Am I Nearly There Yet?

Author: Stuart Edwards

A Beginner’s Guide to Hiking
If you plan to have a memorable outdoor adventure, hiking is the best option. All you need is a good fitness level, to pack properly, find a great destination and make sure you take all the safety measures possible.
But, if you are a beginner, planning such an experience can be overwhelming.
To help you, we’ve created this essential beginner’s guide to hiking. So, continue reading, and find out how you can have a memorable experience in the middle of nature.
Choose your destination
If you never went hiking before, you should not aim climbing the Himalayas. It’s OK to dream about succeeding in exploring amazing places one day but to achieve such things you have to start somewhere.
Long hikes with too much climbing are out of the question for beginners. Instead, try to find a destination that has many short, easy trails, as well as other activities available for you to enjoy while you are not hiking.
A great destination is Scotland, and exploring the Scottish Highlands is a fantastic choice for an adventurous newbie. Not only does this area offer a great array of trails, but it also welcomes visitors with a spectacular mixture of culture, breathtaking landscapes, and interesting history.
It’s a perfect place for nature lovers to enjoy the impressive wilderness, but it also gives beginners the chance to indulge in other unforgettable experiences. And tasting the delicious whiskey and hearty foods, as well as befriending the welcoming Scottish people are just some examples.
Or, if you want something more exotic, head towards Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands that offers fantastic trails with great views, as well as perfect weather, relaxing beaches, watersports, mouthwatering local food, and of course Spanish wines.
And if you want to have a more meaningful experience, hiking El Camino de Santiago is a fantastic idea. While the complete pilgrimage might be too difficult for a beginner, you can always start somewhere close to Santiago de Compostela and enjoy a short walk until you reach the city.
Check the weather conditions
Before planning your trip, check the forecasts. While this is not mandatory when choosing a destination like the Canary Islands, if the Scottish Highlands sounds like a better option, you might want to avoid the rainy seasons.
In case you are a wild explorer and a bit of rain doesn’t scare you, you must pack properly. And while you’re on the trail, make sure to keep an eye on the sky, and if you think the weather is changing, it’s advisable to look for shelter or even turn back. Hiking in bad conditions is far from being fun.
How to pack for a memorable hiking holiday
If you’re a newbie who’s planning their first hiking adventure, packing is not as difficult as it is for advanced hikers who are getting ready for longer, harder trails.
The first thing to keep in mind is to have a waterproof backpack and pack light. It is a good idea to carry a light sleeping bag with you as most mountain huts won’t provide bed sheets, and even if they do, you might want to avoid using them.
You need comfortable gear, thermal underwear for hiking during the cool seasons, and light base layers during the summer months. And don’t forget your waterproof jacket for rainy seasons, as well as a hat and sunscreen for sunny days.
But probably the most important part is choosing your shoes. They need to be comfortable and worn before. You want to avoid blisters, which a brand new pair of hiking shoes can cause.
Besides proper clothing and shoes, you need water and snacks. Pack food that is highly nutritious because this is going to be your fuel. A tasty chocolate bar can also be in your backpack. You are a beginner, and you need a treat that will keep you going.
A map of the area is always useful, especially if you plan to have this adventure without friends or a guide. There are hiking guide books available for many popular destinations. Not only do these have maps of all the trails, but there is a lot of useful info about the best places to visit, where to eat, where to find shelter and much more.
What to consider during your hike?

A big mistake many newbies make during their first hike is not enjoying the surroundings. They are so focused on arriving at their destination and celebrating their first success that they forget their main reason for hiking is to be in the middle of nature.
So, do yourself a favour, and walk at your own pace. Stop from time to time to catch your breath and admire the landscapes.
Tell somebody where you are going and when
Even if you plan to go on a short trail, you can get lost.
To avoid disasters, any newbie should let somebody else know where they are and when regardless of their destination. Sure, places like the Scottish Highlands or Tenerife are always filled with visitors and hikers, and it’s unlikely that something bad will happen. However, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
These are our tips for a newbie who wants to have a memorable hiking experience. If you choose the right destination, pack properly, take all the safety measures possible, and walk at your own pace, you will have a successful first hike.
But to properly enjoy it, besides taking care of all the logistics, you must always go with an open heart and be prepared for unexpected things. For instance, if you plan a solo hike, don’t avoid having conversations with other adventurers. Or, if you didn’t complete your first trail because you had to come back to your accommodation for certain reasons, don’t feel disappointed.
Relax, enjoy a hearty meal, and get ready for walking it again or for your next planned route. The whole idea is to find pleasure in hiking. So, take it easy, and you will!
April 24, 2020
Backpacking Nightmares: Travel Horror Stories
From Dreams to Screams
It’s unfair, but the longer the travel, the larger the risks. The group who know this fact all too well: backpackers. Backpacking holidays are rife with potential problems and hiccoughs just by their very nature. Most travellers are quick to get insurance, as their journeys are usually comprised of hundreds of moving parts and mired by multinational bureaucracy. Travelling has the potential to go terribly wrong at times, and at other times, it can become a nightmare.
Robbed at Gunpoint
People lose things all the time. Many journeys have been thrown into chaos by the loss of indispensable items, such as money, mobile phones and passports. Your trips depend on those items staying on your person. Without them, your best-laid plans will be laid to waste.
Having your items stolen only worsens the problem as on top of losing your possessions, you also lose trust in your surroundings. Being robbed at gunpoint, on the other hand, is a whole different beast and it’s something British backpackers Kirsten Smith and Jayson Peter Kelly both faced firsthand.
The couple, both aged 25, were eight weeks into a nine-month backpacking trip. In Guatemala, on a hostel organised shuttle to Nicaragua, they came under gunfire from armed criminals. After being pulled over, the shuttle’s occupants were taken outside and bound by their own shoelaces. All their possessions were taken, except for their passports and identification.
Ms. Smith and Mr. Kelly survived to tell the tale of their horrifying encounter. After some consideration, the pair decided to keep travelling. After two years of preparation, they weren’t going to let the robbery get in their way and with around 14% of insurance claims being related to the loss or theft of money or possessions, being covered allowed them to finish their journey of a lifetime.
Stranded Emergency
Human beings, as we are all well aware, are not invincible. Our fragility becomes even more apparent when we find ourselves thousands of miles away from home and our usual healthcare professionals. Emergencies are always stressful, especially outside of your comfort zone.
The situation can be further exasperated by the remoteness of your location, as faced by British backpackers Rhys Sykes and Sarah Liddle following a motorbike crash in Vietnam. Ms. Liddle was left with a badly broken leg and unable to fly back home as a special evacuation flight back to Britain would have cost them £30,000. Unable to pay, the pair was marooned.
It seems the couple had a guardian angel looking over them, as against all odds One Direction’s Louis Tomlin donated a sizable amount to get the couple out of their predicament. The reason for his charity: Tomlin just so happens to come from the same town, Doncaster, as the couple.
So unless you’re relying on a benevolent multi-millionaire, coincidentally from your hometown, to pull you out of a similar jam – you may want to invest in some travel insurance.
Volcanic Cancellation
Flight delays are a common nuisance that affect us frequently on our travels; cancellations on the other hand rarely take place. When they do happen, whole trips can be thrown into disarray, especially when considering the complex flight plans many backpackers have. Missing one flight could start a domino effect that might just derail the rest of your trip.
In 2010, five million travellers faced this grim reality as the volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland left them stranded all across the globe. During the six-day travel ban well over 95,000 flights had been cancelled all across Europe, roughly affecting around 10 million passengers and as a result, the airline industry was reported to have lost an estimated £1.1 billion.
Within the chaos, 15 travelling church members were facing arrest in Delhi over a breach of immigration laws, due to the fact they left the airport without visas. They refused to stay in the airport, with one of the church members, Chris Kilby citing that the airport was “packed with people, with no food, no water, few toilets. I’m reluctant to take children and elderly people there.”
Millions of people had their holidays ruined and were unable to recover the losses they incurred from their cancelled trips. With the right type of travel insurance, a lot of these passengers would have been covered by this type of natural disaster.
Airline Collapse
In our financially uncertain times, no business or company is safe from bankruptcy. Airlines from around the world have been facing economic challenges, and more recently we have seen casualties of this trend, the victim – Monarch Airlines.
Monarch Airlines declared bankruptcy at the beginning of October 2017 with little to no warning. More than 110,000 passengers were left stranded across Europe and the Middle East after the British airline ceased operations suddenly. Employees showed up to work only to be informed that their company no longer existed. 860,000 people are estimated to have lost future travel bookings with the UK government announcing that it was the “biggest ever U.K. airline failure.”
Backpackers and holidaymakers alike were stuck without many options. Some of them forced to find pricey accommodation and spend unallocated money on food, water and transport. Without proper insurance for backpackers, you might find yourself paying for all these commodities, which can become a nightmare if you have no room left in your budget.
Something to Consider
It’s best to remember that the odds of these horrible experiences happening to you are fairly slim. You shouldn’t let them put you off future adventures, instead you should learn from them. Having contingencies in place will go a long way in giving you peace of mind as you experience the amazing things the world has to offer.
For more information on travel insurance available, or cheaper backpacker travel insurance packages, check out Freedom Health!
November 17, 2017
How to Plan Your South East Asia Trip on a Budget
If money was no object, where would you want to go? Travel into space? Climb Mount Everest? How about kicking back and relaxing on a private island by yourself?
Ok, so a few of those probably are a little out of your price range, but that doesn’t mean everywhere is off-limits. South East Asia on a budget is more than possible, especially for those who love to book last minute holidays or set off on spontaneous backpacking trips. In fact, we would go so far as to say that it’s the best way to do it!
Of course, budget trips take a lot of (read: some) planning. Before you set out, you have to make sure you consider a huge host of different factors which could contribute to the prices you’re going to pay. From time, to accommodation, and what activities you’re going to want to get involved in, there’s always a way to save, save save!
To help you out, Agness and Cez of eTramping travel blog have put together few tips to help make your South East Asia on a budget trip the best that it can be.
Research, research, and research
The importance of research can’t be stressed. Research can be the difference between walking around like a headless chicken, and being able to explore some of South East Asia’s truly hidden gems.
For instance, Singapore is known as one of the most expensive places in South East Asia. It’s true, a lot of things to do here are expensive. However, did you know that you can get a Michelin star meal in the city for just $1.40 US? Well, now you do. You’ll find that meal at the inventively named ‘Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle’ store. It’s an open-air street food vendor, which has somehow managed to get ahead of the competition and earn that foodie star.
Then there’s the places which aren’t even known to most locals; places like Taman festival in Bali. This abandoned theme park makes for a great hike back into the lesser travelled areas of Bali, and is a great option if you’re heading to South East Asia on a Budget. It’s also somewhere which you probably wouldn’t know about unless you did a little research online.
It’s about depth, not necessarily breadth
How about Puerto Galera in the Philippines. Most people tend to visit the popular White Beach at Boracay, but forget (or don’t know) about the White beach at Puerto Galera. This beach is even said to rival its more famous counterpart when it comes to beauty. Moreover, because Puerto Galera is a lot less well known, you won’t find the beach as crowded – or the activities as booked up. You’re able to do just as much here, yet for a fraction of the price, and with a fraction more freedom.
Don’t just look at how many things you can do when you research, look at what is unique about the places you are travelling to. Think about what it is that attracts you to then, and then try to see if there’s anywhere smaller nearby which also offers it.
Of course, don’t forget, transport in South East Asia is generally cheap, so if you really want to visit a certain, expensive place, you can always just…
Juggle your options
Yup, that’s right. Juggling your options is actually a good idea if you’re travelling to South East Asia on a Budget. This doesn’t mean trying to cram everything in, and whizzing past all the great places you could visit, forgetting all your important stuff. Juggling your options is two-fold.
Firstly, it means splitting your time between the most popular (and expensive) destinations, and other smaller locales. For example, why stay in Bali the whole time, when Puerto Galera is just a fraction of the price, and offers practically the same experience?
Secondly, keep your options open. Flexibility can be key to keeping within your budget. How about making sure you have a few options for what to do? That way, if something ends up being a little pricier than it said online, you’re sure to have something to do anyway.
Time it well
Thinking of heading during one of the area’s largest and most popular festivals? Probably not a good idea – at least if you’re wanting to do South East Asia on a budget. Besides the fact that you’re probably going to be paying much higher prices for your plane tickets out there, many different tourist destinations take part in a little something known as the ‘peak-season markup’. The Songkran festival in Thailand is a classic example.
Check the dates available and head out when it’s off-peak. Not only will you find that the prices are cheaper, you’ll also find less people, meaning that you’ll be able to get more done!
Hack the price list
This one’s got to be a favourite. It’s so simple, yet so effective. It basically involves looking at what’s on offer, and finding the best price you can for it. There are numerous things you can look at to keep your budget down.
One of the best (and tastiest) is to keep your eye on where the locals go to eat. Why try that expensive western restaurant when part of the reason you’re travelling is to learn more about another culture? South East Asians are particularly proud of their culinary inclinations, there’s a reason why…
Another important ‘trick of the trade’ is to learn how to barter. You’ve probably heard about ‘tourist prices’ before. Well, that’s the sellers hacking the price list in a direction you don’t want it to go. Catch them out at their own game and you can reduce prices by as much as 50%. That’s a whopping big difference.
Know when to loosen your purse strings
The most important thing to remember is that this is your trip. That’s right, YOUR trip. No one can tell you what to do, or how to enjoy it. Sometimes, that enjoyment means spending just a little bit more than usual. Maybe it feels like it’s not doing South East Asia on a budget, but then, you don’t always want to be on a budget.
What’s your best way to plan on a budget?
July 5, 2017
The Dream USA Motorbike Cruise!
If you’re a keen motorbike enthusiast, there’s no more exciting prospect than planning a Dream USA Motorbike Cruise along America’s west coast from San Francisco to Portland. The Pacific Coast Road takes in some amazing scenery along its 2000 mile length, from the rolling wine country of California to the towering redwoods of Oregon, and is a wonderful place to experience the true beauty of the USA’s westernmost regions.
If you’re planning your dream motorbike cruise, we offer you some handy tips and suggestions of things to see and do to get the most out of your break.
Planning Your Trip
When planning your dream motorbike cruise, it’s important to decide where your stops are going to be and just how much distance to cover each day. There’s no point in trying to cover too many miles in one go, otherwise you’ll miss out on all the fun of sightseeing and you’ll just get overtired. While the I5 is the most direct route, there is very little to see.
Instead, take the 101 coastal road with its lovely views and more leisurely pace. If you can spare the time, you need at least 10 days to see the best of this area, however it is possible to complete the route in around 4 to 5 days if you need to. One thing to bear in mind is that the roads are much quieter in the early morning, so aim to be out and about by 7am so that you don’t waste time stuck in traffic.
See more: USA Bucket List: Colorado!
The American west coast is famous for its many wonderful sights and landmarks. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge is a must-see, and a drive down the city’s crooked Lombard and Vermont Streets is a must-do on your motorbike. As you drive through California you should take the time to stop off at Myers Flat where you can actually drive through a giant redwood tree – this is a unique and exciting thing to on two wheels!
Drive through the impressive Redwood National Park and then visit the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville where you can admire Howard Hughes’ famous wooden aeroplane, the Spruce Goose. The cave tours at the Oregon Caves National Monument are fascinating while Crater Lake, although slightly off the main route is well worth the detour for its gorgeous scenery.
See more: Hilarious Fake Chinese Motorbike Brands
Preparing For Your Trip
Being well prepared is the key to enjoying your dream trip to the max. Make sure that you check the weather forecast for the route before you go and ensure that you have packed the most appropriate clothing for your trip. You should consider taking a pair of earplugs with you, as riding for long periods on the highway can be hard on the ears, and making sure that you have a smartphone with GPS capabilities will make sure that you’re fully equipped if you get lost en route. You should also take the time to look for garages and motorcycle repair shops along your planned journey.
If you break down, you don’t want to be wondering where you can find a mechanic or spare motorcycle parts to get you back on your way, and you don’t want to be stranded without any idea where you can top up with fuel.
Do you have any tips for a USA based motorbike adventure?! Let us know in the comments below 🙂
May 17, 2017