Advanced Search
Welcome to Omgili,
Omgili (Oh My God I Love It ;) is a search engine for discussions. With Omgili you can find answers and solutions, debates, discussions, personal experiences, opinions and more... To learn more about Omgili click here.

This is a complete preview of the discussion as it was indexed by Omgili crawlers. Use this preview if the original discussion is unavailable.
Click here to view the original discussion.

One year from now, I plan to leave for a backpacking trip around the world. What are some things I could be doing to prepare for this besides making money and getting equipment? : travel

R/travel is a place about places.

Articles, questions, stories, or any good content is welcome.

Blogspam, spam, ads, brochures, will be banned.

Wait. And get registered on couchsurfing.org and talk to and be a good host to lots of people throughout the year.

That way you'll know a bit about what you're in for during the following year.

Also, you'll probably have saved a lot in accommodation costs for yourself. As it happens, I've written a book about traveling that you can get for free from http://bjornfree.com/ .

It's got some tips for backpackers weaved into it, and it covers going on the Trans-Siberian Railway and independent, low-budget travel through Southern Africa and Patagonia/Antarctica.

I would suggest getting a map and marking the destinations you are definately, absolutely not going to miss.

Get your passport, two forms of lesser ID(Drivers license, bank ID, a bill, bring photographs and copy your passport information (in case you lose it or it gets stolen, so you can give that information when you go to get the replacement).

If you are going to exotic places, you should go to your doctor with you map and show him, so he can give you shots and tips about what not to eat, drink or whatever.

If you are going to North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt ect, stay the fuck away from bazaars and grain markets.

They will physically hold you there until you buy shit, and when you get rid of one, 50 more come along.

They also offer free camel-rides, but won't let you get off unless you give them 15 dinar(fuckers).

If you go to these countries, make sure you have a tan, and dress like the locals.

Grow a beard. You are now safe. Get comprehensive travel insurance (medical, emergency money, lost luggage, might go to prison, need a local lawyer, all that jazz).

Read up on the laws of your destinations.

Some countries have restrictions on driving(even with an international permit), drinking (Behaviour, certain curfews), money and so forth.

Find out what countries have closed currency systems (meaning you can't get cash in advance before you go there).

Don't use you mobile phone for surfing the internet.

It will kill you financially (Unless you have millions I'm not aware of).

That's all I can think of.

Good Luck m8.*Don't fuck with the law, they will fuck you harder for being foreign. *Edit

Heheh I guess I should start working on my beard and my tan :D

In case you haven't heard of it, do some research on the website http://www.helpx.net/ .

You can sign up for a free membership and get hooked up with plenty of people around the world who offer free accommodation in exchange for help (oddly enough...).

Kind of like WOOFF but not necessarily always farming.

Very interesting, thanks :D

Legend. I hadn't heard of it either.

Looks great.

Don't fly from major city to major city or rush from attraction to attraction.

Catch trains and buses.

Take your time to visit stuff off the beaten track.

Don't aim for longest list of destinations. Sometimes just go somewhere.

Even if there's nothing special to see. Mix lonely traveling (just you and whoever you crush into) and busy places (like hostels in major cities, organized tours or other tourist stuff) Make plans but allow to change them if you feel like.

I did the world tour last summer. One huge thing that helped me was talking to local people about their lives and what the best things to do were.

In general with a few notable exceptions people are very willing and happy to show you around, give you a place to stay or something to eat.

So if you are going someplace ESL or otherwise learn some of the language or get a guide. Take cash with you and exchange as you go - usually your cards wont work.

If you need more then be ready to pay a lot for it unless you have USAA. I always pack: Water tabs, an ABS or metal canteen, duct tape, suture strips an LED headlamp and Cigarettes (as international currency). Pick up Randall/Perrin's Adventure travel in the third world and use it as a guide. After a half dozen solo trips I am going to start to use local guides - too often have I not had enough local language experience and have gotten into some shady situations so it would be wise to look into.

Often they are really cheap and will make sure you don't get ripped off or jacked.

As always make sure they are legit first. Most of all keep your Situational Awareness about you;

If you can afford to travel the world, even backpacking, you have more money/resources than most of the world and as such are a nice target.

That said most people are not out to scam or rip you off. Good luck.

Nice advice, and that book looks like something I'm gonna be picking up.

Thanks!

Good advice all around, but I question your comment of "usually cards don't work." I've been to almost 40 countries since 2004, and have only found a few where bank cards or credit cards don't work.

(Laos and remote parts of India and Tibet) I've found you can get cash as you go in every city, but there's no need to pack a year's worth of cash on you.

That's just dangerous actually. My advice would be to have one ATM card, one credit card, and cash.

Keep enough cash in case you don't see an ATM machine or bank for a few weeks. I second Andrew's comments about taking water purification tablets.

Probably the most important thing you can take.

In my experience, it isn't so much that they don't have the facilities it is that they are often broken at the airport or port such that you can't get anywhere. I do agree to take cards, and that a years worth of cash is tricky.

The only other suggestion I would make is to take travelers checks, but unless you are in a place with some reputable banks they wont help much.

However if you are careful and conscientious you can get by with quite a bit of cash.

I always wear the bulk of my money on my chest front button/velcro pocket or on an inside the shorts pocket.

Then separately whatever I think I will need for the day handy in another pocket.

Carrying large sum's hasn't been an issue so far - cash doesn't set off metal detectors.

I didn't know travellers cheques still existed?

In Asia anyways, I had trouble with them in 2004.

People prefer and trust cash more.

Roughly 70 countries here, and while I've seen some broken ATMs, I've never had a problem getting the cash I need, even in fairly remote places.

If the ATMs don't work, you can always go inside the bank and have the withdrawal processed manually.

There may be a fee for that, but it's usually not too bad.

Carrying a week's worth of cash is enough for the kind of places where people on their first RTW trip tend to go. I've always packed a tiny package of water tablettes.

After ten years of traveling I'm still carrying the same package, and I've used maybe 10 litres worth of them.

Water IS available wherever you go, as long as there are people living there. Learn to brush off with a smile salesmen, wannabe guides and tricksters.

Unless you think you'll be better off seeing a place with a guide, that is.

I find that I personally get more from a visit when I take my time and look up stuff in a book as I walk around than when I'm taken around by a guide.

Water filter, LED headlight

Visas, especially india and china.

Start now, although india requires you to have an outward ticket which makes things difficult.

Chinese visas must be applied for within three months of your arrival.

I never experienced this with India.

In fact, if you cross India by land, you will likely have trouble finding where you check in crossing the border.

Between Nepal and India, I had to find some men in a coffee shop and interrupt their game of cards, in order to get my passport stamped on entry. If anything, a Russian visa might take some time, but I found China and India ones to be easy, and just took a week or so.

You're definitely right about the Russian visa taking some time, at least for U.S.

Citizens, but it depends on the kind of visa and the people who are supporting the stay--I've never gotten a tourist visa to Russia, but I think that if you just go through a site like visatorussia.com , it's much easier than trying to find a visa sponsor on your own (unless, of course, you've got friends who are Russian citizens and live in Russia.

. .) And if the guy's a U.S.

Citizen, he's required to get his Russian visa from a Russian consulate in the U.S.

--gone are the days when he could walk into any RusCon in the world and get his visa there just by submitting the form for Americans (there's a separate form for Americans and for other citizens--and the American form is about three pages longer).

The consulates do issue visas by mail, but at least the NY RusCon doesn't accept international money orders for the fee (it can be hefty, especially if you're in a hurry), not to mention the fact that he'd have to be overseas without his passport while it's busy getting visa-fied--so the guy really has no choice but to do this at home before he leaves.

I loved this book when I was a kid: " Miles from Nowhere ," by Barbara Savage.

If I could offer any advice, it would be to pack at light as possible, and travel as slowly as possible.

If you have an unlimited amount of time, than in the time vs.

Money game, you will probably have more time than money.

Go slowly, travel by land, slow yourself down, and take lots of time to soak up what you are doing. Try to test yourself.

One of the difficult things when travelling is always making choices, should I go left or right, should I leave today or tomorrow, should I do something now or later, etc.

Sometimes, it's fun to be random.

For decision making, I used to write down 5 things I could do today, and then I'd draw a number at random, to see which I would do.

As a rule, 2 of the 5 things had to be things that I had either never done in my life, or were a bit outside my comfort zone.

This game proved very valuable, and lead to me doing lots of interesting things that I would have never done otherwise.

You may want to read "The Dice Man" by Luke Rhinehart.

Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dice_Man

Good pick up. That book is where I got the idea!

I chose 5, because rolling a #6 for me meant to do nothing.

A friend of mine from Bristol gave me the book.

Save more money. And then some more on top of that. Seriously, save at least twice as much money as you think you'll need.

And don't forget your towel (;

I'm on the final stretch of my world tour.

I was in Asia for about a month and a half and Europe for another month and 1/2 and then Brazil for a month. What I have learned: Plastic bags.

Bring many huge ones.

You will need them. Don't plan too much...

I went into Japan from Canada with just my flight ticket and the rest I planned as I went along (to Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia).

Maybe that's just me, but planning too much takes away the excitement..and the people you meet could give you some nice tips or tell you about where they are going and you could join them..which brings me to my next point: Be the most friendly mofo you can be.

I never thought I could talk to so many strangers in one trip, yet I did and most of them ended up becoming great friends.

Talk to everyone, fellow backpackers and of course locals.

The social aspect of the trip is what makes it extra special because you learn a lot not just from others but from yourself.

I suggest you sign up to Facebook (if you are one of those 'against FB' people that don't have an account).

It is very very handy for keeping in touch. Personally, I would spend more time in Asia than in Europe...

It is a lot cheaper in Asia and I think you learn a lot more (well..that is if you come from a western country) Skype.

Use it, love it. Most places have access to internet so it will serve as your main phone.




Omgili Home About FAQ Plugins Usenet