Top seven tips for

travel adventures

1. Get travel insurance. I used www.worldnomads.com and got for about just over 100$ medical (over a million dollars plus half a million for transportation back home), lost baggage coverage 2.5K, trip cancellation (1K), and about 10K in life insurance coverage. This is the most important thing to travel worry free.

2. Travel door to door. Use www.busabout.com for Europe, www.bazbus.com for South Africa (Note door to door option only works for backpackers and some hotels. Check first). For about 500$ (this was in 2007 so do check) you can go from Joburg to Cape Town via Drakensburg and then through the Garden route. Ditto for Europe. Go from Paris all the way around to Barcelona for about a 1000$ through 20 plus different cities in seven to eight different countries (about thirty days if you're in a hurry. Recommend six weeks though). However do note while it might be possible to do this cheaper, but it will take a lot more organizing and planning. Here it's just a pass you buy, and phone calls you make from your hostels to get picked up. No worries. No hassles. The other great thing is that as people hop on you get to make friends in the bus, and learn about places they've been to etc. Note there is a similar option for Australia, but distances are quite far and hence prices are not that cheap, and also some of the locations are remote so you'll have to pay your bus company to organize food/lodging. It will therefore cost about 2K to go clockwise around the country from Cairns to Alice Springs using say www.ozexperience.com. However it is possible to do this cheaper and better. Use http://www.premierms.com.au/newhome/home.asp for a less flexible option but it's also a lot lot cheaper only about 400$ from say Melbourne all the way up to Cairns. Greyhound has a by the kilometer option as well which can be useful ... Also do check out discount airlines and Western Australia passes by Qantas etc. They have some really good deals. Year before last I flew to Sydney and from there to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and back to Toronto for about 2K Canadian. There's also some amazing fares from Perth/Sydney etc to Singapore/Bali/Thailand etc and vice versa.

3. Go local. Staying with locals can be exhilarating or weird depending upon YOUR attitudes and personality. Help with the dishes, pay for the groceries, use the bathrooms carefully, speak softly and pleasantly, be easy going, observe/ask cultural boundaries/house ruls and stay focused on your host(s) while staying. There are many ways to do this. I have a list of places to call and arrange this for countries such as Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy etc that I picked up during my travels and can email to those interested in using them. Use bar referrals, or check with local convents, monasteries etc to find your own places. Look for homestays, farmstays, teaching English options etc if you are planning on a bit of a long term stay. France esp. has a grape picking season where you can stay and get fed if you're willing to work really hard for a few days. It's worth trying once :) Goto http://www.pickingjobs.com/ to find a job and arrange your stay.

4. Wear a bag. Get Scott eVest pullovers, windbreakers, Shirt/Pant shorts. You'll never stop thanking me for this tip as it helps you wear your kindle/netbook, cameras, and a whole lot of other things while looking stylish and cool. Check out www.scottevest.com. Highly recommended

5. Get travel friendly clothes/gear. Tom Bihn Aeronaut + packing cubes, Quick dry underwears from Ex Officio (and also their Insect repellent/wrinkfle free/quick dry clothes, and a great travel hat), Quick dry socks from Tilley, a Steripen kit for water sterilisation, a silk sleep sack, a quick drying microfibre towel, a combination travel alarm clock/timer/flashlight/world time, dual voltage travel iron/steamer, electric adapters for the country you're visiting etc are a must have for the backpacker. Check out www.exofficio.com or www.travelessentials.com or www.travelsmith.oom etc for ideas and catalogs, but consider using amazon.com as they usually have better prices and shipping options.

6. Research ahead but stay flexible. Use Lonely Planet for doing the hard grind months ahead as they have the most detailed coverage. I tend to use Rough Guides for my initial read as they are more fascinating in their coverage of history/culture etc, and then follow it up with Lonely Planet for the more detailed planning as required (or if required). A related tip is get a Kindle if you're planning on doing a lot of travelling. It's easier to carry Lonely Planet guides in a Kindle than lugging ten pounds worth as you backpack from Japan through to Cambodia. Also don't get too hung up on plans/itineraries. That's why busabout etc are such a boon. You can always change plans last minute without having to worry about non refundable air tickets etc. And remember the most important thing to research are the local beers, the local festivals, the local day passes/discount cards, local bus/transit options, bicycle rent places etc.

7. Eat local. You'll save so much money and have so much fun doing this. Use your commonsense in picking places. Get a phrasebook and/or some practice on local phrases before you head out so you can ask around. Makes the trip sooooo much better if you can ask and get basic information from locals. Also really opens up a world of options if you have basic conversational skills. Okay now do pack your basic medicine kit/bag with anti-diorheaa pills etc just in case you're prone to stomach upsets etc ... Worst case scenario, you'll lose a couple of days :) I use www.chowhound.com and local websites to find places and/or exchange information with locals on their boards.

Also don't forget every place you visit will have local free rags that you can use to pick up events happening around. But the best place to find good local options is to go to the bar where the locals hang out and buy a few pints and chat them up. That's where a few local phrases help break the ice. Of course it helps if you're charismatic enough to have the locals come up and invite you over to their place :)