Some common sense do's and dont's
1. Do take the 30h sleeper plane
If you get the chance to save some money, take a cheaper plane with layovers. I was worried about doing this, especially as I'm a light sleeper, but it was totally worth it to save ~£400, which (as of my current rate of spending) seems to be around a month's worth of eating out and travelling around.
2. Don't bring more stuff than you need for a week
This arguably was the reason that point 1 was a Do rather than a Don't, as I was able to run from gate to gate without needing to worry about transferring a heavy suitcase. It will also ssve me a tonne of money in the coming months as I move from country to country within SE asia. For me, this was one (large) backpack's worth; containing the following:
3. Do get travel insurance which covers scooter indicents
The people here in SE asia live life fast and furious. I've been here for just under a week and seen three near misses and an actual crash, all which involved scooters. GET. GOOD. INSURANCE. (I use genki).
4. Do pre-arrange accomodation
I reccomend Viangbua Mansion. For 1 month it is ~£400 and you get a pretty central location, a resteraunt with safe food (critical for the new traveller from the west) and all the shops etc nearby to get you set up and running. You can also use Airbnb, but it is more expensive if travelling solo.
5. Don't worry about socialising
This was something I was worried about, as I am travelling solo. Just download the Meetup app and go to one of the millions of events on each day and you will quickly meet people.
6. Don't hire your own scooter
This is something I am still a little unsure of (as the reccomendations I saw were heavily in favour of getting your own scooter), but right now the maths and reality doesn't really add up. Firstly, the cost of a ~30m scooter ride on an app like grab or maxim is roughly £0.60, and the price of hiring a similar scooter is ~3500 baht per month (or £83). this would mean you need to take nearly 140 scooter rides for it to cost more than hiring, plus the added cost of petrol. Add into the fact that on a grab scooter, you can just sit behind a local who knows how to navigate the (terrifying) roads and it seems pretty stupid to hire a scooter for yourself.