Thinh Pham

Tag: Travel Tips

  • Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang: Roadtrip tips

    Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang: Roadtrip tips

    One of the most exciting adventurous roadtrip I’ve ever made. It’s quite dangerous if you’re not well-prepared so I note some important tips help you to finish it !

    Gasoline station

    When planning, we thought that the route was very long and tough, stiff uphill, and the fuel would be much more consumed than usual, the gasoline station might be rare because of mountainous terrain.

    However, when we were on road, we found out something:

    The gasoline were quite close to one another, just 30-50 km, so no need to bring a back-up fuel container. And even if there was no nearby station, you can buy gasoline at mostly groceries in villages, at higher cost.

    Road condition: rough and muddy, challenging and relaxing

    There are two directions from Kasi to Luang Prabang city: follow 4/4C highway and you get extreme biking experience – sharp curves and steep roads, both and stick to highway 13 via Phoukoun for much relaxing riding.

    At first, we followed highway 4 and it was so much challenge: heavy rains, erosion, big deep holes on road and low temperature condition, especially when wind blowing strong made it extremely hard to handle. And we fell off on road, sliding 4-5 meters away, a van passed by but there’s not collision. We were lucky. We get muddy but nothing broken or bleeding.

     We were lucky. We get muddy but nothing broken or bleeding

    Since then, we rode more carefully. More and more tough the route was. Once there’s a heavily eroded part on road forcing me to walk and my partner slowly moved over. It’s very cold and wet. My body kept shaking.

    The second erosion, where we nearly reach the peak, was much more worse. There was even a local team with technical vehicle to flatten the road so that traffic flow was enabled. So adventurous it was, I even saw a cliff by my side.

    When we headed back from Phonsavan via highway 13, everything was more easier. The main problem was just dense fog at certain height, when you’re down, it gets clear.

    Your bike condition

    Another problem we faced was our rental bike. Though we had checked and done some fixing, it’s still very worn-out to carry both of us climbing over high and slippery slopes, while suffering a lot of hole-hitting on road. After the trip, he deserved a praise.

    If you wish to do a roadtrip like us, please have your bike checked thoroughly for your own safety.

    Temperature

    It’s a little bit cold, around 20 celsius degree at peak, with heavy rain. We only put on rain suit to block wind and keep our body warm, just shaking a bit when strong winds blew through.

    After all, you need to keep dry because wetness will make it more terrible.

  • Stopped by traffic polices in Vientiane and how to deal with them

    Stopped by traffic polices in Vientiane and how to deal with them

    Rental bike means sometimes you get caught by local traffic police. I did once in Vientiane, and tried to deal with it. Below is my story and some tips, hopefully it’s useful for you.

    The last day in Vientaine, after an extreme bike trip from Phonxavan, we took a visit That Luang and Patuxay. While we were stopping at an intersection, a police officer pointed at us, look like we just wrong lanes. However, he possibly saw our confusing and thought we were foreigners then waved us toward their booth.

    As usual, he asked for our papers, of course, we didn’t have bike license because of bike rental but we did have a international biking license . We had experienced the similar situations before, so consciously asked the reason why we got caught, what we’d done wrong? (we knew riding without a license was illegal, but what about the other).

    However, he insisted on pointed at the booth like we had to park our bike there and get fined. My friends said in Lao “we don’t speak Lao, we speak Vietnamese”, so he turned to his few Vietnamese. Suddenly he sneakily took our bike key. Ok, he won!

    This is like a typical bribe situation in Vietnam, as well. So this is how I dealed with:

    After having our key, they aggressively wrote a paper to push us to pay fine 200,000 kip in a certain office (I didn’t even receive an address) and forced us to sign the paper, my friend did it and I couldn’t stop him on time. Ok, police won second time.

    Note that, the fine paper usually includes 3 pages, one (official, written in ink) is kept to check the number of cases, one for you to pay your fine, and one for data storage. However, they wrote in only one paper like a receipt without any duplicate paper below. That’s so specious. I knew they were acting, but it’s okay.

    I tell you one thing when you face the similar problem: you have the right to delay the fine until you understand clearly your situation and how much you should pay, whether the officers are authentic or fake by asking for their identity (they do have as they ask yours),… so if a right officer will explain clearly the reason why he stops you, have a genuine identity, blab blab blab.

    My advice is to try to delay and make everything clear, your penalty reason, the officer identity,… while deciding whether you would bribe him or contribute to that country national budget.

    Another things you should show them is you have time, don’t rush, don’t act like you have few minutes left for flights,… act like you have a day, and willing to talk friendly.

    After minutes acting, the older officer (who speaks very few vietnamese) waved us back to the booth for negotiations.

    “200,000 kip and take your bike back to hotel”, said he.

    “Sorry but we don’t have 200,000 kip, 100,000 kip only, we run out of money, this is our last day, we spend all money,…”

    “150000?”

    “We only have 100,000 kip, please”

    “…”

    “Ok, deal!” I put money on the table and he covered them with the note book. Done. The deal was closed.

    Of course I could have better deal, at 100,000 kip, or the best, 50000 kip, maybe (Tuan, the receptionist in hostel advised me to bribe them only 50000 kip in case getting stopped). However, it depends on certain situations.

    The less power they have, the more money you could save.

    In my case, the officer had taken the key, so we couldn’t get the bike in any circumstances, they have more power in this negotiation. I also unconsciously revealed that we’re on last day in Vientiane (emergency). He had 2 advantages. So he had more power to deal high price.

    150,000 kip was spent in Laos for traffic police, a perfect piece in our Laos travel experience.

    I know some people get angry when they’re stopped by polices, but you always have right to know whether what you’ve done is wrong, and decide to bribe or do legally.

    For me, bribing is like a negotiating game, a chance to train your bargain skill, you aim for the best price, you have advantages/ disavantages and the other have the same. Try to make a perfect deal and have fun. That’s travel!

    For the last, I even gave them a smile and said “thank you” in Lao. I had a good deal, they had money. And it’s a games.

    I sum up some tips when you face traffic polices:

    1. Always bring important papers (licenses) to show police: I suggest only bring copies in your wallet, in worst cases, you can get back to hostel to get the genuines if it get serious. It reduces the possibility you lost paper due to robberies on street.
    1. When getting stopped, be friendly and politely ask the officer for their identity first, then the reason why they want you. Show your paper but don’t give them immediately. Possibly they will use them against you, force you to bribe them.

    Instead, try to make it clear as much as possible: who are they, their identity cards, what wrong you’ve done, (if you firmly know you violate rules, how much you should pay, any alternative payment options, where you pay, when deadline is, is there any more convenient options,…).

    1. If you decide to pay for your violation, then you have all information in need.
    1. If you decide to bribe, take your time, collect all information, your advantages/ disavantages and theirs, then ask how much you can get it done. Of course, the very first number is like hell, but you have right to bargain for the better. I usually start from the half of what they offer, then, depends on your power, you can finish your deal at your wish.

    The key is patience, persistent and appropriate manner.

    1. Close your deal and say goodbye. You do well.
  • How to make a “practical” Travel Budget

    How to make a “practical” Travel Budget

    You have a trip that you’ve been dreaming for years and now you make it come true. After choosing must-visit destinations, read many guide books and consult travellers before, suddenly you recognize that how much will this trip cost? How much travel budget do you need to pay on whole your trip?

    So to have a good budget travel trip – spend least earn most, you should sit down and make a list about travel budget. Why do?

    Because travel expense can depend on how you travel, what destinations, food and so on. So, make a loose travel budget plan is very essential.

    Now, let’s try!

     Travel budget for transportation. It saves you money!

    Travel budget for Transportation

    Firstly, you determine what attractions you will visit in a city and popular means of transport there, as well. As usual, public transportation like bust, metro is the best option because they are cheap and friendly, also giving more local perspective. If you want to save more travel budget for transportation, so walk is not a bad option, especially when time is tight and tourism spot is quite close to one another. Taxi is usually the most expensive option, but group travelling or urgent cases.

    A way simple to know tickets cost is to search the official website of the transport. Most of them provide schedule along with cost tables so that you can estimate how much you would pay to get around the city. If you’re going to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), it’d better check the Myrapid fare table to estimate the cost. You should take advantage of packages so that you would know a fix cost for a week/ month. 

    Not only do you research ticket bus but also you need to expand your options getting from places to places by bus, train or boat – specific prices… then make comparisons to get the best cost.

     Choosing good accommodation and cheap price are difficult

    Travel budget for hostel/ accommodation

    A big part of travel budget will depend on where you sleep. Shared bed is quite popular choice, cheaper, more friend more fun. It’s quite easy to estimate cost because there is dozen of accommodations booking website like booking.com, agoda.com,… hostelworld is my favorite. For free bed then couchsurfing is a good place to start, but it requires your travel profile and time search for good hosts.

    Access booking accommodation platforms, choose what hostels -> kinds of room you like, then multiple your nights there, plus all the nights in different hostel/ dorm, then you have a relative cost for your nights.

    travel budget for food

    Travel budget for food you will eat at the destinations

    (To be honest, I hardly save money on food)

    Okie, let’s start with a minimum daily food expense, you have breakfast/ lunch and dinner, so you should search budget travel guide of the destinations you go, there’re generally preference cost tables so that you have knowledge of food expenses, allowing you to guess how much your meals will cost. 

    After you have the number of basic food expenses, then make second list of Specialties you would definite enjoy and price, as well. If you love some alcohol (you definitely know your taste, right?), it’d better add them here.

    Finally, plus some bucks in snacks and water. Now you get the total number.

    If you want to save more on food budget, let’s look for hostels, hotels or homestays including breakfast or premise cooking. Even if you buy groceries and cook just a few times but you will save money more.

    Last but not least, different countries have different price, so consider this factor into your plan or it would become not practice anymore. If you’re travelling to Australia or New Zealand, eating out will probably cost you approximately the same as it does in the US or Canada, maybe even a little bit more. Contrary to South America or Asia, you can enjoy anything you want with cheapest price you’ve ever seen.

    travel budget for activities

    Planning budget for activities

    Travelling is to must-go and sightseeing beautiful destinations, do once-in-a-life experience,, you will go to museums, visit pagodas, parks or do some trekking, skydiving, shark cage experience, Coral reef snorkel…. But now everything is mostly not free. You must add up these costs too, so you must list them on travel budget document.

    For attractions, wikitravel.com  and guide books (lonely planet, rough guide,…) will mostly tell you how much the attractions/ experiences cost. Some activities like skydiving, flying balloon, yacht surfing,… even has their own website, check it for more practical number.

    Depend on your travel bucket list, you will know how much your trips costs. 

    I give you a travel budget example:

    You’re planning trip to Ninh Binh, Vietnam and you want to take 5 day trip at here. So what would you do in these days?

    You can enjoy with this itinerary:

    Day 1: Trang An (4h) – Hang Mua peak (2h) – Tam Coc (4) (optional) – Bich Dong pagoda (2h)

    Day 2: Phat Diem Cathedral (2h) – Thung Nham bird garden (4h)

    Day 3: Hoa Lu ancient capital (1h) – Bai Dinh pagoda (4h)

    Day 4: Van Long natural preserve (4h) – Kenh Ga hot spring (3h) – Cuc Phuong national park (overnight)

    Day 5: Cuc Phuong national park (4h)

    A typical expense for a day in Ninh Binh

    Dorm: 6 usd

    Food: 4-20 usd (normal or specialities)

    Attraction entrance fee: 5-7 usd

    Bike: 8 usd in total and 4 usd/ person (you could share ride)

    Totally: Only 20 usd/ day minimum expense. For 5 days discovering Ninh Binh. Total for 5 days: 100 USD. So cheap for whole trips at Ninh Binh, Vietnam.

    In general, when you have a planed trip with realistic travel budget, you can easily know how much budget your trips require, and have a plan, a goal to earn/ save money. This step also helps you make quicker decisions when cut-cost is in need. 

  • Backpacking: Things You May Not Know

    Backpacking: Things You May Not Know

    Many people backpack nowadays, but few one know what “Backpacking” is.

    I’ll tell you what I think of the lifestyle and why I love it!

    What is backpacking travel and who are backpackers ?

    Backpacking is the art of travel the world with a backpack, and anyone carrying a backpack and a soul of travel is backpacker. It’s simply.

    When you “backpack”, you feel completely independent and authenticity. you eat what you wanna eat, visit any destinations in your travel bucket list and meet like-minded people, whom you can talk with whole day.

    It’s your life in a way you want it to be. It’s not just a holiday, it’s a life-changing moments, and you’ll love that.

    When I was a student, I didn’t have much money. So I practiced budget travel – save money, do whatever part-time jobs to earn enough money and backpack with a low-budget plan to my dream destinations. That’s lifestyle now I’m pursuing, and I don’t have a plan to stop.

    Do you know, we backpacker, we carry our “home” along journeys so by the time, we learn to love our backpack. I love my backpack. Sometimes I tease people backpackers get familiar with their backpacks more than the girlfriend/ boyfriend in term of time. A solo backpacker knows it’s true.

    With such a low-budget most of the time, I admire some “super” backpackers who can survive for years with just under 10$ per day. I really wanna learn that technique and share with you guy, who also really wanna quit the job and start travelling.

     Be you – be authentic !

    Backpacking culture – be Authenticity

    “Authenticity is the degree to which one is true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character, despite external pressures” – Wikipedia

    And independent backpacking is a must-have experience for youth – to seek Authenticity.

    I think that most of the people don’t know what they really love, what will fulfill their life completely. I love Steve Jobs and his speech “You’ve gotta find what you love” in Stanford. I used to read it everyday, but now, I live it !

    Travelling around the world is a way not only to know outer world when you see people and beautiful things but also to know more about yourself, your inner voice, which sometimes, covered by pressures from society, and our dear family.

    So my opinion, one of benefits of backpacking lifestyle is you know who you are after so many life-changing experience.

    Once you know yourself, your life begins blossoming

    Best destinations for a backpacking travel

    Low-cost airline put wings on our feet, budget accommodations like AirBnB or travel communities like Couchsurfing take care of our sleeps. Nowaday it’s easier to travel the world than our father age.

    One of the best way to save money on road is to find cheap travel destinations to settle. And to complete my dream – travelling to every countries all over the world, I start from cheap countries first.

    Southeast Asia is always the top of mind, I think this is mostly a “Mecca of backpackers”. Cheap hostels, amazing activities, delicious food, multi-culture experience, and people are super friendly. Wooohooo!

    Next, I would fly to Oceania, live in countries like Australia and New Zealand, where Working holiday visa is available. You can work officially to earn money, fill your wallet enough to get back on road.

    It’s also great to have backpacking holidays in Fiji or Papua New Guinea, where it’s said that “The country is one of the world’s least explored, culturally and geographically. It is known to have numerous groups of uncontacted people, and researchers believe there are many undiscovered species of plants and animals in the interior” (Wikipedia) -> Super amazing !

    Then Africa would be my next step. Many traveller buy a one-way ticket to the “Black continent”. Is it dangerous? Yes, but it’s safe for some countries, also and low-cost practice is available.

    What’s next? South America! Backpacking there is quite easy, visa is not strict for travellers and public transportation can bring you from country to country. And most of the countries like Chile, Argentina or Brazil are amazing.

    Then you can go up to Latin America, which cost just rises a bit. It’s not a problem if you can find a job in local bar or volunteer work.

    Asia is so huge. So I would visit some countries as a break. China, Japan and Hong Kong is very costly, but South Korea is good. India is cheap, and I should reserve some money for Everest base camp. In general, Asia is very diversity in cost, depending greatly on certain destinations.

    East Europe is also a good region for budget travel.

    North America and West Europe would be my last ones for the feet. It’s costly, but everything is easily accessable. It’s just matter of money. And I hopefully solve it at that time.

     Light backpack makes travel easy !

    Backpacking gear and why you should travel with less than 7kg on back.

    The reason why I always carry no more than 7kg on my back because of the airline limit-weight regulation. The number forces me to smartly pack the stuff, and because it’s quite light, so I have no problem travel from A to B.

    I have only one backpack so I rarely buy more room for luggage, which I can save a bit more money and spend them on things I love.

    One backpack means when I leave dorm, I hardly forget anything (it’s pity that many people leave their belongings at hostel). Everything is on my backpack or my bed, and I just collect all of them and put in one place. No need to think much. Packing doesn’t bother me anymore.

    One backpack means you can easily take public transportation from airport to downtown and get around instead of taxi, which is quite expensive in some countries. Saving more money !

    So many benefits when you travel light. You should practise it as soon as possible and travelling become easier.

     Research saves you money! Why not do?

    Planning and research: funny and useful part of backpacking lifestyle

    Sometimes I still book a tour, but one of the reason why I prefer backpacking lifestyle is to do research and planning myself. When booking a tour, I bet that most of us won’t research anything, and just depend on everything the tour guide tell us.

    Research give you more clue about the destinations, more interests in the place you’re going to, and an in-depth research really useful for ones who wish to live as a local.

    Planning – is it hard-working? Is it important because we’re on holiday? Yes and no!  If you just travel for a short time, so no need to plan, but a long-term travel will require it. Budget travel is extremely in need of planning, because you just save more money when you know cheap places to buy, it and sleep.

    I admit that research and planning step is very hard-working, but the result is satisfactory ! Some locals admire me that I know their cities more than them! And when I leave a place for others, I know that I have complete most of the things I should.

     Have you ever thought you’d sell bananas to travel !! hahah

    Work and Travel: a real lifestyle !

    Money is always the main problem prevent us from quitting jobs to travel. But the world is open now, more jobs are offered for foreigners, so with a quick research, you can earn money on road instead of being locked in cubicles for a load of money (and sadness).

    Working holiday visa in Australia and New Zealand, Au pair, Volunteer works,… – chances for you to work for local in the farm/ school or wherever, live a true local life and refill your wallet for the next trips. I take it a box in my bucket list and so do you. It’s worthy for our journey.

  • Ultralight backpacking gear guide for travel-the-world backpackers

    Ultralight backpacking gear guide for travel-the-world backpackers

    Backpacker’s close friend is his/her backpacking gear , so decision of what to be with and what should be left is very important

    Why we should choose ultralight backpacking gear?

    It’s simply. When you backpack lighter, you have more energy to enjoy the journey!

    I used to bring my “whole home” on my back, nearly full of backpacking checklist. it contains a lot of stuffs and to be honest, it was heavy and quite inconvenient on road. At first, I thought many things would be useful in some cases, so I brought all of them.

    However, I soon found out that somethings could be used for multi purposes and somethings actually were possibly left at home while I had no trouble without them.

    So I started to list things that I just grasped in seconds, and put them in check before trips, it saves me plenty of time preparing. And hardly do I forget anything at home or in hostels.

    Ultralight backpacking gear list allows me to start journey quickly, more reflexive on road. Now I’m almost an ultralight backpacker.

    Choose the right backpacks: lightweight  – ultralight

    Actually, I have two backpacks: 30L and 50L, which I use for certain trips. It’s definitely that 50L backpacks used for wilderness or long journeys whilst 30L one are usually taken for short trips, days or weeks, and in spring – summer seasons. For instance, my four-day trip back to Phu Quoc island, or Con Dao (Vietnam) was quite comfort with a multi-functional 30L backpack.

    50L backpack has more space, which I can bring along sleeping bag or personal tent while I’m into the wild (you can see it in Baden mountain trekking trip in Vietnam), or when travelling to oversea countries, I can bring more souvenirs for my friends and family at home.

    Dress light and smart

    There’s a trick here: You bring clothes suiting multi purposes. Because we face two problems: wet and dry/ hot and cold (and sometimes formal/casual), so bring ones that can fit most of circumstances.

    Travelling in rainy season and you’d likely to be wet, you would need a rain-suit to waterproof and a t-shirt which can be dried quickly. Slippers is more comfortable than sport shoes.

    When it’s hot, you need light clothes to keep your body cool. And you can travel as ultralight as possible, I prefer dry season in most of travelling timing.

    The cold is your enemy, both toward your health and your packing. Avoiding sickness is very important, because getting stuck in a oversea hospital, and worse, among local doctors who can not speak your language is not an easy experience. I always try my best to keep my health good.

    So you have two options: bring warm clothes (heavy and spacy) or mix light ones (I usually do this). I would dress a t-shirt, shirt and a fashionable rainsuit. The more polyester fabric you wear, the warmer you’ll feel.

    For most of situation, we dress casually but in some countries, especially islamic ones, formal dressing is advised. That’s why jean/kaki pant and a shirt will be your savior in a church/ mosque or pagoda.

    My style: simple and flexible

    What’s in my backpack?

    Just a cap, multitask scarf, two t-shirt, a shirt, two short,  a pant, three underwears and socks as well and a light raincoat.

    Some electric devices such as my phones, tabs, earplugs and camera/ photography accessories (if any).

    A small first-aid kit set for emergence case.

    Travel documents, note and pen.

    And some snacks for pleasure !

    I’m very pleased with my backpacking gear.

    Phones, Tech and other accessories

    Except for the battery, phones are our friends, they really a multitask equipment these day. I’m not a device addictive, but truth to be told, I can not live without a smartphone abroad.

    I use google map to explore new cities, booking bunk beds via apps, a lot of pictures were taken and upload directly to social, and blab blab blab, phones are a useful assistant.

    The first times, I loved DSLR so I bring a Canon 1200D to shoot, but, it didn’t fit well with my ultralight packing, then I changed to Sony Nex 7, a mirrorless camera, and it completely satisfied me.

    Actually a Compact Digital Camera will be OK for most of cases. I’m learning some photography techniques to take advantage of my phones and the goal is to bring no more camera, and save more room in backpack.

    Remember to bring earplugs, it saves your life thousands of time, on airplane and on road. I’m kind of music lover so the road becomes less boring when filled with melodies.

  • Backpacking essentials: A-Z checklist for your light backpacking

    Backpacking essentials: A-Z checklist for your light backpacking

    Backpacking essentials a-z checklist provides you an easy-to-remember while still enough helpful for any trips.

    A – Adapter

    An electronic device can not work without power, and in some countries, the plug is various, different from ones at home, so a traveler adaptor is very essential.

    B – Backpack

    My backpack is my love, and she’s very helpful, as long as she is well-equipped. I don’t think we’re called “backpacker” without a backpack, so choose a right backpack fitting our travel style is very important. My style is ultralight, what about you?

    C – Camera

    One of travelling hobby is to have nice photographs so showcase our journey and inspire people. A good camera is absolutely a worthy investment. Some hard-core travel photographer will pay a fortune for the device, but most of the backpackers just need a compact camera or (sometimes) a smart phone with internet connection is enough.

    D – Documents

    Admittedly, I hate documents, but we can hardly travel without them. So a check-list for what documents (passport, visa, airline ticket, travel insurance,…) you MUST HAVE is very essential. Personally, my most beloved paper is the passport – the proof of travelling overseas.

    E – Earplugs

    Have I told you that earplugs “save my life” (like “radio save my night tonight” by Bon Jovi,LoL). When you’re travelling lonely, it’s especially important, it’s your friend, help you out of annoying atmosphere (good sleep, baby cry, engine sound, touts trying to get attention,…)

    F – First Aid Kit

    you don’t know what’s likely to happen in the journey, so a well-equipped first aid kit is your “nurse”, she help you out of bleeding, digestive disorders, fever and most of emergency case, you’ll need her. Don’t leave her home or you’ll regret

    G – Games

    Games is very useful in many cases. When you’re alone, you can entertain yourself, when you travel with friends, it’s nice to kill time in group. Games are also a good chance to connect with other travellers in hostels.

    H – Hamburger

    Hamburger is a fast food, and yes, we need pack some refreshments and packed food also to help ourself when the local food tastes weird (likely to make digestive disorders), expensive but not delicious to spend on, or in need of promptly supplement to deal with Hypoglycemia or body hungry. Most of packed foods are light and take little room in your backpack, so don’t forget to pack them along.

    I – Immunity

    Thanks to the advancement of medical treatment, we have no fear in most of diseases in the world. However, in some tropical regions, it’s advised to have some vaccinations treatment before travelling. We don’t know what we would be caught on road, so just “Good watch prevents misfortune”.

    J – Jacket

    A jacket keep your body warm and a good protection for your health. Moreover, you should take clothing into account.

    K – Knife

    Knife, somethings (like multi-task tools) sharp enough to cut, is very essential. It help you cut things such as to open packs, peel fruits, prepare food,… and in some situation, is to protect yourself. It’s banned following airline regulation but you should buy and equip once you’re on land.

    L – Lock

    In dorm room, where you’ll sleep with dozen of strangers, you need a lock to keep your belongings safe. Electronic devices, money or papers loss will make you cry, literally.

    M – Money

    What prevent us from make trips to trips or years to years of travel: money, frankly! So learn how to save money and earn money while you’re travelling is two essential skills.

    N – Netbook

    Why we bring a netbook while we enjoy travelling? Work? No! Actually, to blog our journey for family, friends and fan.

    O – Outline

    A list of things to do, food to eat and where to go keep you busy and more focus in your journey. I used to travel with no plan, just “go with the flow”, but I soon found it boring, so I started to plan again. Now I almost plan for new things, which I’m pretty sure I’d definitely love to experience.

    P – PDA (or smart phone)

    The electronic device now is a must-bring (except for some off-the-grid purposes), it plays the role of digital map, booking assistant, music player, digital note-book (with great synchronization among devices), and, yes, to call buddy for a beer !

    Q – Quote

    Quotes are “holy words” inspiring everyone to travel. A notebook with some quotes is very useful when you’re tired, have no ideas in your journeys. I love Mark Twain quote, and it push me everyday to do new things: ” Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”

    R – Repellent

    Mosquito is number one enemy in tropical region. I always bring repellent to prevent myself from malaria. It’s completely essential when you do trekking in forests/ mountains, where species are more dangerous to your health.

    S – Sleeping bag

    Most of cheap airfares offer red-eye flights, so you’re likely to sleep[ at airports usually and they turn air-con quite low-temperature, a warm sleeping bag is all you wish. Besides, sometimes you would like to sleep in nature (beaches, forests,..) so sleeping bag is very essential.

    T – Tent

    I hardly bring a tent if it’s not for a wilderness or group travelling to remote destinations where accommodation is harsh. Sometimes when I need to live in a quiet place to recover my peace, a personal tent is perfect. Choosing a perfect tent is also as important as you choose your house.

    U – UV glass/ sunscreen

    Don’t backpack regardless of your health, because without it, you can’t stay long on road. Your skin is your armor, so protection is important. Skin cancer is also one of the most popular diseases. Also, a UV glass is good for your eyes, and your style!

    V – Vocabulary note

    Travelling oversea means you usually come to new destinations not spoken your language, so some local words will be useful for basic communications or simply, greetings to be warm welcome.

    W – Water

    Water is very essential in any backpacking trips, in developed countries, no worry. However, developing countries can’t offer hygiene water, so you’re likely to get sick if the water is contaminated. Make sure what you drink is pure or at least drinkable. In some extreme conditions, such as dry area or hiking mountains, you’re expected to be lack of water, so packing enough to maintain your health.

    Y – Yoga pad

    Maintaining your health is one of the most important hobby and Yoga (or any body practice exercises) should be considered. Just bring a portable version of any tools helping you practising everyday. Keep fit – keep healthy !

    Z – Zipper bag

    This tiny equipment is very useful: protect your small electronic device (smartphone, camera,…) or travel documents from wet, humid in rainy season or accidental events.

  • Best budget travel websites for globetrotters

    Best budget travel websites for globetrotters

    The budget travel website will save you dozen of money on road, even some can help you make some bucks for your next trips.

    Believe?

    Travel guide

    Wikitravel and WikiVoyage are two website you can use instead of buying travel guide books like Lonely planet, Rough guide,…

    Cheap accommodation

    For the best last-minute deals on accommodation, remember to search platforms such as Priceline, or Hostelworld to pick up a comfort room at reasonable price.

    Free?

    Couchsurfing is a great choice of many travellers around the world. You can stay for free in local homes while chat-chit-ing with them to have more in-depth experience of everything interesting in the host country.

    Transportation

    To get started in collecting miles, I suggest you bookmark some travel hacking blogs like The Points Guy or One Mile at a Time.

    And don’t forget to use different flight search engines, one of my favorite budget travel website is Momondo – quite a popular choice for great deals. Sometimes airlines show deals in their websites so bookmark them is also recommended.

    Travel overseas by sea? Crew Seekers is quite funny option. “Amateur and professional yacht crewing positions available worldwide, from daysailing to transocean for all experience levels.” Ok fine!

    Save money on road

    We need to save a bit money on road to stay longer, “many little makes a mickle”, one day you will be surprised of by what you’ve done.

    You’re still student? Take advantage of that. Discount cards are a great way to save cash, too and ISIC card (The International Student Identity Card) by STA Travel is recommended. This world-recognized student ID provides discounts on travel, shopping, accommodation, food, entertainment and transport. Nice!! Even when you’re not student anymore, but still under 30, then you can apply for International Youth Travel Card with quite similar benefits.

    Travel overseas means most of your money will be in the bank and as usual, we withdraw it from ATM with a fee. So getting a card with little or No foreign transaction fees is the best. This will save you a lot of unnecessary costs. The website can help you with the issue is Creditcards.com>low rates&fee> no foreign transaction fee.

    Transform expense into money or miles?

    A travel rewards card means every dollar you spend is going back into your next trip, even you can earn a free flight for a certain amount of points. Creditcards.com is a good beginning. Check out Travel & Reward session.

    Many travellers have missed a thing after they fly out of the country: Tax refunds. Remember to check out any possible programs to save a bit more pennies to spend on more worthy experience. For instance, Thailand has one that will give you 7% back on luxury goods!

    Volunteer !

    Volunteer is a popular choice among many backpackers. Imagine you would live on a farm, collect produce and stay for free (maybe saving some bucks for next trips). WWOOF is a well-known home for these activities.

  • How to make a budget travel itinerary

    How to make a budget travel itinerary

    Hey no-plan travellers, it’s time to make a budget travel itinerary plan.

    Seriously ?

    Yes. You want to backpack as many cities as possible within a very tight budget travel? Just make a deal with your plan, it will help you solve most of the problem.

    So, how to make it?

    This post is here to help you planning your travel itinerary in step-by-step walk-through. The planning process is a lot like puzzle, taking a lot of trial and error before you complete it. The result is worthy, trust me.

    Why should I plan an itinerary? I’m a “just do it” fan, yo know!

    Ok, I used to be like you too, then one day, I started questioning myself: “What am I doing here?” after a rush travel without any plan, alone. I had few days for each country, it began with a wandering-first day to get used to the city.

    But then, “What’s next?”, I didn’t have a certain plan. Therefore, I had to type on google “what to do in ….[the city]”, choosing what suited my budget and wondering whether I should visit them. It’s not funny at all. It wasted my precious time. 

    Without planning, I wasted a lot of time on trivial stuff that I could have done at home, end up missing a lot of must-do things and spending a lot more money on somethings worth nothing.

    Then I knew that I didn’t have to plan out every second of the trip, but a simple homemade-guide

    One truth to be told.

    The more you plan, the less you’ll spend, the more value you may receive from your journeys.

    The best way to save money on high-speed train and airfare is by booking far in advance because prices rise as the departure date nears. Last-minute deals are also good, but what if there’s not any ticket on the day you plan, booking in advance guarantee you can book right tickets on right days at cheaper price.

    Accommodation can be cheaper when booked early — because the earlier you book, the more options you have.

    Even spending a little time researching restaurants/ food courts can help you find good places that aren’t expensive.

     

    Ready?

    STEP ONE — CHOOSE THE SEASON

    The very first step of creating a budget travel itinerary is to choose the time of year you want to travel. Each season has its pros and cons so check out. In tropical region like Southeast Asia, there’s two season: dry and rain, so you’d better fly during dry one to get more sunny day (which is great for bathing on the sea).

    There are also two season in travel industry: low and peak season (and also shoulder season). To save more money, you should book your trip avoiding peak season. Get more relaxing experience and cheaper price instead of a travel photo album full of tourists and you are overwhelmed inside the crowd.

    STEP TWO — HOW LONG YOU STAY ON ROAD, AND WHEN?

    The number of days you would travel has a huge impact on how detail of an itinerary you’ll need. My mantra: “the shorter your trip, the more money you wanna save, the more value you’d love to get, the more you need a plan”

    Break down.

    • An under-two-week vacation should be planned out in-depth because you’re short on time. (And I know you would like to visit tons of places and try tons of things)
    • Two-to-four-weak trips need less planning because you have more space to think.
    • Doing an over-a-month trip is my style, which can be planned while travelling but you should still do some planning at the very starting weeks.

    After reserve a time, just finalize your travel dates. Once you know your exact dates, you’ll be able to start a plan with start/stop dates.

    STEP THREE — MUST- DO BUSINESS

    Write down anything you are 100% certain you are going to do. For example, staying in house of couch-surfing friend, visit relatives, meeting friends, something that without them, it could ruin your trips.

    These are dates that can’t be moved. You’ll have to plan around these events, so they’ll greatly affect your other travel plans.

    STEP FOUR — WHERE TO VISIT

    This is the most exciting part of planning a budget travel itinerary. You’d need a map and a note to write down places you want visit. You should read more travel guide book, travel sites (darejourney is a great site for it, check out travel bucket list session!), ask friends or visit our Bucket list session for more ideas.

    Just put down all the places interesting to you, no matter how much your budget. (don’t limit yourself at this point – “just do it”).

    STEP FIVE — NARROW DOWN.

    Ok, to the painful part but get your budget travel itinerary more realistic: Narrowing down your list.

    You should make three lists:

    Places you definitely want to see

    Places you really want to see

    Places without them, no problem!

    You would return this step quite often as you narrow down your list by travel budget, transport, time,… I spend much time on deciding what to put in and put out.

    Oh, too bad!

    STEP SIX — DETERMINE DAYS IN EACH LOCATION

    After make the list, now it’s time to decide how many days you think you’ll want to spend in each city. Remember: don’t rush! I used to travel Philippines – Malaysia – Brunei in 8 days, it’s not interesting at all but very exhausted.

    I bursted into tears when I was alone in Brunei, didn’t know why I was there, nothing to have fun. All I tried to do was to take picture as much as possible on a very tight budget. I got tired.  I swore not to travel anymore, but now I think that because I was too rush myself to complete my goal “visit every countries in the world” that I forgot to enjoy my journeys. So shame! So don’t make the same mistake.

    Naturally, you beginners want to see as much as possible, so you’re trying to put tons of must-do things into a short amount of time. (Do you realize this is the way many tour agency try to bait you out with a short trip full of destination at very cheap price, but it turns out that most of the time you are … on the buses.

    You know, you would just end up missing a lot, and especially you get burned out. It is one of the worst things on road, making your trip extremely stressful, and you might get to the point like me, where you hate traveling. Don’t be like me, please!

    Years of travel and I see that you should spend a minimum of three full days for big cities. If you start loving a cities, you can easily spend more 2-3 days without getting fed up. Remember that only staying for the minimum will feel like a breeze!

    Note: Don’t forget to take travel time into account! Many new guys forget how much time it takes to travel from one city to another, including getting to the airport/train station (you usually have to arrive early), on planes/ buses, then getting to your new hostel, getting lost, checking in,… blab blab. Most of those time I spend writing blog to kill time or read travel guide, but, yes, it will very boring waiting, huh.

    Traveling is exhausting when you spend too much time on a plane/train. And you’d end up on hostel bed, too tired to want to do anything.

    Last but not least: slow down and to spend more time in each of your destinations, make it last your last trip, don’t ignore anything you love because you run out of time. It’s pity when you’re at home afterall.

    STEP EIGHT — DRAW A ROUTE

    This step would be quite easy if you’ve done well previous steps.

    First, decide you what cities you get in and get out.

    Second, open trip planners like google map or ridewithgps, mark your beginning and ending cities, then fill in cities of list in step five in priority order. You know how much time you spend on cities (it’d better using a calendar and blocking time in each cities), so if your schedule of the route is over-timing, then just kill out ones that less important to you.

    Last, test your route: is it well timing? Are the most important events and cities included? You put travel time (on plane/ bus/…) in and it’s still perfect fit? Do you love the route?

    Decide on the best route to take.

    Try to avoid backtracking because it wastes time and money.

    Remember to not rush.

    STEP NINE — TRANSPORTATION DOES MATTER

    Oh, you’re nearly done your budget travel itinerary! One more thing you need to consider is transportation. Travelling from A to B really takes a lot of time and money, as well.

    You should think of options and costs. Are you going to use train, planes, car, motorbike or maybe use the bus or … your feet huh ? (I mean hitchhike, ok). Are you going to take multiple forms of transportation? You need to price each option and figure this into your budget.

    How much it is going to cost to get from city to city will drain your money. So you don’t have much money, kill more cities off your route, and balance it again.

    Note: Rome2Rio.com is an excellent website for estimating transportation options/costs.

    Trip planner powered by perfectroute.com is also a great tool for visualizing your itinerary. 

    STEP TEN — REVIEW

    To complete your budget travel itinerary, read it carefully, with your imagination, just dream of it and listen to your heart: Do you love it? And is there anything not right, not logic. Do you miss something? Have you checked the information,…. So try to finalize every details and perfect your plan.

    You may put it on travel forum/ facebook group to ask experienced travelers to help you. Mostly people will help you beginners, it’s traveller culture !

    Remember that planning will take a lot of time.

    Stay persist! And you would be rewarded by the trip <3.

    On top of that, Remember that this isn’t about planning every second of your trip. You’ll drive yourself crazy doing that, but you’ll save a lot of money — and frustration — by planning as much as possible.

    Small TIPS

    Start with English-speaking countries like Philippines or Singapore in Southeast Asia if you do not know any local languages. This also works with a new travelers, when we need emergency help, at least we have local help instead of blocked by language barrier in panic cases. Oh, it would be quite scary!

    Jet lag will likely drain your energy for the very first moment after the flight, so stay comfort or take a nap, refill you body with energy drink and snack, then leave your backpack at dorm and start your exploration.

  • When is the Best time to travel – a post you should read to have a good plan.

    When is the Best time to travel – a post you should read to have a good plan.

    When is the best time to travel?

    A tough question but essential!

    If you travel regularly, you will know that there are three main travel seasons – High Season, Low Season and Shoulder Season. Each has the good and bad points. You should choose best time to travel fitting your time and your goals because it will have an impact on your trips.

    So at first, how to recognize when is the high/shoulder/low season of a destination?

    The easiest way to check it is google “best time to travel to ….”. The posts/ articles should mostly point out when is high or low seasons, the “shoulder” is the between them.

    Another way to season, if there’s a nice season with dry and sunny weather, so it’s likely high season of travelling because the weather plays a major role in travel experience.

    Using booking platform to check when is the most expensive time is also a good way to find out when is high or low season. The accommodation cost is mostly getting high and rare in high season.

    Ok, so what are good and bad ? I will explain details in this darejourney blog post.

    HIGH SEASON

    THE GOOD

    Nice weather: in most cases, you probably won’t experience much rainy days and the temperatures generally are comfortable.

    Full hostels: So you’ll have no trouble finding people to hang out with, it’s great if you travel solo.

    Most attractions are open: Oh, high demand means attractions are sure to open so you have more chances to check most of what you love.

    Festivals: Yeah, theses events are born to attract people, so there’s no doubt that you will even be overwhelmed by them.

    Most delicious food are available: Many people travel to eat. And some food are only available sometime.

    THE BAD

    The crowds: Long queues to entrance. Your photos are usually full of tourists inside. People outnumber you.

    High costs: Everything turn more expensive. Hostels, plane tickets, some restaurants,… It’s likely not to practice budget travel effectively this time.

    Full hostels: It’s a real challenge finding a slot of hostel bed if you’re not booking in advance. It’s hard to find out-planned accommodation those days.

    Busy transportation: booking in advance for important means of transport like airlines, trains or you’ll be fed up with getting around finding tickets.

    Bad services: Overwhelming customers sometime means services turn bad. Be ready if waiters/ shop assistants annoying you because of their intensive work-load. Your dinners are likely to be delayed for too long, too. So be patient !

    Not-well-maintained facilities: hundreds of people use city facilities so it hardly meet your needs well.

    Conclusion: You’ll experience almost everything in nice weather but at a cost – more expenses, crowds and bad services.

    LOW SEASON

    THE GOOD

    Not Crowded: The main reason I choose low season: fewer people and more space to travel and sightsee. You also hardly have to wait in a queue.

    Lower Prices: Hostel and plane ticket prices are considerably cheaper, especially when you book in advance. Sometimes the whole room is yours, woohoo!! Promotion is sometimes available this time.

    THE BAD

    Weather: the main reason for people not to come to a destination. So you’re possibly experiencing bad weather, even storms in some tropical countries.

    Some attractions closed: This isn’t a huge problem, but some places could be closed because of the lack of tourists.

    Garden blooms: Don’t expect too much, ok. In some countries, it’s not a flower season, such as Japan.

    Not in sale season: not good news for Shopaholic !

    Fewer traveler friends: means fewer ones to travel in groups to save budget or to chit-chat every night, it’s quite bad for a solo travel. I mean, loneliness matters.

    Conclusion: You will get cheaper price but in contrast, there are fewer things to explore, less travel buddies making groups and you’re mostly lonely.

    SHOULDER SEASON

    THE GOOD

    Nice Weather: It isn’t hot and also not cold, it’s cool, which is great! You can dress whatever fashionable you like.

    Fewer tourists: yeah, most of them leave for home, so you have more space in attractions.

    Garden blooms: it’s not as the best as High season but it’s enough for sightseeing. I used to travel to Moc Chau (Son La, Vietnam) during shoulder season, late garden blooms. There were a few beautiful garden left but it’s enough for shooting some memorable photos.

    Lower costs: Expenses for transportation, accommodations and sightseeing are still lower during this seasons.

    THE BAD

    Some attractions closed: it happens but rarely, so no worry.

    Weather: rain a bit but in general, it won’t make a big impact on your journey, at least there’s not a storm ringing your doorbell. Temperature may be various sometimes but layer your clothes and you’ll have no trouble.

    Conclusion: Personally, I think the shoulder season is quite a perfect time to travel to a certain destination. Attractions are not full of tourist, price is cheaper and there’re still some travelers to have a beer together at bar.

  • Bad guys in Cambodia

    Bad guys in Cambodia

    These travel tips originate from odds, especially in third-world countries, when you travel, and one of them is corruption. This is the travel story for my first time experience “travel bribe”. It happened in Cambodia, August, 2015.

    My opinion is that these “bad guys” doesn’t represent all Cambodian people. For me, they are still hospitable, lovely and welcome after all. I tell these stories so that you know what occurring in the country and have plans to deal well with these weird experience and enjoy better moments instead of crying as a victim. No, we should learn to become a professional, experienced traveler after years, not amateur anymore, right?

    You’re ready? Let’s go!

    1. My first story – land border gate

    It was at the check-in counter in the Vietnam-Cambodia land border gate. I had read information suggesting that tourists would be asked for money as if a fee though they have a free visa.

    I still remember the man at the check-in counter, he’s quite black, bald a bit. When I approached him to receive my visa, he whispered somethings like “30.000 vnd” in Vietnamese, not loud but enough to grasp if you know a little the language or basic numbers.

    I couldn’t understand why I gave him that amount of money without any hesitation or suspection. It might be my tense for the first time abroad or I was in a hurry, that I couldn’t deal well with what I was expected to do perfectly. That’s memorable and next time, there’s no excuses.

    Travel tips #1: check your visa requirement before-hand and just give the officer right amount of fee, or you’re likely to lose it.

    2. My second story – Angkor Wat

    The other encounter was at the Angkor Wat. In the morning, we were riding bicycle to the site then stopped by a tourism police. He asked for tickets and we were confusing where to buy them.

    The Angkor is a huge area including Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. While the local is free to pass, the tourists are required to buy tickets. I thought that there would be booth tickets at every gates to the site. I was wrong. And the police confirmed me.

    And then he pointed me the direction back to the ticket station on the Charles De Gaulle street. I didn’t grasp it, so I showed my smartphone with google map on and asked him where was the station in the map. He couldn’t make it. Then he suggested that (I thought) HE would take us back, and we had to leave our bicycles and got on his police motorbike.

    It sounded great, a police officer offered you a free-ride to buy ticket to the beautiful world wonder – true good to be true. It was not a fairy tale.

    He said that we had to pay 3 usd/ person (that totally paid 6 usd for both if we accepted and he would have a taxi bike ride together to the booth. Oh, it was so surprising that the officer were offering me a out-off-duty deal.

    I believe that there’s no reason why people have to pay anything to traffic police officers but fine. So we gentlely denied, and turned our bicycle back to find the booth.

    Do you believe that I heard the police bargained: “5 usd for 2,… 3 usd for 2,.. ok, 1 for 2….”. And I just “no, thanks” repeatedly. I hadn’t experience anything odd like that before, a police was doing his own business without any shame for what he was doing.

    Travel tips #2: You can have police help, with a price. How much? Ask them ! *LOL*

    3. My third story – next day in Angkor Wat

    When we found the booth, It was noon, so we decided to buy ticket for the next day. And in the morning, we departed from our hostel, on a tuk tuk small tour with a young rider.

    It was usually when we visited the Angkor Wat, but when we moved to other areas, we witnessed some polices stopping our tuk tuk. At not far distance, we used our camera to track what happening and it turned out that the rider was bribing the police with some money.

    I had no idea how much but our tour was around 12 usd for a half-day ride, it’s not much to being taken. But it seemed that bribe has become a street custom in Cambodia that people do it fluently. It’s so sad.

    Travel tips #3: if you tend to ride a motorbike in Cambodia, make sure you have right license or you will have big trouble on road.

    Troubles make you experienced, so expect them, don’t be a victim