Photo from Flickr by catfordCelt

I have spent my last three summers working the UK festival circuit. It is great fun, you get to see a million bands and you can make really good money. In fact, depending on what job you manage to land, you can make over three hundred quid during a weekend festival, a way better option than your average office job.  There is no comparison to a weekend spent at a festival in the UK, we do them brilliantly. Awesome atmospheres, great music, delicious ciders and everyone has a stupidly big smile on their face, regardless of if it is pouring down or not.

The summer season sees hundreds of festivals take place throughout the UK and if you are working the whole season with a company you will find that you often only have a day or so leeway in-between events. This means your life is essentially spent on the road.  You wake up in Glastonbury one morning, shovel down a bacon role and head off up north for the next weekend of carnage.

Some companies will arrange all the travel for you, while with others you have to fend for yourself.  My friends and I while working for a traveling bar company, clubbed together and brought an old banger through netcars, which we promptly sold after the season.  We picked it up on the cheap, so the money we lost we got back in a day’s work. If you don’t have money up front many companies will arrange car finance (giving you great deals on loans) which again you can pay back after you have made your mint over the summer. It makes life easier having somewhere to stash all your stuff and if the weather ever gets really bad and your tent gets flooded you have somewhere to hide out.

Don’t be fooled into finding festivals jobs through the actual festival websites (unless you are desperate to go to one particular event and are doing it just to get entry) as more often than not these jobs are ‘voluntary’; you only get your entrance to the festival and no other payment. Search through websites like Gumtree and it is easy to find small catering or bar companies looking for workers for the season.

I landed a job on a Mexican food stall (who I continued to work with for three summers). It was brilliantly messy fun; drinking all and day joking around, working, but not so much you really noticed you were missing out on the festivals. Even during Glastonbury where we were open twenty-four hours we would work in teams and do shifts for five days and it was some of the most fun I have ever had.  I would literally never pay to go to a festival again, working them is a far better option, especially when at the end of the summer you have enough cash together to jet off somewhere exotic!

The Greatest Way to Save Money for Your Trip? Work the UK Festivals! was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

photo from Flickr by: ♀Μøỳαл_Bгεлл♂

If you’re planning any France Vacations anytime soon, then you should realize that, just like with anywhere else, when you vacation somewhere you’re not really getting the full experience like someone who lives there. Tourism and hospitality management is a big industry, because there’s a lot of money in it and the local government wants to cash in on the tons of money that comes into the local economy from travelers. This often creates tourist hotspots that fail to give trekkers a clear perspective on Parisian life, but there’s a program in Paris that does the exact opposite.

When you get to the city, you can contact one of the Paris Greeter Guides that will take you around the city. This is the ultimate experience for anyone who really wants to take in the local culture and get a flavor of the whole experience, not some watered down facsimile. This is a unique experience and it’s designed to help people better understand life in the capitol of France, but it takes it to a local level.

Anyone who takes one of these tours isn’t forced to drive around a crowded city where they’re stuffed into a local attraction. Instead, one of the greeters will take you on a stroll through their local neighborhood and show you different places around the area. They take you to their favorite cafes, restaurants, markets, and other areas of particular interest. They’re not going to take you to see the Eiffel Tower and they’re not going to charge you a fee to take your picture in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral. In fact, the Paris Greeter Tours are completely free. You don’t have to pay a thing.

This is done as a way for Parisians to introduce newcomers and vacationers alike to the daily life of someone who lives there. You can never understand what a place is like until you see it through the lens of someone who lives there. You’re not going to see the same things as you would in a tourist guide or travel magazine. These people aren’t professionals, but they are friendly and excited to share their culture with anyone willing to experience it.

photo from Flickr by: ♀Μøỳαл_Bгεлл♂

If any of this sounds interesting to you, you can go online to the site and reserve a Paris Greeter tour. Anyone wanting to do this must have a maximum of six people in their party. You should schedule it a couple weeks before you’re set to arrive in Paris and the tour lasts about two hours. It is completely free, but if you take any public transit to get around that cost is the responsibility of the individual. It’s a small cost for a big experience. For any questions and further information on this program you can email them and someone will get back with you. Ask them any questions and specific areas of interest or anything else and they’ll be more than happy to help you out.

If you’re traveling to Paris anytime soon, you should do yourself a favor and check it out. As stated before, it’s completely free so you have nothing to lose. This is definitely one of those features to a city that’s off the beaten path and not something that everyone gets the chance to experience.

Paris Greeter and Hospitality Guides was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

Photo from Flickr by: Ed-meister

China is a large and diverse country so while you do want to see some of the ‘must sees’ you also wanted to get to know the country by exploring deeper and getting off the beaten path a bit. It’s hard to get far off the track in a country with a billion people but take the time to see the places near the big sites and you’ll enjoy some peace from the crowded cities.

Do Your Research

As China is so large do your research before setting off. Work out how to get to your destination and an alternative route in case of delays or cancellations. Travelling during holiday times can be a nightmare so plan the timing of your trip well and consider hiring a local guide who can be your expert to ensure you see some new sights. If you’re short on time it’s worth looking at organised China tours so you know you will get to the places you’ve always wanted to visit.

Image credit: tyler_haglund

The Great Wall

Everyone wants to see The Great Wall and so they should: it’s one of the Seven Wonders of the World and is the most enormous engineering and building project man has ever made. Apparently it’s a bit of a myth that you can see the wall from the moon, not that many of us will get to test this out, but it seems NASA now say you can’t make out much on Earth with the naked eye from the moon so the Chinese shouldn’t feel bad.

A 2009 study by the China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping discovered the wall is actually much longer than originally thought and they now reckon it’s an incredible 5,500 miles long. This includes a Ming-era section making the wall nearly 2,500 miles longer than we all thought.
Most people visit the section of the wall near to Beijing but as you can now realise there’s an awful lot to see so you don’t have to deal with the crowds to enjoy this marvel. A more peaceful section is known as the Tiger Mountain Great Wall near the city of Dandong, northeast of Beijing in the Liaoning province on the North Korean border. It’s been restored and doesn’t yet attract the hordes of tourists Beijing has to cope with.

Tiger Mountain, also known as Hushan Mountain, gets its name from the two towering peaks which are said to look like tigers ears pricked up towards the sky. Climb up to the top of the steps and the view is outstanding as you can see both China and North Korea and even the Yellow Sea in the distance.

Food & Water

Wherever you are in China follow the advice and don’t drink the tap water and don’t have ice in your drinks. There’s always bottled water on sale so stay healthy and drink plenty of clean, safe water.
Choose fruit you can peel, such as bananas and oranges, and avoid uncooked vegetables. Ensure all meals are piping hot and are freshly prepared and note the places that are busy with locals are probably the ones to eat at regularly. Noodles, rice and dumplings are available everywhere so you shouldn’t struggle to find decent food every day.

See The Great Wall But Not at Beijing was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

This is a follow up to my post last week about getting off the beaten track. It’s a cliche I know but there are simple and effective ways to do it, below is a list of what has worked for me or people that I’ve met along the way. Whatever the outcome I always find that if you try to travel like this at all times then you will naturally find yourself off the beaten track having the time of your life without even meaning to…

1. Loose the Ego:

• Don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself, or take yourself too seriously.
• Have a go at everything, and if you get it wrong, then be prepared to have a good laugh at yourself.
• Don’t expect that because your from the west (or not) that you deserve a higher standard than a local person.

2. Get Around like the Locals:

• Get away from the tourist buses and use local transport.
• Find your own means of transport be it a Motorcycle or even a bicycle.
• Try walking!

3. Bin the Guide Book:

• Ask the locals for advice or directions.
• if you don’t know how much something should cost then you are not really getting the idea, immerse yourself in the culture and learn something.
• Explore by yourself then, if you have to, go back and use a guide book to fill the gaps.

4.Learn the Lingo:

• At least try to learn more than “Hello” and “Thank you”.
• Your attempts may be wrong and even make everyone laugh, but it will always be appreciated.
• Practice at every opportunity.

5. Pack Light:

• Your backpack is like an anchor… If it weighs 50kg then you seriously limit your options.
• Be done with a bunch of western luxuries you don’t need and wont miss.
• Enjoy the richness of a simple life.

6. Live like a Local:

• Use home stays or Couchsurfing.org where possible.
• Adjust your budget to match a typical local wage.
• Learn what’s important to the local culture (religion, places, people) and go appreciate it.

7. Eat at Local Places:

• It can be daunting sometimes but wander into a local restaurant or go to a food stall.
• Don’t be put off by a foreign menu… Get stuck in!
• Try the local specialities – expand your experience and your belly.

What’s your take?

If you have any ideas or experiences… Share them, with me and everyone else. What worked for you and what didn’t I’d  blooming love to know!…

More: How to get “Off the Beaten Track” was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

Getting off the beaten track doesn’t always have to be about spending months in the deepest darkest parts of the Amazon jungle, nor does it have to be about never ever seeing another tourist… Sometimes all a traveller needs to do to get off the beaten track is simply look the other way…

Its an age old travellers cliche but the phrase “Off the beaten track” is one that every traveller has uses at some point along the way. Travellers often meet up at night in backpacker bars and guest-houses sharing their off the beaten track stories with each other, each trying to trump the last. I mean I’m as guilty as the next person really, but whilst travelling by motorcycle through Laos (see link for wicked awesome video) something changed the way I saw things, I realised that there was a good chance that I had missed so so much on my travels so far.
We had hired motorcycles from Vang Vieng and headed up the main road to Luang Probang, We made a stop at a small village somewhere along the way for food and while trying to do a pretty lame mime of engine oil to a local shop owner and a quickly forming curious crowd, a tourist bus crammed with book faced backpackers screamed past… It smacked me right round the face, that so many times before – that had been me. If I’d of taken the bus, the easy way, the sensible way, I would have missed this idyllic scene, this defining travel moment.

I had plenty of time to gather my thoughts as we struggled on into the night, tired and hungry to Luang Probang. What I realised along the way was that I was on the exact same road as those bus bound backpackers, I’d passed the same way as thousands before but what I had seen and experienced was so different to what they had seen – a fleeting glimpse rush past, behind dirty glass as they turned to the next page. Now I aint trying to poo poo on tourist buses, they’re cheap, easy and sometimes the only way. But to get off the beaten track is much easier than most travellers think. While clocking up the last few miles into Luang Probang under a starry sky I found a few other examples which fell into line with this.

Camping on Bamboo island:
Its moments away from Koh Phi Phi, a common backpacker haunt often shunned by the seasoned traveller for its rowdy bars and tourist boat clogged beach. But twice we’ve been to the little isolated Island and come 4pm when the last of the tourist boats head off back to Phi Phi we’ve had the whole Island to ourselves. In one moment it was a small crowded snorkelling hotspot and the next, it was utter perfect paradise.

Even on Koh Phangan, we were staying on Haad Rin on the run up to full moon and popped into a small restaurant called Mr K’s for some dinner, there’s more than one place nearby that’s seemingly owned by the mysterious Mr K but we chose to sit in the one that serves up purely Thai grub. We got chatting with the waiter and ended up hanging out there al evening. The place directly opposite was crammed – and every single person was fixed on watching Family Guy re-runs on TV. I learned some Thai and made a friend… What did they learn?
Even only meters from the most notorious beach in Thailand and within spitting distance of chicken snitzels and Family Guy we were well off the beaten track…

I could bang on for ages about all the great places I’ve been that are well “On the beaten track” but have a hidden side, a quick doorway back Off the beaten track… But why would I do that, it’ll only get over run with tourists…
I think I’ll finish up with a little travel quote:

“It doesn’t matter where you stand in life… But in which direction that you look.”

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What do you reckon? If you’ve ever felt well off the beaten track be it near or far then don’t hesitate to share it.
I have followed this post up with some ideas that have worked for me and hopefully help you get well off the beaten track too.

How To Get “Off the Beaten Track” was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

1: Camping on Bamboo Island, Thailand.

This little beauty is my favourite place in the world… That I’ve been. It’s a small island about 45 minutes away from Koh Phi Phi by long tail boat. The beaches are whiter than white and the only things on the island are a ranger hut and a small fishing community. The tourist boats stop coming after 3pm and for a small fee your allowed to camp (twice we camped over and twice we had the whole Island to ourselves). Watch our Travel Video – Bamboo Island Camping.

3 reasons to camp on Bamboo Island:

• It is a paradise Island with nobody else there.
• The coral reef just off shore is some of the best snorkelling I’ve ever done.
• It’s right under the nose of the tourist trail but still most people opt for camping on MaYa Bay (THE Beach from the movie “The Beach”)

2: Motorcycles on Highway 1, Laos.

Again it’s another one that most tourists in Laos will pass along but almost none will stop. For me the part of the road between Vang Vieng and Luang Probang is just breathtaking, I’ve heard it gets better the further north you go but if you rent a motorbike and ride it yourself you will see just what I’m talking about – doing this made me re-evaluate the way I travel and made me wonder what I had missed while on tourist buses thundering through the heart of a place. Watch our Travel Video – The Long Way Laos.

3 reasons to ride Highway 1:

• The scenery is epic and the road passes through some beautiful villages.
• A night in Phou Khoun will open your eyes to what real Laos village is like before the tourists arrive.
• Cresting the mountain and looking down to Luang Probang sat on the mighty Mekong is something you’ll never forget.

3: Thong Reng Beach, Koh Phangan, Thailand.

And finally, yet another place that is within spitting distance of the backpacker trail. It’s so close to Haad Rin you can almost see the lights but that’s what makes it such a quiet place. Just around the headland no more than 10 minutes by long tail boat this small cove has it all – cheap beach huts, great food and the feeling of being deserted on a paradise island. Thong Reng beach is one of the few places that as I’ve arrived I’ve thought
“I could live there forever.” Watch our Travel Video – Koh Phangan.

3 reasons to find your way to Thong Reng:

• It’s too close not to go and Koh Phangan has so much more than just the party.
• It’s home to a beautiful resort called Treehouse, with huts right on the sand.
• When you get there you will want to throw your passport into the sea and never leave.

3 Best Kept Travel Secrets was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

Settled amongst the mountains in the far north of Vietnam is Bac Ha, a small and relatively untouched  hillside town that for most of the week is quiet and sleepy. On Sunday however it’s all change, the surrounding hills are home to something like 10 different hilltribes: the Flower H’mong are the most vibrant, but other groups include Dzao, Giay (Nhang), Han (Hoa), Xa Fang, Lachi, Nung, Phula, Thai and Thulao and come Sunday morning the hills are alive with the sound of markets.
We headed there from Sapa another larger hillside town but it wasn’t easy, first we had to get a very early bus to Lao Cai and then from there a local bus to Bac Ha, which takes all day. There are tour buses that do the trip but because of the distance they charge a small fortune and this puts many tourists off. Anyway the local buses are always much more interesting and the road is very scenic if not a little rough!

The Sunday morning market starts early and it’s impossible to miss, what was a dusty, quiet town square turns into a car park for local buses and throngs of Flower H’mong people stroll past the few guest houses in town on their way to sell their wares. With their baskets strapped to their backs full of fruit, vegetables and textiles it makes for a wonderful scene and we didn’t see a single piece of tourist tat anywhere. Georgie loves a market and generally I do NOT but once your there it’s such an attack on the senses that I couldn’t help myself, I sat and smoked with some serious looking men what I hoped to be tobacco… A few coughs on my part soon had them laughing and within minutes I’d managed to reduce a whole crowd of serious tobacco buyers to a fit of coughing and giggling… Time to move on!
It is a real market in every sense of the word, it has wet parts and textile parts, livestock arrives and leaves on the back of motorbikes and the buzz about the place is almost overwhelming. Everything can be bought here from puppies to rice wine and if I recommend one thing it’s to sit down and try some home made hooch… It will certainly wake you up! I tried to chat with some men about which pig was best and which ones they were after but they were busy men and I probably stank a little too much of homemade moonshine from another stall.

The market lasts all day and unless your planning on staying in Bac Ha longer to explore the mountains around it then you will have to wander around to find a local bus with spare seats going your way. For some people this may be a bit hardcore because if your not on these buses the next ones will be a week later but to be honest the locals won’t see you stranded.
What struck me most about Bac Ha was it’s authenticity, even getting there was only possible the same way the locals do and once there we were in at the deep end. It’s not a market for tourists as such although there are bargains to be had but its a great way to spend a day and really get to see how some of Vietnam’s hilltribe people live…

Off the beaten track: Vietnam-Bac Ha was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog

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How to get to Bamboo Island:

-Go to the pier on Koh Phi Phi (where all the boats are).
-There’s a small ticket office which has standardised the price on many day trips.
-There will be loads of boat drivers waiting for business.
-Try to bargain for the best deal that suits you.
(We took a boat all day and stopped at Maya bay and hidden lagoons on Phi Phi Ley then
Snorkelling around Phi Phi Don, finally dropped at Bamboo Island (3500b) incl pick up the next day.
-They will bargain but you have to be hard about it because there are so many of them.
-Don’t forget that once on Bamboo Island you have to pay a national park fee of 200b each and a tent fee of 400b for a 2 man tent or 500b for a 4 man.
-The boat driver will help and explain to the park ranger that you want to camp.

What to Take:

-Enough Food -

Because Bamboo Island is a National Park paradise you cant bank on being able to have a fire to cook on (we did once) but the rule is generally NO Fires.

-Drink -

There is a small hut on the island that stocks beers but they cost a fortune and the rangers sometimes go to bed early so take enough with you.

-Snorkel and Mask -

The coral just off the beach at Bamboo Island is some of the best I’ve ever seen! We missed it the first time but when the boat drops you off you will see a roped off section of water IT’S THERE and IT’S BEAUTIFUL!

-Money -

There is a small fishing community on the island, the rangers will probably tell you about it and they can if you need it sell you plenty of Squid and fish for a BBQ, offer the ranger a beer and he will cook it up on the Island BBQ.

I can’t stress enough how much more you see when you camp on Bamboo Island, as the sun sets and the tourist boats leave it starts to get almost too beautiful, in the morning there’s no better way to wake up than with a dawn snorkelling session…

First on the Off the Beaten Track list is my favourite place in the world - Bamboo Island just off Koh Phi Phi:

Phi Phi is a place on most peoples list if they’re planning a trip through Thailand and honestly, although Phi Phi has a lot to offer the reality is that the beach isn’t great and there are far too many boats about to enjoy the water (see Nomadic Matt’s post about Koh Phi Phi). But therein lies the key to Phi Phi, the boats are there for a reason and that reason is the stunning national park islands that surround Phi Phi Don. Most people head out on a boat trip to see Maya Bay where the beach was filmed and to do a spot of snorkelling, often these trips are readily available in most travel agents but the key is to go down to the main pier where the ferry brings you in and deal with the longtail boatmen yourself.

Personally I think Maya bay is a must and so is a short trip around some of the stunning hidden bays filled with glowing emerald water but don’t be tempted to stay a night at Maya bay (camping is offered for one night), instead get the boat driver to drop you on Bamboo island, 45 minutes in the other direction to Maya bay it is a small and stunning island fringed with some of the best coral and marine life I have ever laid goggles on. The rangers will throw a tent up for you and there is a small settlement of fishermen who will be only to happy to sell you the catch of the day and help you cook it up. We have been lucky enough to go there and camp twice, both times we were the only people and by 4 pm the tourist day boats had gone and we had the island to ourselves… Once to watch a storm roll in and once to get hammered with the rangers… Good times.

So there you have it, look out for the “Off the beaten track” category and I will keep adding our favourites to it.

Off the beaten track: Bamboo Island Camping Thailand – Koh Phi Phi was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Backpacking travel blog