Published by Johnny on September 23, 2010
It’s always a huge dilemma – you’ve got all the stuff you want to bring placed on your bed at home, you stare at it then glance at your tiny rucksack, then back at your bed and back at your rucksack once more…. Nope, it’s just not gonna fit!
This is the scenario every first-time traveler finds themselves in as they prepare to embark on their intrepid journey. In fact, this is the scenario I continue to find myself in every time I get ready to set off on another jaunt across the globe (you never learn!). So, in an attempt to refine the arduous task of packing your backpack – here is a list of things that you absolutely, categorically, unconditionally should bring with you as you leave – everything is can be sorted out at a later date:
1) Tiger balm: The answer to most minor medical needs actually (those ancient Chinese peeps really knew there stuff), and certainly the most effective remedy to mosquito bites. Small, compact and cheap – stock up before you leave.
2) Flash drive/USB pen: The bigger the better, (16GB, 32GB) Either way, they are a great way to back up your priceless travel pics not to mention all the music and movies you can, and will, ‘borrow’ from your fellow travelers
3) Tablets: Echinacea and Multivitamins – absolutely. Echinacea to keep all the standard traveling ailments at bay (read common cold etc) and multivitamins to supplement your diet of foreign beer and local food
4) Padlock: you often can use hostel lockers for free but you will need your own lock. Also, it stops opportunistic straying hands from entering the depths of your rucksack
5) Money:
Cards: Bring at least 2 cards, preferably one Visa and one Mastercard as both aren’t accepted everywhere. Keep them separate so you’re not entirely screwed when you get pick pocketed by the local rapscallion. If you have to take only one, take visa – it’s generally more widely accepted.
$200 Cash: Don’t shout it from the rooftops but this is a real necessity, just keep in hidden somewhere obscure (who’s going to want to rummage around your dirty underwear on the off chance of finding some cash). This will be a godsend when the one cash machine in the town your in doesn’t work, you have no way to contact anyone, it’s raining and you really, really need somewhere to sleep!
6) Havianas: These have to be the most comfortable, robust, durable and effortlessly cool flipflops on the market. Buy the originals and they’ll last you the whole trip – a much better investment than the 8 cheap copies you will continually buy as you wander around Asia!
7) Documents: This includes photocopies of your passport, driving license and travel insurance. Also, bring at least 6 passport photos too – true it might be cheaper to get them done in another country but when you’re at a border, and you can’t get through without a couple, you’ll be delighted at yourself for having the foresight to have a few wedged somewhere in your wallet.
8 ) A journal, a pen and a bag of motivation: Keeping a journal can seem like a real chore and no doubt it is hard work but when you get home you’ll have wished you were more diligent with it. So maximize your chances of writing regularly and bring all the things you need to stay up to date.
9) Mini medi-kit: I really mean mini – all you ‘really’ need is a box of plasters/band-aids, a pair of small scissors, a bottle of iodine and some decent painkillers. Anything that requires more probably also requires a trip to the doctors where they will invariably have a much bigger array of materials at their disposal.
10) Condoms: As the traveling mantra so wisely states “Take only memories and leave only footprints”, so pay heed to this, relish the memories and don’t feel the need to take back a nice bout of syphilis to remind you of the great time you had overseas!
And a few things not to bring…
Sunglasses – you’ll be able to buy a pair of Raybans (of dubious originality) for a dollar or two on every street corner
Any white clothing – they might look fresh and clean now but after a week or two of traveling, some dodgy handwashing and getting whacked back in your bag every day, fresh and clean they won’t be for long!
A good phone – if you feel the need to stay connected (as I do) then avoid the temptation to bring your iphone or blackberry. Ask your sister for her crap hand-me-down, make sure it’s unlocked for all networks and your good to go, without the fear of getting mugged!
Toploading rucksack/backpack. This deserves a special mention to be honest – try your utmost to get a rucksack that opens along a side zip. I have watched countless people struggle with getting their favourite Tshirt from the bottom of their toploading bag, having to remove everything! Don’t be one of them! 
Ok, so I think that about wraps up the bag packing session. Try not to take too much, even for a long trip anything over 15kgs is excessive and realistically 10-12kg is perfect. Good luck and safe travels…
Tags: backpack, cheap travel, travel gear, Travel tips
Published by Johnny on September 23, 2010
Traveling is undoubtedly awesome but who wants to fly from destination to destination, missing everywhere in-between!? Surely the best mode of transport has to be by boat, it’s certainly my favourite. You get from A to B in comfort, can walk around, sleep in an actual bed, even order a beer from the bar and watch a movie – luxury! And now, with prices of cruises plummeting in recent years, you can easily find some great cruise deals with just the smallest effort.
The term ‘cruiseship’ does carry some unfair connotations however – the general consensus is that they are holidays only for the filthy rich – wrong wrong wrong! Times are changing and now even backpackers can jump onboard and have the time of their lives. Caribbean Holidays have never been so accessible.
I have always been interested in working on cruise ships so I’ve spent a fair bit of time online researching the ins and outs of the industry – but my searches began to bend in the direction of enquiring about actually being on the receiving all that luxury and lo and behold, it’s not half the price people think.
As you backpack across the developed world – USA, Europe, Japan etc, generally the budget is in and around $50 a day for most people. Imagine if you take that budget, hit a port, jump on a 5 star cruise liner and chill for a week or two with money left over at the end of it – that is literally the possibility….
Obviously if you have the budget you can splurge out and spend thousands but if, like me, you’re on the other end of the financial spectrum you need to be smart and find the right deals. Far flung destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, Europe are all feasible and for as little as $250 for a week, seriously! I wish I had known about it earlier and I could have been sipping Mojitos on the top deck around panama instead of staying in a dingy hostel in Los Angeles
Anyway, now I know so that my next trip is taken care of! You can even jump on one, stay for a week or so at a discounted rate and jump off on another port in another country and carry on with your backpack, now that’s cool.
There are a whole host of different companies which have prices that vary drastically. This is mainly because there are different boats, different types of cruises that are available. If you are traveling on a budget, there are many discount cruises to be found online. As wonderful as the internet is, it is a labyrinth when you are trying to search for that sort of thing so when I came across discountcruises.com I was delighted =) everything you need to sort out your trip and cheap as chips. Choose your budget, your country, your length of time and you’re good to go.
Throw your rucksack in the hull, get your sailing hat on and happy boating- see you there!
Published by Johnny on September 21, 2010
From Senga bay we headed to the capital, Llongwe. This was more of a transit point than anything else as we headed to Nkhata bay in the north, the last stop on the ‘tourist trail’ really and as we move northwards from here the backpacking numbers dwindle and dwindle. Nkhata bay proved to be a very intriguing place, not least because I ended up sitting outside a prison speaking to the convicts about how they ended up there!
Nkhata bay is effectively the last stop as you move north towards Tanzania so I ended up spending 3 nights here before the disgusting 2 day bus journey to Dar Es Salaam. It’s a very laidback place, with a couple of great hostels. I stayed in Big Blue for about $5 a night and with free wifi and big portions of food, I’d recommend it highly =)
I was walking around the town taking pictures carefree until I apparently took one too many and got confronted by a very scary AK47 wielding soldier who looked straight from Blood Diamond the movie! Turns out I was taking photos of Nkhata Bay prison and naturally that’s not exactly inline with acceptable behaviour! He was of course very nice about it after and didn’t even bear the huge machete he had shoved down the waist band of his trousers
Over the next couple of days I ended up becoming quite friendly with a couple of the prisoners (who were allowed to conduct their daily work outside the front of the prison). They were very amiable indeed and were living testament to the new zero-tolerance attitude that the new Government is demonstrating. Snoop dog (below) threw one drunken punch and got 7 years in prison! :S Anyways, they were cool guys and after throwing a few bits and bobs their way they made a really cool copper ring for me with the Malawian sun carved into one side of it – it sits proudly on my backpack as we speak =)
The last day in Nkhata bay was spent with the local witch doctor! For $5 he showed us around his village, went through his various ‘potions’ (for want of a better word), showed us around the fields were he collects his remedies and generally enlightened us to the world of local doctors here. He was a cool guy and the stuff he showed us was mind-blowing although never have I been happier to be a recipient of Britain’s National Health Service!!
Just before I bid farewell to Malawi I had time for a quick trim in the local salun (sic). She was adamant that she had cut a white guys hair before but judging from the industrial paper cutting scissors and botch job she did on my golden locks, I remain unconvinced! Still for 35p what do you expect
Tanzania here I come….
P.S The internet in Ethiopia (where i am at the moment) is terrible, hence the lack of uploaded pics! Sorry, ill update it when i can! But considering my next stop is Somalia, it might be a a week or 2!
Tags: Backpacking, cheap travel, malawi
Published by Johnny on September 21, 2010
As you well know from my blog, I love to travel and travel cheap! The more money you save, the longer and further you can go; with that in mind I tend to sort everything out myself on the belief that that’s the cheapest way to do and generally speaking that’s normally right….
BUT BUT BUT if you hit the internet hard you can definitely find an alternative way to do it, hassle free, cheap and no stress. Depending what you’re looking for sorting everything out yourself is not always the best way to go.
I worked in a summer camp in New York one summer (great way to earn money abroad by the way, but that’s another post ) and after finishing work I was ready to see America in all its glory. It was soon obvious that all that glory wasn’t going to come cheap! So the bright lights of New York City were first up and what a ride that was but with money dwindling and the rest of the country still to see I was in a bit of a predicament. I wanted to get to the West – Vegas, California, San Fran but flights were crazy prices, accommodation when we get there was going to be pricey and sold out AND on top of that I had to get back to NYC for my bloody return flight. Hmmmmm, time for some internet research…
It goes against all I know to admit – but after searching long and hard in a sweaty internet café in Manhattan, I reckoned the cheapest way for me to do it was to actually use a travel agent online. Their deals including airfare, accommodation etc. were much cheaper (and much more hassle free) than the sort of trip I could have sorted out myself (AND I didn’t have to share a dorm room with 20 other people either, which makes a nice change!).
I googled and googled for the best online agent until I stumbled across Liberty Travel, unleashed my credit card and within 5 minutes I was ready to embark on my west coast adventure.
Here’s my quick guide to the benefits (for a backpacker) of doing it this way:
1) PRICE!! It’s crazy to see the deals you can get, search the promotions and for a couple of hundred bucks you’ll be saying a temporary goodbye to the youth hostels and hello to luxury for a similar price. If you consider the price of accommodation on the west coast not to mention the taxis from the airport to the hotels and back again, all your meals you can suddenly rack up a very hefty bill. If you book direct through these guys you pay one fee, upfront and let them take care of everything else. No taxi fares, no hotel bills – soooo relaxing.
2) EASE. Seriously, you can sort this stuff out in minutes – literally. Want to visit 3 places? 4 places? 5 places? These guys can sort it out in a heartbeat saving you the hassle. You can sort it all out online or jump into one of their million stores they have dotted all around the US and tailor your trip however you like it although I’d advise to stick with one of their set trips and get the best value from their promotions
3) EXPERIENCES. They know their stuff! So their trips take you from one amazing place to the next, missing nothing. You know you’ll get to see the best stuff to offer without having to unleash your guidebook. A standard worry of mine is to be in a place, stay there for a few days, move on and then meet someone who has been there too but they saw some cool things or did some amazing activity which I missed out on. Worry not, that won’t happen here!
4) FOOD. Think you got a good price? It gets even better when most of your meals are included too, and they are delicious – no macdonald promo burgers until the end of this trip! The food was seriously something special and the full breakfast deserve their own mention.
5) PEOPLE. Everyone I met, staff and other guests alike, were awesome so no doubt you’ll meet some cracking people to share the experiences with.
6) HIDDENT COSTS!! Very obvious by the complete lack of them! For me this is the icing on the cake, you pay your money upfront and you hardly have to open your wallet again. Almost everything is taken care of – a welcome break from the constant outgoings from my standard backpacking jaunts!
I was away for about 2 weeks and packed soooo much stuff in. San Fran, LA, Yosemite, San Diego – the lot!! The most amazing sights combined with the most amazing service – I can’t wait to do it all again on the east coast.
There it is guys, whisper it softly, but you can find great trips at great prices online and what an awesome extension to my backpacking trip it proved to be, have fun and happy travels!!
Published by Johnny on September 16, 2010
From Cape Maclear there is a great way to get out – the LLawa ferry (and i loooove boats!). Anyone who has ever been on a longterm backpacking stint will know all too well the endless hours you spend on packed buses, sweating, head bobbing, starving longing for your destination. This is why when offered the chance of a boat – you HAVE to take it! And so we did…
The ferry runs once a week from the bottom of the lake to the top of the lake via an island in the middle. If I had time I would definitely have headed to the island but alas that’s for another trip, so if you have the chance then grab the opportunity and set sail!
As I mentioned in previous posts about Malawi the transport is somewhat unpredictable so from leaving Cape Maclear leaving at 5am and arriving at Senga bay around 7pm I managed to sit in the back of a pick-up truck, was wedged into a minibus, took a slooooow ferry, jumped on the back of a push-bike taxi, broke down in a van when the petrol was so low that going up a hill the petrol ran from the tank, hitched a ride with a crazy English women in a saloon car alongside her considerably younger Malawian husband and finally arrived in Senga Bay with my life intact. Having spent a grand total of $6 on transport all day, I realized just how cheap Malawi can be if your willing to rough it a little bit.
Senga Bay is an interesting little place. Much more removed from the tourist trail that exists in Malawi (and therefore your Malawian Kwacha stretches much further) it certainly feels much more like ‘real Africa’. We stayed in a very local guesthouse for a dollar a night in the middle of an African village which was certainly an experience in itself.
The town of Senga Bay does have a couple of hostels, and in true shoestring style, we stayed in a cheap place and spent our time in the nice place! The hostels offer a few great watersport activities and all for less than $15 so save some money on food and accommodation and go crazy on the lake all afternoon, still ducking under that $30 a day budget that most people go with.
 
Be aware however, that there are no ATMS here that work (in fact that goes for a lot of the country!) so stock up on cash in Llongwe or Blantyre if possible.
I had done that, luckily enough, so when I saw some disgusting brash pink tshirts seemingly for sale I made a beeline to them to make my purchase. There was a lot of activity surrounding the event, with hordes of locals surrounding the pink bus with the Tshirts so I moved a little closer to find out what was going on. Big mistake. Before long I was at the front of the crowd with the guy and his microphone publicly enquiring as to how to get one of these tshirt. “$9” he said. I was shocked by the price considering we were in Malawi after all but the public pressure got to me so I decided to see the purchase through to the end, I tried to then buy the shirt for the $9 but apparently I had got the whole thing wrong. This pink event was being run by one of their phone networks (Zain) and I had to buy a phone and simcard for $9 and if I was lucky I may win a tshirt along with the tshirt. A bit of fraudulent activity by the guy on the microphone and soon I was the lucky winner of a tshirt and a proud new owner of a Zain mobile phone. The crowd seemed entertained at least, if a little skeptical!
Time in Senga Bay was up, off to the capital….
Tags: Backpacking, cheap travel, malawi
Published by Johnny on September 15, 2010
So we crossed the border from Mozambique to Malawi and it didn’t quite go according to plan – by that I mean, I got bloody ROBBED!! Arrrrrrrgh! I thought with my crazy travel experiences I was now immune to scams, conmen and hustlers…. Apparently not :S
I got stamped out of Mozambique and swaggered through no-mans land before the Malawian border and got approached by a few money changers, standard practice…
I played them off one another until I got the fairest rate between the 2 currencies but through my promotion of capitalism I had gathered a rather large crowd of money changers and the tables turned. One of them wedged the agreed amount into my hand, took my money and when I looked at the money he had given me it was only half the agreed amount! Queue their well rehearsed routine.. they started switching positions faster than a Karma Sutra flip book so I couldn’t keep track of my guy and when I grabbed one and demanded my money back, it wasn’t him. They dispersed immediately and I was left with the worst exchange rate transaction imaginable so BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU CROSS THE BORDER GUYS!!
Ok rant over and frustration purged! We jumped in a van and headed to the industrial town of Blantyre which is the largest city in Malawi (that’s not saying much though). Blantyre is a pretty cool I guess but not a lot to do. Naturally, it’s likely to be your first stop in Malawi so seeing Malawi in full flow can take an afternoon itself. I wandered around here for the afternoon and aside getting accosted by a lunatic middle-aged Malawian who publicly accused me of being a member of the CIA, then the KGB then confessed herself to being a member of both, then asking me for money so she could escape all the, and I quote, “bloody Africans” – naturally with her being an African herself I found this quite odd, Blantyre was indeed interesting.
NOTE: For any UK backpackers reading, there is a place in Blantyre that you absolutely must visit. It stockes everything from our childhoods! Doubledeckers (personal fav), wham bars, millions, coco pops, kinder eggs, wispas, double-dips etc it is an oasis of sugar in a continent void of delicious sweets! It is however pretty pricey, but what price pure, unadulterated pleasure?!
 Succumbing to temptation I would recommend getting yourself over to the Carlsberg brewery for a couple of hours which offers free tours once a week, I missed the tour unfortunately but after a taking the MD on a guilt trip about me being a beer connoisseur coming all the way to Malawi to see the brewery and a cheeky 50 cent bribe to the store man, I found myself with 2 friends in the store room with effectively free reign to ‘sample’ their beers. I don’t remember much more of the afternoon.
With a groggy head and a doubledecker in tow, I set off for Monkey Bay and Cape Maclear the following morning….
Tags: Backpacking, cheap travel, malawi
Published by Johnny on September 11, 2010
Transport in Malawi is, erm.. rather unpredictable. After a 10 hour bus journey, shared with some noisy chickens, stopping every 4 minutes for people to buy unimaginable things from street vendors, we approached Monkey Bay. An overloaded pick-up truck with literally 25 people on it started honking its horn with vigour until our bus stopped beside it. Apparently they had spotted Mazungus (white people) in the bus, got excited, and thought we might be going to Cape Maclear (and therefore be able to get another fare or three), unfortunately they were right and the 25 people became 28 with us on top of the cargo, on top of the people, on top of the pickup…
Amazingly we made it with only one breakdown. My body was aching and i was hoping it would be worth it, when I got off but what a sight to disembark to…
Lake Malawi is stunning. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Insert adjective here. Seriously, we arrived just around sunset and it made the journey worthwhile in an instant. Found a cheap dorm (around $4 per night) and watched the sun go down over the lake with a smile on my face. Cape Maclear is another one of those places where you need to plan to leave in the next couple of days or you’ll find yourself still there in a month or two. This is not fictitious hyperbole, but what happened to two separate people I met here. One weird Canadian guy who had planned to travel around Africa for 5 months but had been on the continent for 4 months yet had only seen Cape Maclear! So be warned Still, it’s easy to see why people stay around…
There are a lot of things to do, the food is good, the scenery is tiptop and the people are great. I spent my couple of days here trying to dust off the cobwebs from the exercise gene. I rented a kayak and kayaked around the lake, went for a swim around one of the islands and generally had a great day (aside from the sunburn: damn this pasty Irish complexion!). Another day, I hired a dude from the local town to take me for a hike in the surrounding mountains where he insisted we would have a beautiful viewpoint off the whole bay, he wasn’t lying
WARNING: I came down from the trek and heard about bilharzias, a water-borne disease rife in Lake Malawi. Where, to avoid contracting it, it is recommend not to swim in the lake, eat local food, shower in lake water or generally involve yourself with any water – oh shit! So, odds on I have the disease – however you can rid yourself of it by taking drugs (which we got from the pharmacy asap) 2 months after exposure. So im still waiting to take them, in the knowledge that there may be creatures living inside my body. Lovely.
Cape Maclear – thanks for the good times, and the disease, I’m off North…
P.S if you’re hungry while you’re there, stop in for a bite at the local Macdonalds for your western fix..
Tags: Backpacking, cheap travel, malawi
Published by Johnny on September 07, 2010
Goodbye to the Portuguese-flavoured Mozambique and on to a whole new world – hello Malawi! I hate to repeat myself time and time again but Malawi is yet another amazing country (thinking about it, maybe it’s the traveling that’s always amazing and not necessarily the country!?, who knows – anyways, suffice to say i had an awesome time here that’s for sure =)). The country is dominated by the breathtaking Lake Malawi and with endless towns situated on the coast, you can’t fail to take Malawi up on its seafood and lakeside activities and enjoy every second of it..
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa and, as is often the case, this seems to bring a sincerity and generosity out of it inhabitants so it’s tough not to fall in love with the place. Naturally, through its poverty, Malawi is a cheap place to travel and because of this you can end up staying much, much longer than you anticipate!
I’m going to just give a quick run-down on the basics for travelling in Malawi, from a budget perspective:
Budget: Can easily get by on $20 a day (lay off the Carlsberg Elephants though)
Transport: Varied, uncomfortable, entertaining, cheap and eventful! You’ll spend time in overcrowded buses (for sure), on the back of pick-ups, on the back of cargo on the back of pick-ups, on push-bike taxis, kayaks, steam boats and dhows etc..
Accommodation: If you want to rough it, you can sleep for cheap! Let’s face it, you don’t need more than a clean sheet, a mattress and a mosquito net – do ya?! if that’s your only prerequisites then $2-$5 rooms are easy to find
Food: Eat local and you’ll eat well. For pittance. Stay away from the eateries featured in your guidebook and you’ll wallet will reap the benefits! Food here is distinctly average regardless of how much you spend, so you might as well spend $1 for an average meal than $10!
Entertainment: Lots and lots and lots. Generally focused on the lake – scuba, snorkeling, kayaking, lounging on the beach nursing a hangover, watersports. Stuff is pretty reasonably priced and for $10 you can try your hand at water-skiing, banana boating etc.
 $5 well spent in Senga Bay on the 'sling-shot'! The general route north: I arrived via land (standard) from Mozambique in a horrible dalla-dalla, which is a minibus designed for 12 people although I’m not sure if the driver was aware of this as he squeezed the 27th person in the van for the 4 hour journey!…
From the border you can jump in another minibus to the industrial city of Blantyre, spend a day or two there. Head north to Monkey Bay or Cape Maclear for a few days chilling with your fellow backpackers. From here you can get an awesome boat up the lake which I recommend highly. If not, head to the capital for a day or two. Then onwards north to Senga Bay and finally onto Nkhata Bay.
2 weeks gone in a heartbeat, guaranteed. Your bank account will love you, as will your sense of adventure! So get to Malawi, asap – i’ll fill you in my the details of my trip in Malawi in subsequent posts…
 Tags: cheap travel, malawi, travel guide
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