BootsnAll Travel Community

Well, I'm leaving for Thailand in a month and it's just hit me that I've got a 4 month+ trip ahead of me without all that many detailed plans. I'm a bit nervous to be honest.
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Anyway, I would be currious to hear some of you experienced SE Asia travelers compare/contrast the differences between backpacking around Europe vs SE Asia.

In a way I don't even really know what I'm getting into, but I backpacked around Western (and a bit of Eastern) Europe for 5 or so weeks when I was 18 (I'm 23 now) and so I have that experience to use as a land mark.

Is SE Asia a ton different? I have read a good amount (guide books, forums such as this, etc) so I know things about Asia already, but I don't really have a great FEEL for it. Other than the capitals of countries (Thailand, Laos, etc) do the cities feel smaller? Do all of the shops/stores feel like you're in Mexico, or something more like Belize, etc?

wheater is quite different and the language also quite different, more people, big city with more people speak English, in Small town or village, maybe difficult to find people speak English.