Category Archives: General

Water Wonderlands

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Vancouver is not a winter wonderland so at this time of year, it’s hard not to dream about escaping the dreary December days to a water wonderland. Whether you love luxurious pools, breathtaking water falls, striking beaches, steaming hot springs, serene lakes, or sensational caves, this list has options near and far, where you can take the perfect dip.

I imagine that sitting in the pool at the Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur India, overlooking lake Pichola, it wouldn’t be hard to understand why Udaipur is known as the Venice of the East.

The breathtaking height of Bridalveil Falls in Yosemite Valley, California, is sure to make you marvel at the wonder of nature.

The best beaches I’ve ever lounged on have been in Thailand where the water the warm, blue, crystal clear ocean pairs nicely with the deliciously spicy Thai cuisine. Maya Bay, away from the crowds of Phi Phi Island, looks like the picture postcard beach paradise.

Warm ocean not quite hot enough for you? I am dying to visit Pamukkale, Turkey to plunge into the hot calcium-laden waters in the stunning terraced landscape.

Now it’s time to stop dreaming and start planning a trip! Check out the full list of “mind-blowing water wonderlands” to get inspired for your next adventure.

Planning Your Next Adventure

Posted on by under General, Travel Resources
Planning a trip somewhere? Here are some useful links to get you started and excited for your next big adventure.

Before You Leave

Picking a Destination

International Volunteer or Internship Opportunities

If you want to volunteer or work abroad there are plenty of opportunities! The challenge of course is finding the right placement to suit your interests, expertise and time limitations. Here are some websites to get you started on your search.

Planning and Packing

  • Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree travel forum is a great place for travellers to swap advice and ask questions. The forum is organized by country and interest group and also includes a place where you can connect with other travellers as travel buddies, organize house swaps, search for house sitters or sell your travel gear.
  • A Little A Drift has wonderfully comprehensive packing lists and tips.
  • MEC also has packing lists for every type of trip.
  • Find out if you need a visa with this easy to use interactive map.

Flights

Booking a flight is often the hardest part of planning a trip. The elusive super cheap flight always feels just a few clicks away. I find the best tactic is to keep your eye on multiple flight booking sites and to check back a few times over the course of a few days or weeks to follow price fluctuations. It’s also a good idea to sign up to “watch” flights (so they email you when the prices changes) to monitor the ups and downs of ticket prices to your destination.

Safety

On the Road

  •  A Little Adrift has great tips on booking accommodation, blogging about your trip and staying healthy & eating healthy on the road.
  • Keep track of your spending using A Little Adrift’s budget and expenses spreadsheet. It’s an amazing tool to make sure you stay within your budget and to understand where all your hard earned your money is going. It’s also a wonderful reference for planing and budgeting for subsequent trips or helping your friends to plan their globetrotting experiences.
  • Time Out is a useful resource if you find yourself in a city and don’t know what to do or see. They’ve got information on art and entertainment, food and drink, film in cities around the world.
  • If you don’t have a guidebook, Lonely Planet has lots basic of information online – from accommodation recommendations to must see sites, it’s a useful resource when you’re on the road.

One Second Every Day

Posted on by under General, Travel Resources

A traveller I met here in Delhi introduced me to the coolest app which I think every smart phone packing backpacker should download. It’s called 1 Second Every Day. What the app does is pieces together a single second of video footage off your phone from each day. (You can pick which second of video you want to use from your camera roll.) The app will cost you $3.49.

You can also download 1 Second Every Day’s free counterpart, Video365. This app has been working well for me so far. On top of being free, it has the added bonus of letting you  cheat on your videos. By this I mean it lets you fill days with clips that weren’t actually shot on that day which is great if you’re like me and sometimes forget to shoot a video. 1 Second Every Day won’t allow you to use videos from the wrong days.

Budget

Posted on by under General, Travel Resources

I met a girl in Delhi who is travelling the world. She is eleven months into an adventure that she hopes will last at least another twelve. While out and about with her, I noticed that each time she brought out her wallet, she recorded her spending in the notes app on her iPhone. Intrigued and impressed I enquired about her budgeting tactics. (I always try to keep a record of my spending but find it hard to keep up with the recording and difficult to analyze the numbers I do keep). This girl put me onto a budget template designed by the author of a website called a little adrift. The excel spreadsheet was designed by a long term traveller (the author of this site) and is an easy way to keep track of your spending. It allows you to break up your record keeping according to country and the summary page tells you how much each country cost you per day in your native currency. It’s a fabulous resource for anyone embarking on a longterm trip. You can download the budget and use it yourself!

The a little adrift website also has many other useful resources for vagabonds – it’s well worth a visit!

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