Embrace Your Fellow Traveller...

 Noodles with my Travel Friends for the Day!

As you might expect, being on the road as a solo traveller can be a lonely affair.  It doesn't have to be and it is up to you to decide what you want from your trips.  Personally, I enjoy meeting people on my travels.  As I have mentioned before, I have been lucky enough to make (what I consider) some lifelong friends from my backpacking trips.  It is a great aspect of travel that enables you to get an insight into the life of someone else from another country but to also allow you to put your own life in context and, ultimately, better understand yourself and the role your country has to play in our global village.

Schmaltzy stuff aside and looking at this in a more practical way.  Making friends on the road means that you've got someone to watch your bag while you use the toilet.  You have someone to share the costs of accommodation, transport and food with.  You have some one to beat at cards, drink local moonshine and share stories with; as well as someone to revel in the peculiarities and extraordinary moments you are bound to encounter as you both travel from place to place.  Don't get me wrong, with a positive open minded approach you'll have an amazing time on your travels if you do it solo.  But, with a friend you've got someone with which to share those special moments as well as those, lets say, hairy times we all tend to encounter on our journeys.

I've made friends in the hostel, on the free tour and from a cafe that for a number of reasons have simply been companions for the day.  The random encounter I had on a boat in Bangkok with a lovely Japanese girl, led to her and an amusing French guy (whom I have no recollection of ever being introduced to) both joining me on my explorations of the many bead and plastic carrier bag shops of the China Town area of the city.  Bizarre, but great fun; especially when we broke bread (well noodles) together at one of Bangkok's famous street stalls!  Just one look at the 20p toothpaste squeezer I bought that day instantly brings back floods of memories and laughter from four years ago.

So, my message to you, is embrace the people you meet on your journeys.  Some may become firm friends, others friends for a day, but, all will provide you with a host of memories and experiences that will almost certainly make your travels much more enjoyable.

Get Rich...Quick!

A great travel 'investment' - bathing elephants in Thailand!

Erin, an amazing Australian friend of mine (whom I met in a hostel in Dubrovnik a couple of years back), once told me a brilliant quotation that has stuck with me.  It goes, "travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer".  If you are here, reading my blog about travel, you will have probably heard it before.  If not; well, here you go.  Take it in, savour it, because it is true.  Every penny I have spent on my travels has been worth it for a number of reasons.  The people travel has enabled me to meet, the different cultures I have been lucky enough to see, the food I have been able to taste and the experiences I have had on my travels have been a superb investment.  I have these imprinted as memories for the rest of my life.  I know if I had stuffed the money I have spent on travelling in a bank account and had stayed at home, I would not be the person I am today.  I know I would certainly be poorer for it - emotionally and spiritually.  Travel has opened my eyes to a number of things about myself and others and has taught me a host of skills that I could have probably have learned elsewhere, but I am sure I had more fun learning them in the humidity of a Bangkok night market or on the back of a yacht (Tooheys in hand) in the Whitsunday Islands in Australia.  So, open your purse and wallets, splash the cash (within your means, of course) and I can guarantee your travel will pay you back tenfold.

Inspiration - That Photo...

When I'm deciding on where I want to travel, I take a lot of inspiration from photos I have seen in newspapers, magazines and on the Internet; via my day-dreaming browsing on Google and friends' Facebook photos of their travels. What grabs me is 'that photo'...the one picture where you look in awe at a place or scene that looks so magical, so unreal that you feel that you have to see it for yourself to confirm it exists. Spotting a photo of Lake Bled, in Slovenia, via Facebook, was one of the driving forces for my trip to Slovenia this year. Seeing the place for myself and swimming in the warm waters of the lake was just phenomenal.

My photo from the Ozujsko viewpoint at Lake Bled

These places are often, for me, the stand out element of any trip. So, below (as a departure from my usual ramblings) are a few of my photographs of my favourite amazing places that I hope inspire you. Please feel free to suggest some of your favourites in the comment box below.


The tiled rooftops of Dubrovnik, Croatia


Trakai, Lithuania


The beautiful Chrysler Building, New York


Budapest, Hungary

The view across to Rangitoto in Auckland, New Zealand


Dusk at Milford Sound, New Zealand
The sun setting on The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Australia


The Reichstag in Berlin, Germany


The soft sands and clear blue waters of Makriamos Beach, near Thassos Town, Greece


Angkor Wat, Cambodia


The incredible Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Islands, Australia


Le Jardin de Luxembourg in Paris, France.

Wat Mahathat in Ayutthaya, Thailand

The Battleplan!

Drawing on maps = uber organisation! (Source - The Art of Audacity)

I am tragic!  Completely and utterly sad when it comes to travelling; particularly when it comes to the planning of a trip.  I absolutely love it!  From the initial thought to the booking and organisation required, I am in my freakin' element.  To start, I usually have in my mind an idea of where I am thinking of going - as I scan my mental 'bucket list' of places I am keen to visit.  I then spend ages agonising about going...Can I afford it?  Is it a good place to visit?  Will I enjoy myself?  Will I meet people?  Along with other such important questions such as, will my prize orchid wither and die during my long weekend away?  Or, should I stay at home and finally tidy the garage?  These tricky questions are usually run roughshod by part two of the process...

...the discovery of a cheap flight!  This is often the driving force behind most of my trips...how cheap it is to get there.  I've mentioned before my tightwad, Yorkshire genetics and I want value for money on my trips, so spotting a flight on days I am available to travel and at a price that suits, sends my brain and credit card into overdrive.  I can heartily recommend the following well known websites in the hunt for that elusive cheap flight - http://www.skyscanner.net/, http://www.kayak.co.uk/, http://www.thewisemiser.co.uk/ and http://www.wegolo.com/.  I wouldn't neglect a quick price check on the airline's own website either, as they can sometimes offer the best price.

A quick side note on cashback/points collection websites.  These can provide you with even further savings on your flight purchases as well as for airport parking, travel insurance, accommodation booking and travel currency.  I tend to favour http://www.quidco.com/ and http://www.nectar.com/.

Once you are happy with your price, it's then all about research.  You will have already done some preliminary research into your destination to get an idea if the place(s) you want to visit are to your liking.  This is now the time for more in-depth research.  Read around the forums such as Lonely Planet's excellent Thorn Tree Forum (www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/) for information on things to see, do and eat; including all the things you might want to not see, do or eat too.  Simple Google searches, on your destination, should come up with some excellent information from travellers who have visited and that are also intending to visit.

One final great source of information, I find, can be friends and family members.  These people can act as 'testers' for your future travel with some top-notch recommendations and their knowledge could be of great help in avoiding sticky travel situations and smooth your journey.  My cousin's photos of her visit to Cambodia from Thailand were of great use to me during my visit.  Having remembered what the border at Aranyaprathet/Poipet looked like from her Facebook pictures, I was able to avoid being scammed by a group of dodgy Thai men who claimed their wooden shack (200 metres from the official border) was in fact the border and that they knew Britain well; where they proceeded to do Del Boy (from 'Only Fools and Horses') impressions, "luverly jubbly, guv'nor!"  Their 'official' visa for Cambodia was three times the $20 I paid at the official border.  Thankfully, I stood my ground and the tuk tuk, eventually ferried me to the official border before whizzing off to collect its next unwitting tourist from the bus station!

And there you have, a solid beginning to your next trip.

If you have any top tips for travel planning, please feel free to share in the comments below.

Safe travels!