Home Is Where My Arse Is

I’ve experimented with a few different types of low-budget mobile accommodation. At the end of the day, home is where I park my butt! Back in 2006, I got around in my old poo-brown station wagon quite a bit (top pic). It wasn’t pretty, but it was comfy. The fuel was too expensive to go…

Instant Clean Water: Sawyer Mini Filter

The Sawyer Mini Filter is really small (fits in a bag about the size of a pair of socks), and the whole kit weighs only 60 grams (2 oz). The filter can be used in several ways, but the simplest is to screw the filter unit straight onto the top of an ordinary plastic water bottle. The Sawyer Mini is super simple to use: 1. Fill bottle with dirty water 2. Screw on filter 3. Drink clean water, straight from the bottle..!

Hello, This is Who I Am!

  When you are hitchhiking, getting picked up has a lot to do with getting people to like you, but when they are whizzing past at 80 kph you don’t get much time to establish trust. I’ve been hitchhiking around the planet for years, with the Australian Flag on my backpack. Standing beside the road,…

You Can Fix It: DIY for Travelers

  When you’re on the road, your gear and clothing take a lot of punishment. If you’re trying to stick to a tight budget, you don’t want to be replacing stuff every time something tears or breaks, so it’s handy to have a basic fix-it kit.   My Fix-It Kit: swiss army knife needle black…

Podcast Top 11 – No More Boring Bus Rides!

  Travel is exciting. Traveling is often boring. Standing by the side of the road, thumbing for a ride, getting a sore butt for hours on busses, hanging around in airports between flights… you need something to occupy your mind. In the dark old days, travelers used to carry books around to keep themselves from…

Mosquito Sack Gear Hack

…I found a lady with a sewing machine on a corner near the marketplace.  I don’t speak Thai, so I showed her, in pantomime, what I wanted her to do, and made a little drawing for her.  She nodded sagely, and told me to come back in an hour. One hour and three dollars later,…

Q: Phone as Multipurpose Travel Tool

  Olly wrote to me on Facebook, with some questions about using smart phones as travel tools. Olly got me thinking. Phones have been on my mind lately. The new generation of $100 smart phones are at the point where they are suitable for use as an only-device. Right now I have a phone and…

Top 9 Low Budget Adventure Tips

  Dreaming about an overseas trip? Planning an epic journey around the world? Slaving away to finance your dream? Instead of saving up for years to go on the adventure of a lifetime, why not learn to stretch your dollars, so life is one long adventure? With a few simple skills, you can tip your…

Go-bag Review: ChicoBag 15 L

…I feel about my go-bag the way, I imagine, Paris Hilton feels about her handbag.  Most of the things I need are in there.  With that bag and what it contains, I could survive in the desert 24 hours.  With that bag I can publish my stories and pictures to the world… A Hardcore Handbag.…