Label Travel Funds- Travel Tip #13

Label Travel Funds- Travel Tip #13

On the Road I keep my travel funds spread out all over my body my bags to protect against absolute loss or theft. I put a little money in the secret inside pockets that I have sewn into my pants, I stash a little in a pocket of my vest, distribute $20 bills through my bags, keep a twenty in my hat band, and then keep what is left in my money belt. Experience has taught me that widely distributing my funds is the best way to travel with money. But there is only one problem: with all of my funds spread so liberally around my clothing and baggage, I have found that it is difficult to remember exactly how much money I put where. So this leads me to this travel tip:

Travel Tip #13- Label Travel Funds

--------------
Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Upstate New York, USA May 21, 2008
Song of the Open Road -- Travel Photos
--------------

I have found it to be true that opportune, and often times otherwise good, people will nick a few dollars here and there from a traveler if they can. I am talking about hotel staff, baggage carriers, fellow bunk mates in hostels, taxi drivers etc . . . When this happens, the theft is often times only a portion of the total amount that is available to be stolen, which lowers the risk of detection by making it very difficult for the traveler to know if and when he has been robbed. Seriously, when I keep inexact amounts of money of various numerical denominations stuffed into numerous hiding places, I am not really going to be able to tell if a small portion of it has been nicked. I have often sat in hotel rooms counting my money while trying to figure out if any of it had been taken by the cleaning lady who broke in to my room against my directions earlier in the day, or if I had just spent it somewhere. Keeping my money in such an indeterminate manner annoys me. I do not like thinking these thoughts:

"Did the hotel worker somehow undo the locked ties on my bag and nick $30, or did I just spend it last week when I crossed that border?" I have thought about these questions more than I like to admit over the years, so I came up with a method to curb these insecurities:

Labeling my money.

The above photo shows how simply I label my travel funds. I just write the amount of money that is in the bundle on a piece of scrap paper along with the dates of any transactions. Therefore I know if a few dollars were nicked or I just spent them and forgot about it.

It is simple. I know that I am never going to remember how much money that I keep in which location, especially when the amounts are constantly changing as I travel. So, to take the place of my memory, I have simply inserted pieces of scrap paper in my rolls of money which label its value as well as the dates that the amounts are established. When I add or spend money from a given bundle, all I have to do is cross out the old value on the scrap paper and write in the new while penning in the date of the transaction. It is simple, and it is akin to balancing a sort of vagabond checkbook. This can also be done a little better by sticking your money in an envelope and always keeping track of the value by writing it on the outside. By doing this you would know it if a shady hotel cleaning lady was to nick $20 from your pants pocket, as they probably would not know what the scrap paper signified or be able to reproduce your handwriting sufficiently to change the amount that is labeled on it (or perhaps an obvious money label could potentially scare off a weak willed thief?) .

But I must say that labeling travel funds does far more to provide a traveler with a good state of mind rather than preventing theft. Once money is gone, it is gone; no matter how many labels you put on it. I just do not like wondering if I was robbed. I keep my money in very secure places, but if someone was to nick something from me, I would at least want to know about it so I could avoid similar places and situations farther down the Road, or alter my strategies for carrying money.

This is my travel tip; pick it up and use it, or leave it behind in your dust.

But, as always, be sure to walk slow,

Wade

* Travel Blog Directory * Vagabond Journey.com * Travel Photos *

Travel Tip 11- No More Shampoo

Travel Tip #11 - No More Shampoo

This is one of the best travel tips that I have yet to share. It is basic, it will come out quick, it is not ingenious, original, nor complicated. It may even sound silly.

Here goes: toss aside your shampoo and wash your hair with normal, ordinary bar soap.

It works just as well, for is not shampoo but an over-elaborated bar of soap?

I have found that using bar soap rather than shampoo leaves my hair just as clean, lowers the amount of times a week that I have to wash my hair, and, most importantly, it removes the need to carry around and purchase shampoo. As any traveler knows, liquids are heavy to carry around, and, likewise, should be avoided at all costs. Shampoo is almost always sold in liquid form. Using hand soap to wash your hair reduces the weight of your pack, and this, above all else, is of paramount value to those who carry their homes opon their backs. Shampoo can also sometimes be a little expensive. Two dollars here, three dollars there add up after a while. So stop weighing yourself down and wasting your precious travel funds on shampoo: I have found that it is not a necessity.

My mother always warned me about washing my hair with bar soap when I was a child. She said that my scalp will get dried out and so many horrible things would happen to my hair if I were to do so. I listened to her for over 26 years. But I ran out of shampoo on a bright sunny day in Honduras a month ago, and, in a moment of supreme clarity, I picked up the bar soap that I was washing my body with and scrubbed it all over my head.

It worked.

In fact, it worked better. After the first wash my hair felt a little stiff and weird, but after dozens of washes since then, everything became equalized. My hair got use to not receiving its regular doses of sodium laurel sulfate, and it now feels no different using soap than it did shampoo. Using soap on my hair keeps my head and beard un-itchy and grease free for over a week at a time. I could not boast this record with shampoo.

Bar soap is usually basic. It is made to clean. My hair needs to be clean: so I scrub away at it with bar soap to no ill effect, and I save a little money and loose a little pack weight in the process.

So toss out your shampoo, get a big bar of hand soap, and wash your body, hair, and even clothes with it. Go to Wash your Laundry While you Shower

Ubertramp, hand soap deserves not a double, but a triple use bonus

To curb the jokesters who could possibly discard this travel tip on the grounds that my lack of hair makes for an unsuitable test subject, I will have you know that Mira, who has a head sprouting beautiful long hair, has also chucked the shampoo in favor of bar soap.

Her findings have been the same as mine.

Hurray for simple bar soap!

There is an old axiom that I learned in childhood that goes as follows:

"Something does not become a necessity unless you make it such."

For me, shampoo is not a necessity. Maybe it is for you . . .. I don't know???

Try it, find out.

As always, take this travel tip or leave it. Send me praises or insults.

Walk Slow,

Wade from Vagabond Journey.com

Travel Tip 10- Turn a T-Shirt into Shorts

Turn a T-Shirt into Shorts- Travel Tip #10

This travel tip comes from the highly resourceful nomad Wanderjahr Jill. Read on, and you will be sure to learn how to turn a t-shirt into a pair of shorts. I cannot predict when you will need to use this tip, but, I must say, there will come a day when you look into your rucksack and realize that your articles of clothing are not appropriately diverse to fully clothe a human body. For sometimes on the Road you just have a few too many t-shirts and not enough shorts, sometimes the clothes in your bag just do not match the climate, and sometimes you just need a change.

This travel tip is about making use of what have. This tip is about getting your self out of a jam.

This tip is about how to turn a t-shirt into a pair of shorts:

First, place the t-shirt on a flat surface and cut the sleeves off along the seams.

Take the sleeves and cut them along their seam so that they are flat pieces of fabric rather than “rings.” Place them on top of each other and off to the side.

Cut the top of the t-shirt along the seams like in the photo.

Lay your parts in front of you. You will use all of this fabric.

Position cut up t-shirt upside down so that they look like shorts. The top of the t-shirt is now the bottom of the shorts. The bottom of the t-shirt is now the top of the shorts.

Cut the “crotch” of the shorts up approx. four inches. Be sure to leave room for your butt. May want to measure up against yourself.

Now take the two pieces of fabric from the t-shirt sleeves and sew them together at the short edge. Refer to photos.

Now that the two t-shirt sleeve fabrics are sewn together you can put them inside of the “shorts” with the sewn seam of the sleeves as the center crotch of the shorts.

Sew down the edges so that it looks like the above photo. Do this on both sides of the shorts. The t-shirt sleeves are now the inside crotch area of the shorts.

You have now just made a t-shirt into a pair of shorts. Now it is time to add a drawstring!

To make a drawstring use an old piece of cord, string, or shoelace and poke two holes into the natural seam of the old t-shirt.

Now trim up any loose ends and hem the bottom legs of the shorts and you are finished.

There you go, Travel Tip #10- How to turn a t-shirt into shorts. As always, take this travel tip or leave it.

Walk Slow,

Wade
www.VagabondJourney.com

Travel Guidebooks: To Use or not to Use- Travel Tip #8

Travel Guidebooks: To use or not to use- Travel Tip #8

Guidebooks, guidebooks, guidebooks, a big question. Should a traveler use them? Are they really helpful? Are they worth their weight and cost? Is traveling more enjoyable without them? Can I travel without one?

This long rant and more in this travel tip. Be sure to leave your comments and opinions below These are only my impressions. Tell me what you think.

The Cons of Using a Travel Guidebook:

Travel guidebooks tend to be big, heavy, expensive, incorrect, out of date by the time they are published, often times not well researched to begin with, and they make you look like a ripe idiot every time you use it within sight of other people. What is more, is that you can travel the world without one. They are not necessities.

A guidebook is a clear cut sign that you have no idea where you are. I think most travelers feel a little bashful about digging out their guidebooks in a street full of people. It is a flashing sign that you have no bearings on your current landscape. I recently met a Norwegian traveler in Panama City who taped up the cover of his Central America on a Shoestring with a think coat of white medical tape because he was embarrassed of it. He did not want people to know that the book he was coddling reverentially, was, in fact, a guidebook.

Guidebooks also have another major disadvantage to the traveler: they guide you. As much as you want to travel your own path, if you use a guidebook, you will often times find yourself moving very near to most other travelers. This is alright if you want to speak your native language for a few nights or make some traveling friends, or just want to relax and let the book tell you everything you need to know. But it is also a drawback if you really want to interact with the people of the country that you are traveling through. Guidebooks pave the road for tourism, and tourism means that I become Money rather than human. Guidebooks keep you on this trail, as they seem to imply the message that they ‘have the country covered’ and that their listings of places to go are to be chosen from like food on a menu.

It is sometimes difficult to leave the realm of the guidebook. Well, if you carry one. They could often times be better used as guide to tell you where NOT TO GO rather than help to travel to where you want. If a place is in that guidebook, you may want to avoid it!

Another disadvantage to these books is that they essentially act as advertising services, even if the publishers deny the claim, as travelers tend to gravitate to the places that are mentioned in the guides. Therefore, a listing in a guidebook is the best advertisement that a hotel or restaurant owner can have, even if they are not worthy of the privilege. This often times has the impact of driving up the prices of the places that are recommended by the major guidebooks. If a hotel is advertized as being cheap, by the time you get there it may not be.

One of my major problems with popular travel guides is that they are saturated with useless information. 70% of the bulk of most guides are full of information about shopping, nightlife, mid and upper class hotels restaurants, and other nonsense that I could never use. Why would I want to carry around junk that I can’t use? Why do I want a book that is 70% useless.
My final complaint is that the popular travel guides seem to be living off of their reputations and lack of competition alone. I believe that this is to the point that their quality has greatly diminished. Guidebooks are all too often wrong. The people who wrote them can not be trusted. Sometimes I truly believe that their margin of error is blatant negligence.

But oh well. What can I do? Shut my mouth and make my own travel guidebook? I know not of a more lamentable fate hahaha. Who would want to do that? But finances being what they are, I may have to one day put my nose to the grindstone and find out for myself if a good travel guide is a possibility.

The Pros to Using a Guidebook:

Given all of these drawbacks, when I ask myself the question: “Should I purchase another big, nearly useless, heavy, expensive, price-raising, incorrect guidebook,” my response is usually without much conviction. But for all their drawbacks, guidebooks do occasionally come in handy. And if you can get one for free they can sometimes be good tools. Get one for free???. . . hmm .. . maybe that hostel has a few that were left behind by past travelers??????

I think that the travel guidebook is a really good idea: they have maps, they have immigration information, advice on how to get to other places from where you are, and they also suggest areas of town where you can find a cheap bed and meal. In their ideal form, they are suppose to be nothing other than traveler tracks left for other travelers. I like the ideal of this.

Another great aspect of a guidebook is that, deep down inside of them buried somewhere, they have information to help travelers travel. This sounds very base, but sometimes it is a little difficult to find local people who can really tell you how to get from point A to point B if the distance is beyond their realm of knowledge, or where the cheap hotels are. Guidebooks are also helpful in big cities.

The travel guidebook is also not a new concept. On his monumental Vagabond Journey Around the World, which took place over a hundred years ago, Harry Franck makes references to using guidebooks for some the regions that he traveled through. I also once read somewhere that the Footprint Central America and Mexico guidebook is a descendant of an edition that had its advent in the 19th century. So the travel guidebook is nothing new, people have found them useful for a long time.

If guidebooks were really set up for the traveler rather than the tourist - or “tourists with backpacks” as Andy calls them - I would use them without a hitch. But they are generally not written for people who travel with little money. As the guidebook companies seem to be far more concerned with people who travel to shop and go on tours. I cannot blame them, these are the people with money. So if I do happen to use a guide, I do so with the fact in mind that they are published to be sold, and to sell other things. I know that I must read them and take their information selectively. I know that I cannot trust the information in the guides, and that there are usually cheaper and better alternatives to what is published.

Another great advantage of carrying a guidebook is that they allow you to feel as if you are a little more prepared. They have maps in them that would be difficult to obtain in other ways, they have the addresses of hotels in case you arrive in a city at night and want to take a taxi, and they have information that allows you to orient yourself to your surroundings. Just knowing this, the travel guidebook can help you navigate the world with a little more confidence and in a little more comfort.

I know that if I allow a guidebook to just be a little helper on my journeys then they really do come in handy. But I do not wish to be ruled by them. If I used them only when I have exhausted other methods of obtaining information then they serve as a real good backup device. But I do not like planning my journeys around them. If I can come upon one for free, then pride will be my only barrier to using it.

The best part of having a guidebook is that it is a sure thing guide of where NOT TO TRAVEL.

Do I need a Guidebook?

So when I am pondering if I want to pick up a guide or not I keep the following questions in mind:

1. Can I communicate in the dominant language of the countries that I am to travel in? The ability to ask and understand directions is clutch to removing the need of a guidebook.

2. Have I traveled in this region before? Previous travel experience is an obvious factor in choosing to carry a guidebook.

3. How easy do I think traveling is in the region where I intend to go? Am I going to Western Europe where the traveling is relatively straight forward or Central Africa, where the going is a little more complicated and the assistance of the information in a guidebook could be of a little more use (or not)?

4. Do I have, or can I obtain, good maps for the regions that I intend to travel through? A good road map and supplemental city maps can be a good substitute or accompaniment to a guidebook.

5. Do I have time to do a little preliminary research? Do I have a month of down time before I travel to a region, or am I always on the road at the expense of internet cafes? If you have a solid, cheap internet connection with a printer, the need for a guidebook becomes a little more obsolete.

If I can answer ‘yes’ to most of these questions, then I usually will not use a guidebook, unless I just happen to come upon one. But if I plan on an extended run of travel in a country where I cannot speak the local language and English, Spanish, or Chinese is not a usable option then I may consider obtaining a Lonely Planet Shoestring guide if one is easily available.

Lonely Planet Shoestring Guides:

For the most part, the only popular guidebooks that I can really recommend are the Lonely Planet Shoestring edition. They make no pretense at fully covering countries, and are basically just rough sketches of the regions they cover. I think this is good. They come in handy where they are needed most- in big cities - and they seem to keep quiet about everywhere else. Even though I think that they are not as good as they could be, and in actuality, I am unsure if they are worth their $30 price tag, I find them far better than the rest of the guidebooks out there. Regular Lonely Planet guides are so full of useless information about shopping and upper class nonsense that the quality information for the back-packer or traveler is severely diluted, if not non-existent. Regular LPs are pretty bad, and Rough Guides, Footprints, and Lets Gos are far worse in my opinion.

There is definitely a big market open for someone to make a good, make sense, guidebook.

To Remember:

The following are some ideas that I have found useful to keep in mind while traveling.

1. Guidebooks are often researched and written by people who have money, rental cars, and are living far beyond my budget. It seems to me that a person who is able to travel without much economic restraint is probably not going to put up with the hardships of finding the cheapest and best traveler options. They probably will not even know of them. So there are many more cheaper hotels and restaurants than what are represented in the books. I think that guidebooks are written by people who genuinely wish to share quality travel information, but, I suspect, that they can not be considered in the same economic league as most travelers.

2. Use a guidebook as something that helps you travel rather than something that tells you what to do. The information in a guidebook is just what the researcher happened to come upon; there are usually way more other options. Allow a guidebook to help you to find a cheap part of a city, in which you can select your own options, rather than lead you to the doorstep of any particular hotel or restaurant. If I use a guide, I just consult it when it is needed (as I know that all too often it is wrong).

3. Talk to people. Listen to what the people say who you travel amongst. Share tales and yarns, take notes. Go beyond the guide. Guidebooks tend to not even slice the cream off of what is out there.

Alternative to a Guidebook- Make a Travel Notebook:

Write your own friggin’ guidebook, that is what I say.

The internet is so full of good travel information that I feel as if the guidebook is becoming obsolete. If you have the time to make a “travel notebook” then I think this is the best, and most open, way to travel. Just grab an old school notebook, divide it into sections, paste maps into it, and write down any helpful information that you think you may need. Ask other travelers, hotel owners, tour operators, anyone about the road ahead, and record it all in your notebook. If you get stumped you can always just ask a local, another traveler, or do an internet search to fill in the blank spots. Remember that you can always borrow and take notes from the guidebooks of other travelers that you meet along the way. I think that this is a much more fun way to travel. You are in control of your direction and you can change and alter your notebook as needed.

And when you are finished with it, you can send it to me to put up on Vagabond Fieldnotes Hehehe.

So this is my advice based upon my experiences. As always, take it or leave it.

Walk Slow,

Wade from Vagabond Journey.com

Travel Tip 9- Turn a Plastic Bag into a Cup

Turn a Plastic Bag into a Cup- Travel Tip #9

Have you found yourself at a water source with the desire to carry water with you but without anything to carry it in? Are you at a stream in the middle of the woods with a water filter but without a receptacle to filter to? Do you need something to do with all of those plastic shopping bags that you have forced upon you every time you buy something? Or maybe you just need a stinking cup?

If so, then this travel tip is for you. How to turn a plastic bag into a cup- Honduras style.

I am currently in Northern Honduras working on an archaeology project at Copan. The most of the other archaeology crew members are Honduran rancheros with big white cowboy hats, button up plaid cowboy shirts, and cowboy boots. The men are cowboys in Honduras. What else can I say?

Well, these cowboys have a taste for Coca-Cola, and every time they take a break from excavating a skeleton or restoring an ancient stone wall, they drink down a couple bottles of pop using nothing other than plastic artifact bags as cups.

This is how it is done:

1. Pick up plastic bag - I think just about any sort without holes will do - with the open end pointing up.

2. Fill bag with liquid.

3. Tie top of bag closed securely.

4. Turn contents of bag upside down so that the knot is now at the bottom.

5. Bite off a corner and drink away.

You have now just utilized a plastic bag as a cup.

You may occasionally find yourself without a water bottle while traveling, but, rest assured, you will probably never be without a plastic bag.

A plastic bag could be more than just bag, things can be more than they appear, as Ubertramp says, “Dual purpose bonus!” Thanks to the Honduran capesinos who showed me this little trick. I will probably someday be a little less thirsty of a vagabond because of it.

As always, take this travel tip and use it, or leave it to adorn the trees of the developing world along with all of those other under-utilized and discarded plastic shopping bags.

Smiles,

Wade

www.Vagabondjourney.com

Onward Tickets for One Way Travelers

Onward Tickets for One Way Travelers

It is often an apprehensive moment when checking in on a one way flight to a country that officially requires proof of onward travel to enter. Most often, I have found that I am not asked if I have a return or onward flight, and therefore everything works out fine. But on a couple occasions, I have found myself in situations that could have been potential problems while dancing around this silly restriction.

I was once boarding a flight to Bangkok from Hanoi and I watched the check in girl ask everyone who wanted their boarding pass if they had an onward ticket. I did not have one. She busted many people who were in line ahead of me. When it was my turn, I confidently walked up to her and chucked over my passport.

“Do you have an onward ticket she asked?”

“Of course,” I loudly exclaimed with a touch of mock annoyance, “I am going home.” This worked. I neither had a ticket, nor was I planning on going home, but the resolution with which I spoke ended all further inquiry.

If she was to ask for proof I probably would have said something about having an electronic ticket and how I just booked it over the telephone and had no printed itinerary and acted really angry. I do not know if this would work.

It is my impression that the onward ticket restriction is just a way for airlines to make money and countries to have an excuse to refuse entry to people that they do not want. Most often, an onward ticket is not requested by either group.

In fact, in eight years of traveling I have only been asked at immigration if I had an onward ticket twice. Once was coming into England, who seems to give almost everybody a problem, and the other time was yesterday in Costa Rica.

Note: Costa Rican immigration often asks for proof of onward travel, but does not seem to enforce the restriction.

Mira and I were asked yesterday, and we just told them that we were going to Nicaragua by bus. It was the truth, and it worked.

I just met a kid today who was also asked for proof of onward travel while coming into Costa Rica. He did not have any, so he was detained for a half hour while he explained his travel plans. They let him in.

A way to get around the onward travel rule is to print up a false itinerary. You can do this by calling a travel agent and making a reservation. Make sure that you have them email you the official itinerary for this reservation, or else this will not work. Print out the itinerary and never pay for the ticket. Put this paper into a plane ticket envelope that you can get from a travel agent and away you go. STA Travel is good for sending official looking itineraries on flight reservations.

Another way is requesting a travel agent to print you up a false itinerary. Please visit Andy the Hobotraveler's Fake Onward Tickets for more information on this.

Or, I am told, that you can purchase a fully refundable onward or return ticket and then cancel it and collect the refund. I do not recommend this, as I have found it very difficult to get unrestricted refunds from airlines and travel agents.

I usually just show up at the airport without an onward ticket, and I am usually not hassled. If I was ever given trouble to the point that they would not let me board, I would probably just try to quickly find a cheap ticket to a neighboring country and adapt my travel plans accordingly. It is my opinion that this would be a cheaper option than always buying round trip tickets that I do not intend on using.

Traveler tip #2- Onward Ticket Tricks

Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
Heredia, Costa Rica
January 21, 2008

Traveler Photographs.com
Vagabond Fieldnotes.com

Travel Tip #7- Camping for Free

Travel Tip #7- How to sleep outside for free

“An uncomfortable bed free is better than a comfortable bed unfree.”
-Jack Kerouac

In many circumstances, a traveler could find himself outside after nightfall without a place to seek shelter and, in some cases, without the monetary resources to rent a bed even if one was available. Or, if you are traveling by bicycle, hitchhiking, or walking it would be foolish to plan on entering into developed areas every night solely for the purpose of finding shelter. In point, when on the tramp, it is often necessary to sleep under the stars, and, in most instances, the formal campground is not really an option- as I think they are a waste of money. The way I see it, the entire world is one big campground ever welcoming a clever traveler to set up a camp and stay a night- for free. Parks, cemeteries, highway culverts, forests, strip mall roof tops, agricultural fields, abandon beaches, the underside of bridges, and caves usually have open vacancy for all travelers passing by. No reservations are even required. But be careful, finding a place to camp on the sly can be a slightly perilous pursuit, though always a true adventure.

At the start of this travel tip I would like to say that camping on the sly has limited use in some countries, and in others it is not really necessary. For example, if you are traveling by public transport, which generally jumps from population center to population center and are in a cheap country, the need to camp out is greatly diminished. If you can get a nearby room for between $2-$5 then it is an unnecessary risk to sleep outside. Travelers get robbed in Latin America. Travelers disappear in Africa. The same can be said of many other regions of the world. I remember reading a post by Andy the Hobo Traveler.com where he wrote about travelers who disappear while camping on the sly in Africa, and I must say that it is true:

“- A person has to be a Fou, has to be a NUT, and has to want to die to live in a tent and camp in West Africa. -

NOTE: Just because you never heard of a person, dying when they are camping does not mean it does not happen A missing traveler is only missed by his family and friends, they just vanish.”
Andy the Hobotraveler.com, from his blog post I Was Once Lost But Now I Am Found

I was traveling in the jungles of Peru in 2001, and I met a French girl in Puculpa who was searching for her lost brother. Two years before they were backpacking together in Peru, and one night her brother left the hotel to go out and quickly grab something from a store. He never returned. True story. He was never found. The girl went on with stories about how she thinks that he may have ran off into the jungle and was now living with some indigenous tribe; she showed me his photograph as well as the area on a map that she figured he could be it. I did not have the heart to say it, but I knew that her brother was probably dead.

So I must assert here that if you are traveling in a potentially dangerous country where you can get a cheap room without too much difficulty (Central and South America, Africa, parts of Asia), take it. I feel that the risk to money ratio in these places directs one to err on the side of safety. But if you are traveling an expensive country like Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan, a somewhat benign country like China; are riding a bike, walking, or hitch-hiking and cannot have regular access to cheap accommodation, or you truly do not have any money, I write this travel tip for you based off of my own experience.

Places to Sleep:

Under ordinary circumstances a traveler would want to find an inconspicuous place to sleep where there is little chance of detection; but be warned, if you happen to be found in such a remote location it could mean trouble. The very discreet nature of camping on the sly means that if you are perchance detected by a group of drunks, thieves, or angry landowners there will probably be nobody to come to your aid. It is both safer and more dangerous to sleep in remote locations. Be careful, choose your camp wisely.

Good places where I usually try to camp:

1. Forests or woods near highways far away from any city or town.

2. In the bushes near expressway junctures or by on and off ramps. Usually people, unless hitchhiking or weird, do not frequent areas near major express ways.

3. Along hiking trails in the mountains or forests. This is just like formal camping only without paying. It is a good move to prepare in advance to sleep in such places, as sometimes it takes a little time to find trail heads or get to the nature area.

4. Under bridges outside of the realm of urban influence. Get far away from cities before sleeping under a bridge least you may have some unexpected company.

5. Hotel parking lots if you have a vehicle. In adjacent fields if you are on foot or bike. Hotels often own mowed fields with trees and bushes for shelter.

6. If in Asia you can sleep in old shrines, monasteries, and temples. These have long been the sleeping places for travelers in East Asia. Old religious buildings provide for great nights of sleep.

7. On hills that overlook small villages. Often times hill tops around small villages are left vacant. Climbing up during the day will allow you to find a good place to camp.

8. On beaches. Be sure to get into a part of the beach that will probably not be frequented by mid-night frolicers.

9. Universities. If you are young looking, you can usually pull off being on university campuses late at night. Just act like you belong there and find yourself a sleeping place in advance during the day light hours. If you are accosted by a security guard just act offended and say that you are a student. If you are in a foreign country just speak your native tongue and try to brush off your

Bad places that I usually try to avoid camping:

1. In or anywhere near cities.

2. Parks, unless nature reserves, very, very large, or you find a really good place to camp.

3. Highly trafficked areas. Sometimes even rural areas attract a large amount of early morning traffic. Get away from roads or paths. Just because a place seems deserted at night, does not mean that it will be in the morning.

4. Abandon buildings. You never know what you may find inside.

Things to consider:

1. Is the location out of the zone of urban influence? Try to avoid sleeping in cities or near them if you can help it. Large cities can have a zone of influence of around 50 km; to camp on the sly within this radius requires a good amount of diligence. Be careful, even if a location outside of a city seems to be agricultural, it could still be within the zone of urban influence. If you are hitchhiking, biking, or walking as a means of traveling, think twice before entering into a large urban area if you are not sure that you can get out before nightfall.

2. Will you be hidden? Opt out of an area that people my frequent after nightfall. If you are on a beach, get away from any area that may attract people partying in the night. In point, find somewhere that is a little difficult to get to.

3. Will you be detected as you get in and set up camp? If you have to walk past populated areas to get to a possible place to camp, then you may want to reconsider it. Try to find a place that people do not really go.

4. Do you think the police patrol the area? The police are a traveler’s biggest danger in any country. If caught by the police, be honest about everything. Usually they will just tell you to be careful and let you camp out the night.

5. What day of the week is it? Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights are often blossom with drunks in many areas. Stay away from all potential drinking areas- accessible beaches included.

When to go in and when to leave:

Get in late and get out early. This is a general rule for camping on the sly. But in some more remote areas, especially if you have a bicycle and real camping equipment, setting up camp before sundown could be a really good idea, and it is sometimes nice to have a nice restful morning after waking up in the middle of a beautiful forest.

I just always have a paranoia about people noticing me going into a place that I would like to sleep in. I want to have a clear mind to enjoy a beautiful night outside; I do not want to be thinking about who saw me preparing my camp and if they are going to surprise me in the night.

What to do if you are caught:

1. Act cool. I was once woken up by a crack addict in the middle of the night once while sleeping in a hotel field near New York City. I acted cool, and told the the guy where I thought he could buy some crack in the hotel. I turned out to be right.

2. Act like a lunatic. Seriously, I believe that most people in this world think that people who sleep outside are potentially nuts. Act crazy. If you have been camping on the sly for a while then you probably look a little disheveled anyway. Run with it.

3. Run. Just jump out of your sleeping bag and run away in your underroos. I do not think that many people want to be chase naked people around in the woods. Once the potential threat is gone you can go back and collect whatever is left of your belongings.

4. Fight. If your intruders are hostile, and you think that you are in danger no matter what you do, fight. It is my feeling that you will have a better chance fighting than meeting aggression with passiveness. If you found a good secluded place to camp, then there will probably not be anybody to come to your aid or any witnesses. I sleep with a knife next to me at all times, though I think I do this just for comfort, I do not plan on ever using it. Running is usually always a better alternative than fighting. You never know what may happen in the night.

5. Yell. Reprimand your potential assailant and act stronger than they are.

6. Listen. The person waking you up may not always have negative intentions. Gauge the situation before you decide on a course of action. People still do nice things in this world; maybe someone is just worried about you sleeping outside and wants to offer assistance. I have had this happen repeatedly in Japan.

Equipment:

I tend to not carry much of anything with me while traveling. I just have a mid-size rucksack that is only scarcely larger than a school child’s back pack and sometimes a supplemental smaller bag. But I do carry the following articles in case I ever need to quickly make camp:

A plastic tarp
A lighter or waterproof matches
A lightweight sleeping bag
A headlamp or flashlight
A Swiss Army Knife
Some sort of weapon

A plastic tarp, like the ones used on construction sites, is an extremely useful addition to any traveler’s gear assemblage. They are lightweight, durable, waterproof, and, on cold nights, even warm. These tarps can be used for many different purposes while on the road. They can be made into decent tents with a few lengths of rope, they are good to lay down under your sleeping bag, and they can even be used to wrap up in in a rain storm. From where I am standing, the tarp is indespensible.

It may seem a little odd for me to suggest carrying a weapon, but I would not leave the front door of my parent’s farm without one. I carry a one hand quick opening, preferably black bladed knife in my right hand pocket, a sheathed hunting knife on the front of my belt (not the back ), and sometimes I have been known to travel with a large “walking” stick. Up to now- 8 years- I have not had to use any of them. If I were in a situation in which I needed to use any of these weapons it would seriously need to be a life or death situation, and I honestly do not know how I would fare. It would take a very dire situation to provoke me to pull my knife, but I do know that if I ever have to do so, I had better try my best to use it quickly. Because I know that if someone is bold enough to threaten my life, they probably will not be intimidated by my four inch hunting knife. I do believe that running away or submitting to attacks is usually a better option than fighting back. In eight years, I have been attacked three times- two times I fought back just enough to get away, and once I completely submitted. I believe I acted appropriately in each instance. My only advice here is to trust your instincts . . . they usually know best.

In Conclusion:

If you are traveling by bicycle, walking, or hitchhiking, then you should prepare to sleep outside often, but if you are generally traveling by public transport between population centers then it is rare that you cannot find a room (the problem is if you can afford to sleep in it ). In Europe and Japan the cost of a cheap place to stay is far beyond my means, and I find myself seeking free accommodation or the woods almost every night- and I plan accordingly. But in Latin America, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia I find that am rarely ever financially required to seek refuge outside. I usually spend between $5-$12 a day in these places including a decent bed, and I live like a king- to sleep outside in these places would only be for the fun and adventure of doing so, or to get to really remote areas.

In all, camping on the sly is fun. It requires you use all of your senses and intuition, is always exciting, and sometimes even frightening.

In my opinion, this is what traveling is all about.

This travel tip is only backed by my own experience. my experience is all that I know. As always, take it or leave it.

Walk Slow,

Wade from:

Vagabond Journey.com
Traveler Photographs
Vagabond Fieldnotes
Cheap Eating Traveler

Travel Tip #6- Avoid International Bus and Train Services

Travel Tip #6- Avoid International Bus and Train Services

Sometimes, while traveling, you just want to cross a horizon in one foul swoop, and quickly get from one country to another. In many large cities and prime tourist locations there are buses and trains companies which cater to this desire by offering services that cross international boundaries in one straight go- usually from capital city to capital city. These buses and trains are usually quick, comfortable, easy, and, yes, expensive. In this travel tip I would like to emphasize the expensive part of these services, and to highly recommend against them. Frankly, in most circumstances, I think these posh international charters are a colossal waste of our precious travel funds, as there are local alternatives that are not much more of a hassle, and are exponentially cheaper.

All you have to do is take a bus or train to the border town of the country that you want to travel into, walk across the border, and then carry on using public transport. It is usually that simple, and traveling this way will save you a lot of cash. Many local people cross most borders in the world this way on a daily basis, so there is usually a flood of transportation options surrounding border areas. Take your time with this, and pick the cheapest transport option. Many people will try to hustle you at a border crossing; trust nobody that could potentially benefit financially from you taking their advice. Rather, seek out a local who is going the same way you are and follow him. It is as simple as that. Find the bus full of the most locals and jump into it. In the borderlands there are only two ways to move: going or coming. So it is not too difficult to figure out where any vehicle is headed.

Last summer I wanted to quickly get from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. So I went to the main train station in Beijing and tried to buy a ticket straight to Mongolia. I was shuffled around from ticket vending window to ticket window until I was finally told that I needed to purchase my passage at a CITS (China’s national tourist agency) office in an upclass hotel. This immediately foreshadowed an emanate rip off, but I checked it out none the less.



Yup, upon going into the CITS office and trying to get a ticket, I found that this service was a colossal rip off. They only route that they would offer to me was on the Trans-Siberian express, which has predominately become a tourist service that goes from Beijing to Moscow. I do not recall the exact price that they were trying to get out of my to go to Ulaanbaatar, but I recall that it was over $80.

It only costs a fraction more than this to go all the way to Moscow!

No way. This was far beyond what I was willing to pay to travel by train for this distance.

So I trudged right back to Beijing Central and purchased myself a local ride to the Mongol border, and half way to Ulanbaatar, for around sixteen dollars. When I went to board the train a couple of days later I realized that I was actually going on the Trans-Siberian Express anyway! Only I was herded off into the local compartment and rode is style for a penance of what the other tourists paid.

When I arrived at the border town of Erlian, I got a room for the night and then crossed into the Mongolia the next morning. I then boarded a local train right on the other side of the border and rode the rest of the way to Ulanbaatar for a mere ten dollars. In all, I traveled from Beijing to Ulanbaatar by taking two local trains for a combined price of around $26, and only arrived a day later than I would have if I paid $80 for the international, “Trans-Siberian Express” service.

I have found this story to be played out in many countries that I have traveled in. Taking local transport to an international border, crossing on your own volition, and then picking up local transport on the other side is often times far cheaper than taking an express “international” service.

A traveler who saves a dollar today, has a dollar to travel another day.

Photo by Loren Everly

The only flip side to this travel tip is that international frontiers oftentimes tend to be breeding grounds for every opportunistic hustler and rip off scenario that can be imagined. Though I stand by this piece of advice, I must admit that sometimes it is just as prudent to take the international service to avoid the border shuffle hustle.

I would highly advise the reader to take this travel tip as more of a suggestion than a rule. Check out the situation before crossing an international boundary, talk to other travelers, weigh the coins in your pockets, and find out what would be the best way for yourself.

So this is my piece of advice to all of you beat and battered wanderers.

As always, take it or leave it.

Walk Slow,

Wade from www.VagabondJourney.com

• Travel Tips
• International Train
• International Bus
• China
• Mongolia
  

Travel Tip #5- Not Your Friend

Travel Tip #5- Not Your Friend
Meknes, Morocco
October 5, 2007
Homepage: http://canciondelvagabundo.googlepages.com


I compiled this list in good humor based off my experience with dealing with touts in various touristed areas of the world. Much of it is self-explanatory and is what all travellers already know anyway. I just thought it would be fun to write down.

Of course every traveller wants to be able to move in and out of a culture, make friends, and get really close to the folks they are travelling amongst, but, simply put, there are many people out there who feed off of good intentioned travellers and would suck them dry in an instant. Unfortunately, these are usually the people that are, for obvious reasons, most accessible for travellers to meet. Some people call them touts, I just call them assholes.

I have always found it very difficult to find a “human” basis of understanding with someone who views me as nothing other than “money on legs” (thanks Andy www.hobotraveler.com). I now find it a great impertinence to even try.


If someone yells “Hello my friend ” to you as you are walking down the street, they are not your friend.

If someone tries to pressure you into going into any shop, restaurant, hotel that you do not really want to go in, they are not your friend.

If someone tries to charge you more for something than the stated price, they are not your friend.

If someone tries to make you walk in a direction that you do not really want to go in, they are not your friend.

If someone tries to make you feel guilty for not wanting to talk to them, they are not your friend.

If someone calls you a racist because you do not want to hire their service, they are not your friend.

If a cab driver does not start his meter as soon as you take off, he is not your friend.

If someone walks up to you in a highly touristed area speaking many languages and trying very hard to be your friend, they are not your friend.

If a produce vendor in the tropics tries to charge you two dollars for a few bananas, he is not your friend.

If you tell someone to leave you alone, and they do not follow your directive, they are not your friend.
If someone tries to get you into a shop by saying “Just have a look. No buy. Just have a look,” they are not your friend.

If someone comes up to you and immediately starts talking about how “all men are brothers,” they are not your friend.

If it seems like someone is trying to get something from you, they probably are, and are not your friend.

If someone is not my friend, I feel no obligation to them.

So this is my piece of advice to all of you beaten and battered wanderers.

As always, take it or leave it.

Walk Slow,

Wade

Traveller Tip #4- Wash Your Laundry While You Shower

Traveller Tip #4- Wash Your Laundry While You Shower
Meknes, Morocco
September 23, 2007
Homepage: http://canciondelvagabundo.googlepages.com/
Travel Tips, Advice, and Mistakes Learned From page: http://canciondelvagabundo.googlepages.com/traveltips

Laundry piles up. No matter how dirty a vagabond you are, and no matter how little clothing you carry with you, a bag full of soiled laundry is not fun to lug around, and it is a daunting task to clean an entire load at one time (what would wear if you are washing all of your clothes?). It is also a drain on your travel funds to always have to pay someone else to clean your clothing for you- and laundry service is often times ridiculously expensive no matter what country you are in. To subvert this end, I have devise a little rule that I follow diligently:

Always wash your clothes while you shower.

So every time that I go into a shower to clean my body, I bring a couple articles of clothing to wash as well. It is not too difficult. I simply use the same bar soap that I use for my skin and I wash my clothing like it was another part of my body: arms, legs, shirt, pants . . .

If you shower once every two to three days then you will only have to clean a couple articles of clothing at a time, which is not too much work and takes little more time than washing your body alone. In this way, your laundry load is perpetually going through a wash cycle and you never have to delay your travels with a “laundry day” or the hassle of finding a cleaning lady.

Also, another word of advice: don’t ask for permission to clean your clothes at hostels or hotels EVER. For whatever reason, lodging houses often do not like for travellers to clean their own clothing (often times it is because they like to charge you 5-10 dollars for this service). Just bring a few pieces of clothing in with you when you shower and then indiscreetly hang them out to dry in your own room (use a bed post, a doorframe, widow sill, coat hooks etc . . .). If you are only washing a few things at a time then this will not be a problem.

Doing a little bit of work everyday also helps to keep your spirits up while travelling long hauls On the Road. You don’t feel as lazy or burdened by the knowledge that you are eventually going to have to wash that ever accumulating bundle of laundry in the bottom of your rucksack. Plus, you always have clean clothes to wear!

So this is my piece of advice to all of you beat and battered wanderers.

As always, take it or leave it.

Walk Slow,

Wade

Traveller Tip #3- Saddlebags

Traveller Tip #3- Saddlebags
Rabat, Morocco
September 11, 2007
http://canciondelvagabundo.googlepages.com/

Everyone who has ever stepped out of their own home knows the value of pockets; and to the traveller, pockets are cherished. This tip is about the utilization and construction of saddlebags.

Saddlebags are simply large pockets that hang off of a belt on both sides of your body, like saddlebags on a horse (look at photos below). They can be made out of leather, duct clothe, or a variety of other materials. The purpose of these large pockets is to have a place to carry around medium sized, often used implements- such as guidebooks, notebooks, cameras, and knives- that you want to have in a readily available in an easy to reach location.


To carry such objects in a backpack leads to many awkward moments and wasted activity, as, in order to access a piece of gear, you would have to stop, take the pack off, dig through it, take out what you want, use it, put it back in the bag . . .and so on. . . This process looks ridiculous and can draw unwanted attention. While keeping such often used items in trouser pockets is also a futile practice, as many pockets are simply not large enough to accompany something the size of a book. Cargo pants may seem like a acceptable alternative but, as anybody who has ever stuffed their cargo pockets full of gear and then went for a walk knows that a lot of stuff bouncing around in these pockets can be extremely uncomfortable.

So my solution is using large sized pockets that can be hung at the waist off of an ordinary belt. Their construction is simple, and Mira designed, layed out, and made mine for me in only a couple of hours.

To make them all you have to do is find a piece of leather or fabric (preferably duct cloth) and cut a long strip of it as wide as you would like the bag and about four inches longer than twice as long as you would like it to be. So if you want a bag that is 10 inches wide and 12 inches long, you would need an initial cut of fabric that is 10 inches wide by 28 inches long. You then fold up one side of the fabric until it is around four inches from being even at the top and then sew up the sides. You can then attach belt loops to the back. After this is finish, you can take the four inches that remains at the top and fold it over and attach it with buttons. It would probably be simpler just to replicate the below photos:

This is the back view. Notice the belt loops at the top. Be sure to leave a flap.

I have only been using these bags for the past week, but I can tell now that will become a staple piece of travel equipment for me. I keep maps, books, and all sorts of other things in them that I wish to easily access on the streets without having to stop and go searching through all of my stuff. What is also good about them is that you can just slip them off at the end of the day and stash them in your pack, which helps to alleviate the possibility of falling asleep with lots of stuff in your pockets (there are few things more annoying).

One downfall to them is that they can be easily cut by bag slashers. But if you make them out of leather, the possibility of this greatly diminishes. Also, I chose to use buttons rather than a zipper as a fastener, as I feel that it is much harder for a pickpocket to undo a button than a zipper. Buttons are also easier to repair.

So I offer this idea up for you to take, leave, or laugh at. But I am loving these bags. Thanks, Mira.

Traveller Tip 1- Write of Your Travels

Traveller Tip 1- Write, Write, Write of Your Travels.
July 14, 2007
http://canciondelvagabundo.googlepages.com

As I have stepped off of The Road for a few moments to visit my family I have had the chance to dig through some of my old travel notebooks, and in doing so I have realized how much I appreciate them. I began travelling in the summer of 1999 after getting kicked out of high school, and I consequently began keeping a journal at this time as well. In the beginning I though that I was something special, so I wrote alot and in the mimicry of other writers whom others regard as being "special." As time progressed and my exposure to the world grew, I realized that I am not so hot after all, and the frequency of my writing subsequently decreased. But now, as I look through some of those early notebooks, I realize that I truly enjoy them.

So much of what I wrote, and thought at the time I would never forget, has unexpectedly passed through the grips of memory. To read of little forgotten adventures is to relive them. It is to have them again. A traveller's pockets are empty in all aspects- when it comes down to it, all that we have is what we remember. The accumulation of immpressions, experiences, and feelings that makes up the substance of our memories is what makes us the wealthiest people on the planet. To sit on a far-flung dusk time beach and day dream of past adventures is to be a king. Writing increases the boudaries of our kingdom.