Category: How To

Let’s get ready to rumbleeeeeee…..As the echo of the announcer’s voice permeates throughout the walls of the world arena, the heavy weight champion of world travel is introduced.  In the ring of dust and exhaust, in the veteran blue corner, we have the bus. A motorized method of vehicular transportation that is undefeated to date by a 13^th round popular decision on 4 continents.

Present Champion of World Travel by Popular Decision

 A ‘as crowded as a Los Vegas boxing arena on title fight night’, a travel method which attracts thousands of world travelers yearly to the well trodden backpacker circuit of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, also known as the  golden triangle of overland travel of South East Asia.

Often the bus is a crowded familiar means of transportation in which backpackers jabbed by right hooks and softened by uppercuts zip by villages and thousands of authentic experiences.  Sporting fancy footwork unseen since the likes of Muhammad Ali, tourists with their belongings strapped to their backs dance from one bus stop to the next shucking and jiving from one must see destination to the next.  Surrounded by familiar westerners and protected by the bus window, only a shield of glass, the size of a mouth guard away from a culturally enriching travel experience.

We turn now to the contender’s in the world championship of travel title belt fight.  In the red and black spandex corner we have the underdog, an unknown and newcomer to the sport, backpackers Alle Veenstra and Irene Bosma on holiday originally from Groningen now hailing from Amsterdam, Holland.  By first round knock out, they blur the now defeated world champion and as quick as a good left hook; leave the bus staggering on one knee in search of a better experience.  And with a one move victory, the well earned world champion of travel title belt is theirs to have.  So, how did such an underdog defeat the bus, the world champion of travel transportation options?  It’s simple, they announced their victory, got off the bus in Vientiane, Laos, purchased 2 Trek 4300 four series bicycles, a map and some quality gear for 1100USD ($550USD each), strapped their backpacks to the back rack and pedaled off into South East Asia basking in the championship glow of their impressive one move victory.

Prior to embarking on this outdoor cycling around the world adventure, I would not have even imagined living comfortably on $6USD dollars a day.  Back in Alaska, $6USD a day pretty much got you a glass of water maybe some bread and a place to warm up prior to walking home in the cold arctic breeze.

The cost of fuel when it is cold always weighs on the budget like a glacier carving out a canyon in the springtime high noon sun.  Therefore, walking or taking the shoe lace express always proved out to be cheaper and healthier than driving a gas guzzling environmentally destructive car or truck.

Here in Cambodia, the money story is a unique scene.  Cambodia has 2 currencies.  Pay in US dollars and then get change in riel (local Cambodian currency).  It seems no one here can accurately calculate the change, so the exchange rate between riel and USD is a bit of a mystery. For instance today, I paid the bank 1$ USD to buy the local riel Cambodian currency, the currency that is used outside of the tourist center, where I spent most of my time cycling through the villages.

Bartering to keep your budget, is a common practice in most of the world and one that affects the budget quicker than a moving train.  It is a necessary learned art by most people who travel. The general rules of the bartering game are offer low and work up from there somewhere between 1/3 and ½ of the starting price is what you will pay.   In Mongolia, my favorite place, the popular Asian habit of bartering for the true price is not practiced and watching tourist who try it is nothing more than insanely comical.  In Mongolia, in the center of Asia, just north of the bartering capital of the world, China the price for the coveted item is set and the local people can’t be bothered with bartering.

However, in a lot of Asia countries, the price is not set and it depends on how good you are at playing the battering game to determine the fair price of even a plate of rice.  China and Vietnam being the prime examples of how low can you go in the bartering world.  Often, the budget is nothing more than an estimated figure in which we hit the road for our adventures.  So what can we do to lower travelling costs and stick to the budget? Here are 3 tips…

Tip 1 Avoid the lonely planet recommended anything.  The lonely planet travel guide has become known as the bible in the budget travel scene.  The book recommended restaurants, hotels etc. are indeed budget but the place next door is usually charging less and the owners are more than happy to have you there.  Sad but true but at times the folks listed in the lonely planet travel guide haven’t asked for the notoriety and are understandably pretty tired of the volume.  For only in the commercialized developed world is bigger, better, more a relished personal attribute.

Tip 2 Stick with the locals and avoid all tourist based marketing ploys to offer you tickets, cheaper eats etc.  Often the third class or super budget class travel seat or area is where the locals park themselves.  I heard from a solo traveler the other day that he was weary of going to these places because he wanted to meet other travelers.  All of the places I have been in the less visited area always have other travelers and they are normally like minded super budget travelers as well.  For instance, today in my guesthouse, three blocks from the double priced tourist center, I met a Korean man travelling on a bicycle,  we will be venturing 3 days by bicycle to the next stop together.

Tip 3 Be Creative. Every outdoor adventure needs supplies.  Be creative and make what you can.  Instead of wearing the top end fashionable gear products find suitable local thing that will do the trick.  For instance, I found a straw hat on the road which serves as a sun repellant. I also picked up a $2USD pair of local pants and a $4USD long sleeve shirt to keep the sun off while I pedal in the Asia sunshine.  I could of spend double that on sport specific clothes, UV barrier tank tops etc.  I now have a local look that does the trick and is more suitable for the climate.  If it is good enough for the population of millions who have been living here for centuries it is good enough for me.

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Bomb proof gear because at times the road literally looks like it has been hit by a bomb!

It is December 1 2010, at 12:13pm. The short tempered, explosive, we are everywhere, terrorist sky glistens in suspense, as tropical shrapnel rays of sharp crisp sunshine ricochet through the villainous ocean top gaining velocity as the day advances into the trenches of the afternoon Malaysian humidity. The vehicle is a ‘hooded gangster up to no good’ dark green magic bicycle equipped with a rap sheet of 20,000km of world rolling experience and a long criminal history of destroying gear during outdoor adventures. The accomplice is a solo female bicycle tourist sporting a ‘not even Asama Bin Laden could destroy my gear’ kind of confidence. The accomplice is notorious for conspiring with terrorist type magic bicycles and plotting elaborate international outdoor adventures and considers her motive to be classified due the severity of the problem. The explosion takes place on a downhill section of a heavily trafficked coastal road in northern Malaysia. A giant pot hole detonates; the magic bicycle has been hit. Ortlieb panniers/bicycle bags that have been loosely locked to the back rack implode in seconds and bounce, drag and scrap over the unapologetic road as the accomplish clenches the handle bars and narrowly avoids a road side fatal injury. The Ortlieb panniers bicycle bags prove to be bomb proof and weather the attack relatively unscathed considering the magnitude of the blast, although, had the pannier attachment clips for the rear rack not succumbed to the blast, the capricious incident could have been avoided altogether.

Hello Mr Lord Hemorrhoid, where IS your neighbor’s sailboat? I have been invited to crew on a sailboat heading around the middle east and into Africa, I have pedaled 900km in 7 days plus 2 ferry boats to reach the yacht on Langkawi Island. I was told to hurry. As I stand there next to the yacht owner, I realize I am getting blown off and shoved off without explanation to the neighbor. I do believe someone may have blown sunshine up my ass about this crewing thing, a sunshine enema of sorts that has the personnel growth potential of a inflamed hemorrhoid. Mr Lord Hemorrhoid the boat owner and captain has labeled his group the spirit sailors and they are looking for eclectic/good people to join them and have e-mailed me several times this month about crewing with them. The “spirit sailor” apparently loves the website blah, blah, blah.

As I process the fact that I have now pedaled onto an Island and my plans have been canceled, my behind begins to glow with the stench of a sunshine enema; the sunlight is indeed so bright I radiate effortlessly over to the neighbor’s yacht. He is looking for someone to yacht sit for a few days. The following day, I find out that Mr. Lord Hemorrhoid the spirit sailor didn’t like the looks of me on our first 3 minute meeting. You see, I arrived for the first meeting by bicycle in the pouring rain, I was wet, go figure. Apparently, the silly sailor, Mr. Lord Hemorrhoid flared up and decided he doesn’t like solo female cyclists arriving wet to his sailboat. As the comic irony of Mr. Lord Hemorrhoid the spirit sailor who doesn’t like to get wet sinks in Pandemic The Magic Bicycle is drenched in oil battling the salty air on the neighbors yacht and I am coordinated the pedaling for pennies Be The Adventure Africa T-shirt Project and sorting out my route through the middle east into Africa.

Another one of my favorite hemorrhoids

How to Crew on a Sailboat and Avoid A Sunshine Enema?

Find A Crew is a website dedicated to matching people up. I have met many legitimate, wonderful people who have found crew and boats to crew on through the site. The majority of the yachts, when I sailed from Australia to Indonesia found crew through the site, but as stated above there are a few Mr. Lord Hemorrhoids out there as well.

www.findacrew.net

Prior to embarking on this world adventure I sat in my cabin in Alaska pondering all the reasons why I shouldn’t GO. The pondering session lasted 5 years. I pondered my way to Ponderossa and back before I was finally ready to GO.


The thought of not being able to financially afford it lingered like the stench of cooked bacon in the center of my cabin for quite some time. Today, I got out my calculator and did some math. In the last month, my daily expenses here in Indonesia have been $8.56/day. These expenses encompassed total costs for hotels, camping, bottled water, visas, stove fuel, laundry soap, shampoo, insect repellent, SPD shoe repairs, groceries, restaurants, a ferry to Borneo and an expensive coke-cola consumption problem. That’s $8.56 a day, that’s less then I would spend at home and at those costs how can you afford not to GO.

I thought I was too old to travel. Now the funny thing about that is that 5 years later I still wanted to GO and the only thing that had changed was I was then 5 years older. I have since met a 70 year old French man cycling SE east Asia averaging 200km a day and doubling my daily distances. Another remarkable women I met is Jill, a 71 year old kiwi women trekking her way through the Himalayan Mountains in Nepal. I asked Jill about hiring a porter to carry her backpack like the 20 something year old crowd was doing, she laughed and said why would I want a man following me around all day. Jill trekked for 3 weeks and the last I saw her she was climbing the final leg of her adventure to a village at 4000 meters in the Mt Everest range carrying her huge backpack. You GO girl!


I have a house and responsibilities. Here’s where the pondering to Ponderossa thoughts lost their bearings. At the moldy age of 36, I had bought land, paid it off, learned carpentry and built myself a house. I had a boyfriend who was far too easy to part with, my friends and family and a good paying job that I didn’t realize I hated. My favorite person who I have been lucky to have known is my grand-ma, my Gram. My gram traveled until she was 90 and one day while on her way to a senior’s bus trip from Canada to America she said every day I wake up and say thank you for one more day and then I get off my duff and do something. When she reflected upon her life, she remembered with the biggest smile, her 2 around the world trips in the 70s she took with my grand-pa, the time she spent at her cottage and her daughter. So the question is when you are sitting in your rocky chair at 90 reflecting upon your life what will YOU remember?