Woman standing between two ornate stupas — Photo by SERGEI BEZZUBOV on Unsplash

🎙️ Opening

🌏 What if Southeast Asia isn’t just becoming a popular destination...

✈️ but the first stop for a whole new generation of travelers?

🇮🇳 Especially travelers from India.

📈 The number of Indian travelers coming to Southeast Asia has been growing by around 30 percent year-on-year.

🎒 But there’s another trend changing the way people experience Southeast Asia:

Solo travel.

🤝 And for solo travelers, the biggest question isn’t always...

“Where should I go?”

It’s...

🔐 “Can I trust this place?”

🎙️ Hello, and welcome to The Southeast Asia Desk Weekly Dispatch Podcast.

I’m Rheza Ardiansyah.

🧭 This is where we slow down the headlines and make sense of the stories shaping Southeast Asia.

🎒 Today, we’re exploring why Southeast Asia is becoming a new playground for solo travelers. Joining me from New Delhi, India, is the Head of Growth at Zostel, Prajit Mittal—this interview transcript was generated by AI.

🌏 What are the recent travel trends in Southeast Asia?

🎙️ Rheza:
Prajit, can you tell us about the recent global travel trends in Southeast Asia?

💬 Prajit:
First of all, thank you for having me. It’s great to be here.

🌏 I do feel that there has been a huge shift in Southeast Asian travel trends in recent years.

🇮🇳 There is a growing demand from Southeast Asian destinations among Indian travelers. India has become a huge market.

📈 I’m seeing around a 30% year-on-year rise in the number of travelers from India coming to Southeast Asia, especially 🇹🇭 Thailand and 🇻🇳 Vietnam, followed by 🇮🇩 Indonesia, specifically Bali.

🇨🇳🇲🇾 Indians are increasingly replacing Chinese and Malaysian travelers, who were previously among the biggest traveler groups.

💰 One reason is simply that Indians now have more disposable income.

✈️ Air travel has also become faster and cheaper, with more flights available.

🛂 At the same time, travel friction has been reduced. There are fewer visa restrictions, and it’s much easier to get a visa for Indonesia. There are also no visa requirements for Indians traveling to Vietnam or Thailand.

🇮🇳 Why is Southeast Asia becoming a preferred destination for Indian travelers?

🎙️ Rheza:
Do you have any other analysis of how and why Southeast Asia could become a preferred choice for Indian travelers?

💬 Prajit:
🇪🇺 When you compare it with Europe, for example, you have to go through the entire visa process. It’s a whole headache altogether.

✈️ The flight hours to Europe or other destinations are also much longer and more difficult.

🌏 So Southeast Asia naturally becomes the first choice, especially for first-time travelers.

🎒 There is also a natural journey that travelers from India go through.

➡️ They may start with Southeast Asia.

➡️ Then, as they become more experienced, they travel to iconic destinations in Europe, North America, Australia, and elsewhere.

🔄 And as they become even more experienced travelers, they tend to come back to Southeast Asia looking for more experiential travel.

✨ The experiences available in Southeast Asia have become much richer.

🏝️ The region has also developed more luxury experiences, which are increasingly attractive to people with higher disposable incomes.

🎒 What was your first experience traveling to Southeast Asia?

🎙️ Rheza:
Speaking of first-time travelers, have you ever visited Southeast Asia before?

💬 Prajit:
Oh, I’ve been to Southeast Asia at least a couple of dozen times now.

🇹🇭 My favorite place is Thailand. That’s where my travel journey started.

🧑‍🎓 I was around 17, just about to turn 18, and I had some money saved from freelancing.

✈️ I really wanted to travel. I’d seen Thailand on YouTube and everywhere else, and I just wanted to experience it myself.

🤫 I didn’t tell anyone at home.

I just left for the airport.

💵 I found a super-cheap deal—around 100 dollars for a return flight to Bangkok.

📞 I called my family from the airport and told them I was going.

😅 Then I basically said, “Don’t scold me!”

🌏 It was a life-changing experience.

💡 I realized that the world was much bigger than what I’d seen before.

🏠 How did staying in a hostel change your perspective on travel?

💬 Prajit:
The first time I stayed in a hostel was actually quite scary.

😰 I didn’t know anything about hostels. I thought I would stay in a cheap hotel.

🏨 But then I stumbled upon a hostel in Phuket called Slumber Party.

💵 The dorm bed was around 100 baht, and I remember thinking:

🤔 “I have to share a room with strangers?”

🧳 “Will my bag be safe?”

😟 “What if something happens?”

There were so many unknowns.

✨ But once I got into it, the whole story changed.

🤝 I made a lot of friends, and I still talk to some of them more than 10 years later.

🍜 I had dinner with them on a street in Thailand that I would never have discovered on my own.

🌶️ I probably wouldn’t have tried Thai street food if it wasn’t for them.

🎉 I went on my first pub crawl.

🥾 I went hiking and trekking with people I’d never met before.

🐍 We even saw snakes together.

🌌 And there was another time when I was backpacking and the bus tire burst in the middle of the night in a desert.

🚌💥 We couldn’t do anything.

⭐ So I just looked up at the sky.

🌌 It became one of the best stargazing experiences of my life.

🏝️ Why did Zostel choose Phuket as its first Southeast Asian destination?

🎙️ Rheza:
Interestingly, several years after you first visited Phuket, Zostel launched Zostel Phuket.

Can you tell us more about what inspired Zostel Phuket?

💬 Prajit:
It really started with that first trip to Phuket about 10 years ago.

🏝️ A couple of years back, I was there again with my co-founder on a relaxing holiday.

🌊 We weren’t doing anything. We were just chilling on the beach and sitting at bars.

💡 And that’s when it hit us:

“This is where Zostel should be.”

🇮🇳 We had taught people in India how to travel.

🗺️ We’d helped people explore new destinations across India.

🌏 And we felt it was time to go outside India.

🇹🇭 Phuket felt like the natural place to begin our expansion journey in Southeast Asia.

📊 The data and business analysis came afterward.

❤️ The initial decision was simply:

“We enjoy this place. This is where we should be.”

Zostel already had a huge travel community—around 5 million travelers.

🎒 We felt that traveling outside India and seeking new experiences was the natural next step for that community.

🌏 Now we want to create new destinations in Thailand that aren’t as explored—and eventually expand beyond Thailand into other parts of Southeast Asia.

🎒 What makes solo travel so transformative?

🎙️ Rheza:
You’ve traveled to several countries in Southeast Asia. Let’s talk more about solo travel.

How can Southeast Asians—and travelers from beyond the region—enjoy solo travel in Southeast Asia?

💬 Prajit:
Solo travel totally changes your life.

🌱 It changes your perspective.

👀 It changes how you see things.

🧠 And ultimately, it changes you.

🤝 A lot of it comes down to trust.

You learn that you can trust people and that there doesn’t have to be fear around traveling alone.

🎒 If I had to describe solo travel in one sentence, I’d say it’s the cheapest personal transformation that money can buy.

🚌 You have to make small decisions by yourself.

🤔 Should I take this bus?

👤 Should I trust this person who’s approaching me?

🔄 What should I do if my plans suddenly change?

💳 Will they accept my money?

🍜 Will there be food I can eat?

You never know what will happen.

🧠 But over time, you become more instinctive.

🌊 You learn to go with the flow.

✨ It makes you more comfortable being yourself and helps you discover who you are.

There is also no single way to travel solo.

🧭 Everyone has their own story.

For me, solo travel means staying somewhere long enough to understand the place.

🏪 Even if I go to a local 7-Eleven, I want the cashier to know me.

🌏 That’s how I travel.

And even now, when I’m traveling for business, I try to take a few days off to travel alone, stay in hostels, and meet new people.

🤝 It’s an amazing experience.

🇸🇬 How can travelers experience Southeast Asia through solo travel?

🎙️ Rheza:
I can really relate to that.

🇸🇬 I had my own first solo trip to Singapore in 2014.

🤝 I met Malaysian travelers who were there to attend a concert by Taking Back Sunday—one of my favorite bands.

🎶 I changed my plans and watched the concert with them.

✨ It became an unforgettable experience.

🌌 So hopefully, other Southeast Asians and travelers from beyond the region can experience something similar—whether it’s meeting strangers, discovering local food, or even simply gazing at the stars.

💬 Prajit:
Exactly.

🌌 You never know what kind of experiences you can have when you travel slowly, travel solo, and allow yourself to take unplanned trips.

💡 How can Southeast Asian businesses fill the gaps in the travel industry?

🎙️ Rheza:
How could business founders in Southeast Asia help fill the gaps and improve the travel experience in the region?

💬 Prajit:
I think the biggest challenge solo travelers face—especially first-time travelers—is trust.

🔐 You don’t automatically know whether you can trust a new country, a new region, or people who don’t speak your language.

💡 I think there are many products that could be built to make travelers feel safe, comfortable, and confident.

🗺️ For example, when you arrive somewhere and don’t speak the local language, it can be difficult to navigate.

📍 What if you can’t find directions?

🚌 How do you get from the airport to your hostel?

📱 What happens if Google Maps isn’t available?

😰 These things can become scary.

That’s where businesses can help.

🏠 Hostels themselves are an example.

Zostel was created because we knew young people wanted to travel but didn’t have a lot of money.

💰 Hotels weren’t necessarily built for them.

🏠 So hostels provided an affordable way to travel while still creating opportunities for experiences and social connections.

🤝 You can stay in a room with strangers and still feel safe.

📱 It could be a hostel like Zostel.

🤖 It could be an AI-powered app that translates conversations and helps travelers communicate with locals.

💳 Another major issue is payments.

🌏 Across Southeast Asia, card acceptance can still be limited in some places, meaning travelers have to carry cash.

🏧 And withdrawing money from ATMs can come with additional fees.

🇮🇩 Where should Zostel expand in Indonesia?

💬 Prajit:
Actually, I have one question for you.

🇮🇩 If Zostel were to expand into Indonesia, where would you recommend?

🌴 Apart from the usual tourist destinations like Bali and Jakarta, where should we go to build new destinations and help people experience the real Indonesia?

🎙️ Rheza:
That’s a million-dollar question! 😄

🇮🇩 But I think Zostel could expand in Indonesia by exploring the country’s diversity through places like:

🏛️ Yogyakarta

🏞️ Bandung

Both are located on Java Island, separate from Bali, and offer travelers a different kind of experience.

🎎 They offer strong traditional cultures and more opportunities to experience Indonesia’s local character.

✨ Travelers could discover a sense of originality and authenticity that goes beyond the usual tourist destinations.

🌏 So, let’s see when Zostel will come to Indonesia!

🤝 Would Zostel consider working with local Indonesian partners?

💬 Prajit:
Hopefully, soon!

🤝 We love working with local partners who understand the vision.

🎙️ Rheza:
Thank you so much, Prajit.

🙏 It’s been a fruitful conversation.

I hope we can meet offline and continue the conversation sometime soon.

💬 Prajit:
Definitely.

It was great to meet you, Rheza.

Thank you so much for your time.

🎙️ The Wrap

🌏 So, the next time you think about traveling across Southeast Asia...

🏝️ Don’t just think about the destinations.

🎒 Think about the experiences that happen between the destinations.

🤝 The stranger who becomes a travel companion.

🍜 The local meal you would never have ordered on your own.

🌌 Or simply a night spent looking up at the stars...

✨ Because sometimes, the best travel experiences are the ones you never planned.

🎙️ I’m Rheza Ardiansyah, and this has been The Southeast Asia Desk Weekly Dispatch Podcast, where we slow down the noise and follow the region’s compass. 🧭🌏

📬 If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter at thesoutheastasiadesk.com, and join us again next weekend for stories to linger over—one weekend at a time. ✨

S26E28 - Solo Traveling Across Southeast Asia