Proof you don’t need an expensive name brand camera to take an awesome pic. @grandcanyonngvc took this with an Android!

(Do you have a photo you’d like to see featured here? Email me at Steph@twenty-somethingtravel.com)

In my head the last few months I’ve been comparing South East Asia and South America. Not in terms of all that unquantifiable yet rewarding stuff: the culture, the amazing sites, the up close experiences. Obviously those things can’t be compared. I’ve been thinking instead about the backpacker experience and how it measures up between the two.

Both South East Asia and South America are popular backpacker destinations. It makes sense: they are both considered budget travel, they both offer a wide variation of cultures and they both can be traveled overland. I spent four months last year traveling around Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, and I’ve now been in South America for four months as well. The differences between the two experiences have been much greater than I first expected.

Here’s how the two stack up:

Vietnam: $12 a night

Cost

South East Asia is the mecca of budget travelers for a reason. Despite it’s popularity, it’s still quite cheap. Even in high season in Thailand you can get a private bungalow by the beach for $20 or less and a good filling meal for a couple of dollars.

South America is definitely pricier, although it depends on where you are. Colombia was much more expensive than we’d imagined, and Argentina, Chile and Uruguay have prices on par with the United States. That said, there are bargains to be found, particularly in poorer countries like Paraguay, Bolivia and Ecuador.

Advantage: SEA

Muddy self guided jungle hike in Tayrona, Colombia

Tourism Infrastructure

SEA has been catering to backpackers and vacationers for decades now. As a result a very well defined tourism trail has developed and all of the support systems that go along with it. Guest houses are plentiful, tour companies cater solely to foreigners and menus in English abound. It does make things easy but at times the experience can feel forced. Everything you do has been done before, many, many times and it takes some real effort to get off the beaten down track.

South America is not quite as with it on the tourism game, minus a few very popular spots like Buenos Aires, the Galapagos and Machu Picchu. This is why many people opt for South America tours. There’s no coordinated network of guest houses, bus schedules and taxi drivers to carry you along- instead you will spend a lot of time figuring things out for yourself, in broken Spanish (which luckily is easy to pick up unless you’re a moron like me). That said, the feeling of discovery is unbeatable.

Advantage: It’s a tie, depending on what you’re looking for.

Street Pad Thai, Bangkok

Cuisine

It’s no secret that SEA is home to some of the best food in the entire world. Thai, Malaysian and Vietnamese are all world famous and for good reason. Not only is the food amazing (I still dream about it) but it’s super cheap as well, particularly if you are a fan of street food.

South America is a bit of a mixed bag.As I’ve mentioned before, the food in Colombia was nothing special, and Ecuador was slightly better but nothing to write home about. The highlight of South American cuisine is definitely the meat. Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil seem to be the most delicious parts of the continent… unless you’re a vegetarian.

Advantage: SEA

New Years in Montanita, Ecuador

The Backpackers

I have mixed feelings on the backpackers of SEA. The majority of travelers there were young (teenage or early twenties), Australian or European, on gap year trips or one month holidays. We met people from many different places there and would often go weeks without seeing another American. The atmosphere was very party, party, sometimes to the point of a backpackers gone wild vibe. I definitely saw more tourists behaving badly there than anywhere in the world. At times it made me question whether tourism was doing more harm than good.

The backpacker demographic in SA has been very different. For starters there are many more Americans, Canadians and travelers from South America itself (in SEA it was very rare to see a local person backpacking the region). If anyone is wondering why Americans don’t travel: they do! They just all come to Latin America. In general the backpacking crowd here is older as well: an average of mid to late twenties. As a result perhaps, there are many, many more couples traveling together around the continent than I observed in SEA. People aren’t sedate, there are still party towns, but in general people seem a bit more mature and more interested in cultural experiences than partying their faces off.

Advantage: SA

"VIP" Bus, Laos

Transportation

SEA was super easy to navigate. It’s smaller than SA of course, and has a well defined network of buses and boats to ferry you from point a to point b. The buses varied a lot in quality but at least there were night buses with actual reclining seats and they generally arrived at their destination when they said they would. It was easy to make last minute travel decisions or to even grab a cheap flight somewhere else.

South America of course is enormous, so the quality of the buses depends a lot on where you are. Colombian bus journeys were endless stretches of frozen misery and Bolivian chicken buses are the stuff of legends. However, bus journeys in Chile and Argentina are closer to flying: there’s a hostess, you get a meal etc.

The most frustrating thing about moving through South America is flights. As I’ve mentioned above this is a BIG continent, and a bus journey between say Guayaquil Ecuador and Buenos Aires could take up to a week. In these cases flying seems like a better option, but man, flying is pricey here. If you want to fly between one country and another it’s rare to find a deal under $700.

Advantage: SEA

Las Lejas, Colombia

Variety

SEA is home to many different and fascinating cultures, but in general the entire area is tropical, hot and steamy. The only major weather change is that sometimes it rains a lot and sometimes it doesn’t. There are cool jungles, dusty towns and amazing amazing beaches. If you like hot weather, it’s the place to be.

SA, being so very large, has just about every variation on climate imaginable. You have the vast jungles of the amazon and the freezing peaks of the Andes- and everything in between. There are some pretty great beaches (although not nearly as many) and some elegant cities. And, despite first appearances, there is a great deal of cultural variation, including the many indigenous tribes.

Advantage: Tie

Rolling solo at the Plain of Jars, Laos

Safety

In SEA we heard tales of petty theft- lost ipods and wallets, but not much else. I felt very safe traveling solo through Laos and Cambodia and never felt harasses or threatened. I’m sure there are incidents of serious crime (and there is political unrest in parts of Thailand and the Phillipines), but in general things were very relaxed. The biggest danger seemed to be partying accidents in places like Vang Vieng.

SA has been a different story. Although nothing whatsoever has happened to us (knock on wood), we’ve heard many, many stories of muggings and worse. I haven’t spent much time solo here but I get the feeling that women are subject to more harrasment on the streets. That said I don’t think traveling through South America is dangerous, it’s just a place where you have to keep your wits about you and know how to evaluate risks.

Advantage: SEA

If it sounds like I’m knocking South America, I promise I’m not. Traveling here has been an amazing experience. I’ve met so many backpackers on their third or fourth trip to the continent, something about it just captivates people. However I would definitely say that it’s more challenging to discover South America than it is to travel in Asia. It doesn’t cater to tourists the way that Thailand or Cambodia do. I’ll let you decide if that’s better or worse.

If you know me at all you know what I’m going to say now: both regions of the world have their good points and there bad. Both are worse serious exploration. In the end it depends on what you are looking for in your travel experience.

Have you been to both regions? How do your experiences stack up?

This post was written by me, brought to you by Student Flights.

First let’s get one thing straight: The food in Argentina is really delicious. I’ve been eating myself into fat pants all month. There’s only one issue: it’s really, really repetitive. Argentineans seem to never tire of the same old favorites, but for me there are only so many steaks, empanadas and milanesas I can eat before I really just want an interesting salad. Or some Thai food maybe. Things that are not so easy to come by, even in a city this enormous.

Fortunately, there’s another aspect of Buenos Aires cuisine, one that might easily be overlooked. The puertas cerradas, or closed door restaurants.

Closed doors seem to be an international phenomenon. I’ve heard whispers of them in DC, apparently they are a big thing in New York and there are at least a dozen or more stashed around Buenos Aires.

So what is a closed door restaurant? It’s basically a hidden restaurant, run out of somebody’s home. You convene in their living room and converse with strangers while the host cooks you a set meal in their own kitchen. The good is usually something creative or different, often with several courses and wine pairings. It’s part dinner party, part gourmet meal.

Intrigued, Mike and I plotted our first foray into the Closed Door scene along with some new friends, including the lovely Meg and Tony of Landing Standing. Cocina Sunae had been recommended to me by several people and I was intrigued by both the low (relatively speaking) price point and the promise of legitimate South East Asian food.

Here’s what we found:

First Course: Lumpia from the Philippines- essentially spring rolls.

Second Course: Spicy Thai Laab chicken wraps that were actually spicy! Oh spiciness how I’ve missed you…

Third Course: Mike had Pancit Guisado from the Phillipines. It was a noodle dish with shrimp, chicken and mushrooms.

Whereas I opted for Gaeng Hanglay Muu or Chiang Mai Curry from Thailand. It was a new dish I’d never tried before and I was definitely a fan.

Fourth Course: Dessert! The most important of all. We were served homemade green tea ice cream (which gave me Japan flashbacks) and individual key lime pies. I can’t even come up with a descriptor for the key lime pie, I was struck silent by deliciousness.

For only 130 pesos for a four course meal (roughly $30 USD) this place was a bargain. The meal was one of the best I’ve had in all of South America and I’m still dreaming about that key lime pie.

As opposed to putting all of the guests at one big table, Cocina Sunae was run more like a traditional restaurant, with separate tables, a wine list and a waiter. This worked well for us because we were in a biggish group already, but I’m hoping to try a closed door with a communal atmosphere soon. … You know, for journalism’s sake…

Intense picture from reader Fajrin:

This photos was taken when I took the glacier walk to Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand. It was around 10 am when we prepared to started the walk, then a deerstalker came down from the hill carrying a deer in his shoulder. An amazing view from amazing New Zealand.

(Do you have a photo you’d like to see featured here? Email me at Steph@twenty-somethingtravel.com)

I saved twenty thousand dollars in two years, ten thousand of that within an eight month period before my trip. As a result, I’ve become a little bit of an expert on how to save a lot of money quickly. If I pulled this off, you probably can too. I’m not money genius, even now I struggle to keep a budget on a monthly basis. I had a couple lucky breaks, but I didn’t have a particularly high paying job. I did have determination though, and that gave me discipline.

In a lot of ways, saving money to travel is like going on a diet. When you want to lose weight, you have to change your habits, your intake and output, and you have to adjust the way you think about food. There are a million fad diets but we all know that in reality the only way to lose weight is through healthy diet and exercise.

Similarly, the only way to save a lot of money fast without going insane or giving up is to spend less and make more. It’s not glamorous, and it’s kind of hard but it gets the job done.

So instead of some elaborate system, here is the common sense way to save money and still see a movie or have a cocktail once in awhile.:

Set a Goal

photo credit: Dave Dugdale

When I made the concrete decision to travel  I set myself a goal of saving $10,000 in 8 months. I already had $10K in savings and I figured I’d need around $20,000 for what I wanted to do. That meant coming up with an extra $1250 dollars a month, which wouldn’t be easy but I was something I felt was obtainable based on my situation.

So the first thing you should do, right now, is set yourself a goal. Think about how much money you need to make your dream a reality and how much you can realistically save per month while still being able to like, eat and stuff. You can also set yourself smaller monthly goals to keep up momentum.

It’s important when you do this that you don’t set yourself up to fail. You have to believe that the goal is obtainable, otherwise the whole thing is still in fantasy territory. Set yourself a minimum amount, than view anything more than that as gravy.

A word on debt:

Debt is the worst! I get many, many emails from people who want to travel, but feel trapped by their loan payments.

I don’t think that student loans should necessarily prevent you from traveling. It may make things a little tougher and slower, but loans can be worked around. It’s something you will need to take into account as you plan your budget and your goals. Personally I had, and still have, student loans that I pay off every month.

When you plan your travel budget, be sure to budget for paying your loans (trust me, you do not want to default while you’re on the road). Consolidate if you can so that you are only dealing with one monthly payment, and make it religiously, even as you’re traveling.

If it’s not just student loans we’re talking about, if you are deep in credit card debt or home payments or something, then the first step is to get your financial house in order as best you can before planning out your trip. Kind of a bummer, but once you straighten out your finances you’ll be good to go.

Cut Back Spending

photo credit: hill.josh

After you’ve set your goals it’s time for the hard part. Look at where your money is going and figure out where you can cut way back. You will find most of your new savings come from turning off your spending on things you don’t really need.

For me, this meant moving in with my mother to save on rent. If you can do this, I highly recommend it- nothing saved me more money as rent is usually a major expense. It wasn’t always ideal but I kept my sanity. Even if you can’t crash with parents or a relative, downgrading to a smaller apartment or taking on roommates are both options for paying less rent.

It also meant giving up on a lot of poor spending habits. I stopped buying lunch at work and started bringing a bagged one. I gave up online shopping- the amount of money I’d spent on impulse while bored at work was out of control. I started passing up on social opportunities that cost a lot of money: concerts, fancy dinners or clubs, and concentrated on things like hanging out at dive bars.

I didn’t strip my life to total austerity b/c I don’t believe that will work. To go back to my diet analogy: if you completely starve yourself you’re just going to end up binging later on. I still spent money, but I was much more conscientious about where it was going- only to things that truly mattered to me.

Boost Your Income

photo credit: Clearly Ambiguous

It wasn’t enough for me to just cut my spending way back, I also needed to get more money coming in. After all, I was only making 37K a year before taxes and there’s just so much you can squeeze out of that.

So I started looking around for other ways to make a few bucks. The biggest boost to my savings came when I sold my car. I loved my sleek black Jetta but it wouldn’t do me much good while I was tromping around Asia. My only regret was that I waited until I was down to the wire to sell it. If I’d done it earlier I would have had more time and probably could have gotten a better price for my baby.

Many people take it even farther than that and offload all that stuff that they won’t need in their new life. Honestly I was a bit lazy on this front, but you can make a surprising amount of money selling your old clothes, books, electronics etc.

I also had money coming in from this blog which, while not a lot, was a helpful extra boost. Most people probably don’t have a profitable website but you can still pick up an extra part time job. If you don’t have time for that look for smaller opportunities- babysitting, helping someone move, whatever little gigs you can pick up.

Every extra dollar brings you one step closer to your goal, so get creative!

Stay Motivated

It’s hard. Living simply for many many months while everyone you know is continuing to be normal can really get to you.

Keeping your eye on the prize, reminding yourself constantly what you’re working for can help a lot. Every $20 I managed to save and not spend was a day in South East Asia. Every extra $100 that came in was some cool activity I would get to do somewhere. It’s delayed gratification but it works.

Make yourself a separate savings account and don’t touch anything that goes in. The highlight of my month used to be depositing a huge chunk of my paycheck into that account. Watching the number jump higher and higher was a reward in and of itself.

Finally, don’t be afraid to splurge a little once in awhile . During my time of intensive saving I still found the money to fly across country to visit a friend in San Francisco. I felt like if I didn’t my restlessness would make me lose my mind. Spend money on things that really matter to you and you won’t spend it on crap that doesn’t.

So to sum up:

• Set reasonable goals
• Cut back on major expenses
• Don’t buy crap
• Make extra money however you can
• Get a separate savings account
• Keep your eye on the prize

That’s pretty much it. There’s a pretty good chance that once you make these changes, you won’t ever go back to your old ways. I reached my goal over a year and a half ago, my initial trip is over, but I still don’t spend money on stupid clothes I don’t need or Starbucks coffee. It just doesn’t seem worth it anymore. Just like people who want to lose weight need to learn to eat better, I’ve learned how to spend in a healthy fashion.

Read more about my “Spending Diet” here.

I’m not sure what it says about Buenos Aires that one of it’s biggest tourist attractions is a cemetery. I can’t really think of anywhere else, even London with it’s gorgeous Victorian graveyards, where tourists flock to a cemetery in such high numbers.

Of course, I can’t really think of any cemeteries quite like Recoleta:

The place well lives up to it’s reputation as one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. Each tomb is a unique work of art, an individual memorial to a person or family. Not all of them are quite as fancy as the one above (my personal favorite), but they run the full gamut from sedate and stately to flashy and elaborate. Some are in pristine condition and some are pretty dilapidated:

Of course the biggest celebrity in Recoleta is Eva Peron. Tourists flock to her tomb, despite the fact that it definitely falls under the more boring design category:

Honestly though, there’s so much more to see in La Recoleta than Evita’s little plaque. A couple hours wandering the blocks of tombs leads to all sorts of details and discoveries:

London is literally the most visited city in the world. Every year 27 million tourists stream through Trafalgar Square, the British Museum and Westminster Abbey. They cycle through the London eye and browse at Portabello Road Market. They drink cream teas and warm beers and shop on Oxford Road. They do all of the London things and leave thinking that they’ve seen the city.

But they haven’t, not fully anyways. Because there’s a whole other side of London that they can’t see, that nobody gets to see really except for a select few.

This isn’t another article about cheap hotels and budget tips for London. Nor is it about off-the beaten track things to do. It’s about the secret parts of London.A two thousand year old city is bound to have some secrets and there are parts of London that are hidden even from the locals.

So here’s the London you can’t see:

The Underground

Everyone who visits London rides on the Tube. Not only is it the oldest metro system in the world, it’s still super convenient for getting around. Turns out though, that there’s a lot more going on under the streets of London than you’d think.

London has an entire network of abandoned tube stations. The first underground train in London left the platform in 1863- that is 145 years ago! Since then a number of stations, tunnels and platforms have been built and later shut down. Shut down–but not destroyed. There are about two dozen stations which sit ghostly and unused below the earth. This includes the now defunct British Museum Station. You can see pictures of a lot of these stations, I warn you though, it’s pretty eery.

It gets even stranger though. Deep Level Shelters built far underneath even the deepest tube lines. They were built by the government during World War Two as bomb shelters and never inhabited- they are now used mainly for storage (what is so important- or so useless, that you need to store it hundreds of feet underground? Government secrets? Old Spice Girls albums?). There is even a society, Subterranea Britannica dedicated to exploring these underground spaces

Below the Water

People have been living along the Thames since neolithic times, and pretty much as far back as that they have been tossing their old pottery, bottles and other trash into the river. Basically it has become the depository of thousands of years worth of junk.

 Stick around London long enough and you realize that the Thames is a tidal river. In every 24 hour cycle the water level rises and falls a full 19 feet- twice! At high tide the river is close and immediate, it presses along the embankment like a fat man in a bath tub. At low tide it is a thin and shallow ribbon, the water recedes to reveal hidden staircases leading down to wide rocky beaches. I’ve never given it much thought other than that it looks pretty gross at low tide, but on a tour a few years ago, my guide told me that beachcombers can easily find bits of broken pottery and other treasures on the banks- instead of washing away, pieces of treasure are simply lifted up and redeposited by the constant rise and fall of the river.

Ghosts and History

Of course London has ghosts. Or at least ghost stories. In a city this old, with such a rich history, there is an entire parallel universe of alternate history. Whether you believe in spirit stuff or not there are certainly enough interesting and gruesome stories out there to be well entertaining.

In a city this old with this rich a history, there are more hauntings and ghost stories than you can count. After all this it the city that was once home to Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd (not real, but still!) and the Highgate Vampire among other creepy things. Liverpool Street Station is built on the spot of an old insane asylum. Half of the city really is built overtop of old plague pits and burial grounds. London hotels are haunted, as are theaters, graveyards and houses.

There are a number of walking tours you can take to learn more about Haunted London. There’s no guarantee you’ll see a ghost those, that’s one of the cities secrets that few can decipher.

That’s not all, I’m sure of it. A city that has existed for thousands of years must be weeping with secrets; forgotten landmarks, hidden tunnels, places that have long since been buried over by the detritus of progress. For me that’s part of what makes London so fascinating: it has secrets that we can only imagine.

This post was written by me, brought to you by Hotels 4 You.

Wow! This startling sunset was captured on Boracay Island in the Philippines by Arienne of See you Soon.

(Do you have a photo you’d like to see featured here? Email me at Steph@twenty-somethingtravel.com)

You know there’s not going to be any one concrete answer to this, right?

This is a question I get asked a lot in the comments and in emails, and it always makes me wince a little, because when I answer I usually have to say it depends.

Kind of vague, but true. What does it depend on? Well, a lot of factors and also on unforeseen circumstances. Even so, with some careful consideration and a little research you should be able to figure out a pretty good budget to aim for.

Here are the factors you need to consider:

Splurge on ice cream

What Is Your Travel Style?

The biggest influence on how big your budget needs to be is your travel style.

So what kind of traveler are you? I’m willing to bet most of the people reading this consider themselves backpackers, but there are many shades of budget. Will you be scrambling to find the cheapest flights, self catering and hostelling it up, or will you aim to rent apartments, eat out frequently and splurge once in awhile?

It’s important to be honest with yourself here. It might seem ideal to pinch every penny you can by squeezing yourself into the cheapest dorm rooms and eating nothing but canned beans, but chances are the actual reality might be miserable. If you’re the kind of person that values a private room, take that into consideration. There’s no shame in knowing yourself.

Cheap eats in China

Where Are you Going?

This may seem obvious but different parts of the world cost more or less. Six months in Europe is going to cost a whole lot more than six months in South East Asia.

Based on my experiences:

Expensive: Western Europe, Oceania, Japan

Mid-Level: South America, Eastern Europe

Inexpensive: South East Asia, China

Once you know where you want to go roughly, then you can start researching an average daily budget in those places. Blogs are a good place to start, but you can also get a rough idea by pricing out accommodations. The general rule of thumb for a daily budget is a nights accommodation x 2 or 3 (depending on how shoestring you plan to travel).

You can also start to price out flights, which are usually one of the biggest expenses for a trip.

How Long Are You Going For?

How long do you plan to to be abroad and where?

I wouldn’t recommend you plan your trip out to the day, but if you have a general ballpark for how long you plan to be in each region, you can figure out how much money you’ll need for that leg. It’s not necessarily true that a longer trip will cost more than a shorter one either, depending on where you go and for how long.

Some of us like a little more spontaneity in our travel plans. We don’t know how long we’re going ot be gone for or where we’re going to end up. That’s cool too, but then you need to pad your travel budget a little more to make sure you have room to choose as you go.

Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef

What Kind of stuff are you Going To Do?

Consider the big ticket items on your wish list- things like tours, rental cars, adventure sports activities or safaris. These things often cost quite a bit of money so you’ll need to factor that into your budget.

It’s definitely good to do a little web research while budgeting. Nothing is worse than getting all the way to Australia and realizing you can’t skydive because it costs way way too much money (not that I’d know or anything…).

Will you Have Any Income Streams?

Part of the reason it is hard for me personally to pin down the budget question is because I work on the road. I have money coming in as well as going out, and I’m not very good at accounting so it all kind of gets muddled up. I could tell you how much is in my bank account (I won’t) but I couldn’t tell you how much I’ve spent  on travel in the past year. I know, I’m a mess.

If you will be working while on the road, be it teaching English or freelance writing, then you have an extra cushion that most people don’t have.

Note that this is for people who actually KNOW they will have money coming in. If you think maybe you can start a travel blog and make some extra money as you go, it’s probably not wise to depend on that hypothetical money.

Life on the edge

How Big a Gambler Are You?

Another way to phrase this would be, how big a comfort cushion do you need?

Things go wrong on the road: people get injured, loved ones get sick, plans change. For that reason you will probably want to invest in some sort of travel insurance. You might also want to sock a little money away for emergencies not covered by insurance (read your policy, they are usually oddly specific on what is and isn’t covered).

Finally, consider adding in a re-entry cushion for after your trip. If you don’t have a job waiting for you at home, you will probably need some money to cover living expenses while you re-establish yourself post trip.

Okay all that said, the general wisdom is $20,000 to travel around the world for 1 year. That was my base line and my goal. Did I stick to that budget? Well, kind of sort of… My plans for a one year trip veered wildly off the rails at the very beginning which is why I’m writing this from a high rise in Buenos Aires and not an office building back home.

Plans do change, but you can set yourself up for success by planning ahead. So you take all of these threads and tie them together and you should have a pretty good picture of what kind of budget you need to aim for. Basically, creating a budget goes hand in hand with trip planning: it’s hard to do one without the other.

This post was written by me, sponsored by Expedia.

We may have made a tactical error. While Buenos Aires is a beautiful city, Summer may be the least desirable time of year to visit. Not only is it brutally hot and rainy, it’s a ghost town.

Hmm, well maybe we can go outside on... thursday?

To escape the heat, Portenos (residents of BA) flee the city in January and February to vacation at the beach. Businesses totally shut down and the streets empty out. It’s a little bit eery, but understandable- we too have spent many of our days cooped up inside with the AC blasting (this is the reason travel bloggers don’t get tans).

We did venture out one day when the temperature crept above 90 degrees, to go to Temaikan Biopark with former Buenos Aires expat Rease from Travelated. Temaikan is a serious zoo on par with the fanciest in the United States and miles above the shabby downtown city zoo.

It was a cool place, but again our timing needs work. Even at the zoo the animals seemed to be on vacation, hidden from view to escape the heat. We walked around peering into enclosures, trying to find the dozing creatures:

What about the wallaby?

Sleepy bats

lazy bums

It stands to figure that the only animals that weren’t bothered by the heat were the birds. Here’s where I ran into a problem. And by problem I mean I just discovered my latent phobia of parrots.

I can’t really explain it. Maybe it stems from the brutal parrot attack I sustained in Australia last year  or maybe it’s just the fact that parrots are creepy and make really weird noises (don’t even get me started on the talking ones).

So I did not fare well in the parrot enclosure, which was set up with a giant net over the area so that nothing stands between you and the pretty monsters. One took off suddenly and I nearly tramples a young mother in an attempt to fend off the eye clawing attack that was sure to come.

We want to eat your face

I mean seriously, I’d rather run up against these guys:

I digress, the lesson is not actually “beware of terrifying rainbow death birds.” The lesson is “don’t go to the zoo when it’s hot.” In fact, don’t do anything when it’s hot, it’s just not worth it. I’m going to go take a nap with the AC blasting now.

Today’s handsome postcard comes from Bob of the Travelling Fool:

Spoke to this guy for awhile and found out to be a Beefeater you must be retired military and most are retired CSM from the British Army. They live at the tower of London and their official job is to guard the king and Crown Jewels which are housed there. These days is mostly ceremonial and they give tours of the Tower.

(Do you have a photo you’d like to see featured here? Email me at Steph@twenty-somethingtravel.com)

Happy New Year! My year so far has been hot and rainy (Argentine summers are not the best) and productive! Now that we are installed in our comfy Buenos Aires apartment complete with AC and an indoor BBQ, I’m working really hard to pump out some good stuff. I’m also tackling Spanish classes, volunteering and trying to learn the harmonica. Busy times indeed.

What’s Up With Me:

Eat the World- Sometime in the next month Mike and I will be releasing our first travel iphone app. It’s called Eat the World and it’s going to help you figure out what the local specialties are when you travel. Visit the website and join us on facebook for updates so that you can grab it for your travels.

12 Reasons Why SE Asia is the Best Place in the World for Backpackers- BootsnAll- I wrote an article about SE Asia and the many things it offers to budget travelers.

Reorganization- As part of my productivity bid I’ve totally reorganized the categories in the menu bar. I think this will make it much easier for people to find back articles and use the archive for research. Have a look and maybe discover something you’ve missed.

Travel Plans- I will be spending most of February in Buenos Aires with a few possible side trips. We’re planning to head to Gualeguaychú in Northern Argentina to check out the Carnivale celebrations and there’s some other possibilities in the works…

This Month Around the Web:

photo credit: pedrosimoes7

• 10 Tips for Better Self-Portrait Photography- The Everywhereist- Geraldine might be one of the most charming people I’ve met online. She also has a lot of useful tips about finding your best side and taking pictures with pirates.
• Five Minutes in Burma- What’s Dave Doing?- Visa runs make for some weird travel days.
• When Travel Loses its Charm- The Road Forks- One of several articles I’ve read lately on travel burnout. It’s real and it’s deadly.

photo credit: jurvetson

• The Victoria Falls Bungee Jump Accident: An Opinion About Extreme Sports- Adventures with Ben- A little perspective and information on just one of the major travel accidents that happened this month.
•  Feel Lost: My Fork in the Road- Nomadic Matt- A brave post by Matt, who has been traveling for 5 years now and is struggling on where to finally settle down.
• A Place to Lay my Heart- Modern Love- Multiple people sent me this column about globetrotting love- wonder if they are trying to tell me something?

photo credit: susivinh

• Help Me Support Literacy in Bolivia- Tourist to Townie- Gareth is using his travels to make the world a better place, in this case, by raising money to fund a book fair and two libraries in Bolivia. A really worthy cause so consider sending a donation, I did!
• 6 Bad Travel Habits and How to Avoid Them- Trip Atlas- I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t guilty of some of these once in awhile…
• Being Deported from Eritrea- Art of Non-Conformity- Would you ever show up in a country without any visa? If not, you’re not nearly as brave as Chris Guillebeau.
• Operation Gringo Revenge: Tracking my Stolen Laptop in Panama- the Expert Vagabond- Finally, if you only read one of these articles make it this hilarious story of laptops lost and entertainment found. Plus! Transexual hookers!

What as your favorite read this month?

I got an email from a reader the other day (edited for length/personal details):

I took a year off from college with the intentions to travel.

Well…. I didn’t travel and one year later, I find myself in the same spot I was a year ago. Being twenty, I’m not sure what I want to do with my life, not sure which path I want to take, but I do know I do want to travel. I just want to get out there and experience everything possible. Immerse myself in other cultures, enjoy art & nature, meet new people.

But when it comes down to it, down to making a decision, to figuring it out, I find myself hitting a wall. The usual issues come up- no money, no travel buddies, not knowing where to go, how to even begin.

I was just wondering if you had any advice on how to take the next steps or what are the next steps?

Making the leap from the idea of traveling to actually putting a plan into action can be daunting. There is a lot to consider and a lot of choices to be made.

photo credit: josemanuelerre

I think a lot of people get stuck in the phase between deciding to travel and actually making it happen, because there is so much to consider when you are trying to turn an abstract concept into a reality. This then morphs into one of the common excuses I was talking about last week, most likely the “I’ll do it later,” syndrome. When something is abstract it’s easy to push off, that’s why you need to turn your potential travel idea into a concrete reality.

So here are three crucial steps to help you transition from thought to action:

photo credit: Lauren Manning

Think about what you want

The first thing you need to do is ask yourself some key questions:

Why do you want to travel?

What are you hoping to get out of a big trip?

There’s no right answer here. Maybe there’s a language you’ve been dying to learn, or a burning question you’re trying to solve. Perhaps there is a list of places that you’ve always wanted to visit. Maybe you’re really into adventure sports or big city culture.

The world is an enormous place and just setting out to see it is kind of a vague and unobtainable goal. By figuring out what you’re actually looking for you can narrow down your list of options and start to think in realistic terms.

photo credit: Ed Yourdon

Consider the resources available to you

The second step is a reality check of sorts. You need to evaluate your budget and resources to determine what you can actually pursue.

First think about the restraints of money and time. How much of either are you willing to invest in this project? Are you thinking about a month long experience or a year? Depending on how long and where you are going you will have to budget accordingly.

Secondly, consider all of the programs and other resources available to you. There are a plethora of volunteer organizations, study abroad options and work visas that you can take advantage of.

Also consider friends and family you may have strewn around the world. Having somewhere to stay and some one to show you around is an excellent motivation to go somewhere.

At this point you should have a fairly good sketch of what you actually want your trip to look like. You don’t necessarily need actual dates or itineraries, but a basic outline of what you intend to do (teach English in Korea, backpack through Europe, travel overland through Africa).

photo credit: purpleslog

Lastly, sit down and sketch out a plan of action- then start making it happen!

Once you’ve got a pretty good idea of where you want to go and what you want to do, the last step is creating a to do list (oh how I love to-do lists). This will be your plan of the actual concrete steps you need to take before you can leave. Stuff like: saving money, applying for visas, buying plane tickets and buying equipment. It might also include things like graduating from school, telling your family and looking for a new job.

This list might take awhile to complete- in my case I was seriously planning and saving for about a year and a half before I left. It’s tough work, but actually realizing your dream is a great motivation! 

It really is as simple as this. I’ve always though that making the decision to travel is the most difficult part. Once you’ve really committed, everything else just falls into place. It’s just a matter of figuring out 1. what you want to do and 2. how to do it.

Well I guess I can stop looking now.

El Ateneo on Santa Fe Avenue in Buenos Aires is probably the most impressive book store I’ve ever seen.  in the 1920′s it was a theater that could seat over 1000 people. It was later converted to a movie theater, then back to a theater and back to a movie house again and in 2000, a bookstore.

The ceiling is decorated with Romantic Italian frescos painted to celebrate the end of World War One.

The stage has now been converted to a cafe. On some afternoons jazz bands play there and their music echoes throughout the store.

The one drawback (for me anyways) of El Ateneo? All the books are in Spanish! The English-language section leaves much to be desired. None the less it would be easy to spend an afternoon just wandering around and gawking at the elegance of this historic old store.

Being an Angophile, I adore this perfectly London shot of a taxi racing by St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was sent in by amazingly talented Lisa Lubin who runs LL World Tour.

(Do you have a photo you’d like to see featured here? Email me at Steph@twenty-somethingtravel.com)

Enough already with the excuses! I’ve heard them all over the past few years. I never ask for them, but whenever I meet someone at a party, tell them what I’m up to and what I’ve chosen to do, the excuses come pouring out.

It always amuses me a bit, because I would never expect anyone to do the crazy stuff I’m doing unless they really had a burning passion for it. It takes all kinds of people and there’s definitely no right or wrong way to live your life. That being said, I also have to roll my eyes at the folks who clearly would like to travel, but let a bunch of trivial stuff get in the way. Travel, like so many things in life is about priorities. You have to make it one if you ever want to get anywhere.

Which is why none of these excuses work…

Photo credit: 401K

1. I can’t afford it

Probably the most common excuse for not traveling. Yes, traveling is expensive, and it’s hard to save up when you have bills to pay and all that. But…. there’s a lot of things you spend money on that you don’t need. You don’t need a new car, you don’t need a flatscreen tv, you don’t need a $15 martini. Most people who travel a lot aren’t rich kids, they just make it a point of saving their discretionary money for travel. If travel is a priority, there are a lot of ways to find money to make it happen.

In fact, in many instances traveling for a year can be cheaper than your expenses would be at home.

2. I’m stuck at my job

This just makes me sad. I know we are in a recession and jobs are hard to come by, but there are a lot of ways that travel can help, not hurt your career. A career break can re-energize you, give you new skills and resources and help you re-examine your career path. If you don’t believe me check out the guys at Career Break Secrets or Briefcase to Backpack.

photo credit: RambergMediaImages

3. I have too many loans

Yup. I’ve got them too, lovely student loans that I will be paying off for years to come. Actually a lot of travelers I know carry this particular burden. I pay them every month and you can too, you just need to build that money into your potential travel budget. You may also want to look into working on the road.

photo credit: josemanuelerre

4. Nobody will go with me

Well, you already know what I’m going to say. Solo traveling is great and rewarding blah blah blah, but it’s also sometimes the only way to get anything done. I set out to do my big trip solo, not necessarily because I particularly wanted to, but because I knew that if I waited around for the perfect travel partner I might wait a very long time. (As luck had it the perfect partner appeared much sooner than expected, but that’s another story.)

photo credit: tm-tm

5. I’m worried about safety

Okay, it’s certainly wise to consider the safety concerns of anywhere you go. That being said, there is a misconception, particularly in the United States, that the world outside is a big scary dangerous place. That’s simply not true. There are many places in the world that can be safely traveled, even by solo women.

photo credit: tropicaLiving - Jessy Eykendorp

6. I’ll do it someday

I say I’m going to do a lot of things someday: write a novel, start going to the gym, learn to cook. How many of them are actually going to get done?

You can put off travel indefinitely, but there’s a pretty good chance that the day you’re waiting for isn’t going to come. There is no perfect time to travel, but the time to start living the life you want is always right now.

The thing is, it’s okay if you don’t want to go anywhere. I don’t really get it, but I respect it. However, if you DO want to make a change, then it’s time to stop lying to yourself and to start living the way you want.

But how? That’s the hard part. That’s why I’m devoting one day a week over the next few months to telling you HOW exactly you can travel the world.

Stay tuned…

If there’s one practice that sums up everything that sets Argentina apart culturally from Europe, it’s mate. While Argentinean culture takes a lot from the motherland- a love of coffee, gelato and pizza for starters, the consumption of mate (pronounced mah-tay) is uniquely South American.

What is mate?

I’d never heard of the stuff before I met Mike, but it’s inescapable here. Mate is essentially a hot, tea-like beverage made from the stems and leaves of a plant called yerba mate (link). The leaves contain caffeine and other natural stimulants and taste sort of like a very bitter green tea. I would say it’s an acquired taste.

What tea is to the British, mate is to Argentina, except maybe more so. Argentineans drink mate all day long, on their own but especially in social settings. Family gatherings, afternoon chats and friendly get togethers all revolve around the passing of mate. Couples take mate to the park for a romantic date. Even in Montanita, Ecuador we would often see groups of Argentineans sitting on the beach with thermoses of hot water, passing around a mate cup.

It’s a custom that traces it’s roots back to Pre-Colombian times. As with any tradition that has survived that long, there is a ritual to drinking mate, a set of unspoken customs and rules. To defy them will make you appear very rude, or at least clueless. So, to drink Mate like a proper Argentinean, here’s what you need to know:

 The Setup

Mate is served in a communal cup (you’re all friends here so stop worrying about pesky things like germs). The cup is actually a vegetable gourd (sometimes the outer casing is metal or plastic) which the owner conditions with their own combination of preparation and fruit juice to give it a distinct taste. You drink out of a silver straw with a filter at the end, called the bombilla.

The Ritual

Mate is a group activity. The participants sits in a circle and one person, the server or cebador, prepares the mate with hot water and in Buenos aires, sugar (they have a wicked sweet tooth). The gourd is then passed around the circle to the right, each drinker enjoying the mate before passing it back to the served to be re-brewed. This continues for ages and ages, or until you run out of hot water.

photo credit: juanpol

The Rules

The biggest most important rule of mate drinking is DO NOT TOUCH THE BOMBILLA. It is considered very rude to re-adjust the straw or move it in any way.

When you are passed the mate, only touch the bombilla with your lips. Drink the mate until there is no more liquid, the straw will make a sucking, gurgling sound. The water will be very hot so there is no need to chug the drink, but don’t take too long to finish either. When you are finished pass the cup back to the server.

Argentineans can drink a LOT of mate. While I can’t even have a caffeinated soda after 5 pm, most people here have no problem drinking gallons of mate just before bed. If you’ve had enough, a simple thank you to the server should exempt you from further rounds. Even if you are not a huge fan, it is definitely more polite to at least have on serving when offered.

While it sounds complicated, drinking mate is a casual activity, so ingrained into everyday life that nobody thinks twice about it. Don’t stress too much and do find an opportunity to participate in one of Argentina’s most sacred rituals.

Unlike a lot of place I go, I know quite a bit about Buenos Aires already. This is in part because of my childhood obsession with Evita (I love Andrew Lloyd Webber and I’m not ashamed!) but mostly because my handsome Argentinean-American boyfriend has not shut up about the place since we met.

At least he's cute right?

This city is his second home, and he is incredibly eager to share it with me. According to Michael, Argentina has the very best steak, the best nightlife, the best ice cream and the best looking girls. I can’t say for sure yet about any of those things, but after a week in town, I do have some impressions:

It’s HOT

I know we were arriving right in the middle of summer but damn you guys. Apartment hunting in 100 degree heat is brutal and the subway is like a toaster. As a result we haven’t really done much sightseeing yet- we’ve spent a lot of time laying like dead fish in front of the AC.

By the way, I’ve also noticed that if you complain about the heat to your friends back in the dead of winter at home, they don’t have much sympathy for the fact your face is melting off.

The Food is Epic

After the very repetitive menus of roast chicken, rice and beans up north in Ecuador and Colombia, Argentinean food is a real treat. I’m sure I’ll go on about it at length as a later date but my first week here I’ve gorged myself on empanadas, pizza, pastries and of course, steak. When I left Ecuador I had to buy a bikini because my old one was finally too big, now if I get out of this country weighing less than 300 pounds it will be a miracle.

Sophisticated People

photo credit: -just-jen-

The people here, as well as the atmosphere feels very much more European than South America. Everyone is super classy looking, stylish and THIN (which is a little puzzling considering what I wrote above). It’s just an entirely different vibe.

Ice Cream!

Mike didn’t lie on this one- the ice cream here is freaking amazing. And they sell it in giant liter tubs, for maximum pig-out-ossity. Dulce de Leche is of course a major favorite but there are crazy flavors too like Pineapple Champagne.

Evita

They really do love Evita here! It’s just like I imagined. I’ve had don’t cry for me Argentina stuck in my head all week, much to the annoyance of one Argentinian-American boy I know.

Shallow yes, but the good news is that after a week of running all over town, we’ve finally settled on a pretty sweet (11^th floor! Inside BBQ!) apartment and rented it for the next two months. So prepare yourself for a slew of Buenos Aires articles!

I was so overwhelmed by the enormousness of Angkor Wat that I completely missed the tiny details, like these orange incense. Lisa Lubin from LL World Tour has a much better eye than me!

(Do you have a photo you’d like to see featured here? Email me at Steph@twenty-somethingtravel.com)

Money makes the world go round and it’s also a big factor in helping you go around the world. 

Twenty-something Americans probably aren’t in the best place to save up for vacations or round-the-world trips. They usually have entry level jobs, student loans and very little acquaintance with the practicalities of the real world. 

But they also have some of the best visa options available. 

Graduating university in 2009 I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next, but I knew it involved travel. I looked into trips to India, volunteering abroad and even going back to school abroad. All things that are a lot of work to achieve and some of which cost quite a lot of money. 

Then I found a compromise between the travelers dream and the graduates reality, a work-holiday visa for Australia.

This visa allows 18-30-year olds, from quite a few countries to live and work in Australia for a year, however they choose. One of the only limitations is that they can only work for the same company for six months.  

I wouldn’t have known this visa existed if it weren’t for some serious soul-searching and even more serious searching on the internet. After college I found out it was possible to move abroad, earn money and not need a company or benefactor to support me. 

Once in Australia, working and holidaying, I learned that Australia wasn’t the only country offering this opportunity. While a lot of the other countries under the world-holiday-scheme are closed to US citizens like me, there is enough opportunity abroad for young Americans to travel and work throughout their entire twenties. 

If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t change a single decision made in my travels, but here’s how I would advise young Americans with an appetite for travel to get on the road and stay on the road as long as possible.

Study abroad (2-4 years)

photo credit: stevecadman

As far as travel goes, the younger a person is, the more opportunity he or she has, mainly because of school. For twenty-something’s sake, I’ll focus only on university but quickly mention that even younger than university age, students can enter an exchange program, take part in school-sponsored trips, even win scholarships to travel abroad for academic purposes.

These days there really is no excuse for university students not to take advantage of international opportunities. Here’s the thing, university is expensive no matter where you attend. Why not spend that money not only learning about a subject, but also learning about the world?

A semester abroad may cost slightly more, but often times it’s pretty much the same as a semester in the States. Some student visas even allow people to work in that country, which takes away the huge concern of being able to earn money while abroad. 

If students plan their four years at university strategically, they could spend a whole year, maybe even two, studying abroad. The great thing about studying abroad is that it’s pretty much open in all countries around the world.

Students could even go further than just studying abroad and actually attend a foreign university.

Work abroad for current students and recent graduates (3 months to 2 years)

photo credit: j.o.h.n. walker

Travel may be the last thing on a recent college graduate’s mind after Sallie Mae starts asking for money. But the year directly after college offers a few opportunities to live and work abroad that disappear after that year.

Ireland has two types of opportunities open to American students and recent graduates. First is the J1 program, which allows students to work a few months every summer of university in Ireland. Next is a 12-month work holiday visa to Ireland open to people enrolled in post secondary education and those who have graduated in the past 12 months.  

Applicants must prove they have funds of €1,500 ($US1,900) and a return ticket or €3,000 ($US3,800) altogether to qualify.

BUNAC offers recent college graduates a similar opportunity in Canada. Their ‘Work Canada’ program is open to US citizens age 18-30 who graduated in the last year or are currently are full-time, degree-seeking students at an accredited college or university. 

Through BUNAC eligible candidates are offered 12-month work authorization in Canada. The program costs $405, which can be a bit of money to save. Luckily, Canada is close enough to the States that people considering this opportunity won’t have to spend as much on airfare. 

Other work abroad options offered to current or recent university graduates, include a six-month work holiday pass in Singapore as well as internships all over the world.

Internships are often unpaid or ill-paid. So why not use a money-less summer to see not only what it’s like to work in a specific work sector, but also to work in a different country. 

Not to keep mentioning the company, but BUNAC offers an ‘Intern in Britain’ program as well. While BUNAC will help with visas, giving interns the ability to be paid during their internship, it is up to the internship-seeker to find an offer.

Internships abroad can be found just the same as in the States. Internship-seekers should contact companies in their particular field to learn about opportunities open to foreign students.

Working holiday Australia and New Zealand (1 to 2 years and three months)

photo credit: rick

Opportunities to work abroad aren’t just open to college grads. In fact, what I think are the easiest two opportunities for twenty-somethings to travel, mainly require people to be age 18-30. 

As I mentioned at the start of this article, the sort of kick-off to me recognizing all opportunities abroad offered to US citizens was the working holiday visa for Australia. Well this visa is also offered in New Zealand.

The visas are pretty much the same, except US citizens have the option to extend their visa up to three months in New Zealand by doing three-months of farm work in the country. As of right now, an extension is not possible for US citizens in Australia. One other difference to mention is that the visa application fee for Australia costs $270, whereas New Zealand charges no fee to Americans.

I was shocked to see how easy these visas are to obtain. Basically, people must fill out an online application including personal details. As long as the person applying doesn’t have health concerns or a criminal record, he or she is usually admitted very quickly. I received my Australian work-holiday visa in a few hours and my New Zealand visa in a few days. People with health concerns or a criminal record could still be accepted, it just involves more paper work. 

On a side note, BUNAC also offers an IEP Work Exchange Visa Program for New Zealand. This is open to people 18-35 years old, even if they have already had a work-holiday visa for the country. It costs $550 and allows people to work in the country for 12 months. 

The next step (1 day to forever)

photo credit: simonsun08

By timing your applications and the order of these visas correctly, the combination of them should bring people from age 20 to 27. That’s not including all of the traveling participants will be doing in between. 

After exhausting all the visas easily available to you, it’s time to use lessons learnt on the road to stay on it even longer. 

One option is teaching English abroad. People can earn enough money to maintain a living in countries like Thailand or Guatemala or they can actually lead a somewhat profitable career in places like South Korea or Japan. 

Another option is sponsorship. It can be a difficult process, but places like New Zealand and Australia actually need more people in certain work sectors, especially skilled jobs like carpenters and nurses. Consider the work-holiday visa just a foot in the door to two countries that have a plethora of opportunities. 

People interested in staying abroad even longer may consider going back to school abroad. This is very expensive, but it’s a plausible option.

Finally, those who want to stay abroad badly enough will just find a way outside the realm of visas and citizenship. I’ve met so many people on my travels who just found a country they loved and refused to leave. They work at bars, in tourism and as nannies, sometimes completely under the radar. I’m not condoning it, but I must mention it to prove that there is almost always a way to stay on the road. 

Now that the money excuse is out of the way, why aren’t you traveling?

Bobbi Lee Hitchon has been traveling the world for over two years. She’s had working holiday visas in Australia and New Zealand. Read about her adventures abroad at Heels and Wheels. Get to know her on Twitter and Facebook.