Top 10 Indie Travel Favourites
Raindrops on roses and… No! Enough of that.
With the middle of the year coming up, it’s time to reset all the popularity stats on the Indie Travel Podcast. We do this every six months, just to keep things fresh. So, to keep the record straight, here are the Top 10 Indie Travel Favourites for the first half of 2008.
Hostels and trips
Over the last month we have introduced a variety of affiliate programmes onto the site to help you book hostels, flights and travel packages. Here’s what you’ve been looking at:
1. Hostelworld bookings through the Indie Travel Podcast
Hostelworld.com brings you online bookings at thousands of hostels worldwide. Check out our up to the minute hostel reviews, view photographs and read detailed descriptions of all our hostels. Confirmed reservations at a selection of youth hostels, independent hostels and international hostels in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Oceania.
Our thoughts: Hostelworld has a very wide range of hostels available from their booking engine and now you can access them all through the Indie Travel Podcast. We admit that it doesn’t look as good as their site, but it has all the same features and we get a small commission on your booking so it helps us eat. We’ve just launched a new section of the podcast - one minute reviews - which will have a focus on hostel reviews. That’ll help.
From travelling the globe like a jetsetter, sightseer or seafarer, or if you’d rather career down a mountain-side on skis, a snow board, or in a perspex ball (yes, perspex ball, it’s known as Zorbing) lastminute.com has it all. If you’re after something less energetic, book one of our spa days, sumptuous restaurants, theatre deals or tea (and champagne if you are feeling extra naughty) for two at the Ritz.
Our thoughts: Although we don’t use lastminute very often it’s saved us headaches in the past. It’s our first fallback when hostel-booking sites run out of answers and it’s often great. We have also found some great deals for weekend trips when we were travelling with a bigger group and needed hotel-style accommodation.
Podcasts
Craig and Linda talk about their experiences travelling with a pair of Vibram Five Fingers. They’re a type of sole or shoe with a thin, hard rubber sole and wetsuit type material to cover the foot. Craig bought them as flip-flop/jandal replacements a few months ago and we talk about what we find them good for … and not so good for.
Our thoughts: Can nothing topple this post? Since we released it in mid-August 2007 this podcast has been the most linked to, most visited thing we’ve ever done. Not that we’re complaining, since the post is still garnering great comments and generating emails. Craig is still wearing his Vibram fivefingers regularly and enjoying them. He still prefers to walk barefoot when he can though.
4. Start backpacking and pack light with Greg Rodgers
This week we talk to Greg Rodgers of Start Backpacking and Vagabonding Begins, one of BootsnAll’s top travel blogs.
Greg and Craig talk about his discontent with life in a cubicle and how he started dreaming and planning his current “vagabonding” lifestyle: breaking the spending habits and re-aligning your life towards travel. Using first-hand experience they outline several tenets of packing light — let’s all brush over Greg arriving with a 25kg pack on his first trip!
Our thoughts: Even though the audio quality was far below par, this gem of an interview has become the second most popular post that we have published. We’ll have to talk to Greg again someday and make sure the audio works better.
Books
5. Lonely Planet Europe on a Shoestring
Party in Tallinn or pose in Cannes; hike the Curonian Spit; be seduced by the Aya Sofia in Istanbul or simply learn the art of the Spanish siesta. Your European Adventure starts here with the most detailed guide available, featuring more than 40 countries, 200 maps and insider tips to help you to go further, stay longer and pay less for the ultimate European grand tour.
Our thoughts: The old edition of this book has been a backup bible for us over the last two and a half years of travelling Europe. We mainly use it to get excited about places or to check maps for transport details and feasibility of our plans. You can listen to our full review here.
6. The Packing Book: Secrets of the Carry-on Traveler
From choosing the right kind of luggage and the appropriate travel gear (money belts, ear plugs, etc.) to customizing your wardrobe according to the length and type of your intended travel, Gilford covers all the bases. She provides plenty of checklists so you won’t forget the essentials, gives detailed instructions (complete with illustrations) on just how to pack items such as skirts, jackets, and slacks to minimize wrinkling and maximize space, and offers suggestions on packing for children and teens. Medical needs, entertainment needs–even security tips–are included in this invaluable guide to getting the most out of the least amount of luggage.
Our thoughts: Having spent half an hour with this book in a library one afternoon, we can attest to the amount of detail and good ideas that Judith Gilford packs into this book. At times it seems almost like overkill, but after wearing a pack for a few hours we know how important packing light really is.
Articles
Articles have only been on the site for about six weeks, but here are the preliminary results.
7. The Birth of a Traveler by Dave Prine
When I started college, I shared the same dream as all my friends: to backpack across Europe. It was the thing to do, the initiation into adulthood. Once you did that, you could settle down, get married, own matching furniture, have children, and reflect on your now-complete life. But it didn’t happen that way for me. In a way, I got luckier than those who took the backpacking route.
Our thoughts: A rash of good stumbles brought this article sky-high pageviews about a week after it was first published, shooting it into the top article position. We enjoy the way Dave introduces himself, his travel philosophy, his love of languages. We’re looking forward to a lot more.
8. The Evolution of a Vandweller by Jessica Spaulding
Up to that point I’d lived in my car for three months and had no problems, but it was only for three days a week. The rest of the week I spent at my parents’ house. I could sleep in a bed, shower whenever I wanted, and raid the pantry before taking off again for Los Angeles. What had bothered me most about living that way was not the sleeping in the car, but driving between the two cities.
Our thoughts: A lovely introduction to an unusual lifestyle choice. We love Jessica’s conversational style and other people obviously like to read it too! Living in a van in America seems like a great way to spend a year. Or perhaps more.
Electronics
9. LaCie 160 GB Rugged Hard Drive
If you travel a lot with your data, the Rugged All-Terrain is the drive is for you. Perfect for users who need backup, storage and large-volume exchange for office files, photos, music and even video clips, the Rugged All-Terrain is powered by the FireWire or USB connection, which means that it uses the power of the connected computer to operate and doesn’t require an additional AC adapter or power cord.
Our thoughts: As we said in our review, we’re a big fan of this hard drive. It’s perfect for all our storage and backup needs. And it bounces. The amount of dents in our laptop prove that’s necessary.
10. Hitachi 4gb Digital Microdrive High Speed Memory Card
Small size and enhanced 4GB capacity permits you to carry an entire continent of maps or 1,000 songs in your pocket. Reliable storage for data, photos, music, and videos from digital cameras, PDAs, handheld PCs, MP3 digital audio players, laptops and other portable handheld devices Hitachi’s new 4GB Microdrive is designed to the Compact Flash Type II industry standard and is compatible with a wide variety of devices that accept CF+ Type II media. The 4GB Microdrive is formatted at the factory using the FAT32 file system to remedy the 2GB limitation of the FAT16 file system.
Our thoughts: We are surprised to see more people buying CF cards than SD cards to be honest. We guess they are more often used in DSLR cameras where space isn’t an issue.
That’s it! The Indie Travel Podcast top 10 for the start of 2008. We hope you enjoy the next six months as much as we’ve enjoyed putting together the last lot.
Podcaster and writer Craig Martin has been living on the road since leaving Auckland, New Zealand in February 2006. With a degree in Media Studies and English plus a penchant for Coleridge, he's currently homeless in Europe. Craig podcasts at the Indie Travel Podcast and regularly blogs at Our Crazy Travels along with his wife Linda.
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June 25th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Hey thanks for all those links and information… You have a great blog here…
June 26th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Thanks Woody. We hope you stick around and add some of your tips too.