Destination Realities: Canada

Sooo... I spent just over 2 months in Canada. It's a huge country. Really huge. With that in mind, how did my time there match up with my original plans?

I only really planned the beginning and very end of the trip, so here goes.

The Maritimes

1. Nova Scotia

Man, I had huge plans for Nova Scotia - Bay of Fundy, Lunenburg, Joggins... I only ended up spending about 5 days in the province, courtesy of ending up an a very short notice road trip with a fellow Brit I met on the first day. I did get to explore a bit of Halifax and I did see the Bay of Fundy and whales in it to boot. Didn't see much else of the province though.

2. Newfoundland

I would have loved to visit Newfoundland. However, while getting there would have been easy enough - ferry from Nova Scotia - getting around once I got there would have proved difficult and expensive. So Newfoundland will have to wait for now. I need someone who can drive...

3. New Brunswick

Not really part of my original plan, but I did end up spending a couple of days there. Admittedly, I spent that time mostly in the hostel (because it was raining) or in the station (because, woo, midnight train). Hmm...

4. Prince Edward Island

I'd not planned on visiting because I "didn't want to rush myself". Out of all of the maritime provinces, this is probably the place I felt least rushed. I spent nearly 3 days there, enjoying how quiet it was even despite the kitschy madness of Green Gables.

Quebec

5. Quebec City

I'd originally only planned on a week in Quebec province, but after rushing through the Maritimes in just over a week, I was ready to slow down. Which meant I ended up spending 4 days in beautiful Quebec City instead of the day or 2 I'd originally thought. As a result, I had much more time to go exploring the city's history. Great stuff.

6. Montreal

I spent 5 days in Montreal, the longest I'd stayed anywhere since I left Iceland. It would prove to be the beginning of a pattern - 4-5 day stays became my default as much as possible for the rest of my time in Canada. I'm glad I slowed down so much - Montreal had plenty to offer, even if it did rain some more.

7. Outdoorsy things

Yeah. I didn't end up doing any of those in Quebec. Getting caught outside in a torrential downpour doesn't count.

Ontario and the prairies

I didn't actually plan anything for this, really. I mostly just pootled through the big cities (Ottawa, Toronto) and revisited places from my previous trip (Kingston, Niagara, Hamilton). More on that in a bit.

As for the prairies, I hadn't really planned on anything there. I knew I wanted to take the train across from Toronto to Vancouver, but originally I was going to go non-stop. I decided 4 days on a train didn't sound like fun (says the girl who just booked a 51 hour bus journey), so I ended up stopping in Winnipeg and Edmonton and I'm very glad I did. Both cities just a little bit off the main tourist trail, but well worth visiting.

Vancouver and the Rockies

8. Vancouver Island

Yeah. That didn't happen. By the time I arrived in Vancouver I wasn't really in the mood for doing anything much. Despite breaking up my train journey, those nights trying to sleep on the train really seemed to screw with my brain.

9. Capilano Suspension Bridge

This did happen though. Success!!

10. Lake Louise

This also happened. It rained quite a bit and a big fucking bear scared the shit out of us at the campground, but we did see Lake Louise.

11. Burgess Shale

Didn't happen. We drove past it. And past the turn off for the Stanley Glacier trail, which runs past another outcrop of the same fossil-bearing shale. I made do with a few random museumm exhibits and the faint hope of spotting a fossil at Marble Canyon.

12. Riding, rafting, kayaking

Wow, I had all the outdoors things in mind for the Rockies. And we managed most of them (and more). Ziplining, canoeing, rafting, riding, bobsleigh (yes, bobsleigh). Plus a whole bunch of really nice walks. Success on that count.

13. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

This is a World Heritage Site south of Calgary and ultimately turned out to be just a bit too far out of the way. A shame, but it'll have to wait for another trip.

On first glance, it looks like I missed out on a lot of the things I originally planned or wanted to do. But I also did a lot more that I didn't intend. I took a road trip with someone I'd only just met and anyone who knows me will probably understand that that's quite a big deal for me. My time in Canada, while obviously amazing and great fun, also proved to me that I can deal with social situations and I can actually hold a conversation with people I don't know. It's lovely.

Now, things to bear in mind for anyone wanting to repeat the above. Because clearly everyone wants to take 2 months to travel Canada.

1. Canada is huge

Yes, I know this should be obvious, but it's worth mentioning. Getting around can take hours or even days unless you're going to focus on just a little bit of the country. A bus from the capital in Ottawa to Toronto takes about 3 hours. A train from Campbellton, New Brunswick to Quebec City takes 8 hours. And a train across from Vancouver to Toronto takes 4 days.

Yup. Huge. Maybe just focus on an area - Ontario around Toronto or Quebec & Montreal are probably good ideas.

2. Inter-city buses are pretty good

Greyhound's network runs from Ontario across to British Columbia. East of that connections are run by smaller provincial companies. Getting between the big cities is pretty easy and it's even possible to get a bus from Toronto out west to at least Calgary - I know, I met someone taking it. It took her 3 days.

3. Canadians really are friendly

I know it's a stereotype, but I've found it to be true. From the helpful attendant on the Toronto subway to the chap who parked the RV for us the first night we had it, the stereotype has held true and it's been absolutely lovely.

4. It's worth brushing up on French

I thought I would be all right in Quebec, Canada's French-speaking province - I learned a bit of French a very long time ago and I'd made sure to learn a couple of useful phrases like "I'm sorry, I don't understand." and "Do you speak English?". Oh, and I can say please, thank you, hello - all that malarkey.

However, in Quebec City at least, outside the tourist hub in the Old City, it's maybe worth knowing a little more. When I went to try poutine, the girl at the counter had to get her English speaking colleague to help because my French didn't stretch to understanding "eat in or take away?

That said, other Quebecois seemed quite amused by my appalling pronunciation of bonjour and were quite happy to talk to me in English.

5. Maple syrup

You have to try it. Proper maple syrup, not the stuff labelled "pancake syrup" or "original syrup". Maple syrup. Preferably with pancakes and bacon. Sausages are also acceptable. It shouldn't be so good.

Budget

Just to clarify: I've cut the last 2 weeks of my trip out of this because that was spent with my mother and sister and a lot of things had already been paid for.

Accommodation: worked out at less than £20 a night. I think this is pretty impressive given that I had to pay for a hotel for one night that cost me several times more than a hostel. Congratulations, me. Hostels in Canada range around the £15-£20 area, generally, with price spikes in Toronto over the summer, or so my hostel owner informed me. Out of the way places may also be more expensive - I paid $30 a night for a pretty basic place in Winnipeg, but it's the only hostel in the city.

AirBnB is pretty popular in Canada and some places you can find rooms cheaper than hostels. This is particularly good for places like Kingston, which have no hostels. At all.

Food: less than £5 a day. I'm pretty pleased with this considering I did treat myself to a couple of delicious brunches (looking at you, Original Pancake House...) and several trips to Tim Horton's. Fresh fruit and veg seems to be relatively expensive in Canada, but tinned goods are similarly priced to the UK. Plus, several of my hostels provided breakfast, which helped keep costs down.

Transport: less than £25 a day. This is hugely bumped up by the fact that in my first week I went halves on a car hire (at about $300 each) and then in August I took the train across the country which cost me nearly £500. Fortunately, the train had been budgetted for, although I loathed paying that much. If you don't take the train, transport can be done pretty cheap. A bus from Ottawa to Toronto costs about $20-25, and prices are similar between the other large cities in the east. City transit systems are pretty good - most will charge you about $3 for a single trip ticket.

Activities: about £5 a day. Obviously, this varied a lot. In Ottawa I bought a museum passport which covered all the big national museums and cost $45 (just over £30). Similarly, in Toronto I got a CityPass which covered the CN Tower, the Zoo, aquarium, Royal Ontario Museum and Casa Loma. Other costs mostly related to museum entry fees and the tourist trap that is Niagara Falls. Whale watching came in at a remarkably cheap $50 - that's £30 for a good 3 hours of sailing and a pod of fin whales right next to the boat.

Anyone else been to Canada? Is there anything I've missed that you think should be included? Let me know!

Destination Realities: Iceland

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might have read some of my Destination Daydreams posts about the things I really want to do while I'm travelling. Now that the first destination, Iceland, is very much done and dusted, I thought I'd revisit my original ideas and see how it panned out.

1. I planned on 2 weeks

But the cheapest flights out of the country to Halifax, Nova Scotia were on Thursdays and Saturdays and I figured that with the costs in Iceland in general, 10 days should do. And it has.

2. I wanted to see the Golden Circle in summer

Achievement get. This was the first trip I took and it was as wonderful as I imagined. Save for my camera breaking, but we'll ignore that for now.

3. Jokulsarlon and Vatnajokull

I would have loved to see both of these places - Jokulsarlon is a lagoon full of icebergs, Vatnajokull is the glacier they calve from. Unfortunately, day trips there are more expensive than I'd have liked and to do it on public transport would have meant having to stay overnight in somewhere like Hofn where accommodation is extorionate.

4. The North East

I listed Husavik for whale watching, as well as Akureyri and Myvatn. Turns out I could go whale watching from Akureyri, which is easier and cheaper to get to and it was awesome. Myvatn and its famous hot pools was just too awkward to do on public transport and there was plenty to keep me occupied in Akureyri for the couple of days I was there.

5. Snaefellsnes

I'd added a visit to Snaefellsnes onto my original plans as a sort of afterthought. I'm so glad I took a trip there though, even if it did rain all day! It's a beautiful, wild place and so quiet.

Overall, I think I managed to accomplish most of my original goals for Iceland. Now, things to bear in mind for anyone thinking of planning a trip there.

1. If you can go self catering, do it

Eating out is prohibitively expensive, not just in Reykjavik but across the country. I treated myself to a few small meals and every time I winced at the cost. There's a supermarket called Bonus which is incredibly cheap by Icelandic standards - go there instead.

2. Don't just stick to Reykjavik

Iceland feels like a huge place once you get out of the capital. It's worth getting a bus, or a car if you can afford it, and exploring a bit. The public bus to Akureyri works out at about £50-60 one way and it's worth it for the views alone.

3. Visit some of the museums

Reykjavik is dotted with an assortment of museums, as is Akureyri. Just don't expect them to be free - 1500 krona seems to be fairly standard.

4. Get out and walk

There are loads of green spaces in the cities and good footpaths run along the shore in both Reykjavik and Akureyri. Once you're away from the city centre, which is pretty small in both cases, it's super quiet and you might even get the area to yourself, at least for a little while.

5. Embrace the weather

Us Brits famously love talking about the weather. Iceland's weather is changeable - seriously changeable, to the point that the Icelanders like to tell tourists, "don't like the weather? Wait 10 minutes."

When I walked out to the Grotta lighthouse, the weather changed within the space of a couple of minutes from bright sunshine to rolling fog across the bay. By the time I walked back to the city it was blazing hot again. Madness.

Budget

OK, so bearing in mind I'm travelling solo and aiming to be on the road for a year, here's a few figures to give you an idea of cost.

Accommodation: worked out about £25 per night, even staying in hostels. The one in Reykjavik worked out more expensive than my room in Akureyri, despite it being a 24 bed dorm. Also useful to bear in mind is that many (if not all) hostels in Iceland will charge you extra for linen, so it's helpful to take a sleeping bag wih you.

Food: I think I did quite well here and even with eating out 4 or 5 times, my food bill worked out at less than £8 a day. I shopped at Bonus, which is the closest Iceland gets to a discount supermarket, and when I ate out I went for soups, smaller portions (which are still pretty good sizes) and ate during the day instead of the evening when prices tend to go up.

Transport: in the cities, I walked - most of the attractions in Reykjavik are within easy walking distance of the centre and this is even more true of Akureyri. The public bus in Reykjavik costs 400-420 krona for a single trip, which is a bit more than £2. Intercity buses cost 9240 krona one way, which is about £56 at the moment. Not too bad for a 6 hour plus bus trip in a notoriously expensive country. Plus, the scenery is awesome.

Activities: My biggest expense -  £343, give or take. This covered 3 day trips with Reykjavik Excursions and a whale watching trip from Akureyri, plus several museums and a trip to the cinema. Clearly the biggest expense was the day trips, but if you don't drive, this is the easiest way to get out of the city and see Iceland's beautiful landscapes. Also, whales. I will never say no to whales. I failed to find a single free museum in Iceland. The cheapest was the Akureyri City Museum, at 1200 krona - about £7.25. Most in Reykjavik are 1500 krona, unless you're going to the Phallological Museum which is a bit cheaper and totally worth it for the gift of being able to say you've been to a museum dedicated almost entirely to giant whale penises.

Overall, Iceland met my expectations with regards to price and more than met them with regards to being awesome.

Anyone else been to Iceland and think I've missed something important? Do share.

Nothing Says "Tourist" Like...

Anyone who's visited London knows the feeling. You've managed to get into the Tube station but now you have no idea which platform you need to be on. There's escalators going in every direction, tunnels leading off to unknown domains and right in front of you there's a gaggle of people all craning to read the map.

Welcome to London, folks. This is the big tourist giveaway, or so I believe. Those maps aren't always the most intuitive of things to read, are they? Which way are you actually going? Do you know where you're supposed to be heading? You've got about 5 seconds before someone else tries to get at the map or a fed-up commuter jostles past you.

So, here's the thing - work out where you're going before you get into the station. Pick up one of the little paper maps of the network or get on Transport for London's journey planner site. Don't just know which station you're heading for. Know which station the train will be heading for. That way, you don't need to pore over the map to find out which platform you need - just scan the top of the map for the station the train terminates at.

It's a tourist rite of passage, getting lost on the Tube. For those of us who've visited the city often, finding your way round becomes easy to the point that you're amused by your fellow tourists' confusion.

Other tourist quirks aren't nearly as amusing.

Selfie sticks. What is with these things? Yes, you're in London. Well done. Now, can you get that stick out of the way so I can actually enjoy the view? I understand that people like to have photos of themselves at the places they've been, but what happened to asking a friendly passerby to take the shot for you?

In a similar vein, taking photos with tablets has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've seen. I'm short. Getting stuck behind someone taking a photograph with a tablet is not fun. Hey, dude, you fancy getting that thing out of the way?

Back to the amusing quirks: wearing clothing with the name of your current city on it. Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand this. You're in London. We know you're in London. You know you're in London. Do you really need a jumper to remind you that you're in London? Also, maybe I'm being cynical, but wouldn't you think it'd make you a target for thieves/pickpockets/other assorted criminals? You might as well be wearing a big badge that says "not local, lots of valuables".

Oh, so many tourist giveaways. What would you add to the list? Any advice you'd share on not marking yourself out as a tourist?

Hostelling: Finding a good one

After the slightly terrifying moment last week when I booked the first flight of my round-the-world Grand Tour, this week I've booked the first hostel.

It got me wondering, especially after a couple of questions from friends and colleagues, about how to find a decent hostel. So I'm going to attempt to deconstruct my hostel-finding process.

Don't worry - it's basic as anything!

1. What are you looking for in a hostel?

A party vibe? Somewhere social? Or do you just need somewhere to crash after a long day of exploration? Do you need WiFi or laundry facilities? I mention the latter because I'm amazed by how many of the hostels we used in Ireland didn't have laundry facilities. Washing socks in the sink is always an option, but it's easier to just sling everything in the machine!

2. Does it need to be central?

Related in some ways to the first point. If you're after a place you can go partying from, chances are you're going to want somewhere fairly central so you don't have to stagger too far home once you've had a few drinks.

If you're not driving yourself, you'll probably also want to consider public transport links. If you're in the city centre, this won't be too much of a problem, but take note if you're out in the sticks!

3. Comfort or basic?

We all like our creature comforts, but how much do you need? Nice big kitchen? A single bed? Private bathroom?

Or bunk beds, shared bathrooms and bring-your-own bedding. Just a note: some hostels offer beds where you bring your own sleeping bag for a cheaper price than a made up bed.

4. How much are you willing to pay?

In my case, this is the most important bit of finding a hostel. I'm operating on a pretty tight budget, so I've been trying to find the cheapest hostels I can which still look decent. Of course, cheap isn't always great, so make sure you check out what's on offer first.

5. Are you willing to share?

This is as much related to how much you're willing to pay as anything, but bear in mind that you can get much cheaper rates if you're willing to share with others. For example, I've just booked a bed in Reykjavik in a 24 bed dorm. I wouldn't normally consider staying in such a huge room, but Reykjavik is such an expensive city that I'd rather save the cash than fork out for a smaller dorm.


Right. Got an idea of the sort of hostel you're looking for? Good. Now you're armed with that information get yourself over to a site like HostelBookers or HostelWorld (my personal go-to site) and get searching for places that match your criteria. Some of these sites allow you to select a few hostels to compare, but often it's just as easy to sort by your most important criteria (price, rating etc) and do it that way. Make sure to check out the available facilities - you can't take it as a given that there'll be, for example, laundry facilities - and also have a scan through the reviews.

Got a hostel in mind now? That's great. Now, you could just go ahead and book through one of the aforementioned sites. Before you do that, though, pop onto Google (other search engines are available!) and do a quick search on hostels in your destination. There's still lots out there that aren't on the main booking sites and there's some pretty good deals out there.

Whether you end up sticking with your original option or picking a new one based on that second search, now is your time to book it. Check if the hostel has a website that you can book through and check the prices available there if you can. Often it's cheaper to book direct with the hostel than to book through a site like HostelWorld. For example, on a trip to Ireland last year we got a great deal on our stay at the Malinbeg Hostel in Donegal by booking direct with them.

See, finding a good hostel is easy. Just know what you're looking for and take note of what each hostel can give you. Reviews can also give you some good information but I'd also take the best and worst ones with a pinch of salt - the former because folks gloss over the weaker points and the latter because those who have a problem are wont to shout the loudest.

Not sure if hostelling is for you? You'd be surprised - take a look at this post for some pointers: Hostelling - Is it for you?

What tips do you have to find a good hostel? Any hostels you'd recommend? Why not share in the comments below.

Saving for Travel

Planning a trip is great fun. All those shiny guides, all those daydreams. But how are you going to fund it? Better get saving!

I'll admit this post was partly inspired by a colleague who's forever dreaming of holidays and then bemoaning not being able to afford it. Maybe she just needs to budget a bit and try out some of these saving suggestions.

First up, get a rough budget sorted for your trip: flights, accommodation, food and major activities. There's more information about how I budget in this post HERE.

Got your budget? Great. Now to get that cash together.

Big trip planned? A few weeks or more? Open a good savings account. Make a promise to put a certain amount of money into it every month and DON'T TOUCH IT. If you're of the type where you find it really hard not to touch your savings, put your money into something like a bond, where it'll be locked away for a fixed term.

Well, there's the major lump of savings done. But what else can you do? You could start with taking a long, hard look at what you're spending money on at the moment. Is there anything you can cut out?

For example, I know that I spend a lot of money on music. Not a huge problem, but I removed my payment details from the sites I use so that it's not as easy to just grab a download when I feel like it. If I really want an album, I'll buy it, but I know I've saved a lot of money this way.

On a similar note, do you subscribe to anything? Netflix... cable... magazines... yeah, all that adds up pretty quick, doesn't it? Can you do without it for a few months? Yeah? Cancel those subscriptions.

And what about your spending on food? Of course, there's the obvious suggestion of shopping at a different supermarket - there's plenty of cheaper stores now like Aldi and Lidl where you can get the same quality at a fraction of the price. You could also cut out some of the branded products. Believe me, we've been doing this in my house for a couple of years now and there's nothing wrong with supermarket own-brands.

Remaining on the subject of food, what do you take to work for lunch? Or don't you? Do you grab a snack from the cafeteria most days? Stop it. Take a packed lunch instead. Much cheaper. Add to that your coffee (or whatever it is you drink). Even a cheap takeaway coffee is what, £1.50? I'm guessing here - I don't drink coffee. £1.50 five times a week - that soon adds up to a couple of hundred quid a year. Cut it out. Take a flask if you must.

I used to buy my lunch at work a couple of times a week and then grab something from a vending machine as well. I've got round this by no longer taking any cash to work with me. Obviously this isn't practical for everyone, but if you can do this and you're trying to save, I'd recommend it.

Last, one little thing. You know all those pennies that build up in your purse/wallet? The ones that are so tempting to just slot into a vending machine? Keep them. Every kid should have a piggy bank and every adult too. Grab yourself a jar and pop all your small change in it. It's not going to add up to much but it might be enough for a pint or a bus ride or an hour of WiFi.

All in all, saving doesn't have to be difficult. Cutting out the little things you spend money on and promising to save a little each month should be enough.

What tips do you have for saving up for travel? Are there other areas folks could cut back or do you know of cheaper alternatives to life's little luxuries? Share in the comments below.

Hostelling: Is it for you?

I spent my lunch break today trying to find relatively cheap accommodation in Iceland for the first leg of the Grand Tour. Outside Reykjavik, hostels seem to be few and far between and also much more expensive than other places I've been.

It got me thinking, though, about hostelling in general and whether everyone's cut out for it. So here's my list of clues that hostelling might be a good choice for you.

1. Sharing a room isn't a bother

Sharing a dorm with half a dozen or more complete strangers is the norm in hostels. OK, so you could pay a few quid more and get a private room, but that's not really the point of hostels, is it? If you're fussy about personal space or freaked out by sharing with strangers then you might want to stick with hotels.

If you're not, well done! First hurdle overcome.

2. Patience is a virtue when needing a shower

Let's face it, queuing for a bathroom is no one's idea of fun, but it's a fact of life in hostels. If you absolutely must have a shower every day, try to get in there outside of "rush hour". If you're like me, you can cope with a shower every other day with a good wash in between. Cuts down on the queuing.

If you can't bear the thought of sharing a bathroom, bag a private room but you'll have to pay more. If you're with a group, best get a hotel.

3. Cooking is fun

Hostels are self catering. Obviously. And I'm guessing that if you're staying in a hostel, you're trying to keep costs down, which means few meals out. Which means cooking for yourself. So, you'd best like cooking or at least be able to cook something other than beans on toast.

As with bathrooms, try to hit the kitchen outside of peak hours, especially if it's small. I stayed in a hostel in New Zealand that had such a tiny kitchen for the size of the place that I didn't actually eat the one night I was there because I couldn't get anywhere near the cooker. Don't make the same mistake. Scope the place online if you can before you book.

4. Noise? What noise?

When hostelling, you just have to accept that sometimes you're going to have roommates who clatter in at 3am and wake everyone up. Sometimes it might even be you. If you can't cope with the occasional disturbance, you might want to reconsider. You could try investing in some earplugs if you still intend to stay in hostels but don't want to get woken up.

5. Respect

Perhaps the most important thing when staying in hostels (and life in general). You're never going to cope if you don't respect your fellow guests. So yes, one of your roommates rolled in drunk and woke everyone up. Shit happens. Kitchen too busy? Don't snark at the people using it - it's not necessarily their fault. Maybe nip out for a takeaway instead? Queue for the shower several miles long? Screw it. Grab some deodorant, have a quick wash at the sink and get out there - chances are, no one will notice if it's just one day.

Just because a hostel is cheaper, doesn't mean you can't have an amazing experience there. Take the lovely Malin Beg Hostel for instance.

This was the cheapest night of my trip to Ireland. It's stuck out on a headland in Donegal, miles from anywhere. And it's beautiful. So far out we had this beach nearly to ourselves.

So give it a go. Hostelling is an experience. If you don't enjoy it, so be it. But I think you'd be surprised what you get out of it. Maybe hostelling is for you after all.

 What tips would you give to someone considering hostelling for the first time? Please share in the comments below.

The Grand Tour: Convincing People I'm Not Crazy

I'm going travelling for a year. Did you know?

I'm assuming if you've been paying vague attention to the blog that, yes, you probably did have an idea. Friends, colleagues and relatives though... that's another matter.

I went out for a meal with some folks from work a while back and the reactions to me going away though positive were usually followed by the inevitable.

"Are you going on your own?"

Why yes, yes I am going on my own? Why so surprised? Plenty of people go travelling on their own and the angry feminist bit of my brain (most of it) wonders whether my colleagues would have bothered to ask if I was male.

Anyway, here's why I'm not crazy to go off travelling on my own for a year.

1. I'm not an idiot.

I may have an immature streak but I have enough common sense not to go wandering off in the dark through places I don't know.

2. I do my research.

Following on from the above, I do my research before I travel. That doesn't mean my plans won't change when I reach a destination, but I'd hope I know enough about the area to not get into trouble.

3. I speak English...

OK, so I'm relying on the fact that many people all over the world speak English, but I'm hoping this means I'll not have too much difficulty making myself understood.

4. And I'm learning some other languages.

The major non-English-speaking areas I'm visiting are Peru and Chile, so I'm making the effort to learn at least basic conversational Spanish. I'm also brushing up on my existing French and German for when I get to Europe and am considering learning a few words of Khmer for Cambodia.

5. I track everything.

Basically, I am my father's daughter. Dad's an accountant and I've got into the habit of keeping track of everything I spend while away so that I know if I'm going to have cash problems. Hasn't happened yet. Likelihood is that I'm not going to end up stranded in the middle of Australia having blown my budget.

6. I'm a fairly friendly person.

I'd like to think I'm the type of person who people wouldn't mind pointing towards the bus station. Because I'm bound to get lost at some point.

7. I've done this before.

On a much smaller scale and in a slightly different context, but I went out to Australia to study for a year, on my own, not knowing anyone when I got there. It was amazing.

See, I'll be fine. But I'm going to leave this here for concerned friends/relatives/colleagues just in case. The thing is, I keep being told by others that they could never do something like this. And I wonder whether it's a lack of motivation (job, family, house tying them down) or if they're genuinely scared of going away on their own.

I'm not brave. There's plenty of things scare the bejesus out of me, but travel isn't one of them. Travel is an adventure. Not something to be scared of.

Have you gone travelling alone? What would you say to convince people you weren't crazy?

Travel Guides: Essential or Dead Weight?

I love a good travel guide. Packed full of useful information for any trip I might fancy making. But in an age where all the information you could possibly need is available with one click on the internet, are they really essential or are they just dead weight?

Well, let's go through the cons first. You have to pay for them and if you like to buy them new, you can end up forking out quite a bit - anything in the range of £20 for the weightier ones like my Lonely Planet guide to Australia. Ugh.

Of course, you could hop on over the internet and find almost the same info for free - there's so many tourist information sites nowadays you're spoilt for choice. Plus with the vast array of review sites (TripAdvisor, I'm looking at you), do you really need the recommendations of a few travel authors?

Then there's the weight. If you want that information with you when you travel, lugging even one book about can be a pain. I took my guide with me to New Zealand and I hardly even looked at it the entire time we were there, so was it really worth having that extra weight in my bag?

And finally, there's the range. You can only fit so much information into a book so obviously the authors are going to pick and choose what goes in and what doesn't. Maybe there's an amazing out of the way hidden gem that didn't make the cut for some reason. Just relying on the guides, you'd miss out.

But what about their plus points? Well, the first is that they're written by people who (generally) know what they're looking for. These are people who have travelled all over and know how to ferret out those slightly out of the way places that you'd otherwise miss. Sure, you'll find loads of others on the web, but the guides can be a good starting point.

The second and possibly my favourite part about them is the inspiration factor. Just as a good novel can transport you to other worlds, so can the best travel guides. You can explore a country from your armchair. Plus you might get new ideas as to where you want to go. When I started looking at Cambodia I was only really interested in going to Angkor Wat and a quick internet search for things to do in Cambodia will agree that Angkor Wat is the number one. But my travel guide for the country pointed me in the direction of the east of the country with its rivers and forest and now I'm thinking of extending my trip to take those in too.

Basically, no, travel guides aren't essential and if you insist on taking them away with you, you'll probably find them to be dead weight. But as a starting point for your plans or even if you're just interested in a country they're an invaluable resource. I wouldn't be without my collection and it's still growing.

What do you think? Is it really worth spending money on a book that won't even give you half the information the internet can?

Tech for Travel

Oh look. Another one of those posts where I try to be helpful and end up prattling about something else entirely. Let's try to keep this one on track, shall we?

Tech for travel. I'm trying to decide what I should take with me on the Grand Tour. I'd like to keep up with the blogging. And take plenty of photos. And keep in touch with friends/family.

So what do I actually need?

Well, my camera is a given. Sure, it's a bit bulky, but the inbuilt camera in my phone is appalling and I want photos that are actually in focus.

Speaking of phones, should I keep my existing phone (an old model Sony Xperia) or find something different? The current phone does everything I need it to - I can connect to WiFi and it still calls and texts fine. Plus, it's unlocked, so there's nothing to stop me from picking up local SIM cards to cut down on all those roaming charges and such like.

OK, so the phone's staying. But if my phone can connect to WiFi and do all the keeping in touch things, what about a laptop? My laptop is pretty small but still weighs a kilo or two. Probably more like two and a bit... Given that I'm attempting to cut down on the weight of my luggage, can I really afford to be jamming a laptop in there as well?

Probably not, but I do want to keep up with blogging. Which means I need something to type on. If my laptop's out the window for being too heavy/bulky, how about a tablet? Now, that sounds more reasonable. Thing is, I don't own a tablet. Never have. What should I be looking for?

WiFi obviously (pretty sure most tablets come with that...), a sensible interface and easy typing. Yeah, that last one's not going to happen. I discovered a while back I don't like typing on screens. So I'm going to need a keyboard too. Let's see - I've heard good things about the Google Nexus tablets, including this review over at Too Many Adapters. They're small, relatively lightweight (about 300g) and have all the features I'd need. Plus, I'm sure I can find a little keyboard for it and even then it'd weigh less than my laptop.

Problem solved.

Final problem - music. I sort of need my music collection to keep me vaguely sane (not entirely true - I need it to get to sleep). So, do I take my iPod with me, another bit of tech and more weight or do I load it all onto my phone? Phone has very little memory, but I wouldn't be too worried about losing it - it's old and battered and probably worth nothing. I could get another one if needs be. My iPod though, despite being a replacement and a bit knocked around, would cost more to replace. It does however have a lot more memory than my phone and can hold my entire collection.

Ugh. Choices. I think I'll stick with the iPod. Obviously I'm bound to end up somewhere and absolutely need to listen to something I forgot to load onto my phone. Obviously.

What tech do you take travelling? I know e-readers are popular - is it worth taking one when you can get similar functionality on a tablet?

Packing Lists and why you should use them

Everyone loves the check in queue, right? Stumping along, shoving your bag along in front of you while the person at the front blithers about rearranging their belongings because their checked bag is too heavy and they don't want to pay the extra charge.

Or that delightful moment when you've been on a long flight, arrive at your accomodation, go to take a shower to wash out all the grotty-long-distance-travel feeling and discover you've left your shower gel at home...

Or unpacking at the end of the trip and finding no less than 3 unworn shirts and a pair of trousers in the bottom of your suitcase...

Post check-in: worry about missed packing or take selfies with dwarves? Hmm...

Let's face it, we've all done stupid things when packing. There's a small chance you're going to need that snorkel in the middle of the Sahara, after all. And maybe you'll get invited out for dinner somewhere posh, so you're bound to need that nice dress. Just in case. But, oops, you've forgotten to pack your deodorant, so maybe you won't be getting invited out after all.

Thing is, such mishaps are easy enough to avoid. Make yourself a packing list and stick to it. Only pack what you need. That means out with the tens of shirts and just-in-case extra jeans. Do you really need to take that huge bottle of shampoo? It'll only leak in your bag (oh, it will).

So, what should you include? Well, that rather depends on how long you're going for and how often you feel you need a change of clothes. And underwear - don't worry. When I went to Ireland I took enough for 5 days and then washed whenever needed. Believe me, hand-washing is not hard and that little bit of weight you cut down in your bag can be used to bring back more souvenirs. Much nicer than bringing back icky week old underwear.

Hand-washing sand coated socks? No worries.

On the clothes front, you can take minimal items and not feel like you're wearing the same thing everyday. Just make sure you take things you can mix and match. Use your common sense - pick a colour palette and stick to it.

Shoes are the other big weight eater. Obviously it depends where you're going, but you can probably cope with 2 pairs of shoes. I take a pair of walking boots and then a pair of nicer shoes to wear out and about or round hostels. The walking boots always get worn on the flight (even around Dubai Airport where my feet were really not loving being encased in cosy, heat retaining boots in 40 degree heat...) and then the other pair, always much lighter, go in the bag.

Finally, toiletries. You're going for, what? A week, two weeks? Are you really going to get through that entire bottle of shampoo? Oh, you are? OK. If you really feel you need the entire bottle, buy it when you get there, that way you avoid taking lots of big, heavy bottles which may or may not leak in your luggage. If you're not going to use it all, consider taking travel sized bottles.

By which I mean invest in some little bottles (you can get them from chemists and the like) and put your own stuff in them. Don't bother buying the actual travel sized toiletries - they're seriously bad value.

I am helpfully veering off the topic of what to put on your packing list and into the realm of the One Bag Challenge. Let's get back on it, shall we?

So, what should be on your list?

Clothes, obviously, but be aware that anywhere you go in the world will have somewhere you can wash them so don't worry about taking enough for the entire trip unless it's only a couple of days. Enough for 4-5 days is probably a good guide.

Toiletries. Bit of a given, that one, but as I mentioned above - if you can deal with the smaller bottles, do it.

Electricals. By which I mean your phone, music player, tablet, laptop - anything of that ilk. And make sure to include the chargers and any adapters you might need on the list.

Oddments. I always end up with things that don't fit into any major category. Things like a towel (I have a microfibre travel one that rolls up really small), first aid kit (just a little one) and my swimming gear.

Before you even start packing, write a list of everything that's essential. Make a promise that you'll only pack what you need.

If you're careful enough with your packing list, you might be able to cut your packing down significantly. Maybe, you could even cut it down enough to consider the One Bag Challenge. Even if you don't, you'll be saving yourself from lugging around loads of things you don't need (I'm looking at you, travel guides...) and those annoying moments of "damn, I've forgotten to pack...".

Brilliant things. So simple. I have a couple of standard ones - one for short trips and another for longer holidays. I might need to adapt them for the Grand Tour, but I'm off to a good start.

The Grand Tour: Considering a working holiday

Following my post a few weeks ago about budgeting for travel - the one with the ridiculous spreadsheets - I thought I'd take another look at how I'm funding this trip. Options include: making money from blogging, teaching English or a working holiday. Let's see...

My original plan was to continue working for a year and saving up my money. Of course, I'm still going to do this and it's going to give me (hopefully) more than sufficient funds. However, I got to wondering a few months back about what to do if I end up wanting to travel for a bit longer.

So I crawled through some other travel blogs. You know, those professional ones where it's all shiny pictures of folks doing amazing things and there's always a post about how they've made it work as a full time traveler. I took a look at that and decided it wasn't for me. I love this blog and sharing my experiences, but it's not something I'd want to do as a job. Maybe it's just me, but it'd feel like taking the fun out of it. So that's that one out of the window.

Others suggested taking a TEFL course and then finding work abroad teaching English. Again, this sounds like a great idea and teaching jobs seem to pay well. It's something I'll keep in mind but teaching isn't something I find particularly appealing. A back up option, perhaps. Especially since you could end up potentially tied to one place for a prolonged period of time.

The last of the major options I've found is a working holiday. Depending on where you want to work, you can get a working holiday visa from about £110 for New Zealand and more if you want to do it in Australia, Canada or the US.

The New Zealand Working Holiday Scheme gives you up to 12 months in the country, primarily for holidaying with work as a secondary aim. So I figure that perhaps I could fly into Auckland, Christchurch or Wellington and find a temp job for a month or two. That way I could replenish my funds a little and explore the city and surrounding area when I wasn't working. At the end of the job, I'd go off travelling around New Zealand for a while - I'm currently looking at doing at least 3 weeks on each island and this is definitely subject to growth - then when I get to another area with temp jobs, I could do another month or two. And then do some more travelling.

What sort of job though? I work in an office currently, so something in admin would be ideal - I've certainly got the experience. And there's almost always jobs going in admin. So that's a reasonable option.

What else? Fruit picking seems to be popular and I'm sure I could get a job doing that. Maybe not as well paid as admin? Hmm...

And then there's the hospitality industry. Maybe not for me. I'm not the most social of people and while my customer service skills are fine, I'm just not sure I could deal with loads of people all the time. But you never know, maybe I'll be up for the challenge.

Finally, what looks to be something of a traveller's favourite - the adventure tourism option. Sure, come out here and teach people to ski/snowboard/scuba dive. Yeah... I can't do any of those things. Now, give me a crash course in New Zealand wildlife and maybe I could lead walks, but I doubt that's an option. Again, we'll see.

Let's go back to the admin option. Seems like (via a few quick Google searches) the average wage for an admin assistant is about NZ$18 an hour. Assume a 7 hour day for the sake of argument, 5 days a week. So before tax, I'm looking at perhaps NZ$630 a week. Taxes would take a chunk off that, but I figure I'd still have enough there to cover a dorm room at a hostel, food and other expenses and be saving some money for further travel.

This is beginning to look like a pretty good option. Just picture it: going to work knowing that this is waiting for the weekend:

Weekend trip to Kaikoura? Yes please.

The One Bag Challenge Recap

When I started looking at going travelling for a year, I decided I want to take as little with me as possible. After all, lugging all that baggage around was going to get annoying after a while. You can read more on this HERE, but basically I decided to use my recent trip to Ireland to test drive this plan.

I took to Ireland a 25l backpack and then a 65l rucksack to share with the two folks who came with me. Into the 25l bag I fit the following enough clothing to last me nearly the full 2 weeks (with 1 wash in Galway), plus my camera and a spare pair of light shoes.

My toiletries went into the shared bag purely to avoid having to take them through security, along with a small first aid kit and my Ireland guide book.

So how did it go? Here's the small bag the night before I left. Very proud of my packing skills.

Well, I didn't need to take quite so many clothes for a start. I could lose a t-shirt or two and still have enough to wear without having to do a wash every couple of days.

Taking 6 days worth of socks/underwear was plenty. I did hand-washing 2 nights to restock and that was easily enough. Did turn the sink filthy the first time round, although I think that might have been the amount of sand that came out of Gemma and Claire's socks after we went down to the beach at Malin Beg.

Ew. Anyhoo, I think I've got the clothes thing down. So, I need to cut my toiletries to 100ml containers so I don't need to worry about getting through security. And I'll need to check my first aid kit to make sure that can go through in hand luggage as well.

The guide book... didn't need to come with me. I think I got it out once in the entire trip. So I can leave guide books out of any future packing plans. Too much dead weight.

Aside from that, well, I think it's entirely feasible to travel with hand luggage only, even on trips lasting more than a couple of weeks. My 25l bag only weighed about 7kg, out of a 10kg carry on allowance, and it's a fair bit smaller than the dimension limits most airlines impose. You just have to be willing to do so washing occasionally and not want to be wearing loads of different clothes.

This is where packing lists come in. They're great for making sure you only take what you really need. Of which, more in a future post. For now, I think we can conclude that travelling with carry on only is realistic. Bring on the next trip!

Budgetting for Travel

In planning for the Grand Tour, the first thing I've looked at is budget. While I don't want to plan everything to the last detail, I want to be sure I have enough money in the bank to do all the things I want to do.

I did something similar for New Zealand and again for Ireland. It starts with a spreadsheet breaking down the itinerary. For NZ and Ireland, this goes down to the day, but for the Grand Tour it's a bit broader.

Then it's just a case of looking at the costs of major things: hostels, activities and transport. For the Grand Tour I've also included food. Looks a bit like this:

For hostel costs, I use Hostelworld.com which, if you search for an entire country, will give you the average prices for the most popular cities.

For food costs, there's a whole assortment of sites you can use. Numbeo and Eardex have some useful info on cost of living which I used for some places. Lonely Planet's online destination guides can also give you an idea of how much it could cost depending on your budget plans. Again, I use averages.

The reason for the averages in both the hostel and food cost columns is to push the estimate up slightly. I'm pretty certain I can get reasonable hostels and decent food for cheaper than my budget suggests but I'd rather overestimate and have money to spare than underestimate and have to dig my way out of a financial hole. Also, remember to account for the number of days/weeks you're expecting on being places.

For flights, I've been using Skyscanner. For some stopping points, it's worth searching for flights from or to the entire country, especially if it's easy enough to get around internally since you might be able to find cheaper flights at airports outside of the main hubs.

I wouldn't usually include an "other transport" column, but given that for the Grand Tour I'm going to have quite a lot of internal connections, I figured it was a good idea. Nothing too difficult, just consider whereabouts you want to go and how you're going to get there - trains, buses and internal flights probably need to be included if they're going to be anything more than a few pounds because all that transit soon adds up.

Finally, activities. No need to include everything - there's bound to be things that you only discover when you reach your destination. But given how expensive some things can be... yeah, if you know there's something you really want to do, best to include it. So things like the trips I want to do to Kakadu National Park and the Red Centre in Australia which go into the hundreds of pounds.

Once everything's in, the rest is simple. How much does it come to? Can you afford it right now?

If yes, hurray for you. If not, do not despair. Now, do you definitely want to do everything that's in your budget? If you want to go right now, it might be necessary to take some things out or consider opting for lower budget accomodation - swap the hotel for a B&B or hostel, maybe. Find cheaper options for activities - is there a shorter trip available? Can you do things cheaper by cutting out the tour operators?

If you're not wanting to go right now, even better! You've got time to build up your cash reserves. Get yourself a savings account with a reasonable rate of interest and work for a bit longer. That's what I'm doing - I've switched my savings account to one with a better interest rate and I'm sticking out my job until next summer. To be honest, I probably could leave right now, but I'd rather have more in the bank. Probably comes from my dad being an accountant and my parents both being sensible with money.

There's plenty of little ways to save money too. Take your own lunch to work instead of buying it from the canteen. All that small change that accumulates in your purse or wallet? Stick it in a jar so you don't get the urge to spend it. Do you really need to buy that album, that book or that DVD? Or are you just buying it because it's on sale? I've removed my card details from Amazon so I can't just buy music on a whim, knowing that aside from my rent that was my only other major outgoing.

What tips do you have for travel budgetting? Do you have any other tips for saving those pennies?

The One Bag Challenge

Long haul airlines typically give you a pretty generous luggage allowance - in the region of 20-30kg for checked luggage and maybe around 10kg for cabin. Let's say it works out about 30kg overall, in general. Imagine how much you could fit in that much baggage.

When we went to New Zealand last year, my checked bag weighed 11kg. For three weeks of travel. I didn't even use half of the things I packed - mostly extra clothes. So when I went to Iceland in January with Gemma, I figured I'd bypass the checked baggage and just take carry-on, because a) we were only going for four days and b) you have to pay extra for checked bags with WOW Air. Managed it easily.

Ryanair also charge for checked baggage, so we've taken just one between the 3 of us to Ireland. Personally, the less I put in that bag, the better. I'm aiming for just the one bag. Observe.

Woo, badly edited photo. Anyway, the bag on the right is the checked bag and also the one I took to New Zealand with an entire 11kg in it. The one on the left is the bag I intend to fit most of the things I need into. It holds 25l and it lasted me a week in Wales without feeling I was missing anything.

This is the challenge you see. The Grand Tour, my epic grand plan to travel round the world on my own, is less than a year away and I figure the fewer bags I have to keep an eye on, the better.

Enter the One Bag Challenge. My goal is to cut out the checked bag altogether and just take carry on. This can make so many things easier.

• Fewer bags to keep an eye on.
• Potentially faster check in at airports.
• Cheaper travel where airlines charge for checked bags.
• Fewer things to carry around - that 65l bag was not pleasant to lug around in New Zealand.
• Fewer things to misplace from the bag.

With a little thought, there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to fit everything I need into that bag. I'm perfectly capable of doing laundry, so I won't be needing all those extra clothes I always take. I always wear my walking boots, my heaviest item, on the flight, so that takes them out of the equation. I don't take loads of tech with me - my laptop, though fairly light, stays at home and my camera will fit neatly into the top of the bag.

New Zealand also taught me that I don't need to take books away with me. I took a couple to NZ with the idea that I'd read them in the evenings. I didn't touch them, not even on the flights. Dead weight. Even my travel guide barely got touched, so I won't be taking them anywhere again.

The other heavy and bulky things are the toiletries. I only took travel-sized toiletries to Iceland, which seriously cut down on weight and how much space they took up. Also, let's face it, most places I plan to go, I'll be able to buy toiletries there.

Same applies to any clothes I might be missing - nothing to stop me picking up something locally. Might even find something nice to take home.

And there's another thing - souvenirs. They can take up so much space. Nothing to stop me posting things back home though. Could have a nice little stack of things waiting for me when I get back.

Yeah, I'm thinking this is a great idea. I'll let you know how it goes.

Do you have any tips for cutting down on luggage? Feel free to share!

Travel with Dogs

After my trip to Wales with my mum, sister and my mum's dogs, I got to wondering what impact travelling with animals has on what you can do on a holiday.

The simple conclusion is that it really doesn't need to have much impact, providing you take a couple of things into account.

Point 1: You're probably going to be outside most of the day. Unless you can find a dog friendly shopping centre, museum or other attraction, you're going to have to find outdoor things to do.

Such things include the obvious: walking. Dogs love walking, right? My mum's definitely do - considering how short their legs are, they'll quite happily do 5 miles or more. And all that walking's good for you too. Grab yourself a good pair of walking boots and get out there.

Point 2: If it rains, you could end up stuck inside all day. Obviously, this depends how tolerant you and your dogs are of bad weather. Me, I'll go for a walk in the rain, at least for a while, without too much bother. Mum's dogs on the other hand... well, they won't even go outside to do their business if it's drizzling.

I've been on two holidays with Mum and the dogs now and they've been brilliant. We've had lovely long walks in the morning (when the weather's been good) and then a nice relaxed late afternoon/evening once we're all tired out.

Good for exercise, going on holiday with dogs. No choice but to get out walking because a) the dogs need it and b) there aren't many other options.

You get to see some gorgeous views, too. Aside from the cute dogs, obviously! And quite honestly, there are few more relaxing things than taking a nice long walk and then collapsing on the sofa afterwards with a sleepy dog curled up next to you.

Point 3: Consider your destination carefully. I think we can safely say that city breaks aren't suited for dogs for anything much more than a couple of days. Where are you going to take them? I doubt you're going to find much in the way of dog-friendly shops and museums. Parks are a good option, I suppose, but personally I'll take the open countryside over a park most days.

You're going to want to find dog-friendly accommodation too. Some providers like Forest Holidays (who we stayed with in November) have cabins especially for those with dogs and many holiday lets will allow well-behaved pets. Our cottage in Wales, on a little farm called Berth Fedw, was through Brecon Beacons Holiday Cottages, but there's plenty of other providers.

Basically, to end this slightly rambling post, having dogs with you shouldn't stop you from going away. Find a nice place to stay and enjoy the surroundings. Seriously, check out this view from Berth Fedw above Talgarth.

I think the ultimate sign of a good holiday with dogs is the fact that the dogs clearly enjoyed themselves. Even if they were knackered when we got back...