Posts by : Izy Berry

I was laying on my bed before, thinking about my upcoming summer adventures and how different traveling is for me now, as someone who’s been to twenty four countries, almost always alone. Not many people on this blog know this, but I always wanted to travel. When I was nineteen and in my second year of University I had saved almost enough money to go on my big overseas experience (that’s what we call a gap year in New Zealand). While family commitments made it more difficult for me to go, it was probably fear that held me back. Fear of the unknown: What if I made no friends? What if it all cost way more than I thought? What if something terrible happened?

I had enough “what ifs” in my head to paralyse myself from doing anything. 

Three years later, I went through a breakup and I was so upset with life that all the “what ifs”  seemed to matter much less. And finally:

I got to a point in my life where I realised that regret was scarier than trying [Tweet This]

When I first boarded that flight to Phuket, Thailand, booked only a few days prior, I was nervous and anxious with worry. But there was a little part of me that was excited, a twinge of “I can’t believe I’m doing this” and a spoonful of “fuckyeah!” (excuse the language, but it’s fitting). Walking out of the airport gates I was bombarded by local Thais trying to offer me inflated prices and lies. “No no, the bus to Patong will not be here for 2 hours, only 60 baht more and you can take private van”. I breathed a deep sigh and soaked in all of the difference of my surroundings. Suddenly, an Australian couple who had been traveling Thailand for a few weeks, took me under their wing “Don’t worry, the bus will be here soon” and within minutes of walking out of the airport, I learned my first travel lesson:

You will hardly be alone – of course if you take yourself to some remote island, enter a vow of silence and glare at anyone who tries to make conversation, then you will wind up alone. But for the most part, on my travels, throughout South East Asia especially, I had to make a solid effort to be alone. Here and there I would take a day out, just to watch my favourite tv shows, eat ice cream in bed and have a little mental space. It can be intense hanging out with someone all waking hours and then sharing a room with them at night. But the cool thing is, you will make tons of friends and meet new people. Still anxious about being alone? Read my post on how to travel alone. 

It’s good to be alone, sometimes – if you are like me you will be eager to have interactions with local people. Almost all of the special memories I have with people who aren’t tourists overseas has been when I was alone. You’re more approachable, than compared to a big pack of foreigners speaking in packs. The flip side of this is you’re also more aware of your surroundings. Ever been shown directions to somewhere, but been so lost in conversation you hardly noticed? This happens when you’re traveling, too. I notice that usually my photography is much more interesting when I’m alone because I keep myself entertained by taking more photos. 

Don’t take pictures of everything – living in the social media generation there’s this need to have everything online. “How will anyone know I was kayaking around Ha Long bay at sunset if I haven’t uploaded 15 pictures and updated my location?” – well, does it really matter? Some of my favourite memories I have no photos of, which in some ways is a little sad, but it just means that I was too busy enjoying the moment to stop, grab out my camera and start snapping away. Pick your battles; actively think about what moments you want to document with your camera and which you want to savor just for yourself.

You should pack less than you think – when I first arrived I had all my nice, normal, expensive clothing filled to the brim of my backpack. After a few days in Asia my whites were no longer white and my clothes were no longer nice. I could have easily bought a few items and purchased all my clothes in Asia and they would have been much more weather appropriate, and cheaper. On the same line of thoughts, you don’t need a money belt or silk sleeping bag, most people never end up using theirs. I would say that for me personally a microfibre towel has been essential. 

Most travel insurance does not cover riding scooters or motorbikes – when I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand,  a friend and I went to a motorbike rental place that was suggested in the Lonely Planet as a good, honest place. We both tried to rent a scooter, but both were rejected because we’d never ridden one before, the owner said “he didn’t want to feel responsible if we ended up ruining our holidays”. Never mind the fact that we didn’t have Thai drivers licenses. Originally we were a bit frustrated, because surely we’d be awesome at riding one, but then we thought about it – if he was prepared to turn away business and fresh Baht, he must have been concerned for our safety. Recently I read about a New Zealander who had insurance and had an accident (not his fault) while on a motorbike and wound up in hospital with a big bunch of bills – an easy way to ruin your holiday. Read your policy properly. 

Expect something bad to happen – I don’t mean you should freak yourself out over something terrible happening, but chances are something annoying, bad, or frustrating will happen at some stage. Maybe you’ll miss a bus/train or flight, maybe your camera will get broken when you are drunk and accidentally run into the ocean, or maybe you’ll be like me (I hope not) and be stabbed while someone tries to rob you. Either way, shit life happens. The biggest thing to remember? It could happen anywhere, I bet it could happen in your home town. In a way I’m almost glad I was attacked because it was awful (almost my worst-case-scenario) and you know what? I’m fine. I dealt with it, it was a bit scary and intimidating but now I’m past it and I feel that I’m better prepared to deal with things in the future. 

Too cheap is a rip off – the only scam that I believe I fell victim to, was a very common one in Thailand. Usually for a tuk tuk you should expect to pay around 80-150 baht for a ride, depending on the distance, time of day and how many people are in the tuk tuk. On my first day in Bangkok, clouded by a smile only a Thai could offer, a friend and I took got into a tuk tuk with a driver who had offered us a ride for only 20 baht. I laughed to myself, finally I had cracked into the “real” traveling and no longer was I paying inflated tourist prices – screw you Lonely Planet, I’ve found a new level of shoestring travel. It was early in the morning, we were hungry and all we wanted was a cheap restaurant. After a few minutes drive, the tuk tuk stopped – we were expecting some cafe or a bakery, but were greeted with the doors to a silk shop “please please, just look five minutes, if you go in I get a voucher from the Thai Government for my fuel”… I was not in the mood, especially not at this hour! After some conversation, we stormed off – refusing to pay our fare. We were quite lucky, I’ve read countless stories about experienced travelers who have been scammed by tuk tuks. If it’s too good to be true, well, it’s a scam. 

Be GRATEFUL when the locals speak your language, or try to – numerous times I’ve heard other travelers complain about how poor the English of some hotel/hostel staff in some developing country is. I’ve let out my fair share of frustrated sighs when my questions are being met with confusion and time is not on my side. But whenever this happens, I pause and think about how well far this person would get trying to speak Thai/Khmer/Vietnamese etc in New Zealand. They wouldn’t even try, because they would be met with frustration or anger and would probably be ignored. How privileged am I, as an English speaker, to travel the world and more often than not be met with at least someone who speaks a little English in their country. 

I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it again: my only real travel regret, after almost two years of travel, is that I didn’t start traveling earlier.  

Want to read more? Read my Eight Little Travel Tips or  Eight Things You Shouldn’t Do In Asia

What have you learned traveling that you wish someone had told you before you first letf? I’m sure there’s plenty of things I haven’t thought to include here. Share in the comments below, I’d love to read some. 

After doing my post on the places I’d live, I decided that I should share with you all the countries I’ve visited. No where on my blog have I posted the list of countries and I figure if you’re looking for advice or suggestions, it would be helpful to know where I’ve actually been. Rather than just post a list of countries, I’m going to try to post only ONE thing that was my stand out favourite from that country (I might fail in some regards). 

Australia – Taking a ferry from Sydney harbor to Manly beach, I never tire of that trip

Hong Kong– Visiting the big Buddha statue  & Po Lin monastery

Belgium – Eating chocolate covered waffles while shopping in Antwerp, actually all things chocolate here

The Netherlands – Biking around Amsterdam while filling up my basket in the markets and walking around the Red Light District

France –  Romancing in the little seaside town of Honfleur with the most lovely little harbor that I’ve ever seen

Thailand – Trekking through the hill tops of Thailand and hanging out with elephants way past midnight

Laos – Lounging around in Utopia cafe in Vang Vieng with new friends

Vietnam – This is a tie between Sapa, Ha Long Bay and Hoi An

Cambodia – No surprises here, volunteering at New Futures Organisation in Takeo

India – A random conversation with a young street kid that resulted in me inviting him and his sister and cousin on a lunch date

United Emirates – Finally standing below the tallest building in the world and craning my neck up and up

Singapore – The night safari and having a friend’s friend take me out to the markets and trying all the food

Indonesia – A tie between being almost alone with two new friends in Borobudur or the sunrise on Gili Tragawan

Malaysia- The view of the Petrona towers from Sky Bar  

Czech Republic – All the castles, pivo and the visiting the deliciously ginger-bread-like town Telc

Berlin, Germany – The art, especially the East Side Gallery 

Hungary – A river cruise down the Danube river in Budapest, or the “recycled” clubs

Austria – The Kunsthistorisches museum  in Vienna (amazing) and seeing pandas at the zoo

Spain – The view from the top of Mount Urgell in San Sebastian and the area around Tribunal in Madrid

Switzerland – Sunset over Lake Zurich, while passing by on a train

Slovakia –  The medieval castle: Devín castle, just outside of Bratislava

England – Walking through Hyde park when there’s a pinch of sunshine & shopping on Oxford street

America – Hands down, Coachella festival – absolutely incredible and the landscape around there is breathtaking, too

Mexico – Taking a ferry ride around Ensanada’s harbor and then finishing the day at a vineyard 

Portugal – Riding the old tram throughout the city as it barely manages to make its way up steep hills. 

Morocco – Being taken to a Berber village by a local Moroccan man my friend and I met while complaining. 

Bulgaria – After writing Sofia off a city I would never visit again, I met two wonderful travelers and found a little boutique cafe. 

Croatia – Visiting the beautiful, clear and ridiculously green Plitvice Lakes

Turkey – Watching the sunset over the Blue mosque

I’ve managed to fit this all in in the past two and a half years and what an incredible time. 

I’m curious if you’ve been to any of those countries too, what your highlights were? Maybe I’ve missed out something really special! 

I love New Zealand, I think it’s the most beautiful country I’ve ever visited, but I don’t feel like it’s a great place to be young. It’s not bad, by any stretch, but I just feel that I’ve outgrown it. When I originally left in November 2010, I had no idea of my itinerary or my plan, whether I’d be gone a few months or, as it turned out to be, a few years. All the while, I’ve always been secretly hunting for a place that I’d love to call home. Along my travels I’ve found a few places in the world that I’d love to move to, maybe for a few months, maybe for a few years. As I get a little older, the people become a little more important than the city, so when I can convince some of my favourite people to come with me (or at least visit) I might end up moving to: 
 

If I was to live in Europe, I’d choose: 
 
 

Amsterdam

It wasn’t how I expected, at all. In my mind I had imagined a place filled with dirty drugs and prostitutes overflowing from the streets. Still, to this day, it’s one of the most magical cities I’ve ever visited. There’s this charm about it and I feel like Amsterdam isn’t the prettiest girl at the party, but just has this infectious self confidence that’s consuming. The locals are laid back and friendly, the canals look like something straight out of a painting and there’s a bunch of awesome markets to explore. It’s also the only place I’ve been in the world where bikes seem to dominate the roads. From the moment I arrived, in my mind’s eye I saw myself living here, in a small apartment, riding everywhere with sweet treats in my bike’s basket. 
 

Madrid

In some ways Madrid is an awkward mix of old and new, the beautiful grand buildings of the past seemed to be wedged in between ugly and bland buildings.  One of the reasons Madrid features on my list, is that time just works differently here, in a way that seems to naturally suit me better. Lunch is later, dinner is late, going out is even later. It would not be particularly unusual to go out to dinner at 11pm and it’s certainly quite common to take your children for ice cream post midnight. Clubs don’t start filling up until after 3am. Spanish food is delicious, Sangria is both affordable and  yummy and the shopping here is like no other. The city is filled with gorgeous parks and I feel like there’s always something to do or something to see. It’s the most alive city I’ve ever visited. So, despite all the weird things that Spaniards do, I’d be pretty happy to live here (again) for a while. 

Berlin

Ahhhhh, Berlin. I was here only in winter and still managed to fall in love. Once you get under the skin of Berlin‘s history, it’s hard not to be in awe of how far this city has come. There’s art oozing form every corner you turn and the entire city just resonates cool. One of my favourite things about Berlin is the fact that it is in Western Europe, but sports Eastern European prices. It’s affordable, without being cheap. The Underground is far reaching, affordable and efficient. I also had the most amazing Kebap of my life here, and it only cost three euros. Yes, Berlin! 
 

If I could convince someone to marry me and give me their green card I’d move to:

San Diego 

I didn’t even do anything particularly exciting in San Diego, but I still love it. I like that it’s on the edge of the Pacific ocean, my ocean. It’s only a thirty minute trip away from Mexico and a (wonderful) consequence of that is there is an abundance of delicious Mexican food, everywhere. The climate is perfect, in fact, a formerly homeless man commented that “San Diego” is the perfect place to be homeless. I propose that it might just be the perfect place to have a home, too.  I also spent the better part of a day here in a cafe drinking Sangria while a flamboyant waiter pointed his electric bubble machine at me, I suspect my affection for this city might be due in part to that afternoon. There’s something eerily pleasant about California and I wouldn’t mind getting lost in it for a little while. 
 

If I found myself living in Asia, it would probably be in:

Singapore

I don’t rate Singapore much as a backpacker destination, at least not for someone coming from a first world country. It doesn’t seem very foreign, almost everyone speaks English and it’s very expensive compared to the surrounding countries. But it would be such a great place to base yourself, as you could easily take weekend trips to almost anywhere in Asia cheaply and easily. The food is insanely good here, I ironically had both the best Thai and India food here, despite having visited both of those countries.  Much like Madrid, everything happens a little later here. Foodcourts are often open until 2am and rarely any Singaporeans cook, because it’s just so cheap to eat out. The MRT’s great, the skyline along the waterfront is the most beautiful I’ve seen and there’s enough malls to satisfy anyone’s materialistic needs. 
 

Ubud

A little part of me wants to save up a lot of money, move to Ubud, rent out a nice little bungalow and attend yoga classes daily, work on my photography and just chill out for a few months. There’s not a huge amount to do in Ubud, but it’s just so relaxing and the natural beauty is stunning. I’d probably end up wearing temple trousers every day, losing track of what month it was and never looking at a watch – ah, sounds ridiculously amazing, doesn’t it? I feel like sometimes we get too caught up in the day to day of keeping up with the Jones’ both in terms of possessions and now in terms of social media, too. It’d be so great to drag one of my favourite people along to Ubud and to just chill out and explore. Of course, there would be the odd weekend trip to one of my favourite islands, Gili T.
 

If you could pick anywhere else in the world to live, where would you choose and why? What matters more to you, the place or the people?

Before I even start this post I want to point out that I’m completely and hopelessly in love with Spain. If there was a way to trade off my Australian citizenship for the right to abode here forever, I would do it in a heart beat. Don’t worry family, I’ll keep my NZ citizenship. I see beautiful Spanish people in the streets and I’m not that jealous of their year-long tans or their beautiful language, but I am jealous of the fact they are, quite simply, Spanish. 
 

When I decided to move to Madrid, the only place I’d been in Spain before was Barcelona. That was during the winter, so it wasn’t much of a sight, but I loved it still. It was a blind move, based on some simple logic: Spain would be warm during the summer, I would be surrounded by Spanish speaking people (unlike in Barcelona), it was a big city, so it should be interesting, and my affection for naps (siestas) and tapas. I didn’t expect for it to fast become one of my favourite cities in the world. There’s no single thing I can describe about Madrid that could illustrate my affection for this city, it’s just so alive. 
 

I’ve basically been here a month, with a quick trip to Bilbao and San Sebastian before venturing to Madrid. I also spent a long weekend in Marbella, which I’ll have to post about. I could see AFRICA from the beach – amazing! But since arriving I quickly noticed some weird things that the Spanish people do… 
 

Here are my top weird Spanish Things I’ve seen:

Pick And Mix Frozen Vegetables

Okay, so I know frozen vegetables aren’t particular exciting, but in New Zealand (aka paradise) you can only really get Pick n Mix Candy, which suits me quite well.  But this supermarket in Bilbao only had Pick N Mix frozen vegetables… I just don’t get it? Wouldn’t they get freezer burn or do people actually buy them often enough to avoid it. Either way, it looked kinda gross. 

El bidé (the bidet)

Spaniards aren’t the only people in the world to use bidets of sorts, but I was surprised by the prevalence of these in the average Spanish home. Every house I’ve been to has had one of these weird looking fake toilets. Often they’re so unused that they’re full of random bathroom things, but they just kinda creep me out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for clean bits and pieces, but the idea of hovering over a fake toilet in order to splash yourself from a tap… I don’t know, just seems a bit weird. 

Spanish Woman Don’t Wash Their Hands
You’ll be grateful I don’t have a picture of this, although I’m tempted to set up some kind of secret camera experiment to name and shame these dirty… chicas. I’ve spent a bit too long in public bathrooms since arriving in Spain, mostly trying to cleanse myself of long bus rides, flights, or just general backpacker aroma (ugh, just kidding!). Seriously, the ladies go into the cubicle, do their thing, flush and then open the door and walk straight out, every single time. Okay, it’s like 99% of the time, but seriously? I’m always alone at the basin giving my hands a good wash while ladies walk out oblivious to the hate crime they are committing against humanity and basic hygiene! I’ve only spent a brief period of time in the men’s bathrooms in Spain and that was at a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert with portaloos, so I couldn’t judge the men, but I’m sure there are as bad. 

Meat In A Cone

I suppose this isn’t that weird, it’s just pure genius. Meat in a cone is akin to happiness in a cone, well done Spain. To find this delightful treat, head to one of my favourite markets, ever – Mercado De San Miguel (Saint Michaels Market). It’s a swanky, modern market that is the epitome of cool,  there are so many delicious treats make sure you go in with an empty stomach and a very full wallet. If you make a trip to Madrid you must visit that market otherwise I’ll hunt you down and force you to eat all the delicious
meat cones (especially if you’re vegetarian, haha). 

Getting Freaky In Public

I think young love is cute, in a “I want to stab out my eyes” kind of way. But Spain just takes it to the next level. I’ve learned, since spending time in Europe, that New Zealanders are conservative when it comes to sucking off each other’s faces and being nude. Both of those things loosen up considerably after a few scrumpies, but for the most part we’re a little prudish and that’s my norm. Spain is just a whole new level, I’ve seen more naked people since I’ve been in Spain, than the total of my life leading up to visiting Spain. I’ve also seen more people humping in public, too. This couple in particular were a bit weird, they were laying there for a considerable amount of time just not moving. Numerous other couples had a little bit of a pelvic thrust going on. I uploaded this photo to Facebook, to share with my friends the best of Spanish culture and one of them told me that I was the weirdo for taking photos of them, but I have a blog, so I had to….

There are other little Spanish things that I’ve observed since I’ve been here, like how it’s perfectly acceptable for men to call out “guapa” repetitively at you, any time they please. I’m not sure what their goal is, but sometimes it can be quite hilarious, especially when they’re in a car driving down the street shouting at multiple guapas. But overall, Spain is lush and I’m so grateful that I’m living here for a while. 

Have you ever noticed any weird Spanish things? I’ve only got a little time and I’m really keen to explore more. I’m still trying to finalise my summer plans, so if you have any suggestions send them  my way. 
 

After my camera was stolen in America, I bought an iPhone and have just used that as my travel camera since. If you’ve read about me, you’ll know that travel photography is one of the main reasons I travel – I love documenting new places and people. If I’m honest there’s no way that it compares to the quality of my SLR, but I don’t think you need an SLR to take great photos. The best thing about having an iPhone with such a good quality camera is that it’s always with you, so you can easily take it out of your pocket and shoot.

I do miss the confidence I felt when I took out my big, bulky SLR because in a way it signaled to people that I was serious about taking photos, and so often locals would come up to my camera and ask for a picture. But, in contrast the iPhone is discrete so you can take photos without people noticing too easily. The biggest drawcard is certainly that it fits in my pocket, my SLR could never do that. At the moment I’m still getting more comfortable with my iPhone 4S, but I’m learning the ropes and almost at a stage where I can take photos I’m really happy with. 
 

Tips For Taking Great Photos On Your iPhone

Composition is really key! I think some people get a little “snap happy” with their iPhones and don’t really put in the effort to ensure that there’s good composition. That’s fine, I mean, everyone has the right to take photos how they please, but I think if you start actively considering your composition when you take photos, you’ll notice a huge improvement in the quality and usability of your pictures. Cropping after the fact will always result in a lower quality image, so try to get it right when you’re looking at the image on screen. 

Focus properly on the particular part of the photo you want to be in focus. This has an added bonus, that not only will the camera focus on that part, but it will adjust the exposure of the image in order to properly or best expose that part of the frame. This is particularly important when you consider images where you might have a dark foreground or object and a bright background. Make sure that you’re focusing on the part of the picture you want to be best exposed!
 

Turn HDR on in the settings. I’m not a huge fan of taking HDR images normally, but I find that the HDR on the iPhone is pretty subtle and just helps eliminate parts of the image being really under or over exposed. You can adjust this in your camera settings so that it will automatically save both the original image and the HDR image. The other issue with taking images in HDR is that it takes a few seconds longer for your phone to process – this isn’t a huge problem, but can stop you from taking multiple images really close together. 
 

Turn off your flash when you don’t need it, otherwise it might sneak up on the photo and make things look horrible and unnatural. There are times where the flash will be a lifesaver, but most of the time you don’t need it on, so turn it off. 

Keep the camera steady, this is especially important when you’re trying to take night shots. If you’re trying to get the exposure of some gorgeous lights right at night time, try leaning on something, whether a ledge or a railing, just in order to give yourself that extra stability – it will really make all the difference. This proves true for photos where you are trying to photograph something that is moving, if you’re moving too it’s gonna end up being a photographic disaster. Steady on! 

Zoom with your feet. I know that the iPhone has a built in zoom function, but it is TERRIBLE. It degrades the image quality so much, that if you want to do anything other than view it on your phone’s screen, you’ll be disappointed. Pretend you’ve got a prime (fixed) lens on your camera and take the challenge of physically “zooming” in all of your shots. 

The most important thing to do is be realistic of the camera’s limitations. It’s really great for a phone camera, but it doesn’t compare to a professional camera. Be aware of this, and then get over it. When I first got my iPhone I kept joking that “it’s no 5d mark ii” which is true, but it also didn’t cost half as much as one and it’s main purpose is a phone. Once I got over the comparisons, I found myself a lot more excited to use it as a camera and as such my images improved. 

Best Photography Aps

Camera+ – this is great ap for taking photos. You can edit photos within the program, or you can move photos you’ve already taken on the standard camera ap to Camera+ to edit them. It’s usual price is $1.99 but at the moment it’s on sale for $0.99 – I really like it and think it’s money well spent if you want a little more freedom in your photography. 

Instagram – one of the most popular photography aps and totally free – yupee! You can sign up for an intagram account and share your photos. I like instagram as it has a lot of fun filters, but it crops all of the images you take into a square and degrades the quality a bit. In that regard, I prefer Camera+

just.SelfTimer – this is a free ap that does exactly what the name suggests, it’s a self timer. Handy for those moments when you want to be in the photo too. You can set the timer to a range of times, 3,5 or 10 seconds. 

What’s your favourite iPhone photography ap? Do you have any tips to share? Post them here!

I’m in Spain now. My new home for the next two months, while I try to learn Espanol and enjoy ALL the tapas. I figured I’d share some of my favourite little travel tips with you, I hope they serve you well. 
 

Plug In Your Laptop – I am renowned for stealing free wifi, when I was in Calcutta I sat on the sidewalk stealing free Wifi. One things I’ve learned in my travels is that when your laptop is running on battery mode the WIFI strength is a lot weaker. In my hostel in Hong Kong there was no WIFI in my room, but when I plugged in my laptop an insecure WIFI network showed up. If you’ve found a connection that’s weak, plug things in and enjoy the difference! 
 

“So Expensive” – If you’re doing any shopping in markets or third world countries learn how to say “so expensive” in the local language. It makes a real different. Prices usually drop by half. My magical trick. If this fails, walk away, then the price will surely stumble. 

Use The Blue Arrow – I use Google maps often to find my way around, but I never knew about the little blue orientation arrow. You can preload maps when you have WIFI – by simply bringing it up on the page when you have an Internet connection. When you no longer have WIFI you can use the little orientation arrow to see where you are and what direction you’re going in. This is perfect for someone like me who seems to suffer from maps dyslexia! 
 

Withdraw From ATMs – A lot of people fuss about changing cash in advance into the currency of the places they’re visiting, I don’t understand why. You are going to get RIPPED OFF! I have changed cash a handful of times in various banks or currency conversion places and often you’ll lose a great percentage of your money to fees. They need to pay their staff some how and that comes from your cash. The best rate I get consistently is from the banks and it means that I don’t have to worry about carrying too much cash. 
 

Wrongly Convert In Your Head  – I always convert the money I’m spending into my home currency or the currency I’m earning in. Sometimes people say you should think in the local currency, but when I do that it feels like I’m spending monopoly money and it loses it’s value. I find myself spending way too much. If one New Zealand dollar is 6.1 Hong Kong dollars I will convert it in my head at a rate of 1:5. By doing so it means that I will think of things as a tiny bit more expensive than they are and spend less, yes!
 

Get Bitter – I hate bottled water. I blame the fact that my home town has the best tap water in the world. It tastes funny to me and I find myself spending a lot of money on juices etc because I just get sick of the cheap plasticy taste. I love lemon water and yesterday I decided to invest in a little bottle of lemon juice and have been adding it to my bottles of water. Turns a  €0.20 bottle of water into something kind of delicious. This will save me lots of money in the long run, is super refreshing on a hot day and is good for you too. 
 

Steal Spoons – So useful! I usually borrow mine from McDs (while I’m pinching their WIFI too). It’s handy so that you can just buy a cheap yoghurt or something to enjoy for breakfast while you’re on the go. It’s awkward trying to eat yoghurt with your fingers (someone told me once). 
 

Use Couchsurfing – If you’re not interested in Couchsurfing with local people, it’s a good place to post questions on the forums about what’s going on. In terms of festivals, concerts, films, or exhibitions. That way you can see what the local people are interested in, rather than typical tourists traps. People on the forums are super friendly.

Did you enjoy this post? Check out 8 Things You Shouldn’t Do In Asia 
 

What are your favourite little travel tips and secrets?