Home Articles Posted by Izy Berry (Page 83)
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A New Way to Plan Travel? Yonderbound
If you haven’t heard of Yonderbound, you’re missing out. I love to hear about new types of travel planning sites and apps because I spend basically all of my free time in a state of trip planning. It drives me crazy!
Innovative, Easy and Resourceful Trip Planning
Sometimes I find myself finding so many options for hotel rooms, having nowhere to save and organise them that I end up emailing them to myself, only to never look at the emails again. Then when I’m actually committed to booking my hotel, I have to start from the beginning again.
With Yonderbound you can save hotels you like, share them with family, add notes – which is a really helpful feature as you can add notes as to why you wanted to stay there – and make direct bookings. It’s like a trip planner, scrap book and booking site all wrapped into one tidy package. You can also get paid if people use your tips and Yonderboxes to book things themselves – a whopping 70% of the net profit is given back to you in the form of Yondercredits which you can then use to redeem on your own travel.
Why I LOVE Yonderbound
As someone who’s constantly on the road, living out of suitcases and hotels, I wouldn’t say that organisation is my strong suit. I’ve lost countless things on this trip, including clothes, and I have no idea where I left them. I feel like my online life is almost as disorganised with lots of open tabs, random hotels I find and can’t remember and just general chaos. I know that Yonderbound will give me the option to easily save hotel ideas and keep my travel plans condensed so I can share it with friends or family.
All Inclusive Prices
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been on a website and felt like I was getting an incredible deal on a hotel, only to click through a few pages to have numerous charges added to my bill. When this happens, often it pushes the price of the hotel above my budget and I’m back to the beginning. With Yonderbound the prices are all inclusive so what you see is what you’re paying. Each week this will save me considerable time in the planning stages, allowing my bookings to be easily organised from the beginning.
It’s a Visual Site
I created three Yonderboxes for my confirmed upcoming travels to Coachella, Copenhagen and Barcelona. I love that you can add a pretty cover image to your Yonderbox – it really gets me excited about the places I’m going to. You can see all your bookings through Yonderbound in one place which will help keep bookings properly organised. It’s simple, clean, but has everything you need.
If you’re planning a trip sometime in the future why not sign up for Yonderbound (it takes about 10 seconds to sign up) and explore Yonderboxes. Who knows, you might even make some Yondercredits along the way that you can use for your own travel.
In collaboration with Yonderbound
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The Next Move
I feel like I’ve been sprinting for the past seven months. Running towards the next adventure, the next country.
I was supposed to be in Guatemala months ago, with a week-long stop over in Panama.
That stopover grew and grew. It became a week in Peru, 5 weeks in Costa Rica and now it’s become almost a month in Nicaragua.
The other night I was packing my bags, getting ready to head to San Juan del Sur, and I realised I just couldn’t be bothered doing another border crossing with all my stuff. I’ve reached the point where the newness of travel just feels exhausting. Adventure feels more like a burden.
Serious first world travel girl problems. But problems they are.
The plan was to make my way to Guatemala by land via El Salvador, but the thought of two long bus rides and lugging all my crap across the borders by myself made me feel super anxious.
Why are border crossing areas some of the seediest places in the world?! Ugh.
So I decided I wouldn’t do it.
Instead, I booked some flights to Guatemala for this weekend. The flight cost more than my ticket from LA to Copenhagen.
Since booking the flight, I’ve felt my stress melt away.
Is This the End of Travel? Nope. Nope. NOPE.
It’s more like changing travel up. Finding a balance between exploring and having a home base to work in.
There are things I want to do and achieve this year that are almost impossible when I’m traveling and continuously on holiday. While traveling and working online is great and has a lot of benefits, you would be surprised by the amount of time that I spend cursing shitty WIFI and trying to refresh my connection. I also want a place to store all my things so that I can travel lighter and feel more refreshed.
So on Sunday I fly into Guatemala, I have a room booked for a month starting from the Monday. I’m on a blind date with this cute colonial town and I’m really hoping it’s love!
If I like Antigua, I’ll be basing myself there for the next two months until I head to the states. I’m planning on visiting Austin, San Diego, Los Angeles and of course Coachella. After then I fly to Copenhagen for a few days, Barcelona and I have nothing else planned for the rest of Europe. At some other point in the year I plan to visit New Zealand.
Outside of that, I want to get to know Guatemala. I want to get fluent in Spanish. I want to volunteer. I want to work on my photography. I want to get fitter, stronger, and more me.
But for now, I’m going to enjoy the sleepy town of San Juan del Sur and soaking up Nicaragua before I leave.
So there we have it, after almost 7 months on the road, I’m craving an apartment, a bed to call my own and a place to unpack my things.
What’s the longest you can travel for before going crazy?
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3 Essentials to Pack When Travelling to New Zealand
The land of the long white cloud can be a beautiful place to visit with a seemingly endless supply of photo-worthy sights. But to get the most out of your time here, need to arrive prepared for your trip. Below are a few of the essential items you should pack for an unforgettable time in New Zealand.
Bring Your Best Joggers
New Zealand is a land for outdoors enthusiasts, so it pays to bring your favourite pair of walking or sports shoes, as you’re bound to use them. Pack them into a sturdy hiking pack (you can get one from luggage retail websites like Bags To Go if you don’t have one), and head onto the hiking trails down south. Don’t forget to bring a packed lunch of some description, and watch out for the kia birds – they will steal it if you give them half a second’s opportunity!
Bring Your Favourite Poncho/Raincoat/Umbrella
One of the things New Zealand has plenty of is rain, and you don’t want to be caught out on holidays unprepared. Find something that will be light to travel with, easy to pack and stow, and, most importantly, will keep you dry! Depending on your intended activities, an umbrella may be a bit cumbersome, and isn’t particularly useful if you’d prefer to be taking photographs. If you opt for a poncho or raincoat, just remember that the cheaper it is, the more likely you are to get wet. One of the positives of a rain protector like this is that you can also cover your backpack and keep your belongings dry too. If neither of these are taking your fancy, you can choose to splash out on a high-quality spray jacket. If you’re not sure what to get, you can wait until you get to New Zealand; there is no shortage of sports clothing stores there to help you choose the perfect jacket.
Get Ready to Become a Shutterbug
New Zealand has one of the most beautiful and diverse environments in the world. The one thing you must not forget is your camera. You will want something that isn’t going to get in the way of you enjoying yourself, but will still take enduring, beautiful photographs to soften your post-holiday blues. If you’re a bit of an adventurer, then it might be worth looking at a GoPro or something that can capture the journey without requiring both your hands. If you’re planning to get involved in water sports, a waterproof camera will be a necessity.
Whatever your intended holiday plan, there’s no need to stress. New Zealand has just about everything you could possibly need, so if you forget to bring something, you have two options: pick yourself up a new one in New Zealand or realise it probably wasn’t that important if you forgot it and get on with enjoying your trip. Have you travelled to New Zealand before? What do you think is an absolute must-take for a trip there? Share your NZ travel tips below.
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Things I Miss About New Zealand
Tonight I’m going to watch the Hobbit movie at the cinemas. I know lots of beautiful New Zealand scenery’s going to grace the screen and I’m going to feel a pang of homesickness. As much as I love exploring other countries, New Zealand is probably the prettiest country I’ve ever stepped foot on and it’s quite special to call it home.
Beyond the obvious things I miss about home, such as friends and family, there are a few little bits and pieces I wish I could find elsewhere. Or I wish that New Zealand was closer and I could just shimmy home for a weekend, but alas for now I’ll just keep day dreaming about these random things.
1) New Zealand Customer Service
I’ve had the pleasure (and misfortune) of experiencing customer service in countless countries. I’m not going to say that New Zealand customer service is the best, because it’s not, but I like it. I like that when I’m in a shop at home I’ll get greeted and then left to my own devices to browse the clothes. In America the customer service is overbearing, even in places that don’t seem to be tip-focused. In Latin America, customer service doesn’t exist. New Zealand has my sweet spot of customer service and I miss it.
2) New Zealand Coffees
We’re serious about coffee. I spent way too much on coffee while living back at home and going out for coffee was one of my favourite ways to catch up with friends. I had specific cafes for specific types of coffees. Now when I travel it’s all a gamble. Sometimes I’ll wind up with a delicious coffee that tastes like a dream, other times it takes like something a devil vomited up.
3) New Zealand Roads
Yes, other countries have great roads but many of them are boring, lacking in scenery. Not the case back home! And often in places where there may very well be fantastic scenery, such as on my recent trip to Burma, the roads are so bumpy you are constantly being thrusted about. We have great roads.
4) Meat Pies
Why aren’t meat pies a big thing anywhere else in the world? The delicious combination of golden flaky pastry and delicious meaty treats is too good. Perhaps one day I will open up a bakery somewhere specialising in meat pies and share the glory with the rest of the world.
5) Clean Air
Ah, New Zealand air. It’s beautiful. That’s one of the benefits to being extremely isolated and having a relatively small population size, our air is gorgeous.
6) Soft Grass
If you’re reading this and wondering why I might just miss soft grass then you’ve never spent long enough in Central America. Sitting on grass here is a gamble; you’re very likely to get stabbed in the butt by a blade of grass. It’s hard, and crunchy and it’s just not nice. Back home we have excellent picnic grass.
7) Nothing’s Gonna Kill You
I remember one night I was really drunk on Koh Phangan in Thailand making my way back to my hotel across the sand. I saw a scorpian on the sand, burrowing into it. It was the first time I’d seen one and I freaked. In most countries around the world outside of New Zealand (and especially in Australia) I assume that all bugs and creatures harness the ability to kill me. This makes camping and wandering through forests particularly terrifying. New Zealand is super safe, you’re probably your biggest risk there!
8) Seeing Stars Even When in the Cities
I guess because our air is so awesome, you can almost always see the stars no matter where you are. I used to love walking to one of the big parks at night, laying on the (soft) grass and looking up at the crystal clear skies.
NZ is pretty great and it’s a country worth missing. I’m looking forward to visiting home sometime this year and making the most of all the things I love about my home country.
What do you miss about home when you travel?
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Women Traveling Essential
When traveling long term, there are a few things that a girls just gotta have. Sure, we can always buy the basics in most countries, but when you’ve just arrived in Cambodia the last thing you want to be doing is hunting for a new hairbrush.
Here are some of the most essential things a traveling woman needs:
Laundry Bags
These are excellent for keeping dirty laundry separate from your clean stuff, as well as keeping all of your delicates in one place. You can chuck all your underwear into a laundry bag, before washing, and it’ll still get a good wash without ending up all tangled and strewn through the machine.
Packing Cubes
Packing cubes are good for women who are unorganised. They come in a variety of sizes and shapes, so you’ll always know where everything is and can keep it all together. The big ones are great for jeans and sweaters, while the smaller ones are good for socks and t-shirts. They make it easy to mix-and-match outfits without having to go hunting through your suitcase.
A Sleeping Bag Liner
When staying in a cheap guesthouse or hostel, the sheets may be a bit…gross. A sleeping bag liner will mean you can wrap yourself up in it without risking full contact with the sheets, keeping you nice and clean. They’re also excellent at preventing you from being bitten by mosquitos, and will also keep you nice and warm on long bus rides and flights.
Portable Power Charger
We all seem to travel with far too many electronics, and the average woman is carrying a laptop, phone, kindle, and often an iPad. This means that unless you’re traveling with a portable power charger you’re likely to end up with flat batteries and no entertainment or way to contact the outside world. A portable power charger can be charged while you have plenty of time in a guesthouse, and then used even while you’re hiking in the middle of nowhere.
Headphones
Headphones are a must have. They’ll save you from going crazy when that baby is crying on a plane, and they’re also a good way to drown out all the snoring in a hostel dorm room. You’ll also want to be able to have private Skype conversations with friends and family, and listen to music on long bus trips.
An Epilator
An epilator or hair removal is one of the women traveling’s essential, it is always a good idea to have a hair removal option in place, especially if you’ll be somewhere hot and planning to get into a bikini.
While waxing is a good way to get rid of unwanted hair, trying to find a good waxing specialist in a foreign country can be hard, and you can end up with bruises, ingrown hairs, and a rash. Not ideal. An epilator can be used by you personally, so you can take care of business whenever you need to, without relying on someone else.
What are your travel essential? Let me know in the comments below:
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Non Touristy Things to do in Auckland
Auckland is not only the city of sails, but also a place of attractions and activities. In fact, it frequently tops the lists as one of the most livable cities in the world. If you are searching for natural beauty, being positioned between the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea, you will be welcomed with two beautiful harbours- in the east is the Hauraki Gulf and the Manukau harbour in the west. If you want fun, world-class hotels, dining, shopping, and diverse clubs and bars Auckland is unlikely to disappoint. Make sure you check out the rugged west coast surf beaches and visit some of the 100 plus wineries – many of which are in Kumeu.
Auckland is also a well loved destination for foodies, with its hearty locally sourced ingredients inspiring beautiful menues. Potato hash with some grilled goat’s cheese and avocado, coupled with a flat white? What about braised wild venison served with caramelized pears? Travelers will enjoy more combinations like beef short ribs with fondant potatoes or a gourmet lamb burger made with premium NZ lamb, Havarti cheese, beetroot, and dill pickle served with some shoestring fries.
Check our the infographic below for 10 of the best un-touristy things to try on your next Auckland stay.
Courtesy of: Short Term Renting
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Five Weeks in Costa Rica + New Years
I didn’t even know I was going to visit Costa Rica at this time, it wasn’t a part of the plan.
But plans are made to be broken!
I had originally booked only a week in Panama with a flight to Guatemala and after then was planning to knuckle down, work my butt off and volunteer in Guatemala. I had a weird feeling about that flight to Guatemala, and so I didn’t take it. I went to Peru instead and it was AWESOME. When I returned to Panama I thought about booking flights again to Guatemala, but unfortunately the prices were a bit too high so I decided to coast my way to Costa Rica. After more than 5 weeks in CR, I’m in Nicaragua and it’s LOVELY.
I had grand ambitions for Costa Rica. For one, I planned on seeing many sloths. The only sloths I saw here were on the currency.
After a week in Playa Samara and a handful of days in San Jose, which I felt was more than enough, I headed to Playa Jaco. Now Playa Jaco is not somewhere I would usually spend three and a half weeks. It feels like Thailand’s Patong, Bali’s Kuta or Laos’ Veng Vieng. There’s a seediness to it that’s hard to ignore. The reason I spent so long there was because I found a school to learn Spanish and then I decided to hang around there for New Years. I made some really special friends during my time in Jaco that I’ll treasure forever. It was a really fun experience!
What else did I do in Costa Rica? I chilled out.
I saw pretty beaches
I made plantain chips (also known as giant bananas)
I admired the Pacific Ocean – my ocean the ocean that reminds me of home.
I collected too many coins and felt like a pirate
And I saw many many beautiful sunsets
New Years was nice. It wasn’t ridiculously crazy and I only spent $10 the whole night, on a bottle of wine and a wine glass to drink it on the beach. There was no official countdown, everyone was a bit too disorganised. People lit laterns that flickered in the night sky like gold, glowing stars. Others lit fireworks that darted off in all directions. At the stroke of 12, or our best guess, people threw confetti. I celebrated the turn of the year with people I hadn’t met 4 weeks ago in a country I hadn’t really planned on visiting.
It was perfect.
As most of you know 2014 was a year that was riddled with bad news. Health problems in my family, other problems in my family and then a painful breakup. This new years was everything I needed: spontaneous, simple and comforting. Comforting in the sense that I know I’m more than capable of exploring the world alone and finding myself surrounded by a great group of likeminded people.
Costa Rica was surprisingly hard on my budget and I spent probably twice as much as I wanted to during my time there. I’ve decided to book a private room in a hotel for two weeks to knuckle down and focus on my Spanish. I need some time to myself, to sleep to my heart’s content and to focus on some ideas I have brewing in my mind.
I have such a good feeling about 2015, I can’t shake it. I’m really excited about the limitless possibilities this year holds for me. I’m also pretty chuffed that it’s only the second day of the year and I’m already on my way to visiting a new country.
What are you excited about for 2015? I’d love to hear!
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Sydney vs Melbourne: What is the Fashion Capital of Australia?
There is an ongoing debate over which city is the fashion capital of Australia. Whether this conflict can be settled remains to be seen. However, it is clear that both cities have earned their place as fashion centres within Australia and around the world. While Sydney shines in the arena of sports clothes and street wear, Melbourne is considered the Aussie ‘retail king.’ So, let’s compare fashions in these cities and see what they have to offer.
Shopping in Sydney
Any shopper, who walks down Smith or Chapel Streets, is aware that Sydney excels in the area of beachwear and trending street fashions. They have successfully combined sports jackets with lightweight trousers, jeans, t-shirts and an exciting assortment of trendy accessories for years. Shirts, pants and jeans, like the relaxed styles found at Johnny Bigg, provide some of the most popular trends in the city. Warm weather fabrics and casual lifestyle clothing provide shoppers with incredible options. It’s easy to find the latest trends in a city that naturally lends itself to a comfortable fit, rousing wardrobe selections, and unlimited accessories. From the designer to discount brands, Sydney is built on fashion.
Melbourne – The ‘Retail King’
While Melbourne also offers the latest street styles and accessories, Melbourne incorporates high style with designer brands. Formalwear takes fashion to the next level, with sophisticated suits and tailored menswear and womenswear. Australian designers are earning international acclaim and many boutique shops provide some of the most cutting-edge designs in the world. An extensive selection of clothing and accessories provides shoppers with limitless options. From sleek monochrome sophistication to colourful knits, the city provides almost anything shoppers might want. With fabrics and materials that are appropriate for board meetings… to relaxed styles designed for daily errands, Melbourne seems to place an uptown twist on everything it does.
Sydney vs. Melbourne
Clearly, both cities keep raising the bar. With the ‘beach culture’ and street trends at the forefront in the world of design, Australia has it mastered. Australians have known for years that the secret of dressing well lies in the ability to match any style with ease. Textures and patterns are colourful and exciting, and tailoring includes the details necessary for a truly polished look. Australian style is clearly a cut above. Formal, casual, and in-between business attire can be found in the shops and malls within both cities. Lightweight twill, cotton, denims, V-neck tees jackets, and sweatshirts are what Aussies understand. Designs are based on wear-ability and the Australians know how (and where) to shop.
While the argument isn’t likely to end soon, it can be said that both cities have an advantage. Moreover, Australia may well be on its way to becoming the fashion capital of the world with its inherent understanding of what makes fashion great! With top styles heralding from Australian, the designers ‘down under’ are earning global recognition for their groundbreaking contributors to the fashion industry. From Milan to Paris and New York, the world has taken notice and may very well need to make way for great Australian designs.
So, where do you think is the fashion capital of Australia? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below:
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Christmas and New Year Getaways
Whether you like traditional or modern, Christmas is a special time of year, and the way you celebrate it is an entirely personal thing. Some people wouldn’t dream of going away somewhere different for the big day, but some people relish the idea of spending it in different surroundings. I guess it all depends on your preference, but I think it’s something you should certainly try once. An alternative is to spend Christmas at home, but to jet off for New Year, which is an extremely popular choice for many people.
Popular does tend to mean one thing though – prices shooting through the roof. This is why why I’m writing this despite Christmas and New Year being over because I believe it’s a good idea to decide early on, and book your flights and travel extras as early as possible. I went away for New Year last year, visiting friends in Turkey and I was glad I booked my flight early for the end of the year, because with a month to go, the flight price had almost doubled! I also booked my airport parking with ParkBCP at the same time, so I knew everything travel wise was taken care of and I wouldn’t get stung later on.
Travel can be difficult during the winter months, and especially during the festive period, not only because of it being a busy time, but also because of the potential for bad weather, with public transport sometimes being cancelled or significantly delayed. Because of that, I decided to drive myself. The other downside was that I couldn’t get a direct flight to Dalaman Airport, where I would normally fly to, and had to go via Istanbul from London. This is a common problem with travelling to resorts during winter, which are typically summer-based, and flights will often be restricted to larger airports. I flew from Gatwick, so I booked Gatwick north terminal parking and decided to make a day of my travel, stopping a few times along the way and getting in the holiday spirit. It wasn’t too much of a problem, and it only added a few hours onto my travel anyway.
Once you get around potential travel road-blocks, going away somewhere new or familiar during the festive or New Year period means you will remember it for entirely different reasons, and who knows, you might actually find that spending Christmas away from home is something you’d like to repeat.
The options for destination are endless, and of course, entirely down to preference. Maybe you’d like to go to New York, extending your stay to watch the New Year celebrations in Times Square, or maybe you’d like to head to Sydney, and spend Christmas day having a barbeque on the beach, for a total change of routine! Alternatively, you could stick to the snow and visit Santa in Lapland, or go skiing in Austria.
The world is your oyster, even during the festive period.
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Five Things I Wish I Knew Before I Travelled
Aside from my friends and family, I don’t think there’s anything I love more than travel. Yes, I love them more, but the pursuit of travel, the addiction that many of us long term travellers suffer from, is stronger than my need to be around them everyday. This is wonderful and terrible all at the same time. There’s also the fact that my friends are scattered in so many places around the world. For me there’s not one place in the world I miss, because I’ve left a little of my heart in so many places.
Traveling is the greatest adventure I’ve ever been on. It’s the hardest, too. It’s also where I’ve learned more than I ever did at home, or in my university. I’ve learned about myself, about the world, about different cultures and about what purpose I truly want to serve.
There are five key things I wish I knew before I set off on my own adventure and I’ve learned them the hard way.
1) You Can Never Go Home
Okay, you can. There’s nothing stopping you from going home, but it’ll never be the same. You’ll never be the same. When you go out and do all these cool things, are in life changing situations and push yourself outside your comfort zone, most things you left behind at home will seem under stimulating, stuck in time. Yes, you’ll love to see your friends and family for approximately 2 weeks, but after then you’re probably ready to go again.
My friends Dale and Franca wrote about this exact thing the other day, feeling like a foreigner at home.
2) You’ll Always Miss Something
You’ll miss a certain cafe in Morocco that served something a certain way. You’ll miss how the sunset looked while you were on Charles’ Bridge, etching your feet into the ground. You’ll miss that person who you met who you could have talked to for 10 hours a day, every day. You’ll miss the way the water glittered due to the bioluminescent plankton in Ha Long Bay. You’ll miss it all.
3) You Can Buy It There
Aside from specialised medications and specific brand products, everything you will NEED (not want) for your time in a certain country will be able to be bought there. If you’re traveling to a third-world country, or at least a country that’s cheaper than yours, hold out buying it until you arrive. Exceptions for this rule is if you are considerably smaller or larger than the local population in terms of clothing or shoes.
4) You’ll Be Okay
Things will go wrong. Some days everything will go wrong. Other days you’ll be suspicious you’re actually staring in a feature film, because everything will seem too perfect, too coordinated, impossibly wonderful. You’ll feel lonely if you’re traveling by yourself, sick of your companion if you’re not alone. Some days you’ll make ten new friends and sometimes days will go by before you have a real conversation with anyone. You’ll miss a flight, a bus, a boat. You’ll have something stolen. You’ll get sick. You’ll miss home at some point and probably wonder why you ever came out. Through it all, you’ll be okay and you’ll be stronger, more secure and more self aware from each experience.
5) It Can Be Cheaper Than Living at Home
If you come from a relatively expensive country, like I do, much of the world will be cheaper. Want exceptional value? Head to South East Asia, you can live there on a week’s expenses for the month. Central America isn’t quite so cheap so far, but here in Granada, staying in a hotel – not long term accommodation – I’m going to be spending half of what I do at home. That includes eating out for every meal and getting my laundry done for me. It’s a good deal! Even better if you figure out how to earn money online.
Is there anything you wish you knew before you set out traveling? I’d love to hear it.
