Photography

5 Ways For Storing Photos While Traveling

Posted on November 4, 2016
Storing Photos While Travelling

Capturing the moments that matter when traveling has never been easier. Cameras are reasonably cheap and make it very easy to get great quality photos no matter your experience level. The greatest challenge comes when you look at storing photos while you are traveling. But more importantly, ensure they all make it home with you.

Buying the biggest memory card available might sound like a great solution. However, this comes with a couple of potential problems.

  • If the card stops working, you could lose all your photos.
  • What if you accidently format the card the photos are gone.
  • If you lose the card, you lose all your photos.
  • The theft of your camera would see the memory card gone and all your photos with it.

No solution will guarantee that every single photo is safe all the time. There are some options you can consider to help reduce the risk of lost images.

My Travelling Photos

When I travel, a camera is never far away. For me, photography is a great way to capture a trip both to remember and share with others. At the moment it is looking even more likely that in the future there will not just be one camera but maybe two or three.

Traveling with one camera is scary enough for some people, the thought that it makes them look more like a tourist. I have no problems traveling with multiple cameras. My greatest concern is ensuring that the way I am storing photos helps me make sure they get home with me. Which of course means either traveling with heaps of memory cards or getting creative with storage solutions.

My Cameras

I own three cameras, which I suspect will all go with me on my next trip.

  1. Canon 6D – Primary Camera for stills, back-up for video interviews
  2. Canon EOS M3 – Primary Camera for Video, back-up for stills
  3. GoPro – Great for time-lapse and anywhere there is water for stills and video.

On both Canon cameras, I like to capture images in the RAW format, to have the most flexibility when working with the photos later on. However, this creates a lot of large files; the Canon 6D averages 25MB, and the Canon EOS M3 averages 34MB. On top of the images, the video takes up even more space.

My Travel Photos

It was after my last big trip to Europe and America that I realized I would need some process to store my files. I left home with one camera, an Olympus E-PL1, and six 4GB memory cards. I was expecting to be away for 80-days and was hoping this would be enough.

As it turns out, storing photos on six cards was not enough and around day 50 into the trip they were full. My plan had been to keep copies on the memory cards, an external hard drive, and my computer. I end up purchasing two additional 8GB memory cards along the way to keep me going.

When I got home, I had over 7,000 images totaling over 40GB or around 5.7mb per photo. The price of memory cards has dropped over the years. It just is not practical to buy or carry the number of memory cards you need to store 7,000 images at 34MB per image.

Storage Options

The storage option that will best suit you is going to depend on what other technology you travel with. For me, I do a lot of writing, and travel with a laptop so storing photos both on the laptop and an external hard drive is easy. For other people who might not carry a laptop, there are other solutions available depending on your budget.

1. Memory Cards

Storing Photos Memory Cards

Although I have said above this is not the most practical option, that does all depend on how you use your camera. If you have a relatively basic point and shoot camera, and don’t take thousands of photos, this may work.

However, there are a couple of downfalls to storing photos on just one or even a couple of memory cards. Using a single large memory card can have the potential for losing all of your photos. For example, if the card is lost or becomes corrupted you could lose all the photos from your whole trip. I have too many times found a memory card somewhere full of holiday photos. I cannot confirm once being able to reunite the card with the owner.

If you can only use memory cards, you are best to use multiple cards. Often you can pick up multiple smaller memory cards for a similar price to one larger card. If you are mainly taking individual photos the speed of the card is not so relevant. It is relatively easy to pick up three or four cards for under $50.

2. Laptop

If you choose to travel with a laptop, you have a great option for storing photos. Many recent laptop models come with a built-in SD card reader, which is great since many cameras use SD cards.

Even if your laptop does not have a card reader built in, or your camera does not use SD cards, it is an easy problem to fix. You can buy a card reader like Energizer ENR-CRPUNI Multi-Use Card Reader/Writer (Black) (affiliate link) from Amazon or something similar from your local camera store.

You just need to make it a habit that when you get back to your hotel each night to download your images. Create a process of storing the images in a new folder for each day. Alternatively, you can create a folder for each different destination to save the files. You just need to find the way that will work for you storing the images on your computers hard drive.

3. External Hard Drive

Using an external hard drive for storing photos while traveling does require access to a computer. So you would either need to bring a laptop with you or know someone with a computer you can use.

You may need to use an external hard drive in conjunction with a laptop anyway, depending on some factors. If you are traveling for a long time, take a lot of photos, or need to store video an external hard drive will be essential.

4. Memory Card Backup Device

There are some different products available that can backup memory cards without needing a computer. These devices will usually combine a memory card reader and an external hard drive with a small screen. I have not personally used one of these devices so cannot speak specifically to how they work. But they are likely the smallest and easiest option if you do not want to carry a laptop or need access to a computer.

One such device available from Amazon is HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA3 1TB Portable Storage and Backup Device with Wi-Fi. The first thing you might notice is that these devices are not cheap. There are times that this will be the best option.

5. Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is storing your files on the internet and can be a good option for storing photos. There are many services now that offer quite significant amounts of storage online for very reasonable prices. The one that many people may have heard of is Dropbox, or another is Google Drive or even Microsoft OneDrive. Prices for these services can vary depending on the storage you need and also the currency you are paying.

The biggest challenge with cloud storage is to have access to a suitable internet connection to transfer the files. Either having access to a computer with an internet connection. Or a connection that is fast enough to transfer the files in a reasonable time. A good option in countries with good Internet service, but not practical in areas with poor internet, or where mobile internet might be your only connection.

Use Multiple Options

At any time when you rely entirely on one way to store files, you have the potential to lose them. Should a hard drive fail or your laptop stolen, using multiple options will help to ensure you still have your files.

On my last overseas trip, I used three options combined to ensure I would not lose any images. Where possible I left the images on the memory cards. Each night I would make a copy of the files on my laptop. Finally making another copy of the images onto an external hard drive. There was a little bit of time involved in making the copies, but I could do other things while they were copying.

Storing Photos When You Travel

Of course, the option that will be best for you depends on you. If you are operating a business and need to ensure you lose nothing. You may be more inclined to use two or three of the above options to guarantee the photos are there. While if the photos are for personal use it may not be as much concern. Still, either way, it is worth considering to ensure you have those memories.

Let me know how you handle storing photos when travelling. What you do to back them up, what equipment you use, let me know in a comment below. You can connect with me on social media, pick your favourite social network below.

Travel Tips

Why I Choose A Hotel When Travelling

Posted on November 1, 2016
Why I Choose A Hotel When Travelling

There are many aspects of taking a trip overseas, from flights to tours, insurance, and luggage. However, from my experience one of the most important aspects of any trip is choosing where you sleep at night. Whether it is going to be a hotel, bed and breakfast, backpackers, or any other type of accommodation.

For me where you sleep, is so important. There are some reasons why I think it is important to choose the right accommodation. You need to know that you and your possessions are safe. That you have your space and that you will be comfortable. It is all three of these that help to ensure you get a good nights sleep. A good night’s sleep means you are fresh and ready to explore each and every day on your trip.

1. Personal Safety

In the past and at this stage in the foreseeable future, my travel is all solo. As such for me, one of the things that is crucial is knowing that I am safe and my belongings are safe. For this reason, I tend to choose a hotel, over other forms of accommodation.

It can be easy and cheap to book a hostel or the like when you are young and travelling alone. There are some great benefits to doing this, such as meeting other people your age and of course saving money. However, for me, there are a few too many tales of stolen belongings and precarious situation to make this worth it for me.

When I started looking for where to stay while travelling, I went with a couple of the most important points.

  • International hotel brand’s I recognised
  • Hotels that offered safes
  • That appeared to be in an accessible part of a city.

Although these few points do not guarantee anything, what they do is help to put the mind at ease. For example, booking a brand name hotel, I recognised, at least gave me some idea of the level of service to expect. Sometimes the perception of safety is as much a part of feeling safe as anything else.

2. Travel Comfortable

Comfortable Hotel Room

Being comfortable when you are travelling is important. But unfortunately, you cannot guarantee you will be comfortable no matter where you stay. I have stayed in cheap accommodation that is very comfortable, and five-star hotels that are uncomfortable.

I have found that my run of getting a comfortable hotel has been quite good. Often the higher end hotels try to do things a little too fancy that make things not quite as comfortable. For me choosing a hotel that is three or four-stars for the most part has led to a reasonably good result.

With three and four-star hotels you often get enough space to spread out a little. The bed is usually reasonably comfortable, without any fancy extra’s that don’t add anything. All while giving you your space.

3. Privacy

In many ways, privacy is a part of comfort, but I see it as separate as well. When it comes to a hotel, you have a private room, which may get serviced daily or weekly. You have access to private facilities, such as a bathroom. Finally, you have your space to read, work, or enjoy some quiet time.

Having some personal space is a big thing for me. I can get a lot of stuff done working from tables in coffee shops. There are also those times especially when you are travelling, where it is nice to be alone. One thing that from my understanding can sometimes be quite difficult when staying in hostels.

So I Choose A Hotel

It is for these three reasons that I make the decision to choose a hotel over other forms of accommodation. Well of course except for cruise ships. But when you think about a room on a cruise ship it is not that different to a room in many of the hotels I have visited.

Sometimes a reasonably priced hotel may not end up costing that much more than other options. But that is a price that I am willing to pay for a feeling of safety, comfort and some privacy.

I would love to hear what type of accommodation you choose and why. So why not leave a comment below and let me know. You can connect with me on social media, pick your favourite social network below.

Inspiration

4 Reasons Why Your Next Holiday Needs To Be A Cruise

Posted on October 21, 2016
Next Holiday Needs To Be A Cruise

If you have been thinking that organizing your next holiday is going to be a big job I have something for you. Why not consider making that next holiday a cruise. In my opinion, a cruise can be one of the easiest and most fun options for a holiday. Whether you have a week or a month, there is likely an option to suit you.

If you don’t like picking and choosing between destinations. Booking flights and hotels and transfers for each place you want to visit. Knowing the majority of your cost up front is a benefit. While only having to unpack once, even though you are visiting and enjoying multiple destinations. Then you should consider a cruise for your next holiday.

1. Less Choices & Organizing

When it comes to choosing a cruise, you are somewhat limited in your options. Although not by much, as there are cruises available to destination all over the world.

Two limitations mean a little less choice. Firstly destinations need to be accessible to a cruise ship. Which often means that you will be visiting primarily coastal towns, cities, and islands.

The second limitation is that you cannot pick and choose your ports. Cruise Itineraries are set anything up to two years in advance.The only way a port of call will change is if the cruise line decides to change it.

Taking this into account, in many ways these are benefits. Your choice is between a handful of different itineraries, rather than an extensive range of cities and towns. You can instead just look at which cruises are available. Of course meaning a lot less organizing and searching for flights, hotels, and the like.

2. All Inclusive (Almost)

A cruise holiday can be an all-inclusive holiday, without needing to pay any more than your original fare. All cruise fares often include your transport from port to port, food, some drinks, and entertainment.

As such you may be able to get away without spending any extra while on your cruise. However, depending on the cruise line that you choose to sail with there may be some additional costs. Some may be mandatory while some may be optional and easily avoided.

  1. What You Drink – Almost all cruise lines will charge for alcoholic beverages, bottled water, and soft drink. Each cruise line will offer a different range of what they include and what you will be an additional cost.
  2. Specialty Dining – You can often get as much food as you could want on a cruise. Most cruise lines will offer at least one if not more exclusive restaurants that will attract a surcharge. The range can be anywhere from $10 to $50 or up, depending on the ship and restaurant. These can be a great option to use for a special occasion.
  3. Tours – The cruise ship will get you to each port, and you can get off the ship and do your own thing. Or you can opt to book on tours organized by the cruise line. These tours can range from basic sightseeing to helicopter flights, and a whole heap more just depending on the cruise port. Prices can vary substantially, so it is worth checking with your cruise line.
  4. Extras – There is a range of other things that you can take part in which may come with an additional price tag. Things like the beauty salon, duty-free shopping, photos, casino and some other activities.

These four items may sound like that cover a lot of what you can do onboard. But you will find that there is plenty of fun to be had without spending a lot if anything extra.

3. Unpack Once

Cruise Ship Cabin

I would say that this for me is the greatest benefit of a cruise ship. Once you are on board and in your cabin, that is your room for the rest of the cruise. You might be on a short 7-day cruise or a 100-day+ round the world cruise. There is no packing and unpacking and moving hotels every couple of days. Finding your way from airport to airport.

You walk onto the cruise ship, find your room, unpack your suitcase and enjoy the facilities. You go to sleep at night and wake up the next morning in a new port of call and at the end of the day return to the ship.

4. Enjoy Multiple Destinations

Another great benefit in cruising is that you get to see multiple different ports without having to figure out getting from one to the next. It allows you to visit some interesting places, all at the same time that you might have opted to fly to and stay in one.

A cruise offers an excellent way to see areas that are not quite as accessible. A 10-day cruise in the South Pacific can allow you to visit 4 or 4 or 5 different islands without the hassle of flying anywhere. Or visit multiple cities in 3 or 4 different countries in the Mediterranean, getting a good sampling without needing to stay in one place.

Additionally, there can be areas that you visit, which are just not where you would ordinarily travel. Places like transiting the Panama Canal is something that most people can only do via cruise ship. Also, some of the other scenic cruising locations around Alaska and New Zealand. While often accessible by land they are experienced entirely different via a cruise ship.

Your Next Holiday

So when it comes to your next holiday are you going to spend days or weeks figuring out the details or just spend a little time choosing a cruise? If you need any more convincing you can always check out my first cruise here “28 Day Panama Canal Cruise summary“. You can also read “A Guide To Choosing Your First Cruise Experience“.

Let me know in the comments what you think about cruising and if it is something that you would consider for your next holiday. You can connect with me on social media, pick your favourite social network below.

 

Travel Tips

Eating On A Budget When Travelling Overseas

Posted on October 17, 2016

One of the biggest costs, when you are travelling, is the food you will be eating. While you can control the cost to some degree, some preparation can help you avoid breaking the holiday budget too much.

Taking some time to do a little research before leaving home can help. While planning what your must tries are and when to splurge can be offset with a few more basic and frugal meals. Then you will be able to return home without the surprise credit card bill, and feeling satisfied with the food you have enjoyed.

A Little Research

Thanks to the internet it is easier than ever to research options for eating out. The best part is that you do not need to wait until you arrive in a foreign country to do so.

The easiest way to start is with a search for “How much does it cost to eat in (the city you are visiting)?” You will find a wealth of advice for almost any city in the world. Information both from the guidebooks and from people just like you who have visited the city and experienced the food.

The information may not always be perfect. It may not be for the exact restaurant you will visit. Some of it may be generalisations. However, you are going to be able to find out if you can expect to pay $10 or $50 for a good meal.

If you want to spend a little more time, you can dig in and search for suggestions on specific restaurants or cafes. Which you may then be able to research further and find the menus for these restaurants.

One key thing to keep in mind when researching is to look at dates. Information may help, but not if the information is more than 12 months old.

Plan Your Meals

Wating On A Budget When Travelling

If sticking to a budget is important for you, planning your meals might be an essential aspect of your trip. It is great to eat out every night when you are travelling, but in reality, this can end up costing a lot of money.

What I like to do is set aside maybe one or two meals for something with a local flavour. These couple of meals I will spend a little more money. Then the rest of the meals are just simple finding something healthy and appetising that is not expensive.

Depending upon your choice of hotels it may even be possible to whip something up in your hotel room. I don’t mean ordering room service if anything this is likely to cost more. What I mean is stopping at a supermarket and grabbing some basics, things like fresh fruit, salads, or other quick prep meals.

Save On Breakfast

Breakfast can be one of those quick prep meals to enjoy in your hotel room. In fact when I travel it is rare that I will go out and pay for breakfast. On some occasions, I will be in an area where there is a cheap cooked breakfast on offer. However, if it is going to cost more than $8-9 for breakfast at a cafe, I will organise something else.

I will often find a local supermarket and grab some basics to eat for breakfast. Things like fruit, yoghurt, pastries, and juice. If the hotel provides a toaster, you can even get a loaf of bread.

It can also be worth looking for hotels that offer a breakfast included. They can be quite common through America, and Europe from my experience. For a free breakfast, this can be a great option, while there is not always a lot of choices, it is often sufficient.

Instead of spending anywhere from $10-$30 on breakfast at a cafe or restaurant it is easy to eat for under $5. It just comes down to being aware of what is available nearby and planning accordingly.

Eating Big At Lunchtime

Lunch time specials can be an excellent way to taste the local food without paying the full price. The reality is that most people eat out at night because stopping in the middle of the day is not always convenient. But always keep an eye out for lunch time specials.

I have found cafes and restaurants the world over offering special deals at lunch time. Often it is a case of they just want to encourage people to come and eat.

Planning to eat your main meal at lunch time, can also have the added benefit of more variety. You can stop wherever you see something of interest. As opposed to staying close to your hotel or taking a taxi to a particular restaurant, which would cost more still.

Enjoy A Lighter Meal For Dinner

Eating a lighter meal for dinner has a couple of advantages. The first it can be better for your digestion which can help you sleep better.

The second is especially good for those travelling alone. It is not always safe heading out at night in search of somewhere to eat. You can grab something quick on the way back to the hotel. Also, you can take some time to rest after a big day out, instead of needing to find somewhere to eat.

Enjoy The Trip

At the end of the day though you don’t want to put to much focus on penny-pinching too much. If you focus too much on saving every cent you can on eating, you may just end up not enjoying your trip.

On my first trip to Melbourne, I spent a little to much time thinking about how much food was going to cost. While I still enjoyed the trip, I remember spending a bit too much time walking rows of restaurants. Trying to find something that fit with what I wanted to spend. You can read a little about it – Food On A Budget, When Travelling.

What Your Eating Out Tip

When it comes to travelling and eating out, what do you do? Do you put much thought into where, and how you eat when travelling? Or do you just eat what you need to when you need to eat? Let me know in the comments below. You can connect with me on social media, pick your favourite social network below.

Destinations

First Time Visiting North Stradbroke Island

Posted on September 5, 2016
North Stradbroke Island

Living in an area for over 20 years, you would imagine that you would have taken some time to see everything the area has to offer. However, all too often we just stick to the area’s that we know and miss out on some amazing places. One such place for me is North Stradbroke Island.

As the crow flies from home, Dunwich, the gateway to North Stradbroke Island is around 14km. While the location is not far away, it is the need to catch a ferry to visit the island which has led me to this point.

Getting To North Stradbroke Island

In reality going to North Stradbroke Island is rather easy. Two ferry services depart from Cleveland and Travel to the township of Dunwich on the western side of North Stradbroke Island.

Stradbroke Flyer – The passenger ferry leaves from the end of Middle Street Cleveland, with hourly services in the morning and afternoon, taking around 25 minutes for the journey. It is best to check their website for exact departure times. The price for an adult is $19 return or $10 one way at the time of writing in August 2016, however, check their website for most up to date information. Website

Stradbroke Ferries – If you are visiting and want to take your car, Stradbroke Ferries is your option. Also departing from the end of Middle Street Cleveland, just follow the signs. The ferry leaves every hour throughout the day, and the journey takes around 50 minutes to Dunwich. It is crucial to remember that bookings are essential (especially at peak times), and can be made via their website. The price does vary depending upon travel times and the day of the week, so it is best to check their website for your travel dates and current special offers. Website

Visiting North Stradbroke Island

North Stradbroke Island View

It was back in 1988 when I moved to the Redland City area at the age of 4. I have lived in the area ever since and while I have visited all of the mainland area’s of Redland City, the only island I have visited in the area was Coochiemudlo Island. That was until June 2015, when an opportunity to Visit North Stradbroke Island presented itself.

The ferry arrives into Dunwich, which is the largest of three townships on the island, a network of sealed roads connects the three towns. The other two towns being Amity Point & Point Lookout, which are both around a 20-minute drive to the northeast.

It is quite easy to find your way around, and if you have a 4WD, you also do have the option to visit a few other areas such as some different campgrounds along the beach. However, you do require a permit to drive on the beach, and there are some restrictions surrounding this. For more information about taking your 4WD on the beach, you can visit Straddie Camping for details on permits.

Things To Do

North Stradbroke Island Coast

When it comes to finding something to do when visiting North Stradbroke Island you are spoiled for choice, there is an abundance of places to visit. Especially if you are like me and enjoy walking, and photography. The first place I would recommend you start is to visit the website for Stradbroke Island Holidays and download a copy of the North Stradbroke Island Visitors Guide, which is available on their Brochures page along with a couple of other relevant brochures.

If you are visiting North Stradbroke Island without a car, there is a bus service which departs from the ferry terminals and visits Amity Point and Point Lookout. You can find out more information on the Stradbroke Island Buses website where there is information on timetables and fares available. Without a car, some of the following spots may not be as easy to get too.

North Gorge Walk

The North Gorge Walk, located near Point Lookout off Mooloomba Road, is a loop walk of about 1.5km that takes you through a spectacular walking track, with ocean views and plenty of wildlife to spot both in and out of the water. Between June and November, there may be the opportunity for a little whale watching from here as well.

Brown Lake

North Stradbroke Island Brown Lake

A short drive from Dunwich, Brown Lake offers a beautiful spot to stop for a break or even lunch with BBQ and picnic facilities available. The brown colouring of the lake comes from the leaves that get dropped by the nearby Melaleuca trees, and the tannin gets exuded from the leaves which fall into the lake and line the bottom. Swimming at Brown Lake is possible; however, it can be worth considering the time of year. When I visited in June the water was a little cold for swimming; however, there were a couple of English Tourists that felt right at home taking a dip.

Spotting Wildlife

North Stradbroke Island Wildlife

There is an abundance of wildlife around both in an out of the water. On my visit to North Stradbroke, one of the highlights was watching as a rather large kangaroo, made it’s way across the pedestrian crossing in Point Lookout around lunchtime. There was plenty of other kangaroo sightings, as well as a couple of Koalas.

When it comes to wildlife in the water, some of this can be dependant on the time of year, such as whale watching season which lasts from June to November. However, there is also an abundance of other marine life, such as Manta Rays, Turtles, Dugongs and Dolphins to be spotted.

Enjoy The Stay

Whether you are looking at taking a day trip or a longer trip, Stradbroke can be an ideal spot to rest, relax and rejuvenate.

If you are looking just to spend the day, I would suggest trying to avoid holiday periods or long weekends. You will find a lot more people around and might find it harder to get to what you want to see. A day trip in non-peak times could afford you the best of seeing the sights without a lot of people.

If you are looking to stay longer, I would highly recommend doing some research and booking in advance. To help ensure that you can get a room or a camping site in peak periods. Just about all the details, you need to start your search can be found in the North Stradbroke Island Visitors Guide which you can download from here.

North Stradbroke Island Sunset

Have you visited North Stradbroke Island, or are you planning a trip? Why not let me know or ask any questions you might have in the comments below. You can connect with me on social media, pick your favourite social network below.

Planning

The Art of Planning An Overseas Trip

Posted on May 4, 2016
The Art Of Planning An Overseas Trip

How do you travel? With a lot of planning, or just go with the flow and deal with each step along the way? I suppose each of us has a different take on the best way to travel, and will likely end up somewhere in the middle of the two extremes.

When I look back at the trips that I have taken, I very much land in the category of liking to have everything planned. I am happy to have a little bit not entirely planned. At the same time, I love the idea of leaving the house knowing what flights to catch, where I will be sleeping. Just not having to guess what is going to happen.

In reality, planning can make the trip go a lot smoother. But there is also the aspect that it can very much leave you drained before even starting on the journey. However, on the flip side that effort up front can make for a much easier and more stress-free trip once you leave home. So today I want to look at some of the options using a couple of my trips as an example.

Planning The Unplanned

At heart, I am a planner. However, I still find that it is possible for me to approach a trip which includes some part that is unplanned. So far that is something that I have only been able to do successfully once, and it was on my first overseas trip.

On my first overseas trip, I had a five day period in England. I did book a rental car and a hotel for the first night, however, the rest was not booked. Of course, I was a little nervous about this. However, I did not approach the situation blind.

Even though I had four nights that I had no hotel booked, I did do my research before leaving home. Since I had a car getting around was easy enough. The research told me that I could easily book Travelodge hotels, which were scatted all over England, for the following night. Each night I would arrive at the hotel, find a place for dinner, and check out my options for the next day, and book the next nights accommodation.

Planning On The Road

It may be the short time that I tend to stay in one place when I travel or a side effect of my liking to have everything planned in advance. But I have faced a huge challenge in planning future parts of the trip while I am on the road.

Obviously, the example I gave above in England, shows that it is possible. However, when faced with organising multiple things together, such as hotels and flights, while only having a short period in one place I find that it feels like I am wasting time which could be used exploring where I am right now.

My second trip overseas was where this become a highlight for me. I had around eight weeks in total, and when I left home, I had hotels and flight booked for the first two weeks, followed by a four-week cruise. There was still two weeks after the cruise which I still needed to book before leaving. However, although I had planned to get this sorted before leaving on the cruise, the reality is I was too caught up in seeing and doing, and I end up with three days in San Diego booked after the cruise returned.

I learned a great lesson in this process. Do not rely on having internet access on a cruise ship to plan hotels or flights. I arrived back to San Diego after the cruise with three nights accommodation booked in a hotel there. I had no idea where I would head to after that, though. In the end, after spending the better part of a day trawling the internet. I organised flights and accommodation in Dallas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. However, the hotel choices were not entirely the most convenient. Likely I would have made different choices with more time to research.

In the end, it all worked out, but this lesson came at a price. I paid more to visit these places than if I had booked the same before leaving on the cruise. Also, I did not have any motivation behind the places I visited, and as such doubt, I gained as much from visiting these places, as if I had some idea why I wanted to visit.

A Planning Disaster

My first overseas trip was a near perfect plan, while my second trip was 75% there. However, you would have thought that I would have learnt my lesson on leaving the planning to the last minute. Unfortunately, that seems to be a lesson that for me was achieved the hard way.

My third trip overseas consisted mainly of a 26-day cruise. There were around three weeks between arriving in Los Angles and departing on the cruise from Vancouver. A week before my flight to Los Angeles I had two nights book in Las Vegas, and nothing else.

Although everything worked out in the end, it was for me far too stressful and draining booking so much in the last week before leaving. Although in this case, I did get to book places I wanted to visit, I believe I did likely spend more than I needed on the accommodation and flights. The stress of this spilt over into the trip itself for the first few days, but soon enough I enjoyed the trip.

Planning success

It was finally on my last major overseas trip which I took in 2012, where the lessons from my planning problems, successes, and disasters finally came together for total success.

I was not leaving anything to chance on this trip; It was my longest trip overseas to date, and I had grand plans to see a lot of places. As I left home to commence this journey I had all but four nights and two flights booked. Including, bookings for 40 nights in hotel rooms, a 29-day cruise, five nights with a friend, and 16 flights. The four nights and two flights were but just awaiting confirmation from a friend.

The planning success of this trip is not something that happened by accident. I knew after the last minute bookings of the last two trips; something needed to change. So it was a matter of putting in the time to make a process that would work for me.

Steps To Successfully Planning A Holiday

In the end, there were no great changes to how I researched where I wanted to travel. But I changed the process and tools for planning and tracking what was getting booked. The biggest problem I faced was with so much research; I easily lost track of what bookings were made and what still needed booking, and which was the option I was planning to take.

To help all this along, I did three things.

  1. I created deadlines for the booking and planning stage
  2. A spreadsheet I created to track the prices and alternatives
  3. I created a document which only included my booked and confirmed travel details

THE GOALS

There were only two goals that I discovered that were important to me, that I identified would resolve the majority of issues I had previously experienced. Primarily looking to avoid last minute bookings and over paying for something I did not want to do.

  1. Investigate both aspects of travel before booking anything, e.g., research hotels and flights to be sure a cheap flight did not result in overpaying for the hotel.
  2. Book everything at least one month before the travel or stay date.

THE SPREADSHEET

A new aspect of my planning process for this trip was a spreadsheet where I would track my research for each stage of the journey. Helping me in four ways.

  1. It helped to see the dates for travel and hotel visits easily
  2. I could easily record which airline flight, and hotels were my top choice in a destination
  3. It helped me to track my costs for the trip
  4. I also kept a column for identifying if I had booked or needed to book this stage.

Here is a small Screenshot of part of the spreadsheet.

The Art Of Planning An Overseas Trip

I set the spreadsheet up with the first column identifying, either where I was travelling from and to, or where I would be staying. The following columns were the dates for each item, either a travel date or check-in and check-out dates for the hotels. I included prices, and whether it was in Australian or other currencies. A column that identified if I had booked (green) or needed to book (yellow). Finally, a column that gives me the name of the hotel or airline I was considering.

THE DOCUMENT

I had taken a similar approach to this document on my first trip, however, over the next two trips, this seemed to slip away. I brought it back for this journey, and while it did replicate the spreadsheet to some degree, it also included extra details.

The document was a running list of exactly what was on which day, flight details, departure times, arrival times, booking references and other details related to the booking. I would only add an item to this document when it was booked and confirmed.

The Art Of Planning An Overseas Trip

Throughout the trip, I would check this document, each day and highlight the day. It turned out a great way to chec and confirm the plans for each day.

MY SUCCESS

It is the combination of the goals and these two tools I created. All of this helped me to come out of this trip feeling that it had been a planning success. The spreadsheet made it much easier at the investigation stage of planning. Instead of pieces of paper everywhere with different hotels and flights. I would just make a couple of copies of the spreadsheet to try alternatives. Using one master copy to add my final decisions too.

Get Planning

If you are someone that loves to plan things, that planning a trip is a great test of your ability to plan. The planning for any future trips that I take is going to be much easier. Primarily so that I can enjoy the journey, stress in advance is better than stress on the journey.

How do you go about planning your trips? Why not let me know in the comments below. You can connect with me on social media, pick your favourite social network below.

Planning

Geocaching As Your Tour Guide When Travelling

Posted on April 27, 2016
Geocaching As A Tour Guide

I have briefly touched on Geocaching before on this blog (here). Geocaching is an outdoor activity that uses the whole earth as the playing field. For this reason, it is a fantastic hobby to take up especially when you are travelling and looking for some great free activities to do all around the world.

I started Geocaching as a hobby in Early 2013, and often reflect on not having found Geocaching earlier, before the travel that I undertook between 2010 and 2012. There are so many places that I look at on the maps available showing the location of Geocaches and see just how close I would have been to so many great geocaches.

My First Geocaching Experience

The thing about Geocaching is that I first encountered it back around 2008/9. At the time smartphones were still a dream, and I had not heard of handheld GPSr devices. I do recall attempting to find one or two geocaches locally by printing out the page with the information and just going to look, however, with no idea what I was looking for and a far from an accurate approach, I soon gave the idea up.

My First Overseas Geocaching Trip

Since the end of 2012, I had not found the time to travel overseas, having got back into working at times, and just not even sure where I wanted to go to next. It was not until October 2015 when I next found an opportunity to travel overseas and as it would happen, the trip was to attend a Geocaching MEGA event in Christchurch, New Zealand.

What a difference a few years makes, unlike my previous trips overseas, I now travelled with a smartphone, since getting into Geocaching I also had a GPSr, and I totally evaded any tours on offer.

The below map is a small extract from the Geocaching maps and shows a little over 100 geocaches that are available in and around the CBD of Christchurch. On the map you can see the Green ones identify Traditional Geocaches, the blue question marks indicate puzzles, the little yellow one’s multi-caches and the little smiley faces are geocaches that I have found (19 in this part of the map).

Christchurch Geocaching Map

Geocaching As A Tour Guide

While visiting Christchurch, I could have easily looked at a tour guide and followed around the sights. However, I took a different approach and looked at the Geocaching map. To be honest, I think that I likely got to see just as many sights using this method, if not more.

100 Chairs Memorial Christchurch

911 Firefighters Memorial Christchurch

Lyttleton Harbour

Waimakariri River

I visited all four of the above locations as a result of Geocaching and three of them I did not even know about before heading there to find the Geocache.

Future Geocaching Trips

I find that some Geocache types do tend to motivate me a little more than others. For example, Earthcache’s can sometimes take you to some rather spectacular places, especially from a photography point of view. An Earthcache by nature is a geocache that helps to teach the finder an earth science lesson. Often Earthcaches are located in area’s where there is a lot of volcanic activity, waterfalls, or other geological features.

Different cities also tend to feature some entirely different approaches to Geocaching. For example my next stop on my New Zealand trip, Wellington, there was quite a few caches that required visiting museums to collect the information needed to find the Geocache.

Also, another telling factor that can help to find some great spots is a geocache with a high number of favourite points. You will find this is a good indication that a lot of people have either enjoyed finding that particular geocache or visiting the location.

I see enormous potential for Geocaching to play a part in any of the future trips that I am planning overseas, there are some ways to find some of the best places in cities using Geocaching. Although, that is something that I will leave for another post to comes soon.

Combining Holidays and Hobbies

I would love to hear some of the ways that you combine different hobbies with holidays that you take, so why not leave a comment below and let me know. I know that my trip with Geocaching was an entirely different experience to my previous trips following the tourist trails.

You can connect with me on social media, just choose your favourite network below.

Inspiration

Lessons You Learn Traveling The World

Posted on April 20, 2016
Lessons You Learn Travelling The World

There is no doubt that attending school will give you an education, although the majority, you don’t have a choice. However, after all, primary and secondary school are the only ones you are required to attend. It is from this point you have a choice in life. To study for another 3 to 7 years, get a job and then maybe down the track see the world. Or you can take the less obvious route of getting a job and travelling as often as possible.

Lessons You Learn Travelling The World

Now obviously your choice will depend on what you want to do when it comes to career. If you are happy to fill any job that you can find keep on reading. However, if you are thinking about the prospect of becoming a doctor, lawyer, or other qualified professional, the following might not be for you, as you will likely need to complete more school to achieve the suitable qualifications.

That being said no matter what future career you are looking at there are some great lessons to be learnt from travelling the world. Lessons that just do not get taught in the same way in the closed environment of a school yard.

You Learn To Deal With People

Lessons You Learn Travelling The World People

When you travel, you are always dealing with people. Whether you are checking into a tour or flight, ordering meals, shopping or just meeting people. You need to learn to deal with people who may speak a different language to you. People that may have different customs and live their life in a different way.

The reality is that you need to deal with a lot more people than you might need to at home. Each and every interaction can be positive or negative. You may not always have control over how a situation unfolds. So it can be worthwhile taking every step you can to make interactions positive.

You will find yourself coming into contact with people in many different situations. People selling you things in shops, checking you in at airports and hotels and assisting you in other ways. Some days you may find yourself interacting with dozens of people directly, and hundreds indirectly.

Learning to deal with people in all these potential situations is crucial for ensuring your trip goes well. How often does a small misunderstanding become a headline news story? With the result, someone’s holiday spoiled for a fairly silly reason. The number of people who still seem to attempt to take bottled water through airport security amazes me. But more amazing is how they believe they argument is more compelling and will be allowed to continue with it.

Simple people skills go a long way to helping you enjoy your holiday no matter what is happening. In almost every situation your attitude determines the attitude of the person assisting you. A bad attitude, and yelling at someone gets you nowhere, most of the time. Approaching a situation with compassion and a positive attitude makes a lot of difference. It won’t change the situation but can encourage the other person to want to assist.

You Learn To Read A Map

Reading a map is a lesson that many of us learn in primary school. However, it seems once we leave school, we just forget, but this is one of the most valuable lessons that we can know when travelling. While one way to get around is to ask for directions, this does not always work well in foreign countries where a language barrier may exist.

Although just walking the city can be a great way to explore, at some point you will want to find your way back to the hotel. Having a map can be invaluable to doing this without some guesswork at times.

While I do not advocate walking around with a map in hand all the time when travelling, as this can kind of paint you as a target for some of the less scrupulous characters, having a map and knowing how to follow it can be that one thing that gives you a little more confidence to explore.

You Learn Some History

History may not be your thing, but if you get on just about any tour in any city, there will be some level of history involved in the commentary. While this may not seem very appealing to you, once you are on the tour, often you are hanging on the guides every word, and feeling a little amazed.

History may not have been one of my favourite subjects in school when I have travelled it has been something that catches my attention. However, I think that there is one big difference between what we learn in the classroom, and what we can learn when we are travelling.

In the classroom, the teacher will rattle off a series of statements and facts, of which we are required to memorise dates, times and locations. However, when we are travelling, we are physically in a place and experiencing at least to some small degree being where history occurred. I suppose it also helps there is no pressure to remember anything or be facing an exam later on.

I guess it comes down to preference. Would you prefer to sit in a modern classroom and hear about a castle that is 800 years old and see one or two pictures? Or would you prefer to be able to walk through that castle yourself, even if it is just the footprint of the walls that remains? I would go for the second option almost every time.

To be honest, I have learned more history in the trips that I have taken overseas, than in my entire 12 years of schooling.

You Learn To Plan

Although the idea of packing a bag, and boarding an aeroplane with no idea where the journey will take you, does appeal to some. The vast majority of us do like to plan and learning the art of planning can make the whole experience a lot more enjoyable.

Planning the trip before you leave home is an extremely valuable lesson for me. The more planning that is done at home, the less stress that is experience along the way.

You can read more about The Art Of Planning in a post I recently shared.

You Learn To Manage Your Time

Lessons You Learn Travelling The World Time

Managing your time when you are travelling is imperative. In almost all cases a lack of time management skills will cost you very much in a financial sense.

If you miss a flight, there is a good chance you will have to pay more money to rebook and get to your destination. If you miss reboarding a cruise ship in port, you need to pay to get to the next location. While not having a plan of what you want to see, can mean you have paid a lot of money to visit somewhere, and did not get to see what you wanted to.

Sometimes I do not know how I made it through my first trip overseas without a watch. There are so many times that you must be on time, or you miss your flight, miss the tour bus, or even miss the buffet. Being on time can even link in with learning to deal with people. How many times have you end up quite irritated by the one person who keeps the whole tour bus is waiting for them. Or the delay to the flight while waiting for that passenger who casually arrives 30 seconds before they are going to start removing their suitcase.

You Learn To Budget Your Money

Lessons You Learn Travelling The World Money

Saving the money we earn is often the only way most of us can afford to travel. Resulting in heading off with a fixed amount available to spend while travelling. All too often this quickly becomes not enough, with new experiences we want to try.  Coming home to a big credit card bill is not a happy way to end a fantastic holiday.

Travelling without a budget or a plan for your spending can work. But it takes considerable willpower at times. Usually ending with either a big credit card bill or a feeling that you might not have enjoyed everything.

I do not believe the quote “You have not enjoyed your holiday if you bring money home.”. I have come home with some money left on every trip I have taken, and more than enjoyed each one. So keeping a budget can help you to enjoy the holiday. Seeing you get home without the worry of a credit card bill.

What Have You Learned?

These are a few of the lessons that I have learned while travelling the world. I hope that they have given you something to consider. I believe there are probably plenty of other lessons you can learn while travelling. But I hope that these few lessons that I have shared help you in some way.

If they have helped you let me know in the comments below. You can connect with me on social media, just choose your favourite network below.

Planning

The Stress Of Planning

Posted on April 13, 2016
The Stress Of Planning

Although planning a holiday can be one of the most exciting parts of the process. You spend time reading brochures and saying what if we go here, of what about going there. Then you finally finish it off with a visit to the travel agent to finalise all the details. But depending on what sort of person you are stress can easily build in this whole process.

When the What If’s Mount Up

For me, the biggest problem has always been when you are trying to work out the details of multiple different potential options. You might start out with one or two options, but suddenly when you are researching another couple of choices pop up and before you know it there are a dozen different ideas all with some potential.

The trouble is not always the where you are going, but more so the cost of different options, as you want to make the most of your holiday dollars. Do you fly this way or that, is it more economical to fly here first and back from there. So many different choices that can make the whole process somewhat stressful.

Stress Solution?

To some extent I have developed something of a solution, however, that did take four overseas trips to pull together. However, in reality, I am not even sure if that is a good option since in the past 12 months I have somewhat struggled to pull together all of my thoughts and get any traction on my travel plans.

I had planned to travel to America last March, however, kept putting off the planning and booking. So that end up moving back to a potential trip in July or August, which again I did not get around to booking or planning

Eventually, I did put together a two-week trip to New Zealand in October, which was a great trip, even if there were a few problems along the way. A change in bookings for Auckland, and switching a campervan for a hotel room & rental car in Christchurch. While I enjoyed the trip, the little stresses that arose at the last minute I could have passed on.

The more recent challenges for me have been in booking a cruise in early April. However, with the current level of the currency exchange, I put this off as well. I am looking forward to hopefully changing things up a little shortly and getting away on another trip soon.

Things Will Change

I think to a large extent as mentioned in the last paragraph the currency exchange has been one of the greatest pressure points that have held me back. While it would be nice to see this change shortly, I don’t think it will quite work out that way. So I will have to look at maybe finding some different area’s to travel to where this is not going to impact things as much.

What are the things that stress you out when it comes to travel? Is it getting everything booked or is it having everything booked and just not being sure it all links up? Let me know in the comments below.

You can join me on social media, with the links below.

Cruising

A Guide To Choosing Your First Cruise Experience

Posted on March 24, 2016
Choosing Your First Cruise Experience

When it comes to cruising the experience can be quite different. Especially to what you may have experienced before in other holidays. For one you are going to be on a ship for most of the time, floating on the water. For some people, this is far from ideal, while others enjoy the experience of their first cruise.

So when choosing your very first cruise to try out the experience, there is one big choice to make, how long? The first time that I cruised, I booked a 28 day cruise from San Diego, through the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale, and returning to San Diego. Booking a cruise of this length for your very first time on a cruise ship can be quite a risk not knowing how you will handle the experience. I would not recommend this; it is just lucky I enjoyed the experience.

There are however many other options to test out your sea legs and find out if a cruising holiday is going to be right for you. Or if maybe sticking to the more land-based holidays might be more your style.

1-3 Night Cruise

Depending on the area that you live in there may be some times per year when different cruise companies will offer these short cruises. Maybe the schedule had a short gap in, or they need to move a ship a short distance, and rather than tacking it onto the beginning or end of a specific destination cruise, they create a small 1-3 day cruise.

These cruises can be a great option to get a taste of what it is like to stay on a ship, to sample the food, the entertainment, and general shipboard life. However often these cruises don’t include any port calls.

4-7 Night Cruise

Much more common you will find 4-7 night cruises in many area’s where cruise ships depart. These are often a relatively standard length along with 8-14 night.

With the little bit more time you will almost always get to see 2 or 3 ports and get to enjoy the luxurious of being on board a cruise ship, while often getting to visit some places you may not otherwise choose to go.

8-14 Night Cruise

Like 4-7 night cruise, you will find many that fit this 8-14 nights. They often fit well with many people taking annual leave around the two-week mark and make for a great option if you want just to unpack and enjoy the whole experience.

With a longer cruise, you can also expect to experience more ports. Depending on the are you are cruising there may be some rather different ports, such as cruises around Europe and Asia. But in other area’s the ports may be different but quite similar, such as cruising New Zealand or the Caribbean.

An excellent example of this was my first cruise, which travelled through the Panama Canel both East and West. The cruise was two 14 night cruises back to back and provided an excellent diversity of ports, which included stops in Mexico, Guatemala, Panama and Columbia in one direction. While the other direction swapped out Columbia for Aruba.

15+ Night Cruise

A vast majority of cruises fit into that 4-14 day timespan, to accommodate a large portion of the market that may only be about to fit in a cruise in this time.

However, for those with the time, there are some great options for longer cruises. Including relocation cruises crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic ocean with varying lengths between 23 and 27 days. Also available are numerous choices in the 30-60 day time frame circling the Pacific, circumnavigating Australia or South America, and longer cruising around the Mediterranean.

World Cruises

Many world cruises are just what they sound like a cruise that sails all the way around the world. Many of these cruises will start at 90 days and can go for upwards of 115 days. If you are fond of cruising and like the idea of seeing a very diverse range of ports, without the need to constantly pack and unpack, this may be the options for you.

Although nothing is stopping you by any means, I would advise against making a world cruise your first cruise. I would recommend trying your sea legs on a short cruise before a world cruise just to ensure that cruising is for you. The last thing you want is to book a long 100+ day cruise and be miserable the whole time because you don’t like being on a ship.

My First Cruise

When I first decided to make a cruise part of my holiday it was more an accident than planned. I had booked flights to be in America for 8 weeks and the idea of a cruise just popped up. Soon enough I was booking a 28-day cruise, leaving from San Diego and transiting the Panama Canal Twice.

Although for many people boarding a ship for 28-days is quite daunting, I was happy to approach it with an open mind. As it turns out I do not think that there is a better way that I could have spent the four weeks on board. I got the chance to visit six different countries and see places I doubt I would have visited otherwise. You can read more about this cruise here “28 Day Panama Canal Cruise Summary”

So What Is Best For You

Of course, choosing which options is the best for you is something that only you can answer. However, I can give you a path to answering that question.

If you have never cruised before, and you are hesitant as to whether cruising is for you, I would start at the beginning. Find a 1-3 night cruise and just book it, and see how you feel being on a ship on the ocean. Get a feel for space on a ship, the food, the entertainment and most important if you are likely to be seasick or not.

If you enjoy being out on the water, but have not been on a larger cruise ship before, consider booking a 7-10 day cruise to get a feeling for the experience. By the end of a cruise of this length, you will know if you enjoy cruising enough to take a longer cruise or if you may like just to stick to these short cruises or maybe you will discover that cruising is not for you.

Taking a short cruise, in the beginning, is no great loss either way. If you enjoy the cruise experience, go ahead and book another cruise, you likely had fun, even if it was a short cruise. On the other hand, if you do not enjoy the cruise experience at least you only tested it out for a few days, and you can look at other alternatives in the future.

Let Me Know About Your First Cruise

How did you get started cruising? Were you like me jumping in the deep end and taking a 28-day cruise for my first experience, or maybe you took my advice above and tried a shorter cruise to test the waters. I would love to hear your experience in the comments below. You can connect with me on social media, pick your favourite social network below.

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