5 Tips on How to Travel in Finland For Cheap
If you’re used to South East Asia, or if you’re a fan of $30 a day backpacking budgets, Finland is gonna be a shock to the system, this place is pricey. But with the Northern Lights, Lapland, Santa Clause’s official [...]Read More..
Things to Bring On the Trans Siberian Train with You
The most epic train journey of them all, and one which every traveler has on their bucket list, the Trans Siberian conjures images on Soviet train carriages, drinking Vodka with people in your cabin, vast landscapes and huge distance – [...]Read More..
Going to Lake Baikal, the World’s Deepest Lake
My first stop on the Trans Siberian proper was Irkutsk, from all accounts it was meant to be quite dreary, non-eventful stop but after a day of sightseeing and a night of vodka, I certainly don’t subscribe to that. That [...]Read More..
Motivational Monday: How Much Money Can A Travel Blog Make? My Story
When I first started blogging about my travels 2 years ago or so I had read about a couple of people making money from their travel blogs. “No way, that can be true”, I thought it was another example of [...]Read More..
5 Ways to Communicate Better With Locals When You Travel
Traveling in so many foreign countries, I’ve had to hone my communication skills down to a tee. It’s something that every long-term traveler has done, and something that perhaps we only rarely recognize as a genuine skill. However when I [...]Read More..
Tourist Scams From Around the World
Unfortunately every country has people who are looking to grab your money in less than legal ways all around the world. The situation is getting worse but if you keep your wits about, stay strong, you’ll never succumb to any [...]Read More..
What Visas You Need to Get in Advance to Take the Trans Siberian Railway
I’m almost in Beijing already, from there I’m gonna jump on the train to Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, and my trans Siberian train adventure will have finally started. It took quite a lot of work, and a fair [...]Read More..
5 Great Ways to Keep in Touch When You’re Traveling
Life on the road can be tough when you’re missing your friends and family, but the world is becoming a smaller and smaller place and with all the tech available to travel with you don’t need to feel so far [...]Read More..
How much does it cost to travel in China?
This is my 5th time in China and once again I’m loving every second. Hopefully you guys are seeing another side to this massive country, different to the one the western media try to propagate (big factories, communist government, stifled [...]Read More..
How to Buy Your Trans Siberian Train Tickets in Beijing, China
I’m about to embark on my epic journey through Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan on the transsiberian railway. Trying to keep it cheap, I wanted to buy the tickets destination by destination as opposed to buying the whole thing in one [...]Read More..
I’m A Self-Confessed Flash Packer! 5 Pieces of Tech I travel With…
As I write article after article on my laptop, and snap away with my SLR camera it dawned on me that over the years of backpacking around the world I’ve slowly developed into a fully=fledged flashpacker. If you’re not familiar [...]Read More..
5 Tips to Keep Yourself Healthy on the Road
Staying healthy on the road is a tough ask especially with all those late nights, long journeys, cheap booze and dodgy food taken into account. If you’re on a two week holiday, your body can take the hit but try [...]Read More..
Packing light for backpackers
When it comes to packing, it’s perfectly proper to be prepared, but it’s also pointless and possibly perilous to panic. In any case, (for want of a better expression) items will be bought, discarded, given and received as gifts along [...]Read More..
Should I go Traveling Alone?
Waking up in the morning not knowing where your next destination will be, making new friends from all corners of the globe, finding romance on some foreign shores – there’s nothing better than hitting the road but doing it alone [...]Read More..
Backpacking in North Korea (Yes, I did it!)
With only around 1800 visitors per year, North Korea is one of the least visited countries in the world. That, coupled with it’s role as one of the few ‘functioning’ communist states around mean that’s is arguably the most intriguing [...]Read More..
Motivational Monday: Jealousy isn’t all bad
It’s easy to be jealous of someone who travels around the world, of someone who doesn’t put in the hard corporate yards, of someone with the handsome/beautiful partner, but jealousy is a weak emotion, so acknowledge that and transform it. [...]Read More..
How to extend your Thai visa in Bangkok
I’m flying to Korea on Christmas day for 3 weeks in South Korea, one week in North Korea and then a trip to North Eastern China for the ice festival in Haerbin. I’m currently in Bangkok and my visa expired [...]Read More..
How to Visit Uluru & Should You Climb it?
Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) is one of the main draws of any backpacking stint in Australia. However, you have to earn your stripes with this one as it’s in the middle of bloody nowhere. Although everyone visiting Oz seemingly wants to [...]Read More..
Tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos
South East Asia is a backpacking hub, no doubt about it. Booze flows, full-moon parties rave and sometimes, just sometimes, you get to float down the Mekong river in an inner tube, getting pulled into wooden shacks as you go [...]Read More..
Getting A Chinese Visa in Bangkok
With my Tibet to Ireland by land trip just around the corner, I had to apply for my Chinese visa while I was in Bangkok, and to be honest it was surprisingly easy! Read up on how to do it, [...]Read More..
Working Holiday Visa in Australia
Having spent over a year in Australia myself, I really wanted to explain in detail how the working holiday visa in Australia works. It’s a great opportunity for people to explore Australia in depth and if you’ve got no cash, [...]Read More..
6 Tips on How to Find Cheap Accommodation
The largest expense of your travels if where you’re going to lay your head for each night you’re wandering around the globe, check out these 5 ways of finding dirt-cheap napping spots: 1) Couchsurf! Not such a big secret anymore [...]Read More..
5 Tips on How to Find Cheap Air Fares
Travel costs money, there’s no two ways about it so when it comes to booking flights, you’re gonna want to cut costs at every available opportunity. Have a look at my 5 tips on how to save money when it [...]Read More..
Five Tips for Finding Last Minute Deals
Travel is not expensive as people think BUT expenses can soon add up so it’s smart to keep your ear to ground and save money where you can. In the internet age research is key, forgot old-school practice like travel [...]Read More..
Essential Tips for Not Killing Your Significant Other on an Extended Backpacking Trip
My rules, my schedule, my itinerary and my trip! That’s the mantra of a solo traveller. Romantic relationships formed on the road often fizzle out because of a difference in travel style, which is ok since you didn’t really have [...]Read More..
5 Items Not To Pack When You Travel
Packing for your travels is a stressful activity, and the default answer is to pack too much. Not a good idea when you’ll be lugging your backpack around bus stations and hostels for months on end. I’ve covered what you [...]Read More..
Bagan Temples – Burma (Myanmar)
Burma’s biggest draw is their awesome temple complex at Bagan. Rivalling Angkor Wat as the most impressive temple complex in the world, the Bagan temples come without the tourist hordes, relentless hawkers and overpriced fees. Bagan is located roughly between [...]Read More..
Live your life, take it all and don’t feel guilty for it
Life is meant to be lived, it’s meant to be enjoyed and appreciated. It’s not supposed to be taken for granted, and it should never be wasted. It’s a gift, one that we should cherish every day. The best thing [...]Read More..
How to get a Burmese Visa in Bangkok
This is just a quick post about visiting Burma/Myanmar while you’re in South East Asia – because the embassy proved quite elusive to me over the last few days, so I’m gonna share what I’ve learned! There are only two [...]Read More..
10 Reasons Why You Should Never Travel
You’ve thought about it, hitting the road for an indefinite amount of time, ‘living the dream’, you want people to live vicariously through you for a change – but you’re scared, is it the right thing to do? It’s a [...]Read More..
Malaria – What Drug You Should Take to Prevent It!
I think it’s fair to say that nobody wants to die on their travels around the world. Death avoidance 101 begins with preventing malaria. Having spent the best part of a year in Africa during 2010 and a good few [...]Read More..
Are You Successful? Is it me or do we have it all wrong?!
Was does it take to be successful? Do you deem yourself successful? Presumably the opposite of success is failure and everybody actively seeks to avoid that – but what is success? As I continue to gallivant around the globe, visit [...]Read More..
10 Cheap Things To See and Do in Tokyo
Fly to New York, Bangkok, Cairo, Paris and, sure you’ll see some amazing sights and see some awesome cultures, but deep down you know you’re in the conveyor belt of travelers, fly to Tokyo and you’ll feel like you’re really [...]Read More..
Traveling rules of thumb / tricks of the trade
When we travel we learn things from country to country, tricks of the trade so to speak so I thought I’d share a few that I have managed to pick up along the way: 1) You cross a border and [...]Read More..
What is Lifestyle Design?
I remember growing up and people saying to me that your school days are the best days of your life so make the most of them. This scared me. Then, at university, even more people told me that your university [...]Read More..
Getting from Bangkok Airport To Khao San Road (or the city centre)
Bangkok’s main airport, Suvarnabhumi Airport, is located around 30km from Bangkok city. If you’re flying into Bangkok from pretty much anywhere, this is the airport you’ll fly into. I’m in and out of this place every month so I thought [...]Read More..
Teaching on English Camps
Moving to a new country to teach English is a daunting process on many accounts – culture shock, new industry to work in, the logistics involved in setting yourself up in a new country – all of these things are [...]Read More..
Should You Bring a Laptop When You Travel?
To laptop or not to laptop huh?! A tricky question indeed. This is an issue close to my heart, one that thought long and hard about before first hitting the road. Lets look at some of the pros and cons [...]Read More..
Choosing the Right Backpack
Choosing the right backpack is absolutely essential to any successful traveling experience, but with the market being flooded with so many sub-par, generic rucksacks it difficult to know what to choose! How many litres should your backpack be? Is the [...]Read More..
New Year Resolutions That Will Improve Your Life
Another year has come and gone – I hope we can all look back on 2010 with a smile on our faces. If not then this year can be different, will be different. This can be the year where we [...]Read More..
Trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp – Nepal
50% less oxygen than you’re used to, freezing temperatures, no showers for a week, blisters bursting through your socks and one of the best experiences of your life – that is Mount Everest Base Camp Trek in a nutshell. At [...]Read More..
Cage Diving With Great White Sharks in South Africa
South Africa has a lot to offer backpackers and a few weeks gallivanting across Africa’s wealthiest nation wouldn’t be complete without coming face to face with nature’s oldest killing machine – the Great White Shark. How much does it cost [...]Read More..
Trekking with Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda & Uganda
For any keen backpacker, the first question is presumably “How much does it cost to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda?”. Rumours of crazy expenses are unfortunately pretty accurate – to trek with the Mountain Gorillas in either Rwanda or [...]Read More..
5 Books to Read When you Travel
Lounging in a hammock on a Thai island or squeezed into a minibus with 25 locals for 12 hours, a good book can complement any scenario. Reading another generic John Grisham novel you picked up in the airport might pass [...]Read More..
The Benefits of Studying Abroad
I have just started my Masters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this week (dec 2010) so studying is on my mind. Moving to a new country and getting immersed in education has really got me feeling positive so I thought therefore, [...]Read More..
How Much Does it Cost to Go From Cape Town to Cairo?
Cape Town to Cairo may be a classic backpacking route but what a trip it is! From snorkeling in the azure blues of the Indian ocean, the white beaches of Zanzibar, wildlife galore in the Serengetti, standing on a glacier [...]Read More..
The good, the bad and the ugly of Khao San road, Bangkok
Bangkok, Thailand’s fabled capital, is frequently the first stop for round-the-world (RTW) trippers and certainly features heavily in many long term travelers histories but what is it that draws in the hordes exactly? Well, first off Thailand is cheap (not [...]Read More..
Partying in Beirut, Lebanon
I was expecting Beirut to be more bombs than bars but I was very much wrong – this city parties hard. I’m currently in a very hungover state, with a disgusting Beirut shaped hole in my bank account and (hazy) [...]Read More..
Top or Bottom Bunk?!
You sort out your dorm, wander into the room and there’s one bunk left that is completely free. Moment of truth – do you choose the top or bottom bunk?! This is a common dilemma for us backpackers and one [...]Read More..
Seeing Sights Because You Feel You Have To?
‘The traveler’s obligation’ Being on the road a long time, we get to see some of the most amazing sights imaginable – Great Wall of China, Sydney Opera House, Empire State Building, Machu Picchu. Often they blow our mind and [...]Read More..
A Backpackers Guide to Egypt
Taking a picture of you pretending to pick up the Pyramids of Giza must be the most over taken tourist picture in the world…. still it’s a classic isn’t it?! Egypt plays host to some of the World’s most famous [...]Read More..
How much Does It Cost To Climb Kilimanjaro
Africa’s highest peak (5895m) and the highest free-standing mountain in the world, climbing ‘Kili’ is a huge highlight of any trip to East Africa. I’m going to dispel a few of the myths about the costs involved and give you [...]Read More..
How Much Does it Cost to Go Traveling?
I must have googled this 100 times before I first set off traveling in 2006 and only now, 4 years and 50 countries later, do I feeling truly qualified to answer it categorically. The answer is reassuringly simple – not [...]Read More..
10 Things I Hate About Traveling on Buses
Long distance buses are part and parcel of any backpacking trip so love ‘em or hate ‘em, you’ll be spending countless hours on these mobile prisons. Poultry, screaming babies, puke, any and all forms of wild stock, cockroaches, sheer drops, [...]Read More..
What is a TEFL course exactly?!
So you want to teach English overseas, you want to travel the world while you work, you want to live in far flung and exotic countries, you want to enhance your CV and learn a language, you want to have [...]Read More..
A Backpackers Guide to East Timor
Portuguese flavoured East Timor became the newest country in the world when it was finally granted its official independence in 2002. Due to that face and the political turmoil its found itself in, this country is almost untouched by tourism [...]Read More..
A Backpacking Guide to Sudan
Sudan is reportedly the place where Africa meets Arabia and I would struggle to disagree with that. I suppose I should add that despite what people’s preconceptions of Sudan may be, as long as you stick to the approved areas [...]Read More..
5 Tips to Save Money on Food While you Travel
If you’re on a long backpacking trip then naturally eating 3 times a day will take its toll on your bank balance. My initial solution to this was simply not to eat 3 times a day, but excessive weight loss [...]Read More..
5 Tips to Help you Barter
So as you make your way around the world it is inevitable that you will find yourself bartering for pretty much everything you need to buy – accommodation, taxi rides, generic touristy goods that we all seem to fill our [...]Read More..
5 Great Travel Movies for Africa
Africa is something else. The source of mankind, natural beauty that will take your breath away, history that will shock and amaze you in equal measure. If you haven’t yet made it to the continent, if you have and you [...]Read More..
7 Tips for working at American summer camps
OK, so having worked at 3 summer camps in America over the years and having unforgettable times, meeting unforgettable people and seeing unforgettable things – I want to impart onto you some of the hard earned knowledge I’ve accumulated over [...]Read More..
16 FAQ about Teaching English Overseas
I have been teaching English around Asia for a while now and am currently studying part-time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to get my Masters in the field so I’ve had a bash at thinking about all the questions I had when [...]Read More..
10 Things to Pack When You Travel
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 [...]Read More..
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