How to travel well on a budget

Dawn Over Sydney Harbour Bridge Having left Seattle on a cold, wet, November day we felt our spirits lift as we walked out of Sydney Airport into the bright sunshine. My boys, nine and 13, were brimming with excitement from having flown on Qantas’ new A380 – especially since the cabin crew had given them a cockpit tour. It was an auspicious start to what would be a fun-filled ten days in Sydney.

Have you felt a pain so deep that makes your whole body shiver? Do you expect tomorrow to be as dark as today? Have you felt like hope is gone and there is no future for you? Do you think there are no good things in your life? Have you felt so lost that you don’t know where to go? Do you see all doors closed for you? Have you felt like you do not have more tears to shed? The world is a rotten place to live. I cannot take it anymore. Everybody is against me.  Nobody understands or cares.  Sometimes I want run, run far away where nobody can find me. The weight that I have to carry is too heavy. The same things continue to happen. It is always the same.  There is no place to go. I do not want to be here anymore. Have you experienced any of the things/feelings described above?  I think we all have.  I believe there is no reason to feel like that. If for some reason the murky thoughts and feelings start to show up, you can scare them away.  Why? Because I believe that it is ...

(Please) let it snow, let it snow… If you have a ski trip to the French Alps booked for this December you may want to keep a keen eye on the weather forecast, as many of the area’s biggest resorts remained closed over the weekend due to poor snowfall. The second week of December is usually when enthusiastic skiers begin making their pilgrimages to Alpine slopes for some welcome powder therapy, but over the weekend many popular resorts like Chamonix Mont-Blanc and Val d’Isere were closed to skiers as barely any snow had fallen there. Other resorts were only able to open a fraction of their slopes. Some locals are calling it the worst conditions at the start of a ski season since the 1970s (when presumably bell-bottom jeans made skiing rather difficult anyway). The Alpine Skiing World Cup was supposed to be held in the resort of Courchevel, but lack of snow made that a little tricky, and the event has instead been moved to Are in Sweden. While the limited skiing sp...

For all the glory and international accolade Tasmania has attained in recent years, the North West Coast remains a secret to most visitors. For me growing up in Tasmania has been a dream come true and much of that dream was lived on the North West Coast. While the beaches are just as enviable, the moody winters are not. That is of course until now. The recently opened Ship Inn provides the perfect shoulder season getaway with the dramatic backdrop of Stanley’s famed “Nut” in the immediate background. So to help plan your trip, here is our guide to Stanley. Stanley: A Hidden Gem on the Northwest Coast For all the secrets Tasmania holds, Stanley is one of the greats. This colonial township came to fruition in the early 19th Century when the Van Diemen’s Land Company was granted land in the Circular Head area, including Stanley. The town is of course today famous for its affectionately dubbed “Nut”, officially called Munatrik, an old volca...

Dancing across China in 100 days Language student goes viral with his moves Student Jake Gaba decided it wasn’t enough to just go travelling across China while studying Mandarin on a three month semester abroad. Instead, he also thought to grace the Land of the Dragon with his dance moves to the song Treasure by Bruno Mars. Justifying his dancing adventure, Jake said: “I knew I wanted to capture my experiences in a very special way, and I also knew that just taking photos of my travels wasn't enough. I had to dance.” There are probably a few other ways to spend 100 days in China, but each to his own. The video features him interacting with all manner of people, animals and sights synonymous with China, including a panda, the great wall and a person dressed as a panda. From Tibet to Beijing, he boldly filmed himself dancing in various streets and at various landmarks across China, with a set of dance moves that are arguably trumped by his st...

As part of Virtuoso’s ongoing commitment to sustainable travel, we’re profiling the experts, trendsetters, and industry leaders making a difference in sustainable tourism today. Here, a conversation with J ulián Guerrero Orozco , the vice minister of tourism in Colombia.   It’s all about nature. It was the combination of living in Bogotá but spending most of my free time exploring nature at my family’s farm that instilled in me a connection with nature that’s become my defining character trait. Colombia is one of only 17 countries considered to be megadiverse. We have 98 different ecosystems across five regions: the Caribbean Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the Andean mountains, the Amazon, and the Orinoco River Basin. For me, sustainability commitments shouldn’t arise out of fear of a grim future but rather out of love and gratitude for our natural environment, based on the understanding that we are one with nature. That’s the reason I make personal choices such as taking public trans...

Giant rubber duck makes waves in Hong Kong Giant rubber duck continues its tour around the world A six-storey-high rubber duck has been making a big splash in Hong Kong. Crowds watched the inflatable duck being pulled by tugboat across Victoria Harbour in front of Hong Kong’s signature skyscraper skyline. Tourist Zhang Wenjin from Shanghai says it’s a big surprise. “This is huge. My daughter liked it when she saw it just now because kids like cute stuff.” Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman created the bright-yellow duck, and it was built of PVC material in New Zealand by a company specializing in large sails. Florentijn was on hand as the duck arrived and said it later had to be deflated because high winds and waves created a “big challenge.” Florentijn said he wanted to bring joy with his giant duck, which he claimed help reconnect people with their forgotten childhoods. “My sculptures cause an uproar, astonishment and put a smile on your ...

Whether it’s for a long plane ride or a lazy afternoon by the hotel pool, a new vacation read is considered an essential carry-on around the Virtuoso offices. (The physical book versus the e-reader version is still a hotly contested topic though – don’t get us started.) Here, 13 of our favorite recently released novels and memoirs for your summer reading consideration. A Column of Fire by Ken Follett (Kingsbridge) The third book in Follett’s Kingsbridge series is one of the author’s most ambitious works yet. It begins at the dawn of England’s Elizabethan era, one of the most turbulent periods in the country’s history. Catholics struggle against Protestants, commoners clash with royalty, and the bonds of loyalty are tested to the limit between lovers Ned Willard and Margery Fitzgerald. This installment of the deeply researched historical saga takes readers beyond the fictional town of Kingsbridge to global locales ranging from Antwerp and Geneva to Paris, Seville, and the Caribbean. a...

BY KIMBERLEY LOVATO The Dordogne, a region about an hour east of Bordeaux, weaves beautiful elements together like a French tapestry – ancient cave art, winding rivers, ochre-hued villages, and imposing castles.  While locals refer to the area as “the Périgord,” a name used before the French Revolution in the late 1700’s, the monikers are interchangeable. European families have vacationed here for years, but Americans are just discovering its charms. Here are seven ways to make the Périgord your new favorite holiday in France. Storm the castles. If you’re in search of a fairytale landscape, look no further: The Dordogne is sprinkled with more than 1,000 castles, ranging from unassuming homes to imposing medieval fortresses, with many open to the public. Among the most popular are Château Milandes, once the home of legendary cabaret star Josephine Baker, and Château de Beynac, perched high on a cliff, with its accompanying village tumbling down toward the river. Near Bergerac, Châtea...

Is this the world's oldest backpacker? Age is no barrier for elderly gapper At gapyear.com we always say that no one is too old to take a gap year, and now someone has gone and proved it. Keith Wright, 95, is about to take off on his eighth trip to Europe, where he plans to backpack, stay in hostels, and join other nomads on a hop-on hop-off independent rail journey across the continent. The no-frills traveller and World War II veteran from Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia, has been flying solo around the world since 2002 and has ticked off most countries in Western and Eastern Europe during the past decade. Keith, who is as sharp as a tack, travels in economy class on a round the world ticket and chooses to check-in to hostels, where he sleeps in a single room where possible, but occasionally shares a dormitory with 18 to 30-somethings. His first solo trip was at the age of 85, a few years after his wife Barbara passed away, and was a four-day bus loop thr...

I’m excited about this post. You guys know I’m all about confessing up to my mistakes and sharing the stupid things I’ve done over the years. Well, at the start of the year, I did an AMA on Nomadic Matt’s forum and one of the questions I was asked was about whether I had any blogging regrets. Of course, I managed to reel off a whole list of things I’ve done wrong over the years! After having so much fun thinking about the stupid things I’ve done in travel blogging, I couldn’t resist turning it into an entire blog post. Here are the 12 biggest mistakes I’ve made as a travel blogger. You’ll hopefully either learn something from them or wonder how I ever managed to find success! Table of Contents I Used to Publish Entirely Blank Blog Posts I Thought Affiliate Marketing Was Only for Enormous Sites I Would Pride Myself On Working Too Much I Was a Massive Dork During My First Comped Activity...

Ushuaia, Argentina. Often regarded as the world’s southernmost city, Ushuaia port is a point from where the Antarctic expeditions take off. This is also where the Andes meets the sea: the iconic mountain range creates an impressive cityscape. Those who are not signing up for a trip to the South Pole just yet, will nevertheless find numerous outdoor activities. Skiing and hiking in the mountains, as well as sailing, kayaking and scuba diving in the sea will suit everyone’s taste. Also here penguins and sea lions can be spotted. To sum up, Ushuaia is a great tourist destination, attracting visitors from all around the world. Why to go there? A nice port town, with great panoramic views, mountains and the sea. Its ski areas make it a desirable winter holiday destination. When to go there? The town has the longest skiing season in the continent. The warmest is January – a summer month in this part of the world. How to get there? The easiest way to get there is by plane f...