Wondering what to pack for Southeast Asia? Here’s our tried and tested Southeast Asia packing list created for travellers who want to make the most of their space!
In this guide, we’ll share all the essential items you need to bring on your trip, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a backpacker or prefer to travel with a suitcase. You’ll need the same items anyway!
If you’ve come across this guide, you may have seen our other travel guides for countries in Southeast Asia. It’s safe to say, that we love travelling in Southeast Asia! It’s one of our favourite regions in the world and a place we keep coming back to.
After a few trips to Southeast Asia, we have figured out the best packing list using our 40L backpacks. Our major tip when packing for Southeast Asia is to always pack less!
You’ll find our main essentials packing list for anyone to use plus a few things Dan and I pack being a female and male.
In this packing list for Southeast Asia, we break down the items you should pack in categories such as which toiletries to bring and how many outfits you should bring.
Anyway, let’s get into what to pack for Southeast Asia!
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The Ultimate Southeast Asia Packing List | 2024
Southeast Asia has a tropical climate which makes it the perfect destination to travel light. With the heat and amount of travelling you’ll be doing, you don’t want to be dragging around a heavy backpack or suitcase. Trust us! We started our first backpacking trip with a 40L bag and have never looked back.
We’ve spent almost a year travelling the region, exploring the temples in Cambodia, visiting the tea plantations in Cameron Highlands and island hopping in the Philippines. Not forgetting about our time in Malaysia and Vietnam!
Whilst exploring the beautiful destinations of Southeast Asia, we knew that 40L was the maximum bag we wanted to be travelling with.
40 litres is a great amount of space to work with for a Southeast Asia packing list. You won’t have to bring heavy winter unless you travel to a different region before or after your trip!
Choose the right Backpack for Southeast Asia
We highly recommend travelling to Southeast Asia with a backpack! If you’re not planning to travel around much then a suitcase will work, but it won’t be easy dragging wheels on beaches.
A Main Backpack
As there are many backpacks to choose from, we recommend finding the one that fits you the best. You’ll want to find a comfortable backpack that you can wear for long periods! Here’s what we are currently using:
This is Dan’s go-to travel backpack and he’s been using it for over 5+ years! We take this bag almost everywhere, on weekend trips, 1 week trips and 7-month trips. You can open it up like a ‘suitcase’ and pack it without having to dig to the bottom for an item.
🎒Ventura 40L Rucksack (Mountain Warehouse)
This is my go-to travel bag especially when packing for Southeast Asia! Dan also used to have this bag before upgrading to the Osprey which suited his back more. The Ventura bag has come with me on all my trips when backpacking and I love that it has a separate compartment at the bottom, as the rest of the bag is a top loader.
Use Packing Cubes
Packing cubes are a lifesaver when it comes to packing for Southeast Asia. It keeps all of your clothes in the right compartments and makes it so much easier to pack again. Especially if you’re moving around every few days changing accommodations.
There’s a lot of great packing cubes out there, we’ve been using Amazon Basics Packing Cubes for years and love them! They’re still going strong and we have them in multiple different sizes for different trips.
A Day Backpack
Some larger backpacks come with smaller day backpacks attached to them! This is a pretty good option if you’re bringing a lot of things.
If you want to pack light, our recommendation would be to find a 40L backpack and be able to fit your day backpack inside of it. Some planes only let you bring one bag onboard and whilst travelling you’ll find more things to pack. Here’s an example of a small bags you can find online!
We manage to fit a small day bag inside our backpacks, which means we never overpack!
I also like to bring a small bumbag around my waist which is perfect for carrying my phone when I don’t have pockets in Southeast Asia. It comes in handy when keeping your valuables safe when travelling too! I have the Eastpak bum bag in grey!
Find out ways how to save money for travel here!
What to pack for Southeast Asia?
Once you’ve got your main bag, day bag and packing cubes sorted. It’s time to start creating your Southeast Asia packing list! From clothes to toiletries and tech to locks. There’s a lot of things to pack in your bag, but we’ve got you covered!
Important Documents to Pack for Southeast Asia
- Passport
- Travel Documents (visa, boarding pass & travel insurance coverage)
- Bank Cards
- Cash (Preferably US Dollars)
- An Empty Wallet (with anything unessential taken out)
We recommend bringing US Dollars to Southeast Asia or at least £50 or €50. US Dollars are the main currency in Cambodia and are used often in Laos. If you’re in a situation where your bank card doesn’t work at an ATM, at least you’ll have extra cash to exchange for the local currency.
As for Travel Documents – it’s a good idea to bring these in a plastic waterproof sleeve and keep them safe! These will be important documents you don’t want to lose during your Southeast Asia trip.
Clothes Packing List for Southeast Asia
When packing for Southeast Asia, you should aim to have at least 6-7 outfits. The best way to do this is to mix and match different items of clothing such as using the same pair of shorts with multiple t-shirts.
We usually wash our clothes once a week with someone local in Southeast Asia. Most guesthouses offer this service or you can find one on Google Maps. Throughout the week we hand wash anything we might need to wear again before we do a big wash again.
Sadly, we don’t recommend bringing your favourite clothes on a trip to Southeast Asia because they will get ruined! It’s totally up to you. Anything white, will not stay white and as you’re wearing the same clothes every week, there’s going to be lots of wear and tear.
Amy’s Clothes
My go-to Southeast Asia packing list is 3-4 dresses, 2 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of trousers, 4 t-shirts, a bikini, a swimming costume, 2 bras, 1 sports bra, 5 pairs of socks and around 8 pieces of underwear.
Depending on the day, I can wear some of my clothes twice which means I don’t have to wash my clothes as much! Here’s a list of the clothes I pack for Southeast Asia:
- 2 x Shorts
- 1 x Lightweight Trousers
- 4 x T-Shirts
- 4 x Lightweight dresses
- 1 x Swimsuit
- 1 x Bikini
- 5 x Socks
- 8 x Underwear
- 2 x Lightweight Bras
- 1 x Pyjama Shorts
- 1 x Sports Bra
- 1 x Long Shirt or Lightweight Jumper
- 1 x Lightweight Rain Coat
You can also switch T-shirts for tank tops and long skirts instead of dresses. It’s possible to shrink this list of clothes even further, but in Southeast Asia, you’ll be sweaty and hot all the time.
It sometimes feels like a chore having to wash your clothes once a week, so you don’t want to be doing it more than that!
Dan’s Clothes
Dan’s go-to Southeast Asia packing list is 6 T-shirts, 1 sports top, 3 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of trousers, 1 pair of swimming shorts, 7 pairs of socks and around 8 pieces of underwear.
From our experience, two pairs of shots aren’t enough, especially when you want to wash them both! So from now on his Southeast Asia packing list will include 3 pairs of shorts, one of them being more sporty or for hiking.
- 3 x Shorts
- 1 x Trousers
- 6 x T-Shirts
- 1 x Sports Top
- 1 x Swimming Trunks
- 7 x Socks
- 8 x Underwear
- 1 x Long Shirt or Lightweight Jumper
- 1 x Lightweight Rain Coat
When packing your clothes, remember that Southeast Asia is a hot and humid country. However, some of the public transport will blast cold air, making 6-hour buses feel like the Arctic! We usually wear trousers and our shirts on these days.
Toiletries to pack for Southeast Asia
- Shampoo Bar
- Conditioner Bar
- Drying Pads for Soaps and Shampoo bars
- Bar of soap
- Toothbrush
- Eco-Friendly Floss
- Travel Razor
- Hair Brush
- Hairbands
- Nail Clippers
- Talcum Powder
- Makeup Brushes
- Makeup of your choice (you won’t need much)!
- Painkillers
- Vitamins (if you’re vegan, bring all the vitamins you need)
- Eco-Friendly Feminine Product
- Bring all the medicine you need that may be hard to get elsewhere
This looks like a pretty big list, but these items are all small and most of them will fit in a toiletries bag.
If you’ve never used a shampoo bar before, you need to try them out! You can find them in stores online and in supermarkets these days. Amy’s favourite is the Seanik Shampoo Bar from Lush and the Bounty Hunter Conditioner Bar found on Amazon.
A bar of soap is the easiest way to pack for Southeast Asia when you have limited liquid space. Now onto the liquid part of toiletries!
Liquid Toiletries to pack for Southeast Asia
- Deodorant
- Face Moisturiser
- Toothpaste
- SPF Face Sun Cream
- Reef Safe Suncream
- Mosquito Repellent (we usually buy this when in Southeast Asia)
- Hand Sanitiser
- Lip Balm (SPF Lip Balm)
- Makeup of your choice
If you’re planning to only travel with a carry-on bag, don’t worry, we’ve got you! We only travel carry-on when backpacking in Southeast Asia and we’ve never had a problem with our toiletries if they’re in a clear bag.
Buy small 100ml travel bottles to pour your liquids into. For example, suncream usually comes in 200ml bottles, but we pour our suncream into two small 100ml bottles and put it in our clear travel case.
Another option to bring more liquids with you is to buy them at the airport after security. This only works if you have a direct flight to your destination and you’re not flying for a while.
Essentials to Pack for Southeast Asia
- Travel Locks (for hostel lockers and your bag when on transport)
- Backpack Rain Cover
- Stainless Steel Water Bottle
- Life Straw (Water filter to save on plastic)
- Sarong
- Earplugs
- Eye Mask
- Microfibre Towel
- Hat
- Trainers
- Sandals / Flip Flops
- Sunglasses
- Travel Medical Kit
- Lightweight Laundry Bag
Every item on this list is your packing essentials for Southeast Asia. You’ll need a waterproof backpack cover when it’s raining, as the rain isn’t very forgiving in the region!
Amy’s Packing Tip – A sarong is amazing when it comes to packing light for Southeast Asia. I use it to cover my legs or shoulders when entering temples in Thailand. I use it when I’m relaxing at the beach so my towel doesn’t get covered in sand and I also use it over my body to stop myself from burning!
You can buy sarongs all over Southeast Asia, especially when exploring the Thai Islands so if you haven’t got one already, don’t worry you can find one to pack once you’re on your trip.
What shoes to pack for Southeast Asia?
We recommend bringing two pairs of footwear on your Southeast Asia trip – Trainers and Sandals. These will both come in handy at various times throughout your trip. Flip flops can pack down so small in your backpack when travelling and you’ll be wearing trainers most of the time.
When packing for Southeast Asia, it’s going to be hard to leave behind your favourite pair of Converse or Vans, but they’re not the best type of shoe to travel with as they’re heavy, take ages to dry out when wet and aren’t breathable. We miss our Vans so much when we’re away, but they’re just not practical.
So, a pair of good trainers is definitely the best shoe to have if you’re on a diverse Southeast Asia trip!
General Items on your Southeast Asia Packing List
If you have the space, here are a few more items that we always pack but they may not be as essential. We’ve added playing cards to this section, although they’re always essential for us!
- Small Torch
- Playing Cards
- Tote Bag
- Tissues
- Wet Wipes
- Small Dry Bag (Waterproof bag for valuables)
A small dry bag is great for keeping our valuables safe on boat trips or ferry rides. We mainly use it for our cameras or phones on island hopping tours, especially when exploring the Philippines. A normal day bag seems useless when you’re surrounded by water.
Tech: Packing for Southeast Asia
Generally, these are the only tech items you’ll need unless you want to bring a camera and a laptop. A Universal Travel Adaptor and a phone are the two most important tech items on this list (and headphones).
- Phone
- Phone Charger
- Power Bank
- Headphones
- Universal Travel Adaptor with USB Slots
- Portable Bluetooth Transmitter (To connect wireless headphones to plane TVs)
A Universal Travel Adaptor is a lot better than worrying about loads of small adaptors for different countries and they have USB ports as well as a plug. Investing in a good power bank that holds its charge is also a good idea!
Camera Tech
There are so many different types of cameras to bring on a trip to Southeast Asia. We bring a Sony A6000 and GoPro on most of our travels. Back in the day, we used to film everything on our GoPro and now we just use it for diving, snorkelling and any adventurous activities.
Here’s what we pack for Southeast Asia:
- Sony A600 Camera
- Camera Charger
- 18mm – 135mm Lens
- Camera Bag
- Spare Camera Batteries
- Joby Tripod (3K Pro Kit)
- GoPro
- GoPro Spare Batteries
- GoPro Dive Housing
Laptop Tech
We started bringing a laptop on our trips to Southeast Asia when we started this blog. As we’re now full-time travel bloggers, our tech is important for us to bring. Luckily as there’s two of us, we share the load and it still fits in our 40L backpacks.
If you want to bring a laptop, make sure it’s lightweight and good for travelling! That’s why we opted for a Macbook Air and we bought it second-hand to save on cost.
- MacBook Air (secondhand 2015)
- MacBook Air M1 2020
- Macbook Charger
- Macbook Case
- USB Harddrive
Southeast Asia Packing List Essentials Overview
So that was a pretty big packing list, but surprisingly it all fits in our 40L backpacks!
Each time we pack for Southeast Asia we always seem to bring more but pack less – I’m not sure how that works! But this is the exact packing list we follow for all of our trips to Southeast Asia and we only adjust it by adding more tech each time.
For our next backpacking trip, we want to bring our electric toothbrushes and 2 laptops. We plan to do this with our Osprey Farpoint 40L Backpack and Ventura 40L Rucksack.
Also, need tips on travelling to Southeast Asia?
We use Booking and Hostelworld to find places to stay in Southeast Asia. Generally, most accommodations will look after your bag before and after check-in, but it’s always important to have a lock.
💤 Book your hotels here!
🛌 Check out hostels here!
As for transport, use 12.Go to check prices and times. It’s a great way to book your buses, ferries or trains in advance.
Southeast Asia Packing Tips
- Try to bring a carry-on
- Always bring less than what you think you need
- Use packing cubes
- Bring a small laundry bag for taking clothes to be washed
- Bring a water bottle to save on plastic
- Use E-Sims or pick a local sim up in the country
- Check out our Southeast Asia Budget Guide for more tips!
This should cover all of your essentials for your Southeast Asia Packing List! Have the best time on your trip and check out our 3-month Southeast Asia itinerary if you still need to plan your route!
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