Tag Archives: travel tips

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.

Bombay, baby.

Posted on by under City Guides, India में, Travel Resources
Bombay is a captivating city. The streets around its crumbling grandiosity are crawling with crowds and crammed with traffic and the wet hot air carries the rich aromas of its twelve million lives. At the  Southern tip of the city, the Colaba and the Fort districts, are suffering the best of the colonial hangover. On every corner is yet another beautiful reminder of the long British occupation; there are countless grand buildings, wide boulevards and antiquated coffee houses. The area definitely warrant full day of exploration. I did a self guided walking tour based on the advice of my lovely host. Below are the sights I and (more importantly), cafés I visited.
I started my day at Kyani and Co., established in 1932, is a legendary Bombay institution. Iranian immigrants who moved to India in the 19th century opened many similar cafés in the city and Kyani and Co. is one of the oldest that remains. Sitting beneath its high ceilings in its rickety old chairs, its easy to imagine the café’s rich history. The place is famous for its bun maska (buttered bun), chai (tea) and keema pav (minced mutton served with soft white bread).
2) Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
 The juxtaposition of India’s bustling wildness against the backdrop of this breathtaking European architecture makes the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) a site to behold. The train station is a  UNESCO World Heritage Site, in recognition of its amazing Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. As well as admiring it from afar, it’s worth getting caught up in the crowds to take a look at the place from the inside.
3) Crawford Market
There is nothing like a good market. This is one of the most famous in Bombay and well worth a wander. It’s overwhelmingly crowded with people, products and provisions. The piles of fragrant fresh fruit and bustling street food stands swarm with flies and with people. The sales tactics in Mumbai are much less pushy than you’ll find at markets in Northern India so, it’s not an unpleasant place to browse and people watch.
4) Mumbai Police Commissioner’s Office (Mumbai Crime Branch)
Right right across from Crawford Market, this building was (built in 1896), can be admired for its Gothic architecture
5) St. Xavier’s College
More than the college itself, I enjoyed walking down the street it’s on. The big trees keep it cool and the mood is intellectual. I didn’t go onto the campus but apparently the Heras Institute of Indian History and Culture is worth seeing. There is also a museum in the college premises and societies like the Bombay Local History Society and the Amateur Astronomers’ Association (Bombay) which are open to members of the public as well as students.
6) Municipal Corp. Greater Mumabi 
This is another gothic building to gawk at. It was designed by the same architect who designed the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (F.W. Stevens).
7) Kitab Khana
This lovely little bookshop has a great selection of books of all sorts and in the back, you can crack the spines of your purchases over a coffee, sweet or meal. The café space is not nearly as nice as the bookstore part of the shop and it’s quite expensive so unless you’re famished or craving the AC, I’d recommend moving on to one of the other lovely cafés in the area for sustenance on your day out. There are some nice reading nooks in the shop itself as well, however, you’re not allowed to bring food and drink into those areas.
8) Mumbai GPO
The General Post Office building was built in  1913 in an Indo-Saracenic style. It is the largest post office in India with 101 counters to cater to customers.
9) JJ Fort Boy’s Highschool 
Inside the campus, you can see Dean’s Bungalow where Rudyard Kipling was born to John Lockwood Kipling (then principal of the School). There is a plaque commemorating the important birth.
10) Britannia & Company
I am disappointed that by the time I reached this point in my walking tour I was no longer hungry enough to eat at this iconic cafe. Britannia & Co. is another of the city’s Iranian cafés which are helping to preserve some of the city’s Zarathushti heritage and history. Most of the Irani cafés in Bombay are over 100 years old and are well preserved evidence of a bygone era. Most were established by Iranian families who settled in Bombay after fleeing religious persecution in their country. They were aided in their flight to the west coast of India by the Parsees of Bombay. Thus, the Parsee housing colonies in Bombay’s Fort district became home to many Irani Zarathushti refugees. Because most of these refugees didn’t have the capital to establish themselves in trade, banking and industry many established modest cafés and bakeries. The food and the egalitarian environment of these historical Iranian eateries still portray the values embodied by this culture.
If you are in the mood for more food at this point, the berry pulao and the raspberry drink come highly recommended. Berry pulao is an adaptation of the Iranian zereshk (barberries or Berberis vulgaris) polo (cooked rice). The rice dish is usually made with meat (chicken or mutton) and berries which have a slightly tart flavour.
11) Horniman Circle and Gardens
Benjamin Guy Horniman was an Irish journalist. He wrote for the Bombay Chronicle and was known for his vocal opposition to the British rule during India’s struggle for Independence. The gardens are a lovely spot to sit and escape into a little greenery. There is a great variety of plants and trees and a small fountain in the center. The benches are mostly occupied with business men taking a moment out in their days to munch on all sorts of delicious street food delicacies. The buildings around the garden form a semi circle crescent around the garden.
12) Asiatic Society Mumbai Town Hall
As you step out the Horseman Circle Gardens you’re confronted by this gorgeous white Greco Roman style building, boasting eight Doric columns and thirty stone steps leading up to the Library. Built in 1930, this is a lovely building is home to the Asiatic Society of Mumbai. I found myself here in the early evening and the light of the low hanging sun on the white columns was phenomenally gorgeous. The library here is home to the two original copies of Dante’s Divine Comedy, five caskets containing the relics of the Buddha found at Sopara near Mumbai and many rare and ancient manuscripts. When I visited, it was just after closing time but the kind guard let me step inside to at least catch a glimpse of the many low, dusty shelves in the crowded dim hall.
13) St. Thomas Cathedral
This is likely one of the oldest British buildings in Mumbai. Its construction was completed in 1718. The Churchgate railway station  got its name because of the presence of this cathedral which is located close to the Fort’s gate. It’s a quaint and modest little church, and contrasts with the grandiose buildings that surround it.
14) Khala Goda Cafe
Khala Goda is a very tiny, very hip little pocket. There are very nice (very expensive) boutiques and hipster shops tucked away in the crooked lanes behind the main thoroughfare. This café fits the bill being tiny and hip.
15) Flora Fountain
Flora is the Roman Goddess of beauty and prosperity. The fountain was built in 1869  using Portland stone. It was built in memory of Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of Bombay at the point where the Fort’s Church Gate once stood.
16) Bombay High Court
The building was built in 1878. The statues of Justice and Mercy can be seen on top of the two octagonal towers west of the central tower. Only the Judges are allowed to enter from the main entrance. All others enter through the rear entrance on the east of the building. Inside, the dusty, dark, overcrowded hallways are piled with rolls and rolls of files. In each room, the desks are overwhelmed with impressive piles of papers and file folders, the employees literally buried under their work. It’s incredible that anyone is able to navigate through the madness of those stacks.
17) Prince of Whales Museum
This is one of the main museums in Mumbai. It has a huge collection of variety of artefacts. There are old stone and marble sculptures from ancient temples, Assyrian Bas Reliefs, seals and toys from the Indus Valley Civilisation, European and Indian Miniature Paintings, a huge porcelain collection, Tibetan and Nepalese Buddhist art, etc. I spent a few hours wandering through he odd collection and wasn’t overly impressed. It’s worth a look from the outside but I would give this museum a miss.
18) David Sassoon Library
There’s not too much to see here beyond the pretty exterior of the building because the library is members only. Apparently there is garden behind it and has some very comfortable easy chairs on the verandah on the first floor however, I didn’t go inside.
I’ve attached a couple of maps that track my walking tour through this beautiful, historical pocket of Bombay. I combined the two routes to make my way around visiting each sight in the order they’re written above. Everything is quite close together in the neighbourhood so if you don’t mind a lack of efficiency, even wandering will take you past most of these buildings and sights.

House Hunting in India’s Capital

Posted on by under India में

IMG_2781 My Street in Delhi

Finding a house in Delhi wasn’t easy. Because the hostel I was staying in was so nice, I wasn’t tempted to move into sub-par lodgings. The only thing enticing me to leave the hostel at all was the fact that I didn’t want to live in a dorm for three plus months. For me, it was important that my house be located in a safe area. It had to be clean(ish) and most importantly, I wanted to share with people who I could be friends with since, as a new comer in this big city, social connections are important to avoid loneliness.

Here is a little of the wisdom I acquired in my house hunt:

1. Join all the Facebook groups you can find!

In Delhi, the best way to find out about available housing is Facebook groups. I joined all the groups including:

Flat on Rent Flatmates in South Delhi

Expat Looking for Accommodation in New Delhi

Flats and Flatmates – Delhi NCR

Flat & flatmates (south delhi chapter)

Expat looking apartments in delhi

Delhi and NCR flats and flatmates

~~~ Expat in New Delhi ~~~

Flat at Delhi without brokers

Yuni-net

2. Seek out posts in which people have told you a little about themselves or the vibe in their flat. 

Because, for me the social aspect of living with people was important, I was most keen to look at places where the flatmates took the time to describe the living situation in their flat. There are so many posts on all the pages that simply outline the flat “specs” but fail to describe the people or atmosphere.

3. Send messages that tell your potential flatmates a little about yourself.

If you care about relating to your flatmates on a personal level, chances are you’re going to want to live with people who also value the social element of shared accommodations. When you reply to Facebook postings about flats in Delhi, be sure to include a little bit about yourself, your interests and what you’re looking for in a flat/flatmates. This will set you apart from other flat hunters and hopefully connect you with people who share some of your values.

4. When you send messages to potential flatmates/landlords through Facebook, makes sure to also comment on the post letting them know that you have messaged them. 

This is important because often, if you’re not friends with people, your messages can get lost in the “other” folder. Also, it puts your name out there as someone looking for a flat which can send leads your way and help you to network.

5. Ask for photos.

Delhi is not the easiest city to get around. Addresses can be very difficult to locate. Sometimes going to see a place can take all afternoon. For these reasons, it’s good to get some idea of what the place looks like before you depart on the quest to find the flat.

5. Ask about landlord interference.

In Vancouver, landlord interference is never an issue so, before house hunting in Delhi, it would never have occurred to me to ask about it. In Delhi however, some landlords dictate who can come to visit you and when and have a watchful eye on your comings and goings. For me, this kind of living situation doesn’t suit and I would have been disappointed to find myself in a house where visitors from home couldn’t stay with me and friends couldn’t come over to visit.

6. You don’t need a broker.

Brokers can help you find a flat. They generally charge 15 days rent as a fee for their services. Some of the Facebook groups I posted above are curated by brokers however, I don’t think their services are really necessary. If you have the time, it’s very possible to organize housing on your own.

7. Network!

This house hunting experience in Delhi was the first time I networked over the internet. Because I was constantly posting on all the flat groups, I started getting messages from others who were seeking flatmates or had flats to rent. There were girls from Amsterdam I clicked with and we started house hunting together. While we didn’t end up finding a place together, now that they’ve arrived in Delhi we’ve become friends. And they’re not the only friends I made through house hunting.

In person networking is important too. Tell everyone you meet that you’re looking for a flat. You never know who might know someone. Most things in India are done through social connections.

8. Ask about the TOTAL cost of living there. 

Prices posted on Facebook are only the basic rent. In most cases, you will have to pay for electricity, wifi, water, staff, garbage etc. on top of the posted price. I found it helpful to ask the flatmates what they generally paid monthly to give me some idea of what it would actually cost me. It seemed that if rent was 17k, it worked out to a maximum of 20k after expenses. Of course, the time of year also impacts electricity because air conditioning is expensive.

9. Check for a water filter and a dedicated gas line.

The place I moved into has a water filter mounted on the wall of the kitchen. While this is not essential, it’s a super bonus because it eliminates the need to buy bottled water.

Most places have gas stoves that attach to a cylinder that hides under the counter. I’ve heard that these cylinders can be a real hassle to acquire and refill so if you find a place with a dedicated gas line, consider that in your decision making process. (They’re not super common.)

10. A cook and/or maid are a bonus.

It never occurred to me that I would want a maid and a cook but after living here for a while, I’ve discovered the importance of having household staff. Because of the pollution in Delhi, everything is covered in dust, all the time. A daily sweep and/or mop is essential. Without someone to do at least a surface cleaning every day, it’s hard to stay on top of the constantly amassing grime.

A cook is an added bonus. In our house we buy the vegetables and our cook comes every morning and prepares a daal and some sort of vegetable dish as well as roti. It’s really great to wake up and have something to eat for breakfast or take for lunch. I find it hard to find a lot of the ingredients I usually cook with at home so meal planning can be a challenge. Having someone who prepares at least one meal a day alleviates some of this pressure.

Q and A:

What are gated colonies?

As a young woman, gated colonies are the way to go. Many housing areas in Delhi are gated meaning there are fences that run the periphery of the development and gates which are closed after 11pm. this means that it’s safe to walk around at night. You can still get home late through the main gate which is left open but guarded all night.

What does DDA stand for?

DDA apartments are housing complexes/apartments that were build by the Delhi Development Authority (government body). The quality of housing varies depending on the age of the development. Newer ones tend to house smaller flats as the DDA has begun trying to accommodate the swelling urban population. All of the apartments should look the same (it’s illegal to renovate these flats) however you’ll notice that does’t deter everyone from renovating. I learned that the city can come and demolish any construction you do if they so please.

Which neighbourhood is best?

While there are good flats to be found in all of South Delhi, there are some areas where the hunt is a little more hopeful. All the flats I looked at in Safdarjung were nice. Similarly, the prospects in Hauz Khas, Green park and Panchsheel Park are good. Of course though, with these “good” addresses comes a higher price tag. Malviya Nagar tends to be a bit cheaper however there are lots of dingy places. It seems that the closer you stick to the periphery, the better your chances of finding a nice place. Try to avoid the Khirki Extension. If you’re willing to go a bit farther a field, Saket is also nice. I ended up a little West in Munirka and, while it’s a little bit farther from my work, the metro and the hub of south Delhi, I really like the neighbourhood. It also has perks like cheaper shopping and close proximity to Jawaharlal Nehru University.

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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