Archive for Flashpacking

Nothing comes free

January 19, 2012 / Backpacking Ninja / No comments
wifi

Just got a message from my best friend this morning – “I’m sitting in a cafe with free wifi in Bandra, drinking black coffee – actually it just occurred to me, it’s not free wifi, the coffee’s so expensive it probably pays for the whole street’s wifi!”

And, that’s when it struck me that nothing really comes free. It’s just the way people package things and throw it your way that you get fooled so easily and sucked into spending a lot more than what you would.

Damn! I wish I’d heard this before running around half the world trying to search for free wi-fi spots, spending more money than I actually would have spent in an internet cafe.

Watch out for this sign. Free WiFi equals Expensive Espresso.

 

 

Category: Flashpacking, Life, Not Just Travel, Travel Tips / Tags: ,

No excess baggage

September 29, 2010 / admin / 8 comments

I remember the 40 Kg suitcase I carried on my first trip abroad. I disown that trip. Today, trying to master the art of traveling with 8 – 10 kgs luggage (realistic) and less than 8 kgs (optimistic), here are some of the things that have really worked for me.

Rule No 1 – Restrict your luggage to what you can carry. Nothing works better than a backpack and a daypack. Backpack for your basics. Daypack for your gadgets. The minute you need someone to help you with your luggage, you are way beyond traveling light. (This excludes the chivalry shown by cute backpackers around you)

Rule No 2 – Make a list of the things you need based on the number of days you are traveling for. Chances are very high that you may eliminate things even at the list level. I have often noticed that seeing hairdryers and high heels in writing, in a backpacking list, makes you rethink your entire list.

Rule No 3 – Use the 1/3 principle. If you are traveling for 3 weeks, pack for just 1 week. Wash and wear again – Finding a laundromat abroad is never an issue. If your only worry is wearing the same clothes across photographs, just take 2 thin colourful scarfs to mix and match.

Rule No 4 – Minimize heavy clothing and take layers instead. Using 3 t shirts instead of 1 bulky jacket helps reduce the load tremendously. Likewise, using a really think rain poncho is better than carrying a large waterproof windcheater. Except for extreme snow, you can manage with the layer principle for every type of weather.

Rule No 5 – Try to take multi-purpose things. For eg: A Dupatta that works as a Sarong in the beach, as a sheet to sleep on and as a cover during cold journeys. Folding it up, it even serves as a soft pillow. Buffs protect in the cold, work as headbands at anytime and eye masks in a long flight. An Ipod that also works as a backup storage device.

Rule No 6 – Travel with things that don’t mean much to you. If you think you are carrying a load, you can always get rid of somethings. Hostels aborad even have boxes where you can drop your stuff that other travelers get to reuse. (I buried shoes that meant a whole lot to me in a National Park in Brazil and cried over it. Unnecessary trauma I could have avoided)

Rule No 7 – Shopping is the biggest hazard to traveling light. If you buy something, get rid of something equally heavy from your bag. (If you are the kind to buy sculptures et all, backpacking may not be a good idea unless you have money to Fed Ex it)

Its not just about the ‘Traveling light’ philosophy. There are a special packing tips that have worked for me too. Here they are –

Find the backpack that is made for you. If you can spend half an hour in the dressing room of Shoppers, you can spend 10 minutes at the Wildcraft store picking out the right bag.

Place the heaviest stuff in the bottom inside area of the backpack. This really removes the load of your shoulder when you lift them. (Heavy stuff does not mean you carry a Shantaram book around your backpacking trip). The minute you have the right bag, everything else falls into place (literally).

Roll clothing instead of packing them in layers. This takes up less space. (A T shirt rolled up looks like a sock, I’m serious)

Start the trip with atleast 30% space left in your backpack. Unless you unpack and repack tightly on a daily basis, chances are that your stuff will expand to take up the entire space. (Yes, badly packed backpacks are Pandora boxes that don’t shut)

Segregate your stuff into multiple compartments. This ensures that you don’t empty your entire bag to remove one pair of socks.

At the end, do the drop test with your backpack. See if you can lift your bag and throw it like a shotput across the room. If it lands without spilling the contents or bursting open, you have managed to pack light.

Category: Backpacking Tips, Flashpacking, Packing & Gear, Travel Tips / Tags: , , , ,

Flashback-packing !

August 15, 2010 / admin / 4 comments

It was exactly 5 years ago that I left on my first backpacking trip out of India. August 2005. My first Europe trip as well. I guess its been no looking back ever since that trip. So, this is a blast from the past – the post I wrote before my first trip.

fatter me larger backpack

I had been dreaming for eight years and saving for two years to go for a Formula 1 Grand Prix and that’s how it all started…


The Italian Grand Prix was in September… Scarlet Ferraris … Scarlet flags… thousands of fans dressed in scarlet… I sure wanted a taste of it… By March, I had accomplished the most difficult task… convincing my husband that our entire saving needs to go towards financing his wife’s dream to see Schumacher in flesh and blood. The decision that we were going to make that trip… Those words ‘Yes honey, I think we can manage with a zero balance in our bank accounts for sometime’… those were the most encouraging words for me. I just had those words, a free Internet connection at office and my will to plan the entire trip…


‘Entire Trip’ – you must be wondering how Italian Grand Prix turned into entire trip… Well, who goes all the way to Italy and just visits little Monza without seeing all the beautiful cities and countries in and around Italy… I bought a nice notebook and wrote my name very stylishly… and gave it a title ‘Mission Monza’. 6 months to go. That’s sufficient time to plan… So I thought… After all, I was an amateur traveler… My earlier experiences were limited to official trips within the country invariably planned by my company, school excursions geographically limited to South India planned by the teachers, family trips planned and funded by parents or impromptu day trips with friends in and around places where I have lived.


In any case, I started very optimistic like most people do, wanting to see all of Europe in 20 days and with a budget in mind that could probably just take me to the airport and back. My first itinerary looked like the index of an atlas. It had all the names of all the cities that I knew existed, within each of those European countries that I could spell correctly. If I had gone with that itinerary, sure shot I would have spent more nights and days in buses and trains and probably managed to catch the E of Eiffel Tower and L of Leaning Tower of Pisa.


Where do I start? Where… I was confused like any other traveler wanting to see the world. I decided to start by buying the traveler’s bible – Lonely Planet’s Europe on a Shoestring. I always wondered why it was Europe on a Shoestring and not Europe on a Sock with a hole in it. That’s probably how much I could afford.Now that I had committed close to 1000 Rs on a guidebook, there is no backing out… Right! Nope… my husband was having second thoughts about the cost of the trip, considering the excel sheet cost estimates that I was mailing him everyday after reading a few pages of the guidebook. I had to do something before he changed his mind. I decided to commit on the most expensive thing, which is buying our air tickets. Once we buy our air tickets, there is definitely no backing out… (Evil me waving those expensive air tickets in front of my husbands face with an innocent pout which stands for ‘Guess what I bought for us honey’ look… I am sure that would work!)


Air Tickets… Air tickets… I decided to go to The Wanderers… they are travel agents if you are wondering whether they were a band or something… I felt like I was sitting for an interview to do a Ph.D. in Travel & Tourism… they asked me intelligent questions like where I wanted to go, what I wanted to see, how many days, what was my budget, blah blah… And my preparation was weaker than my preparation for a microeconomics examination… I learnt 2 lessons that day… Lesson 1 – A cheap holiday is not easy… the more it costs you in terms or time and preparation, the lesser it will cost you in terms of money… Lesson 2 – A traveler has to learn to sacrifice… The list I had drawn out would ideally take someone a year to cover… and I just had to get more realistic… The objective is not to tick off 30 places like a To Do List… The fun is in experiencing each place like you are tasting a new flavour of ice cream for the first time… relishing every moment and making it last long… I rushed out promising to return after doing my homework.


Rome, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Milan, Paris, Bordeaux, Nice, Monaco, Cannes, Corsica, Barcelona, Madrid, Ibiza, Amsterdam, Brussels, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Interlaken, Zurich, Montreux, Lucerne… I started with a list 3 times longer… Pages of scribbling, pouring over the Internet, I landed up with a realistic list… 3 countries in 3 weeks… France, Italy, Switzerland… here I come!


How did I shortlist these three… Italy… well the race was happening there… that was obvious… The other two were the difficult choices to make… I could have done Sweden and Turkey… or Poland and Belgium… wait a minute… I did not need ‘Europe for Dummies’ to figure out that France and Switzerland were neighbouring Italy and would hence be logical options… Thank the map vendor outside Andheri Shopper’s Stop who sold us a world map about a year ago… We decided on these two countries instantly… all the stuff I had downloaded on other countries were neatly transferred to this folder called ‘Ruled Out’.


The next two months went in a flurry, a completely crazy time pouring over hundreds of hostel reviews, Eurail timetables, sightseeing websites and I felt like I had already seen most of the places I intended to travel to. I could tell you how long it would take to travel between each of the cities I planned to go to by train, air or bus, with daily departures and fare details. I could tell how much it would cost to stay in a 4 bed dorm, 6 bed dorm, mixed dorm, double room, twin room, single room in atleast 10 hostels in each of the cities. I could tell you where you could get beer for a Euro… After this intense research, I had excel sheets titled Itinerary Version 1.0, Version 1.1 and so on… linked to Stay Options sheet, Sightseeing sheet and finally a formula filled cost sheet which would calculate the cost automatically. I tried thousands of permutations and combinations till I saw the magical figure, which was my budget, on the cost sheet. I was home.


The best part of this search was short-listing a hostel in each city. With peculiar names like 3 Ducks Hostel, Flying Pig Hostel and Fawlty Towers
Hostel, I guess we had to rely on reviews and a large amount of gut feel, before we chose any hostel… there were equal amount of good reviews and bad reviews for each of those places… So, I figured the best approach was to actually book the cheapest place and take a chance… If two places tie for the cheapest option, then book one with perks like free breakfast, proximity to railway station, non-shared bathrooms, sheets for free, free maps, free internet connection, no curfew… the list is endless.


With everything figured out pretty much, the only thing left was to get a Visa to visit those countries. I was enraged to find out that British citizens and American citizens do not require a Visa to enter Schengen countries. I started my Visa application process in a protestor mode… ‘How can you discriminate against India’ mode… that was just my ‘Rebel without a clue’ side waking up for a few days… After a couple of days, I was feeling practical and started collecting all the documentation required… the docket I made contained everything from my blood group to my tax returns to my marriage certificate to my ration card… I had no clue what the guy at the French Embassy would do with all these details… as long as he let me and my husband enter his country as tourists… The fat docket and a crisp covering letter on my company letterhead clearly stating that I had a secure job in India, which paid well, was the assurance that I did not intend to run away to France to sell postcards outside Eiffel Tower. Oh God… how much I hated to lie…


Anyway… to cut a long story short… we got our Visa… confirmed our bookings… planned a little more… and it was now frightfully close to August and we still did not have backpacks. Carrying suitcases and walking all around was out of question. I searched on the net, on roadside luggage stores in town and suburbs and just couldn’t find a nice looking comfortable backpack. The search for the Holy Grail would have been easier. After umpteen enquiries, I managed to find a tiny store in Matunga, selling professional backpacks for long trips. Who would think the place most known for Idlis and Dosas in Bombay would be the place where I would find the ideal backpack. Mumbai Masala proves itself, yet again…


All our bags are packed, we are ready to go… Come August 20th and we set out of our homes with our backpacks and every vegetable Vendor in Pali market was wondering why we were carrying a bag the size of a sack of potatoes and grinning like idiots at 6 am in the morning… Little did they know what was in store for us… Little did we know…


Like I have always said in all my stories… the journey is the reward… the three weeks come and go like a super fast train… but it’s the planning which makes me feel like I went on a six month trip and not three weeks…


What happened in those three weeks… Well, this pre travelogue is not meant for that… Watch out for the travelogue… Coming soon to your mailbox!

Category: Air Travel, Backpacking Tips, Europe, Flashpacking, France, Hostels & Hotels, Italy, Monaco, Packing & Gear, Switzerland, Travel Tips, Visas & Immigration / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wi-Fi Wonders

September 30, 2008 / Backpacking Ninja / One comment

Warning – Informative post with not much humour. Read keeping that in mind. And dont send emails that my writing skills are going down the drain.

When you are on such a long holiday, it does make sense to have your own laptop. Why…. cause there is free Wi-fi. So far, I haven’t paid a cent for internet. All I had to do was hang out at free wi-fi zones with my EEE PC and I was online. Read my post below to learn where you are most likely to find free wi-fi… why pay when you can get something for free.

Before I even begin with the list, let me tell you that the first best wi-fi spot is your friends place (if thats where you are staying). Everyone has wi-fi connectivity and all you need is their network key. Just remember to ask what your friend connection is called. In most apartment buildings, you will find very interesting wi-fi account names… to quote a few.. Slapmebitch, Killwork, Armedwithanaxe, Mayasdream were some of them. So, it may not be pleasant if you tried to use any unsecured network named like the few I mentioned. Always use a security enabled network.

If you are staying at a hostel, there is a 90% chance that they will have free wi-fi. Do check the www.hostelworld.com before selecting your hostel. Other than the place you decide to stay, standalone cafes are the best bet. Starbucks and chains may advertise for free wi-fi but you need a mobile account in the US (typically AT&T) to access those. Instead, find a neighbourhood cafe and 99%, they will have wi-fi. Willburg cafe in Brooklyn was my hangout in New York. Pangea cafe in Pennsylvania avenue in DC is another lovely cafe with free-wifi. You have to walk down that avenue to reach the Whitehouse anyway.

Another good way to find wi-fi spots is to google free wi-fi spots before your trip and mark them out on google map printouts. Wififreespot is a great website to look up free wi-fi spots in the US. Tourist information centres are very helpful in giving you directions to wi-fi spots.

Airports have wi-fi. Typically, they advertise or put up sign boards of the network key in the lounge area so that you know how to sign in. Markets (malls, central markets) have Wi-fi. Approach any cafe or any of the stores and they will tell you how to log on. Museums have wi-fi. Information desk is a good place to check how to log on.

If you are near a university, there are very high chances that you can find multiple cafes / restuarants that offer free wi-fi. They know that students cannot afford to pay. Students also have the university network they can log onto. Columbia in New York, U Penn in Philly and UW Madison in Madison… I have hung out in the neighbourhood. If you have a friend at any university, using their login and password is a good way to log into networks. University buildings also have kiosks with free internet. Incase you are not carrying your laptop around, thats a good place for a quick email check.

Last but not the least, everywhere in the US, you will find Free Public Wi-Fi connection and it says unsecured network. However, when you try to connect to it, nothing happens. Do not waste your time.

As I travel along and find a free wi-fi spot, I will log in to update this post.

If this post doesn’t get updated, chances are that I am loggeed out.

PS: Always keep your charger and adaptor with you and it helps if you have a small and light PC when you travel.

Category: Backpacking Tips, Flashpacking, Travel Tips / Tags: , , ,

Backpacking Ninja is now Powered !

August 15, 2008 / Backpacking Ninja / 4 comments

Things like this only happen in movies – That’s what my mom told me.

Things like this happen only due to God’s grace – That’s what my grandma told me.

Things like this happen only to people who want to make things happen – That’s what my sister told me. For a change, I have to agree with my sister.

What are we talking about – its my new travel notebook PC – called the EEE PC, lauched by Asus, a Taiwanese company. Already popular in countries outside India, ASUS launched their EEE PC just recently in India. Its an interesting story how I came across the EEE PC. What’s more interesting and actually miraculous is that Asus agreed to give me some sponsorship for the same. So, in effect, my EEE PC is as good as a FR’EEE’ PC. I love it even more.

So, here’s the story about this adorable new laptop of mine.

Well.. before I purchased the laptop, someone asked me.. why the hell would I want to carry a laptop around Latin America. I guess the answer is kinda evident… to ensure that I entertain all you regular readers with my nonstop nonsense. I shouldnt forget to mention that my family were ok with me galavanting in Latin America only if I could stay connnected.. that includes a phone, a laptop and if they could really make it happen, a leash all the way from Bandra.

With the objective remaining ‘Stay connected’, I began the hunt for a laptop. I visited stores like Croma and some other tech stores in the neighbourhood. All I found were laptops larger than life. Well.. now they all seem larger considering my laptop is really small. You gotta see it to believe it. I think its about the size of 6 cigarette packs put toogether. Ofcourse, my husband has been telling me that things look small relative to me (loves calling me an elephant).. I shall clearly choose to ignore his comment.

Anyway, my criteria for purchase was simple… the laptop needs to be small.. it needs to be light.. the battery needs to last like a marathon runner… the laptop with speed of Phelps maybe.. helps me email.. upload photos.. surf the net… some cool colour options… it can be hidden under my jacket if i were getting mugged and wanted to run with my laptop (kiddin).. ok ok .. i wasnt that rigid..

After checking out really cool laptops that cost a bomb and not so cool ones that were affordable, the EEE PC caught my eye. I was just walking by the laptop aisle when something the size of the calculator in my kirana shop below caught my attention. Phew ! It was a latop indeed.

That’s when the golden words of my friend Vishal Gupta (an IIT passout.. so i would trust him on tech advice) came to my mind. He had mentioned the EEE PC to me once before but I had never really wanted to purchase a laptop then. But, now with this cool my mini laptop in front of my eyes and a tech guru’s advice to top it, I checked out the features of EEE PC. It met my requirements -

  • Bloody light – After weighlifting my company Toshiba for 4 years, this seems like a piece of sponge cake.
  • Small and convenient – Comes with a nice black velvet sleeve. Can actually fit into my handbag.
  • Long battery life – 7 hours – Perfect to catch 2 movies on a bus journey.
  • 1 GB RAM – I actually dont know what the hell it means.. but I am told that it makes the computer pretty fast. Basically, am not making coffee while the machine boots.
  • 80 GB hard disk – Cool to store all the pics and videos I tarke as well as music I get from places I travel to.
  • Has Windows XP – I think I was working on Windows 98 on my office comp for the longest time. This is really an upgrade for me. Ive finally moved up the value chain.
  • Wi-Fi – So, i can connect to the net in free wi-fi places around the world. (anything free I love)
  • Bluetooth – Its amazing. I took pics on my phone and transfered it to the laptop in seconds.
  • Colours.. I did not have to subject myself to a silver grey anymore in life. I now own a cool black laptop.
  • And…. now, sit down and wait for the most amazing feature – it has a sexy camera built into it. I can stare at the screen and the laptop takes a picture or video of me. It even has a built in microphone so the videoo gets captured with sound. I am gonna take lovely videos of myself doing the samba and send it over. Can you beat that.
  • And it cost less than 30 K… there are couple of versions of the EEE PC (Linux one just costs 17500 and the one I got costs around 29 K – a steal)

Sometimes, technology scares me.. but, this rocks seriously.
Anyway, before I go on and on about this laptop of mine, I must profusely thank the Asus Team for believing in my journey and sponsoring me. If there is one reason why you guys are gonna be able to read about my adventures online, check my photos and so on.. its thanks to EEE PC.

Look out for the stories from remote locations….. Afterall, Backpacking Ninja is now Powered!!!

Category: Backpacking Tips, Flashpacking, Packing & Gear, Travel Tips / Tags: , , , ,
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