All posts tagged: Tips

The Ultimate One Month Thailand Itinerary

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Thailand is high up there on many people’s travel wish lists and it’s popularity is growing year on year. I had a bit of an up and down time there, but one thing is for sure, I felt like I went on a bout 5 different holidays. Each place I visited is so wildly different, and some of them were not at all the sun, sea and unprotected sex stereotype I had in my head. I have some really happy memories from my month here, and I’m not saying I’m a expert at all, but here is a fun month-long itinerary for anyone planning a trip to Thailand. Bangkok – 3 days You’ll probably fly into Bangkok so make the most of it. I found it very hot and crazy – it’s definitely not the most relaxing place but if you know where to look you can have lots of fun. Read my guide to Bangkok here   Chiang Mai – 4 days After Bangkok Chiang Mai is a welcome bit of calm, it’s such …

Making Friends While Travelling

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Travelling alone is always a little scary (see my post about the nightmare I had in Cambodia) but for the most part you’re never actually alone. Despite being surrounded by lots of other travellers and backpackers you can sometimes still feel a little isolated, especially if you don’t click with anyone. Here’s a rundown of how I made friends and had the best times while backpacking. INVITE A FRIEND FROM HOME! When I announced I was going travelling my old housemate Sinead decided to use her holiday time to join me for three weeks in Thailand. It was so nice to see a familiar face and it was so easy travelling with her since we’d lived together for over two years, I don’t think I could’ve spent 24 hours a day with many people for that stretch of time. We gave each other space when we needed it but also had some absolute screams! Another good friend Lucy was also travelling at the same time so we met up in Pai, Koh Phangan and Bali …

G-Adventures ‘India on a Shoestring’ Review

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Overview G-Adventures offers tours for young travelers all over the world including several tours through India. The ‘India on a Shoestring’ tour is 20 days traveling around Rajasthan or the ‘golden triangle’ and takes in many of the most famous sites of the area starting and ending in Delhi. Highlights I personally enjoyed the lesser-known (to me anyway) places we visited such as; Pushkar, Bikaner and Udaipur. As they were smaller it was easier to head off alone and do some exploring. The trip into the Thar desert was pretty amazing, and the food the local people cooked there was so tasty it’s hard to believe they cooked it in the middle of nowhere, without a kitchen. The river ganges was beautiful too and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. What’s right with it… The itinerary ensures you take in lots of things you wouldn’t if you were traveling solo, such as visiting the tiny village of Tordi Sagarh, eating at a Sikh temple and staying at THIS amazing hotel. The pace is quite fast and you get …

The Dreaded Delhi Belly and How it Nearly Broke Me…

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Call it hubris, cockiness or just plain stupidity but I *honestly* thought I would avoid Delhi belly while travelling. I’ve never been ill because of food, I’m the person who eats with a group who all get food poisoning and remain unscathed, my stomach is legendarily strong.   That’s not to say I wasn’t careful, I didn’t eat meat for a month while in India, avoided tap water and religiously sanitised my hands – seriously, what more can you do? And I thought I was safe, I lasted one month feeling fantastic, so on the second to last night (in an expensive western restaurant, it’s never the street food) I indulged in some chicken. On the afternoon before my flight to Bangkok I began to feel *really* sick, I was sweating, nauseous and confused and just had to go to bed. Then the vomiting started. Now, before that, the last time I vomited was 2 years ago after the Hotbox London launch party where I drank 435 free cocktails and ate a whole cow, and …

7 Money Management Tips For Travel

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Travelling and money go hand in hand – if you want to see the world, it’s gonna cost you (although I have some tricks to cut costs HERE). Preparing for my own backpacking trip forced me to check my own bad spending habits and, frankly nonexistent, budgeting skills – so in the spirit of friendship I extend these tips to you. 1. Set a Budget No matter how much money you have saved, or how little you need to know exactly how much money you have to spend each day. Have this amount seared into your mind. If you go over one day, then pull it back the next and if you are underspending either save that cash for a treat or to extend your trip. 2. Open a New Account A savings account that you don’t have easy access to is a great thing. I used to have a savings account but as soon as I logged into my internet banking I was able to quickly siphon any funds into my current account. So …

The 7 Emotional Stages of Packing

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Packing was invented by Satan to provide him with much entertainment from confused backpackers and holidaymakers – like why does everything fit in when you first pack, then once you’ve taken it out and try to re-pack it doesn’t? Anyway it’s a necessary evil so let’s go though the 7 emotional steps we all experience: 1. Totally Nonchalant I have months and months to pack. I’m not even going to think about it – I mean as long as I have some cash and a sexy bikini I’m golden, right!? 2. Lets Do Some Research *Spends 11 hours straight on travel blogs* Okayyyy, so I might need more than a bikini… what’s a microfibre towel? I need an adapter or 10 as well… 3. Sh*t!!!!!!!! I have nothing! Nothing. Nothinggggggggg… Why have I been so stupid? I need a torch, a headscarf, a sleeping bag, a 10 week supply of malaria tablets and a crochet dress. 4. Shopping is Fun *Amazon basket full of everything from penknifes to pop up tents* 5. Sh*t!!!!!! I’m spending …

The Fashionable Backpacker Manifesto

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To travel the world. To do so in style! Before I was a world traveller I was a London-based fashionista… I had an award-winning fashion blog, had worked with numerous fashion magazines, had a job creating content for a huge UK high street fashion brand. Plus I was a regular at all those fashion-type parties and London Fashion Week. So you can see how it might be hard for me to reconcile a lightweight life on the road with my innate need to be sartorially spectacular! That’s how The Fashion Backpacker was born. While I was researching my round the world trip I searched high and low for travel tips that had a little bit of extra cool. Just because I’m going to be a backpacker it doesn’t mean I’m giving up who I am. I still want to look and feel great and if I have to wear hiking shoes and a money belt they will damn-well be the most stylish you can get your hand on!

Why Travelling In Your Twenties Is Never A Bad Idea

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As someone who has already made this monumental decision, I can fully vouch for the old clichés about travelling like; ‘If not now, when?’ ‘Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.’ The one about the world being a book and if you don’t travel you’re always on the same page… or something to that effect. They’re true, so true, but you might sound like a tit when you start spouting off quotes from carefully curated Pinterest boards. For me, the travelling began the moment I decided that I wanted to go. Even though I was still in cold and rainy London. Making that choice put everything into perspective. As a twenty-something you have literally NO responsibilities, none at all. No partner, no kids, no house – I realise a select few twenty-something’s might have some of these things (yay for them) but for a lot of us they’re so far out of reach. This used to feel like a bummer but actually it’s incredibly freeing – we’re free as birds, not tied …

5 Tips To Keep You Motivated Before Your Round The World Trip

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So you’ve booked your ticket, you’re going to travel the world. Goodbye life, au revoir, see ya later suckers… oh, wait, you have to work for a year/six months/ however long to save for the trip and it may well kill you… Whenever the going gets tough and you feel as though you’ll never make it through this time of waiting with your sanity intact, here are some tips to help you overcome. You can do it!