We share some of our favourite hacks for backpackers and vagabonds...

Occasionally, Kathryn and I come across some great travel ‘hacks’—tips and shortcuts that help backpackers, vagabonds and long-term travellers get things done smarter, cheaper and more efficiently. So, with no further ado, here’s an inexpensive solution that might be deserving of a place in (or on) your backpack.

Backpackers have become quite adept at stretching a few things as far as humanly possible while on the road—money, for instance, and, of course, the days between loads of laundry. When faced with a lack of laundry facilities—or a prohibitively expensive laundry service—Kathryn and I have learned to do what many backpackers have before us—we turn to the bottle for relief. Vodka, of course!

Unlike the beverage itself, the origins of vodka are a bit cloudy—more than a few nations lay claim to vodka’s birthplace; although, according to recent research, the two countries likely to lay legitimate claim to one of the world’s most popular liquors are Poland and, of course, Russia. The drink is so ubiquitous that the Russian word ‘voda’—believed to be the root from which vodka originated—means ‘water’. Regardless, vodka is just as popular in Poland.

Originally produced for medicinal purposes, this crude anaesthetic and disinfectant was distilled from rye. However, it was not until the middle fourteenth century that vodka was distilled to sufficient potency to cause intoxication. Shortly thereafter, communities were producing the drink—to serve as both medicine and beverage!

For the purposes of this post, however, Kathryn and I aren’t interested in either of the more common applications for everybody’s favourite alcohol. In fact, vodka has a great many uses besides imbibing.

If you have clothing that is starting to get a little ripe, you can keep your clothes smelling fresher with vodka. Really! Simply spritz your duds with the stuff, then hang to dry in a well-ventilated area. Pick up a spray bottle from the dollar store and make a solution of water and vodka—then spray your clothes with the solution. Vodka kills odour-causing bacteria but, amazingly, doesn’t stain or leave a scent when dry. The alcohol in the vodka evaporates, killing odours while disinfecting!

If you turn to vodka on a regular basis, you also help your clothes last a little longer as they will not be washed as many times. In fact, vodka works better than commercial fabric sprays such as Febreeze since vodka kills smells on clothing but commercial alternatives only serve to mask odours. Also, vodka costs less and you need to use less on clothing when eliminating smells.

It’s an elegant, cheap and widely available alternative—the perfect hack!

More vodka hacks for the backpacker

• Try this remedy for healthier, lush hair—add a jigger of vodka to a 12-oz bottle of shampoo.
• To remove a bandage painlessly, saturate the bandage with vodka. The solvent dissolves the adhesive.
• If you have a blister that has opened, pour vodka over the raw skin as a local anaesthetic that also disinfects the exposed dermis.
• To cure foot odour, wash your feet with vodka. Comparison of a commercial foot powder wash vs a vodka wash showed that the odour was eliminated on both feet.
• Vodka will disinfect and alleviate a jellyfish sting.
• If all else fails, just turn the bottle upside-down and enjoy.

In the comment stream below, Uncornered Market’s Audrey Noll offers up a few additional uses for vodka, writing: “When I lived in Estonia as a Peace Corps volunteer, vodka seemed to be an important ingredient in every remedy.” Here are a few more of Audrey’s tips to add to the list—thanks Audrey!

• If you can’t break a fever, soak your socks in vodka and put them on.
• Vodka mixed with pepper is good for stomach issues.
• Vodka rubbed on mosquito bites help takes the itch away.

Have your own creative backpacking hacks to share—tips which may help someone to overcome a problem or limitation quickly and cheaply? Leave ‘em here. Or sound off in the comments below! Check out our collection of travel hacks by clicking here.

"Hackpacking: Vodka’s many uses" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

The importance of planning!

An international study—published in January 2009 in the New England Journal of Medicine—found using a checklist when performing surgery reduced the rate of complications by four per cent. It follows that planning for a long-term or round-the-world trip is not unlike performing surgery—on your life, no less! So a checklist should be mandatory!

That’s why we’ve drawn together this ever-evolving pre-departure checklist from a number of sources around the web and in print and are sharing it with our readers. You can view our ‘Round-The-World Pre-Departure Travel Checklist’ by clicking here. Designed to help you make your transition to round-the-world traveller as smooth and effective as possible, this checklist will ensure you manage the transition to vagabond with ease.

Print the the page locally and cross stuff off as you go, or just bookmark it and return to is as often as you need. The list is meant to provide a starting point to guide you in creating your own round-the-world checklist—remember, really great checklists are usable because they’re tailored to suit your own situation.

We are big time believers in checklists.  If it it’s so easy for an otherwise competent doctor to miss a step (to return to our earlier analogy) or, in the stress and pressure of the moment, to fail to plan properly for every eventuality, then why do we believe that we’re immune to the same pressures ?

If you can negotiate the complex process of preparing to go, the complications you encounter during your round-the-world trip should prove to be a piece of cake. Ready to go and unsure if you have thought of everything? Look at our handy checklist for an outline of some of the most important things to consider before you hit the road. Click here.

"A Checklist for Planning and Preparing for Your RTW Trip" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

Managing day-to-day spending on the road

In most regions of the world, international ATMs are the best way to manage money while abroad. They are convenient, safe and often provide the best exchange rate—discounting, of course, their sometimes exorbitant service charges. This is generally the cheapest and most convenient way to get cash in the local currency.

Travellers cheques—a dying breed

Increasingly overlooked by card-wielding travellers, travellers cheques are a dying breed. Five years ago, travellers cheques were the preferred means of payment by most international tourists, equal in importance only to cash and more widely used than debit cards. However, with the exponential growth of ATM cards and the emergence of e-commerce, travellers cheques are now facing a slow death as the impact of other newer technologies is felt around the globe. That being said, travellers cheques do have their place—especially where ATMs can’t be found and can serve as an excellent form of back-up, especially as you can claim a refund if they’re stolen (provided, of course, that you’ve kept a separate record of their numbers). However, they can prove to be costly and even worse—a pain to use.

The two-account system

Therefore, ATM use is much more practical and, in our opinion, the way to go. In order to manage your budget—and for added security—we recommend using a two-account system. You likely already have a day-to-day chequing account—one from which you pay bills and make purchases.

We recommend opening a second bank account or a savings account and one for which you do not receive a debit card. It should be accessible only for online money transfers and deposits. We use ING Direct and are very happy with them—but there are a lot of options available. An online savings account has the added advantage of being accessible from anywhere you can log in and usually boasts industry-best interest rates.

The benefit of automatic money transfers

Because it gains solid interest, this account should hold the bulk of your savings—from which you’ll transfer money into a day-to-day account on a periodic basis. We schedule transfers monthly. It isn’t always possible to reach a computer when you need one on the road, so be sure to schedule automatic payments between the accounts if you can. The real advantage, here, is that it creates a wall between your savings and your spending. With an account at a bank completely separate from your primary bank, you can’t just make a big withdrawal on a whim. This will help you better control your spending on the road—and provides additional protection if your debit card is compromised. A side note—remember to get a four-digit PIN for ATM and Visa cards (some foreign ATMs only accept four digits).

Beware the cost of service charges

Always consider the cost of fees when you open additional accounts. Your day-to-day account should have free debit card and ATM withdrawals and your savings account should offer free online transactions.

We suggest that you limit the amount of money you keep in your day-to-day chequing account to a reasonable amount. Therefore, if your debit card and/or PIN number are compromised while you are on the road, your entire savings account is not at risk. To keep ATM fees low, you will want to withdraw more cash than you immediately need. But beware of carrying too much cash on you, as the risk of theft is, of course, ever-present.

Tips and Warnings

• Make copies. It’s prudent to make photocopies of the fronts and backs of all of you ATM and credit cards that you bring with you. Leave a set behind (with someone you trust and can reach easily when abroad) and stash the other set somewhere separate from the originals —a lock box at your hotel or guest house. If you lose your wallet or purse, the photocopies will provide you with the necessary information to call your credit card company or bank and get things worked out quickly so that you can enjoy your trip. See more information here, in our article entitled: “Travelling Safely: Before You Go”.
• Don’t stuff your pockets. Don’t carry too much cash around. Using your credit or ATM cards while on the road is a safe and convenient option, so there is no need to have large amounts of cash on you.
• Read the fine print. Check your bank’s terms and conditions. In particular, be sure to check the small print regarding ATM transaction fees and currency conversion charges. Make sure your card has the Cirrus, Plus or Maestro symbol —otherwise you may not be able to use it while on the road.
• Consolidate withdrawals. If you’re making ATM withdrawals, reduce your fees by making fewer (yet larger) withdrawals rather than lots of small transaction (but don`t carry around too much cash). Find the perfect balance!
• What’s the password ? Make sure you have a 4-digit PIN code for your card, since longer codes don’t always work in other countries. And remember, ATM keypads in other countries are not likely to have roman letters on them. Keep this in mind if your PIN code is word-based!
• Let them know! Let your bank know that you’ll be travelling overseas to prevent the bank from restricting access to your account

Conclusion

How do you handle money matters while you’re traveling abroad? Does anyone out there still use travellers cheques? Do you get a little foreign currency before you leave, exchange money at the airport or just try to hit the nearest ATM as soon as you arrive? Share with us your money strategy!

"Managing day-to-day spending on the road" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

Six books to help you plan (and inspire) your round-the-world adventure

A visit to you local neighbourhood bookstore will reveal a massive array of travel-related books. Here is a small and very carefully chosen selection of what Kathryn and I consider to be the “best of the best” when it comes to helping you plan your round-the-world trip.

Below you’ll find a few superb books certain to enhance your round-the-world travel skills. Some provide detailed information on specialized topics; others are more inspirational in nature. Each one, however, has proven itself to us as a significant cut above the usual crap. And buying them through our affiliate links helps to support our blog!

1. Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel

Rolf Potts’ Vagabonding is about taking time off from your normal life—from six weeks to four months to two years—to discover and experience the world on your own terms. Veteran shoestring traveler Potts shows how anyone armed with an independent spirit can achieve the dream of extended overseas travel. He provides the necessary information on: financing your travel time, determining your destination, adjusting to life on the road, working and volunteering overseas, handling travel adversity and re-assimilating back into ordinary life. Not just a plan of action, Vagabonding is an outlook on life that emphasizes creativity, discovery, and the growth of the spirit. Click here to purchase Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel from Amazon.

2. The Rough Guide First-Time Around The World, 3rd Edition

Planning a trip around the world? Let First-Time Around the World get you started. Loaded with the very latest travel information, including all you need to know about round-the-world tickets to teaching and working overseas, this pre-departure guide will help get you make the most out of your ultimate journey. The guide begins with a full-colour ‘Things Not to Miss’ photo section with suggested itineraries, route maps, details on what to bring, when to go, how much it will cost and which vaccinations will keep you healthy. The individual country profiles highlight the best places to visit with country-specific websites and necessary budget information for your first-time world trip. There are plenty of useful tips to help save you money, keep you safe and maximize your time on the road. The guide comes complete with concise regional information, with overland maps and details on weather, major attractions and unmissable festivals. Click here to purchase The Rough Guide First-Time Around The World from Amazon.

3. Where To Go When

Packed with detailed weather info, events, festivals and practical advice, Where to Go When has everything you need to plan the perfect trip at the perfect time to go. Thirty destinations are presented for each month, with 11 covered in depth. Tuscany, Italy, is recommended for October, when the grape and olive harvests take place, and when porcini mushrooms, prized truffles and other specialties appear on regional menus. The listing includes a six-day itinerary on the “Chianti Trail,” from Florence to Siena. With travel inspiration at your fingertips, planning your round-the-world trip has never been easier. Click here to purchase Where To Go When from Amazon.

4. The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World

The world is a breathtakingly big place, and in this big book Lonely Plaet has undertaken the big task of detailing as much of it as they can—every single country, many of the larger dependencies and other, smaller destinations. With the traveler’s experience at its heart, this book shows a slice of life in every corner of the globe, and all points in between, engaging the reader’s senses in an adventure which conjures up the sights, smells, tastes, sounds and feel of our amazing world. Click here to purchase  The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country in the World from Amazon.

5. 300 Unmissable Events and Festivals Around the World

Unmissable: 300 Events & Festivals Around the World is a four-colour inspirational guide book to events and festivals, celebrations and natural phenomena in the world’s top cities, secret retreats and far-flung places. It also offers practical information and insider tips, from how to get there, to where and when to buy tickets before they sell out, the best vantage point for a street festival or cycle race. First-person recommendations and lively descriptions bring the sound, smell, feel and taste of each experience to life. Click here to purhase 300 Unmissable Events and Festivals Around the World from Amazon.

6. The Packing Book: Secrets of the Carry-on Traveler

From choosing the right kind of luggage and the appropriate travel gear (money belts, ear plugs, etc.) to customizing your wardrobe according to the length and type of your intended travel, Gilford covers all the bases. She provides plenty of checklists so you won’t forget the essentials, gives detailed instructions (complete with illustrations) on just how to pack items such as skirts, jackets, and slacks to minimize wrinkling and maximize space, and offers suggestions on packing for children and teens. Medical needs, entertainment needs–even security tips–are included in this invaluable guide to getting the most out of the least amount of luggage. The Packing Book takes the anxiety out of preparing for a trip, and even the most seasoned travelers may be surprised at how much they never knew about packing light. Click here to purhase The Packing Book: Secrets of the Carry-on Traveler from Amazon.

Conclusion

Travel blogs are amazing but the printing press isn’t dead—yet. Travel writing of all kinds is more popular than ever, and there are books on every aspect of travel and every kind of traveller. Remember, too—the books make great gifts for the person who loves travel or is planning a trip round the world. Here are a few recommended books to inspire and to help you plan.

Know a publication that should be included here? Let us know. Feel free to recommend titles in the comment stream, as well!

"Six Books To Help Plan Your RTW Adventure" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

Your personal preference is the most critical component in choosing a direction of travel

“Go East, young man” — Elvis Presley
“Go West, this is what we’re gonna do” — The Pet Shop Boys 

Is there any benefit to going in one direction over the other? This is a pretty common question among round-the-world (RTW) travellers. It was recently posed by a fellow Bootie on the BootsnAll forum who asked: 

My wife and I are planning a RTW . . . I’ve planned a tentative route leaving the US and heading east. This seems to be pretty common; in fact, I can’t recall reading a travel book or blog or post or anything where the travellers move west. My wife suggests we travel west, and she had a logical reason for wanting to go that way. I know conventional thinking isn’t always the best way to go but I have to ask the question: Is there any benefit to going one direction over the other? 

If you’d like to check out the thread that inspired the post, click here. In our opinion, there is no right or wrong direction—it all depends on factors such as where you start, the time of year, speed of travel, money, weather, routing and most importantly, personal preference. But you may want to consider the following few points. 

Starting Point

A RTW trip’s direction of travel is often influenced by the region from which people are booking. We’ve found that the vast majority of Australians embarking on RTW trips travel east to west. On the other hand, a lot of UK travellers choose to travel west to east. This is of course due to a number of reasons—but one influencing factor is the availability of working holidays visas down under—which a lot of people use to continue their travels through Asia. Travelling west from Europe may mean that your itinerary could become front-loaded with relatively more expensive countries like the US, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Australia—which might be the most expensive part of your trip. On the other hand, for people who start in South America, there’s a a greater selection of eastbound flights. Writes Neil from the BootsnAll forum: “There’s only one flight to Australia (or maybe New Zealand) from South America—and it’s expensive.” 

For our own RTW trip, we’ve decided to start in Central America before taking on South America—thanks to the advice of our readers to which we posed the following question: “Faced with the prospect of leaving North America in July on a long-term trip, where would you go?” (check out their answers in this post here). We were hoping to determine the best region to start from that would allow for easy onward travel while incurring the least expense. Hence, it looks like we are likely going to head east to Europe after Central and South America—which is in the direction of cheaper fares. 

Money

Western Europe, Japan, and North America can be the most expensive part of your trip. Eastern Europe can be both one of the cheapest and most rapidly changing parts of the world. Writes Twowander, from the aforementioned thread: ”We figured our money would last longer if we hit Europe near the end or our trip. And money goes a lot farther in most Asian countries”. Another consideration is the cost of airfare—prices for RTW tickets often depend on the number of continents (or regions) you’re visiting. Some have limits on the number of flights that you can take in a given region. All of them (that we found, at least) don’t allow you tobacktrack after you’ve started, which could add incrementally to your costs. 

It looks like we’ll potentially be travelling through Europe in the middle of our year abroad—which concerns us a little bit owing to our budgetary constraints. We do take a little comfort in the fact that we are likely to arrive in Europe near the end of the summer; hence, costs will be mitigated somewhat by the fact that we’ll be travelling around the continent as shoulder season starts to take hold. For Western Europe, the months of April, May, September and October are considered prime travel time for those of us (ie backpackers, vagabonds and long term-travellers) who don’t have to worry about schedules and holidays. For more information on timing your itinerary, click here. 

Routing

If your RTW ticket requires you to head in a constant east or west direction, you’ll need to decide which direction you will choose before you depart. These fares require all travel be in a single continuous routing around the globe—and the itinerary must cross both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The trip may be in either east to west or west to east, and oftentimes backtracking is severely restricted. However, most directional fares allow for unlimited stopovers. 

Travelling west to places such as New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific from North America means that you can take advantage of the two-piece luggage system which allows for 64kg per person compared with a limit of 20kg elsewhere in the world. We suggest you pack your heaviest guide books. 

We’re still not sure whether or not we will choose to book a tradition RTW ticket. The emergence of long-haul low cost routes means that we might try to arrange and book their our RTW itineraries on the cheap, costing much less than a traditional RTW ticket—without the restrictions! Otherwise, we might consider using Air Treks (which we’ve enjoyed using in the past). 

Speed of Travel

A major factor in deciding which direction you take can be the speed with which you plan to travel. If you are on a quick RTW trip, then going westward may be an important considering, primarily because you won’t  have to successively get up earlier to catch your next flights. If you are going for, say, a year or more, this is all pretty meaningless, but if you are going for six months or less you’ll likely notice the difference and might want to consider travelling westward. 

Weather

When choosing your direction of travel, it’s likely that weather will be one of your considerations. Writes fellow Bootie Andromeda in the aforementioned forum thread: “Weather is by far the biggest factor—often it’s a lot easier to nab the better seasons in one direction or another, and this should take priority.” 

In an effort to make such planning easier, Babakoto.eu has developed an Excel travel planner. Their travel planner encompasses weather data from a number of countries and includes information about the best periods to travel in respect to average temperature and rainfall. Hence, the travel planner allows you to plan your trip through one or more destinations and can provide you with a starting point from which to consider your direction of travel—from the perspective of weather at the very least. 

Personal preference

Your personal preference is the most critical component in choosing a direction of travel. Direction of travel should suit—and complement—your individual needs, interests, hotels preferences and budget. However, do not base your direction on expenses alone, or you might let a few once-in-a-lifetime opportunities escape you! 

Conclusion

So what do you think? Is there any benefit to going in one direction over the other? What’s you preference: East or west? Have you embarked on a RTW trip in the past? Which direction of travel did you choose?

"East vs West: Which is Best for Your RTW?" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

We know this article comes off a little cynical and we know we’re being a bit—well, smarmy. But these questions tend to irk us after a while!

Without fail—as soon as you check into a guesthouse or hostel—out comes the perennial backpacker conversation, ie “where ya from?”—and out goes any notion of independent travel. A backpacker’s decisions on where to go, what to see and what to are influenced by social interactions to a much greater extent than other forms of tourism. Indeed, this is because backpackers are storytellers. And our conversations —and their relation to adventure, risk and hardship—often present themselves as good opportunities to impress one another.

Of course, we understand the backpacker conversation is a way of finding common ground to build rapport with new people — but we feel that you need not rely on these questions to establish a firmer relationship. Think outside the backpack!

If you prefer to avoid the generic formula for backpacker conversation—we’ll give you a couple of questions that you would do well to avoid!

Don’t say: “Where ya from?”

Why: It’s too formulaic. You can almost hear a sigh of resignation shortly after asking it—it’s the most oft asked question of backpackers. That’s because most travellers believe it to be a magic conversation starter.

Instead: Have a quick look and see if you can get any ideas about their possible interests—a band’s tour shirt is an obvious sign about the kind of music that person likes. Look for other clues in the person’s clothing. Check out your surroundings. Is there anything interesting in the area? Is there some sort of unusual art or architecture nearby? Just anything to avoid the dreaded question — “Where ya from?”. That’s not to say you won’t eventually ask it — just don’t break the ice with it. At the very least, you’ll win points for being creative.

Don’t say: “How long are you travelling?”

Why: It’s an invitation to brag. On the road, there is a certain stripe of traveller that you will quickly learn to avoid—it’s the person whose ears perk up when they hear the question: “How long have you been travelling?”. Even if it’s not addressed to them, they’ll swoop in, corner you and begin to enumerate the countries to which they’ve backpacked. Pretty soon you’ll realize that the question more often than not is seized upon as an opportunity to brag. No matter how many countries you’ve travelled to, no matter how many two-dollar-a-night YMCAs you’ve stayed at, no matter how exciting your travels have been — you will never win this contest.

Instead: Ask “Where are you off to next?” It’s a good way to avoid the invitation to brag offered by the aforementioned question, and instead makes the destination the subject of discourse. Of course, you’ll still be able deduce where a person’s interests lay when they talk about what they would like to do — but you can avoid the ‘pissing contest’ that usually develops when two backpackers talk about what they have done.

Conclusion

Of course, there’s also “Where have you been?”, “How long are you here?” and “Where are you going?”—these questions generally round out the most-often asked questions of backpackers by backpackers.

That being said, we realize that the deeper and more personal questions tend to come once the obligatory questions have been asked. And, when you meet someone it’s clear that you’re likely to talk about things that are pertinent to whatever situation in which you both find yourself, ie travelling.

So what’s our point? Well, just that it’s okay to think outside of the backpack once in a while. On the tourist trail, we tend to all go to the same places, using our guide book as a kind of divining rod and stick to a script of questions when meeting someone new. And I say we — because we’ve been guilty of doing it on more than one occasion. Why? It’s easy.

So the next time you find yourself on the tourist trail talking to a fellow backpacker, make “Where are you off to next?” your very first question. With answer firmly in mind, thank the person with whom you’re speaking and head off in the opposite direction—refuse the guide book and remain truly independent!

Don’t worry—you won’t get lost. And, if you do, you know which questions to ask to land you firmly back on the tourist trail!

We know this article comes off a little cynical and we know we’re being a bit—well, smarmy. But these questions tend to irk us after a while! Are there any questions that simply drive you nuts when meeting folks on the tourist trail? Let us know!

"A Few Common Phrases to Avoid in Hostels" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

Proprietors looking to increase traffic to their hostel, shop, dining establishment or other business will employ touts.

Judging by the number of times you’ll be propositioned for a massage in Cusco, Peru, you’d think that there must be a surfeit of massage therapy schools and therapists in the province. Walk a few blocks from the city’s Plaza de Armas in any direction on the compass—and you’ll walk straight into someone offering to rub you down! Cusco is no different than other large tourist centres—think Khao Sarn or Agra, or Cairo and Marrakesh—where touts are ubiquitous. After a while, you begin to feel that your destination is not really a country so much as a giant machine designed to extract money from you.

To most people, touts are seen an annoyance—they routinely get yelled at and told off. But to their families, they are the source of a meagre income. And to a local economy in a developing nation, they are just a cog in a giant machine of tips, commissions and bribes that makes the industry go round.

Following our travels through Asia, Kathryn and I had become so attuned to touts and scams that we remained wary, even after returning home. In fact—Kathryn’s wariness almost ruined my planned proposal to her several years ago.

How to Deal with Touts and (Almost) Ruin a Marriage Proposal

Shortly after we’d begun dating, we travelled to New York City for the first time together. As we dated, the city became a place that we would return to with increasing regularity—and we developed a great affection for it. Hence, I decided that Central Park would serve as a great place to propose.

When the day arrived, I planned to lure Kathryn to the park under the pretence that we were meeting a friend—one who would invariably not show up. Unbeknownst to Kathryn, I had arranged for a ‘tout’ to approach us and offer a horse-drawn carriage ride. The plan was to take a carriage through the park before pausing in front of Cherry Hill’s fountain long enough for me to pop the question. On the way, I’d arranged for the driver to bring along a bottle of champagne.

The ride didn’t exactly turn out as planned—but Kathryn’s actions served to properly illustrate what one should do when dealing with a tout. Despite the fact that I had secretly arranged payment in advance, Kathryn insisted that we negotiate a price before getting into the carriage—a habit that served us well when dealing with taxi drivers and tuk tuk touts in Chiang Mai. Luckily, the driver went along with the negotiation. After settling on a price, Kathryn suggested that we get a couple of other quotes from competing drivers. It was only after I convinced her that it wouldn’t be necessary did she get in the carriage.

Shortly after the ride began, I reached under our seat to retrieve a bottle of champagne—just where I’d arranged for the driver to hide it. Before I had a chance to pop the cork, Kathryn again insisted that I ask how much the bottle would cost us. Luckily, our driver again played along and reassured her that it was included in the price.

When the carriage stopped well short of our agreed upon hour ride—Kathryn reluctantly climbed down from the cab. She was disappointed that the ride had stopped and wanted to know what was going on.

It was then I dropped to a knee and proposed—the rest, as they say, is Two Go Round-The-World history. And as much as I tease her about it, Kathryn’s actions perfectly illustrate the steps that one must take to mitigate the risk when dealing with touts. Always remain diligent—even when you fiancé is doing his best to propose to you.

A Few Highly ‘Touted’ Tips

Kathryn and I have assembled a few tips from here and there on how to deal with touts:

1. Tip 1 — Be polite but firm. Smile—but only once. Don’t make the mistake of shaking hands or answering the question of where you are from. Be polite, but firm, explicit and unambiguous. If you feel you’re getting thrown a pitch—cut it short with ‘Sorry, no thank you’. And if you get frustrated, don’t lose your temper. Remember—acting rudely may offend somebody nearby that would never think of bothering you.
2. Tip 2 — Everybody’s got an uncle—and he wants to sell you something. Just remember that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Offers of a free cup of chai will invariably turn into pitches to purchase a Persian rug. Art students in Tiananmen Square will invite you back to their ‘studio’—just to ‘have a look’. If you’re new to the tourist trail, touts will see you coming from a mile away. Remember — this is just a ‘pitch’ — the act may be convincing, but at the end of the day it’s still an act. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking to have to say ‘no’ to someone who looks like they could desperately use your money. If you feel compelled to donate, it’s best to do so at a church or temple, where your money is more likely to get into the hands of those who need it. Avoid donating to touts who claim they are collecting for charity—even if they an identity card. Despite their seemingly plausible stories—they are usually nothing more than con men.
3. Tip 3 — Book ahead. If you’re arriving in the evening in a major tourist destination, it’s worth making a reservation with a hostel or guesthouse before you arrive. Your guide book will likely offer up a few phone numbers—or you can book a place online through hostelbookers.com or HostelWorld. And remember, don’t stay at the first place listed in your guidebook — as others have said, it’s full of people too lazy to read past the first entry! Suck it up and book ahead — even if you have to pay a little more for your first night in town.

Conclusion

As soon as you step outside the airport in any given destination, a crowd of people will approach: tuk tuk and auto rickshaw drivers, taxi drivers, hotel touts and beggars all want a little bit of your coin. You’ll begin to feel a little like chum in a shark tank. It’s a hassle, but remember — you are dealing with people who are desperately trying to make a living in a developing country.

Taking the time to learn a few key words and phrases (ie “No thank you”) in the local language can also go a long way and is appreciated by the local people—including the touts. Remember, no matter how annoying these interactions are—you are representing your country and your culture. This is a chance for them to learn about how you handle yourself under pressure. A little bit of patience and a sense of humour goes a long way in coping with such situations.

What are your techniques for dealing without touts? Any good stories? Sound off in the comments section below. With your permission, we’ll include some of your suggestions in a future follow-up post. Thanks in advance! There’s a good discussion going on over at BootsnAll entitled “Best Method for Dealing With Touts“. As always, the Booties give excellent advice.

"Tips for Dealing with Touts" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

The good news—you’ve been bitten by the travel bug! The bad news? That was the easy part. Getting excited about travel is easy—it’s sustaining your excitement that can be difficult.

Confronted with a long wait, it’s not unusual to lose our motivation to travel, thereby making it difficult to stay focused on a goal that seems so far away. Over the past year, we’ve learned that our motivation waxes and wanes over time. So how have we stayed motivated in the intervening years while working towards our goal?

We’ve been saving up for our round-the-world trip since November 2008—and in earnest since March 2009. In fact, we’ve recently passed the halfway mark to our goal (check out our progress in the sidebar). And it hasn’t always been easy. So we thought we’d share with you a few of the methods we use to get and stay motivated while waiting for the long term payoff for all the sacrifices we’re making.

Of course, everyone is different, and each person will have their own formula to keep themselves on track. So while our article offers some possible solutions, it is up to you to make the right choices to keep yourself motivated. Maintaining motivation requires paying attention to your behaviour, listening to your instincts and learning how to encourage yourself as you progress towards your goal.

The difference between a goal and an objective

Here we think that it’s important to differentiate between an objective and a goal. That is, while your goal might be to take time off for long-term travel, your objective may be to gain a better understanding of the world in which you find yourself. There are a few reasons behind doing this, and one of those reasons is to explicitly recognize your progress. People tend to track progress automatically with most activities—like saving money, for example. But to stay motivated, we need to recognize our progress, not just track it. In our mind, ‘recognizing’ your progress is taking the time to look at the bigger picture and realizing how far you’ve come. It’s the difference, for example, between checking the balance in your savings account and assessing your personal growth. That being said, there’s a lot you can do alongside saving for your trip that will prepare you to travel. The personal growth afforded by travelling need not begin with your actual journey but should start as soon as you’ve made up your mind to take the plunge. Reading and travelling locally, for example. Or perhaps learning a language.

Armchair travel and adventure

Live vicariously! Embark on journeys across distance and time without leaving your couch! Check out blogs or read travelogues. Get inspired. Admire them (with caution, but do admire them). Reading about travel will make it more available to you and will fuel your efforts towards getting out there yourself. And of course, you are preparing yourself for the road, in mind and spirit! As far as books are concerned, I suggest a little Paul Theroux or Bill Bryson—especially Bryson! On the blog front, there’s a plethora of travel blogs available—check out some of the web’s most popular here. And be sure to check out those on our blogroll, here.

Travel locally

Don’t worry, we refuse to call it a ‘staycation’. But it’s worth mentioning as a great way to stay motivated to travel—practice travelling on the cheap by becoming a tourist in your own town. Instead of taking long-distance (and therefore more expensive) trips, why not explore some of the many options closer to home? We’ve read that most trips take place within 70 miles from home—which gives you a lot of room to roam! Plus, it’s good to know your area before setting out to see the world. While travelling through Asia, more than once Kathyrn and I were embarrassed to admit that we’d never been to visit the CN Tower, despite living in Toronto for the majority of our adult lives. Assured by people the world over that the view is fantastic, we’re planning to head downtown next weekend to check it out.

Surround yourself with travel

Susan Forshner from Transient Travels writes:

Hanging up a map of the world in your apartment or house is a constant reminder of where you’ve been and where you haven’t. My map hangs on the wall right behind the screen of my little Macbook. Flipping through the pages of a magazine or newspaper, with all the in depth stories and beautiful photos, is like flipping through old photos except instead of creating a feeling of longing for the past, it creates a yearning to go.

Be sure to check out the rest of Susan’s thought on the topic here. Like Susan, we’ve hung a map in our home office — and keep track of the cities, continents and countries we’ve visited with little colourful map pins. Moreover, we keep a copy of Rolf Potts’ Vagabonding on the back of our toilet. Classy, eh? To see what else is on the back of our toiler, check this post out.

Conclusion

It was former Beatle John Lennon who proclaimed in a song that “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Of course, Lennon was referring to the way so many people miss the important moments of life because they are too focused on other things to truly appreciate the moments as they pass by.

Lennon’s sentiment is echoed by Alfred D. Souza, who writes:

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”

Just remember — we all have a finite amount of time here on earth. So be sure to take stock of where you’ve been and where you’d like to go—often. When setting a goal with a long horizon, many of us tend to cruise through that time on autopilot, just hoping to get to the end so that we can get ‘started’.

We believe that it’s okay to sacrifice and to save and to wait — but do it mindfully and for good reason!

"How to Stay Motivated to Travel" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

It’s been a weird spring for weather up here in Toronto. And the rest of the country is expected to bask in unseasonably warm and dry conditions for the next three months. That’s good news for Canadians ready to let loose after a grey winter.

While Canada may be known more for its grizzly bears and cold weather, the truth is that in the summertime we love to hit the beach! According to Wikipedia, more than 60 percent of the world’s lakes are in Canada. That’s right, in the true north, beautiful white sandy shores, sand dunes and clear, blue waters abound. But of the country’s hundreds of thousands of lakes, just two are officially recognized as being ‘clothing optional’, the world-famous Wreck Beach in Vancouver and the increasingly popular Hanlan’s Point Beach in Toronto.

Municipal and provincial governments in Canada are starting to realize that clothing optional beaches are good, not only for tan lines, but for the bottom line. They attract tourists to some of the country’s most beautiful beaches. And, for that reason, local governments are starting to sit up and take notice. In Europe and Australia, for example, clothing optional beaches have long been the norm. But in Canada acceptance has been slower; lately, however, its uptake is starting to accelerate. The Federation of Canadian Naturists maintains that a large minority of Canadians would “happily” go to nude beaches if they existed. And the vast majority of respondents reported that they “didn’t care” if others shed their clothes while at the beach.

According to a survey from Cheapflights.co.uk, almost 10% of North American holidaymakers would leave their clothes behind on holiday. Moreover, participation in nudism is growing by 20 pe cent annually in North America.

So if you find yourself in Canada this summer, and would like to ditch your swimsuit in lieu of something more natural, Kathryn and I have some suggestions for you—right across Canada. For those keen to experience nature in the buff, check out the following!

5. Crystal Crescent Beach, Nova Scotia

Crystal Crescent Beach

According to those in the know, Crystal Crescent Beach was more of a haven for those wishing to shed their garb in the mid-to-late 80s. These days, however, a few hardy souls still treat a small section of the beach as clothing optional. Crystal Crescent Beach is a bit of a misnomer—it’s actually a series of beaches. The last and furthest of which is an unofficial nude beach. Be careful, if you stumble down the wrong path you may end up with a few unexpected ‘wildlife’ sightings! Be forewarned, however, the water here is pretty darn cold. Costanzas of the world need worry about shrinkage. Seinfeld! Anyone get that? Bueller?

4. Park National d’Oka, Québec

Park National d'Oka, Québec

Another stretch of beach in Québec at Oka Park (west of Montréal) is also unofficial but is well known as a clothing-optional beach. I actually grew up a short ferry ride away in Vaudreuil. The low mountains here and various waterways invite day trips and the lush landscape attests to the abundant precipitation in the area—great for privacy! This beach on the shore of the Lac des Deux Montagnes, with its pleasant and peaceful atmosphere, is one of the best known in Québec. Feel like shedding your clothes? At the extreme east of the public beach, a short walk will bring you to Oka’s “other beach.”

3. Bennet Lake, Yukon

Bennet Lake, Yukon

The Yukon has no official nude beaches, but locals maintain that the folks from Whitehorse sunbathe nude up here quite frequently. The lake sits partly in the Province of British Columbia and partly in the Yukon. During the Klondike Gold Rush, Bennett Lake was where the gold seekers who had crossed the Coast Mountains built rafts to float down the Yukon River to the gold fields at Dawson City. At the height of the gold rush, a large tent city sprang up on its shores, numbering in the thousands and offering all the services of a large city.

2. Hanlan’s Point Beach, Toronto

Hanlan's Point Beach

Hanlan’s Point Beach is situated on Hanlan’s Point near Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario, a 15-minute ferry ride from the downtown. As mentioned earlier, a one kilometre long part of the beach has been officially recognized by the Toronto City Council as being clothing optional. For those who prefer tan lines, there is an adjacent stretch of beach where swimsuits are required. Despite its proximity to the downtown core, the beach is known for its extremely good water quality—since it faces southwest and away from the mainland. And no, it follows that you won’t see anything from the CN Tower. Perv!

1. Wreck Beach, Vancouver

Wreck Beach, Vancouver

Wreck Beach is the only other sanctioned clothing optional beach in Canada. Maintained by  the Greater Vancouver Regional Authority, this is a beautiful beach. It’s main shortcoming—and one that affects all beaches in Canada—is the short season related to the fact that it’s located in the Great White North! Of course, the beach is opened to all and the clothing optional section is clearly marked with signs. It stretches six kilometres from Acadia Beach, in the north, to the Booming Grounds Creek on the north arm of the Fraser River. 

Conclusion

If you’re going to tackle these beaches as a naked ‘naturist’ or a semi-clothed ‘textile’ (a slightly derogatory term that nudists and naturists for those that prefer clothing) you would do well to remember the famous quotation, often atrributed to William Blake — “Art can never exist without naked beauty displayed”. Nothing wrong with showing a little skin!

"Bare Country: Canada’s Five Best Clothing Optional Beaches" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

Bottom line—how big is the risk, really?

Identity theft is an increasingly common occurrence—and the situation is likely to get worse in coming years. As a backpacker, working and blogging at an internet café puts you at particular risk because there is no simple sure-fire way to ensure that the computer on which you are working is free of malware, such as trojans or keyloggers. But how big is the risk to your average everyday traveller?

One simple step backpackers can take to better protect themselves from becoming a victim—never enter personal data while on a public computer. It is simply unsafe to enter passwords and private information while in an internet café owing to the proliferation of spyware, which is capable of tracking your keystrokes.

Keystroke recorders—known colloquially as keyloggers—are particularly dangerous because they are capable of recording your keystrokes and therefore can be used to steal logins and passwords to online accounts. That being said, there are a few simple ways to mitigate the risks posed by keystroke recorders.

1. Check for hardware keyloggers

A hardware keylogger dongle...

A hardware keylogger is a small, inconspicuous USB device that is plugged into a computer between the keyboard and the tower. Unfortunately, a keylogger may be virtually indistinguishable from an extension cable or other device. Once installed, however, it captures all keystrokes into its own memory. This kind of device is completely self-contained and works just as well on a Mac as on a Windows system. The principal weakness of this particular keylogger—at least the varieties that are commonly available—is that it’s not remotely accessible. Therefore, the person who installed it has to return to retrieve the data from the device.

How can you protect yourself from this particular threat? When first logging into a terminal at an internet café, it’s a good idea to physically inspect the keyboard PS/2 or USB cables for ‘security breaches’. However, external hardware keyloggers are very difficult to detect. For example, there are a number of keyloggers that that built right into the keyboard! That being said, I suspect that hardware keyloggers are not very common in internet cafe—malicious software is a much more attractive option for those that want to gather information. Let’s face it, physical keyloggers attached to directly to a computer increase the likelihood of getting caught.

2. Run an operating system from a USB stick

It’s not always practical for vagabonds to carry a PC when on the road (even if it’s a netbook) and it’s often handy to do a quick Google search or check browser-based e-mail  at an internet café. But terminals at internet cafés don’t have your familiar desktop and personal files on them. Depending on where you are, they may not even have the applications needed to read and edit your data files on them. Still worse, they might be infected with viruses, trojans or worms. The solution?

With fast high-capacity USB thumb drives, you no longer need to bring a laptop along with you when you want to run your own applications and access your own data. Indeed, many people are adopting open source applications that load and run directly from a USB thumb drive. This means that backpackers can take along important applications and files along with them—a “computer on a stick” if you will! In fact, many of these USB thumb drive computers have applications which encode keystrokes in order to fool software-based keyloggers!

One such solution is an open-sourced Linux-based operating system, which comes complete with a suite of great applications. What is the advantage offered by such a solution? You will no longer be dependent on a PC running Microsoft Windows! Instead, all you will require is a PC that capable of booting from a USB port to run your “computer on a stick”!

Pendrivelinux.com is a site which offers a wide selection of available operating systems suitable for booting from a USB stick. The site includes simple and detailed instructions on how to load and run your very own USB flash drive–based Linux OS. And the best part? The software is free!

The downside?  Most internet cafés in countries which see a lot of backpackers are going be pretty well run—and they’ll all have software in them to keep their systems locked down. Most proprietors won’t take kindly to you rebooting their PCs and working ‘off the clock’. Of course, if you grease the palm of the person behind the counter running the café, you might be able to convince them. Bottom line, however, I would not plan on being able to run an OS off of a USB drive.

3. Bring your own system

This is the best—but not necessarily the most practical—solution. Netbooks offer a secure alternative to the ubiquitous internet cafés that line the tourist trail. Coupled with a good virtual private network (VPN), they offer a means to pay bills, make purchases and check bank accounts.

In our opinion—the HP Mini 110 is one of the best netbook options in the sub-$400 budget netbook category. It offers a nice hardware configuration, a good-looking design and an excellent keyboard. The HP is a very nice option for those on the lookout for a low-cost netbook that they can toss into their packs. For these reasons, it has won itself a place in both our real-world and virtual backpack! Check out our article here.

Conclusion

Ideally you should simply avoid online banking, shopping or other transactions that require you to enter sensitive information such as credit card or personal bank account details. If the matter is urgent, however, and you have to do it, take the precaution of changing all your passwords as soon as feasible from a more trusted computer.

Anil Polat, who worked as a security engineer for almost six years, has become an expert on advising companies how to better secure their networks and systems. He has since taken this expertise on the road and now does freelance security work, in addition to writing about technology and travel. In an article entitled “How To Keep Your Online Accounts Safe At Internet Cafés”, Anil offers up the following:

Don’t access any sensitive accounts. An obvious one, but it’s not a good idea to check your bank account, personal email or other sites that may be sensitive depending where in the world you are visiting. There are many parts of the world where you may not want anyone to know your nationality or would want to keep your browsing confidential. The best bet is to bring your own.

Bottom line—how significant is the risk, really? The answer to that is: “It depends”. I would expect busy internet cafés not far from the tourist track to be fairly reasonable risks. Busy internet cafés, airport terminals, libraries and the like seem like ‘target rich environments’ for potential keyloggers. These are certainly places where I’d make sure to take safety measures.

Less busy areas? Perhaps not so much. Regardless, it is possible—and moreover—it’s not all that hard for someone who’s technically savvy.

"How to Play it Safe in an Internet Café" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

We share some of our favourite hacks for backpackers and vagabonds...

‘Hack’ has become a ubiquitous word these last forty years and is today used to refer (among other things) to a ‘solution’ to a problem or task. That being said, the word is packed tighter than a backpacker’s compression sack on a Mumbai commuter train. It has been employed variously to describe a disdained writer, a horse kept for hire and a prostitute.

For all the meanings that the word has today, its roots boil down to two different origins—one of them means “to chop” and the other means “horse”.  It was first recorded in American English in 1955, employed in the figurative sense of “getting through by some effort,” as in to ‘cut’ or ‘hack’ through a dense jungle. The term was popularized by American mathematician and ‘beautiful mind’ John Nash as a putdown; he used it to refer to a clever or quick (but clumsy) fix to a problem. Forty years on and solutions that may be inelegant (but ultimately robust and relatively quick and cheap) are called ‘hacks’.

Occasionally, Kathryn and I come across some great travel ‘hacks’. When we’ve saved up enough interesting hacks to be deserving of a post, we’ll share them with you! So, with no further ado here are a few inexpensive solutions that might be deserving of a place in (or on) your backpack:

• Silica packages. Jeff Duford from Gap Adventures suggests saving silica gel packs (you know, those packs usually bearing warnings for the user not to eat the contents). He writes: “These take up no space and can prove to be life savers, or at least camera savers. Moisture got inside your camera? Put your camera in a zip-lock bag with a few silica packages overnight and voila, your camera works again!” Check out Jeff’s hack here.
• Backpack cable lock. Francoise Methot describes a quick and easy method for fashioning a homemade steel cable to secure your backpack while you travel (similar to more expensive solutions from companies such as Pacsafe http://www.pacsafe.com)!  She writes: “Most of us have a padlock or two, so the only cost is the cable and the aluminum sleeves which shouldn’t cost more than $3–4”. Check out Francoise’s hack here.
• Camping stove. In 2003 Mark Jurey posted the original instructions for a portable stove that he had been developing for many years—one that is dependable, safe, lightweight, fast, efficient but is still simple to make and use. Fashioned from three 12 oz. Heineken cans and a penny, it is good enough to compete with gas stoves and keep propane canisters out of landfills. According to Mark, “It will bake scones, or simmer a pot of real rice for 20 minutes and make tea for two with just a little denatured alcohol”. Check out Mark’s hack here.

“Hack” is a word with a rich array of connotations and need not be limited to narrow definitions. Have your own creative backpacking hacks to share—tips which may help someone to overcome a problem or limitation quickly and cheaply? Leave ‘em here. Or sound off in the comments below!

"Hackpacking: Hacks for travellers" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

What is gained in travel that cannot be secured by staying home, reading books, and watching films?

Why travel? Because we have to. Is travel self-indulgent? Absolutely. Well, maybe.

Travel, to paraphrase France Mayes, is a bit of a paradox. It is at once both self-indulgent and self-obliterating.

Although self-indulgence is governed by unrestrained appetite, travel isn’t simply about desire and it’s not entirely motivated by pleasure. Of course, we travel because we find joy and pleasure in it, but we travel because it is transcendent. That is, travel is at once both difficult and pleasurable.

“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves” wrote Pico Iyer in his essay Why we Travel ”and we travel, next, to find ourselves.”

What is gained in travel that cannot be secured by staying home, reading books, and watching films? Kathryn and I believe that one of the most important aspects of travelling is a greater understanding of the place one calls home—and the understanding that surfaces in interactions with other people and cultures. This juxtaposition of beliefs and ideals elevates one’s awareness. And it’s this heightened awareness that provides one with greater insight into their place in the world.

Tanya Shaffer (author of Somebody’s Heart is Burning: A Woman Wanderer in Africa) writes:

“I’m so intrigued by other cultures—when I’m traveling away from home I get more insight into my own life and culture as well, just by contrast, and by that alertness of mind that sort of comes to me like a drug when I’m out of the country. I find that the freedom of anonymity tends to propel me into interesting situations.”

Hence, travelers are both outward looking—aware of the country to which they are foreign, their place in the space of crowds, the reactions of local residents—and inward looking, forever seeking that place where they  are able to connect to something bigger than themselves. At any moment, they are one and the other. Travel, indeed, is a bit of a contradiction.

Why do you travel? To get away, to explore, to feel alive? Feel free to let us know in the comment stream below. At the same time, the New York Times has a great set of pictures and stories about why people are motivated to travel.

"Is travel self-indulgent?" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

The backpacker must readily and easily be able to make quick decisions in response to changeable events and unexpected circumstances.

Change is a constant companion to the backpacker. Hence, the key to long-term success on the road is often the ability to adapt. “Adapt to the pace of nature,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson “her secret is patience.”

As a backpacker, being patient, flexible and resourceful is an advantage. It’s well understood that you will experience day-to-day difficulties, delays and frustrations in the course of your travels; because you’ve chosen to travel long-term, chances are you’re likely to face adversity. The greater your flexibility and resourcefulness, however, the greater your ability to put yourself in accord with changing circumstances while on the road.

Adaptable travellers accept change as inevitable and exciting and in so doing, remain agile and flexible in the face of constant change. In short, they necessarily display a high tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. As a backpacker and long-term traveler, you must be prepared to make compromises and to adjust to changing circumstances.

Spontaneous, long-term travel involves confronting the unknown on an almost daily basis, where the information you have at hand is patchwork or often incomplete. It goes without saying that what’s around the next bend in the road will be difficult to predict and yet choices must often be made promptly and decisively.

Some backpackers relish the excitement and opportunity presented by these unknowns and can expose themselves to unnecessary risks—as happened to me in Vietnam (check out my post entitled Down and Out: Scammed in Ho Chi Minh City). On the other hand, some people are paralyzed by a lack of certainty and fail to act decisively. They prefer an itinerary devoid of spontaneity and risk (see our recent piece entitled Round the world in 29 days? No thanks!). The sweet spot, of course, is somewhere in the middle, where the traveller rises to the challenge and deals with uncertainty by taking rational, measured risks.

Weighing risk, of course, is difficult if a traveler suffers from a lack of information. However, other resources can be brought to bear on their situation, such as instinct and imagination. Hence, the longer one spends on the road, the better prepared they will be to adapt.

The veteran backpacker is aware that as events unfold and the outcome becomes clearer, their plans may require modification. Of course, making a decisive choice when necessary without knowing the big picture or having all the facts at hand can be stressful.

The backpacker, therefore, must readily and easily be able to make quick decisions in response to changeable events and unexpected circumstances. He or she must be able to effectively adjust their plans or priorities to deal with variable situations.

As a backpacker you should keep in mind that things rarely present themselves in black or white. With this awareness you should refuse to be paralyzed by indecision or uncertainty. Indeed, change is a constant companion when on the road.

"Adapting to Change on the Road" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

Can the life of a vagabond be reconciled with that of a homeowner?

Can the life of a vagabond be reconciled with that of a homeowner? Even a consummate vagabond like the “good gray poet” Walt Whitman was himself a homeowner, owning just one residence in his lifetime—a two-story frame house he purchased in 1884 for US$1,750, (located in Camden, New Jersey). While it’s impossible to view Whitman apart from his life as a vagabond, he accepted at any rate the recognized conventions of home ownership.

Beyond the scope of this article is the age-old question: Am I better off renting or buying a house? Although we are homeowners, we’re still not sure. Home ownership, like everything else, is a matter of personal choice. People born in the 1960s or earlier had the idea of home ownership drilled into them, ie to be a real person you had to own your home. Today, that’s not necessarily true. We bought. It was the right move at the right time—as far as we were concerned.

This post was written for the homeowner currently faced with the prospect of long-term travel and presently struggling with the decision to rent or to sell—or those looking for other alternatives. We’re currently consideration all of our options. And while we haven’t yet reached a decision, it’s certainly raised a lot of questions. That being said, we’re unlikely at this time to sell. We believe that the short-term cost of renting out our primary residence, or even leaving it unrented for six months or a year, might pay off in the end. What we mean here is that the cost of selling or renting a house may not be simply monetary. But there will be a costs—time, worry, and hassle. These can have financial impacts further down the line, too. The home we bought just a few years ago has sizeably appreciated (we’ve been lucky through this downturn owing to the fact that we live in a desirable area). Selling now will lock in some good gains and free us to travel; however, we could be priced out of the market upon our return.

Here are some important factors that are worthy of consideration:

• Do you have adequate funds? Are all options open to you? Can your cash flow sustain renting, selling or leaving your home vacant?
• How will your choice will affect your cash position?
• How willing and able you are to manage a rental property?

When it comes to balancing the pros and cons of renting, selling or leaving your home vacant—one guiding principle remains true. You can rarely realize both cost savings and a high level of security—without paying for it. The premium is lowered, of course, if you sacrifice one for the other.

Whatever your motivation, it’s important to have a healthy grasp of the financial issues at play when weighing this decision. While we don’t provide a comprehensive list, here are some things you need to consider.

Costs associated with selling

Selling your home can be an expensive proposition, if you list your home with a realtor, expect to pay 4–6% of the home’s sale price. Transfer taxes, property taxes and legal fees associated with the closing of the sale will comprise ~2–4% of your sale price. Furthermore, the remaining principal balance on your current mortgage will have to be paid down upon closing. Hence, if there’s a prepayment penalty, you’ll need to deduct that from your sale price. Even with these simple back-of-the envelope calculations, you can see how the costs of selling a home can quickly mount.

Costs associated with renting

Consider the total cost of maintaining your place while you are abroad. This includes mortgage payments, utilities, maintenance, yard work, repairs and any professional services you might require—these could potentially include property management, accounting help and lawyer fees. If, like us, you’re considering renting out your primary residence, you’ll also have to decide whether to rent it furnished or unfurnished. If you leave furniture, be prepared for it to be damaged or, at the minimum, show some wear. If you are planning to rent it unfurnished, you’ll have to consider the costs of a paid storage facility.

Cost of leaving a home vacant

While we had initially dismissed the idea as unfeasible, we’re quickly warming up to the idea of neither selling nor renting. While the costs of leaving a home vacant aren’t negligible, there are many benefits to consider. You can avoid the expenses related to selling and the complications arising from renting. Furthermore, in a low interest-rate environment holding onto a house is a decent way to build wealth. Low mortgage rates mean that paying off your mortgage is a guaranteed, risk-free return. Of course, you can invest in safer investments like bonds and dividend paying stocks, but rarely will you earn a higher return on these types of investments than the interest rate you pay on your mortgage.

Of course, there is some downside to consider. For instance, an unattended home is a prime target for burglars or vandals and most household insurance policies offer only limited coverage if your home is not checked regularly while you are away. Luckily, there are a number of property management services that can help.

Consider hiring a management company

Regardless of whether you decide to rent or to sell, when you add up the responsibilities, there’s much to be said for hiring a professional. Going this route will cost you about 8–10% of the rent you collect (or the mortgage you pay). Depending on your agreement with your property manager, they could take care of everything related to the property—from putting it on the market and screening your tenants to collecting rent, maintaining the property and even taking care of your mortgage.

Conclusion

Although we are still weighing the benefits of home ownership, we are concerned with the prospect of selling our house outright. For example, if were to sell the house, we would be unable to refinance or borrow against the equity of our old home for the purchase of a new one. Moreover, securing a mortgage might prove difficult owing to the unemployment (or underemployment) brought on by travelling. As we intend to return to the same area in the future, we face the risk of being priced out of the market if we were to sell.

It would therefore make sense to rent our home. At the same time, we’re concerned with the upkeep of the property, the screening of prospective tenants and moving our belongings into storage. Weighing the total expected costs against the total expected benefits of each of these decisions, we’re warming up to the idea of finding somebody to stay at our house and to take care of everything while we’re gone. The challenge, however, is finding somebody we can trust. Friends? Perhaps, but we feel uncomfortable asking our friends to shoulder such a burden. Relatives? Possibly, but that option might not be available to us. We’re also considering the myriad number of options online that have sprung up in recognition of the need to provide services where homeowners can locate a reliable housesitter.

At issue of course, is how our choice will affect our cash position while travelling. We’ll approach the cost of carrying our residence as an incremental loss while we are away. Bottom line, we’ll likely consider such an incremental loss as simply an additional cost of a unique trip. Of course, as always—we’re open to suggestions!

"Rent or Sell? The Optimal Decision for Homeowners Turned Vagabonds" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

Photo by l1mey (Creative Commons)

Recently, on Brave New Traveler, Ross Tabak asked if we could “assert that luxury and life-changing travel are generally opposite to each other?” Tabak makes the case that they are antithetical and cautions: “if we begin to blur the lines between everyday comfort and eye-opening experiences, we stand to lose the most important aspect of travel”—which he asserts is its transformative power.

While I commend Tabak for the courage to wade into the murky pool of the “tourist/traveler” debate (don’t worry, Ross, you have good company), I do take issue with his conclusion. In my opinion, hardship and adversity aren’t the primary agents of transformation offered by travel. Instead, I believe that these transformative properties owe more to the power of juxtaposition than, say, exertion. Juxtaposition implies contrast and contrast surprises. And it’s these surprising relationships that engender new questions, new ideas and new associations. The bringing about of these new ideas is part of the work and nature of travel.

Contrast and juxtaposition aren’t solely the domain of backpackers; if anything a jaded backpacker is less likely to be “moved” by travel than a wide-eyed novice that’s on his first packaged excursion. Let’s face it, backpackers—and I count myself among them—haven’t cornered the market on insight. And the transformative power of travel isn’t necessarily forged in the furnace of worry and hardship.

Now, I think it’s admirable that Tabak is examining travel styles in terms of the social worlds of their producers, but he fails to make his case. The truth is that the independent backpacker and the urbane flashpacker can co-exist. In fact, they have an obligate relationship with one another—the collective identity of the backpacker set presupposes the luxury traveler. It’s the age-old argument of identity seen through the lens of long-term travel—the ‘traveller’ relies on the ‘tourist’ to define their own identity. You can’t have one without the other.

While Tabak points towards this, he ultimately asserts that the more complete experience of the ‘traveller’ is somehow redemptive. The truth of the matter is that growth and insight are attainable for anyone who opens their eyes. It’s not the tour group that’s the problem; it’s the clinging to the tour group. Authentic travel experience does not require you to rush out to your local co-op and get fitted with a backpack—unless you want to. What it does require, however, is for you to leave your preconceptions behind, whether you leave them at a 150 baht/night guesthouse or the Westin is immaterial.

"Inspiration without perspiration?" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

Saving for a round-the-world trip is not something that most people can do in short order, but it can be done if you choose to make it a priority

This post is part of a series of articles focusing on personal finances for a round-the-world trip; however, the savings and budgeting tips herein should be of concern to anybody with an in personal finance! The series comprises the following articles: Constructing a savings plan for your travel fund, Saving For a Round-the-World Trip and Budgeting for the return home. Have any budgeting or savings tips that didn’t make the lists herein? Please contact us!

After more than a few requests, today’s post will focus on the tips we employ for keeping money in our wallets—and, hence, our travel fund. We’ve dished out a few savings tips here and there in the past, and also posted about paring down and keeping things simple (which also helps top up the ol’ travel fund). And since we still can’t help but cling to our pennies, we thought sharing a few more of the things that save us the most money might help our readers, too!

Be forewarned, however. If you were hoping for an easy list of small tweaks you could make in your spending to save for your round-the-world trip in a short timeframe. Sorry.

The reality is that round-the-world trips (even those constrained by low budgets) cost a lot of money. And saving for such a substantial investment in one’s self usually means making significant changes in the way one thinks about savings and the areas where one spends the most. To squirrel away enough coin for that round the-world trip, you’ll need to reduce your three largest expenditures: housing, transportation and food. Herein we include some ideas to make that possible. Moreover, we provide some food for thought that may help you to revaluate the small things you spend your money on every day.

Saving for a round-the-world trip is not something that most people can do in short order, but it can be done if you choose to make it a priority. Here’s how!

Write down your goal
A written goal represents a real commitment. Without this commitment, your savings goal remains but a dream. And dreams are easily deferred—a dream is something we would like to have happen but are unwilling to make the sacrifices necessary for their realization. Any worthwhile goal has its price! It’s next to impossible to save without measurable goals concrete goals. If you don’t have a goal, you won’t be able to measure success and you won’t be able to chart progress.

Chart your progress
Progress charts are an effective means of recording effort and improvement in savings and provide concrete evidence of progress. We’re all motivated by extrinsic reward, and since saving is a complex act that requires long-tem dedication, savings progress charts lend themselves to the element of reward and to the recording of successes. Kathryn and I chart our progress on our blog’s sidebar with ProgressFly—a handy plugin for WordPress blogs.

Pay your round-the-world trip first
If it seems like all of the money you is consumed by bills and other expenses, consider a reasonable monthly amount that you could start to save as yet another monthly bill. Paying your round-the-world trip first and treating it as another expense helps to establish saving money as a lifestyle habit. Moreover, it concretizes and legitimizes your “dream”. It may be difficult at first, but once you get in the habit, you will find it isn’t as hard as you thought. Kathryn and I automatically transfer cash on a bi-weekly basis from our chequing account to a high interest savings account. Most financial institutions should allow you to set up automatic transfers.

Drive free!
If you live in an urban centre, odds are the idea of giving up your car to save money has popped into your mind. Next to rent or mortgage expenses, the costs of running a car generally comprise the next largest monthly expense (depending on where you reside). However, it may be possible to save hundreds a month—thousands a year—simply by making the choice to go without a vehicle. Not only would it augment your RTW fund, but it would be an environmentally-friendly choice! The annual costs of running a car include insurance, gasoline, maintenance—and if you use your vehicle to travel to work—parking. According to a recent study by AAA, the cost of owning a car is approximately 52.2 cents per gallon. To put that in perspective, a new car that is driven approximately 15,000 miles per year will cost a whopping $7,823 per year. Can’t ditch your car? Check out Dave Ramsey’s Drive Free, Retire Rich for alternatives. Kathryn and I are currently reasessing our car situation—but we haven’t made a move. Yet.

Kill cable
In these leaner times, there have been a number of articles on frugality extolling the virtues of cutting costs by cancelling cable TV service. Kathryn and I cancelled our cable subscription six months ago and haven’t looked back. In the age of broadband internet access, with the myriad ways of connecting with content online, ie Hulu, Boxee, Bittorrent, cable is fast becoming an overpriced relic. We’ve been able to save ~$70 per month.

Cut the phone line
If you’re paying an exorbitant amount for landline home phone service, there are plenty of low cost alternatives to consider. For example, as mobile companies roll out all-you-can-eat calling plans, many people are ditching land lines entirely in favour of cell phones. However, ditching your landline isn’t the only way to save money. If you want to hold on to it, you can save by switching to a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service such as Vonage or Skype. These VoIP phone services are much cheaper (or absolutely free), and all you need is a broadband connection. We’ve been able to save ~$45 per month.

Drink (tap) water
This might seem obvious an obvious—and often repeated—suggested, but the costs of alternatives quickly mount. Writes Liz Pulliam Weston on MSN Money: “If you drink one bottle of soda (at $1.25 each), and your weekly consumption includes a latte ($4), an alcoholic beverage ($6) and a case of bottled water ($5), you can save more than $1,200 by drinking plain tap water—even considering the $30 you blow on a purifying pitcher.” Check out her article here.

What’s your Latte Factor?
Not unlike the prior suggestion, The Latte Factor® is perhaps a concept that isn’t foreign to you. It was coined by David Bach, author of The Automatic Millionaire. The Latte Factor® is based on the simple idea that all you need to do to build a great deal of wealth is to examine the small things you spend your money on every day and see whether you could redirect that spending to yourself. Using his example, saving the average cost of a daily latte and a muffin properly over the course of five years and investing at a 10% rate of return yields $30,727 dollars in five years—more than enough to sustain someone travelling the globe for a year! For more information, check out the Latte Factor® at Finish Rich.

Now, we’re not advocating a spartan lifestyle—it’s okay to occasionally indulge in life’s pleasures, but we believe that, with some tweaks to your daily routine you can begin to make that dream deferred into an achievable goal. Of course, saving more doesn’t have to be a drag. There are plenty of ways to continue to do the things you like to do at a lower cost. Share your best ideas below!

"Saving For a Round-the-World Trip" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

A key component of achieving savings goals is planning.

This post is part of a series of articles focusing on personal finances for a round-the-world trip; however, the savings and budgeting tips herein should be of concern to anybody with an in personal finance! The series comprises the following articles: Constructing a savings plan for your travel fund, Saving For a Round-the-World Trip and Budgeting for the return home. Have any budgeting or savings tips that didn’t make the lists herein? Please contact us!

Adhering to the principles of some of our favourite personal finance blogs, we have come to realize that a key component of achieving savings goals is planning. Not unlike planning a round-the-world itinerary, saving for travel is a dynamic process that requires regular monitoring and reevaluation.

In general, a comprehensive savings plan has five steps:

Assessment. Here you must hold your proposed itinerary up to the glaring light of your financial situation. Once you have a general idea of your proposed trip’s day-to-day expenses (consult this handy round-the-world travel budget calculator) and the time you would like to spend abroad, you’ll need to compile a personal income statement that lists personal income and expenses. In our case, Kathryn and I have decided that a year is the perfect amount of time to challenge ourselves; it’s a period short enough to envision an end goal but long enough to be significantly challenging to keep up with over the long-term.

Setting goals. In our case, we wanted to have enough money to finance a trip around the world. At the same time, we had a timeframe—the only thing that we’re committed to thus far is a departure date. It is not uncommon for a savings plan to comprise several goals, some short-term and some long-term. Hence, we’re also hoping to put away enough money to sustain us for at least three months upon our return and, furthermore, enough money to cover the incidentals of renting our house and/or leaving it with a housesitter.

Creating a savings plan. The savings plan details how to accomplish your goals. It could include, for example, reducing unnecessary expenses and/or increasing one’s income in order to meet or exceed a savings target. Kathryn and I have concentrated on reducing our expenses in order to sustain a savings rate of ~40% of our net income. We’ve been able to maintain this rate now for ~12 months. It hasn’t been easy!

Execution. Execution of a savings plan often requires discipline and perseverance—what we like to refer to as stick-to-itiveness. We’ve found that sticking to a savings plan is easier if you can make it habitual. Sure, we struggled at the outset but with a little creativity and courage, it’s likely that we’ll reach and surpass our goals.

Monitoring and reassessment. As time passes, one’s plan must be monitored for possible adjustments. You cannot take chances by being too aggressive or too conservative at the wrong stages. You have only a limited time to accomplish your goals, and your must be sure to allocate your savings properly. What you really want is assurance that your money will be there when you’re ready to start globetrotting. So we’re pretty much talking about funneling your savings into money market accounts, short-term CDs and perhaps a bit in ultra-short-term bond funds. Kathryn and I are investigating our options, but are presently holding our travel fund in a ‘high interest’ savings account—although the return is paltry. Remember though, when it comes to your travel fund, the rule is stability first, return second. And, actually, with low (or declining) inflation, the current returns aren’t as bad as they appear.

After more than a few requests, our next post will focus on the tips we employ for keeping money in our wallets—and, hence, our travel fund. We’ve dished out a few saving tips here and there in the past, and also posted about paring down and keeping things simple (which also helps top up the ol’ travel fund). And since we still can’t help but cling to our pennies, we thought sharing a few more of the things that save us the most money might help our readers too! Stay Check it out here!

Further reading

• Million Dollar Journey: Educational articles regarding personal finance and investing
• Saving for Travel: Outlines a simple, step-by-step, common-sense approach to saving for travelling. No scams. No get-rich-quick schemes. Just a tried and tested approach written by a budget backpacker for other backpackers.

"Constructing a savings plan for your travel fund" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

How much should one budget for the return home?

This post is part of a series of articles focusing on personal finances for a round-the-world trip; however, the savings and budgeting tips herein should be of concern to anybody with an in personal finance! The series comprises the following articles: Constructing a savings plan for your travel fund, Saving For a Round-the-World Trip and Budgeting for the return home. Have any budgeting or savings tips that didn’t make the lists herein? Please contact us!

Readjusting to life in the ‘real world’ upon your return home from a long time abroad can be a difficult transition. While there are plenty of things to look forward to—your family, your friends—fiscal matters may weigh on your mind. You may face a job search and/or debt (not to mention a strong draw back to the open road). Planning for your return, however, may help you to mitigate some of the concern—and a proper budget will help to sustain you while you readjust.

So, how much should one budget for the return home? It’s a question often asked and the advice is disparate. Advice on the BootsnAll message boards ranges from none through to use a line of credit to plan accordingly—and all points in between!

You’ve probably heard the rule of thumb about keeping enough money to cover three months of living expenses in your account at all times as an ‘emergency fund’. That’s sage advice, and a good rule of thumb to accomodate a return home from a round-the-world trip.

Kathryn and I are doing just that. Our travel savings is actually a ‘basket’ of funds comprising money for our the trip (50%), funds for our return (30%) and money for expenses relating to our house (20%—if we neither sell nor rent, of course).

But how much money does one truly need? Three months is a good start, but in practice you need to consider your circumstances a little more deeply to arrive at an amount that offers you an appropriate level of comfort and protection. Of course, there is a wide range of suggestions out there for how much should be saved. Ultimately, you have to choose an amount that you’re comfortable with and that fits you particular situation.

To help plan for your return, here are some questions to ask of yourself:

Do you own a home? Do you rent? Is there someone you can shack up with upon your return? Can you suck up your pride for a few months and return home to live with your parents if that option is available to you? According to most financial gurus, your mortgage/rent usually comprises ~30% of your net income. That means a free place to crash instantly raises your income by 30%.

Do you have dependents? How many people rely on your income—directly or indirectly. Of course, the fewer people who depend on your income, the less you can safely get by with.

Upon your return, how long might it take for you to return to work? Do you work in a niche industry? Is your skillset in high demand or regressing towards obsolesence? Do you have specialized skills that are portable across industries, or are your skills so focused that finding the right fit will take a while? Evaluate your ability to market yourself and if you find it lacking, take steps to improve it—perhaps through additional classes or training.

Can you generate an income on your own, ie are your entrepenurial? If you had difficulty finding work upon your return, could you work on contract for a former employer? Do you have skills that could be used to freelance?

How flexible are you? Are you willing to relocate for a job if necessary? Willing to ask, “would you like fries with that?” These considerations are likely to have a significant impact on your return funds and should be factored into the savings equation.

How much credit do you have access to? Of course, covering your return home with credit is not suggested. However, a line of credit could help you in the event of an emergency. Of course, this is not a very good financial strategy, as an emergency is the wrong time to get in debt!

Where to keep ‘funds for your return’

As you build your funds for your return, keep these funds safe and liquid in a high-interest savings account or a money market account. Once you’ve assembled your return fund, you might want to consider adding additional money. Consider a secure place (rather than investing in the stock market). You would do well to consider a Certificate of Deposit (CD) from your bank. A CD is a special type of deposit account with a bank or thrift institution that typically offers a higher rate of interest than a regular savings account.

Let’s face it—now that you are home certainly doesn’t mean that you are going to remain there in perpetuity. Indeed, there’s an additioal benefit to planning for your return—it will enable you to consider leaving on your next round-the-world trip even sooner!

"Budgeting for the return home" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

This post is part of a series of articles focusing on travel safety for the long-term traveler; however, they should be of interest to travelers of any stripe! The series, entitled ‘Travelling Safely’ comprises Antidotes to Fear, Before You Go, Urban Bright—City Safety Tips, Tips for a Safe Night’s Sleep, and Personal Safety Products. Have any tips that didn’t make the lists herein? Please contact us!

When traveling long-term, you should remain ever-vigilant, trust in your intuition and heed common sense. Included here are a number of products that will help to make your personal safety a top priority—or at least provide you with peace of mind. We adhere to the belief that travelers should do what they can to decrease their victim potential and by that, they must learn what measures they can take to reduce crime victimization. At the same time, we believe that fear and anxiety shouldn’t stifle your desire to go far away and meet new people! 

None of the products below should serve to replace vigilance—the ability to remain alertly watchful especially to avoid danger. The importance of vigilance while travelling independently cannot be overstated. No government, organization, or gadget can take the place of an alert, ever vigilant backpacker. Check out our article from our Travelling Safely series—“Travelling Safely: Antidotes to Fear”.

Of course, no gadget can take the place of an alert, ever vigilant backpacker. And arguments can be made as to their necessity. Rather than weigh your pack down with the above items, you might want to consider ‘security through obscurity’. In his book First Time Around the World, A Trip Planner for the Ultimate Journey Doug Lansky suggests:

Show that you don’t have much to steal—or that you have less than other potential targets… consider disguising your pack. The small padlocks and wire mesh pack-covers will do little to prtect your pack, but they will draw attebtion to the value of its contents. Plastic rice bags are easy to find, dirt cheap decreased the perceived value of the pack’s contents, and make great rain covers. Cut two slits for your shoulder straps, then sew or use duct tap to fasten.

Regardless of what methods you employ, the best way to avoid surprises is to be prepared!

Add-A-Lock portable door lock.

 Add-A-Lock. The Add-A-Lock is a portable door lock that provides added security, safety and privacy—as well as peace of mind—while you are in. It installs in seconds without tools in almost any door. Read more about it from the manufacturer’s website or buy it at Amazon.

Security Plus personal travel alarm.

Security Plus personal travel alarm. Walkabout Travel offers the Security Plus Personal Travel Alarm. It is small and lightweight yet emits a screeching 130 decibels when the trigger pin is pulled. Designed to clip to belt, purse, or clothing, the manufacturer recommends carrying it when wandering about—just in case. The alarm can also be rigged to your pack or suitcase so the pin is pulled and the alarm screams when your luggage is moved. Even better, the Security Plus Personal Travel Alarm comes with a clip that attaches to any door or window, and triggers the alarm if the door or window is opened. Very small and lightweight—three ounces without battery. Read more about it at Walkabout Travel Gear.

WedgeGuard doorstop alarm

WedgeGuard doorstop alarm. Provides break-in protection and a surprisingly loud (ultra-high 120 db) alarm. Provides both entry or vibration activation of alarm and also provides extra protection by serving as a wedge stop. Works on any door—no tools or installation required—and uses a standard 9V battery—available worldwide. If this thing trips accidently in the middle of the evening, you’ll have some explaning to do to the rest of your fellow hostellers! Read more about it at Walkabout Travel Gear or buy one at Amazon.

Pac Safe's TravelSafe

Pac Safe’s TravelSafe. The lightweight TravelSafe folds small and is easy to take with you whenever you need to lock and leave your valuables. The TravelSafe is especially handy for securing your valuables in your suitcase or hotel room. It is a lightweight, malleable and portable ‘safe’ for your valuables which can lock closed and lock to a secure fixture. The TravelSafe cinches and locks closed using an integrated, high-tensile stainless steel cable with padlock and locking device. Read about it at the manufacturer’s website or buy one at Amazon.

Travel smoke detector, personal alarm, and LED flashlight in one.

Travel smoke detector, personal alarm, and LED flashlight in one. FlareSafe is an essential piece of kit for today’s global traveller, keeping you protected and prepared wherever in the world you find yourself. FlareSafe weighs only 200 grams and uses the latest LED technology to ensure you are carrying the most reliable personal safety device available. Read about it at the manufacturer’s website or check it out at Amazon.

The Pacsafe Anti-Theft backpack & bag protector

The Pacsafe Anti-Theft Backpack & Bag Protector. The Pacsafe Anti-Theft Backpack & Bag Protector features eXomesh® Ultimate technology. It is simply an adjustable high-tensile stainless steel locking device, designed to cover and protect a variety of bags and packs from tampering, pilfering and theft. Throw it around your pack, secure it to something fixed and get on with your adventure. Four sizes mean there is one to fit almost every type of backpack. Read more about them at the manufacturer’s website or buy one at Amazon!

Secure TSA-approved 3-dial cable lock

PacSafe ProSafe—secure TSA-approved 3-dial cable lock. The ProSafe has a flexible steel cable that is designed to fit openings that other locks and zippers have a hard time closing due to the design of the bag or case. The flexible steel cable is rubber coated to protect the item or the case which is locked. This combination lock is a Travel Sentry® approved lock, which is recognized and accepted by the Transport Security Administration (TSA) in all US commercial airports. The Travel Sentry® logo alerts TSA agents that they can open your lock and relock it using codes and secured tools during inspection. Each ProSafe lock has a special key port that will only fit airport-issued TSA master keys. Read more about it at the manufacturer’s website or buy one through Amazon.

Conclusion

If you have any additional safety products that you feel should find their way into a backpacker’s rucksack before departure, please don’t hesitate to share them with us in the comment stream!

"Travelling Safely: Personal Safety Products" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!

Bottom line—if you know the risks before you check in, you can be prepared for any situation

This post is part of a series of articles focusing on travel safety for the long-term traveler; however, they should be of interest to travelers of any stripe! The series, entitled ‘Travelling Safely’ comprises Antidotes to Fear, Before You Go, Urban Bright—City Safety Tips, Tips for a Safe Night’s Sleep, and Personal Safety Products. Have any tips that didn’t make the lists herein? Please contact us!

A hostel is a great way to share accommodation with like-minded travelers from around the world. However, many people are apprehensive about hostels because they have concerns regarding personal safety and security. However, there are many hostels take security as seriously as do hotels; in fact, it can be harder to sneak into some places compared with the larger chain hotels. At the same time, it pays to check out your hostels in advance—as there are likely as many potentially dangerous places, where safety, security and sanitation are questionable.

So, to answer the question—are hostels safe? The answer is “yes—and no”. For the simple fact that safety is not quantifiable in a hostel, there will be some dangers. However, most of them are avoidable. Bottom line—if you know the risks before you check in, you can be prepared for any situation.

Fire

Every year over 1,000 people globally are involved in hostel/hotel fires on their travels, of which 50–100 perish. It’s an alarming statistic. However, in light of the fact that there were over 922 million international tourist arrivals in 2008, it’s statistically unlikely that you would ever be involved in a fire while abroad. Regardless, fires in hostels and guesthouses are a very real danger when travelling. Of course, warnings are not meant to induce paranoia, but fire safety is certainly something of which backpackers should be aware.

Tom Griffiths, founder of gapyear.com, the UK’s largest online gap year community says:

“On my first gap year at 18 I stayed in numerous death-trap hostels around the world, many had only one exit onto the street and burglar bars on the windows that would have stopped me getting out in a fire. Some also stacked bunk beds and junk against fire exits and other hostels were made of wood and thatch that burn very quickly once alight. It scares me to think that I stayed in so many dangerous hostels without giving this a consideration and more importantly, had no real basic knowledge of what to do in a fire. 15 years on, many of these hostels still exist; many others are worse still and the typical ‘It won’t happen to me’ backpacker attitude remains. Luckily fires are rare, but when they hit, like in Childers in 2000, they kill many.

Click here to view and/or download a Tom Griffiths’ ‘Backpacker Hostel Fire Safety Guide’. The bottom line is—if you know what to do and take some minor precautions, you are likely to survive. SD Rios, over on Helium, offers the following advice upon checking into a hostel:

• Locate the emergency exits and know what to do in case of a fire or other emergency.
• Lack of fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, alarms, notices, emergency ‘route maps’ or fire exits blocked with beds, junk and storage are sufficient cause to consider alternative arrangements.
• Don’t be embarrassed to decline a room if the condition leaves something to be desired!

Hostel safety tips

Keep in mind that, for the most part, violence and theft is relatively uncommon in hostels. Regardless, it does happen. So common sense dictates keeping valuables and important documents in your possession at all times—or locked up. Use the hostel locker or safe that is on your room to lock items at night.

Below we outline a few of the more relevant and interesting tips that Kathryn and I have happened across in the course of our research.

• The card is key! If possible, try to find a hostel with has installed modern electronic guest room locks—more common in Europe’s larger cities—but not so common in Asia and South America. “The majority of these locks automatically change the lock combination with every new guest so there is little chance of someone having a duplicate key to your room.” (Source).
• Use a door wedge. “When inside your room, use a door wedge when sleeping or in the shower. This may seem somewhat paranoid, but in some cities in Europe, hotel burglars have been know to frequent hotels that use standard metal room keys that are easy to obtain. Unfortunately many hotels do not change the locks to the doors when the keys are lost. Employing a door wedge will keep out would-be robbers by sounding an alarm.” (Source).
• Bring your own combination lock. “About half of the hostels you encounter will have some pretence at security, either through a key that locks the flimsy excuse for a door to your room or a lock that will secure your valuables in their plastic play-skool style lockers. These are inadequate to say nothing of the fact that the other 50% of hostels don’t even make an effort at providing security.” (Source).
• Small is good. Look for a small hotel/hostel where the staff will recognise their guests. (Source).
• Prepare alternatives. “When researching what safe hostel to stay in, it is best to make a list of any other hostels nearby which meet your expectations. This is just in case the hostel you are at does not satisfy your safety concerns you have another address to go to. Its better to pay twice for a night if you’re assured of being in a safe hostel.” (Source).
• Don’t get too high. “Select a room located between the fourth and sixth floor. Avoid rooms above the sixth floor—the maximum height that fire department ladders can reach—some fire departments overseas, and within the US, are not equipped to reach above the sixth floor.” (Source).

The Golden Rule of attaining a good night’s sleep regardless of location? Be aware—but don’t be paranoid. No matter where in the world you find yourself, these simple and common sense precautions will help to prevent you from becoming a victim! If we haven’t said this enough—the best way to avoid surprises is to be prepared!

If you have any additional safety precautions that should be undertaken before, during, or after checking in to a hostel or guesthouse, please don’t hesitate to share them with us in the comment stream!

"Travelling Safely: Tips for a Safe Night’s Sleep" is a post from Two Go Round-The-World. Join Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip! Ready to dive in? Click here for a few easy ways to stay connected with us!