Traveling Southeast Asia vs Working Holiday Australia: What’s the Smarter Move for You?
Should you start your journey by backpacking through Southeast Asia (SEA) first, or go straight to Australia on a working holiday visa first and start earning real money?
This is one of the most common and most expensive decisions first-time long-term travelers get wrong.
Both options sound great on paper. Both promise adventure, freedom, and “life-changing experiences.”
But in reality, they lead to very different financial outcomes, visa strategies, stress levels, and long-term travel budgets.
Most blogs treat this like a vibe check.
I won’t.
In this guide, I break down the real pros and cons of traveling Southeast Asia first vs doing a working holiday in Australia first, based on what actually happens on the ground, not on Instagram.
You’ll learn:
How to avoid health examinations abroad
Which one gets you job-ready faster
How visa timing and age limits affect your decision
What most backpackers underestimate about Australia
When Southeast Asia is smart and when it’s a financial trap
How to combine both without burning cash
If you’re planning a Working Holiday in Australia, a gap year, or long-term backpacking in 2026, this decision matters more than your flight route or hostel choice.
By the end of this post, you’ll know exactly which path fits your goals, your budget, and your risk tolerance — and which one will quietly sabotage your plans if you choose wrong.
Let’s cut the noise and get into it: Pros to travel SEA first and start your working holiday in Australia after.
Pros Traveling SEA First
1. Get a culture shock first
Immersing yourself in the diverse cultures of Southeast Asia can be a valuable experience. It can enhance your cultural awareness and broaden your horizons before you enter a Western country like Australia and start your working travel.
Discover Southeast Asia’s beautiful countries and cities. Get lost in the major cities like Bangkok in Thailand, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and many more.
Enjoy the famous islands in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines you always see in the movies, or discover less traveled places like Myanmar!
There are just too many places to visit and always not enough time left. 🙂
Once you experience SEA, you can go to Australia and enjoy the “Western Standard” and culture again. After SEA you will be much more resistant, resilient, and patient regarding basically everything due to the different way of life.
2. No regrets about missing out on Southeast Asia in hindsight
3. Cost-Effective Travel
Cons Travelling Sea First
1. Medical Examinations and X-Ray (How to avoid it)
Basically you will eventually need to do a health examination + X-ray BEFORE you enter Australia and yes you can do the application for your working holiday and the health examination also abroad! No worries!
How to avoid health examinations?
It’s easy. In order to avoid these health examinations, get approved for the working holiday visa first, and then you can travel SEA with peace of mind.
2. Fluctuating Costs
While SEA is generally budget-friendly, unforeseen expenses can arise.
Overspending in SEA might leave you with limited financial resources for your working holiday in Australia.
Just be ready to pay for the health examinations (or minimize the probability in the first place), and try to stay in a place for a longer period of time instead of moving all the time.
Moving quickly from place to place makes even travelling in SEA much more expensive and is one of the biggest cost factors! (Buses, trains, boats, flights)
Before you move on, there’s one risk that can completely destroy your budget in both Southeast Asia and Australia: Medical costs.
Whether it’s food poisoning in Thailand or a hospital visit in Sydney, one bad incident can wipe out months of savings. This is exactly why I’d never travel in SEA or start a working holiday in Australia without a flexible nomad insurance plan like SafetyWing.
SafetyWing: Your travel companion for Southeast Asia and Australia
While we’re talking about staying flexible and avoiding nasty surprises, I have to mention the travel insurance I actually use myself: SafetyWing Nomad Insurance.
I’ve had it on multiple long trips through Southeast Asia and during my working holiday in Australia, and it’s one of the few plans that doesn’t feel like a bureaucratic nightmare.
What I like most is that you can buy it even after you’ve already started traveling, it has no deductible anymore, and you can add adventure sports and electronics theft coverage, which is gold if you’re into more adventurous sports or moving from hostel to hostel.
It also covers emergency evacuation, which you really don’t want to pay out of pocket.
If you want the same setup I use, check my SafetyWing link here and get covered in five minutes.
3. You Get Used to the Easy Life (and Lose Momentum)
Southeast Asia is too comfortable. That sounds like a weird problem, but it’s real.
Everything is cheap. Food is insanely good and costs a few dollars. Accommodation is easy. Transport is simple. Life runs slow. You don’t need to plan much. You don’t need much money. You don’t need to hustle.
And that’s undoubtedly the issue.
After a few months in SEA, plenty of people lose their drive to move on to something more demanding, like a working holiday in Australia.
Why would you leave a beach in Thailand where you spend $30 a day… to go clean dishes or work construction in Australia and deal with paperwork, job hunting, and higher living costs?
I’ve seen it over and over again. People say:
“I’ll just do one more month in Bali.”
Then another.
Then another.
And suddenly their working holiday plan never happens.
SEA is amazing. But it’s also a comfort trap.
If your long-term goal is Australia, going to Southeast Asia first can delay or completely kill that plan. You get soft. You get comfortable. You lose urgency.
Australia rewards people who arrive hungry, focused, and ready to work.
SEA trains you to chill.
Great vibes. Bad timing.
Summary: Work hard – Play harder!
Pro TIP:
What would I do: Final thoughts
Another logical reason is the costs. Flying to the main airport hubs in SEA from Europe or America , for instance, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok, is usually much cheaper than flying to Sydney or Melbourne directly.
In a nutshell
For most people:
→ 1–3 months SEA first
→ Then Australia
→ Then SEA again after savingFor who NOT to go SEA first:
→ Low savings
→ Weak discipline
→ Tight age limit
→ Urgent income needs
Overview of your working holiday journey
- Part 1 is all about visa requirements and eligibility for your working holiday in Australia (read before coming to Australia)
- >>Part 1.1 I lead you step-by-step with screenshots through the official working holiday visa application!
- Part 2 is all about relevant working terms to get started in your first days in Australia. I show you Australia’s minimum wage, what TFN, ABN, RSA, SUPER etc. is and where to apply in order to work legally in Australia.
- Part 3 is all about pay rates and work. I show you my payslips, what I earned, and you can too in 2024! I show you all special occasions where you can earn more money!
- Part 4 is all about finding typical backpacker jobs and pay rates. I show you all relevant ways, platforms, and websites where you can find jobs
- Part 5 is all about extending your working holiday visa in Australia and the required 88 days of specified work! (Farm work)
Questions? Let’s connect:
What’s next in your journey?
For working holiday starters:
- Apply for the working holiday maker visa subclass 417 (usual approval time 1 min – 14 days) or 462 (usual approval time at least 14 days due to further requirements)
- Provide further details if necessary to get the application going (health examination, etc.) in your immigration account (immiAccount)
- Get credit cards, especially a WISE account (Australian bank account), and check passport validity! (min. 2 weeks – 1 month before you plan to fly)
- Book your flights (AFTER receiving an approval letter from immigration)
- Packing list 2026 (coming soon)
- Get travel insurance before you fly (SavetyWing or Heymondo)
- Get an Onward ticket ALWAYS! (24-48h before your flight, evidence of leaving the country you enter). For working holiday Australia visa holders, it’s NOT necessary.
- Book your accommodation via Hostelworld to get to know people quickly. I recommend the first two weeks at the same spot
- Job hunting and other bureaucratic stuff (once in Australia)
- Open up your US LLC to get your freelancer business started!
- Sign up to my newsletter to become a smarter traveler and stay up-to-date
For digital nomad starters:
- Open up your US LLC to get your freelancer business started! (4 weeks before your trip)
- Get credit cards and check passport validity! (min. 2 weeks – 1 month before you plan to fly)
- Apply for possible longer stays like a digital nomad visa or extended visa (typically 2 months before your flight)
- Book your flights
- Packing list 2026 (coming soon)
- Get travel insurance before you fly (SavetyWing or Heymondo)
- Get an Onward ticket 24-48h before your flight (evidence of leaving the country you enter, ALWAYS!). If you have a visa, it’s not necessary!
- Book your accommodation via hostelworld to get to know people quickly. I recommend the first week in one spot
- Sign up to my newsletter to become a smarter traveler and stay up-to-date
Hi Eduard. Really helpful post, there’s not much information out there about travelling SE Asia before a WHV in Aus. I am planning to go to SE Asia (Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Phillipines) for just under three months (8th May – 5th August) before flying to Aus. I will not spend more than one month in any country. Does this mean I will have to undergo medical examinations when I arrive in Aus? If so, when is best to complete the visa application? Before leaving for Asia, during my time in Asia, or when I arrive in Aus? Thanks.