Home Articles Posted by Izy Berry (Page 117)
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Places I’ve been
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!
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Places I’d live
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?
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Capture the Colour
White
At a quick glance, this might just look like any happy smiling child, but this little girl, along with her mother who is partially pictured, lives on the streets of Calcutta. I chose her as my subject for the white colour, because if you look closely at her white blouse, you start to notice that her top is quite grubby and it alludes to her difficult life. But above that, I love that she’s just like any other kid – more than happy to share a silly face with me.
Green
I hesitated to use this picture for the colour green as it’s too obvious, but I love the dreamy affect of the rice patties blurring into the slightly overexposed background. It shows how tranquil and relaxing Ubud, Bali, really is. After I was stabbed in Lombok, almost one year ago, I decided to spend a few days in Ubud relaxing and recovering from the shock of the event. It was the perfect location and this photo symbolizes a time of healing and growth for me.
Blue
I chose this photo for my blue entry as obviously the girls are dressed in blue, but also because of the emotion in the girl’s eyes. One of the things I struggle with when traveling to third world countries, is seeing young children struggling or working instead of being at school learning. It is not my place to judge why they are working, because I don’t know enough about them or their situation to understand, but I do feel really sad that instead of learning and being provided with opportunities they are busy trying to sell things to tourists. Sometimes the nagging “buy from me” gets tiresome, but I always try to remember how tiresome it would be if that was your life and your livelihood, especially at such a young age. This photo was taken in Sapa, Vietnam, one of the most breathtaking places I’ve ever visited.
Yellow
This photo is one of my favourites that I’ve ever taken, because I feel like it’s a snapshot of time. Although this was taken in 2011, if you glance at it only briefly it could have been taken twenty years earlier. There are subtle clues in the background that it’s a more recent image, but I love the timeless look it has. It’s also just a plain corner in Calcutta, India and I love that about it too. While of course I travel to see incredible sites, like Angkor Wat and the Berlin wall, sometimes it’s nice to just see where and how other people live in foreign lands. This photo is just that, a moment in an ordinary day, in an ordinary place, in Calcutta.
Red
This is Tom Manorat, he was my tour guide through an elephant and hill tribe trek through rural Chiang Mai. I love this picture, because it embodies his beautiful soul perfectly. I’m sure from this picture you can already tell how incredible those three days were. He was a man both so in love with his job and his country that it was absolutely infectious. I’ve been traveling for over 1.5 years now, but this photo was taken on the third week into my first solo journey in Thailand. At that stage I was still a little awkward and uncertain about traveling alone, but by the end of my three day trip I had this certainty that I’d made the right decision leaving home. I also got to cuddle some elephants after midnight, too. If you book a hotel in Chiang Mai and want to do a trek, get in touch with me and I’ll pass on his details.
As part of the contest rules, you need to nominate five other travel bloggers whom you’d love to see post their photos.
Here are my nominations:
Roots and Wings – Daryl is a lovely American girl living the dream in Germany with her husband, living in Europe has afforded her the luxury of many escapes to exotic places, recently including Turkey, The Czech Republic and Hungary. I’d love to see what she would come up with, although I’m sure a few of them would be food photos – haha.
One Travels Far – Stacey is a real life friend of mine, my first blogger friend! We met in San Diego when I visited and I love her blog as it’s a pretty honest view at life as an au pair in America and America in general. She’s leaving soon, but I’m sure she’ll have lots of new adventures to post about, including her upcoming trip to Hawaii which I am very jealous about.
Travels of Adam – As a self proclaimed hipster, there’s little doubt in my mind that Adam would be able to provide us with an interesting and colourful entry into this competition. His blog is pretty cool too and is broad spectrum. He didn’t plan on traveling for so long, but kind of fell in love and moved to Berlin – one of my favourite cities in the world.
Flashpacker Family – Bethany is from the same home town as me, and for this reason alone I adore her! But beyond that, she’s a cool mum who’s decided with her husband to spend the majority of the year overseas, exploring the world. At the moment she’s based in Thailand and I’d love to see what kinda pictures she’d come up with for this competition.
Nerdy Nomad – Although not a traditional travel blogger, she is very inspiring. Above all, Kirsty has spent a lot of time volunteering overseas and has even written an ebook about it, as she’s kind of an authority on the issue. She’s been living in Africa, volunteered in places such as Haiti and The Philippines, so I’m sure she’d have a great bunch of photos she could share.
I would LOVE to hear what you think about my photos and my entry, so feel free to leave a comment down below. All the best luck to everyone who enters!
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Weird Spanish Things
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.
Revisiting Residency: The Spanish Golden Visa
When I first planned my move to Madrid, I spent a lot of time researching various residency routes—one of which was the Golden Visa. Back then, it seemed like a straightforward way to establish a long-term life in Spain, especially for non-EU citizens eyeing permanent residency. However, there’s now news that the Spanish Golden Visa program may cease to be available after April 2025. If you’re looking for more details on how it currently works and what changes might be on the horizon, this type of in-depth guides for the Golden Visa in Spain are easy to follow. It’s worth a look if you’ve ever dreamed of trading citizenships or finding a more permanent way to enjoy the Spanish sun—just keep in mind that the window of opportunity might be closing sooner than expected.
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 Vegatable
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 Women 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.
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Summer in San Sebastian
I’m just going to put it right out there: I love San Sebastian
It is one of those places I knew I’d love long before I visited it. I could tell I would by the way people spoke of it. Anyone I’d asked about San Sebastian would get this longing look; that “there’s no where I’d rather be” glisten in their eyes.
And now I have the same feeling. It’s quite simply lovely, one of the few places I love even in the rain. San Sebastian is located in the Basque county, a special region of Spain located near the north, where the people like to think of themselves as Basque and not Spanish. There’s a thick layer of French chic, owed to the proximately of San Sebastian to the French border and the hoards of French tourists who visit. In some ways it feels more French than Spanish, but there’s a lovely mix of both.
The beaches, mainly Playa de la Concha, are those you dream of when you think of European beaches. Golden sand, beautiful views but the most redeeming feature of these beaches is the fact they’re literally on San Sebastian’s doorstep. Nowhere in the world have I seen a better beach lining a city. For this reason alone, San Sebastian is a contester as one of my favourite beaches.
And another one of San Sebastian’s secret gems? The food. Oh my god, the food. My love affair with Thai food may have been shattered by delicious little pinxtos. Spain is famous for it’s delicious tapas, and Basque county is known for it’s mini tapas, called pinxtos (pronounced pinchos). I was lucky enough to be taken around by my Couchsurfing host, who happened to be a chef, to some of the best places to try pinxtos. You see, it’s very common in Spain to simply go to a restaurant, stand at the “bar” and enjoy a couple of pinxtos that that particular restaurant is famous for, before moving on to the next place.
Want to know the proper etiquette for eating pinxtos? Lots of napkins and toothpicks, both of which you seem to throw on the ground once you’re done with them, regardless of how high-end the restaurant. While you’re enjoying some of the best food in the world, try some Basque wine called Txakoli, but be warned, for me it tasted more like vinegar than wine. The French influence in San Sebastian is most apparent in the prices – you’ll find that it can be quite an expensive place to eat, especially if you hunt out the best pinxtos.
You’ll notice as you wander around that San Sebastian seems to be the playground of some very wealthy people. The trophy wives have their immaculately dressed babies and Louis Vuitton bags in tow; with shopping bags dangling off the pram’s handle bars. I can’t blame them, it is a truly lovely place to holiday, but you have to search a bit harder to find that youthful groove that is blatant in other European cities. A great escape from the masses of soccer mum’s is the walk up Monte Urgull. The views from the top are breathtakingly beautiful and it’s a very lush park, very romantic and perfect for a picnic. There’s also a free museum, located in the castle, focused around San Sebastian, I didn’t find it particularly interesting, but the panoramic views from the top are certainly the best in the city.
How many days do you need in San Sebastian? A lifetime! Honestly, I think a long weekend is perfect. Basque country is renowned for it’s temperamental weather, often flicking between sunshine and rain in a heartbeat. When it does start raining, there’s not a lot to do in San Sebastian, aside from shopping. I read the reviews of some of the museums, but none of them really appealed. You could make the trip to Bilbao, about an hour away, which is the biggest city in the Basque region. There’s a bunch of great museums there, including Guggenheim Museum which is an incredible building. If you do manage to visit San Sebastian during a patch of sunshine, be prepared to fall in love.
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Summer Plans
At the moment I’m living just outside of Madrid (I’m loving it), for the next two months in a bid to learn Spanish and enjoy all that their culture has to offer. Afterwards, I’m planning to make my way home, the long way. I’ll be finished in Spain by late August and want to make my way to New Zealand by mid October, or round about. There’s a few countries on my to visit list, but I simply can’t visit them all – all of the countries mentioned below I have not visited, so REALLY appeal to me. I was wondering which you think are essential before I depart European shores for a long time.
Just as a side note – during the time between Madrid and New Zealand, I will be spending around a week in the Czech Republic with my former host family, enjoying the tail end of summer there and picking up my suitcase – so travel will be a bit more difficult from this point on. I plan to fly to New Zealand from Istanbul, Turkey. So bare in mind I have to get from Spain to the Czech Republic and onto Turkey, the places I go in between are what I’m interested in figuring out.
Here are the main contesters:
Portugal – First photo by Rstml, second and third photo by Michael Swiet 
Morocco – Photos by Stephen Walford
Italy – Photos by Bulbol2010 
Croatia – Photos by Lena_Ni 
Slovenia – Photos by Tridlad
Greece – First photo by Alissa Ferris second by P and R and third by Peace Correspondent
These beautiful pictures have confused me more. I think I’d be happy to spend around two weeks in Turkey, so that really leaves 3-4 weeks for all the other places. Money IS AN ISSUE, so I want to keep costs as low as possible, I’m literally down to my last cents. As flights will become more pricey, I’m looking at locking in dates soon rather than playing things by ear.
Where do you think I should spend my time and WHY? Bonus points if the places are more affordable. Part of me is tempted to make my way by land from Prague to Istanbul, but I think that might be too expensive. As I’m living in Madrid I could easily delegate weekend trips to Portugal, Morocco and Italy, just for a taste, but I don’t want to sell the places short.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
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iPhone Photography
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!
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8 Little Travel Tips
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?
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Couchsurfing in Mexico
When I was at Coachella with a friend, I decided that I wanted to do a border run to Tijuana, Mexico. I had always wanted to Couchsurf, I even hosted some people in when I lived in New Zealand. But I was always so apprehensive about my camera being stolen or something really terrible happening. After being stabbed in Indonesia and having my camera already stolen in Los Angeles, I felt that there was no harm in trying it out. I decided I would start Couchsurfing in Mexico.
Best decision ever. I had such a great time with my host in Tijuana that since then I’ve surfed in San Diego, Bilbao and will be surfing again in San Sebastian tonight!
So, why do I love it? Well, first of all it’s like meeting with a friend you’ve already met before, but haven’t. I love the social aspect of hostels, but sometimes I get tired of the small talk trying to establish what your story is. Thankfully, most of this gets cleared out of the way when you exchange messages with your potential host. You can read their profile, find out if you have any common interests and go from there – easy “pre-made” friend.
Secondly, they know their city better than any guide book possibly could. My hosts have known the best bars, cafes, sites and general attractions that I would have certainly missed if I’d stuck to a hostel and a guidebook. They’ll take you where the locals go. On my first trip to Mexico my host took me to his partner’s mother’s house for the best fish tacos of my life. What’s better than Mexican food? Home made Mexican by an actual Mexican.
Thirdly, they have their own already established social groups, so not only do you have one pre-made friend, but you might have a bunch depending on when you visit. When I was in Tijuana we met up with one of my host’s best friends and we went on a little road trip to Ensenada. This was much more fun than taking a bus alone. We ended up on a little boat cruise around the habor and then they took me to one of their favourite vineyards where we sampled ALL of the dips and filled up on tasty things. It was awesome!
Is Couchsurfing safe?
I can’t promise you it’ll be entirely safe, but I’ve had no problems. Couchsurfing hosts have feedback, so I think it’s always a good idea to read the feedback of the people you’re surfing with. If you’re a little anxious about security, make sure you know a decent hostel in the area that you can go to if you need to. You could always book a night’s accommodation for the first night and then meet up with your host for drinks and see how things are. All of my hosts have been awesome and people I hope to keep in touch with and would love to host one day in New Zealand.
Some people use Couchsurfing just as a ploy to make long term travel cheap, but I think it’s important that you’re genuinely interested in the people you choose to surf with and the experiences you’ll share together. It’s the best way to meet locals, who definitely speak your language and you’ll get a unique snapshot into what their life is like.
In the end I had an amazing experience Couchsurfing in Mexico. I made friends that I’ll always treasure and hope to visit again… and I’ll definitely be Couchsurfing in Mexico next time I visit.
Does anyone else have any Couchsurfing experiences? I’d love to hear them.
