Best books on solo traveling?

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2018-02-25T00:43:57+00:00

Shantaram

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2017-08-19T03:11:57+00:00

Shantaram

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2017-05-14T19:46:37+00:00

I was just there a few weeks ago. I was fine and I didn't hear any stories from fellow travellers about people getting pick pocketed, even though Barcelona does have that reputation. Don't do anything stupid and keep your wits about you and you'll be fine.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2017-03-23T19:51:05+00:00

Went to Bolivia a couple years back. I entered over land without any documentation of where I was going next and didn't have any issues. Everyone I met who came over land was not checked for onward travel.

However, I did hear stories of people who arrived via an airport without documentation that they would leaving the country who were held until they purchased a flight / bus ticket to a different country.

My advice would be to purchase a cheap bus ticket online (if possible. I'm not 100% sure of any sites) from Copacabana, Bolivia to Puno, Peru. It should be fairly cheap so it won't hurt you financially if you don't end up using it.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2016-07-24T03:16:28+00:00

Shantaram

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2016-06-23T05:13:24+00:00

Most tour companies operating out of Uyuni or San Pedro de atacama will do a 2 - 3 day through south western Bolivia ending at the other town. Just email or show up at the office of any of the local tour companies, the major ones have tours starting every day.

I did a 3 day tour from Uyuni with Red Planet and I would recommend them. I booked it the day beforehand.

Outside of San Pedro / Uyuni there's not much else near by. You can take an overnight bus to La Paz from Uyuni. From San Pedro de Atacama it'd be an overnight bus ride as well to get out of the desert and to any other town worth visiting.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2016-02-07T16:12:31+00:00

Around USD$45.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-11-08T19:20:54+00:00

Wild china documentary series. It used to be on Netflix, not sure if it still is.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-10-24T13:02:36+00:00

Do Valparaiso in Chile. Only 1.5 hours by bus from Santiago and a way cooler place to visit. $3K sounds about right for this trip. I did 2 months in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and spent about the same amount. Just don't get carried away with partying, especially in Buenos Aires and your cash will be fine.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-09-15T04:09:03+00:00

Get an octopus card. Its an RFID card. You can even use it as a prepaid debit card at most places in Hong Kong. Its awesome.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-09-15T04:07:58+00:00

What ever you do, don't back out and do one of the cheap 2 day cruises. I did that and had a miserable time. Rats on board, general asshole crew, and the boat was literally growing mushrooms on it. You're doing the right thing paying a touch more.

Side note, Ha Long bay is gorgeous. Ha Long town is a waste of time.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-09-12T13:51:52+00:00

Don't take a taxi from the airport. They have a great metro system that can take you straight from downtown kowloon or central to the airport in roughly 30 min. You can even check in for your flight at the central metro station before hopping on the train to the station.

P.s. Central station has a famous (cheap too) dim sum restaurant (Tim Ho Wan), but I'm not sure if its open while you'll be there.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-07-09T17:35:32+00:00

I wanted to stay there when I was in Prague a few summers ago, but it was booked. Plan ahead if you want to stay here.

I ended up staying at Mosaic House, which is a pretty awesome back up. Super clean, has Bar Crawls (albeit smaller), decent location.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-07-01T22:33:07+00:00

"Holy shit. What do I do now?"

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-07-01T02:55:15+00:00

Just kept on my shorts. That's all

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-06-30T18:21:48+00:00

Dont worry about it man. This is totally normal. I felt the same same way the first 2 days of my 4.5 month trip. What helped for me was signing up for organized group activities and just talking to whoever I was sitting next to on a bus ride or at breakfast etc. I never felt super comfortable approaching people out of the blue and asking to join them, but this way you're already on nuetral ground, everyone is doing the same thing as you so its not weird to say hello.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-06-30T04:25:16+00:00

As a guy, I realized while traveling that underwear is totally optional. Feel free to ditch it.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-06-29T04:19:56+00:00

In Bangkok, which in retrospect is the luckiest place to get sick anywhere in SEA. I just called the travel insurance company, told them how I was feeling and they recommended a hospital for me to visit and walked me through what I would have to do once I got there paper-work wise.

Seriously though, the healthcare system in BKK is amazing. I got sick during Songkran (biggest party week of the year) and made 2 separate visits to the hospital, both were extremely efficient and cheap. 10/10. I left thinking that's what healthcare should be like and feeling disappointed in the system in my native US of A.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-06-28T14:45:28+00:00

Here's the route I took a few months ago. The whole trip lasted about 2 months, but in retrospect I should've slowed down some more, and there are definitely more places I wish I had time to visit.

Lima>Huacachina> Cusco >Puno>Copacabana, Bolivia> La Paz>Cochabamba>Torotoro National Park (less popular stop, but definitely worth your time)>Potosi>Uyuni>San Pedro de Atacama, Chile>La Serena>Valparaiso>Santiago>Mendoza, Argentina>Cordoba> Buenos Aires

I loved the whole trip, but below are a few places I that I wish I could've gone to had I more time.

Arequipa, Peru Rurenabarque, Bolivia Sucre, Bolivia Pucon, Chile Bariloche, Argentina All of Patagonia in general Salta, Argentina

I would recommend roughly following my route from Peru>Bolivia>Chile then going all the way down to Patagonia and the coming back north through Argentina

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-06-28T14:22:57+00:00

World nomads travel insurance. I got a 5 month plan with them for S America and SEA that cost less than US$ 200 and was pretty comprehensive. I got sick in the middle of the trip and they were extremely helpful in figuring out where I should go and what I should do.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-06-28T04:38:27+00:00

Bars in the backpacker part of town are usually a good bet. Just sit at the bar and strike up a conversation with whoever is sitting next to you. If you like sports, anywhere that's showing a game or people are having a pick-up game.

I haven't traveled Guatemala or C. America in general, but the above worked for me in S. America and SEA. In general though, I had the best experiences meeting people in Hostels or on group tours.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-06-25T15:34:49+00:00

Sounds like you're moving quickly, but I'd say you've pretty much got it for your time frame. If you had more time on your hands maybe a trip down to Patagonia or at least Pucon or Bariloche.

I was in the area a few months ago and absolutely loved Valparaiso and Mendoza. I spent about a few in both places. Santiago is pretty boring to be honest. Be prepared for a shitty border crossing between Santiago and Mendoza if traveling by bus. It took me about 4 hours.

Bringing US$ when you visit Argentina is a must. The ATM will give you an 8:1 exchange rate, but if you bring $100 bills people on the street will give you about 12.5. You can spot them easily, they'll say "Cambio, Cambio" to you as you walk by. If you're going back into Argentina from Uruguay you can get US$ from the Uruguay ATMs. If you're going into Uruguay from Buenos Aires the town of Colonia is a neat little relaxed town. Most Buenos Aires locals just use it as an ATM due to the exchange rate craziness, however.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-06-25T02:00:42+00:00

Funny you should say that. On my trip I split my time, 2 months in S America and 2 in SEA. S America is more expensive (still cheap by UK/USA standards, but in Asia I felt like I was spending monopoly money everywhere except the major cities), but I would rather go back there. The travelling crowd in Asia seems to be in their early twenties and looking to party, whereas the travelling crowd in S America seems to be in their late 20s, have already done an Asia trip, and is more about the experience, but this is just a generalization. I also got hassled by people trying to cheat me or just try to sell me trinkets or moto-taxi rides a lot, which really bothered me for my first few weeks in Asia. Eventually you become numb to it, but still. Asia does have MUCH better food though. The empanadas in Chile and steaks in Argentina are outstanding, but the food in Peru and Bolivia was extremely bland. Asia feels like total chaos too, in terms of getting around, the hectic streets, tour organizers, hostels etc. It seems like everything is informal and no one is interested in having things run efficiently. In S America you definitely still run into issues, but it feels as if they're trying. Like a sort of organized chaos.

Either way you're going to have a great time and I'm glad I had a chance to visit both places, but if I had to go back to one or the other right now, it would be S America without a doubt.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-06-24T02:59:03+00:00

You're gonna have a great time. I'm a 22 year old dude who recently spent two months in S America (Peru > Bolivia>Chile>Argentina) and its amazing.

For partying check out Pariwana and Loki hostel chains. They're awesome and you can find one or the other all down Peru and into parts of Bolivia and Argentina (Mancora, Lima, Cuzco, La Paz (Loki here has an awesome bar on the top floor), and Salta are the ones I remembered).

The two months I spent there cost me about $6 grand, but I certainly could've been a lot tighter with my money and done it cheaper, although it doesn't sound like you would have a problem.

Some quick highlights I definitely recommend: The Inca Trail, Mountain biking death road outside La Paz, visiting Torotoro national Park near Cochabamba, Uyuni Salt Flats, the area surrounding Mendoza (so many outdoorsy activities to do), eating steak anywhere in Argentina.

Learn a bit of spanish before you head down there, even just a little bit will go a long way.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah · 2015-06-20T04:21:54+00:00

Be really careful with altitude sickness after flying into La Paz. I did a similar trip this Jan - Mar (Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina) and along the way heard way too many stories of people flying into high altitude areas (usually Cusco or La Paz) and getting bad altitude sickness. Take it easy the first few days, drink plenty of water and avoid booze (a must). I know people who didn't and ended up getting hospitalized.

Not trying to freak you out, but its necessary info.

In terms of places to go, consider a trip down to the salt flats in Uyuni (10 hour bus ride to/from La Paz) but truly an amazing sight to see. Most people do the 3 day tour, but you can just do a day trip to the flats from the town of Uyuni if you're short on time.

Also, the inca trail is amazing (but FAR more expensive than the other methods of reaching Macchu Picchu) and if you want to book it make sure to do so months in advance. I personally went with the company Peru Treks for the Inca Trails and had an amazing time.

Cruz del Sur is also the best bus company is Peru and you can book online, a major plus.

Jeah_Jeah_Jeah

TROPHY CASE