Safe tour tips for backpackers and other travelers

You will meet amazing people from all walks of life, learn a lot about yourself and make memories that will last forever, but whilst the most important thing to do is enjoy yourself you also need use your common sense and be prepared. A little forward planning could save you a lot of time, money and hassle.

Safety Travelling alone is probably more rewarding than going with friends, but make sure you let people know where you are. This isn't always possible down to exact location, but the general area or region means that if you are uncontactable for a few days, rescue services at least have a starting point.

Make your travelling companions, travel guide etc aware of any allergies you have and if you start to feel even slightly ill, give them a heads up. It may seem unimportant to you, but malaria and other tropical diseases often start out feeling like a cold.

Don't flash your camera, phone, MP3 player etc around. If you want to truly feel like a backpacker, you will need to fit in and this includes looking like the locals. This includes learning a little of the local language and customs. Also, don't walk about with a guide book because it will make you look like you have just stepped off the plane.

Practical information:

Money wise, the best thing to carry is US Dollars. Obviously you'll have local currency as well, but if you ever get into difficulty particularly in countries in Africa, Asia and South America, US currency will get you a lot further than anything else.

Photocopy your passport and keep it somewhere completely separate from your actual passport. If you do lose your passport or it gets stolen it's much easier and quicker to get a replacement if you have a photocopy with you.

If you are going to be in one country for a while, then buy a local pay as you go sim card. This means that mum and dad can call you and you won't have to foot the bill plus phone cards can also be used from these phones in many countries too. It also makes calling and texting your new friends a lot cheaper. Make sure before you leave the UK that your phone has been unlocked.

Install Skype on your home computer before you leave as many internet cafes in hostels, particularly in Australia and New Zealand now have this facility meaning you can call home completely free. also, make sure you setup a travel blog - sites like roundmyworld.com do them for free, and they're great to share your experience with other backpackers.

Planning:

The best and cheapest way to see as much of the world as possible is to buy a round the world flight ticket. These are also some of the most flexible tickets you can buy where changing dates and flight routes will only set you back a minimal charge.

Some things are best done locally. This not only helps support local communities in the countries that need it most, but you can also save your money and retain much more flexibility. This is applicable to tours, transport and accommodation, but also to things like toiletries. Shampoo, deodorant, sun cream etc are heavy, and rather costly in the UK. So save luggage space as well as your hard-earned cash by buying them when you arrive. I'm sure you've heard stories about luggage being lost for days, so in case this happens to you, and with the amount of flying you are going to be doing the probably is greatly increased, keep a spare change of clothes and any medical supplies in your hand luggage.

Things you never forget about gap year travel and backpacking

Once you lose the travel guide, backpacker trips get much more fun! Here's a list of the 5 things I'll never forget about my travels so far.

On my trips round the world I've seen and heard strange things, experienced bizarre and amazing adventures, and sometimes wished I wasn't a backpacker!

However, you have to take the good with the bad - which is why my five things I'll never forget about gap year traveling aren't all bad, or all good! Think of it as travel advice for the mind, body and soul - at least you'll know what to expect on your adventure!

5 Good, Bad and Ugly things you'll never see in a travel guide

You'll only read the good stuff in the travel blogs!

This isn't for the faint of heart, easily offended or the under 18's.. If you were included in that list, please stop reading now!

Everyone else, lets carry on! My top 5 good, bad and downright disgusting travel stories.. (to be continued!)

1. Good!

The feeling when you get as you stumble out of a bus after 12 hours stuck in the same, 30 year old, flea-ridden seat - blinking your way in the sunlight, then realising that you're as far from home as you can possibly be, and you have one of the world's most perfect beaches in front of you.. All of the haggling, aches, pains and woes are forgotten for one, long blissful moment.

You spend as long as possible relaxing, soaking up the sun, sand and sea - and then drag yourself back to reality to tap out a short paragraph in your travel blog - then back to your own slice of heaven.

Good!

Finding out that Indian food is nothing like the stuff you've tried before.. I personally hated curry before I travelled in India. Being English, an Indian meal is something of an institution, I would often have to fend off friends who wanted to do a curry night... every night.

Now, I can't wait for curry! We cook it as often as we can, even if we're on the road traveling. It's turned from a culinary hate to a culinary delight!

Bad..

Squat toilets.

Now I know some people swear that the hole in the floor is more hygienic - but I just swear at it, and them.. In over a year of travel I had managed to avoid using said hole - especially the ones on the trains in India which are simply a hole in the bottom of the train!

When finally the time came that I had no choice, it was as bad as I imagined it.. Always remember the Imodium!

Ugly.

When you first decide to hit the road and go out into the big wide world - chances are you'll end up on the East Coast of Australia. Along with millions of other young travellers and gap year students.

You'll get blind drunk, sunburnt and things get ugly when your mate spots that '10' across the bar who was a 1 when you arrived, 10 snakebites earlier!
At some point later that evening, while you're trying to sleep in a dorm with 30 other snoring backpackers, you'll hear the sound of your mate and their romantic partner enjoying the cosy single bed together - if you're on the top bunk, beware the rocking!

As far as travel advice goes, trust me; this will be one thing you'll be trying forget for years!

Good!

Arriving in a country that is completely different to what you expected.

The first time I arrived into Nepal I walked across the border from India, it'd been a long and sweaty 5 weeks travel, and I needed a change. Nepal was perfect! The pace of life was so much more relaxed than India, the food was equally as good, and completely different.. and the mountains were huge.

Now I'd expected the mountains, I think anyone that reads a travel blog or guide would know that - but everything else was just so refreshing!

Now don't take my word for it - lets hear what you think?!

Travel blogs, they're one of the secret weapons in the world traveler and backpackers arsenal - but what makes a good blog, and why?

I've been wondering what makes a great travel blog.. It's more than just another travel guide, it isn't always the first place to look for advice about where to travel, but a good travel blog is almost always the most fun and informative way to get good travel tips.

So what does a blog need to make it great? Here is my opinion on the matter!

Key points for a good travel blog

The most important aspects for a good, informative travel blog. What key points are needed for a blog to give good travel advice, and also entertain the reader?

1. A travel blog should entertain the reader.
   
   One of the most important aspects of creating a good travel blog is a knack for telling a good story, write the blog the way you would tell your friends about the experience. If your readers find the story emotionally engaging then they will almost always find the blog useful and interesting. Make them laugh, make them cry, scare them with terrible travel tales of terror - but never, ever be boring.
2. A travel blog should be specific, but not too specific!
   
   Remember that you are writing your blog to share your experience with the world, some people will be reading it to find out where you went, what it was like, and if they'd like to go there. So include special bits of advice, like the name of that really nice guesthouse you stayed at in Mui Ne, Vietnam - but don't list down the full street address, the owner and their family history, and other unnecessary details. Just by naming a business in your blog you will give any prospective traveler enough information to find their way to comfort!
3. Your readers should be able to read your travel blog.
   
   This means if you are guilty of using appalling grammar and spelling, stop! It iz almost imposible 2 read sumfing dat iznt spelt or writen rite. So make sure you use the spell check, you'll make your blog far more popular if you do.
4. Your travel blog should allow the reader to easily find the information they need.
   
   Try not to ramble too much if possible, some of the readers of your travel blog will be stuck in an internet cafe on the edge of a rain forest or desert - they will be paying $10 an hour to use the internet connection, which is slower than swimming through treacle. Help these poor souls (I've been one of them) by giving a brief overview of your blog if its a long one, start the blog with a paragraph that outlines the rest of the blog - and then fill in the details.
5. Make a copy of your blog on a travel site.
   
   Using sites like RoundMyWorld.com allow travelers to access many travel blogs at once, you may have one of the best blogs on the net - but as a piece of travel advice it is only applicable for one part of the world. By joining forces with other bloggers you can make a real difference to someone else's traveling experience.

What do you think makes a great travel blog?

Have your say. Think I'm right, let me know! Think I'm wrong? Tell me why!

How to travel the world with just a backpack

Tell your parents you’re going backpacking in India, Southeast Asia or even travelling Australia and they are going to panic, worry about your safety, and worry about your bank balance. But with good advice and sensible travel planning you will be able to prove to anyone that doubts you, travelling with just a backpack is the best way.


The question is, where do you get advice from about a country on the other side of the world?

Well, to start with you have travel guides such as The Rough Guide and Lonely Planet, while these are great for telling you where to go, what to see and which place to stay – the downside is that it can be very easy to travel along the guide book, never straying from the well trodden path. Use the book wisely, but don’t be afraid to put it down, deep in the backpack!

Another option would be to surf the web, hunting for different blogs that will tell you more about adventure backpacking and gap year experiences. This is a great way to get a very personal account of one person’s experience travelling, just remember that countries can be like Marmite – you either love or hate them! Everyone has his or her own journey, whether it is backpacking one country or travelling round the world, the best way to know if you’ll enjoy something is to do it.

Which brings us to my final recommendation for travel advice, sites such as Travelblogs and Round My World. These sites are social hubs for backpackers and travellers to meet and share stories and experiences. You are easily able to discover a multitude of opinions and tips about places to visit that aren’t quite on the beaten path, there are also heaps of photos of destinations around the world. Checking out travel blogs on these sites can give you a real insight into whether the horror stories you’ve been told by friends are accurate or not!


The next step is to check for travel advice from your government, the British Foreign Office website is usually excellent for providing reliable information about safe travel.


By now you’ve probably picked a shortlist of countries to visit, places to go and sights to see – just to throw some extra options into the mix I’ll give you a list of my favourite places to travel to worldwide – and why I loved them;


1. Nepal.

Nepal is one of the most stimulating places on earth to backpack. Everywhere you travel in Nepal brings new sights, smells and sounds. The pollution of Kathmandu is soon forgotten as the friendliness of the locals wraps you in a protective bubble, the noise of the rickshaws is drowned out by the laughter of friends as you drink Everest Beer – and then you discover Momos, a Tibetan dumpling, and my favourite food of all time.
After a few days you leave Kathmandu, and ride the whitewater of the Trusili river all the way down to Chitwan National Park on the Indian border – here you can ride elephants, see wild rhino, and hear the tigers roar at night. If you get really lucky you’ll see the tigers too. Then it is another exciting bus ride, up into the Himalayan foothills to Pokhara, the town by the lake. If anyone can show me anywhere on earth as stunning and as comfortable as Pokhara – I’ll buy the ticket there today!

2. Hoi An, Vietnam

Vietnam is a still a communist country, so sending a faulty iPhone to England is tricky as the censors cannot check the content (god bless DHL!) In an odd way this just makes it even more endearing, and nowhere in Vietnam is quite as charming as Hoi An.
Cobbled streets and old world comfort are not what you’d typically expect when travelling to a tiny town in South East Asia. But this is where to drop the backpack, put your feet up, and chill. Great food, the cheapest beer on the planet (the delicious, home brewed Bia Hoi) and the fact that Hoi An was one of the few places to escape being destroyed in the war make it a travellers heaven.

3. It’s a Secret!

My favourite island on earth is very quiet, very friendly and very unknown – I hope it stays that way for a long time, it would be terrible to see it turn into the tourist trap that is Kho Pi Pi. It may be mentioned on my travel blog at Round My World, so if you’re a keen backpacker, come check it out!


Made it this far? Great! You’re ready to start looking into flying, and arranging travel insurance. Booking flights can be one of the most exciting times in your travels, as you will be finally setting a definite date to escape on your adventure! There are companies out there that cater specially for gap year students and young travellers, STA Travel are one of the best – they can also provide you with good insurance cover, be sure to let them know which extreme sports and adventures you plan on trying, they can then make sure that you are insured for skydiving in Fiji and diving in Australia!


Finally, if you’re about to go away on your own backpacking adventure.. Good Luck and have a great time!