This is a sponsored article by Note Follower
Do you ever wonder what journey your cash has been on before it came to you? In the U.S. alone there are more banknotes than ever in circulation. As of December 31st, 2015 there are approximately 38.1 billion banknotes in circulation*. Yet, we have no idea about the travels these notes have been on. We thought banknotes must have a really interesting life and must travel far and from country to country, so we created Note Follower.
Note Follower is kind of like a search engine crossed with a social network for banknotes. The site allows a profile to be created for each banknote, a profile can only be created once for a given note and will show the name of the first person to add the note! If you come across a note which already has a profile created by someone else, you can post on it and add your part of the note’s story.
You can also follow a note to see any notifications about others who have posted to the note’s profile page. If you use cash frequently, especially different currencies in other countries, Note Follower can be used to help you see the combined value of the cash you’ve been in contact with.
We wanted Note Follower to be available to as many people as possible. So, we built in support for the top twenty currencies traded worldwide from the U.S. Dollar to the South African rand. Anyone’s account can add notes from all available currencies. We also wanted to keep Note Follower as open as possible, so no account is required to search for notes you come across.
If you are interested in the idea and would like to give the site a go, you can find Note Follower at www.notefollower.com.
*Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Currency in Circulation: Volume
www.federalreserve.gov
As your most-awaited solo trip draws near, your excitement for the actual trip is building up, and you’re just as thrilled to do your pre-travel tasks. This mainly involves listing down things you need for your trip, and of course, shopping for your travel essentials!
Before you go on a pre-travel shopping spree, keep in mind the main goal of every solo backpacker: travel light. Aside from your clothes, you must also consider several other things such as photography gear and your bag.
To help you prepare for your first solo trip, here are some recommended travel gear to bring so that you’ll be able to travel light:
Of course, you’re going to take a lot of travel photos! For solo travelers, a compact camera is ideal because it’s light and easy to carry. Whether it’s a mirrorless camera, a rugged point and shoot, or an action camera, get one that produces high-quality photos and has long battery life.
When you get back home, gather your best photos and create a travel photo book out of them. Your personalized photo book will surely be a perfect keepsake of an important milestone in your life: your first ever solo trip!
Having no companion to take your solo photos won’t be a problem as long as you have a selfie stick with you. Taking perfect selfies with a lightweight yet sturdy selfie stick can steady your camera to avoid blurry shots. Aside from convenience, it can also keep your camera safe from thieves. You won’t have to ask strangers to take your photo and fear that they’ll run away with your precious (and maybe expensive) gadget.
A durable, lightweight, and functional backpack is every solo traveler’s best friend. When choosing a backpack, consider its size (make sure it’s neither too small nor too big for your body), compartments, weight, water resistance, and storage capability. The wrong kind of backpack will just add weight to your back, make you get tired easily, and lead to sore back and shoulders.
Also, make sure you don’t overpack even if there’s still room in the bag. As long as the travel essentials can fit in one bag, you’re good to go.
Even though a lot of hostels provide guests with a lock for their lockers, it’s still good to bring at least two backups. Buy an encrypted padlock that’s durable enough to handle pressure. You can use it to lock the zippers of your backpack and keep it safe and secure.
Sockets in other countries may not be compatible with the plug of your charger or electronic device. It’s best to bring a universal adapter, so you won’t have to go through the hassle of borrowing one from the hostel or finding a store that sells one. Besides, some hostels don’t have any extras of these. It’s better to be prepared rather than to waste time looking for alternatives
With these simple and helpful items, you’ll surely enjoy your first-ever solo trip! Who knows, you might go for another one again next time. For more detailed packing tips see this guide – Packing for Every Trip Type.
Happy travels!
Around the world, people are getting together with family and friends to celebrate the holiday season. While you are probably familiar with Christmas traditions such as Santa Claus giving presents, kissing under the mistletoe, and singing Christmas carols, some countries also have some quirky cultural customs. Here are 10 interesting traditions we found.
The Christmas pudding or plum pudding is a necessity for Brits at Christmas. Families often claim to have their own secret recipes that have been passed down for generations. It is a tradition for each member of the family to stir the pudding and make a wish. Brandy is poured over the pudding and set alight when served.
Santacon is an annual gathering/pub crawl where people dress up as Santa (it has now expanded to other Christmas characters). Started as a theatrical prank in San Francisco back in 1994, it has now grown into a worldwide event with over 350 cities in 50 countries in 2015.
It’s incredible how powerful advertising can be. Back in 1974, Kentucky Fried Chicken (now KFC), ran an extremely popular campaign associating its fried chicken with the Christmas tradition, replacing the unpopular turkey. See, marketing works!
Goats play a big role in Swedish Christmas celebrations from small ornaments to gigantic structures, such as the goats in the city of Gävle that are set up every year in December. Strangely, the big Gävle goat is traditionally vandalized or burnt down each year. Since 1966, the goat has survived until Christmas Day only 13 times.
The Tió de Nadal (meaning “Christmas log”) is a hollow tree trunk with little legs and a face painted on it. Each night, the children give the tió, or log, a little bit to “eat” and cover it with a little blanket so that it won’t be cold at night. On Christmas day, they put the tió into the fireplace and order it to poop, encouraging it by beating it with sticks while singing traditional songs. The Catalans also display a Caganer – a figurine shown to be pooping, appearing in nativity scenes and wearing the traditional Catalan red cap with its trousers down. Statuettes of well-known people pooping are a strong Christmas tradition in Catalonia, dating back to the 18th century – and symbolize fertilization, hope and prosperity for the coming year.
In the Czech Republic, single people who want to find a spouse before the next Christmas celebration stand with their backs to the door and throw a shoe over their shoulders on Christmas day. If the shoe lands with the toe pointing to the door, congratulations – you’re going to get married soon!
The Night of the Radishes (or Noche de Rábanos) is an annual event in the city of Oaxaca, Mexico dedicated to the carving of oversized radishes to create scenes that compete for prizes in various categories. The event has its origins in the colonial period when radishes were introduced by the Spanish. Oaxaca has a long wood carving tradition and farmers began carving radishes into figures as a way to attract customers’ attention at the market in the main square a couple of days before Christmas. In 1897, the city created a formal competition.
In Ukraine, Christmas trees are often decorated with (fake) spider webs to usher in good luck during the coming year. The legend goes that a poverty-stricken family went to bed on Christmas Eve upset because they wouldn’t be able to decorate their tree. The spiders, roaming the home’s walls and floors, heard the cries of the family and took it upon themselves to decorate the tree with their webs. On Christmas Day, the strands turned to gold and silver, changing the family’s fortune forever.
Many years ago in Norway, people believed witches and evil spirits came out on Christmas Eve to play. Needing transport, they would look for brooms to ride on. Not wanting their brooms to be stolen, the local people made sure that the brooms were well hidden. Today Norwegians still hide all brooms in their house before going to bed on Christmas Eve.
In Austro-Bavarian Alpine folklore, Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure who, during the Christmas season, punishes children who have misbehaved, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards the well-behaved with gifts. While it’s unclear how the myth of Krampus started, Krampus is one of a number of companions of Saint Nicholas in a number of European regions – it is featured on holiday greeting cards called Krampuskarten and in traditional parades – such as the traditional procession in Hallein, Salzburg, you can find young men dressed as this scary creature.
One of the trickiest parts of becoming a travel photographer/blogger is supporting your journeys. It’s not as simple as taking great photos and watching the money roll in. In fact, many seasoned travel photographers find it difficult to make a steady living. Taking beautiful photos just isn’t enough.
Taking beautiful photos just isn’t enough. The most successful travel photographers work just as hard on marketing themselves as they do on learning to take better photos, in most cases more so.
Sponsorships are great for a short burst of revenue, but how do you build a passive income to keep you going? By thinking about how you can take a hobby like photography and turn it into a passive income stream, you may be able to fund your travel for a longer time than expected.
Below you’ll find three ways to help use photography to earn passive income and keep yourself moving.
The first thing you need is a solution to properly show off and be able to sell prints. You can either sell the original high res photo to a collector or one-off prints to consumers. Backpacker Travel has partnered with SmugMug as they provide a range of solutions for beginners to professionals.
SmugMug offers numerous website designs built specifically for photographers. All packages give you secure, unlimited photo storage, easy uploads anywhere you can connect online (this saves camera and card storage space) as well as a simple e-commerce solution where you set your own retail prices. Now your friends, fans, or the people who discover your shots can purchase them or print them on more than 1,200 products.
By having these tested websites ready to sell your work, you have a custom print shop opened 24 hours to help fund your trip. Click on the following discount link and save 15% off any SmugMug package to get your portfolio started today.
One of the hardest parts of being a travel photographer (who gets to continue to travel) is having the funds to keep going. The more real eyeballs you have on your site, the more you can make. Just make sure they are real and engaged viewers.
Buying likes/fans or counting robot and traffic exchange traffic doesn’t count. Your sponsors will catch on when they don’t get visitors or sales and you’ll find yourself with a bad reputation and a lack of funds. This is where your photography helps.
As you take amazing shots, make sure you watermark them so that people can find you and your website. You may first want to upload them to social media and sharing sites like Instagram, Google+, Pinterest, and Flickr. You can even create a slideshow with a narrative for YouTube which can drive a ton of new visitors.
Next, add your URL to the social media image descriptions so that people can go to your website and also source the image back to you if they decide to use it.
Having your photos out there and an easy way to contact you (your store or site) is a great way to attract attention and gain sponsorships and perks. If you’ve built a following and are traveling to a specific city, you can use your traffic volume to pitch a hotel or bed and breakfast for a free night.
To make a pitch stand out more, send sample hotel/food posts that have a lot of shares and activity on them. The samples show the sponsor the quality of your work and the activity shows that you can generate real engagement. You may also want to offer them the rights to a shot of their choosing in exchange for the perk. Next, you’ll need to look at your website and social media analytics.
If you have a decent amount of fans in a specific region, try writing to some restaurants in that area and agree to do reviews in exchange for a nice meal. The same goes for entertainment and tours.
National parks, airlines, and even some cities offer press junket trips so that you get to experience everything while also going behind the scenes. If you have the audience, it doesn’t hurt to write to them and see if you can gain sponsorship money as well as complimentary rooms, board, and entertainment. The sponsor will be happy if you drive the traffic to them and you’ll earn money, or at least get a free perk.
Once you have an audience on your website you can begin monetizing the traffic. Try a mix of monetization techniques including:
Plus a lot more…
By finding the right mix of monetization strategies, a way to sell your work, and building a loyal following, you can use your photography to help fund your travels. It all starts with having a website and a blog to sell and share your work. From there, if you have the talent and a bit of luck, you can build a solid stream of income to help fund your journey.
Fear. Anxiety. Seasickness. Claustrophobia. Chances are that if you’re trying scuba diving for the first time, you’ll feel one or more of these things. Whether it’s concerns about breathing underwater or being bewildered by all the scuba gear – regulator, fins, wetsuit, and even a weight harness – scuba diving can be overwhelming when you start.
And that’s totally normal. Let’s face it – unless you’re born an amphibian, breathing from a tank underwater is an unnatural experience. I’m from the northeast of England – an industrial, socially radical city where beaches, warm and clear oceans, and scuba diving are completely foreign concepts. But after snorkeling and scuba diving in places like Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands, here are my top 10 tips for taking the plunge – no pun intended.
Most people don’t think about how they’re breathing each day, but when you’re underwater, you can hear your breathing and are using a respirator to do so, which can be a bit weird initially. Just take things slowly and breathe in and out at a calm pace. You can also use a full face dive mask as this will allow you to breathe from your nose and mouth at the same time.
Rather than diving into the water from the back of a boat, see if you can get into the water by walking in from the shore, or practicing in a swimming pool. It helps to become acquainted with the scuba diving experience this way and most likely will be how you start if you’re doing an Open Water diver course.
Any reputable scuba diving school will make sure that everyone has a buddy before they go diving. It’s a really important safety procedure so that groups can dive and cooperate with each other. Find someone with more experience than you to be your buddy as well as the scuba instructor; diving with a group can help you feel more comfortable and also give you the opportunity to make friends with people with who you can talk about your diving experiences afterward.
There are a lot of common hand signals when diving because you obviously cannot talk underwater. Make sure that you are aware of the most important signals before diving – okay, not okay, up/end the dive, down, slow down, stop, and low on air. Don’t worry if you happen to forget some of these, as long as you remember the most important ones you will be fine.
Ear woes can be a big challenge for even the most experienced scuba divers. Equalizing your ears means opening up the lower ends of your Eustachian tubes to allow air to enter the cavity of your ears, countering the pressure from the outside as you dive deeper. There are a number of techniques to equalize – whether it’s pinching your nose and swallowing, or pinching your nose and blowing air up through your throat. It may be tricky at first, but find the most effective technique for you.
There are hundreds upon hundreds of scuba diving schools worldwide and they all offer a different experience. Ahead of your dive, make a point to visit the diving center and meet your instructor. Don’t be afraid to chat with him or her and explain your concerns. Most instructors are very helpful and it’s totally rare for them to literally want to throw you in the deep end and just deal with what’s going on around you. Scuba instructors have most likely seen your worries a thousand times. If you’re still feeling nervous, asking to prepare ahead of time in calmer waters or even a private lesson may be another option.
Scuba diving can be a surprisingly tiring activity. While many experienced divers look like they are swimming along effortlessly beneath the ocean surface, it can be quite exhausting – the oxygen tanks are rather heavy on land, there’s a lot of gear to contend with, and initially equalizing may take some time to get used to. Like any physical activity, making sure you have enough rest and energy beforehand makes a big difference.
Worried about life underwater wanting to gobble you up? Well have no fear; even sharks aren’t really bothered about scuba divers. You are a decent size, have protective equipment on, as well as a big metal air tank and bubbles coming out of your regulator. For your first dive, you’ll most likely be in an area well-frequented by other divers and not very far from the surface, so the chances are slim of something coming and challenging you in the water.
Remember that this is something you want. You want to be free under the water, see the beautifully colored fish, swim over mountains of coral, move like you are flying, discover space again during night dives, or get pumped at swimming with sharks! Remember this is what you can do. Everything takes time, but once you get this, it’ll be an exhilarating, addicting experience. Motivate yourself by maybe looking at pictures or watching some scuba documentaries before your dive. It will bring a sense of calmness to you, and excitement and will remind you why this is such an awesome thing to do.
Diving Cozumel [Video] by Mike Gerrie
Many believe that we do not belong so deep in the water. We are humans and we belong on the surface, so of course, it may feel foreign to you. However, treat this as an opportunity, to explore and do something different. Think of yourself as an underwater adventurer, like in the movies. Scuba is a great experience and can be an awesome hobby and cool job. Most of the people in the world will not Scuba dive in their lifetime, let alone get over their fears to try it. This is your time and your experience. Live it.
If you still feel nervous, know that there are many accredited schools where you can take a range of PADI scuba diving programs to become more comfortable with the ins and outs of scuba diving. Whether it’s diving with marine life, exploring shipwrecks, or enjoying the open water, scuba diving around the world is an amazing experience.
I had known about Esperanto, the world’s most widely spoken artificial language since I was a teenager. Connected to the noble ideas of internationalism and equality, it attracted me even then.
Esperanto was created in the second half of the 19th century by a Polish ophthalmologist, Ludwik Zamenhof. Growing up during the time of the Russian empire in what today would be eastern Poland, Zamenhof was surrounded by several different ethnic groups all having their own mother tongue: Yiddish, Polish, German and Ukrainian, for instance. To communicate with each other they all spoke in Russian. The idea behind creating Esperanto was that it should be an easy-to-learn language for international communication, putting everyone on an egalitarian level. Nobody would be forced to learn the mother tongue of another.
When I started looking into Esperanto last year, it was out of sheer curiosity, not with the intention to actually learn it. But as I read about it, I soon noticed I was already picking it up. I realized it would take me a minimum effort to acquire, so I went for it. I started with this website. It is the biggest Esperanto online forum, with interactive lessons and access to a huge community of speakers.
Esperanto grammar is as simple as possible, while still allowing one to express complex concepts like any natural language does. It is 100% logical, which means that there are straightforward rules and no exceptions. Anyone who has ever tried to learn a natural language will know how frustratingly difficult it can be to memorize all the exceptions which usually occur.
While Esperanto grammar can be said to be a simplified version of the grammar of Romance languages, the vocabulary has several origins: Romance languages, German, English, Russian, and Greek. This facilitates learning for speakers of any one of these languages. The bulk of Esperanto verbs come from Romance roots, for example, the verbs labori (to work), legi (to read) or dormi (to sleep). Many people around the world either speak a Romance language or had a bit of French or Spanish at school. Even if they never began to really speak these languages and forgot most of the lessons they had, many words will come back up from the depths of their minds if they try to learn Esperanto. English speakers will also recognize these words from somewhere since English has absorbed a lot of French and Latin loanwords over the past millennium. Isn’t labori close to “labour”, legi close to “legible” and dormi to “dormant”?
Since I am a speaker of German, English, Russian, French, and Spanish, and have also done five years of Latin in high school, I will admit I was predisposed to absorbing most of Esperanto’s vocabulary very quickly. The only words I really had to learn from scratch were those of Greek origin. I can honestly say it felt like I learned how to use Esperanto in only two weeks. For a language lover like me, it was like being given a free toy.
While I may have personally picked it up with exceptional ease, it is generally accepted that anyone can learn Esperanto in three to six months. Especially for individuals who would like to become polyglots, that is, for people who want to learn not just one specific foreign language but several ones, it can be a good idea to master Esperanto early on. Because, as all language lovers know, language learning gets easier with each language you already have under your belt.
One of the things that struck me when I first listened to Esperanto was how pretty I thought it sounded. That definitely surprised me for an artificial language.
As the temperatures in the Northern hemisphere drop, we trade surf for snow, and what better place to be for winter than Europe. Not just for the rich and famous, snow sports open their chilly legs wide for all to enjoy.
We are talking snowy alpine peaks, warm apre bars, daggy one-piece suits, ski goggles, and the ridiculous tan lines that come with them. Within this pristine pass-time, however, there is some serious rivalry; skiers vs. snowboarders.
So we’ve put together a comparison of the smartly-suited, elegant skier and the baggy-clothed, chilled-out, snowboarder.
Slimmer pants, a fitted ski jacket, eisbar beanie, and matching scarf and gloves, matching goggles. More plain and simple colors.
Knees and legs
Ice and bumpy terrain, flatter areas. Easier to learn but harder to master.
Nordics created skis to get around, go hunting, and for military ops.
Alpine, Freestyle, Park, Nordic, Military, and others
GNAR – Gaffney’s Numerical Assessment of Radness (see the movie of the same name)
Snow-bunny – an inexperienced female skier who’s more into sitting at the cafe with a coffee looking cute than actually getting better.
Snow scum – boarders who don’t give a damn about the rules aka snowboarders
Bros and Big air – friends and a good deal of time in the air during a jump
Dicks on Sticks – Usually heard coming from a snowboarder's mouth
Ski-Bum – Seasonal workers who work more on a hangover than they do for money.
Apre Ski – Means “After Ski”; copious drinking after riding
Baggy pants, loud clothing, beanie with bright colors, and pom-poms in all the right places. Backpack for beers.
Wrists, collar bones, and knees
Picking up the opposite sex. Powder and tree runs, jumping off shit. Harder to learn.
Invented by Sherman Poppen as a toy for his daughter, or maybe a surfer just got lost
Park riding, Jibbing, Freeriding, Freestyle and Freecarve
Pow – Deep snow, the reason to get out of bed in the morning
“Dude, that was epic pow!”
Shreddin’/Ridin’/Cruisin’ – to ride
Basically the snow equivalent of surfer lingo
Stomp/Bail – succeed or fail at a landing
“She just stomped that landing.”
Jibbing – sliding over objects that aren’t snow (eg. trees, rails, a skier)
Taco – to fall over a fence/rail so your body folds in half.
Scorpion – Falling forward so your legs come behind and hit you on the back of the head
Ski-Bum – See Skier's terms
Wanks on Planks – A response from Skiers when referred to as Dicks on Sticks.
So there you have it, it’s now up to you to decide which team you are on; a boarder dude or dudette or a skier bro or bro-ette… and then get to the snow.
One thing we know for sure that both sides have in common is the love of Apre Ski, a daily ritual in which they both unclip, loosen up and pickle themselves in a wondrous mix of Jagermeister, beer, schnapps, mulled wine, and pretty much anything they can get their hands on.
No matter the side, you will be up on the bar dancing arm in arm with your forgotten rival singing songs you don’t understand.
If you are looking for a snow holiday with more bang for your buck, try Andorra on for size. This tiny tax-free principality sandwiched between France and Spain offers great snow and smaller crowds.
For weekend trips leaving from Barcelona, check out Stoke Travel. Be sure to stock up on tax-free booze while you’re there, especially the 90% unnamed alcohol that will get you on your way in one swig.
A wicked weekend skiing and boarding with Stoke Travel in Andorra only two hours from Barcelona. For a free beanie book with the code BACKPACKER (valued at €15)
When I was 20 I moved to Paris. The first room I rented was on rue de Charonne. Yes, rue de Charonne, the same street where a drive-by shooting killed 19 yesterday evening. My home was about 500 meters uphill from that spot. The Bataclan, where over 80 people died last night, was a popular music venue already then, and it was within reasonable walking distance from my home. Seeing bands was what I loved doing, so I went there a few times.
Evidently, what happened last night seemed far from the conceivable then. A hundred people lying on the ground and playing dead while hate-filled men were shooting into the crowd – I presume it seemed inconceivable even while it was happening.
These events were immeasurably shocking and revolting.
During my first year in Paris, the year during which I turned 21, I got a few different jobs one after the other, mostly waitressing. Gladly, I already spoke French. It was pretty hard surviving in the expensive huge city. If I hadn’t known any of the language, it might have been impossible.
My long journey learning French began many years earlier, as a teenager in Germany.
In high school, I studied Latin and Spanish, not French, but I had been reading books in French (Albert Camus “L’Étranger”, anyone?) and sometimes watched French serials on cable TV, while I still lived with my parents.
After I moved out at 18, I was busy with other projects. Only about a year later the old dream caught up with me: I finally wanted to learn how to speak French, not just understand it passively. And I also wanted to go on an adventure!
My decision was to go to West Africa. I did not have a lot of money, so I just put out my thumb and started hitchhiking southwest through Europe. In southern Spain, I took the boat to Morocco, and over the following six months I was to visit over ten different West African countries. It was an amazing journey, and a learning experience on many levels, not only as concerned the language. But yes, my French got a lot better!
Years later when I told a Parisian acquaintance about that trip, she snobbishly exclaimed, “you went to West Africa to learn French? But they have such a different accent!” Honestly, when you are just about starting to string together the most basic sentences, it does not matter that much if you are surrounded by an accent that is considered non-standard. When you are still learning some of the most basic words, such as “table” and “chair”, a little bit of a different pronunciation will hardly hinder your progress.
I dedicate this blog post to all the victims of terrorist attacks that happened across three countries yesterday: 43 dead in Beirut, 26 in Baghdad, and 129 counted in Paris until now. Let’s also not forget the people of Syria who die every day. Each person who lost their life is someone whose plans and dreams were destroyed. Their absence tears a hole into the lives of their close ones. Words cannot even begin to express sorrow.
I’ve always been someone who has gone after everything I’ve wanted. Nothing ever seemed hard or impossible; the more challenging a dream was, the more fun I had chasing it.
At 13, I asked my mum to move to a different country, at 14 I went on a student exchange to Australia that triggered my sense of wanderlust. After a social gap year in Costa Rica didn’t work out as I’d planned, I moved to Cape Town, living and working in a hostel.
When it was time to enroll in university I hesitated, but eventually, I got the major I had set my eyes on and into the only school that I applied for, receiving a spot in the exchange program and the scholarship to go with it.
It seems like the longer and faster you ride a bike the easier it gets to sustain the speed that you have gained over time. I have been riding that bike for a long time, and I might not have realized just how easy it had become. I was dancing, flying, spinning, all the while with my heart wide open. The thing is, sometimes there’s a bump in the road that you might not have expected; a bump that you haven’t seen coming.
I was about to take a bus back to Bangkok when my boyfriend called. “One of the puppies at the orphanage we had volunteered at in Cambodia got rabies,” he told me. “Are you sure?” I asked after a silence that lasted too long. “Yes,” he said. “It had every single sign.” Every single sign, it took a while for that to sink in. The foam in front of its tiny mouth was only starting to grow teeth. The aggression. The disorientation. The paralysis and the pain. The symptoms were obvious, there was no room for speculations. I was scared. Mostly for Zach and the 27 children he was still with. At the time I didn’t worry about myself.
The bus ride to Bangkok was hell. I got stomach cramps and diarrhea, the bus broke down and we got stuck at the border. When we arrived in Bangkok 28 hours later I was exhausted and weak. Later, I told myself, I would be laughing at this trip.
It wasn’t until I was on the plane the next day, somewhere between Asia and home, that I thought about the different symptoms again. I had been biting my lips until they were raw, my stomach hurt, my head ached and the lights seemed too bright. Zach had sent me a screenshot with symptoms of rabies. Somewhere on my phone was the screenshot. I had left the orphanage a week ago. How long had the dogs been sick already?
With shaking fingers I fiddled through my bag, grabbing the phone and dropping it again a few times before finally getting hold of it. I became desperate the longer my fingers swiped over the screen — back, back, back to when we had first talked about it. Then everything stopped. The plane might have stopped midair, for all I knew the world might have stopped spinning.
“The initial symptoms of rabies are often vague,” it said. “It can be easy to mistake them for other, less serious types of infection.” There was a list: Fever. Headache. Feeling generally unwell. Feeling scared and anxious. My nails dug into my palms, leaving red marks on clenched fists. I squeezed my eyes shut and leaned back in the seat while I felt my heart racing in my chest. I had not been bitten. I had not been bitten. I had not been bitten. — I had mosquito bites. I had scratched them open. I had open mosquito bites all over my legs.
The worst part was that there was nothing I could do, no one I could talk to. We wouldn’t land for another five hours, I was literally stuck on the plane; thought I was going insane.
At London Heathrow, I found a bathroom. The girl who stared back at me from the full-length mirror looked tired, red-eyed, and scared. Skinnier than I remembered her. Frail. I couldn’t recognize myself.
My connecting flight to Hamburg wasn’t until the next morning. I found a computer and sat down, Googled and read until tears blurred my vision and I had to stop. People walked past me but I couldn’t see their faces. I would go to the hospital as soon as I got back, but should I really be — should I really have — there would be nothing anyone could do. I would die. The truth of this realization was so painful and real that minutes passed before I moved. I begged my mind to stop thinking but knew that it would never let me. How could I think of anything else? How could I not be scared? How could I not be angry? How could I have been so reckless? So stupid?
Lying across a row of chairs inside the airport, I fell asleep and woke again, terrified and dizzy. It was as if my thoughts themselves had turned into viruses that started to eat me up from within. One time I woke up because I was screaming. I was no longer at the airport. I was at a hospital. My back arched, hands gripping the cool bed frame, knuckles white and prominent, I was screaming for a doctor, screaming for him to take away the pain.
I didn’t want to die. I wanted to go home. I wanted to get old and have children. Please, please, please, I repeated over and over, please let us all be okay. It was all I could think about. Zach. Mariana. Luka. Cook. The children. Please let us be okay.
It’s crazy what the prospect of death does to you; how pointless and irrelevant everything that you’ve done, thought, and accomplished up until then becomes all of the sudden. How willingly you would trade it all; how willingly you would give it all back if it meant that you could live.
I went to the hospital the day that I got home. My mum was with me, sitting next to me in a waiting room full of people. I scanned the square room with its white walls and tried to picture the thoughts behind the faces I didn’t dare to look at, wondering why they had come here on this sunny and warm autumn day in Hamburg.
In the car, on the way home, I cried. The day after, I took my dog for a walk along the river near the house. Colorful leaves started to cover the ground but I still felt like I barely even saw them. On the way back, I stumbled over chestnuts. I picked them up and smiled while tears filled my eyes once more.
Twelve days have passed since the doctor has shaken my hand and told me that I was safe, that I was healthy, that I was okay. I haven’t been skipping since. I haven’t been running. I haven’t laughed that carefree laugh that you might have gotten so used to over the years that you have known me. I know that I was so lucky. But I was also so stupid. And I still get angry at myself for what happened.
I hope that I can be myself again soon. For now though, I am taking baby steps. I am far from dancing and spinning. I’m learning how to walk again.
Traveling can be really expensive. But once you get bitten by the travel bug, you can’t seem to help yourself. Wanderlust takes over rationality as you embark on an adventure. However, you should not live like a pauper in order to save up for a trip.
Preparing for a trip should be a fun and exciting experience, money woes just dampen your excitement. So here are 10 tips to help you save (and make) money on your travels!
It may be impossible to check the price of every single airline flying to your destination. Instead of manually tracking 20 airlines individually, use Skyscanner or Kayak to find the cheapest flights! Learn more from our previous post – How to get a deal when booking.
Sometimes it may be cheaper to book a flight to a city that is past your destination and get off at the transfer airport. Skiplagged, is a great site that searches for these types of fares. They even got sued by United Airlines because the airlines don’t want you using this method. This method can be difficult to find a fare that fits your itinerary since the system only works if your destination is a hub city of the airline you are flying and you have no checked baggage.
Some websites offer refunds if flight prices drop below the price that you purchased your ticket at. To track flight prices use websites such as Yapta to help keep track of ticket prices.
Unfortunately, this service is currently only available for a selection of North American-based airlines but it is worth noting.
Transport within a city can be really expensive. Buying a transport card could certainly help you save money in some major cities. For example, the London Oyster Card has a daily maximum cap so you won’t have to pay more after exceeding 6.40 Pounds. This is very beneficial if you plan on taking a bunch of trips in a single day.
There are a number of sites that let you search for, and book a hotel room at a discounted rate (often as cheap as a hostel). Rooms can be sorted according to price, the number of stars, reviews, and a variety of other filters. It is so much simpler to compare and check room rates.
Backpacker Travel has partnered with one of the biggest and best hotel comparison sites – Hotelscombined.
If you are looking for a home away from home, Airbnb is definitely the place to be. Why not book an entire holiday villa while traveling to Bali with your buddies on a surfing trip? It is so much cheaper compared to booking multiple hotel rooms. In addition, you have all the amenities you need such as a kitchen, multiple showers and in some cases, a pool.
Bonus: If you haven’t used Airbnb before, Backpacker Travel are giving you a $20 credit to use on your first booking. Claim your credit here.
Try your hand at working on a farm or just by helping locals who need a hand. Many sites offer accommodation and possibly board as well in return for work. The most popular ones include WWOOF, HelpX, and Workaway. The duration and the benefits of each job depending on the Host. Some hosts offer accommodation and activities after long working hours while others offer a meal for shorter working hours.
Use your skills to support your travels! Work some of those creative juices and earn some extra cash while doing it. Sites like Freelancer, UpWork, and Fiverr. A day of work in exchange for a week of fun and adventure? Where do I sign up!
Use a website such as StudentUniverse or STA Travel to find discounted flights. Membership is generally free and really simple. All you need to do is to verify that you are a current student (or faculty member), but these tickets save you on average $100. It’s great if you are planning to travel while on an exchange program or during summer breaks.
As we grow older or busier with our lives it is hard to pack up and leave for an adventure. Schedules clash. Destinations don’t match up. Why not join Penroads and make a new friend to travel the world with? Having a travel buddy could bring double the protection and savings. You can easily share fuel costs if you are road tripping or food cost when cooking at the hostel.
Traveling doesn’t have to be expensive. There are loads of tips and hacks that can help you save money while you travel, but sometimes the information can be a little overwhelming.
That’s why the team at Penroads decided to make an ebook filled with all the different hacks that will help you travel cheaply for a more meaningful experience. The ebook is completely free! Feel free to share it with your family and friends if you think that it is useful.
