Contiki bus tours are the perfect place for meeting people
Holiday romance can blossom on Contiki.
Relationships will often blossom during the shared experience of travel.The feeling hit Rhonwyn Newson like a lightning bolt.It was the year 2000 and the 19-year-old from Jo
The latest travel scams – and how to avoid them
Have you ever arrived at a hotel to discover that the sea view room you fell head over heels for online doesnt actually exist? Or examined a restaurant bill only to find it includes items that you never ordered?Its easy to become too paranoid while travelling and turn everyone you meet into an objec
The essential guide to backpacking Chinas Silk Road
China’s Silk Road is an epic journey through desert dunes to the end of the Great Wall, a length of pink mud that ends abruptly in the magnificent beige towers of the Jiayuguan fort. This is not a voyage that many travellers experience; its often and understandably overlooked in favour of more acces
Making the most of your Australian Working Holiday Visa
Fancy plenty of time to swim in the Australian surf, cuddle koalas and gobble fat juicy prawns for lunch? By travelling Down Under on a Working Holiday Visa you can earn some dollars to fund travelling for longer so you can enjoy more of these iconic experiences. These tips will help you avoid the p
How to pack for the Trans
Watching thousands of miles of snow-kissed forests fly past your window, alighting in remote cities across Russia – it’s no wonder that travellers are captivated by the Trans-Siberian Railway. Planning a train journey from Moscow to Vladivostok or Beijing is easier than ever, but packing the right g
How to go off the grid when you travel
Ever yearn to travel old-school style, without the screens, gadgets and multitasking stress? Do away with worrying about chargers, adapters, cables, cases, insuring all your devices, and organising foreign wi-fi plans and roaming. Instead, enjoy the moment, get out of your comfort zone, generate new
In defence of the tourist trail
We’ve all met them on the road: the travel snobs who insist they’re not tourists and label major monuments as tourist traps. They wouldn’t be caught dead following the herd.In a Cairo hostel, I met a girl who announced that she’d been in the city for three months and had yet to see the Pyramids. Her
How to travel around the world in 80 days
In Jules Vernes classic adventure novel, Phileas Fogg had a devil of a time trying to travel around the world in 80 days. But in the 21st century, circumnavigating the globe has become a bit of a breeze: all you need is a round-the-world (RTW) ticket. In fact, a dedicated (if masochistic) traveller
Totally...like... bogus: the worlds worst travel advice
Dont waste your money on bottled water! I just drank the tap water and I feel fine, brags a fellow hostel guest in Kathmandu. This person wont be seen again for three days, looking about 8lbs lighter.I never book a room before I get to a destination. Its better to visit all the hostels first, then m
Keep on truckin: a guide to overlanding
Overland trips can offer a good balance of offbeat exploration and independence, guaranteeing transport but leaving you free to decide what to do once youve rolled into town. A typical dayLife on a truck requires plenty of community spirit. Youll be split into cook groups and take turns shopping
Tips for travelling when you’re pregnant
Being a guidebook author and a journalist, I travel a lot for work. And for leisure; I didn’t get this job by accident. So when I became pregnant, I thought I’d make some adjustments but it never crossed my mind to stop travelling altogether.Now approaching the end of my second trimester, I feel lik
You booked a crappy hotel. Now what?
Traveling can be a lot like strip poker: no matter how brilliantly youve played and how many extra undergarments you layered on before the game, sometimes you end up as the sole naked person at the table.The disappointment of arriving to a hotel room that does not meet your expectations feels much l
Do leave home without it: stuff you should never take on a trip
Weve all seen these people and, inevitably, at some point weve actually been these people. The urge to overpack is a phenomenon most people experience in their early travel years and eventually outgrow. But some never quite make the connection between overpacking and the resulting inconvenience and
How to house
So you want to travel the world but lack the funds? You’re keen to take the kids on the road but need space for them to roam?If you can be flexible on location and duration, house-sitting can be a passport to long-term budget travel, offering free accommodation and the chance to live like a local in
How to pack light: tips from a master packer
Packing small is essential for any globe-trotter committed to embracing the chaos of travel. With a small pack, you can chase down your Japanese train as it unapologetically departs on time. You can squeeze in to (or on top of) the only bus to the next village in India. Or, as we learned, when your
Top 10 hostel rules: the don’ts of staying in a dorm room
Staying in a dorm room with strangers can be a whole lot of fun, although it does come with challenges – cacophonous snoring, intimate smooching and offensive odours. Here are some handy tips to make your hostelling experience all the better. Don’t treat shared bathrooms like a spaPicture the sc
How – and how not – to cross the street around the world
Like gorging on street food of uncertain provenance or accepting your host’s home brew served in an antifreeze jug, crossing the street ranks among the top potentially treacherous experiences in a new destination – and the most amusingly worry-free in others.The golden rules? Find out about the dest
The towns where travellers lose track of time
It was only supposed to be a couple of days; time enough to check out the temple you’d read about, pick up some bargains in the market, and mosey round the town before you head off to the next stop on your travels.Yet somehow it’s a week later and not only are you still there, but you can’t see your
The irresistible rise of the poshtel
A ‘poshtel’ – otherwise known as an upscale or luxury hostel – combines the style and comfort of a boutique hotel with the price and sensibilities of a hostel. And the trend is coming your way.An ever-increasing number of budget-conscious but discerning travellers expect something radically better
The travellers classic rites of passage
Travel: how was it for you? Did you ‘find yourself’ halfway up a mountain and come down a different person? Did you meet the love of your life in the lower bunk of a hostel dorm? Did you reach a destiny-defining decision in the back of a chicken bus?Perhaps your experiences seem less melodramatic th
