The backpacker survival guide everyting you need

Being organised is great when it comes to the preparation for your travels, but you should always allow for the possibility of extending your stay if you find a place you love or adding

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Part One:

Before You Go 4

Part Two:

On the Road 110

Before You Go

it the first of many or a once-in-a-lifetime trip From choosing where to go and how to save on flights to handy hints on packing and choosing how you travel, you’ll be a holiday-planning, adventure-grabbing aficionado in no time at all!

LIFE ISN , T ABOUT

THE WOrlD IS YOuR OYsTer

If you have already booked your adventure of

a lifetime, congratulations! Choosing where to

go out of all the places in the world can often

be the most difficult part of planning your trip, especially if you have to factor in a strict timescale or budget However, don’t stress if you haven’t done so yet – the best part of travelling

is its flexibility Being organised is great when it comes to the preparation for your travels, but you should always allow for the possibility of extending your stay if you find a place you love

or adding a few more places you want to visit to the list, so see your itinerary more like a work

in progress This will help reduce the pressure while you are still deciding which hemisphere to tackle first

Start narrowing down your list of destinations

by thinking about what your interests and hobbies are and what you want to achieve Are you a chilled-out sun worshipper? Then you might want to head straight for the beach and leave bustling cities and activity adventures for culture-lovers and adrenaline-junkies – although it’s not a bad idea to keep an open mind when you travel You might find you develop a passion for something that you wouldn’t have considered doing back home

To start you off, here are some top-spot lists for various types of location around the world:

TOP 7 BEACH DESTINATIONS

 Nha Trang, Vietnam

 Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

TOP 7 CITY DESTINATIONS

 Istanbul, Turkey

 Siem Reap, Cambodia

 Prague, Czech Republic

 London, UK

 New York City, New York, USA

 Tokyo, Japan

 Bangkok, Thailand

TOP 7 SURF DESTINATIONS

 Hanalei, Hawaii, USA

 Byron Bay, Australia

 Biarritz, France

 Muizenberg, South Africa

 Bukit Peninsula, Bali

 Santa Cruz, California, USA

 Thurso, Scotland

TOP 7 ROAD-TRIP DESTINATIONS

 Cabot Trail, Canada

 Garden Route, South Africa

 South Island Circuit, New Zealand

 Route 66, USA

 Ring Road, Iceland

 Great Ocean Road, Australia

 Stelvio Pass, Italy

TOP 7 PARTY DESTINATIONS

 Tel Aviv, Israel

 Berlin, Germany

 Goa, India

 Amsterdam, The Netherlands

 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

 Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand

HE WHO DOES NOT

feel afraid,

BUT HE WHO CONQUERS

THAT FEAR.

TOP 7 EXTREME SPORTS

DESTINATIONS

 Canyoning in Germany, France, Ecuador, Colombia and Norway

 Snowmobiling in USA and Canada

 Ice swimming in Finland

 White water rafting in Zambia, Nepal and Colombia

 Skydiving in Australia and New Zealand

 Bungee jumping in New Zealand and Zambia

 Cave diving in Australia and Mexico

TOP 7 HIKING DESTINATIONS

 Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

 Everest Base Camp, Nepal

 Petra Through the Back Door, Jordan

 Grindelwald, Switzerland

 Queen Charlotte Track, New Zealand

 Inca Trail, Peru

 GR 20, France

If you are still flummoxed by the idea of having

to choose your precise route before even setting off: don’t panic! Lots of people start by planning just one country or one region to travel Once you start your adventure, you’ll begin meeting fellow travellers and hearing about other must-see destinations As long as you have the budget and time to allow for it, you can redirect your compass/tailor your itinerary while you are on the road Let the travel bug bite and there’ll be

no stopping you!

THING TO TRY.

Seth Godin

Do I Have Enough Money?

Some of the most memorable experiences you’ll gain from travelling are those that don’t cost anything, but unfortunately money makes the world go round, so make sure you save more than you think you’ll need

If you don’t think it’s possible to save enough money for what you have planned there are always options For example, if you are going round the world, consider staying in a country you are eligible to work in or where you can arrange

a work visa You could save enough money at home to get through most of the countries on your list, then plan a detour to a country where you can work until you have saved enough to travel the rest

Sometimes you can even save more working in another country than what you would at home, especially if you fancy trying your hand at farm work as you will settle in a remote area where there isn’t much to spend your hard-earned cash

on, even if you wanted to!

YOU CAN DO IT.

Tom Fitgerald

TRaVel ALoNe OR BUddY UP?

The prospect of travelling alone to a country (or

a number of countries) you have never been to before can be daunting, especially if this is your first time Many people decide without hesitating that they want to share their adventures with

a friend or partner But if even a small part of you is wondering whether you would prefer to experience it alone, don’t let what-ifs put you off – there are so many other lone travellers out there exploring the world that you WILL meet lots

of new friends along the way

Weigh up the pros and cons of travelling with

a friend from back home: will you be happy spending a long period of time with them or do

Although you might be anxious about travelling

on your own, if you think that another person will hinder your experience, take the time to think through your options and make sure you are happy with your choice

If you are still in two minds, you can opt to begin travelling with a friend, explore maybe one country with them and then go your separate ways; you might even plan to meet up again further down the road This will help you

to acclimatise to the travelling lifestyle but will still allow you to be independent, giving you the best of both worlds

As soon as you begin your adventure, you’ll realise how simple it is to meet fellow like-minded backpackers and will wonder why you had any doubts at all!

Where to Begin

Booking your flights early – three to six months ahead for long-haul international flights – is the best way to make your travel dreams a reality Not only are the tickets cheaper (bonus!), doing so will help you to organise all the other bureaucratic must-dos well in advance (Don’t worry: the preparation leading up to the trip isn’t as time-consuming as you might think And, come on, putting in a bit of legwork up front, in exchange for a stint away from worries or cares,

DIFFERENT TYPES OF TICKET

For those who don’t have a fixed itinerary or are still uncertain of where they want to visit,

or the route they want to take, single tickets (as opposed to round trip) are the best option as they allow you the freedom to travel where and when you want with ease Despite these advantages, planning your journey this way does mean the overall cost of your flights will probably be a lot more as you are paying for the outbound and return tickets separately It’s also important to make sure the countries you visit allow you to enter without an outbound ticket Some places are stricter than others and you don’t want to arrive at your destination only to be told that you can’t enter! To avoid this, a ‘flexi-pass’ type of ticket, which allows you to extend or shorten a stay as you go, is another viable option

If you have more fixed plans about which countries you want to visit, you’ll have a good idea of how many flights you need to book Flight comparison sites are designed to offer flexibility and allow you to choose fares to a number of places, often called multi-city tickets These types

of tickets are often a cheaper option compared

to booking all of your flights separately However,

in most cases, you are required to set the exact dates of departure and if you are unsure of how long you want to stay in each place, this might not be the best option for you

Multi-city or round-the-world flexi-passes can be bought at backpacker travel agents They allow you to book your flights ahead of when you go, just as you would online, but you have the option of adding on a pass that lets you change the date of the flight(s) This might

be worth considering if you have a number of flights you want to book – if it is likely that you will want to change your flights then this pass will be invaluable to you, even though it is more expensive upfront than booking online

Don’t forget that travel agents also have seasonal sales, so even if you know that you want to use this option, it might be worth holding off until they start their promotional offers

Finding the Cheapest

 Look at off-peak flights – life as a backpacker starts with freedom, so begin your adventure as you mean to go on and choose flights that depart

at unusual times Firstly, Fridays and Sundays are always going to be more expensive as long- weekend holidaymakers want to set off as soon as they finish work On Mondays you can often expect

a number of people travelling for business needs

As a rule of thumb, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays tend to be the cheapest days to travel Don’t book a flight during school holidays if you can avoid it (I’d have to hunt you down for such

an act of stupidity) If you’re really keen to save

as much as possible, bear in mind that flights scheduled in the early hours of the morning and late at night are considerably cheaper.

 Use comparison sites – never book the first flight you come across, as most of the time you are guaranteed

to find it cheaper elsewhere Comparison sites, such as skyscanner.net and momondo.com, are constantly creating new tools for their websites to help you save the most money The best advice is to start off with some general searches, not being too restrictive with your flight dates or even destinations,

as the booking sites allow you to enter a date range for which they produce a price comparison list, showing you the cheapest flights on offer For instance, skyscanner.net will allow you to search for the cheapest month from your preferred city of departure to ‘Everywhere’; while the comparison site kayak.com allows you to check its predictions of when airline companies will drop and increase their

 Ensure you know exactly what the cost includes – you might come across a deal that seems too good

to be true, and it seems this way because it often

is Sometimes airline companies can be sneaky and offer you the most basic flight at a good price, but exclude any information about baggage costs and extras until you are at the checkout Before purchasing your tickets, read the small print thoroughly, including change and cancellation fees,

so that you don’t have to pay for any surprise extras

at the last minute.

 Once you have researched your flight options

as much as you can stomach and your computer

is almost crashing from the amount of tabs you have open, remember which site you want to book through and then delete all your cookies on your internet browsers Seasoned jetsetters swear by this,

as deleting your browsing history essentially deletes any interest you had of booking flights, thus they drop the prices as a hook for ‘first-time’ browsers.

YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE,

but if you do it right,

ONCE IS ENOUGH.

Mae West

Don , t Leave Everything

to the Last Minute

So, you’ve booked the flight and have taken a big step towards your experience of a lifetime However, make sure you don’t forget about the other small steps you need to take by writing a checklist in advance – otherwise you might end

up having to stay on home soil The following is

a list of essential must-dos that are commonly forgotten about until it’s too late

MAKE SURE YOUR PASSPORT

IS VALID

This comes top of the list, because it is the most obvious to check but, somehow, there’s always someone who turns up to passport control with

an out-of-date passport Check when it expires and figure out if it’ll still be valid during your travels If you aren’t sure when you’ll be returning home, it is best to be safe and renew it, unless

of course it is well in date As well as ensuring that your passport will be valid for the duration

of your travels, try to have a six-month leeway

In some countries, if your passport expires within six months of your date of arrival you will be turned away at immigration, if not before at your departure airport

Another sound piece of advice for some is

to take a different piece of ID other than your

passport, like a driving licence, whenever you

go out during the last couple of months before you travel If you don’t have one, apply for a provisional driving licence that you can use on nights out when there is a slight chance you could lose it This might also be a good idea while travelling, as losing your passport in a foreign country causes a lot of hassle

Your passport is your gateway to discovering the world, so look after it! And if you have any concerns or doubts regarding it, make sure you address them straight away

OBTAIN THE CORRECT VISA(S)

For each country you are visiting, make sure you check the government website to find out if you need a visa, and if so, what sort Different visas are required for different types of stay For example, if you intend to work in a country, you’ll need a different visa to one you would apply for when just taking a vacation

While some holiday visas are free of charge, others are not Some countries actively encourage visitors by allowing incoming travellers to pay for

a short-term tourist visa (that is, a non-working visa) at the airport, which will allow you to stay for

as long as three months But take care as other rules might apply too if, say, you want to stay longer than the standard holiday visa will allow

When it comes to applying for visa(s) in advance, give at least two months for the application to be accepted and for your visa papers to be sent to you However, don’t book your visa(s) too far in advance as most of them are only valid a year from when you made the application If you plan to work in a specific country make sure you factor this in to your current budget, as the work visa is usually quite pricey

What’s important to remember is that each country implements its own terms and conditions,

so it is always best to spend a bit of time reading through their visa policies

BINDS ONE

TO THE SECOND.

French proverb

ACQUIRING THE CORRECT

DRIVING LICENCES

If you are planning to drive abroad, you’ll need

to take your valid driving licence and ensure you are eligible, as often you have to be over

21 and/or have held your licence for a certain number of years Some countries require an International Driving Permit so double-check the criteria online before you go The permit is super cheap and a useful extra if you have planned short DIY excursions off the beaten track or epic road trips