Uncategorised Archives | Page 9 of 11

15 hitchhiking tips for newbies

27th December 20191st June 2015 by Kia

There is no mode of transport more maligned than hitchhiking. Get over your fear with these top hitchhiking tips from experienced travellers

I hate hitchhiking. Perhaps it’s the retiring Brit in me but I hate the sense of embarrassment when I am refused, and the sense of imposition when I am accepted.

I hate the feeling of placing a request at the feet of strangers and expecting them to say yes. I hate the awkwardness of small talk and the permeating feeling of indebtedness. If I could help it, I would never do it.

things-not-to-say-to-an-expat-feat-image

6 things not to say to an expat

2nd January 20204th May 2015 by Kia

As part of Internations’ Culture Shock questionnaire, people were asked to share what one thing they were tired of hearing from people, either in their old country or new one – and share they did. Here’s a list of recurring themes in words directly from the mouths of expats. If you have an expat friend or family member, you may want to refrain…

“You’re so lucky”

Yes, we understand that we’re in a sunnier country with friendlier people and better job opportunities, but reiterating how ‘lucky’ we are implies that courage, hard work and tenacity played no part. If you want to live where we live, you can but you choose not to. That’s not because you’re unlucky; it’s a choice you have made, just like my new country is a choice I’ve made.

5 language learning tools for the lazy learner

29th December 201913th April 2015 by Kia

Let’s face it: most of us are never going to get through five full levels of Rosetta Stone. So what language learning tools can we use instead? Here are some ideas

How to find a good camping spot: a guide

27th December 20196th April 2015 by Peter

While there are some things that you simply cannot plan for when camping, knowing how to find a good camping spot is essential

When I was young my Dad would tell a “funny” story of how he took my mother camping in Wales for the first time. They pitched in a dry riverbed and went to sleep cozy and comfortable after a hearty meal.

Alas, in Wales the weather is prone to change and so they awoke in a riverbed which had now become a river. My Dad would chuckle while he told the tale. My mother would look on far less impressed to say the least. They don’t camp much anymore.

The best water purifier for travel: a review

27th December 201923rd March 2015 by Kia

If you’re frequent traveller, buying bottled water can become an expensive endeavour. We take a look at SteriPEN, the best water purifier for travel we’ve used

We’ve stayed in some pretty basic places during the course of our trip so far. There was the Fijian camping site in Taveuni with rather sketchy commode, the Samoan beach fale in Savaii which didn’t have walls, and the Colombian campsite in San Agustin with drinking water that ran a brownish yellow.

In all these places, we’ve been able to drink the tap water (hose water in one case) because we’ve been able to purify water on the go.

Hitting the language barrier

27th December 201921st March 2015 by Kia

Why travelling in South America has given me a newfound respect for my parents

I check the clock for the third time in five minutes. It is now 11.40am, a good forty minutes past the time we were expecting our transfer to Cartagena’s bus station. I flex my shoulders and try to relax. Peter always tells me I worry too much; that I get too uptight about loose schedules and tardy transfers.

A few minutes later, our Airbnb host Nadia sticks her head in the door. She says some words. I catch enough to understand that she’s saying our bus leaves in 20 minutes. I know that already. She ushers us out the door and says she’ll call a taxi instead. Downstairs, we wait. Instead of hailing a taxi, she speaks to two lads on motorbikes and then gestures for us to get on.

8 expat tips to know before you go

28th October 202016th March 2015 by Atlas & Boots

So many of us dream of changing our lives; of moving to sunnier climes and enjoying better food, nicer people and cleaner air. Moving countries is portrayed as a panacea, a balm to soothe life’s ills.

According to the results of our ongoing expat survey, 85% of expats feel they made the right decision when they moved abroad*, indicating that the expat life is indeed all it’s cracked up to be.

How I overcame my fear of spiders

2nd January 20202nd March 2015 by Kia

A ripple of skepticism snakes through my body. I close my eyes and slow my breathing, determined to give John a fair chance. His voice is soft, lulling me into a state of calm. After a few minutes, he begins his chant: “From this point forward, you will be calm, relaxed and at ease in the presence of spiders.” I try to absorb his words, to internalise them, to really believe them.

Call me a diva but I’m done with camping

2nd January 202028th February 2015 by Kia

We all have a certain image of ourselves: a sense of who we are, what we like and dislike, our strengths and our flaws. If I asked you to name three good things and three bad things about yourself, chances are you could do it with ease.

Airbnb reviews: the importance of being honest

4th January 202016th February 2015 by Kia

It’s natural to feel bad about leaving negative Airbnb reviews but if we’re all polite about everybody, the reviews lose their meaning

My first experience with Airbnb was a strange one. In 2012, I booked four nights in a beautiful two-storey house in San Francisco. It was straight out of the movies, all colourful panelling and pretty white trim, nestled among similarly immaculate houses on a gently undulating street.

The host was a young single male – let’s call him Steve. I carefully read his former guests’ Airbnb reviews, conscious about sharing a home with a man I’d never met. Everyone said Steve was a wonderful host – and he was.

Infographic: 6 months on the road in numbers

29th December 201914th February 2015 by Kia

We left London in August 2014, making a 36-hour journey to Vanuatu to start a trip of a lifetime. 6 months on the road later, here’s what we’ve done

Round the world ticket pros and cons

27th December 20192nd February 2015 by Kia

I am at the Grand Canyon in Arizona, over 3,000 miles from anywhere I expected to be on our round-the-world trip for Atlas and Boots. In fact, Hawaii, California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah are all unplanned stops.

I expected to be in South America by December 2014, but instead spent an extra month in Tahiti – and then boarded a luxury cruise across the Pacific which most certainly wasn’t on the agenda. What I’m trying to say is that, for me, not buying a round-the-world (RTW) ticket has been a blessing.

Why everything we thought about cruising was wrong (but also sort of right)

2nd January 202024th January 2015 by Kia

Our Serbian waiter, Damir, introduces himself to our table. His eyes alight on me and a smile itches at the corner of his lips.

“I remember you from boarding. You had on a huge backpack. I was wondering if you were going to fall backwards or forwards.”

Busted.

Why I’m actually happiest travelling with my girlfriend

2nd January 202021st January 2015 by Peter

Okay, so I have to be very careful here. If I miss the mark on this I risk offending all women and marking myself out as a chauvinist pig. On top of that I’ll offend Kia and, trust me, Kia when angry redefines those famous sayings about women scorned.

So here we go.

The #1 thing I hate about travel

18th March 202114th January 2015 by Kia

In some countries it’s not a problem, Switzerland, French Polynesia and South Korea among them. In others it’s practically impossible to get right. I am of course talking about the minefield of tipping. It is without a doubt the number one thing I hate about travelling.

When backpackers end up on a luxury cruise

2nd January 20207th January 2015 by Peter

Talk about being out of our depth. Kia and I depart for Los Angeles today in rather ridiculous fashion considering our financial position: on a Princess luxury cruise!

We’ve been “stranded” in Tahiti for the past month, unable to afford flights eastwards to the Americas. We were planning to fly from Tahiti to Chile, but the cheapest flight we could find in December was in the thousands as opposed to hundreds. With that in mind, we took a modest room in Tahiti and relaxed for Christmas, hoping prices would drop in the new year.

What is the best language to learn?

18th March 20215th January 2015 by Kia

We ask what is the best language to learn based on fact-driven criteria to help you choose the right one for you

Over the last two years, I’ve spent some time learning Spanish. Progress has been slow but steady.

I’ve taken a 10-week evening class at UCL’s Centre for Languages, completed levels 1-3 of Rosetta Stone and finished the Duolingo tree, meaning I can sort of carry a conversation, but always peppered with mistakes and pauses.

If I can become more comfortable with making mistakes, I’ll hopefully improve vastly over the next six months as we travel through South America.

How to save for a year of travel

29th December 201929th December 2014 by Kia

“What are your New Year’s resolutions?” I ask Peter.
“Erm… I don’t have any,” he replies.
“Slapdash,” I say, referring to the nickname I gave him early on in our relationship: Slapdash Watson.

I, unlike him, am one of those people who make lists (sometimes lists of lists) and do everything possible to cross everything off. I have even formalised failing: I allow myself to leave one thing unfinished each year. Worse still, I’ve been known to lobby list-making app Evernote to make their strikethrough thicker. Yes, I’m that person (it worked, okay, so whatevs).

What travelling with a man taught me about street harassment

27th December 201917th December 2014 by Kia

I sat on the stairs of our Airbnb studio and laced up my trainers for my first run since leaving London four months ago. As I tied the bow I absentmindedly thought “I hope I don’t get harassed.”

And then it occurred to me: I hadn’t been harassed for four months and the only reason the thought had crossed my mind was because I automatically associated running with street harassment.

Meet the first man to visit every country in the world without flying

27th December 201915th December 2014 by Kia

If you passed Graham Hughes on the street, you’d most likely mistake him for just another backpacker, or perhaps a student two weeks past a shave.

Behind the glasses and the unassuming smile, however, is a man that has achieved something extraordinary: Graham is the first person to visit every country in the world without boarding a plane.

He has used boats, cars, buses and trains to visit every corner of the planet, a journey that has taken him four years to complete. Even more extraordinary is the fact that he, originally from Liverpool in the UK, now lives on a private island in Panama, a prize he won through a gameshow. (Yes, we’re seething with jealousy too.)