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Now that we’re about one week into our trip to China and Mongolia, we’ve ventured beyond Beijing, our first destination. For this two month trip, we’ve packed as lightly as possible. Instead of each of us taking our normal packs (around 80 liters in size) and also carrying additional smaller packs, we’re only carrying one medium sized pack (about 35 liters) and smaller backpacks. Also, one of the smaller bags is a camera/laptop bag.
The Sinai Peninsula of Egypt is truly a fascinating place. During our time in the area, we spent a few days near Mt. Sinai and a few more relaxing on the coast of the Red Sea. First, our journey took us from Cairo on a fairly long bus ride to the town of Katreen, near the base of Mt. Sinai and St. Katherine's Monastery. We slept at a small Bedouin camp and met some other travelers who had hiked to the top of the mountain the night before, starting at 2:00 in the morning. Supposedly this was the best time to hike in order to avoid the heat and also see the sunset from the top of the mountain.
Yes, jet lag really sucks. Some say that it takes an entire day to adjust for each timezone that you cross on your flight. That could be up to 12 days if you're traveling to the opposite side of the world. Who has time for that? It's different for everyone, though, as some adjust faster than others. Younger travelers, or those that exercise often, are said to adjust faster. Whatever your specific situation, here are some tips to help you adjust to jet lag faster and prepare for your long flight.
Travel clichés abound everywhere, but some are worse than others. And I’m not talking about cliché places to visit, either. The Eiffel Tower, in all sincerity, is definitely worth a visit. Instead, here’s a list of travel clichés that, in my opinion, have come to the end of their journey.
With summer fast approaching, many will be jet-setting to explore foreign and exotic places. While you may have set your budget and selected the cheapest airfare and hotel, you could get accidently get sucked into a financial hole simply by doing some souvenir shopping. To make sure that you don't get ripped off and spend a small fortune on a matryoshka doll, learn how to bargain like a pro.
The other day, we finally purchased our plane tickets for our trip to China and Mongolia. We’ve been planning this trip for a while, but recent life events led us to actually settle on some specific dates for our trip. However, like any good traveler (and anyone who wants to save money), we’ve been monitoring the prices of tickets for quite some time in hopes to get the best bang for our buck. This ended up being a waste of time, because on many of the popular airline booking sites, the price they give you when you’re about to buy a ticket can be much different than the price you’re shown at the beginning of the process. Let the following story be a warning to anyone trying to play this game.
The theme of this week's Photo Friday is Southern Ethiopia. This is part of my personal effort to convince as many people as possible to visit Africa. After spending several months on the continent, we realized that we had only experienced a drop in the bucket. Africa is so huge and diverse that it would take years to fully understand all of the cultures, history, tragedy, and beauty that this immense land has to offer.
This week's Photo Friday is all about Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. It's full of canals, red lights, history, and charm - and it has something for everyone.
In July 2010, Matt and Tran of Backpack Forever left their settled lives in Houston, Texas to embark on a five-month journey to Central and South America. Their trip led them through Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, the Guianas, Brazil, and Argentina. They’re back in the U.S. for now and have agreed to share their thoughts on "the truth about travel."
