Archive for March, 2010

When it comes to travelling for the first time, other than maybe buying a plane ticket I reckon there’s nothing that tells you that you’re really ‘doing it’ more than going into the store and buying your backpack. Striding up to the counter, credit card in hand and a big smile on your face, proudly telling the poor shop assistant exactly what it is that you plan to do with your new purchase. “Oh, I’ll be carrying this for six months around Europe”, you happen to slip into the conversation. “I hope this is big enough to fit in everything I need for my round the world trip”, you proudly proclaim.

As with all important purchases, however, it’s vital to pick the right option. Especially when that option is going to be sitting on your back with all of your possessions in it for the next several weeks, months or years. Getting it wrong will almost certainly result in frustration and unnecessary expense, limit your options and probably provide you with a visit to the chiropractor to boot. Here’s a few pointers that I’ve come up with over the years that I wish I’d known when hitting the travel stores for the first time.

Welcome to a new regular feature, the Friday photo. Every week I’ll feature a photo from somewhere in the world, usually taken by me but sometimes by other travellers.

The photo this week is one that I took many years ago while travelling around the Catlins area at the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand.

As I sit here in the departure lounge at Melbourne airport quietly downing a beer and contemplating yet another international flight, it seems like a good time to ponder the question that ultimately occurs to every long term traveller. Why do I do it? Why have I spent the last 12+ years in an endless procession of new cities, languages, homes, jobs and friends? When the people that I went to school with all seem to be buying houses, having kids and financing their next SUV, why am I not? Why is it that my friends and colleagues are busy planning for their retirement while I’m busy planning for another round the world trip? What has driven me to live my life like this so far, and what drives me to keep doing it?

Long lazy days sailing around the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean with the sun on your back and the wind in your hair. Tying up each night in small fishing villages and chatting to the locals, sampling seafood that was caught only a few hours ago and washing it down with a few ice cold beers before being rocked to sleep by the gentle motion of the waves. Sounds like a dream, right? Something attainable only by the rich and famous? Well, it’s not! Gather a few mates together and prepare for the holiday of a lifetime…

If you’re looking to start a good argument in any hostel bar, discussing the pros and cons of organised group tours would be a great place to start. Some people love them, some people hate them and nearly every traveller seems to have an opinion on them.