The origin story of Gecko Routes
Which places should we visit? How long does it take to get to the next destination?
These were the questions that came up times and times again when our founder, Maarten, was planning a 3-week holiday in Vietnam with his family. He had been travelling through Asia for several months but hadn’t been restricted on time until now. With only three weeks to show his family the best spots in the country, the pressure was on.
After poring over travel blogs and forums, and asking friends and fellow travellers for advice, he created an itinerary in an Excel spreadsheet. Unfortunately, finding out how to travel between places wasn’t any easier. It took hours of Google searching, visiting local websites and trying to unriddle the text with the help of Google translator. Often, only to find out that the information was out of date. Ouch.
The key pillars of Gecko Routes
Determined to help other travellers have a better experience, Maarten started Gecko Routes. Fast forward to today, we are a passionate team focused on solving two of the most important aspect of travel:
1. Find out how to get to your next destination
Finding the best route to get to your next destination is often the biggest struggle when planning a trip. It was the first problem Gecko Routes wanted to solve and it’s still how many travellers find our website today. But we didn’t stop there.
2. Find inspiration and travel tips for the best places to visit
Over the years, we expanded our content with easy-to-follow travel guides. Packed with the best tips from our own travel experiences, extensive research and conversations with hundreds of other travellers, these guides can help you make your upcoming adventure even better.
Meet the team
We’re Gecko Routes, a team of travellers on a mission to create the best online travel guide. We write the type of guides we like to read ourselves: all the information you need in one place, easy to follow, up-to-date and written by real people.
We use our first-hand travel experiences and online research to verify the information and compare different options. We also try to help our readers travel sustainably because we deeply believe that our choices make a difference for the planet.
Based in Bali, Maarten’s passion for travel is undeniable. In 2016, he decided to quit his job as a stock analyst and started doing what he always dreamed of: travelling through South East Asia and helping other people plan their trips. When he is not working on Gecko Routes, you’ll find him surfing in the ocean or exploring the best gems of Indonesia.
Abegail Dela Cruz
Abby is a writer who finds joy in mountains, beaches, and road trips. She considers her solo backpacking trip to the rice terraces of Bontoc one of the most fulfilling moments in her life. She’s loyal to the islands of her home country, the Philippines, but Thailand’s beaches also have a special place in her heart.
Aleksandra Milewicz
Aleksandra is a writer and editor who recently moved from Hong Kong to London. She’s worked and studied in four countries (and counting) and picked up a new hobby in each of them. She’s a big fan of long train journeys so you can count on her to take the scenic route, finding a few hidden gems along the way.
Ela Teodosio
Ela is a storyteller, content producer, solo traveller and a mermaid-in-training. When she’s not in front of her laptop, you will find her barefoot and living her best tan on some island in the Philippines… Or exploring the depths of its seas as a budding freediver. An island girl at heart, she’ll be happy anywhere there is sea, sand, sun and coffee.
Kate is a writer, (ex)Management Consultant and avid traveller. She recently returned from a 2-year career break exploring the world and decided corporate life wasn’t for her. She’ll soon be testing life as a digital nomad. She’s visited over 40 countries and fell in love with Latin America in particular. Her travelling has inspired a passion for yoga, salsa, hiking and Spanish.
Pam Rueda
Pam is a dedicated VA after spending years in the corporate world. Work-life balance is very important to her and she enjoys a flexible work setup. Pam loves the outdoors and travels locally, spending every holiday waking up in the cold and misty mountains of the Philippines. She knows every coffee shop and loves every bite of a freshly baked cheesecake.
Yurii Zanyk
Yurii is a web developer. When he’s not writing code, he enjoys reading and travelling (Italy is his favourite destination so far). For his next trip, he’s planning to visit Asia to learn more about the culture. Travelling is what inspires and motivates him: his dream is to move to a different country every year.
Get in touch
Gecko Routes was founded in 2016 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Currently, our team operates remotely from different countries from all over the world.
Do you have any questions, feedback, or new information to add to one of our routes? We appreciate your comments and they help us to improve Gecko Routes. Please don’t hesitate to let us know!
The best way is to ask a question in the relevant post.
Interested in a partnership? Visit our contact page.
PS: We are currently not accepting applications for new writers.
Could I please ask which denomination the dollar amounts found on the website are? We are searching the web in Australia for an upcoming trip to Vietnam
Thanks!
Hi Tony, the amounts are normally translated from the local currency to USD. Unfortuantely, our current technology doesn’t allow us to make it dynamic and switch it to AUD. Hope it’s still a helpful indication!
Bonjour, je viens de visionner votre site pour un déplacement en autobus au Costa Rica.
Le trajet entre San José et Tortuguero est très bien expliqué et très clair.
Maintenant voici ma question: Est-il toujours d’actualité en date de février 2023 pour l’information contenue.
Merci à l’avance. Voyage prévu en mars.
Hi Jean, we could only confirm that the bus is still operating from San Jose to Cariari as of February 2023. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any recent information on the bus schedule from Cariari to La Pavona and the public boat schedule to Tortuguero.
Feel free to share some info when you travel to Tortuguero in March. This way, we could help future travellers on this route. Safe travels!
Hallo, wir fliegen jetzt nach Bali und wollen dann auch noch nach Lombok rüber.
Nach dem Klick auf Fähre/Fährtickets prüfen steht da:
Nützliche Infos, Gepäckbestimmung 10 kg hand luggage per passenger.
Wie ist das, wenn man mit Koffern reist, haben jeder einen mit 20 kg?
Wisst ihr was darüber, oder besser dann gleich die Langsamfähre benutzen?
Ist die Roll-on-Roll-off-Fähre etwas größer mit Windgeschützten Räumen?
Wir kennen nur die kleinen offenen die nach Koh Chang/Thailand übersetzen.
Hi Karin and Rudi, the ferry companies usually include luggage policies on the booking page. However, based on our own experience, the staff don’t really check the weight of the luggage. Some travellers even bring surfboards and heavy boxes on these fast ferries. If any, you’ll only need to pay an additional charge for your luggage, but this is still very unlikely.
We don’t suggest taking the slow ferry from Bali to Lombok. There are no rooms for you to stay in, and the travel time is longer than the fast ferries.
PS: Diese Antwort ist auf Englisch verfasst, um sie für Reisende aus allen Ländern hilfreich zu machen. Wir empfehlen die Verwendung von Google Translate, um diese Antwort ins Deutsche zu übersetzen.
Hello Maarten: Nice to meet you and the crew of Gecko. Just met you as I was checking the route from Cancún to Isla Holbox/Mex as we (my wife and me) will make a trip to MEX beginning of Feb. for 7 weeks.
I would like to add some impressions on the way to your site.
In the meantime: keep on – keep it on!
D*
Hi Daniel,
Thank you for the lovely comment. All of us here at Gecko Routes love seeing that our content is helping people with their travel adventures. 7 weeks in Mexico sounds amazing! If you do have anything that you think would be helpful to add to our site, you can fill out the contact form with the information. Have a great time Daniel!
https://www.geckoroutes.com/thailand/langkawi-to-koh-lipe/
When will you update this site next time? looking for ferry options
Hi Erik, the ferries from Langkawi to Koh Lipe have resumed operations. We’ve just updated the page with the most recent information. Safe travels!
Hi Maarten, we’re traveling to Costa Rica in february and wanted to know if your travel information on busses are updated? We would love to go by the local bus from Sam José to La fortuna, when was the information about local busses last checked?
Hey Alexis, the San Jose to La Fortuna route was last updated this September 2022. Based on the bus company website, the schedule for the direct bus is still the same, departing at 08:40 daily. Safe travels!
Hello Maarten, do you have a local person that you trust in Santa Marta, am interested in living in Santa Marta. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Sleem Oweifie.
Hello Sleem, one of our writers travelled through Santa Marta, but unfortunately, we don’t have a local contact we can recommend. I would recommend searching Facebook groups for advice from travellers. Maybe that will help!
Hey guys.
Are you Dutch? Have a question about the abandoned waterpark neer Hue. Do you have any experience with that location?
Thanks in advance
Hi Ronald, yes I’m based in Amsterdam! I haven’t been there myself but hear great stories about it! Think it’s the most interesting things to do when you not so much into history (in that case Citadel will likely be nr 1). It’s about half an hour drive from the center and you have to pay a small amount like 20-40k to one of the guards at the entrance to enter the site. Best to rent a motorbike to visit this place and cruise around the site.
thanks!
Awesome Blog mate! I also planned my 3-week journey through Vietnam! Your recommendations are very helpful!
Thanks! Always good to hear it has been so useful!
Amazing stuff, I’ve been planning a 3-week trip through Vietnam and this has saved me so much time and money in figuring out how to get from A to B. Truly appreciate the hard work you’ve put in here!
I am glad to hear that this saved you a lot of time in planning your trip! Many thanks for showing your appreciation!