All posts tagged: Backpacking

Beauty Bits To Take in Your Backpack 

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There are the obvious things and then the not so obvious things…. A caveat to this article is that you may require different bits to me. You will certainly need more than the items on this list, but the lesson to take away from this, is to think outside the box. Just because someone has told you to take certain bits, you need to truly tailor your packing to you. If you have annoying baby hair and use a certain gel to tame them every day, than by Jove, take it with you (and a spare). If you have skin that burns particularly easily then take your favourite SPF, they might not have a high enough factor for you in Sri Lanka or wherever. So the following are examples but also represent a savvy way of thinking when it comes to beauty. Hairdressing Scissors Am I a hairdresser? No. Could I be? …Nooooo. Is my hair a bit mental? Yes! On a level, though, you’re not going to shell out for a haircut on your travels, …

Photographs of Coober Pedy, Australia by Abigail Varney

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I’ll be visiting Australia for the first time in a few months and alongside about 1000 other places, I really want to see the small town of Coober Pedy. A tiny town 800 miles north of Adelaide, it is home to fewer than 2000 inhabitants – some of them the indigenous Australians descended from the Nomadic peoples that lived there for centuries. Famous for being the main source of Opal gemstones in the world Coober Pedy is a place full of eccentricity and authenticity – due to the isolated location and small population. Melbourne-based photographer Abigail Varney has captured the town in a series of photos entitled ‘Rough & Cut’. They show the sun-bleached, almost desolate Coober Pedy in an eerie light, there are no inhabitants in the photographs to add to the sense of a forgotten land. It’s certainly a place like no other – definitely one for the bucket list! Rough & Cut by Abigail Varney

Movies to Get You In The Mood For Travel

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I’m currently in that wonderful (sense the sarcasm) no-man’s land of waiting to jet off on my one woman trip to the world. Of course waiting means saving, and saving means no shopping, no Pret and no beers down the pub lest I drink away my air fare. So, what’s a girl to do with all this spare time? Netflix and Chill TO THE MAX of course. Here are my top 5 flicks to whet your appetite for travel… The Beach Firstly… WHEN IS LEO GOING TO WIN AN OSCAR?! Seriously, give the guy an award already. Anyway, this early Leonardo Dicaprio movie, directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) shows off the Thai backpacking experience wonderfully; the squalor, the noise, the new friends, new crushes, music, blue skies, blue seas, white sand… murder. Sorry for the spoiler. If you can watch the first three quarters of The Beach without wanting to book a one way ticket to Bangkok then you’re a stronger person than me. The Darjeeling Limited You’d have to be a cold-hearted, unromantic dullard to …

The 7 Best Money Saving Tips for Backpacking

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Chances are, you’re not that well off… don’t get offended, I say this as a fellow pauper. Also, in Sherlock Holmes fashion, I have deduced that if you were ‘in the money’ then you wouldn’t choose backpacking as your method of seeing the world. If I had the dough it would be Kardashian-type excursions to the Maldives, sippin’ on yak, and wearing Roberto Cavalli kaftans. As it stands, I’m a mere mortal; travel – even on a shoestring – requires cold, hard cash and quite a lot of it. So you’re going to have to save those pennies, something I have realised is hard, so here are some tried and tested tips to help you fund that trip. Please bear in mind that I’m from the UK and lived in London, one of the most expensive cities in the entire world, so my tips come from that perspective. If you’re an Ozzie or from the US or Western Europe you’ll still probably find they apply to you. 1. SET A GOAL Before you depart you …

Amazing Photos of Los Angeles and Coney Island

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Singapore-born US-based photographer Nguan describes his photographs as ‘ordinary fantasies’ which I think may be the most heartbreakingly perfect couplet of words I’ve ever heard. His projects ‘Coney Island’ and ‘City of dreams’ beautifully capture big city yearning in dreamy candyfloss hues. I love. Coney Island and City of Dreams by Nguan CONEY ISLAND CITY OF DREAMS  

Why Going Travelling Nearly Made Me Have a Nervous Breakdown*

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* Not literally, obvs, but planning a RTW is hard! I had second and third thoughts before I even stepped foot on a plane (let alone another country). I pulled it back though and that’s the important thing, but nevertheless, I found that I had a bit of a wobble a few months before my trip… So, okayyyy, in the big scheme of things, a year or two spent travelling is a drop in the ocean, but when you’re in your twenties, a year is a long time. A whole lot can happen in a year (and often does) and that scared me, I thought ‘sh*t am I wasting my prime years?’. The answer to that is ‘no’, because like Jennifer Lopez, I will not reach my prime until my early 40s which leaves plenty of time for globetrotting. Financially travelling scared me too, this is because prior to actually committing to a year of travel I was a bit ignorant of the costs. I knew about flights and making sure that I had enough cash …

So Why Do I Travel?

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As good a question as any, why do I travel? Perhaps a more insightful question might be ‘what are you running away from?’. Because I am. Running away that is. It was getting to a stage where I was long out of university and I’d been living independently in London for a few years and there was always the pressure of what to do next. I didn’t have, or want (still don’t) a boyfriend, I  certainly wasn’t ready to settle down. Although I had a good job and a nice sideline as a fashion blogger, complete with awards, I was pretty skint. It wasn’t that I didn’t earn enough money, it was that I lived in London which is cray expensive,  so the vast majority of my wage was immediately swallowed up by my huge rent. Mostly though, I found myself thinking, ‘these are the last days of my youth’. Dramatic, sure, but on a real – they totally are. So it was either plod into adulthood feeling totally unprepared and like I had unfinished …

50s flight attendants

In-Flight Skin Saviours

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As a world traveller, you’ll be catching a whole lot of flights, I think I’ll be getting over 20 this year at last count… eep! Personally I like a flight, it means you’re heading to your next destination but the havoc flying causes to your skin is a major beauty dilemma. So, just how do you prevent yourself arriving at the airport with the skin of a sunbed-worshipping 94 year old? Dehydration is the biggest factor in tired and dull looking ‘plane face’ skin, moisture gets sucked out of your skin by the pressurised cabin air, plus the physicality of travelling means you’ll probably be stressed, lacking sleep and maybe you haven’t tended to your skin in 48 hours. So to combat dry skin, drink LOTS of water. Forget your two litres a day. For every five hours you’re in the air, try to drink a litre of water, a lot, I know but it will help keep skin moisturised and prevent headaches and fatigue too. As for getting your forty winks, easier said than …

What That Coffee Can Buy You Around The World

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Let me first level with you by saying that I have never, ever bought a coffee in my entire life. This is because I hate coffee – seriously, I’ve tried it about three times and the last time I had a sip it made me feel violently ill for DAYS. No exaggeration. It’s yukky. BUT I do buy tea, wine, cakes, all sorts of sh*t, so the coffee is a symbol for our mindless consumerism, okay? Now, a lot of people like to tell you that by skipping your weekly Starbucks you can save X amount in a year… blah, blah, blah. But we are the generation of instant gratification, we can’t sacrifice the little things for some unknown future reward.We need them! So with that in mind I’ve taken the liberty of showing you EXACTLY what the price of a Cappuccino (let’s average it out at £3) will you get you around the world. THAILAND £3 = 160 Thai Baht Your Frappuccino will get you a night in a hostel dorm in Thailand – …