2008 – How did South East Asia Backpacker begin?
South East Asia Backpacker has been a voice for the backpacking community ever since the launch of the first print magazine in 2008. Started by British backpacker, Nikki Scott, South East Asia Backpacker was created as “a travel diary for everyone”.
Nikki wanted to give voice to all of the amazing stories that she’d heard along the backpacker trail and create something tangible that connected people.
When people picked up a copy, they felt like they weren’t alone, but part of a supportive and friendly community of travellers.
30 magazines were printed over five years, you can download them all for free here, and were distributed to thousands of hostels, cafés and travel companies all over the Southeast Asian region in popular backpacker hotspots.
From Bangkok to Hanoi, all along the ‘banana pancake trail’, backpackers could pick up a free copy of the magazine to enjoy on their next bus journey! People fell in love with the quirky, homemade design of the magazine and the genuine, real-life travel stories.
South East Asia Backpacker quickly became a beloved and trusted source of inspiration and information for backpackers. The magazine was totally unique in the fact that it wasn’t written by professional writers, but backpackers themselves. It became the ‘voice of backpackers’ in Asia.
With its popularity, the magazine also managed to attract hundreds of talented travel writers, photographers, travel bloggers and poets who contributed amidst the pages. More and more travel companies from dive schools to yoga retreat centres demanded to have the magazine available to read in their establishments.
South East Asia Backpacker Today!
Today, South East Asia Backpacker is now managed by just two people, Nikki, and her boyfriend, Dave, who this time 2 years ago was a music teacher! Almost 10 years since that first magazine was printed, Nikki and Dave are working to recreate the concept of a printed magazine into a supportive online community of backpackers who share their knowledge with others!
With just the two of us, it’s impossible to keep up with the ever-evolving travel landscape of Southeast Asia! Therefore, we rely on your help to keep this website up to date and this community thriving. Just like in the old days of the magazine, we accept articles, travel guides, tips and photographs from travellers and we encourage you to share with us tales of your adventures!
Travellers are rewarded
In return, our community is rewarded with all of the perks that we get from running a travel website. As this website has grown, we often get offered the opportunity to stay in hostels, take courses, try out trips & more in return for writing an honest review on the South East Asia Backpacker website.
Obviously, we can’t keep up with all of this ourselves, so we offer the opportunity to our readers. Would you like to write (credited) material for our website in return for free stays, trips, tours and festival tickets? Thought so!
5 ways to get involved & support South East Asia Backpacker
- Sign up for our newsletter to find out about opportunities to review hostels and tours.
- Join our Facebook Community to make travel buddies and interact with fellow travellers.
- Write an article about your adventures, create a new travel guide, or update us with a piece of important travel information that you think backpackers should know about.
- Consider purchasing your flights, accommodation and travel insurance through our website. It costs no extra to you but gives us a small commission which helps to keep this website going.
- If you’ve found this website particularly helpful consider donating.