Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos or New Zealand?

[giantwiant]

We have a placeholder credit with ABD & need to pick a trip. We are debating between Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos or New Zeland for next Christmas. I wanted Italy/Switzerland or a Rhine cruise for June, but was outvoted. For people who have done a lot of ABDs, which would you choose? We are a family of 4. Our kids will be 17 and 13 by next Christmas. I lean towards New Zealand because we can fly direct from our home airport - JFK. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos sounds amazing but getting there & back - oi vey. Plus lots of internal flights. My family hasn't truly contemplated the travel involved - long haul flights to either Tokyo or Singapore with extra flights to and from Ho Chi Minh and Siem Reap.

 

[starwarsdad]

I don’t think you could lose with either. Our family hasn’t done either but on adventures people always discuss their favorites and the Vietnam, Cambodia Laos is frequently mentioned as a favorite. That being said, New Zealand hasn’t been around enough to earn the same following. However two of the guides doing the adventure right now rave about that trip as well.

 

[Grifdog22]

We did the second adults only New Zealand trip last October/November. It was our 8th ABD. We think this one was the best trip we've done, hands down. DW and I didn't always agree on our favorite trip until now. We had taken kids on the first 5. Your kids are just the right age for NZ (if they can handle the long haul trip). My kids are now grown, the youngest is 22, and they liked what we did so much they are looking to go themselves when the trips open up again. I can't speak for Vietnam, haven't done it, but a friend who is a picky eater did, and he had issues with the food. Personally we like asian food and new things. I am sorry to hear of folks following us in NZ that had food issues - that there wasn't enough food - we had way too much for our group, and I never heard any complaints - only compliments. Of course, we aren't with all the people all the time, so who knows? I don't think you can go wrong with either trip. I'm almost finished with the next day's NZ report so hopefully the trip report we are posting will help you decide. Happy to answer any questions on NZ, Australia, South Africa, England/France, Italy, Wyoming, Costa Rica, Peru.

Our next trip is South America - Brazil, Argentina and Chile. The trip is a full go with 11 of us, leaving in about 60 days, so as long as you are adventuring somewhere, even at home, enjoy!

 

[AddictedtoTravel]

We were scheduled to go on the first New Zealand trip but it was cancelled. So I can't speak to that one, although we love the itinerary and were really looking forward to the trip.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos! We have done 12 and it is by far our favorite. We loved everything about it. I'd love to do it again!

*my daughter was 13 at the time and had a blast. We do love Vietnamese food and she was thrilled she could have pho for breakfast

 

[TravelJunkieHubby]

I’d vote for NZ and agree with your comments about the flights to SE Asia vs. NZ.

We went a few weeks ago on the 12/22 NZ trip and really enjoyed the summer weather in New Zealand. New year’s in Queenstown in amazing as well. Auckland may be a bit quiet though over new years with some many locals traveling out of town after Christmas.

I can’t speak for the hotels and restaurants in SE Asia, but with a 13 and 14 year old we were a bit worried about getting sick over the holidays (this was our first ABD over Christmas/New Years) but felt very comfortable in New Zealand with tap water, restaurants etc..

 

[cschaaf]

We did the Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia trip a few years ago. Our first and only ADB. It was me and my wife, and my parents. We all loved it.

We loved the food, the was only one meal I remember being disappointed with. That was at the hotel in Hanoi.

We also added a few pre-trip days on our own to see Ha Long Bay and the Ninh Binh area. We hired a guide from Ninh Binh to help us tour that area and to transfer us from Hanoi to NB and back. Hotels and food were inexpensive.

My trip report is here if you want to take a look

 

[Eastridge]

You can check the recent NZ trip reports, including my Dec 25 2022 report for thoughts on that trip. I think the teens on our trip enjoyed the variety of activities, which included a few on the thrilling side.