfer is two things at once.
The practical stuff: How to travel Asia on $500 a month. How to find cheap flights. The best backpacking route through Southeast Asia. What gear you actually need. How to stay safe, how to move cheap, how to get the most out of every city. What to do after traveling? Digital nomad life. All of it, built from real experience, not a press trip.
The real stuff: What it means to actually do this. The mindset it takes. What happens when you get back? How to use the freedom you’ve earned to build something that matters. The conversation most travel bloggers are too scared to have.
If you’re just here for the itinerary, great, I’ve got you.
If you’re here because something in your life feels off and you think maybe a one-way ticket might be part of the answer, stay. We’ve got more to talk about.
And really, feel free to reach out to me.
Where to Start
If you’re brand new here, start with the fundamentals:
- Budget Backpacking Southeast Asia on $500 a Month — My real budget, broken down completely.
- Backpacking Southeast Asia Route — The countries, the order, what’s worth it and what isn’t.
- How to Save $3,000 to Travel Asia — The practical plan for when you’re starting from zero.
The door’s open. Come in
