Ah, how we love bureaucracy. You can’t avoid it, but there are a few things you can do to make it go down more easily. Plus we talk about keeping those all-important documents secure when you’re on the road.

Different countries have different ways of doing things, and at some point you’re sure to be surprised at how difficult it is to do something or how long it takes to get that all-important visa or tax number. You’ll spend a lot of time filling in forms, or - worse, trying to FIND those forms to fill in in the first place. So what can you do to make your experience with bureaucracy bearable?

• Be prepared. Before you arrive in your chosen country, find out what you’ll need to do when you get there. We failed to do that before we came to Australia, and have spent a lot of time trying to get around the online system for applying for a tax number. Two visits to the office and a phone call later, and we’re only 28 days from getting those numbers.
• Do what you can online, but make sure you use a secure computer - avoid internet cafes.
• If you’re going into an office, take ALL the documents you might POSSIBLY need with you. (My first visit to the tax office was useless because I didn’t have Craig’s passport).
• Double-check all forms to avoid errors.
• Speak to a real person if in doubt.
• Chase. Call after a week to check the progress of whatever you’re applying for.
• Take a deep breath. Bureaucracy is frustrating, but it’s going to be okay.

When travelling, your documents are possibly your most important possessions. Keep them safe.

• If you’re somewhere even slightly dodgy, or if you’re on a short trip, keep your passport and travel documents in your money belt, on your person.
• When staying for longer, put them in a document wallet and store them in your bag. Lock the bag.
• Before you leave home, photocopy your documents and get the copies authorised by a notary or justice of the peace. Store one copy separate from your real documents, and leave another copy with a friend back home.
• Take a photo or scan each item and keep it on your laptop. You can also keep a copy on a USB stick, or store documents on a website like Flickr.com. Make sure it’s private though.
• Keep all your documents on you when travelling, if not in your money belt at least in your carry-on bag.
• Always lock your bag (or the locker it’s in) and password-protect your laptop to keep your data secure. You can also create an encrypted folder or volume for added security for electronically stored documents.
• Keep your documents in good condition - don’t let them get wet or frayed.

Poll of the month

Affiliate of the week

- If there’s a counter, sit at it. Tables are for people who want to be left alone while they eat. Counters are for people who want to interact. Simple as that.

- Become a regular. Have lunch at a place one day and have dinner there the next. In Yellowstone there are “geyser gazers” who come every summer to watch the geysers. They hang out with each other, and some are a bit stand-offish with the tourists - they’re probably tired of explaining the same thing over and over. It took some patience, but after two weeks the most aloof of them turned to me and said “I’ve been seeing you around a lot lately.” It was, of course, the day before I left, but was still it was a fun conversation with one of the local geyser experts.

- Find groups who meet up to do the things you like to do. Libraries and independent bookstores are a good place to find notices about meetings. I like to find craft groups and join them while I’m in town. In the US, meetup.com is an excellent website for this as well: there are meet-up groups for everything from hiking to photography to real estate investing. Sign up, specify a location, and search for keywords, or just browse through the groups.

- Ask questions. Sure you could search the internet to find a laundromat, but you could also ask the clerk at the grocery store. Which do you think will be more interesting? I like to ask about places to eat, saying “I’m traveling through. Do you have a favorite restaurant in town? Where’s the best place for a piece of pie/pizza/homemade biscuits?”

- Take advantage of the visitors’ centers. Yeah, I know, it’s sort of a manufactured interaction since the whole reason they’re there is to tell you about the place, but wait … that’s perfect. The whole reason they’re there is to tell you about the place! Instant conversation and information. (Plus there’s often coffee and sometimes wifi.).

- Take a tour. Sure, paying money for day trips isn’t very indie, but many museums and national parks give free or cheap tours. Not only do you get to learn cool stuff, but you also have an hour or two of opportunities to chat to the people on the tour.

- Get a dog, sprain your wrist or learn to make lace. My favorite way to start a conversation with a stranger is to get them to start it for me. Dogs are an instant conversation starter. As one traveler put it, “I’ve traveled with my dog and I’ve traveled with my wife. I meet a lot more people when I’m traveling with my dog.”

I sprained my wrist a couple of months ago and I was amazed at how many people started a conversation by seeing my brace and asking me what happened. Luckily (?) what happened was not something boring like carpal tunnel, but a bike accident while cruising down a mountain in Colorado. It left me with a bunch of other scars to show off and a cool story to tell. While I don’t recommend crashing your bike at 25mph, if you DO have carpal tunnel it might be a good idea to invent a cool story about biking the Rockies. You can steal mine if you want. I don’t mind. I’ve got photographic proof that it happened to me.

My number one conversation starter? Tatting. I’ve written about this a couple of times on my website. Tatting is a way of making lace which, I confess, I’m addicted to. It fits in my pocket and I can work on it no matter where I am. People ALWAYS ask about it. Knitting and crocheting are great for this too, and you don’t even need to speak the same language. I’ve shown tatting to North African men in Italy and Armenian women in Los Angeles. No matter where in the world you are, there are people who do crafts and want to talk about them.

- As a final tip, I recommend keeping a blog. This won’t actually help you to meet people, but it’s nice to tell them about a website if you want to keep in contact. Email works as well, but reading your website and leaving a comment is much less intimidating to someone you’ve just met who doesn’t necessarily have anything in particular to say, but wants to follow your travels.

That’s what works for me. How do you meet the locals?

Each article should be full of practical advice about independent travel in Europe. We’ll be choosing one author for each piece.

Topics are:

• solo male travel
• solo female travel
• disabled travel
• family travel (both with kids and with older family members)
• older people’s travel

In return, we’ll give you US$15 via paypal; a short bio with picture and links to your site (in the book and in marketing material); and instant access to the top tier of our affiliate programme. Plus you’ll get the joy of being published!

This will begin as an ebook and quickly be published as an audiobook. If there is sufficient demand it will be updated and turned into a print publication. If you’re interested in this, please send a detailed email with your pitch or article (on spec) using the contact form below. Make sure you include your perspective, experience and an article outline.

Selections close October 3rd

We are always looking for writers to contribute regular or one-off articles on the site. Email for more information about how to join us.

That’s not the question you need to ask while travelling - think about how you will cross instead. Different places have different traffic systems, and some will hit you with a nasty fine if you do the wrong thing.

You don’t have to worry about fines in Malta, but you do have to consider the possibility of being hit by a car coming through a red light at speed. Or a bus. In Germany and Austria people tend to keep to the law, rather than risking the 200 euro fine. In Australia and New Zealand the laws are a bit more relaxed and people tend to cross when it’s safe, and we’ve never heard of people being fined, though apparently it happens.

There are also different systems that you need to be aware of. In some places the green man comes on at the same time as the green arrow allowing traffic to turn, in others when the man starts flashing cars are allowed to go if the crossing is clear. Which means the engines start revving to encourage pedestrians to hurry up.

All this means that you need to be vigilant when crossing the road. Of course, when you’re in a country where drivers drive on the opposite side that you’re used to, you need to be careful, but there are other factors to consider. So, a few tips on crossing the road when travelling:

1. Be careful.
2. Look both ways before you step out, even if you have a green man.
3. Do what everyone else is doing.
4. If in doubt, check the law and what the maximum fines are.

Don’t forget to check out the contacts page and see us on a variety of social networking sites.

Poll of the month

Intestinal fortitude comes in handy anywhere you go, but it’s most useful when you are traveling through developing countries such as India, Nepal and Tanzania. You never know when you are going to be able to find your next bathroom, the condition it may be in, or what may be in it. Nor do you know what new bacteria your body is going to reject, causing you to constantly think twice about what you are putting into your system. You either have intestinal fortitude or you don’t; that’s where the adventure comes in.

My recent travels have landed me in Nepal. After living the comfortable Western lifestyle, based in the United States for eight months, arriving in Nepal to volunteer teaching English was a shock to my system. Nepal is like India; loud, colorful, stinky, poor, vibrant, dirty, and stunningly beautiful. Another land of contrasts. With any third-world travel comes the acceptance of a screwed-up digestive system. Our western stomachs just don’t stand a chance against these countries; at least not at first, until they’ve adapted. It’s an intestinal game of Russian roulette.

As I sat down for my first meal in Nepal I thought about what I was ordering and how good my insides felt, while wondering what the outcome of dinner would be. I beat the odds and made it out of Kathmandu without any major intestinal issues; I had cleared the first hurdle.

A member from the volunteer organization took me from Kathmandu to the village of Puma. We caught a ‘bus’ to Beshesharha. The bus was, of course, a beat-up minivan commonly seen transporting three times as many passengers as can legally be carried. Then again, legality really has no purpose in third-world countries.

I was seated in the very back seat by a big open window pinned in by three other men in my row and a total of 19 other people in the van. I was as far from the door as I could be. I took a Dramamine and thought about what I would do if I had to go to the bathroom. I can’t speak Nepali, I was pinned in a van and couldn’t get out unless I went out the window – which was probably the best possibility. I had just had breakfast and I prayed that this wasn’t the moment that my sissy Western stomach was going to betray me. I said a silent prayer and off we went, spewing black smoke and with a constantly beeping horn.

At the lunch break, I opted not to eat at the roadside stand for fear of introducing alien bacteria into my system. Instead I had a piece of gum, and a Coke. I used the bathroom at the restaurant and was reintroduced to the Asian squatty potty. I had used these many times before and in some circumstances actually prefer them as they are cleaner. However, using them in an outhouse-type situation isn’t my favorite thing to do … but I knew this was the only bathroom break I would get on this six-hour journey, so I had to take advantage of it.

When I finally arrived in Puma a day later, some of the locals offered me a slice of giant cucumber. I looked at it and thought – this looks okay, sure, I’ll try it. I said yes and they proceeded to pour water over it to wash it for me and hand it to me. My stomach dropped as I realized that I shouldn’t be eating anything washed in local water. I thought to myself, I’m living here for two weeks, it’s inevitable that I will get exposed to the local water so what the hell, let the game of Russian roulette begin; bottoms up.

The family I stayed with was wonderful. For a house with sporadic electricity, and no plumbing, they were living the high life. They actually had an outhouse. I thought to myself that I could cope with that; it was better than the woods. Then I went inside and realized there were no lights and a huge spider the size of my hand hanging out on the wall. In charade-like actions I asked the host family about the huge spider in the bathroom and they told me that it lived there until it got cold in November. Great. Granted, I’m not someone that is terrified of spiders, but spiders the size of my hand in a dark room with my pants down isn’t my idea of fun at all.

I adopted a bathroom routine. I would look for the spider every time I went into the bathroom – I wanted to know where my nemesis was before I squatted. I tried many things to cope with that spider, I tried to give it a nice pleasant name like Charlotte, but it still didn’t work. I gave up on coping with it and instead I tried to control my bladder. This isn’t an easy feat – as I had to try and make sure that I went to the bathroom right before the sun went down and then hold it for the rest of the night until I awoke. Granted, I have a strong bladder – but this was asking it to work overtime.

By some miracle, I have survived my bathroom adventure travel. I was exposed to every possible type of germ; from the kids that I taught, the water, the flies. And my insides actually hung in there like a champ. I learned an important lesson after my cultural exchange – your mind and body adapts to its environment. As sad as I will be to say goodbye to the village of Puma, I will not be shedding any tears when I have to say goodbye to my spider Charlotte. In fact, the thought of a toilet with plumbing, electricity, and toilet paper is sounding pretty nice right now!

To read more about Sherry’s travel and volunteering in Nepal, or to see the many pictures, visit Sherry’s site, Ottsworld.

Couchsurfing is a way to find a bed when you’re travelling - you set up a profile of yourself on couchsurfing.com, and can search other people’s profiles to find someone who lives where you need to go and is willing to host travellers. You can then communicate by email and work out the details from there.

Aurelie and Elsa have been living in KL for seven months and have hosted heaps of travellers from around the world. In this interview, we talk about what makes a good and a bad couchsurfer, and they tell us about some of the people they’ve met.

You can find Craig and Linda on couchsurfing or the other social networks we are a part of.

Writing opportunities

Craig’s looking for some contributors for his ebook “Indie Travel Guides: Travelling Europe”. If you’ve travelled a lot in Europe and can write from experience about one of the following topics, please get in touch.

Each article should be 500 to 800 words, full of practical advice about independent travel in Europe. We’ll be choosing one author for each piece.

Topics are: solo male travel; solo female travel; disabled travel; family travel (both with kids and with older family members); and older people’s travel.

In return, we’ll give you US$15 via paypal; a short bio with picture and links to your site (in the book and in marketing material); and instant access to the top tier of our affiliate programme. Plus you’ll get the joy of being published!

If you’re interested in this please send a detailed email with your pitch to mail@indietravelpodcast.com or using the contact form at indietravelpodcast.com. Make sure you include your perspective, experience and an article outline.

Poll of the month

Watch out – if you do that, you may also be writing off the real possibility of a free flight sometime in your future. Even independent travelers who are not loyal to any particular airline can benefit from a careful mileage-earning strategy.

With the idea of free flying in mind, here are seven tactics you can use to get closer to that no-cost flight to the destination of your choice.

• Sign up for mileage programs now, not later. Don’t wait until you start flying a lot to join a Frequent Flyer program. Join right away, and you can start gaining miles even without flying.

  Further, sign up for a program whenever you fly a new airline, even if you don’t expect to fly that airline again. You may be able to use the miles for something else, and you may be given slightly better treatment just for being a member.

• Book flights on the airline’s website, not a third-party site. Yes, you should shop around first – with Kayak and any other online search engine you prefer – but when it comes time to book, do it directly on the airline’s site. You’ll usually earn extra miles for doing so, and in the event of a disruption in your schedule, the airline may subtly offer you more support than it does to other passengers.
• Join the email newsletter of the program(s) you’re a member of. Most of the time, you can quickly scan the weekly mailing and see if anything applies to you. Once in a while, it will be worth your attention, and you’ll be glad you spent the time.
Take advantage of free bonuses
• Take advantage of free bonuses. From surveys to additional email signups, there are lots of free miles to be found in any given month. I earn at least 30,000 miles a year from spending a few minutes each week looking around for the latest promotions. True, it can be slow-going at times, but when the time comes to cash in the miles for a flight, I realize it’s worth it.
• In addition to the free, “regular” bonuses, look for extra-special bonuses. From time to time, a big opportunity to earn a lot of miles comes up. For example, last month Delta offered a 20,000 mile bonus to anyone who scheduled and completed a 30-minute appointment at a downtown office. The appointment? Well, it was for a hair-loss consultation …. yes, really. I dutifully went in for the uneventful appointment, and now have 20,000 extra miles as a result.
• Avoid expiration dates by maintaining some kind of activity every year. Nothing’s worse than working hard at earning miles for years, only to see them expire before you can use them. Thankfully, there’s an easy way around it, because most programs simply require that you have some kind of activity every 18 months (or sometimes even every two or three years). Even if you manually transfer 100 miles in, your total balance will be extended another 18 months or whatever the airline’s expiration period is.
• Carefully consider an airline-sponsored credit card. The last thing I want to do is advise anyone to go into debt, so if you’re not into credit cards or don’t spend much money, this strategy probably isn’t for you. But if you are out of school and use credit responsibility, an airline-sponsored card can seriously help you rack up the mileage. Even better, many of them offer a big bonus (as much as 25,000 miles, or enough for a free domestic flight) just for signing up.

  Here are links to a few that I recommend:

  • United Mileage Plus (Visa)
  • American AAdvantage (Mastercard)
  • Starwood Preferred Guest (American Express)
  • Cathay Pacific (Visa, for Canadians)

  If you live in the U.K. or elsewhere, there are cards available to you too – but you’ll need to do your own research. And by the way, none of the above are affiliate links – those are the cards I personally use and recommend to my friends.

Which program should you join?

This is the biggest question for most travelers new to the Frequent Flyer game. My answer is to join several. Naturally, you may want to sign up for the program run by the airline you fly most often, but you should also think carefully about which program meets your own travel needs.

Because many programs allow you to earn and redeem on multiple airlines, the best program for you may not be in your home country. For example, even while I was living in West Africa for several years, I still did most of my mileage earning on U.S. carriers. As a general rule, U.S. carriers like American and Delta tend to have somewhat more generous Frequent Flyer opportunities for travelers than European or Asian airlines do.

(Conversely, I prefer to fly on Asian airlines, because they almost always have better service – which shows that the best airlines and the best Frequent Flyer programs are not always the same.)

In short, remember that there’s no penalty for joining a program and never using it – so it’s always to your advantage to sign up if there’s any chance you’ll benefit from it.

The rewards

I’ve used my mileage awards to fly in the famed Upper Class cabin on Virgin Atlantic, to get back and forth between Europe and the U.S. several times, to get to Mongolia from Japan, and to go to Hawaii – just to name the “greatest hits.” I’ve also used several other, more typical redemptions to travel within the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Even if you can’t do all of those things right now, don’t get discouraged – if you get started sooner rather than later, you can achieve one of these goals – or even better, one of your own travel goals.

The miles are out there waiting for you, and there’s a free flight at the end of them somewhere. If you have any specific questions, please post them in the comments section and I’ll try to reply whenever I get internet access from my current location – these days, it could be anywhere.

Good luck!

Editor’s note: Chris has just touched on some of his strategies for cheaper flying. You can get 10% off his ebook, the Unconventional Guide to Discount Airfare, by using the coupon code “indietravel“. We reviewed it several weeks ago.

We got an email from Nathan, asking about how we find short-term work on the road, especially since most of the ESOL jobs out there require a nine or twelve-month commitment. We’re not the biggest fans of year-long contracts, and have found several ways to get shorter contracts.

1. Search online - subscribe to RSS feeds and return often to see new jobs.
2. Apply for jobs that advertise a long contract and negotiate for a shorter one.
3. Use the grapevine. Talk to previous employers, colleagues and friends for tips, and use forums to get an idea of good and bad places to work.
4. Send your CV to everyone you can find in the yellow pages.
5. Drop in, in person and leave a CV.
6. Be a bit cheeky. Think of new ways to advertise yourself.
7. Consider joining an agency.
8. Look for organisations which have centres around the country or around the world. Use the network.

Useful sites

TEFL.com
Daveseslcafe.com
i-to-i Travel

Anyworkanywhere.com

Book deals

Don’t forget to investigate all the book deals we have on at the moment:

- Lonely Planet is giving away a free book on their site when you make a minimum purchase - it works out to something like buy two, get one free.
- Get 10% off the Unconventional Guide to Discount Airfare using the discount code “indietravel”.
- Rough Guides and hostelbookers are giving away copies of their new guide called “Ultimate Adventures: A Rough Guide to Adventure Travels”.

Poll of the month

Craig’s now the ESL Editor at Wandering Educators; drop by and check out his first post.

If you want to write a murder mystery, you’d darn well better include a murder. Your romance novel can’t involve two people who just want to be friends. You can’t be a sports writer without talking about sports, nor a food writer without writing about food. But travel writing can be about almost anything: food, sports, books, architecture, music, avocado-scented massage oil, clothing, animals … you name it. And the best part is that you don’t necessarily need to travel to write about these things. Writing about your hometown can count as travel writing. Who says a story about Gordon, Nebraska, can’t be just as appealing to a Bolivian or a Russian as a story about Bangkok or Brazil?

Because there’s a lot of support

I’ve met several great people in travel writing circles. The Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference was the best experience I’ve ever had (I went two years in a row), and the faculty is always willing to give advice and answer questions. I’ve met several other travel writers via e-mail, websites, or at various speaking engagements, and all have been willing to let me pick their brains. I still maintain contact with many of these people, and I still go to them for support and feedback. Some sites, like Written Road, offer advice and info on writing opportunities and competitions. Support is a mouse click away.

Because there’s always a need for content

Although many print travel magazines have vanished, websites have picked up the slack and then some. Want to learn more about naked yak taunting? There’s probably a website for that. (Scary thought, eh?) And if there is, then there’s a need for someone to write about it. There’s always a topic that can be written about from a fresh perspective, and this includes topics that you and I love and know a fair deal about.

Because it’s a challenge

After writing on-and-off for several years, it recently hit me that I enjoy writing simply for the sake of writing. What I fell in love with was the art of manipulating my words in the best way to hook the reader. Do I always succeed? Doubtful, but even a (gasp!) mediocre piece lets me learn what not to do for the next time. Even if the process is long and agonizing, there’s always a payoff. (Well, for me, anyway. I can’t promise the reader is always as lucky.)

Because dreams can come true

Grab your favorite travel magazine and open it up to any article. Recognize the author? Oh, you do? Well … try another article. Okay, recognize that author? Didn’t think so. That’s someone who’s in print and (most likely) getting paid. Maybe they’re not a big name yet. But it’s a start. I’ve been lucky to have a few small starts: getting published in a book, in a few magazines, and on a few websites. Even getting that far took a lot of time and effort. But the experience was addictive, and I’m hooked.

Because it involves the things I love

That is, travel and writing. ‘Nuff said.

We get a lot of emails from people asking how we fund our travels, including this one from Conrad:

My name is Conrad and I’ve had my mind set on traveling and backpacking for a long time now. I’ve been wondering: how do you pay for the travel and accommodation costs? Do you find a job, work for a few months to earn some money, before moving on to your next destination? What kind of job do you usually do? How do you earn money to keep going for an extended period of time?

At the moment we make more than 95% of our money teaching English as a foreign language (EFL), English as a second language (ESL), English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) or any other strange combination of letters which means teaching people English.

An ESOL qualification will allow you to teach in private language schools or in government schools in some countries. If you want to make a serious go of English teaching, we recommend a CELTA or Trinity TESOL. They are the two big names in ESOL qualifications and, when added to a University degree, will pretty much ensure you are qualified for any ESOL job. That said, you don’t need a University degree for many of the jobs out there.

These qualifications are normally awarded after a full-time four-week course involving lectures, assignments and practical classroom time.

Both the CELTA and the Trinity are quite pricey, but well worth the investment in terms of opportunities, especially if you want teaching to be a main income stream or something you can pick up anywhere with few problems in getting a job.

There are also good online and short-term courses available (along with lots of cowboy operations). I’ve heard good things about i-to-i which can also arrange interesting volunteer and paid work opportunities when you’ve finished your course. They offer a free trial of their online TEFL course.

If you don’t want to get any qualifications, but you want to do some teaching, you could try finding one of the many Summer and Winter Camp opportunities that allow you to “volunteer” as a native English speaker in return for accommodation and food allowances. Some of these opportunities include a short course in English teaching before your contract begins to ensure you have some idea of what to do.

Poll of the month:

Affiliate of the week:

Photo thanks to Peiqianlong.

We spoke about our budget in a recent episode of the Indie Travel Podcast. In this article, I want to put it into written form as a comparison to Jessica’s system. Let us know which you prefer, or if you have an infinitely superior method of budgeting for travel.

Cash budgeting to save

Most people need to cancel debts and save before they start travelling. Many people just cut back on everything and put as much as they can in the bank, but you don’t need to cut out all the comforts in order to save if you use the cash budgeting system.

A good place to start is to compare your incomings and your outgoings. First, write down all the money you have coming in per month - for most people this will just be wages or salary, but you might have other sources of income.

Next, write down all the money that’s going out per month. Keep all your receipts for a month for an exact amount, or just estimate if you’re in a hurry. This can be quite a big job, so it helps to break it down into categories. We used the categories accommodation, transport, medical, groceries, and miscellaneous. Convert weekly or yearly costs to a monthly figure by multiplying weekly costs by 4.3 and dividing yearly costs by 12. This can be a good way to work out medical charges and car bills especially.

You can’t save much on accommodation, transport or medical costs unless you want to make some rather major lifestyle changes (though downsizing to a smaller house might be a great way to save a lot of money). But you can control the smaller expenses - groceries and miscellaneous expenses.

Work out how much you want to spend each week on groceries and miscellaneous expenses, and visit the bank once a week to withdraw that amount in cash. Keep the money in your wallet, and don’t spend any more! For example, you might choose to spend $50 a week on groceries, and the same on miscellaneous expenses such as haircuts, mobile phone topups, coffee in a cafe or going to the movies. So on Monday you’d go to the ATM and take out $100, which would be all your spending money for the week.

Why?

The major benefit of the cash budgeting system is that you’re aware of how much you’re spending. Using a credit or debit card for all purchases distances you from your money, but being forced to only spend what is in your wallet makes you consider each purchase a little more closely. I know that if I’m in the supermarket with my debit card and I don’t want to spend more than $5, and my total comes to $5.50, I’ll just put it on the card and forget about it. But if I only have $5, I’ll have to choose something to put back.

Bank accounts

It’s worth getting a dedicated savings account to put your savings in, just to keep them separate from your current account. Some accounts give you extra interest if you don’t withdraw any money over a month, or if you only make one withdrawal.

Cash budget for travel

When you’ve finished saving and set off on the road, you can keep using the cash budgeting system. Forget about recording your incomings and outgoings, just look at how much you have to spend and set a reasonable daily budget. Once a week or fortnight, visit an ATM and take out enough money to cover your budget for the next week or fortnight. Every day, move your daily budget amount into your wallet, and keep the rest out of sight, preferably in a money belt.

You’re much less likely to overspend if you limit yourself to only spending the money in your wallet. You’ll be more in touch with your finances because you’ll notice immediately if you’re running out of money in the middle of the day every day, and you’ll consider each purchase a little more closely when you think about how much of your daily budget it is worth. You’re going to need some cash anyway, since a lot of shops and hotels won’t accept credit or debit cards. Not to mention the huge fees the banks like to charge you for using your plastic overseas.

We’ve been using this system for six years both at home and away and have found that it really works for us. We’re the kind of people who lose receipts and never get around to doing the data entry Jessica’s system requires, so this is a low-tech way of making sure that we don’t overspend.

How do you keep track of your spending when you’re on the road? Or don’t you? Leave a comment in the comments section.

In general, we enjoyed the book, since it’s short and snappy and full of good ideas. We didn’t find everything useful, since it’s very US-centric, and some of the information about lounges and points schemes doesn’t really apply to the kind of travel we do. We also found that Chris didn’t mention some of the sites we use the most, like skyscanner.net, bahn.de and megabus.com.

Some of the things Chris talks about are:
- How to get airline lounge access
- How to get elite status on several major airlines
- How to hitch a ride on an airplane
- Alternative routes and free stopovers
- Surviving Euroshock in Europe
- Discount airlines in Europe, Asia, and North America
- Round-the-World and regional travel

We think the people who will most benefit from this book are:
- Americans who fly nationally or internationally.
- Anybody who flies to or in America a lot.
- People planning a gap year or multi-flight holiday.
- People planning more than one long-haul flight a year.
- Experienced travellers, who might find some new ideas.
- People who are just starting to travel and want a useful resource.

Get US$5 off the Unconventional Guide to Discount Airfare by using the coupon code indietravel until September 5th 12th. We think you’ll be able to save at least the price of the book by using the tips Chris outlines in his book.

Since Chris’s book is mostly centred on US travel, we thought we’d sum up some things we’ve learnt from travelling in Europe.

1. Be willing to shop around.
2. Use comparison sites to find what you need (e.g. skyscanner.net).
3. Book in advance.
4. Go point-to-point.
5. Be aware that airports aren’t necessarily near the city they’re named for (or even in the same country as the city they’re named for, in the case of Vienna (Bratislava).
6. Take your own food and drink, and be prepared to pay cash if you want to buy food on a plane.
7. Don’t take your own booze.
8. Pack as light as possible. Try to downsize to a carry-on if you don’t need a pocket knife or razors. We check one bag between us, which means we can keep our sharps and our excess booze in the hold.
9. Sleep at the airport to save transport costs for early flights.
10. If you miss a flight, try to minimise damage and know your rights.

Poll of the month:

Note: Chris has written an article for us touching on utilising frequent flyer points. Check out On your way to a free flight.

Rather than taking out a piece of paper at the beginning of each month and estimating what I’ll need to live, I open up my excel spreadsheet a couple times a week and keep track of EVERYTHING I spend. If I buy a 25-cent piece of candy it goes down on the spreadsheet right next to the $60 for gasoline.

I have an overall budget for the month, but don’t break it down into categories. At the bottom of the spreadsheet is a little calculator that tells me the average amount I can spend each day for the rest of the month to stay under budget. I choose on a daily basis if I’d like to spend it on food, museums, campgrounds or something else.

Why do I like this system?

• Having to record purchases means I spend a moment or two thinking about it after the excitement has worn off and deciding if it was worth it.

• Keeping an accounting makes it easy to go back and look at what I’ve spent money on. I love being able to make reasonable predictions from actual data. I’ve been keeping an accounting for five years now and lived in a number of situations during that time. As I plan for the future being able to look back takes some of the guesswork out of deciding what it will cost. If you are traveling between countries a lot this would be extremely helpful as you can look back at what you spent in similar situations. (I also keep track of everything I earn. If you work a lot of different short-term jobs while traveling this is also helpful.)

• Having a record is also good for non-financial matters. When I couldn’t remember the name of the really good restaurant in Santa Barbara, CA, I could go back and find it. Same for the hostel in Naples and the rafting company in Montana.

Yes, keeping track of everything can feel a bit obsessive compulsive, but it’s really not as annoying as it might seem. I keep receipts for everything in my wallet and when it starts to get large I spend a few minutes sorting through them. I spend about 5-10 minutes a week doing the data entry.

I’d also like to recommend the book Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. They start off by suggesting you keep an accounting, but they go well beyond that. It’s an excellent book for helping to redefine how you think about money, especially if you’re trying to save up for something like travel.

Some other tips:

• Think of prices in terms of hours of work - when considering buying something ask yourself how many hours of work you would need to do to pay for it. A price tag is such an abstract concept this is a good way to solidify exactly what it means. If you had to stop and work for that long before you could buy it, would you? You might decide that while the hat is really nice it’s not four hours of work worth of nice.

• Think of prices in terms of days of travel - once you’ve kept an accounting for a while you’ll get a good idea of how much you spend on an average day. This is helpful when considering larger purchases. “Is having this camera lens worth ten days less of travel?” Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

• Just get the soup - I love good food and eating out. Part of why I choose to stay in my car rather than hotels/hostels is so I can afford to try out new restaurants while I’m traveling. That said, when you go to a restaurant ask yourself why you’re there. If it’s for the company or a chance to people-watch then don’t feel you need a full meal to get the most out of the experience. In college when my friends went out to “nice” restaurants (by college standards) my roommate and I would split a meal. We’d have just as much fun as everyone else, but spent half as much and didn’t have a box of leftovers turning into a science project in our fridge a week later.

• Give away money – I feel that as soon as I can’t afford to give money to charities and non-profit organizations it’s a sign that I can’t actually afford to travel. I pick a different place each month, usually something related to where I’m traveling. Last month I spent two weeks in Yellowstone National Park so I made a donation and became a member of the Yellowstone Association. Giving away money helps me keep in mind that it’s not about traveling as cheaply as is possible. It’s about traveling as cheaply as is enjoyable.

When traveling, things are constantly hectic and changing. Having a system that helps keep finances under control is one of the best things you can do to keep from stressing out and enjoy your travels. Find a system that works for you and keep with it.

After getting an email from Kevin Monaghan asking us to recommend a worldwide power adapter, we considered the solution we use, which is a Swiss Travel MPC-N1 World Power Adapter and USB Charger That’s a lot of names, but there are a lot of similar products on the market that seem to do the same thing.

They’re plastic adapters that accept appliances with British, European, US and Australia/New Zealand-style plugs, and which can be plugged into the wall in any of these places. In fact, in over 150 countries. There are four styles of prongs that extend and retract into the adapter, so while it’s quite bulky it takes up a lot less space than four separate adapters. Measurements are 4.0 x 2.5 x 2.0 inches.

If you’re travelling with a lot of appliances, having just one adapter can be enough if you also take a power board with three or four sockets. We had one when we first started travelling, but then we started buying new appliances which don’t fit the New Zealand plugs on the power board. So we threw that away and just have two Swiss Travel adapters - or we did until we left one in Paris.

You can also get these adapters with a special attachment that has a USB socket, allowing you to charge your iPod or any other device that charges via USB. Very useful.

In addition to just having one power adapter, some ways you can cut down on electronics include:

1. Think carefully about what you need. Do you really need that laptop or will an hour in an internet cafe once a week do just as well.
2. Leave one thing behind. Losing one piece of electronics can save you heaps of weight when you think about cables et al.
3. Buy stuff that uses the same connections (mini USB and SD cards are common ways of plugging things in.)
4. Consider downsizing. Can a PDA or smartphone replace your laptop?
5. Investigate travel chargers for your phone. If you’re travelling with someone, make sure both your phones use the same charger and just take one.

Don’t forget to enter the Pikeo competition, and to check out the articles at indietravelpodcast.com/articles. One of our authors, Sherry Ott, has just updated her site - check it out at ottsworld.com.

We’ve spent the last six weeks in Hastings, England and have had some interesting day-trips out to Dover and London in the last week. The highlight has been catching up with friends from home.

Affiliate of the week:

Poll of the month: How many countries have you visited?

Granted, it was a relationship that was temporary at best. She would never move back to the States with me; she was already seeing thousands of other people; and I was scared to think of what our kids would look like. (Besides, I don’t even know if she really was a “she.” Yikes! It’s like The Crying Game of transportation.)

But I fell in love just the same. Compared to the US, train travel in Europe was more affordable and accessible. Of course, Europe is just plain smaller than the US. (In other words, size does matter.) And here in the US, a train ticket can cost as much as a plane ticket and the ride can take days. (And don’t try to defend US trains by saying they have a nice personality. I don’t buy it.)

I started out buying individual tickets, but I was quick to learn about the traveler’s best friend, the Eurail Pass. I coveted one but was rewarded with something better: the Interail Pass. Not only was it cheaper than Eurail, but it covered more territory. Since it was available only to those who lived in Europe for six months or longer, I was able to obtain one halfway through my study-abroad stint.

With this pass came ultimate flexibility. I could jump on trains 30 seconds before they left the station. Plans could change at a moment’s notice. If I stayed in a place longer than originally planned, I didn’t have to change reservations, exchange tickets, or pay a supplement. And while I was never guaranteed a seat on any given train (unless I made a reservation for a nominal fee), I was always allowed on board. Of course, the Eurail Pass would provide me with the same luxuries on subsequent visits to the Continent.

Once while passing through Austria, I had agreed to meet friends in Athens. I was told the trip took 18 hours by train from Vienna. A long route indeed, but I was willing to make the journey. But when I arrived at the station, I learned that the calculation had been wrong. Instead, the journey took a day and 18 hours. Reluctant to spend nearly two days on that route, I asked to be put on a train to Italy. Twenty minutes later, I was en route to Rome and arrived the next morning.

On more than one occasion, I used trains as a poor man’s hotel. The station in Stuttgart, Germany, is far from the most comfortable place to sleep, but there are several cities a night-train ride away. When I arrived there unannounced and couldn’t reach anyone to stay with, I was forced to either find lodging I couldn’t afford or hop a train. By midnight, my unanswered calls led to an overnight trip to Budapest and, more urgently, a place to sleep.

Of course, I didn’t need to live like a vagabond to enjoy the train. Short trips were just as gratifying for the traveler’s spirit. The speed and precision of the French TGV and German ICE trains provided me with great scenery while getting me across large distances with nigh-disturbing punctuality. And twice during planned trips, I had rail passes with one day left to use. Rather than waste them, I used one for a day trip to Zurich for lunch, the other for a day trip to Luxembourg for dinner. Barely a taste of the cuisine and culture of each country, but enough to whet my appetite for the next time around.

Sure, I try to see others. I’ve spent time driving my car great distances. But she’s high-maintenance, expensive and bad for the environment. I’ve have a few dates with Greyhound, but they leave me unfulfilled. So until my next big trip, I’ll carry a torch for European train travel and dream of the day we meet again. And when I do, I’ll see if she has a friend for you.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Love rail like Dave? Why don’t you add something to the new site Eurail Stories; it’s sparkling new and dedicated to Eurail travel.

We’re still in Hastings and the weather is improving after two weeks of wind and rain. In this episode we look at personal security systems and the personal area network that Craig uses to keep track of his belongings.

The key idea is that the more important something is, the closer you keep it to you. The most important items are on your body, the next most important are on your desk, less important items are somewhere in your office, and the least important things are stored elsewhere. While we don’t have a desk or an office with us while travelling, the idea can be translated to the traveller’s lifestyle quite simply.

You still keep your most valuable possessions on your body - wallet, passport, camera and moneybelt should never leave your person. Keep them out of sight, especially your moneybelt - keep it secret, keep it safe.

The desk translates to daybag - important items or items for the day should be stored here or in a hotel safe if you’re heading out for the day. And the traveller’s office is his main bag - everything else you need should be here.

You can organise your personal space as well as your bag to make your valuables more secure and easier to find by using the personal area network system. If you keep the same item in the same pocket of your clothes all the time, it’s easy for you to find it when you need it, and also to check that it is secure if you think you might have lost it. For example, Craig keeps his wallet in his left trouser pocket, his keys and camera in his right trouser pocket, and his ipod in his breast pocket. A few haka-like slaps and he’s assured that he has his most valuable possessions.

This idea can be translated to your main bag as well - keep items that you need to access quickly in the same part of the bag at all times. We keep our torch in an outside pocket so that it’s easy to access when we need it.

Affiliate of the week:

Poll of the month:

The conventional image of hostels as backpacker haunts with only the most basic facilities has been transformed thanks to a new trend in high-quality budget accommodation.

With modern amenities and a dash of individuality and flair to recommend them, contemporary hostels have got all the atmosphere and opportunities for socializing which have made them so popular - but with a standard that belies the price.

Castle Rock Hostel, Edinburgh

With a stunning view of the castle, a bright interior and artwork on every wall, Castle Rock is a funky mix of the old and new. On the doorstep of the sights and sounds of the Royal Mile, the hostel has a decidedly cool vibe throughout its grand, high-ceilinged social areas.

Greg Tom Hostel, Krakow

With spacious, comfortable dorm rooms (beds, no bunks) and top-quality modern facilities, Greg Tom Hostel is just a few minutes from Krakow’s Main Square. There’s a huge daily buffet breakfast (helpfully served till 11am for the party fans) and a variety of entertaining cultural evenings, from vodka ‘tasting’ sessions to specialty Polish dinners.

Miss Sophie’s, Prague

Miss Sophie’s is a surprisingly affordable boutique hostel with an excellent location away from the tourist traps in the heart of Prague’s New Town. Housed in an attractive historical building, inside, it’s all modern minimalist décor and super-stylish rooms.

LOFTSTEL | Greene Avenue, New York

“The conventional image of hostels as backpacker haunts with only the most basic facilities has been transformed.”A lively hostel in one of the world’s ultimate fast-paced cities, affordable beds at LOFTSTEL have all the mod-cons and technology you’d find in a hotel. With three kitchens, several separate living spaces and complimentary internet and phone access, it’s designed with comfort and budget in mind.

Buenos Aires Hostel Clan and YMCA, Buenos Aires

Hostel Clan offers travelers a cultural experience thanks to lively nights of barbecued Argentinean steak and free Spanish lessons. In downtown Buenos Aires, it’s a great base for exploring the city on foot - or on wheels with the hostel’s free bike hire.

The Flying Pig Uptown Hostel, Amsterdam

With The Flying Pig Uptown’s bar serving some of cheapest drinks in town, it’s a lively base for a break in this vibrant city. This friendly hostel comes with all facilities included in the price and a terrace overlooking the Leidseplein.

St Christopher’s Inns, Paris

A brand-new, purpose-built hostel on the canal in the revitalized 19th district, St Christopher’s has a separate ‘Oasis’ floor for female travelers. There’s a restaurant and nightclub onsite and regular live music at the bar gives this hostel more than just a touch of the famous Parisian cool.

Silver Gate Hostel, Split

Located in the center of the ancient town, Silver Gate offers travelers a cheap bed with a serious view – all the air-conditioned rooms look out over the 4th century Diocletian’s Palace. The beach and the shops and cafés of Split are also right nearby.

The Northern Greenhouse, Cairns, Australia

The Northern Greenhouse is a quality resort-style hostel with a games room, swimming pool, BBQ and entertainment deck to keep visitors amused. The modern complex has shared and private rooms (all with air-con) suitable for every budget traveler.

Smile Hostel, Lisbon

Situated among the winding alleys of Alfama and Bairro Alto’s nightclubs, Smile Hostel is close to both culture and nightlife in Lisbon. With a friendly atmosphere and newly renovated rooms, guests are free to hit the city’s bars, or, alternatively, stay in and enjoy the chilled-out surroundings and plasma TV.

Editor’s note: You can book any of these hostels or thousands of others through the booking form on the sidebar.