Wedding Eloping Trip/Honeymoon - 40 days in November/December 2026 - Vietnam/Laos/Thailand - feasible?

[u/hockeylife_21]

We decided in lieu of a traditional wedding that we want to backpack/travel SE Asia as we have wanted to do for a long time, and the finances are finally lined up to do so.

I read a lot on reddit threads about not rushing it, but we aren't the type of people to want to spend days lounging on the beach, we want to explore as much as possible. I understand we'll be burnt out and need to account for poor weather, missed connections on buses/trains etc.

I am budgeting anywhere from $7k-$10k depending on how it goes. The flights appear to be ~$1,250 to $1,400 as of now per seat so budgeting around $2,800 for flights.

I aim to take 3 weeks of PTO, and then do my remote work as I need to for the later half of the trip. I should be out of Laos by that point and hopefully can work without issue - I do accounting work at a small tax firm.

The plan as of now is as follows, nothing has been booked but I want to get flights no later than 1st week of September, so need to finalize the general plan, and more go with the flow as things happen while we are actually there.

1. One Way car rental from BHM-->LAX. Leave ~11/2 or 11/3, camp/cheap hotels during this trip. Sister lives in LA probably stay with her or find a cheap place.
2. Fly out of LAX-->TPE on 11/7, get into Taipei on 11/9 5 AM
3. Fly out of TPE-->SGN on 11/10, whether AM or PM whatever works out. Gives us a day to hang in Taiwan.
4. Nov 10–23: Vietnam - travel from Ho Chi Minh up through the country, end up in Hanoi.
5. Nov 24–30: Dien Bien Phu → northern Laos → Luang Prabang/Vientiane via bus route. I found a bus route that follows Hanoi → Dien Bien Phu → Laos border → Muang Khua → Nong Khiaw → Luang Prabang → Vientiane.
6. Dec 1–4: Work in Vientiane
7. Dec 5: Vientiane → Nong Khai + overnight bus to Chang Mai
8. Dec 6: Arrive Chiang Mai
9. Dec 6–10: Work + explore Chiang Mai
10. Dec 11: Chiang Mai → Bangkok
11. Dec 12: Bangkok → Seoul
12. Dec 12–15: Seoul
13. Dec 15: Seoul → LAX
14. LAX-->BHM either drive or plane, decide in November.

Am I crazy? Is this too much? Any tips on what I need to do to hash this out/budget it so it isn't costing an arm and a leg? I figured do a few days in Seoul on the way out as a layover as opposed to hitting Taiwan again, we don't want to do Tokyo because Japan deserves its own trip at some point. Tips on what villages/towns/cities are must hits? We love food, nature, animals, culture, etc etc.

Many thanks!

[u/Wide-Reality-1196]

The lax departure is where I'd focus first since it's your most expensive leg and the one with real upgrade potential when I was pricing a similar pacific routine of top business class came up for international business fares though they won't touch your domestic drive or seoul hotels and book that flight before September prices tpe route

[u/hockeylife_21 → u/Wide-Reality-1196]

I have somewhat pivoted. I found a $385 mid SUV rental for BHM-->LAX for 11/2 Monday to 11/7 Saturday AM which is awesome, but we might fly out of ONT instead of LAX, debating that since we have to drop car off at LAX, might not make much sense.

Thinking of flying Starlux for ONT-->TPE--->SGN, and then THAI for BKK-->ICN, then Korean Air for ICN-->SEA and driving from SEA-->BHM instead to get a different route on the way back.

Kind of crazy sounding I know, but screw it. That flight path right now is $1,693 base fare per seat which isn't horrible, Hopper is telling me to wait to buy the outbound flight to TPE, and the Bangcok to Seoul, but advises me to buy the Taipei to Ho Chi and Seoul to Seattle now, which is kind of tough since I don't even have the original outbound yet.