With the trend in vlogging (or video blogging), more and more people are drawn to the idea of traveling. If online users in the past only rely on narratives and photo essays, this new way of content creation made traveling more appealing. Travel videos provide several angles of a stunning destination that encourage people stuck on their work desks to travel and see the world. As a person who usually travels alone, the idea of vlogging is a demanding task for me. The thoughts of bringing your camera and accessories, spending longer time on an attraction for proper documentation, and doing the post-process before publishing, scare me.
I have few clips on my hard drive that I’ve taken during my trips in few Asian countries. I’ve collated some of them into travel videos and published it on my Youtube channel. But the fact that I have a lot of catching up on blogging my previous trips, most of these clips still reside on my drives, untouched.
A video montage of my Saigon trip.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. I’ve been to most countries of Southeast Asia (except Brunei and Timor Leste, as of writing) and I really wanted to convince you to visit our region. A lot of travelers consider SEA for their first backpacking trip because of the diverse culture, interesting cuisines, and stunning landscapes. Vlogging is one of the best marketing efforts right now but I bet I need a year to finish creating videos out of the piles of clips I have.
So to convince you to travel to the countries that comprised this region, here are some of the interesting travel videos to encourage you to travel to Southeast Asia. After viewing these videos on Youtube, I hope I’ll convince you to book a flight to one of these countries and pack your bags for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
DISCLAIMER: All videos on this compilation are sourced from Youtube and credit goes to the owners and publishers.
VIETNAM
Vietnam has the most fascinating bike culture on earth. From the capital of Hanoi to the southern city of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam roads are filled with the buzzing motorbikes used by locals as their major transportation mean. Sebbe and Gustav, the guys behind the Sebbe and Gustav Youtube channel, had 10 days to explore Vietnam. They published few Vietnam videos and one of them is below.
Sebbe & Gustav explore Vietnam from north to south.
CAMBODIA
Angkor Wat is a world-famous site that almost every traveler includes on their bucket list. But apart from Siem Reap, Cambodia has diverse options from rich cultures to islands in the southern part of the country. Greenman Travels brings you to Cambodia from Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Kampot, Sihanoukville, Koh Rong, and Battambang. Check out the almost 30-minute video travelogue below.
A solo traveler’s guide to Cambodia by GreenManTravels.
LAOS
Bordered by Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, this country is sometimes excluded on travelers list compared to its neighboring countries. The only land-locked country in Southeast Asia, Laos has tons to offer in terms of nature adventures like kayaking and water tubing, waterfalls, river cruises, and forest retreats. Christian LeBlanc, of Lost LeBlanc, spent 9 months in Southeast Asia where Laos is included on his list. The 10-minute video below entails how he visited and explored Laos.
The beauty of Laos captured and narrated by Lost LeBlanc.
THAILAND
Tagged as the backpacking mecca of Southeast Asia, Thailand is filled with foreign travelers all-year round. Traveling around the country will allow you to meet other travelers that could lead to new friendships and travel buddies. From culture, nature, food, and people, Thailand has an endless option for travelers. With that, High on Life channel enumerates ten places you must see in Thailand. Of course, a stay in Bangkok should be on the list.
MYANMAR
Of all the countries in Southeast Asia, Myanmar has the most untouched and raw culture. This is a result of years of dictatorship when tourism is not the country’s main priority. But after restoring their political freedom, the country opened its doors to travelers. Food, ever-smiling people, rural places, local tribes, and villages, are the items that would encourage someone to travel to Myanmar. Mark Harrison, on his trip, documented the unique sights and moments of Myanmar on his iPhone. Check out the remarkable travelogue below.
Mark Harrison captures the beautiful sights and sounds of Myanmar.
MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpur is one of my favorite cities because of its affordable cost of living. You can have a full lunch for just RM5, metro rail starts from RM1.8, and destinations are accessible from one another. But apart from the bustling city landscape, this peninsular country has varied attractions from highlands, islands, port cities, and culinary landscapes. Drone Around the World suggests destinations to consider on your trip to Malaysia as well as food hubs to try on your stay. Full video below.
Experience Asia in Malaysia with Drone Around The World feature of the country.
SINGAPORE
Considered as the business capital of the region, Singapore is the smallest country in Southeast Asia. Despite being the smallest state, Singapore is a prime destination in the region for its urban landscape, theme parks, nature parks, and nightlife. Few days are enough but you will yearn for more as you slowly discover its offerings. Jonathan Chan of ItsJonathanChan posted a 4-part series of Singapore travel vlogs on his channel. The first video is below.
ItsJonathanChan publishes a series of videos featuring Singapore.
BRUNEI
Entirely bordered by Malaysia’s Sarawak state, Brunei is the second smallest country in the region. Beaches and natural reserves are the things that the country market to its visitors. Apart from these, the opulence of its cultural and religious landmarks is hard to miss on one’s visit. A 3-minute video of Brunei posted by TheSlentertainment showcases the lush rainforests, oil reserves and facilities, and daily life in Brunei Darussalam.
Tour Brunei for 3 minutes, thanks to TheSIentertainment for his video.
TIMOR LESTE
Most travelers will surely take time to Google about Timor Leste and check its location in the region. Timor Leste, or East Timor, is probably the country in SEA closest to Australia, aside from Indonesia. The country was part of Indonesia but achieved its independence as a new sovereign state in 2002. Its geographical location makes it the best place for reef diving and offering ancient traditions. A funny video uploaded by Ben Budiman brings us to few places in East Timor.
The underrated country in Southeast Asia explored by Ben Budiman.
INDONESIA
Wonderful Indonesia, the country’s latest tourism campaign, already attracted thousands of travelers to travel to Indonesia. The largest country in the region based on land area, Indonesia really got all you need when it comes to nature adventures. Waterfalls, islands, beaches, surf paradise, mountains, rice paddies, everything! A month is not enough to visit all its 17,000+ islands. To have an idea of what to see, here’s a 5-minute video of Joes Flow’s travel around Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Lombok.
JoesFlow discovers the amazing wonders of Indonesia.
PHILIPPINES
Of course, you shouldn’t miss my country, the Philippines. From friendly locals to interesting food finds, extreme adventures, nature trips, and island getaways, Philippines has a never-ending list of adventures. I’m not overselling the country but I already spent the last five years traveling around the 81 Philippines provinces yet I still have a lot of items need to tick. Most travelers leave the Philippines on a different trip because of its geographical location from most of the Southeast Asian countries. But I tell you, your long way travel from any part of the world to the Philippines will be super worth it. El Nido is one of the most visited destinations of the Philippines. Check the video feature of El Nido, Palawan made by The NYC Couple.
Join The NYC Couple as they explore the Philippines.
Instagram is a great platform for travelers to share the beauty of their destinations. But still, photos are too common that the social media platform always catches up with the latest trends in videography. With Instagram limited to few seconds, Youtube and Facebook are still the best sites for these travelogues. And spending minutes and hours watching some content provided by video bloggers covering and promoting travel destination in Southeast Asia will surely encourage you to book that plane ticket, get your bag, and leave.
Have you ever experienced watching a video online that influenced your next travel destination? If yes, comment the video link below.
