Travel -- Part 2

How to travel cheap and light.

I pick the place I am going to go and buy tickets 10-11 months before my trip. Tickets are a lot cheaper when you are that far away from the travel date. If you travel Monday thru Thursdays tickets are generally cheaper than if you travel on the weekends. For my next planed trip, Thailand, I bought tickets 11 months ahead. Got a great price. Hooray Expedia! Brilliant!
What?
Political unrest in Thailand? And a border dispute with Cambodia? (which is a side trip on this little 16 day jaunt.) Um. Shit. I should have gotten travel insurance. I am waiting a little bit to see if things calm down. I'm not going until January. If things don't calm down I will cancel Thailand and go somewhere else. Peru, maybe.

I travel light. I have a backpack and the following things. A pair of broken in walking shoes. (if you tried to break them in during a trip and the shoes sucked, your feet will pay with blisters.) I have 3-4 t-shirts, a water proof jacket, 3 pairs of pants. Depending on the climate it could be 2 pairs of shorts and a pair of 501 jeans. If it's cold, all long pants. 5 pair of underwear and socks. A long lseeve shirt. Some sort of sweater, sweatshirt. Layering is important. I tend to buy t-shirts in the places I have been. It's not a lot of clothes, but finding ways to do laundry makes it so you don't need a lot of stuff.

I bring toletries; small shamoo, soap, saline and contacts, vitamins, etc. Also I take a travel journal and pens. I rent a cell phone. A little research online and I can rent a cell phone that works in the countries I am travelling in for $50. I call home to tell my parents I am alive and to get messages. It's kinda fun to call someone from Australia. In a day pack I have a cheap digital camera, film camera and mini DV camera. If they are lost or stolen, no great loss. I keep the cards and film separate. In the backpack I have a folded up 24" duffle bag that I take out as I start to accumulate stuff. It's for gifts and things.

I stay in hostels. I find these online at Hostels.com and similar sites. Every town has a hostel or 30. I pre-book them in the towns for the days I will be there. But be warned, a 4-6 person room can be dangerous. People snore. Doesn't happen all the time, but I did have ear plugs ready to put in if there was a noisy sleeper. I did have some murderous thoughts some nights though. But the price? $15-25. I stayed in a single in Cairns for $40 a night. Oh, have flip flops for in the shower as a precaution. Athletes foot sucks.

In New Zealand I was on a backpacker bus. It was a tour bus that went around the Islands. Also booked on line. There were a number of plans. If you liked a place you could stay for a few days, or get on the bus the next morning. It's very flexible as far as schedule goes. They had certain stops on the way, the sights to see and the history of the place. It was very interesting. I met some people who rented cars, or caravans. I met one guy who bought a car from a traveller, and after he finished with it, would sell it to another traveller. Apparently this is done on line as well.

Food. Go buy things at the markets. It's cheaper than resturants. It's the cheapest way to go. But only buy what you need for the next day or two. You may not have access to a fridge. I eat very simple stuff when travelling. I don't drink much on the road. But I might have a beer in a bar, pub, or some such. Booze is expensive. And if you drink too much thngs can happen to the unaware traveller.

It's amazing how easily you can be your own travel agent. It takes a little time and patience and surfing on line.