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?

Snapshots: Barton

I took a trip up to Barton with my dad recently to walk along the Humber bank. It's a lovely walk - very peaceful with some great views and what with it being autumn the colours were amazing. Here's a few of my favourite photos.

Did you know? The Humber Bridge used to be the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world.

Getting lost in the reeds at Far Ings Nature Reserve.

Not many birds on the lakes though...

Cement works looking oddly pretty over at South Ferriby.

And finally, here's a light-boat.

Destination Daydreams: New Zealand

New Zealand. Land of... well, land of what? I'm planning to spend 6 weeks there (if not more) on the Grand Tour, so what should I be going to see?

Some things are obvious. I've visited the Land of the Long White Cloud (ha! knew it had another name) before and there's some experiences I had then that I'm all up for repeating. Things such as whale watching from Kaikoura - got to see if I can improve on the 5 sperm whales I saw last time.

Taking a trip to the Shire (a.k.a. the Hobbiton set near Matamata) is another must. Yes, I know it's the height of touristic ridiculousness, but it was so much fun. Plus the cider's pretty good.

Cider in the Green Dragon? Yes please!

Driving down Ninety Mile Beach in a coach was also pretty cool, so that's something I want to do again along with going up to Cape Reinga where the seas meet.

Oh, and the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves, them too.

OK, that's enough of things that I want to re-visit. What about things that I missed last time? This includes the fabled beauty of Milford Sound, which I missed out on because a snow storm closed the only road. To see that would be amazing - the fjord and the waterfalls and maybe some dolphins? I'll settle for just getting there, to be honest.

I'd also like to visit Stewart Island, New Zealand's third island. Looks like it's still pretty wild like the South Island - maybe a nice place to unwind for a few days?

You know what used to live on Stewart Island? Kakapo. Possibly my favourite bird in the world, purely because they're so ridiculous. I'd love to see a kakapo. Weird and green and flightless. For some reason they remind me of rabbits. I think it's the way they hop...

Anyhoo, other things I want to do in New Zealand. I'd like to do the northernmost section of State Highway 6. When I last visited we drove almost the entire length of SH6, just missing out the bit right around the north west of the South Island, so it's something of a personal goal to finish it off. Plus, it's beautiful up there - temperate rainforest and storm battered coasts. What more could you want?

Ooh, I could go kayaking again in Abel Tasman National Park... fun times. This time I won't fall in the sea.

A few other general things - I need to see more of the North Island. We missed a lot of the east and west out by driving straight up the middle from Wellington to Auckland and those coasts look amazing. Mount Taranaki, Napier, Gisborne. All look like beautiful places to check out.

But how am I going to do it? New Zealand is deceptively huge and I a) don't drive and b) am working on a limited budget. So how to travel from one end of the country to the other? Buses, obviously. InterCity and NakedBus both offer multi-trip passes and I think this is how I'm going to do it. Plus, they both offer cheap fares on some routes if you book far enough in advance, so that's another option.

It'll be easy.

On top of this, I'm still wondering whether to extend my stay in New Zealand by getting a working holiday visa, which to save repeating myself you can read more about HERE.

Who knows, maybe that planned 6 week stay will turn into 6 months.

And in my wildest daydreams, maybe I'll just move to New Zealand permanently...

What would you recommend doing in New Zealand? Bungee jumping? Black water rafting? Wine tasting? Is there anything you'd avoid? Like the aforementioned bungee jumping...

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?

Harrogate: 5 Things to See in an Afternoon

Harrogate's a lovely little town, full of beautiful old buildings and sprawling green parks. I took a trip over there with my sister recently and here's my 5 things to check out in an afternoon (or day, your choice).

1. Cafe Culture

I say cafe culture... there's a real pavement cafe vibe around the town centre, especially around the Montpellier Quarter. Jewel in the crown of these little gems is, for me at least, Bettys Tea Room. Bettys is locally famous and having visited their York tea room several times it made sense to check out the Harrogate original.

I wasn't disappointed. Great menu with a selection of snacks and light bites in the Cafe Bar and even more selection in the more traditional Tea Room. Just be prepared to queue - Bettys is insanely popular and if you're in a hurry, opt for the Cafe Bar which is less busy.

2. Green Spaces

Harrogate seems to be full of parks. It's such a green place. The biggest of these is the Stray, an enormous stretch of parkland to the south of the town centre. For more history, head north of the centre to Valley Gardens, which is home to a number of springs from which the town got the "medicinal" waters which turned it into a thriving spa resort.

3. Shopping

I'm not really into shopping, but there are a whole load of lovely little shops in the town, along with the high street brands. I'd recommend just wandering around the centre, especially around the Montpellier Quarter. Not much else to say on that - I'm really not big on shopping.

4. Royal Pump Room Museum

This is a lovely little museum housed in, as the name suggests, the old Royal Pump Room. I'd expected this to be mostly about Harrogate's spa history, but there's a whole assortment of little exhibits including some lovely little pieces from Egypt.

It's definitely worth taking the little tour to see the old well heads. The guide will give you lots more information about the history of the town and you get to go down below modern ground level to see where the old spa wells were. Be aware - they may smell strongly of rotten eggs.

Investigating the free spring water...

5. Architecture

OK, so it's not something you can visit as such, but it really is worth taking the time to admire the architecture. I don't know a thing about this, but I really love the old buildings in the town. It's probably just one of those nostalgia type things - take out the cars and and the electricity and you can almost imagine being in the town at the height of its glory years.

So there's my 5 things to see in Harrogate. What would you recommend? Have I missed a hidden gem you think people should know about?

The Joy of Postcards

In an age of Facebook, Twitter and, well, any other social network, where you can get instant updates from friends and family, there's still a certain joy about getting post. Actual, proper, hold-it-in-your-hand post.

In fact, maybe it's even more special now what with all that instant gratification from social networks and the internet in general.

It's part of the reason I love postcards so much. So posting photos all over the web is great with the "look where I am right now!", but a postcard seems somewhat more personal. It was picked out specially for some reason - beautiful view, humour, an odd reminder of home...

I still send postcards. OK, so writing them can be difficult, but it's lovely just to wander round the tourist shops in search of something a friend or relative might appreciate. I'll admit, I pick postcards mostly because I like the views on them and think I should be sending an image of what I'm seeing. But that's just me.

While I was living in Australia, my mum used to send me postcards from the UK. I will never forget the brief moment of shock when I opened the envelope and a picture of eyeballs fell out. She'd been to the Science Museum and thought the glass eyes were funny.

I still have that postcard. It reminds me both of Australia and of home. In fact, I've got loads of them - they're all stuck on my wardrobe doors. One for postcards and mementos from Australia:

Another of postcards I've picked up - mostly from London and the Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition, with a few of Wales and Lincoln thrown in:

And another entirely of postcards I got in Ireland:

That latter two are all postcards I've bought myself. My photography skills are improving but these cards have views on them I could never capture. Besides, they remind me of the joy of travelling and of trips I've taken and some I've yet to make.

See, here lies another great joy of postcards: they let you into a world that you might never have seen or maybe never will. Take the ones I picked up at the Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition - there's one in there of the Great Mosque at Djenne. I've known of the mosque for years and I'd love to see it in person, but I'm just not brave enough to travel alone to Mali to see it. But that postcard... well, maybe it says that someday I'll pluck up the courage and go.

You know how people end postcards with "wish you were here"? That's why they're brilliant. Because you wish you were there. I wish I was seeing the Great Mosque at Djenne. I wish I was staring up at the Northern Lights or watching a polar bear hunt in the Arctic. But for now, I'm not.

I can still dream, though.

Makes it sound like I only buy postcards for myself. I don't. Well, not quite. I like sending them too. As I mentioned above, it's sometimes hard to know what to write - I sent one to a friend's little boy from Ireland. Trying to work out what to write on a postcard to a baby was not easy. I think I mentioned leprechauns and fairies... The one I wrote to my sister was better - her's simply said "Smile like Harry Potter's here!". It was from the Cliffs of Moher. She got it.

What do you think? Are postcards outdated? When you can update instantly on the web, is there really any need for a little piece of card with a nice picture and some scribbled words? Or is there still that simple joy of getting a message from a loved one in the post?

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.