Beg-packers are everywhere in the media at the moment. They’ve been around for a while, but a rise in numbers (and a rise in blatant insensitivity) are getting people really mad. So, what are beg-packers, why are they asking for money and are they wrong to do so?
Here are a few answers to those questions and my own personal opinion, which argues that beg-packing is pretty ridiculous, but it isn’t all bad (read first before you get angry at me too).
What are beg-packers?
By @Joop_nl via Twitter
Beg-packers are Western (majority white) tourists who are asking others to fund their travelling. Beg-packers are raising this money through crowdfunding websites such as fundmytravel.com, hawking postcards or busking on the street, and in some cases, just begging for money. Read more
Hey guys. So, I recently participated in the World Nomads Travel Writer Scholarship programme, where I wrote a piece on the theme ‘a place that is unfamiliar to me’. Devastatingly, I didn’t win the scholarship (next year, perhaps?), so here is my entry published here instead, entitled Chasing Home: Read more
Dictionary: A book or electronic resource that lists the words of a language (typically in alphabetical order) and gives their meaning. Inspired by a long (and sunny!) weekend in the home of Oxford University, here is a day in Oxford city as told through Oxford Dictionary definitions… Read more
I feel as if spring has really snuck up on us this year. It’s officially time for people living in Britain (or anywhere temperate in the Northern Hemisphere) to come out of hibernation and start enjoying the extra hours of sunshine. And so, I have written this spring foraging guide to edible wild plants you can find in the UK. Read more
Making friends in a new place is always hard, whether it’s in the next town over or in a new country. Trust me, I’ve moved around a lot, but I’ve found the key thing when it comes to how to make friends in a new city is perseverance.
That’s right. You don’t need to be a social butterfly, you don’t need to know the local language and there is no magical secret to getting people to like you. You just need to persevere and hold strong to the fact that you will find your people. Everything takes time. Read more
I have flown in and out of Hamad International Airport in Doha on a Qatar Airways stopover a bazillion times, travelling to and from Hong Kong. However, for this flight I booked a long layover in Doha just so I could spend 24 hours in Qatar and finally see more than just Doha’s airport!
I actually really enjoyed my layover in Qatar, getting out of the airport and into the city, and highly recommend venturing out if you’re in transit in Doha with Qatar Airways. So, here is the story of my 24 hours in Qatar, how I made the most of a long layover in Doha and some Doha travel advice for anyone looking to do Qatar Airways stopover. Read more
Does the idea of travelling around Southeast Asia for two months sound a bit daunting? I felt the same when I came to plan my own itinerary, especially as I knew I would be backpacking on a shoestring budget. Two months in Southeast Asia sounds like a long time, but with so much to see and do, you need to make sure you’re not spreading yourself (or your budget!) too thinly.
Therefore, I have compiled this detailed post as a comprehensive travel guide to all the places I managed to squeeze into my two months in Southeast Asia, travelling solo and backpacking on a cheap shoestring budget, including:
– Things to know before you go
– How to plan a detailed itinerary on a budget
– My personal budget travel hacks
– Individual country guides that will help you choose where to go in Southeast Asia and inform how much things cost in each destination.
This is a long post because I wanted to provide as much information as possible (you can never do too much research!), so I advise you take it in in bite-size chunks, print it out or save it to return to when you need it. Also, if you’re more interested in general budget travelling advice, I have a separate post – The Ultimate Trip Planner: How to Make the Most of Your Backpacking Budget.
Southeast Asia Travel Guide: Before You Go
Before you set off on your Southeast Asia tour, there are a few things you need to know and get sorted before you go. Naturally, I left my planning to a few weeks before I went off backpacking Asia and then had to run around like a headless chicken sorting all of it out. So basically, don’t be an idiot like me. Read more
“You’ve slept in a lot of beds,” one of my oldest and best friends said to me a few weeks ago. When I gasped in offence, he was quick to add, “I mean, travelling, of course!” That got me thinking about all the places I have stayed on my travels: some the best hostels in the world, the comfiest of pillows and… some of the worst places I have ever ‘slept’.
After five years of living in Asia, I have pretty much perfected the ability to sleep anywhere. But, there are still a few standout beds that (bed)spring to mind. Here are, in my humble opinion, some of the best hostels in the world and the places I’ve most enjoyed resting my head.
The post-travel blues. I’ve definitely been wrestling with them these past few months. However, that’s all a little tied up with moving back to the UK after half a decade living abroad. Plus, there’s a little reverse culture shock thrown in there for good measure!
And so I asked the travel blogging community if they had ever experienced something similar. Here’s what Megan Roughley of Where My Travels Takes Me and Rosie Fluskey of Flying Fluskey had to say about the dreaded post-travel blues: Read more
I’d witnessed Bagan sunsets in Myanmar, splashed around in the lagoons of Laos, buffed up on history in Cambodia and stuffed my face with Vietnamese delicacies in Saigon. I was, sadly, coming to the end of my big Southeast Asian backpacking trip, but at least I was going out on a high. It was time for an incredible two weeks in Bali.
After five years of living on the continent, this trip was something of a farewell to Asia. And my final two weeks in Bali were a farewell to that trip itself. After six weeks of sightseeing, I was ready to flop on a beach somewhere, stretch out with some yoga and relax with a cocktail in hand. Read more
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