Backpacker Budgeting

Finances

To be perfectly honest, I was never very good at managing my money, and by my count, there were four fairly sever instances where I was simply out of cash. I made it through, and for me it added to the adventure. However, this level of uncertainty may not be for everyone, so I have included a section about how to budget and save money. It is something I learned as I went, and hopefully it can help you along the way as well.

Managing money is possibly one of the most difficult aspects of travel, and unless you are consciously aware of your financial situation, you can be in for an unwelcomed surprise. Prior to travelling, most backpackers will have a set budget in mind, a goal as to how they will manage their finances. They know how much they can afford to spend each day, and how much they will need to have on hand in case of emergency. There are only a handful of people who are able to stick to this type of budget. People with exceptional dedication, will power, and financial understanding. However, most travelers are simply not good budgeters. They arrive feeling confident with the budget they have laid out, only to find themselves way over budget after only a few months, weeks, or even days. This is perfectly normal, it is nearly impossible to anticipate the additional expenses that will likely always occur during the course of your journey

The Great Australia Quiz

How well do you know the land down under?

Try your hand at this challenging quiz and see how well you do compared to the other travelers. 

Follow this link http://www.beyondthevacation.com/quiz

Good luck!

Twitter Contest – Win 1 of 3 Lonely Planet Travel Guides!

To celebrate the upcoming release of the new backpacker book titled: Beyond the Vacation, we are holding a twitter contest giveaway!

3 contestants will be randomly drawn at the end of January to win a Lonely Planet Travel Guide (winners get to choose the guide, and guide will be delivered directly to your door).

It is easy to participate. Just Tweet something that you like about BeyondtheVacation.com and be sure to include #BeyondVacation in the message. You can enter everyday (once a day) until the end of the competition!

Winners will be randomly drawn out of the total pool of tweets, so the more you enter, the better your chances!

Don’t forget to follow BeyondVacation to claim your prize!

Full details can be found at http://www.beyondthevacation.com/twitter-contest

Good Luck Everyone!

Why is Finding Cheap Airfare so Important?

Cheap Airfare

Getting a discount airline ticket has its obvious benefits, but is it worth waiting and rearranging your schedule just to save $10, $20, $50, or even $100? I would argue that yes it is. 

If you are anything like me, you get pissed off when you find out that someone paid a much lower (discounted) fare than you did. If I find out that the passenger next to me got a cheap airfare, I think, “Why was that seat so much cheaper than mine?” It looks the same, feels the same, smells the same, but somehow it was worth much less than my cramped aisle seat. That makes me a very unhappy backpacker, especially when I am traveling on a budget.

When you board the airplane you will be sitting next to a variety of travelers, and the likelihood is that there are some who have paid full fare, while others got their tickets seriously discounted, why? It rests on the macro-economic principle of supply and demand. When there is high demand for a certain route, the airline wants you to pay

Blink – An inspirational book / a must read for travelers

I think that Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is an absolute must-read for any world traveler. It helps you discover the power of thinking without thinking. I read it while I was traveling in New Zealand, and I have to say, it was a very inspirational read.

Here is a quick rundown of the book.

Blink, helps to change the way we understand the world. It is a book that analyzes how we think without thinking. It talks about the choices that seem to be made in an instant; ones that aren’t as straight forward as they may seem. Many famous entrepreneurs claim to know whether a business idea is worth following within the first 30 seconds of it being pitched. Why? Because of the internal knowledge that they already carry within their own minds. This allows them to know, without knowing (if that makes any sense).

The reason this book is so great for travelers is that it allows you to understand why some decisions do not need to make sense to be correct. Backpackers leave home, often for more than a year at a time, with no real aim, other than seeing the world and meeting new people. Does this make sense from a logical standpoint? Maybe. Does it make sense from a financial standpoint? Probably not. Does this make sense from a personal standpoint? Likely it does. But why? Because you already have the internal knowledge that says, this is the correct thing for you to do at this point in your life.

It is important to know and understand that your gut reactions are usually the correct ones. You don’t need to do months of research and consult with experts to know that backpacking is the right choice for you. So why should it be any different for any other aspect of your life. The answer is, it shouldn’t. You must learn to trust your initial instinct, and find the confidence to make decisions in the “blink” of an eye.

Learning this power of internal trust and understanding will be an awesome tool for your future endeavors. It will help you increase your own personal confidence, strength, and internal locus of control. You will learn to trust yourself and your judgements. This is the ultimate tool for succeeding in life.

Backpacking offers you the opportunity to practice these skills and abilities. The world is at your fingertips, and each decision that you make, is yours and yours alone. There is no one to tell you what to do, or where to go, everything this up to you.

Find this book, and read it cover to cover, you will not regret it. As you travel, try to find an understanding of what Blink represents and how it can be utilized in your own life. The lessons are very real, but the outcome will be up to you. Find the strength to live your dreams, and find the strength to trust the power you hold from within. You can check out the book at: http://astore.amazon.ca/beyothevaca-20

Safe travels my friends.

How to Find Discount Travel

The greatest part about backpacking is the pure freedom that you experience while traveling in a foreign country. There is no one to tell you what to do, or where to go, or how to go. You are your own boss, with your own ambitions and rules for how the day should progress. Awesome!

The last thing you want is for your finances to begin weighing you down. It is therefore, incredibly important that you find discount travel whenever you can. This ensures that you have a well balanced bank account, as well as extra money in case adventure comes knocking. Plus, it greatly reduces any stress you might experience as you attempt to make the last few dollars stretch.

Below I have included five essential steps on how to find discount travel, with the least amount of effort. Follow them, and you are guaranteed a stress free trip, and a few extra dollars in the bank at the end.

The Do’s and Dont’s of Backpacking

There is an unwritten guide that most backpackers live by, but few can definitively describe. It is a guide that offers the world traveler peace of mind, as well as the opportunity for the adventure of a lifetime. Today, I bring that unwritten guide to you.

 

My intent with this article is not to impose a bunch of rules; rather I hope to offer a guideline that will help you be more successful in your journey. Take it as you will. The adventure is yours and yours alone. At the end, you only have one true responsibility. Show respect for your environment, and the world will forever be at your fingertips.

Convincing your Friends to Travel the World

So you have spent time traveling, and now you want to inspire your friends to travel as well. This is certainly no easy task, especially if they have absolutely no desire to travel. However, for your friends who are sitting on the fence, here are a few simple ways to inspire the traveler that lies within.

1. Show them pictures from your own journey

- everyone has seen TV programs, and brochures, but none of it ever seems very real. When you show your friends real pictures, taken with your low-end digital camera, out of focus and unscripted, it brings a reality to the adventure. It shows them the amazing things you did, and sights that you saw. Nothing get’s people thinking ‘travel’ more than living vicariously through other peoples photos.

2. Share your stories

- Tell your friends some of the more interesting stories that you have from your travels. Like the remote village that you camped out at, or the beautiful hike that you took to the top of a cavern

Is Backpacking Just a Party Tour?

The modern representation of what it means to be a backpacker certainly seems to follow this credo. Everything we see on television and in the brochures definitely adds weight to this argument. Even the people you meet who have been traveling will tell you that this is how they spent most of their time.

The reality is that yes, partying is a huge part of the travel experience … for many people. For others, it never really factors in. I would argue that the pendulum has begun to swing, and far too much of the backpacking experience is dedicated to drinking. Why is this a problem? The more time you spend in the bar, the less time you have for discovery, growth, and fulfillment. Backpacking just becomes a party tour, deminishing the soul enriching experience.

Still don’t see this as a problem? One day you will. Imagine coming home after backpacking all over Europe, and all you have to show for it is a bunch of drunken pub stories, a few touristy snapshots of iconic landmarks like Big Ben, and the Eifel Tower, and the world’s largest hangover

How to Survive a Tsunami

No matter where you travel, you must always be aware of the potential for natural disasters. Specifically, which ones are common in that particular part of the world. Anytime you are near the coast, particularly the Pacific Rim, there is the potential for tsunami. This being said, the likelihood of getting struck by a tsunami is incredibly slim. However, you should always remain prepared.

 

 

Here are a few tips to keep in mind, in case the worst should happen.

1. Know your Region

- Find out whether you are backpacking in a region that is at risk for being struck by a tsunami

- Understand whether tsunamis have struck in the past

How I Learned to Backpack Alone

When I did my first backpacking trip to Australia, I went alone.  None of my friends wanted to come with me, and frankly, I wanted to experience the adventure on my own. When I first arrived in Sydney, I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea what the hostels would be like, I had no idea what the food would be like, worst of all I had no idea what the people would be like. To be perfectly honest, I was a little bit afraid.

The reality was that everyone and everything worked out to be awesomely unique experiences. The hostels were good, the food was great, and the people were fantastic. The only thing I didn’t count on was how much time I would end up spending on my own.

Even though I met a number of people in my travels, it was usually only temporary. Everyone was always bouncing around so quickly. The friends that I did make, seemed to come and go in an instant. It was a totally different experience from back home. It took a couple of weeks for me to get used to this, but soon I was addicted to the process. I was meeting new people every single day!

Even though I was constantly meeting new people, I still found myself alone – a lot! It is the casualty of the process. When people move on, or when you move on, you start all over again, without anyone to converse with (until you meet your next friends of course). At first it can seem really boring, but after a while you get used to it. It actually becomes somewhat addictive. I loved the fact that everyday, every decision , and every moment was completely within my realm of control. At no other point in my life have I felt so liberated… so free. It is an awesome experience and if you