Guidebooks

If you're like me and you hate tours which rush you from place to place and prefer to make your own itinery, a travel guide is probably something you can't do without. They often list the main attraactions with a short description so you can decide whether it's worth a visit or not...and maps are provided for you to plan your route. Taking it with you on your trip also means that you can change your mind at any point and have information on alternative activities.

Travel guides like Lonely Planet are easily available at a bookstore or online like Fishpond, which sells books, music and dvds at discounted rates. I've often found online purchasing to be cheaper since they can afford to offer lower prices since they don't have overheads like store rental and upkeep (which can be pretty expensive if the store is in a main business area). Fishpond also has 2nd hand books which are less expensive especially if you're on a budget 8).

In places like New Zealand where nature is abundant, road trips are probably the best way to see the country...especially as the best views are located off the main public transport routes. Travel guides that cater specifically to those who wish to drive themselves come in really really handy! New Zealand Driving Holidays: 29 New Zealand Itineries and Touring Maps for the Independent Traveller goes for only $23.74 online at Fishpond brand new and since it is a pretty popular guide book, they have used copies available from time to time too.

Travel guides are definitely worth investing in, even if you can obtain vast amounts of information from the internet on your destination as well...but who wants to carry around bits and pieces of printouts which would involve hours and hours of research compared to getting a travel guide? 8)

Budget Accomodation

One of the main things to consider in travelling is accomodation. I'm more of the budget traveller really, preferring to spend money on moving around more, so backpackers are usually my choice for accomodation. Backpackers pretty much offer you the lowest rates (unless you know someone you can bunk with 8)), especially if you're keen to share a room in a dorm. Nowadays backpackers are becoming pretty popular with travellers of all ages, rather than just youth. The bulk of those staying in backpackers however are still younger budget travellers.

The key to getting good value-for-money accomodation is research. No surprise there really. You have good and bad backpackers, just like you have good and bad hotels. Cheap doesn't necessary mean not good, it merely means it takes more effort to find a good one lol. I know quite a couple of people who've had bad experiences at backpackers and hence developed a pretty negative view of them. From personal experience however, I can say that there are some really fantastic backpackers out there...and backpackers have the added bonus of providing a venue for meeting new people and making new friends.

so how to go about finding a good place? Naturally it's best if you know someone who has stayed there before, who can tell you what's good or bad about the place. Alternatively, there is the internet. Hostelworld is a great place to start your research as they've backpackers from all over the world listed with them. You don't have to book your accomodation through them (you can book accomodation by directly contacting the hostel/backpackers yourself), although sometimes it may save you a dollar or two on rates to book with them (they sometimes get lower rates). Anyway the main aim of checking out Hostelworld is to look at the online ratings and comments left by other backpackers who've stayed in those hostels. Based on these comments, you can get a rough idea of which ones are better. Hostelworld has been around for quite some time so they've collected quite a couple of comments and ratings on the hostels listed. It's a good place to start doing research, especially since these comments and ratings are not commercially influenced i.e. it's not done by the people who own the hostel/backpackers.

There are also backpacker accomodation organisations like Budget Backpackers Hostels NZ who provide ratings on the hostels listed under them. Those with high ratings do turn out to be good. BBH also offers a membership card which gives you a discount on room rates ($2-$3 off) as well as phonecall credit. I stayed in one of the hostels listed in BBH in Wellington and it was pretty fantastic (the showers were way better than the one I had at home!). Probably the downside of organisations like BBH is that they're usually local.

As mentioned previously, staying at backpackers gives you a chance to meet new people, especially if you share a dorm room. It's pretty common to start up a conversation with a roommate by asking where they're from and how long they're gonna be in the place. It's good for lone travellers who wish to find someone to go around within the place. When I travelled to London alone, as a female it wasn't too ideal until I met 3 German girls who were in London for around the same time so I went around London with them. Shared kitchen facilities also mean you meet new people while cooking. Oh and the fact that backpackers have kitchen facilities means that you don't have to eat out all the time which can be really expensive if you're staying in one place for a long period.

Well basically to sum up, if you're willing to put in effort you don't have to stay in a hotel to have good accomodation. 8)

Beginnings of a Travel Blog

I love travelling and seeing new places, meeting new people, experiencing different cultures. So I thought I should perhaps start a travel blog. After all, I've been to a few places and do intend to do more travel, but I like looking at websites of places to dream of the next place to go 8). Perhaps someone somewhere may find whatever I've written here useful in planning their travel or deciding where to go.