SECTION 1 - Before setting off: organizing your trip.

1.1 - Internet forums

Why are internet forums so important when it comes to organizing a long trip? Because they provide up to date, unbiased opinions of places, circumstances and situations that might very soon apply to you too.

I will tell you what I did myself when the idea of circumnavigating the world first sprung in my head: I read fucktons of posts on different internet forums. I didn't start posting yet questions, just reading other people's questions and answers, didn't matter whether they were new or old threads. I read them all. They sort of introduced me, via other people's experiences, doubts and outcomes, in the magical world of backpacking. Let's face it, one of the heaviest constrains we all go through before setting off is psychologically prepare ourselves for the daunting fact of leaving home and what's known in order to cross your country outer borders into what awaits out there. Trust me, reading about other people's cases over the internet forums acclimatizes your mind and cushions down the impact of it all. Read about it, get familiar with it, check out other people's opinions. It helped me a lot.

Once you've started preparing the logistics of your trip, don't be shy and ask questions yourself on those forums; that's what they're for. So you don't know whether to go to this or that place considering A or B conditions? post away and see what others got to tell you.

I personally use the Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forums and the Boot'n'All forums.

1.2 - Itinerary

Oh boy, here comes the big question: when you've got the whole world at your disposal, figuring out where exactly to go might become the hardest of all decisions.

Ok, I will tell you how I came up with my wished itinerary: I joined dots on a map in a more or less sensible fashion. How did I come up with those dots? easy, they'd be places that, for whatever reason, had always appealed me, even if I couldn't tell why. For example: I had always wanted to visit Istanbul, with all those stylish mosques towering over the city's skyline and stuff. No idea why, I've always thought it's gotta be an interesting city. Alright, here goes one pin on my world map. Another place I've always wanted to visit is some Middle East country, you know, reading about the Arabic Nights tales and all that shit. Well, there goes another pin. Also, by the time I was planning my journey in fall 2003, I had a good friend from college working on a one-year assignment on Israel, so I figured I could pay him a visit and stay with him for a week or so. Hey, look at this, we got three pins already! Another hot-spot in my wish list had been Egypt and the sumptuous ancient egyptian temples. Okie dokie, here goes the fourth. Hmmm... now, if we look at the world map, I can see a string of pins lining up one after the other... hmmmm... Hello, McFly? Think Hector, think... Bingo! this is how I came up with the first stage of my trip: Istanbul to Cairo overland all along the oriental end of the Mediterranean sea. And so on with the rest of the continents. Whenever possible, I'd go overland by bus or train (it's cheaper plus you dig deeper into the place than if you fly over it).

I myself did a bit of research beforehand over the internet on the countries I was to visit, but nothing exhaustive by any means. Find out whether it's safe as far as political stability is concerned, find out about health and possible viral issues (example: Sars in Hong Kong in early 2003), find out about terrorism activity, find out about extreme weather conditions (example: typhoons season if you're going to the Caribbean), and that's about it. Once you've cleared out the country as safe (takes barely 20 mins of reading the country's local newspapers on internet), read about interesting cultural events and natural/mancrafted wonders (Google.com is your friend) and if you like what you see, set yet another pin in your world map. It really is that easy. Of course, you won't be able to line up all those pins in a sensible way, thus you'll have to skip some destinations out from the final list, but the bulk of them will somehow squeeze in.

Another toughie is to decide how long to stay in each place or trip-leg. This, I'm afraid, is completely impossible to know beforehand. How to know how will you like a place you've never been before, in a country you've never been before, in a continent you hardly knew it existed? No way to tell. There have been places that have positively surprised me quite a deal and I ended up staying longer than I had expected, and there were others I just couldn't gather my own shit together on my way out the back door. Solution? the wonderful and underestimated science of guesstimation . Going back to the previous example, I really didn't know how long would take me to go overland from Istanbul to Cairo. I just didn't have a clue. So I figured out that, since I was to have five main legs in my trip's total, and the total duration of the journey around the world would be more less a year, I assumed that this first stage would take me 2 months and a 2 weeks to complete it out. Eventually it took me exactly 2 months, so I wasn't that far off the mark. And this leads me to my next argument: I am a firm believer in scheduling your trip around world regions in stead of a consecutive sum of single destinations, not only as far as how long are you going to be in each place, but also as far as how many countries will you visit from one specific continent. Once you're out there, your likings vary daily. One day you're here, and the next day over something unexpectedly happens that turns your planning upside down. I will give you one real example: I was in Hanoi, north Vietnam, and I was about to start the visa process for Laos when a couple of old friends I had met few months before in another part of the world wrote me an email telling me that they were in China at that very moment. I thought that exploring China with my two good mates would be awesome, so I decided to ditch Laos altogether for China instead. See? had I bound my estimations to a consecutive sum of single destination rather than Asia as a whole, my original planning would have gone down the loo. So, if you're planning a round the world trip, focus on continents rather than single countries and plan accordingly. Don't follow the following way of thinking: "Ok, the 2nd of August I arrive to Bangkok. I assume I'll be three weeks in Thailand, so that means by the 25th I should be entering Cambodya. That's another two weeks, which means that around the 10th of the next month I'll hit Vietnam, where I will stay another, let's say, three weeks, so..." Don't, it's futile, plus extremely sad as you lock out any fresh and incidental surprise that might drive your footprints somewhere else. Alternatively, do follow this way of thinking: "Ok, I arrive at Bangkok at some point early August. I have five months total for Asia, and I wanna visit Thailand, Cambodya, Vietnam, Laos, Burma and China. Of all those, Thailand, Vietnam and China are an absolute must see. Ok, if by the time I finish Vietnam I find that I'm falling behind schedule, I will give either Laos or Burma a miss (or quickly storm through for a week top) and continue straight into China. If, in the other hand, I end up having a couple of weeks left by the end of the trip, I wouldn't mind checking Japan or South Korea out real quick" . That is, in my opinion, the right approach when it comes to independent traveling: less schedules and deadlines, more open tickets and open doors to the un-planned. It will make your trip a way more refreshing experience as a whole, less of a postcards collection and more of an adventure! At the end of the day, isn't that what backpacking should be all about?

Here goes another big one: quality over quantity, and I ain't talking 'bout sex here, you pervs. If you got a limited amount of time, think locally. Attempting a round-the-world trip in you've got any less than 10 months time (or limited funds) is silly. Not only you will miss 90% of every world region you stop at, but you'll also limit future travel options because you'll think "I have been there already". My ass you have, you've only collected the passport stamp and moved on upon the next international airport terminal. If you have six or less months, how about if you take a unique approach? For example, I met two travelers who had only six months and did the Istanbul - Beijing overland route. For your information, that's the ancient Silk Route across the entire asian continent, and a hell of a journey. There are dozens of possibilities if you only have a handful of months in your bag: how about backpacking around Europe? lots of different countries and societies to see there within a small piece of land. How about driving across the USA in an old second hand Chevrolet? How about exploring Latin America from Mexico to Buenos Aires? How about... argh, so many places to go! Fuck this, where is my passport?! I wanna hit the road again!!

If, in the other hand, you are planning an extremely ambitious trip covering shitloads of countries and lasting two-plus years (which is absolutely crazy and maybe a mistake, in my opinion), you should consider slipping in some downtime gaps here and there, otherwise you'll be hit hard by travel burnout. How about working for three months as a bartender in Australia? or as a scuba diving instructor in the Caribbean Sea? or as an english teacher in Asia? It's not as much about making some money on the road but rather about taking a healthy brake from the traveling routine. Your body and mind will be asking for it, you'll see. Plus you'll get to know more about that country you work in and its society.

Another major advice: think in terms of doing rather than seeing. Many of the fondest memories you'll bring back home will be those in which you've taken an active role, or at least that's been in my case. Are you an outdoors, tent-camping, trekking lover? why don't you add Canada or New Zealand with their pristine lakes and endless pine tree forests to your country list? Are you perhaps a diver? then you sure should visit the Red Sea or Thailand for world class diving. Are you a cook, or do you enjoy cooking for your friends in your apartment? then how about going to France and enroll a one-week french cuisine course in Paris? Are you studding modern architecture in the university? Hong Kong or Manhattan will enlighten you with enrichening walks. A surfing freak perhaps? you gotta ride those Australian waves baby! See what I mean? choose your countries not only because you'd like to see them, but because you'd like to do an activity in them related to your personal hobbies. It will make the trip way more memorable.

One last advice, an important one: do not set as the trip starting line a "hard" country. There is this funny thing called culture shock, and it can get nasty. Take it easy, and start off with an easy to travel, fairly developed, backpacker-friendly, laid back country such as Thailand, Turkey, Australia or New Zealand, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, etc. You know, those countries that are popular in the backpacker trail. You'll quickly make friends and will get the hang of it painlessly. Hear me out here buddy, it's more important that it sounds.

1.3 - Vaccinations

This is something you wanna start as soon as possible, for some of them require few fixes each with a month or more in between. Which vaccinations should you apply for entirely depends on your itinerary. For example, if you're not going to rural Asia, you don't need the Japanese Encephalitis shot. I am no expert in this field, so I recommend you to visit your doctor for further information. Also, there should be a governmental health office dedicated to these matters (tourists and vaccinations due). A quick phone call to your country's Health or Tourism Department should point you out on the right direction. Ultimately, it's worth also visiting the World's Health Organization web site (forgot the URL, browse Google.com) where you'll find a complete list of recommended vaccinations depending on your destination. You might also want to read the health-dedicated sections at the Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forums and the Boot'n'All forums. In my experience, backpackers are more up-to-date on vaccinations and health concerns than doctors themselves, and I'm serious here.

I myself took a shot of every single vaccination developed by mankind. Since I was gonna go all around the globe with no hard set schedule, I just took them all. I even re-newed those ones you take when you're kid in the primary school. They might be extinguished here in good ole Europe, but those viruses run techno rave parties there in the third world!

Like I said, start with the vac'ing as soon as you decide to go traveling. It's a lengthy process that takes few months to get'em all.

1.4 - Budget estimation

Budget estimation, or the mother of all backpackers' headaches. Once again, your budget will be dictated by your destination list, and when you go to those destinations.

I will assume here than you're the typical backpacker: young, financially-concerned, traveling mostly to developing countries and easy to please as far as accommodation and food goes. If, in the other hand, you're a top exec that wipes his Calvin Klaine-underwearing ass with US$100 bills, you can go @$%# yourself outta my web site right now! hehe just kidding (I hope Miguel, my ex-boss and toppest of the top execs in the world ain't reading this 'cause I might need his network influences soon, ouch!). Alright, yeah, budget estimation... In the Budget section you can grab a guess of how much money I spent during my own trip. As you can see, it more less averages at 30 to 35 euros per day (US$35 to 40 at that time's exchange rate) without counting long distance transportation -meaning flight tickets- nor visas nor pre-departure expenditures. Also, if you look into that section further, you will see how deep the dent on your budget is when you travel to a developed country: it's easily double as much, even more is some extreme cases like Japan, Switzerland, etc.

I think 40 to 45 american dollars per day (without counting long distance transportation) is a fair compromise. You will do just great in most countries, but you'll have to watch it on how many unusual events (for example a two-days white-water rafting excursion and the like) you sign in for. Once again, and as I have stated in the Budget section under the My facts clauses, I am not an extreme cheapie. You can get by with a lot less than 40 bucks a day in most of the countries (probably as low as half that figure) if you go rock-bottom, but the question is: would you enjoy it? You know, sleeping in dorms (6+ beds shared dormitories), eating off street stalls every day, staying well away from expensive events like the one I just exampled above, strictly sticking to developing countries, not going out drinking with friends, etc. I myself don't enjoy that hardcore backpacking. I find it exhausting and self-defeating. Like I always say (I'm gonna copyright this sentence, I swear): traveling is a leisure activity, not an endurance test. I remember hooking up with this very tightly-budgeted fellah for a couple of weeks: every new town we'd hit, he'd spend two hours checking out all the guesthouses in order to save 2 bucks a night. Every time we'd go out for a dinner, he'd stick to the main course and a glass of tap water, no side dish, no coffee afterwards. Every time we'd go with other friends out drinking, he'd stretch out his single beer as far as he possibly could 'cause he couldn't afford a second round, etc. I mean, what is the point in living is a semi-poverty status for months upon months? I myself don't recommend that, but each to his own. So, if you wanna travel fairly comfortably, shoot at the US$40-45 per day mark (without counting flight tickets) to leave yourself a safety margin. Should you not mind traveling on the rock-bottom, living la vida loca style, 25 dollars a day will buy you a shared dormitory and a deep fried God-knows-what at the food stall down the street.

But I must repeat myself, don't do it buddy. I don't know if it's because I was a few years older than the average backpacker when I took my trip or what, but every time I traveled with one of those edge-budgeted guys, I knew I personally wouldn't enjoy it. Should your funds be tighter than Arnold Swatznezzegagagaga's T-shirt, I'd recommend working few more months, extra shifts if needed, while you prepare the whole thing. And, once you're ready, you can rest assure knowing that you'll have a much more pleasant trip with those few extra thousand bucks under your belt. Just my opinion, I know it's not consensually shared among the backpacker community.

Bottom line: as a general rule of the thumb, US$40-45/day without counting international flight tickets will comfortably do the trick as a global average for a trip around the world, provided that the number of developing countries on your destination list heavily prevails over the developed ones. As far as the plane tickets go, US$4000 should get you flying around the Big Ball if you're smart and plan carefully where and when to fly from and to. Overall, I myself spent around US$20000 on my own one-year RTW trip.

There you go, the whole enchilada within a single sentence!

1.5 - Travel Insurance

Before you ask, yes, you do need a Travel Insurance. Going out backpacking around the world without an insurance is the most stupid, and potentially expensive, thing you can do. Imagine you're somewhere in Asia. Imagine you go out trekking in the forest for a couple of day with a friend. Imagine you fall down and brake you leg, or your head hits a rock and fall unconscious. Imagine the closest hospital being a few hundreds kilometers away. If you don't have an insurance, you're fucked. Do you know how much would cost to privately pay an ambulance for hundreds of kilometers? Or even worse, now imagine that you were trekking up high a mountain and the ambulance cannot drive up there, thus they got to fleet a helicopter on a rescue mission: your family back home would have to get a second mortgage on the house to be able to finance that.

Be sensible, get an insurance. It's a small cost that might, potentially, save your ass big time.

There are hundreds of travel insurance companies, some of them specialized on the independent traveler field. Just punch few words in Google.com and a string of found results will pest your screen. However, not all of them are equal in price nor policy. The key features you should be looking for in a policy are the following:

• Medical expenditures: this should be minimum US$1 million (don't get anything lower than that), and make sure it includes any possible rescue mission and ambulance costs to get you to the hospital.
• Dental: always nice to have. Usually they cover you for a few thousand bucks only, which is enough.
• Repatriation costs: If they need to treat you of serious shit, they will fully pay the cost of bringing you back to a hospital of your choice back home.
• Personal liability: should you be in need of legal assistance (say you rent a motorbike, have an accident and a third party gets injured), you'll be insuranced up to a certain amount. Don't get anything lower than US$2 millions.
• Lost of valuables: money, digital camera, luggage, etc. But I wouldn't expect much of this one though. I've heard that filing a case for lost valuables is a pain of a process as far as paper work goes (to avoid scammers) and you never get more than few hundred bucks, if at all.
• Cancellation costs: your flight has been cancelled and you're left in the cold in a foreign country. They'll provide you with a hotel, new tickets, etc. Few thousand American dollars should be enough.
• Countries of coverage: some countries like USA, Canada and Japan are usually excluded because the medical costs there are enormous. Make sure all countries in your destination list are included
• Policy excess: the initial amount you pay per every claim. Go ahead and do accept a reasonable policy excess (never more than US$100). Chances are that you'll never need to use your insurance, but if you ever do, paying an extra few bucks won't kill you and it might bring down the total price of your policy.
• The underwriter: Always read the fine print searching for the underwriter. The underwriter is the big mother fucker behind the scene that will pay up should need arise. Most of these backpacker insurances are online-based business with cheesy names like "Phat Insurance 4 U'" and the like, so they might not cast a confidence spell upon you at first, but if you read the fine print, most of them are financially backed up by international giants like Allianz or ING or whatever of those. Do make sure that the underwriter is a secure, established, well-known institution.
• Price of the policy: do shop around on the net mate, prices vary enormously between different companies. By no means pay more than US$400 for a full year, world wide policy that ticks on the above listed requirements.
• Contact number: make sure they have a 24/7 reverse charge hotline you can dial in case of an emergency. In fact, always call them before accepting any medical assistance, because they have to give their OK beforehand in order to fund the expenditures.
• Extendibility: can you, should you decide to travel for a little bit longer than expected, buy new more months of coverage once on the road? or do you have to sign up for a whole new yearly contract? Try to get an extendable policy. You never know how long will you be out there for.

Some of you might already have a policy with a private health care institution back home such as Bupa and the sort. Make sure you contact them and ask them about their coverage abroad on the long term. My own private insurance company in Spain would only cover me for three months per year out of the Spanish borders, which didn't cut it. Also, distrust those pesky insurances offered by credit card companies when you sign up for one of their cards: the coverage provided is simply laughable.

I personally signed my policy with World Nomads, an online Australian based company underwritten by Allianz Australia. I paid them around US$400 for a full year, beefy, world wide (including USA, Canada and Japan), extendable policy. They are pricier than other companies, but they are a well known firm in the backpacker insurance industry, and I didn't want to take any risk.

I repeat: do bloody get insuranced before leaving! Don't have your poor mother needlessly suffering.

1.6 - RTW Tickets vs. Buying as you go

Hehehe this one is, probably, the most-discussed issue over the internet forums. Lots of controversy about the whole thing, and I don't claim to hold the right approach. But since this is my web site, I'll give you my opinion non the less.

First of all, let me explain you what these RTW (Round The World) tickets are: they are a pre-planned package of consecutive flight tickets, designed under a tight rules set, and offered by different pools of airlines allied together. It is easier than it sounds. Basically, it is sort of a travel card for airplanes. There are a handful of airline pools, but One World and Star Alliance are the most popular ones, both with different approaches when it comes to RTW tickets:

I think the One World's formula is the best bang for your buck: fucktons of flights and you don't have to worry counting how many miles you are consuming. Mostly everyone agrees with me that One World > Star Alliance, so from now I will assume that, should you want to book a RTW ticket, you'd go for the earlier.

Of course, if you'd buy so many flights individually, you'd end up forking out at least twice as much. Prices vary depending on where you book your RTW package (London, Hong Kong and Bangkok being the cheapest from what I have heard, and USA among the most expensive). In London, I was quoted for a four continents One World ticket around 1550 sterling pounds (aprox. US$2700). You gotta hand it to them that US$2700 for 16 flights (4 continents x 4 flights each) is a hell of a deal.

Well fuck me! This sounds great! Less than three grand to fly all over the globe for a whole year is a gift! Yuppers, technically it is. But there's a catch... you ought to reserve all those flight tickets at the very moment of purchasing the RTW package. That means where will you fly from, where to and on what date. Basically, they force you to establish a rock-set itinerary for the rest of the year. Now, my question is: If I have never embarked myself in such a project as a journey around the world... how in the bloody hell can I tell you now what city will I be flying from in South America in, say, eight months time from now? And that, my boy, is the catch of it all: you give up a great deal of flexibility for that price efficiency. Sure they might save you some bucks, but they lace you up into a consecutive list of destinations that might sound appealing to you right now from the conformability of your couch, but once you're out there you might want to change your itinerary for a thousand of reasons. Not only that, what's more important is that you dismiss altogether the adventure factor with these RTW tickets. You've become a package tourist in stead of a vagabonder.

So, can't I change my itinerary mid-trip at all with these RTW tickets? truth to be told, yes you do. You can change your flying dates any time you want for free if you stick to your original destination, but you gotta pay a US$75 fee per every destination changed. Re-scheduling flights is free, re-issuing is not. However, that's not a big drawback, I can take a US$75 fee here and there. The main problem is availability. If there are no seats available, you're stuck with your former destination with no right for a refund. Basically, you'd be forced to go where you don't want, and that sucks ass. If you'd be buying as you go, and you wanted to go from London to Madrid and there were no flight tickets available, you could still go there by train, bus, or commute via Paris, or whatever, but you'd make it there where you wanna be at the time you wanna be.

And also worth mentioning is the psychological effect: you already have a pre-scheduled itinerary, thus once it's time to leave a country you don't question yourself "all right Hec, where next now?". You just don't because you already got a seat reserved (and paid) in a plane shooting off tomorrow morning towards your next destination. What does this lead to? you just flow along, regardless on whether there might be another place that, at that time, you would have liked better to be at. But since you had done the destination selecting job months before, you just let yourself be carried on. That, in my opinion, drains away the very essence of backpacking. To me, backpacking is all about waking up in the morning at your guesthouse and asking yourself "where do I want to go today?". Now that is what independent traveling is all about. But if you have a pre-arranged itinerary that self-questioning is redundant, even if you could still alter it.

Alright, I guess that by now you have realized that I am a firm opposer to RTW tickets. I myself considered them throughoutly when I was planning my own trip. Man they are so sweet and so price efficient! It's almost like a candy for us travelers. But, if you're planning a journey around the world, hear me out here, just for a second please - Ask yourself this: would you like this to be a once in a lifetime adventure, without knowing what will be the next destination till you're actually there, remaining flexible like the wind, being able to change your travel plans within the day and without worrying that, in seven months time, you gotta be in some remote continent to catch a flight that you won't know whether you wanna catch or not? Wouldn't that be great? Are you traveling around the world for the adventure or for the postcard collection? Don't you want to leave all doors open to whatever comes next, whatever the road brings up to you? Will you let some-hundred dollars water it all down? You will probably never repeat such a journey like this in your entire existence, will you actually let some-hundred bucks cripple the experience? I thought so...

Buying as you go is the way to go man. It's the ultimate freedom, an utterly refreshing and romantic way of traveling. Simply put, the way it is meant to be done.

At the end of the day, you don't need so many internal flights for fuck's sake. You will actually want to travel more overland. If you keep on sky-hopping from one city onto the next one you miss out what's cooking at ground level, where the real deal is being panned out. Grab a train here and there, and you will see that you don't even need to spend much more than if you had bought a RTW ticket.

Do yourself and your travel experience a favor a reject the temptation for a RTW ticket, and buy as you go in stead. And, in one year time when you come back home, please send me an email thanking me for this piece of advice I just gave you (a US$100 check will do the trick too, thank you).

1.7 - Digital camera vs. film camera

This is a no-brainer. Go digital all the way. Do you know how many shots can you take during a long trip, meaning months worth of visiting world wonders and places you've never been before? thousands, literally. Do you know how much does it cost thousands of photos worth of film rolls and developing? a fucking lot. Do you know how much does it cost a decent digital camera with a large capacity memory card and a spare set of rechargable batteries? less than 200 bucks. Do you know how much do dozens of film-rolls weight and how much space they take up in your backpack? or how much does it cost to keep on parcelling them back home? a fucking big deal. Now, how much would that be if you had a digi camera? 6 dollars: 3 dollars to burn your photos into a CD in a local internet cafe and 3 dollars to parcel the CD back home.

Unless you're a professional who likes to goof around with ungodly zooms, color-filters and whatnot, just get one of those lovely 3 megapixel, 3x optical zoom digital cameras and shoot your journey away.

1.8 - Backpack size

I have always argued in favor of light-traveling. You know, you don't really need to bring your hair-dryer with you man...

For male travelers on a large scale trip, I find 70 liter capacity backpacks to be a sensible size. It's enough to fit a sleeping bag, some winter clothes, some summer clothes, underwear, toiletries, a pair of sandals, etc. Basically, everything you need. For female travelers, shoot for a 60 liters one.

I also strongly recommend bringing a light day-pack with you. Doesn't have to be anything special, just one of those school bags we all used to carry on our secondary school days, so whenever you go out exploring a city or going on a one-day excursion to the country side or whatever, you can bring your day-pack with a sweater in case it gets cold, a bottle of drinking water, your Lonely Planet guide and your sun glasses while leaving its 20 kg big brother back at the hostel.

And, finally, a small hanging purse comes handy too. There you can fit your camera, money, cigarettes, etc. Please remember that many backpacker pants won't have pockets whatsoever. During my trip, I always carried a hanging purse with me. Hippy style baby! Don't carry a bam bag (however you spell it) because they act as magnets to thieves and thus they're potentially risky.

Oh, I almost forgot: you gotta get one of those things, one of those discreet, flat money belts that you wear under your pants under the waist line where you carry your passport, your credit cards and a US$100 bill or two. What are they called? send me an email with the correct answer and enter our weekly lottery! This week's prize's a slutty french kiss from moi.

1.9 -What gear to bring

This very much depends on where you're planning to go of course, and what season would that be. I will, however, assume that you will be traveling around the world for a year or so, and you will visit different countries, in different seasons and under different climes. Moreover, I will also assume that warm latitudes will be predominant over cold ones. Basically, I will assume that you're planning a standard trip. Hehe I assume everything here as you can see!

Alright, I will list out what I myself packed into my backpack:

I advice against bringing a heavy coat unless you know you're going to stay in winter/cold countries for a prolonged time. It'd take up most of the space in your backpack, and chances are that you could buy it there cheaper than at your home country anyway. Once you're moving out to warmer latitudes, you can always trade it away for an awesome lunch at a local restaurant, or to another traveler for whatever you two agree on.

So that's it. That's basically what I took with me and it felt appropriate. Of course, you'll have to throw most of those clothes in the bin mid-trip and buy new ones in local markets as you travel. Backpacking is a killer for fancy clothes, so leave your Yves Saint Laurent outfits at home!

1.10 - How much in cold cash?

One or two bills of US$100 is enough, no more as it'd be potentially dangerous. Forget euros or sterling pounds: overseas, specially in the third world, American dollar is king and widely accepted. It's extremely beneficial to carry always some dollars with you. So the only ATM in town is out of service and you've run out of local currency? no worries, any hotel will exchange you some US dollars. Crossing a border at midnight and you forgot to save local currency to pay the visa stamp at the border immigration booth? no worries, they all accept dollars, etc.

Don't use those dollars unless there's no other alternative, and if you use your US$100 bills up, re-stock up as soon as possible: get local currency at a nearby ATM and exchange it for American dollars.

By the way, don't bother with traveler's checks. A wise combination of dollar bills and ATM machines will serve you just fine.

1.11 - When to go?

I strongly recommend to travel during off-season when possible for multiple reasons:

• Prices will be cheaper: flight tickets, shopping, events, tours, etc.
• You will avoid the crowds of package tourists pestering every touristic sight
• You will find accommodation available without problems, and you'll likely get discounts if you ask. Hotels are desperate for customers during off-season
• You will still meet other backpackers, as they are the traveling bunch least bound to holiday peaks. They just travel when they happen to travel, not when they get two weeks off the office back home

Of course, if you're going on a one year journey around the world like I did myself, you'll touch every single season around the year at one point. However, try to plan your departure time matching your bulk of the trip to the most convenient season. However, don't be put off because you'll hit this or that country during winter time (unless it's Russia or something, of course). Figure how to match the main areas of your trip to the most convenient time of the year, and simply accept whatever weather you get blessed with in the rest.

1.12 - Solo vs. accompanied

Can't answer this one for you buddy, for this is strictly personal choice. Some people prefer to share their travel experiences with their best friend or sentimental partner, and some of them prefer to enjoy the total freedom of the solo traveler

For a number of personal circumstances that are none of your fucking business knowing about, I myself decided to go solo despite the fact that I had someone very close to me willing to tag along. My trip around the world in 2004 had been my first ever attempt to explore the vast world outside ole good Europe, and I felt that I needed to do it by myself. You know, like a personal challenge of a sort. It was a very delicate moment in my life, having just quit my corporate job and having no idea what to do next and all that shit (read The Prologue section if curiosity irks you in the no-no spot), and I felt that I needed some time for myself to sort out my own mess. I have never regretted a single time having taken the solo path... It was the right decision for me at that time.

There are a number of pro's and con's to either. For example, if you travel with a friend you'll save some pennies by sharing some costs (a double hotel room is cheaper than two individuals, you share the cost of taxis, etc). Also, if you travel accompanied you will give each other support through the rough times. And, of course, you will have someone to talk about your trip once you come back home -nostalgia syndrome, they call it-. In the other hand, you will not open yourself to new people as much as if you were traveling alone (you have your communication needs covered, thus you don't need to approach strangers for a casual chat), and thus you will make less friends on the road. This is a proven fact. Also, if you travel alone you will probably learn more about yourself and about your capacity to undertake extreme and unexpected situations that, no doubt, will suddenly pop up in front of you on a weekly basis. All together, I feel that the whole experience would feel less... self-lecturing. I don't know if I'm making myself clear here.

Traveling solo will grant your trip with a spiritual hint to it all; more... inspiring and romantic for the lack of a better word. Without a doubt, it'll have a deeper impact on you as a being. You have no support once you catch that first flight outta home. It'll be just you and the world out there. That feeling of independency has been invaluable for me now that I think about it all retrospectively. I feel like I achieved something big, and completely by myself on top of that. A self-esteem booster that will remain deep within you for years.

Good thing about going with someone else is that, if you pick up the right travel companion, you will forge a life-lasting friendship, having gone together through a once in a lifetime experience, and you don't get chances to build up such friendships every day. I guess that if you just want to have fun and a pleasant time, going with a close friend is probably the best option . You two will sure laugh your titties off all the way.

Should you decide to travel with a friend, choosing the right partner is crucial, and I mean it. Of course, the two of you gotta be good friends who know and trust each other and all the obvious, but you gotta require a step beyond. The two of you gotta be alike as far as:

• Budget: This is often -and wrongly- overlooked. If you two guys travel on different budget ranges, one will be pulling the other one down away from places and events that can only be afforded by one of you. This leads to frustration and a gloomy feeling of being missing stuff out because of your stingy friend. Or, if one of you decides to go ahead and enjoy whatever event the other one cannot afford, one will be feeling left out while his wealthy buddy enjoys the hell outta himself without me . Trust me peeps, it's more important than it might look at first sight. Please make sure the two of you got similar funding for the trip or else money arguments will arise.
• Travel likings and pace: Does one of you like outdoors activities (trekking, country side exploring, etc) while the other one is a city crawler (pubs, museums, etc)? How about the traveling pace? some people are laid back and like to take it easy, while others beat the streets's pavement furiously. I remember meeting these two girls who were always arguing because one was a beach freak and the other one was mostly interested in museums, cultural events, etc. Before leaving, talk about each other's taste as far as tourism goes, and leave the possibility open to occasionally split up temporary for a week or two following different itineraries in search of your respective interests.

Finally, I'd like to quote a wise man (so wise that I've forgotten his name): "Never not do something just because you don't have anyone to do it with". I myself was at the beginning shit scared to go traveling alone. What you say? going to the other end of the world without speaking the local language and by myself? No way dude! We all go through that initial stage, it's natural. But do cheer up, it's not as hard as it looks like. As a matter of fact, you'll soon learn that it's actually difficult to be alone. There are so many backpackers out there that you'll positively befriend a bunch of them at every new country you visit. Look, I'm an introverted guy, actually I'd go as far as labeling myself as socially-challenged, and I ended up with my contacts notepad filled with emails and phone numbers. It seriously is that easy to casually meet up with other people in your hostel, in a museum, in a one-day tour to whatever archeological ruins nearby, etc. It's like fucking backpackers had unleashed a worldwide assault or something!

1.13 - Worth bringing valuables?

Planning to bring your laptop or your portable DvD player?

I myself carried around half of the world my laptop and had no major problems. Sure you have to pay extra attention to it so it doesn't get stolen or damaged, but if you're careful and smart it should be OK. Also, be aware that should you bring your laptop, you will spend more money on accommodation as it wouldn't be wise to sleep in a shared dormitory and leave the laptop there while you're out exploring, so basically you'd need to book an individual room where no one other than you could enter without the key.

The real question is whether you will have a real use for it or not. I am very glad I took my laptop with me because I worked on this web site while I traveled, and I enjoyed it very much indeed. However, I'd find pointless to drag this dead weight for something mundane like storing your digital pictures (you can burn CDs in an internet cafe and parcel them away home). So, if you have a real point in bringing it along, sure go ahead if you don't mind the extra awareness it requires. Otherwise, if it's just to goof around when you're bored, leave it at home and that's a whole load off your mind.

1.14 - Documents

Important documents you want to have sorted out before departuring:

• Passport: make sure it won't expire mid-trip, and renew it if close to expiring date or if it's condition is less than acceptable. Also check about visas compatibility. For example: if you have an Israeli visa stamped and you want to visit arab countries, you better make a new passport.
• Credit cards: bring a debit and a credit visa card, the former for everyday usage and the later for booking flight tickets or purchasing expensive stuff abroad (visa provides an insurance to every item bought with them, so if you're delivered with a faulty product, you can block the payment and let the credit company deal with it)
• ISIC card: student discounts when applicable. It barely costs few dollars and it's worth having it as they'll save you some random bucks here and there on museums, events, some flight tickets, etc. If you're not a full time student nor under 26, there are still ways around it. I myself have a friend whose dad runs a languages school. I asked him to issue and stamp an enrollment form for me and with that I was granted with the ISIC card. ISIC cards are issued by your local Education Department office. They'll tell you where and how to apply for it. If you cannot get it, don't worry: it's easy to buy a fake one on the road.
• International Youth Hostel Network member: The International Youth Hostels is a network of very basic guesthouses widely spread around the world. If you're a member you'll get a minor discount on your nightly rate. Nothing to sweat for, but every little counts. Browse google for the International Youth Hostel web site, where you can check where in your town can you apply for this card.
• International Driving Licence: You never know when you might need to rent or drive a car abroad. This licence, for a mere 10US$, will legally allow you to drive anywhere in the world. Ask in your local governmental Driving Department office.
• Travel Insurance: printed sheet with all the policy details.
• Lots of ID photos: for visas along the way. I brought like 24 or so.
• Bank balance statement: if you have over US$10,000 on your bank account, ask the manager to elaborate and stamp an official certification stating that you're a valuable customer with this or that much money deposited, blah blah blah. The immigration officers of some very specific countries are very touchy when it comes to let young, independent backpackers freely in as they might think you'll stay there illegally working as a waiter or whatever. Australia and USA are a fine example of this. If you can prove that you have a sweet enough bottom line in your bank account back home, they will most likely let you in without hassle.
• Vaccinations sheet: some countries require tourists to show proof of vaccination in order to issue the entrance visa.

By the way, you definitely want to scan those important documents and send an email to yourself with them attached on it, so you can access them and print them out from anywhere in the world should you lose them. Of course, in order to do so you need a web site-based email account, such as hotmail.com for example.

1.15 - Travel only when you are 100% ready

Long term traveling is a daunting enterprise: not only you ought to quit your current school/job, but also you'll spend quite a chunk of money, you'll be packing and un-packing your luggage every second day and you'll be thousands of miles away from mum and dad. You know, it's not the sort of thing you just wake up one day and decide to go for it over the morning coffee. It takes time and effort to prepare the whole project, and you better be damn sure you're ready for it. I don't mean to scare you off here buddy, I just want to make sure you don't regret getting yourself involved in such mess unless you really want it.

I think that the travel spark first sets alite from within. Just because a friend tells you about his wonderful trip and you'd like to do something like that yourself, doesn't mean it is the right time for you to do so. While pondering about it all, give it some time, don't rush the departure deadline. You sure will have lots to think about in your head, and the last thing you want is to self-impose some pressure as far as time schedules goes. In my case, ever since the moment I decided that I wanted to quit my job to travel till I finally departured, it took six months in between. Six of months making sure I had everything ready, both outside and inside my head. Actually, you will see that sorting all those self-doubts and fears out will take as much time as preparing the logistics, specially if this is your first time like it was in my case.

Take it easy, give it a deep thought, talk it over with your best friend for an external input, see if it's the right time for it or whether you are better off delaying it few more months down the road, etc, and once you've positively made up your mind about it, start organizing the trip and don't look back upon such self-questionings. Like some marketing executive at Nike would argue on, Just do it!

1.16 - Bank matters

Let your bank know you're going traveling and that several incoming charges and cash withdrawals will be placed from abroad against your bank account over the following months. For security reasons, some banks and credit card companies might cancel or lock credit cards on hold when a number or consecutive suspicious charges are accounted, and that'd be disastrous if it happened to you in the middle of your trip. So tell them not to deny such cash withdrawals from overseas.

Also, you want to have two different credit cards (or debit cards) linked to you account and bring them both. Imagine a malfunctioning ATM machine swallows one of your cards during your travels; well, you'd still be able to operate with the second one while the incident is being sorted out by the bank.

Another important factor you might want to look into are ATM commissions. In my case, I didn't know that my bank charges a 4% commission for every cash withdrawal from outside the European Community. Needless to say I ended up spending over US$500 simply on commissions by the end of my trip, which sucked goat ass. Do shop around for the least charging bank before departuring and you will save up a big deal of money just on commissions, or at least get informed by your bank manager on what's the most efficient way to take cash from abroad while paying the minimum amount on filthy commissions.

1.17 - Do you speak english?

Since you're reading this web site, I assume you do have the basics of the english language grammar nailed down, but if english is not your native language I do recommend you to work on your conversation skills. I know some other people might disagree, but being fluent and able to hold a deep conversation in english is fundamental for a backpacker. I don't mean this as much to work your way around and interacting with locals wherever you go as I do in order to gang up with other backpackers and travelers you'll meet on the road. You know, it's not really easy to meet up peeps with the language barrier pestering you every second sentence you try to speak away. Being proficient at conversational english will expand your friend-list and enrich the travel experience altogether.

So, if you are not a fluent english speaker, I strongly recommend you to enroll an intensive course at your local language school as soon as possible while you're dealing with the trip preparations and logistics. Few months of full time conversation-centered classes will be enough and it will benefit you endlessly out there.

1.18 - Got a boyfriend/girlfriend at home?

If you got a serious relationship going on and you're thinking about traveling abroad for a long time, here goes a piece of advice: either take him/her with you or brake up before setting off. Yes, you might be thinking "if he/she is the right one, he/she will wait for me". Reality check for you buddy: one year away from each other is a looooong ass time, and a number of interesting things/people might happen to either of you in the meantime. Trust me, there is nothing worse that going out there on a round-the-world trip leaving such an emotional tie behind like a boyfriend/girlfriend. You will keep thinking about it, specially if the relationship takes a turn to the colder because of the geographical distance between the two of you (which can very feasibly happen), and that really is a joy-killer.

The thing is that you guys, as a couple, gotta have a very strong relationship truly satisfying for both parts if you expect it to endure a one-year separation because any little issue the two of you might have had before hand gets hugely magnified when you put thousands of miles and long months in between you two. Phone calls and emails are no match for physical presence.

So, if you have a serious sentimental partner and you want to travel by yourself and re-join back upon arrival a year later, think it twice, specially if such sentimental partner is someone worthy with whom you want to continue. I am not telling you not to go, but I am indeed telling you to be prepared for the possibility of finding no-one awaiting for you when you finally arrive back home. Ponder whether you want to risk losing him/her, because like I said before it might very well happen.

Unfortunately, I am talking first hand experience here...

SECTION 2 - Once on the road.

2.1 - Health safety

Falling sick at one point during your trip is one of those unavoidable facts you should give for granted from the start. Health standards in developing countries are certainly bellow what you're used to back home and your organism might not be prepared to dodge such aggression.

One of the most common source of parasites and other bowels dysfunctions is tap water. Don't drink it. Even if it's an almost developed country which water system was been stamp-approved as clean, your internal organism might not be used to the specific composition within the water (you know, there's a hell lot more than just H2O in what comes outta the tap). Always drink bottled water, and in some extremely dodgy countries go a step further and even brush your teeth with bottle water. If you don't have access to bottled water, boil the tap water for 15 minutes before drinking it (you might want to let it cool down first though haha!), or use a purifying tablet, but only as an emergency case. You will soon get used to carrying a bottle of mineral water wherever you go.

As far as food goes, there is this old backpacker saying: In case of doubt, if you cannot peel it, boil it or cook it, leave it. Cooked food is generally OK as the high cooking temperatures has likely killed all possible virus on it. Salads and raw vegetables are tricky because they rinse them with tap water, so if you are in a "dangerous" parasites heaven such as India for example, give them a mighty miss. Shakes and ice creams follow the same pattern (elaborated with tap water). Food street stalls are generally fine, but do follow your common sense: if it looks way too unhygienic, walk off. But then again, most stalls do. As a general rule of the thumb, seek for busy restaurants to eat in: they rotate their food storage on a daily basis so nothing rottens away on the shelf waiting for a cautionless customer. Fish and seafood poisoning is nasty. I personally only ate fish or seafood in towns nearby a river or the sea, so you're sure that at least it's a fresh catch.

All that being said, the best advice I can give you is to not be paranoid about food poisoning. 99% of the dishes you'll eat will be OK. Don't let your health awareness ruin your eating approach: do taste and enjoy local food, try different things in different locations, explore the country's culinary traditions. Expanding your cuisine horizons is great fun and very lecturing. Dive into it. Simply follow your common sense (specially your nose's common sense) when traveling in very underdeveloped areas are you'll be just fine.

And should you fall sick and suffer from an incipient diarrhea-driven, Stalingrad-alike W.C. rumble, get to the closest drug store, purchase the appropriate medication, lock yourself up in your guesthouse room for a couple of days with a good book and lots of toilet paper, and smile at it all knowing that, in a sort of disturbing way, it's a rite of passage every worthy backpacker has gone through.

2.2 - Money and valuables security

Golden rule: if they don't know about it, there'll be no temptation. So you're traveling with your laptop? don't be stupid and don't carry it in one of those laptop briefcases so everyone can spot it out from a hundred meters distance. In stead, buy a small backpack and secure the laptop case inside, the more worn the backpack is, the better (no one will expect it to disguise a US$2000 laptop inside). Also, don't play with the laptop at your guesthouse's lounge room, do it only inside your own room. Neither do it on a bus or train; someone might decide to wait till you fall asleep to give a try at it. Don't connect to internet at the internet cafe right next to your hostel, as there is other guests will be probably checking their emails from; instead, walk 500 meters down the street to the next cafe. Don't talk around among other backpackers about the kick ass laptop you travel with (unless you trust them, of course). In my experience, most of the thefts that take place in guesthouses and such places are committed by other backpackers. I know, it sucks, but that's the way it is.

Like I said, be smart: if you're carrying a laptop, a portable DVD player, a high amount of cash or a fascicle from the first edition ever published of Conan the barbarian, as long as only you knows about it you'll be fine. Of course, don't leave it on a dormitory room unattended while you're out exploring the town; you never know who you are sharing the room with. Either book an individual room (I know they're more expensive, but so is your precious toy), or leave it at the reception's safe while you're out. Or even better, look for guesthouses providing individual security lockers. Another tricky place where you should be specially cautious with your valuables are bus/train stations and bus/train rides, as there are always a handful of birds of prey hawking around for a absent-minded tourist to snatch a bag from. Never leave your baggage unattended.

Another good idea if you bring your laptop with you is to buy a memory pen, you know, one of those USB memory cartridge storing from 64 to 512 mb on a matches box size. That way, you can upload and download your stuff back and forth from your laptop to the internet (at a cafe) without ever walking the laptop outside the hotel room. Those memory pens cost around US$30 and they'll spare you lots of hassle.

When it comes to valuables, basic common sense rules apply the most.

2.3 - Culture shock

What is a culture shock Hector? culture shock is the adaptation process your body and mind requires when you arrive to a new destination with social and cultural customs and every-day procedures completely different to anything you've seen before. Moreover, and expanding the concept to its full meaning, culture shock can also be referred as the general uneasiness the traveler feels after leaving his/her home country during the first stages of his/her trip. The earlier entry of culture shock is normal and even positive, because it means that a whole new learning and exploring opportunity is presenting in front of your eyes. The later, in the other hand, is a bit trickier, so I will elaborate further on it.

We are all nervous at the beginning of a long scale trip. Did I say nervous? scratch that, I meant dead scared! It's a fine mixture of fear, excitement, anticipation, doubts, second thoughts, eagerness, and a long list of the sort. We all travelers have gone through that, haven't we? oh boy, yes we have. It develops in different stages: we are God damned excited during the months prior the departure line organizing the trip. Then, as the final day closes in, excitement gives way to panic; panic to the un-known, panic to leave home for a long time, etc. And then, one day you catch that dreaded first flight, and panic gives way to... culture shock.

How to recognize the culture shock symptoms? First of all there's the constant second thoughts storming in your mind: man, have I done the right thing? was it wise to quit my job to go out traveling? what exactly am I doing here? I don't know man, I just don't know... You find yourself playing an "ifs and buts" game. There you are, in a wonderful new country you've never been before, and the last of your concerns now is to go out with your local map, devouring everything your eyes set upon as you should. In stead, for some odd reason, you find yourself sitting at your hostel internet room writing mails home saying that you've arrived, the flight had been smooth, blah blah. Basically, you are not psychologically ready to dive into your trip yet, you need a bit more of time for things to settle down within your head. Secondly, there's the loneliness. Yup, you miss your friends, your parents, your pet, your apartment, etc. Basically, you miss home. The way I explain this is it being an unconscious body reaction begging you to come back where you belong, where you are safe. Loneliness grabs you badly those first moments of your trip, or at least did to me, badly indeed.

Do you know how long did it take me to loosen up and shrug all that shit off me? two months! Two long mother fucking months. It's not that I didn't enjoy those first couple of months of my trip, but I wasn't totally relaxed. It's hard to explain, but I guess that what I'm trying to say is that the uneasiness can last for quite a while. Don't let it worry you, like I said it is normal (especially if it's your first long term travel) and it will go away. You just need to be aware of why are you having all those funky, contradictory feelings, realize that it's a normal process that will gradually wear off and take it easy the first weeks, taking your time till you're ready to gun the throttle full. In my experience, the best way to fight it off is to hook up with other backpackers as soon as possible. You know, someone to talk to, to explore the region with, to have a late evening beer with, etc.

Of course, selecting an sensible initial destination is mandatory, as I explain above in the last paragraph of the Itinerary section.

2.4 - Remain flexible

Very simple: don't be afraid of altering your initially planned itinerary should new more interesting opportunities arise, or should you be in the mood for another sort of destination. I'll give you a real example: After three weeks in Egypt, I was ready to move on to my next destination. According to my itinerary, the next country down the list was India. But I had been traveling for two months in the Middle East by then, and I felt like chilling out in a laid back, sunny and music-pumping tropical beach for a change. So I ditched the whole India thing and went to Thailand instead, and you know what? It was the right decision, I had a pool of fun there.

The truth is that, as you travel, your interests will change constantly. At some points you'll feel like relaxing in an easy going country like Australia, and at some others you'll be looking forward digging into a beefier, more complex cultural environment like Iran. Don't hesitate following your instincts even if that means turning your itinerary upside down. It's good to have a list of countries you want to visit, but don't let it rule your trip. There are dozens of factors as of why you could want to go to a place you had not foreseen back home when you designed that itinerary; maybe you met a group of great people who are going to whatever amazing jungle in whatever country nearby and they invite you to come along. Well, great man, go ahead! That's part of independent travel: spontaneity! And that's part of the adventure too, are you going to let a piece of paper with a number of consecutive countries on it ruin that for you? no way in hell!

2.5 - Stretching your budget

How to stretch those few dollars a day your dispose of once you're on the road? Well, if I had the ultimate formula for that I'd be publishing a book and becoming rich instead of writing this lame ass web site. All I can give you is a small list of tips I've found useful myself. If you're a traveler yourself and are in-the-know for saving some pennies here and there, please contact me and I will gladly include your ideas.

First and foremost, the golden rule to travel cheap is that your choice of destinations is categorically decisive upon your budget. You could spend less money traveling 6 months in Asia than in 2 months in Europe/USA/Australia/Japan. If your budget is tight, stick strictly to developing countries. That's the very best advice you could get.

One of the best way of saving some bucks in your day by day travel routine is by hooking up with a travel companion, of course someone you like, trust, have similar likings and budget and is headed towards the same direction (and if she's blonde and Swedish, the merrier). Most guesthouses host either shared rooms or double rooms. Well, if you're not into sleeping with another 6 snoring, feet-stinking backpackers, why don't you book the double room together with your partner and share the cost? So you wanna rent a car for the weekend and explore the whereabouts? tag him/her along and split the cost of the rental. There are hundreds of small activities from which you will financially benefit by sharing the cost with a friend, plus the two of you will enjoy it much better than if done alone.

If you'd like to book a seat in a tour to any local site, the travel agencies might give you a slight discount if you book few seats at once. Stick a note in your hostel's notice board asking if anyone wants to join in and, maybe, you'll all get a price reduction.

When it comes to eating, try to search for busy blue-collared worker restaurants. If they have a heavy traffic of builders, cab drivers, policemen and the sort, it means that a) the food is good and b) the price is good. Plus, on top of that, you'll be tasting the real local food. I remember this wonderful blue-collared worker restaurant in Fethiye (Turkey); man they served the best stuffed eggplants I've tasted in my life for a mere US$3. I gained at least two kilos during that week I spend there haha! Food stalls are also a cheap option, but don't rely on them as your only food supply. Mum told you you gotta eat good stuff.

One of the main sources of money leakage comes after sunset. Beers, cocktails and nightclubs will drain your budget thin real quick. There's no way around this I'm afraid. I guess all you can do is to take a limited amount of money before going out and leave the rest at the hostel, so at least you don't incur in the risk of burning the whole week's budget in the heat of the night (it has happened to me more than once... or twice... in all fairness, it fucking happened again last weekend!)

Souvenir shopping gets, in the long run, more expensive than you think. At the end of the day, you'll be visiting a shitload of countries in your trip, and you will spend a fortune buying small items from each, to say nothing about the extra weight on your backpack (or extra cost of parceling them back home). I know those little handcrafted cutties are lovely, but fight the temptation. And they're all probably being chain-manufactured in China anyway!

The ISIC card works wonders in some countries, specially when it comes to entrance tickets to museums, archeological sites, etc. Wherever you go, always ask if they do discount to students, even while booking a flight ticket at the travel agency. Sometimes, some companies do provide slight discounts to pesky students. In case you don't know, the ISIC card is the International Student card, which can be issued at your home country presenting a proof of being enrolled in a yearly course at a certified institution (but there are ways around that). Read the section Documents above for more info.

If you gotta grab a long distance bus, make it be a night bus. Not only you'll save the cost of one night worth of hotel, but they are more likely to run on schedule as there's less traffic by night. If you're one of those heaven-blessed lucky bastards who can sleep on a bus (I'm not), that's the perfect solution.

When it comes to buy a flight ticket, do shop around, both retail and over the net. Every city has a street where most of the airlines and travel agencies have a branch. Ask every single of them, you'd be surprised how much prices fluctuate. Usually, local airlines offer the cheapest fare. Do not forget either to browse the newspapers, as some travel agencies advertise sweet last minute deals. Also, should be need to fly, do it between major hubs/cities and continue overland from there. Lastly, I recommend always checking out the local STA travel branch (there is one at almost every main city in the world, www.statravel.com): they are specialized in cheap flights to students and their prices are usually among the best.

Bargaining in the markets is a common practice in most of the developing countries. Knowing the correct ongoing price for an item beforehand is extremely useful when approaching the final trading. Try to ask around to someone who knows about local prices, like the receptionist in your hostel or another traveler who's been in the city longer than yourself. Most vendors within the same area follow the same pattern and jack up the prices a fixed % over the brake even mark. For example, there is this touristy market in Shanghai (China) where I happened to realize that the vendors would always start off asking exactly 5 times more than the lowest price they'd sell at. Once you know that info, you are much better off when facing the bargaining. Another way of finding that lowest price is by stubbornly ask for a very low price. At the vendor's refusal to sell, walk away. If he doesn't come out the shop calling you out to come back, then you know you were asking for a price they really won't sell at. Now walk into the next shop over that sells the same merchandise, and raise that rock-bottom price a 20%, and so on, till someone finally agrees to sell. Bargaining is an art, and as such you need lots of hours of experience to master it. I myself suck at it (I don't have the patience; it's too frustrating, time consuming, deceiving, etc), but non the less it's important to get the grip of it as soon as possible or else you'll be overcharged left, right and center.

When it comes to finding cheap accommodation, check out your travel guide. Every Lonely Planet guide has a section called "Where to Stay" organized by price range. Search for the "Budget" entry.

Most of the guesthouses or travel agencies in backpacker-friendly areas offer one-day trips to the nearby sites. Usually, they fleet a shuttle bus and drive around the bunch of you for a fee. Find out if you can reach those touristy sites by public transport instead in order to save few bucks. However, those one-day trips are in most of the cases quite value-efficient and spare you lots of hassle.

If you plan to stay for a reasonable length of time in a first-world country (say for example 3 months), you might want to consider doing some part-time working . You know, bar tendering in Australia, english private-tutoring in Japan, etc. You will soon realize that those first-world countries are the real budget-killer in any around-the-world trip, so you might want to ease them up by earning a few dollars back. Some hostels would agree on giving you a bed for free if you do a couple of hours of cleaning around every day; worth to ask anyway.

Also in first-world countries, feel no shame and do use the guesthouse kitchen for self-catering; everyone does. The best way is to ask around at the guesthouse if anyone wants to do some shopping together sharing the costs for a communal dinner. Eating out at a developed country won't get any cheaper than 6 to 8 dollars per go, which adds up fast.

In most of the countries, specially poor ones, there are two types of buses: the luxury A/C coach buses for tourists, and the rougher-but-functional chicken buses for locals. Yup, you guessed right: chicken buses go at fraction of the cost.

Travel slow: go deep instead of wide. Stay longer in one country and shorten down the list of countries. Also, travel local: commute into neighboring countries as opposed to few countries in each continent. By doing so, you'll cut down on transportation, visas and a number of not-so-obvious costs. Plus you will learn heaps more about the local culture and psyche.

Unless you hit a specific tourist area like a beach town or a ski resort or stuff, rural provinces are usually cheaper than the main capitals and, in my very personal opinion, they are more rewarding as they grant you a closer look into the country's traditions and folklore.

hmmm still looking for more shit to list... if you have any tip, contact me and I will publish'em.

2.6 - Traveler loneliness

Traveler loneliness is like Travel Burnout, every backpacker suffers from it at some point, specially if you're traveling solo. Some people are in greater need of human interaction, and some others (like myself) stand better being by oneself the more they travel. I remember the first couple of months of my trip feeling lonely quite often, being in dire need to hook up with other travelers for the mere fact of being with someone. The cold truth is that traveling by yourself gets sometimes hard, and you do need someone to talk it out on.

Some people say that the way to proceed in order to not feel lonely is social immersion, meaning speaking with locals, learning their cards games and joining their evening games in the local tea houses, etc. I, while of course respect that, prefer to hang out with other backpackers, to learn what's their background, why they've gone out traveling, etc. I guess I can relate to them better than to locals, which only makes sense, plus I feel more comfortable with it.

If you're an introverted guy, I'm afraid you'll have to undertake an effort here and try to actively approach other travelers, specially those who travel solo themselves. Hehehe I remember this Swedish girl in Kho Pan Ngan (Thailand). I was one evening walking down the beach drinking a beer when she just walked up to me and said: "hey, are you alone? because if so, I am too so I figured we could hang out together" Needless to say, we had a good fun having few drinks together for the following couple of days. Sometimes it's as easy as casually opening up a chit-chat with whomever is sitting next by, and trust me on this one: the other peep will appreciate having some company as much as you do, so loosen up and get talking! Half the fun of traveling is in the people you meet along the way, I swear. Making some friends in a certain country can be the difference between having a blast there or getting bored off your ass.

Another good way of making acquaintances is by staying in popular guesthouses, specially those listed in the Lonely Planet, and if you sleep in shared dormitories, the merrier. That was how I made my first friend in my trip, who had been my room mate in a guesthouse in central Istanbul. Backpackers do trust Lonely Planet guides and if it's in there, they'll go there.

Joining organized tours is another feasible way of meeting people. I'm not talking about a package holidays, just a one or two days tour to whatever site nearby. You bunch are driven there together, visit the place together, probably have lunch at the same designed restaurant, etc.

If all that fails, grab the first plane to any backpacker mecca such as Thailand, Australia and the like, where it's impossible not to befriend someone within your first day there.

If you still don't get to meet anyone, I'd suggest you to switch to another deodorant brand.

Anyway, the most important thing to keep in mind is that travel loneliness gets us all at some point of our trips, and it's got a very very easy solution: get talking to someone, do whatever activity together (not necessary sex), and it'll be gone before you even notice.

2.7 - Learn your own pace, your own likings

As you travel, you soon will realize that you enjoy more a type of situations and places better than others; adjust your itinerary accordingly. It's a matter of gaining expertise and listening to your feelings. For example, I personally realized that I don't enjoy as much massive urban hubs with their pollution, traffic, etc as I do laid back, nature-beautiful villages. It's strange because back home I'm a city freak, but when I travel I usually end up having a better time in the country side or in coast towns than in the main capitals. Well, I now organize my travels so I spend only few days in the main cities and the bulk of my time somewhere else.

Don't feel forced to explore this or that place because your travel guide says it fucking owns. Stick to your feelings and your likings. At the end of the day, it's your trip and no one else's.

Moreover, some people like to wake up at 7:00 am and rocket-launch themselves into the streets without wasting a single second, using up till the last ray of sunlight to devour whatever the place has to offer. Some others, like myself, would rather shorten down the to-do list and take it easy, enjoying an quiet afternoon coffee in a bar terrace, and not rushing things out. Once again, learn your own travel pace and stick to it. It will make the whole experience more pleasant.

2.8 - Travel Burnout

Travel burnout is like any other source of burnout: a dire need to slow down and take a holidays from it all.

First of all, let's clarify on how do you recognize the symptoms of travel burnout. It's actually very easy to spot out: you feel lazy to wake up at 7:00 am to pay a visit to the city's main attraction. You go to internet cafes on a daily basis just to surf the net and your mails without a specific purpose. You find yourself spending more and more time reading a book in a coffee shop nearby your hotel rather than exploring about. You get less social and don't get to talk much to new people. For some reason, your mood is cranky and you bitch often at the locals's stupidity. You show less interest to learn about the local culture and customs. You can't be arsed to take a three hours bus ride to visit an interesting minority village in the mountains, etc. Like I said, you'll be the first one to notice the effects of the travel burnout.

Once again, and I'm aware I might sound repetitive here, every backpacker gets burnt out at some points during his/her trip. It's normal. It doesn't mean you are not having a good time, it just means you've been doing it too much and for too long, and now you need to do something else for a while.

How do you fight travel burnout? well, I guess every traveler has his own tricks, but since this is my web site... I personally check the map of the country I am in at that moment and try to look up in my Lonely Planet guide any reference of any quiet, small but interesting town to relax for few days, no more than a week top, and if it's by the sea side much better. Basically, the idea is to let my travel batteries get recharged back full by following a therapy based on lots of rest, a good book, a charming town to walk around, good local food, and overall letting everything slip off my mind for those few days. It's, like I said, a holidays from traveling. But that's just my way and might not work for you at all. Who knows, maybe all you need is a few nights out clubbing hard, getting pissed silly and scoring a chick or two, what do I know. Or maybe you're just fed up of the country you're currently in. If so, start the visa application process for the next country and get the hell outta there as soon as possible. I felt very burnt out while in Egypt and China. I simply had had a tough time in those countries and thus my travel motivation plummeted like a rock. If that's the case, don't force yourself to keep on going just because it's a shame not to fully explore the country since you're already there. Fuck that! nothing worse than self-pressing yourself to stay in a place you just don't fancy. If you don't like what you see, move on into a merrier business.

What it is indeed a proven fact is the travel burn out is rather a psychological process as opposed to a physical one: every three days packing and unpacking your luggage, taking a long distance bus, searching for a new guesthouse, having to look for new people to socialize with, etc. It does get psychologically tiresome. Hehehe there have been so many times, while standing in front of a UNESCO world heritage wonder and thinking to myself: man, I would so give this world wonder up for a couple of days of rest in my old apartment back home, sitting on my couch, watching a football match, having beer and with my cat purring on my lap. At the end of the day, let's not forget that long term traveling is not like going on a two weeks holidays, it's actually closer to living a daily life: some weeks and some destinations are good, and some others are shitty, and a consecutive string of a couple of bad weeks (or destinations) can get your mood in the downies within a snap. As a general rule of the thumb, I would myself get hit by the travel burnout bug whenever I would be craving for some sedentarism (sedentariness? whatever means as opposed to being nomad). It's funny how we dream of traveling and adventures and stuff back home but when we are out there we sometimes are keen to slow down. If that's the case and you're looking forward to some stability but still haven't finished your trip and don't want to come back home yet, how about if you stop wherever you are at that moment and look for some temp job for few weeks? or maybe join a school to learn the basics of the local language? You know, sometimes a lil'bit of old good day-by-day activity helps to recharge the batteries.

The important thing is to spot out the travel burnout symptoms quickly and search for whatever antidote works out for you.

2.9 - Upload your travel photos and writings on the net

I very much recommend to regularly upload from internet cafes your photos with a brief writing work about the places you've been and things you've done while traveling. It doesn't have to be a full scale web site like this one by any meanings; few photos and a page or two of text will do per every country you visit.

What's the point of it? well, for one your friends and relatives back home will be able to follow your steps and know what you've been up to all these months, and I'm sure they'll appreciate it. Secondly, it gives you the chance to gather up your memories as you write about them and make full sense out of it. Trust me, I have come to understand things I hadn't understood before by simply writing about it, sort of a flashback mental exercise, and it does work. Thirdly, friends you've met on the road will be able to read about your wanderings once you split up and see where the hell you ended up at. And lastly, you'll be able to read countless times about your own trip over the following years after coming back home, as surely nostalgia for those wonderful months you spent abroad will hit you hard every now and then - trust me, it will hehe.

It barely takes one afternoon in an internet cafe for every country you visit and you won't regret it.

There are loads of websites offering free hostage for your travel blogs and pictures. Slap "travel blogging" or something like that on Google.

2.10 - To Lonely Planet or not to Lonely Planet

There are two schools of thinking here: a) those who state that following the travel guide's appointed steps waters down the adventure factor and drives you along the beaten track, and b) those, like me, who do read the travel guide because they save you ungodly amounts of hassle and time.

The way I see it is this: Lonely Planet guides are awesome if used as information providers as opposed to holy travel bibles. Use them to get a quick list of budget guesthouses in town (why would you be asking around for two hours for a cheap hostel if you can read about it straight away?), or to read about what's the best way to get to this or that archeological site 100 km away, or as a historical background briefing of whatever country you're visiting next, or to check where in town is the embassy of your next destination in order to apply for the entering visa permit, etc. See? fetch the useful info bits off it, but don't be ashamed to give an event that doesn't tickle your underpants a wide miss no matter how much the LP writer enjoyed it.

Don't read the Lonely Planet as to religiously follow its appointed track. Read it to make your own trip more convenient and hassle free, and you'll soon come to appreciate your travel guide as the wonderful tool it is.

SECTION 3 - Back home.

3.1 - Re-entry shock

Oh boy, the re-entry shock, probably the toughest of all factors involved in long term traveling. What is this dreaded re-entry shock everyone and their mother is talking about? It's the post-return syndrome after coming back home from a long time abroad living adventures and meeting interesting people, under which your brain just cannot throttle down back into a normal daily routine.

Let's face it: you've spent the last several months hopping from wonder to wonder, from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro, from a tropical beach in southern Thailand to the Australian desert, from the Pyramids in Egypt to the Great Wall of China, from learning to sharpen up a wooden spear in Kenya to witnessing the tea ceremony in rural Japan, etc. And now, after all that, you're supposed to go back to your home town, look for a job and rent a new apartment, and then wake up at 7:00 am every morning to go to the same office/school building, and the next day over too, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one... Now, do you understand what the re-entry shock is about? It's a scary thing, and in some cases it leads to clinical depression. You've just gone through a very high peak in your life, and right after you're now entering a low area. Re-entry shock sure can get nasty.

I remember when I came back to my home town (Madrid - Spain) after spending two years in London once my university studies had been completed. I had had an awesome time in London and I met there a great bunch of people. Man was it tough coming back to Spain after all the fun I'd had there. It took me a looooong time to psychologically recover from that, definitely more than I had expected. I can testify that I certainly didn't enjoy it. But at least I have learnt how to deal with re-entry shocks in all its forms and shapes, and what are the best actions to counteract it off.

The best way to reduce the utter nostalgia that will most likely assault you once you return home is to keep yourself busy with a meaningful activity. What you say? you've always wanted to finish your doctorate? now it's the best time for that. What's that? you've hunted a job offer from a firm at an overseas outpost? give them a call and see if they still need you around. Have you always wanted to enroll acting classes? There's nothing better you could do with your time at this precise moment. See? focusing on a meaningful activity as soon as possible will fill the bleeding gap left in your heart by traveling. For your own good, don't remain idle.

As a secondary option, talking over the internet forums with other travelers, answering questions to rookies and stuff is another way to keep in touch with it all. Also send some emails to friends you made on the road and check how's life treating them and perhaps arrange together a one-week short trip somewhere next holidays, etc. But like I said, this is just a secondary option, you still better get your ass moving on with your life as soon as possible or else the traveling blues and nostalgic memories will chew you inside out.