To take part in discussions on talkSFU, please apply for membership (SFU email id required).
Traveling alone to a foregin country?
Has anyone done it before? I'm planning on traveling next summer while I'm still in university and have little responsibilities. I haven't really been given a lot of independence in my life (thanks mom), and I think this will be a perfect opportunity to do just that. Anywho, here are my approaches, and I want to try and gather as many tips or advices as I can.
-I'm going to New Zealand and going backpacking and immerse myself into their culture. It's very outdoorsy, cheap, and there are Hobbits hanging around there.
-I'm not going to have any plans at all besides the first day that I get there. I'm going to stay as long as I want to, and go where I want to.
-I want to try and find a friend to tag along, but I seriously doubt anyone would want to come with me. From the way things look, it seems to be the case anyways.
-I have made enough money from working the past 6 years so I'm financially secured.
-I plan on keeping a Twitter account / blog of some sort to document my trip and to rub it in my friends' faces for bailing out and missing on the fun.
Oh, and my parents doesn't know. I'll probably tell them 1 week before the trip and just disappear because they'll probably break my legs to prevent me from going.
-I'm going to New Zealand and going backpacking and immerse myself into their culture. It's very outdoorsy, cheap, and there are Hobbits hanging around there.
-I'm not going to have any plans at all besides the first day that I get there. I'm going to stay as long as I want to, and go where I want to.
-I want to try and find a friend to tag along, but I seriously doubt anyone would want to come with me. From the way things look, it seems to be the case anyways.
-I have made enough money from working the past 6 years so I'm financially secured.
-I plan on keeping a Twitter account / blog of some sort to document my trip and to rub it in my friends' faces for bailing out and missing on the fun.
Oh, and my parents doesn't know. I'll probably tell them 1 week before the trip and just disappear because they'll probably break my legs to prevent me from going.
Comments
you should definitely try to find someone to go with....
bah means no!
As for tips... you'll need lots of local maps. The experience may be different if it's New Zealand--but I found the locals in Tokyo very unfriendly. Even though they could speak English perfectly well, I could hardly find anyone who liked to help out a young lone tourist. The result was I got lost A LOT.
Keep most of your savings for the trip in a bank account. Or withdraw all the cash you are going to use for your trip--but only give yourself allowances each day and keep the rest somewhere you can't get to easily (say you had to go back to your hotel room to grab it). This tip is helpful if you're an impulse shopper like me.
I don't have much else for you except have FUN!
Do you know which island you're planning on going to?
I'm not sure which island yet, but probably all of them if I can. I plan to have at least a list of places to visit once I get there, but nothing too specific. I'll probably hang around the capital city during my first day and set out from there. I don't really intend on visiting some of the tourist traps, and I'll probably head off to the mountains or somewhere remote.
I'm also a bit neurotic and feels awkward dining in a restaurant alone. :sad:
- $1600 for the round trip ticket.
- I was able to get a good deal on a condo and a toyota yaris rental for 1 month. (~$2000)
- I held all sorts of parties with old friends and relatives every week at the condo. ($150 max per party. prolly spent less than $600 overall)
- VIP reservations at the clubs for 3 weekends. (~$200-300 per reservations and booze. ~$1000 overall)
- Traveled to places I've never been (probably spent $500 overall).
- Went to the beach twice with old buddies. Paid for the accomodations. (less than $500 overall)
- You'd think I'd shop for cheap quality clothes, but I didn't. I bought slightly expensive clothes for me and as return gifts for the family, but generally I'm not really a heavy shopper. (so less than $700)
Total expenses: less than $8000.Food was supplied by old friends and relatives for about half the time I spent there, but grocery shopping isn't very costly.
Canadian dollar conversion was 1 CAD to ~40 Philippines peso. So your dollars are worth a lot over there.
People are nice and hospitable especially if they know you're a tourist, but you still gotta keep your wallet where you can see them. Almost everyone there understand English.
I worked full time, graveyards to fund myself for the trip.
The main concern for me is the accommodations and food. It can get expensive fast. I didn't think of buying groceries, but that's a really good idea.
How long did you take to visit all those places? I'm trying to decide on a good time frame for the trip. Too long and I'll go broke, too short and it won't be as satisfying. I plan on making future travels to Europe as well so I'm not going to spend too much even if I have the money. $8000 sounds a little steep. Yikes.
man... i was glad to be home eating actual food then the backpacker food i was eating out there. anyone whos been to Oz will be familiar with home brand, coles smart buy, and woolworths and coles.
oh yeah. cup a soup is pretty cheap and nice way to supress hunger.
you'll meet plenty of other backpackers in the hostels so dont worry about it.
one thing i can say for sure is if your going to be doing all that crazy outdoor stuff take a GOOD multitool (dont cheap out on it, you buy it once and it'll last a life time pending you take care of it, also dont take with you can carry one luggage please pack it in your checked baggage). i am DEAD serious about this. travelling in Oz and Nz doing all that outdoor stuff you'll need one.
whether your camping, fishing, hiking or anything else you WILL find a use for it.
i used mine to do the following while backpacking in Oz (did a ton of outdoor stuff).
cook my meals
make a stove
fix my camera
fix other peoples cameras
got the key unjammed from my door
gut and fillet fish (did alot of fishing)
split wood and made shavings for camp fires
cut open packages
run repairs on my boots
pull out slivers and thorns
make torches to burn at camp (theres a tree called the paper bark tree that you can use to make torches for camp)
list goes on and on.
other than that, enjoy your trip. scan a copy of your passport and email it to yourself or leave it on your desktop so your parents can email it to you incase shit goes south.
eating out cost alot in Oz dunno about Nz. cant cook in the hostel all the time but then again cant go out and eat all the time too. best thing to do is ask local backpackers what they're eating and you'll get the idea. buying groceries is far cheaper than eating out.
there is a good chance you'll encounter a "weather bomb" and if you do chances are you'll need something atleast wind proof.
been here for like a week and spent about 120$ canadian so far on eating/drinking(every night almost) and clubbing
im prob gonna start going shopping soon and my weekly spending will skyrocket but meh
oh and i currently have a car but cabs are cheap ah hell in my country (about 2$ canadian to go across entire city)
i was asked to vlog my trip for some friends but i kinda got lazy to carry a camera around lol
what about accomodations?
i have lots of family/friends here so im stayn with them
but, for example, in my city the best hotel charges 49lei which is about 20$ Canadian per night
from the ads i hear on the radio its about 170 euro to go to Greece for 11 days (breakfast/bus ride included) this price has gone up since i was last here, it was 115euro back in 06
I stayed at backpack style places and they were all pretty good. And a bonus about eating out - you don't need to tip.
Also hikin, are there any resources on backpacking I could read into? Books, guides, whatever. Thanks.
"hotels" in eastern europe are more like b&b's since their in like ppls houses but they got a big ass hotel sign outside haha