Motivational

Hop On Hop Off Backpacker Bus Travel – A Detailed Case Study

Featured
The passengers from the Stray bus at an authentic Maori cultural experience.

What’s it like to travel on a hop-on hop-off bus? I recently finished a whirlwind, twenty-five day trip around all of New Zealand with a hop-on hop-off bus company called Stray.  While I normally trend towards much more independent travel methods, I felt this was the way to flashpack across New Zealand.  Had I been [...]

See more →

Flashpacking New Zealand with Stray – Day 2 – Maori Culture

Featured
Performaing the Haka at Uncle Boy's in New Zealand

Up and out by 8am this morning headed to Wiatomo for some caving.  There’s multiple options for activities today so the way it works on the bus is Mambo will tell us a bit about each option before passing back a clipboard where we sign up for what we want.  The activities are all at [...]

See more →

Flashpacking New Zealand with Stray – Day 1 – Endless Summer

Featured
Surfer Girls on Raglan Beach

Day one started about like you’d expect – an early rise, an eagerness to get started, and a curiosity about the people I’d be traveling with over the next week or so before hopping off in Wellington.  My itinerary is such that I’ll be spending extra time in Wellington and Queenstown, which means I’ll be [...]

See more →

Stray Off the Beaten Track – A Flashpacker Tours New Zealand

Featured
The Stray bus in the New Zealand wilderness.

I’m about to stray from the standard articles that you might be used to on this blog.  Eight hours from now I will be starting day one of a 27-day trip around both islands of New Zealand with a company called “Stray”.  I will be blogging regularly about the experience and the activities we will [...]

See more →

10 Surreal Flashpacker Experiences (PART 2)

Featured
The Ombashira festival in Japan was a very surreal experience.

A couple weeks ago I shared five surreal experiences as part of my 2nd year “travelversary”.  I had intended to share ten but realized it would have been far too long a post so split it into two.  Immediately after that, I went on a road trip through Western Australia and was unable to get [...]

See more →

10 Surreal Flashpacking Experiences (in two parts)

Featured
Lasers fire into the crowd at Pasha in Ibiza, Spain.

May 4th marks the 2nd anniversary of my having left home to go on this big flashpacking adventure.  A few of the things I’ve seen and done were things I’d planned from the start.  Most of the highlights, however, have been unplanned or unexpected. I am a firm believer that travelers should create a loose [...]

See more →

Travel NOW! Why You Must Start Your Trip Right Away!

Featured
A wooden walkway on a small island near Koh Tao in Thailand.

It’s a standard topic for many travel blogs: you should travel.  We all know you want to, but there’s something holding you back.  Whether it’s your job, a mortgage, pets, kids, money, whatever – if you’re reading this blog, odds are pretty high that you want to travel. Big flashpacking trips and long-term travel require [...]

See more →

Interesting Travelers – Interview with Gabriel Kuperman

Featured
Gabriel Kuperman, Founder of the Luang Prabang International Film Festival

I arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos, in early December, 2010, intending on only spending four days there before heading to Thailand.  During my early explorations, I came across a sign near the city center promoting a film festival that was starting in two days.  Thoroughly intrigued, I decided to attend the opening ceremony the following evening.  The opening [...]

See more →

Travel Blogger Case Study: Caz and Craig from yTravelBlog

Featured
Caz and Craig from yTravelBlog

Caz and Craig of yTravelBlog are an Australian couple whose aim is to inspire others to get out and travel for all the benefits it brings. In the world of travel blogs, you’ll find these two to be some of the most prolific content providers, both on their blog and on their facebook page. They [...]

See more →

Flashpacking New Zealand

Featured
Somewhere between Queensland and Milford Sound - Photo by Jonas Seaman

Every flashpacker knows it – New Zealand is king of “extreme activities”.  It’s where the bungee jump got its start and is home from everything to hiking glaciers and gorgeous treks to scuba diving and whale watching.  Many people know about the recent quake that hit Christchurch on February 22nd and this inspired a group [...]

See more →

What’s keeping you from Travel?!

Featured
The sleeping Buddha in Luang Prabang, Laos.

There are many people I know who would rather stay put in a job or situation they know than move to a new situation they have no knowledge of.  They’d say, “The devil I know is better than the devil I don’t”.  When it comes to travel, I believe this same mentality is what prevents [...]

See more →

7 Reasons why it is imperative you stay in a hostel!

Featured
Backpacker Miyajima Hostel 30 minutes away from Hiroshima, Japan, and right next door to the ferry that takes you to the island across the harbor

Hostels are the ideal place for the flashpacker to lay their head.  However, instead of sleeping in a dorm room with five other people, flashpackers will put up a little more money for their own private room.  This gives them all of the benefits of staying in a hostel while eliminating one of their biggest [...]

See more →