It has been years since I’ve taken a spontaneous — seriously spontaneous, as in RIGHT NOW — flight for a bit of weekend fun.  So when I saw the $12/RM49 AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Medan, Indonesia and knew I had no face-to-face appointments in the coming days … I took it.  I booked into the lovely little rural boutique Deli River Hotel that was also very much a budget option … and off I went.

This is a mega long 15-minute vlog from the moment I bought my ticket to my return home, complete with all of the tips and tricks I used to keep my expenses on the cheap this trip.

Here are the 2 links I mention in the video >> 1st TIMERS GUIDE to MEDAN VIDEO and the ARTICLE ABOUT HASSAN KONTAR I wrote.  Hassan is the Syrian refugee I spent time with who is living at the KLIA2 airport terminal: https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/04/i-dont-want-to-be-killed-syrian-refugee-stuck-in-kuala-lumpur-airport-seeks-safety/#jsfH2mp50uRQMcuQ.97

Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia on a Budget

• RM 49 flight with AirAsia with only carry-on luggage
• RM 65 airport transfer from KLCC to KLIA2 and back again with Grab Malaysia (cheaper, more comfortable, and faster than taking a Grab to Sentral for the train)
• RM 10 / day mobile service for 1GB of data roaming with special offer from Hotlink
• IDR 125k airport transfer to/from hotel with Grab Indonesia
• RM 212 / night at Deli River Hotel
• Self-guided tour of Medan using Grab driver who will stick with you the entire route.  I did this using the historical book written by the owner of Deli River Hotel and it started out great!

As you’ll see, i’ve gained a new appreciation for travel size products I use every day.  Although I don’t want to travel this way every time, it was crazy fun to simply back a weekender and hop on a flight so spontaneously.  In Asia, especially Southeast Asia, it’s so easy to do and there are endless destinations beckoning us travellers to explore!

My Leica VLOGGING KIT

– RM 5,240, Leica V-Lux Camera with 4K video and 25 – 400mm zoom

– RM 430, RODE VIDEOMIC GO microphone

– RM 1,621, black on black Billingham Hadley One Bag

– Selfie moments:shot on my iPhone using a leather and gold MOMAX Selfie Pro stick

– Music: epidemicsound.com