I've moved...

I've moved!  You can still find great posts about travel and everything else you have come to expect from The Rough Guide to a Lonely Planet at ---> http://roughguidetoalonelyplanet.com/

Please remember to LIKE and Share The Rough Guide to a Lonely Planet's Facebook Page too ---> www.facebook.com/TRGTALP

A huge thank you to everyone who has enjoy posts here.  I hope you will please join me in my new home!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Why I Blog About Travel...

MikeW checking out Ljubljana! (source - MikeW)

After two years of blogging about travel, I have realised I am writing in an overcrowded part of the Internet.  Blogs about travel, independent travel, budget travel and backpacking are numerous.  Many of those writing have established their space on the web longer than The Rough Guide to a Lonely Planet and have reached further around the globe than I can possibly hope to do at this current moment in time.  So, why do I choose to write about travel when there are thousands of others doing very much the same?  The simple answer...I like it!  Travel and experiencing other places are a genuine passion of mine and I love to share this with others.  As I have written about before (The Art of Travel Blogging), I do not like to scribe trip reports for you as I find, on the whole, reading other peoples' similar blog posts dull and incredibly self-indulgent.  And, besides, so many people can write these types of posts better than I ever could.

Am I hoping for a press trip?  Are the 'Rough Guide', 'Lonely Planet' or a national newspaper going to beat down my door so they can fly me out to South Africa, tasked with a 2500 report on wine trips to the Stellenbosch?  Of course not!  I am utterly and completely realistic about the potential for this to happen.  It just isn't going to!  So many other bloggers out there have a larger following, a more regular readership and seemingly write more than I can on a more frequent basis.  Is the hope that I can make this a full time job?  If only!  A pipe dream at best.  Even those that write about travel full time report that pay is low and can often be disproportionate to the work and effort involved.

So, if I am not doing this for the 'free' trips or to earn a crust, my objective is clear.  I am here to inspire YOU!  To encourage you to travel.  To see the world.  To break free.  To explore.  To take that adventure.  To set sail.  Do it!  Then, one day you might decide to inspire others with your writing too!

Happy travels!

PS - If there are any rich benefactors or wealthy patrons out there with money to burn...you know where I live! ;)

TRGTALP Takes Off on Facebook!

In an attempt to reach a wider audience, I have decided to set up a Facebook page for The Rough Guide to a Lonely Planet.  The aim of the page is not only to get some more people reading and interacting with the regular readers, but to also spread the word about solo budget travel.

Click the link below - then, please LIKE the page and SHARE it with your Facebook friends, so they too can read all the goings on, inspiration and travel advice that you enjoy here at The Rough Guide to a Lonely Planet!

https://www.facebook.com/TRGTALP

See you there!

The Art of Travel Blogging

Tweet me this! (source - fanpop.com)

As a relative newbie to travel blogging, having only written the posts for The Rough Guide to a Lonely Planet (TRGTALP) for just over a year, I am truly fascinated by the different styles of blogs that exists and what piques the interest of those who love to read about travel.  I am also confused at what some travel bloggers constitute of interest to the reading public.  The aim of TRGTALP has always, and always will be, a blog aimed at inspiring people to travel as well as offering advice to the hearty (mostly budget) traveller.

As a traveller myself, I really enjoy reading blogs and websites that provide their readers with useful hints on where to travel, how to travel and information on successfully navigating the tricky elements of soon to be explored destinations.  I am therefore, confused to find a large section of travel blogging community offering their readers posts that merely act as an extended, detailed itinerary-based report of their trip to a particular destination.  These self-indulgent 'trip report' style posts often follow a particular theme such as an experience of the writer's morning watching a local folk dance in Turkey or a mundane day-to-day run through of every aspect of their year exploring the world.  They are also usually accompanied by the writer posting several photos, on Twitter and Instagram, of their latest cocktail or a glass of vino in their said destination.  I am led to believe, from reading the comments attached to such posts and seeing the following many of these bloggers receive on Twitter and Facebook that they are very popular with readers.

Personally, I do not get it!  What benefit is this kind of travel literature to the readers other than a chance to ram it in their face by saying, 'I travel lots!  My life is fabulous!'  Do the readers perhaps enjoy travelling vicariously with the writer?  For me, it borders on insulting.  Harsh, I know.  But to assume that people want to read about YOUR holiday is just odd!  The bland minutiae found within these 'trip report' posts, I find mind-numbingly dull; bringing me to the key point of this post...I DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT YOUR HOLIDAY!  I am thrilled you had a fabulous trip to Munich, but I could not care less about all the things you visited, the copious beer steins you drunk and the amount of sausage you ate on your visit.  Aside from the literary merits of these banal posts and blogs, I do not get the point of them.  As a traveller, I believe people want help and advice to allow them to create their own experiences and I enjoy my travel largely for my own sake; not because it will make an 'interesting' blog post.  In addition to this, reading about someone else's trip acts as a spoiler to your own visit there and could possibly ruin any surprises you might have otherwise enjoyed.  The trips I take are often referred to in blog posts, here at TRGTALP, but only to root any help, advice and inspiration I want to offer my readers, not help them to create a carbon copy of my trip.

Of course, from time to time, I (or my wonderful guest posters) may write about destinations that have impressed, but I can assure you I will not be boring you with my 3 day blow-by-blow trip to Valencia or with posts that write at great length about days 1-6, 7-12 and 13-15 of my backpacking adventure around Vietnam.  What The Rough Guide to a Lonely Planet will provide you with is inspiration and help to give YOU the opportunity to explore destinations YOURSELF as part of YOUR own adventure.

One thing, before I go...just remember to include @TRGTALP in your Tweeted picture of that holiday cocktail!

Happy and safe travels!

Happy Birthday TRGTALP!

Mmm, cake! (Source - twobirdiesandab.blogspot.com)

I can barely believe it, my little treasure has turned one year old!  After 37 posts, 28 comments, 1 follower and almost 6000 pageviews; The Rough Guide to a Lonely Planet has come of age!  What I genuinely cannot believe is the amount of people who find my writing worthy of their precious time and that some of the readers of TRGTALP actually enjoy it...and even come back for more!

Highlights, so far, have been the awesome comments people have taken the time to write about their travel experiences and the inspiration that they have taken from my blog.  As well as, the Saturday evening my blog post about Stockholm retweeted by the Swedish Tourist Board, that resulted in TRGTALP pageviews going through the roof!  To those commenters, retweeters and readers, I am especially thankful!

So, this is my opportunity to raise a glass of bubbly to what is one of the most enjoyable things I do these days...inspiring you to travel.  This blog has never really been about me (though, it can often sound like that some times).  The main aim has always and always will be to use my experiences to get you out into the wider world.  Get out there, travel, see and experience this wonderful world around you...even if that means breaking out alone.

Here's to the next year!  Happy travels, people!

The Stockholm Syndrome

Swedish meatballs! (Source: briska.co.uk) 

Later this year, I am taking a trip with friends.  Travelling with friends is always great fun.  I have done it several times in the past and, on many occasions, with the very same friends I am taking this trip with too.  We are heading to Stockholm, capital city of the sickeningly beautiful Swedes!  It was my idea; having read a bit about the Scandinavian city recently and further fuelled by the availability of some reasonably priced flights from my local airport.  So, how could I pass this great travel opportunity up?!

The thing is...I am worried that I am going to find this trip difficult.  Pretty much all of my trips since the summer of 2010 have been solo affairs.  I have gotten used to a certain way of travelling.  It has become habit for me to follow my own whim, eat what I want, when I want, where I want and at the price I want to pay too.  I see the attractions and sights I want to see, at my own pace, in my own gloriously selfish way.  And, there is the rub...me, me, me!  All my recent trips have been about me.  In Stockholm, I will have to defer to the group and what they want to do.  As I see it, I am bound by another way of deciding how I should enjoy Stockholm; the majority vote, common sense or the will of a raving madman is likely determine how I experience the home of ABBA!  Or will the trauma induced from having let the reins pass to other people, lead me to empathise with my travel 'captors' and thank them for showing me a side to travel I am not that used to; endearing me to my captors just like the psychological phenomenon named after this fair city.  I'll let you know sometime around the end of April!  I have a feeling it will be all 'bra'!

Adjö och säkra resor!

Get Out There...Explore!

Some postcards made by my class during the 'Tourism' topic!

I am a Geography teacher in a secondary school, here in the UK.  I mention my travels, and the experiences I have had on them, a fair bit in my lessons, whenever it is relevant to do so.  Occasionally a student will suggest I am "always going on about my holidays"; bragging about my trips to other countries, cultures and environments.  As I aim to do in my posts on this blog, I am very conscious that I do not tell my students these travel stories as a way of showing off either a) my wealth (which for any prospective golddiggers out there, is pretty small, by the way) or b) to somehow seem to beat someone else's equally exciting travel experiences into submission with my heavily stamped passport.  I tell the students my money does not go on attending expensive Premiership Football matches, buying Playstation and XBox games, boozing every weekend in Leeds city centre or a fast car.  I save my hard-earned pennies to spend on travel.  As previous readers are well aware, I hunt down the cheapest flight possible within a time I am free to travel to ensure that I get the best value for money from my journeys and take as many as possible within the holidays I have.  Like the readers here, I want to inspire the students I teach to travel when they are older.  To take themselves off on journeys that make them more rounded individuals; exposed to all the amazing sights and experiences this magnificent world has to offer, as well as a developing awareness of the world's problems and what impact we humans have on the planet and the environments in which we live.  My 'Henry Rollin's post' a few week's back highlights this.  To travel is not to just simply get a better understanding of the world, but I believe it is vital in helping you understand yourself better.  It is this that philosophy I am trying to get across to the students I teach.

As 'The Rough Guide to a Lonely Planet' reaches almost 1000 page views, I want to thank all the visitors to my rather self-indulgent travel blog, but hope that it has and will continue to prove to be a great source of help, advice and inspiration to all visitors.

Top Tips for Solo Travel...

MikeW going solo in Vilnius, Lithuania

Solo travel can be daunting.  I read comments on forums laced with panic from people who are about to venture on trips to South East Asia and South America all on their lonesome.  I was like that...and, to some extent can feel like that now when I travel solo (see my previous post 'Butterflies...').  I want to calm nerves, the soothing balm on your upcoming travel adventure; whether that be a week touring Eastern Europe or a year round the world.  To help me out, I canvassed the opinion of the very knowledgeable travellers who use the excellent Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum on this issue and along with some of my own experiences of solo travel, I have pulled together five hints and tips to make your solo trip not only an enjoyable one, but a very memorable one too.


1. Throw Yourself Into the Mix!
One of the scariest elements of solo travel is just that, you are solo, on your own in a place where not a single soul knows who you are.  The arrival into the hostel can be a scary thing...you are faced with a group of strangers, who have probably already bonded over the local speciality window cleaner flavoured liquor and who tell tales of wonderful things they have seen that day.  See this as an opportunity.  Be proactive and get stuck in!  Thrust your hand out, say 'Hello!  I'm [insert your name here]!' and take it from there.  I have ALWAYS had positive experiences from doing this while travelling.  Besides, the solo traveller has an advantage thanks to the fact that you are more approachable than a pair or group of travellers; most of whom will comment on how brave you are at venturing off alone.


2. Oh, So Lonely!
First, the bad news...there are going to be lonely moments when you travel.  There is no escaping it, I am afraid.  You are going to be looking out over a beach in Thailand and your thoughts will suddenly turn to home, family, friends, your pet rabbit Fluffykins and wish you were back on home soil or that all your loved ones were with you, sharing your Pad Thai.  You should be congratulated for having taken the big leap to travel alone, but to avoid bouts of loneliness you are going to need to muster up some more courage and more of that proactivity I mentioned above.  To make it easier, I highly recommend you follow the established backpacker routes for your first trip.  My first solo trip (detailed in my post 'My First Time') took in the well-trodden backpacker trails of the Australian East Coast (from Sydney to Cairns) and both the North and South Islands of New Zealand.  I met so many people, it verged on the ridiculous!  Some of the people I met on this trip have become firm friends...and provided me with great weekends away in sunny foreign climes such as Ireland and the Netherlands after I returned from my travels!  Look at your loneliness as an advantage - a moment of solitude, peace and harmony in what will be a trip where your interaction with people will almost certainly come and go as you progress through your journey.  Savour the times you have with the new friends and acquaintances you meet on the road, but also savour those times you get to reflect on the great time you are having travelling.

"You're on top tonight, Ingrid?!" (Photo - TravelPod.com)

3. Hitting the Sack...
Choose your bed for the night carefully, solo traveller!  I agree with the views of the Thorn Tree folk on this aspect of solo travel, stay in hostels.  They offer the easiest way to meet people and allow you to tailor your travel to your backpacker needs and budget.  If you are a party animal, definitely book yourself into one of the many party hostels out there.  If there is a lairy, drunken, lobster tan Brit in the picture on the hostel's website or Hostelworld/Hostelbooker's page, it is a party hostel.  If they recycle the rainwater for showers, knit the yoghurt and offer muesli (aka 'sawdust') for breakfast, you are booking yourself into a more laidback kind of place, that for someone of my age and liver capacity will, I think, provide the solo traveller with a good place to stay and the chance to meet other like-minded folk; unless, of course, your kind of like-minded folk are necking back eleven vodka Red Bulls with a Jagermeister chaser in their luridly painted hostel in quick succession!  One other thing...I loved this (very accurate) tip from one poster on the Thorn Tree, "be nice to everyone you meet in hostels as there is a good chance you will bump into them later on."  You will be surprised how many people you meet and then see again...and again...and again as you venture on your journey.


4. Embrace the Weird!
Another cast iron guarantee...you are going to meet some seriously 'interesting' people on your travels.  Do not be afraid...most do not bite and offer you a whole host of fantastic stories for your new hostel friends and at your welcome home parties back in your motherland!  Just make sure you have an exit strategy if it looks to be getting dangerous or emotionally trying.  For the latter, I can recommend, "I need the toilet!" - a place you can hide and update your Twitter and Facebook statuses with your scary/weird experience and make your friends back home howl at your travel capers.  My Aussie weirdo experiences are to be detailed in a future post...watch this space!


5. Enjoy the Flexibility...
You are a solo traveller.  This is a brilliant thing.  If you choose to, you do not have to discuss your itinerary for the day with anyone.  You can do whatever you please (with reason) and go wherever you want (within reason).  That fork in the road...it is up to you!  That ice cream or piece of cake...it is up to you...why not have both; after all you are Master/Mistress of your own travelling destiny!  Enjoy this positive aspect of your trip!


Overall, rather than see travelling solo as a negative, I always tend to view it in a more positive slant.  I figure, that I am here, albeit alone...but I am going to make the most of it.  Of course, it would be great to be here with a loved one or friends, but most of all it is important you have a fulfilling travel experience without feeling wracked by loneliness or the feeling that you cannot enjoy what the world lays before you without having someone to share it with.


I'll leave you with one final tip a colleague gave me when I left a job a few years back.  It might help you in a hostel situation - "don't sweat the petty things and certainly don't pet the sweaty things!"


Safe travels and Enjoy!