Camera found after drifting 6 years in the Pacific Ocean

If you ask me, losing your camera on vacation is one of the worst things that can happen, apart from dying or getting seriously hurt. I truly believe that my pictures are the most valuable assets I have with me on a trip. You can imagine how Lindsay Crumbley Scallan must have felt when her diving camera disappeared into the depths of the ocean 6 years ago when diving in Maui.

Well, you wouldn't believe it, but the camera was found a month ago... in Taiwan. The camera drifted almost 10.000km through the ocean and was found last month on a beach in Taitung.

Backpacking budget: don't forget!

Money. It is always an issue. It's the one single thing that has the most influence on my backpacking trip. According to the first planning, I want to travel 5,5 months and I would like to visit India, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and maybe Indonesia to finish. I'm currently busy setting a backpacking budget for this trip, but there are some things I kind of forgot about.

So here are some very important budget related matters which you absolutely cannot forget when planning a trip like this:

Rafting through the Grand Canyon

Rafting through the Grand Canyon
Destination: USA, Arizona, Grand Canyon
Date: July, 2007

Bellagio

Bellagio
Destination: Italy, Lako Como
Date: August, 2012

Bridge with locks

Bridge with locks
Destination: Spain, Malaga
Date: June, 2011

Monkey on a statue

Monkey on a statue
Destination: Indonesia, Bali
Date: March, 2012

Backpacking: The ultimate backpackers guide

I truly have the best boyfriend in the entire world. Not only is he okay with me going on a 5,5 month backpacking trip, he also wants me to be well prepared so he bought me an amazing book as a gift. May I present to you the ultimate backpacking bible: Southeast Asia on a shoestring from Lonely Planet. As a backpacker you cannot live without a Lonely Planet book. It's known to be the most complete and updated backpackers guide out there.

Here it is, the only backpacking book you'll be needing while travelling through Southeast Asia. First some things you might want to know when taking this book on a trip: it's 19.7 x 12.8 x 3.9 cm and it weighs 743 grams. Not really a pocket book to put in a backpack, but I will take it with me anyway. The book covers eleven countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. You could say this is the perfect backpackers book for me, since I'll be visiting eight of these countries (according to the planning thusfar).

So what kind of information can be found in this backpack book?

Flowering boulevard

Flowering boulevard
Destination: Italy, Lake Como
Date: August 2012

The best job in the world

Remember when Australia gave away the best job in the world a couple of years ago? The job in which the employee had to take care of a deserted island, which included an enormous paycheck and the opportunity to live on a deserted island? Remember that? It was a huge success, and that's why Tourism Australia is repeating it by giving away six dream jobs all over the continent of Australia. You like?



This time they are looking for six different people with different skills, but they will all get the same $50.000,- paycheck and in addition to that $50,000,- worth of housing, technology and other items. I bet you are interested? The job descriptions are as followed:

Sunset at the Batu Bolong Temple

Sunset at the Batu Bolong Temple
Destination: Indonesia, Bali
Date: March, 2012

Backpacking: planning the main route

So I have decided to go backpacking. It has always been a dream of me to travel the world and now I finally get the opportunity to do it. Next year (July 2014) I will start my trip and I thought it would be fun if I would update you about all the preparations. Of course it depends on the duration and destination of the trip whether you need to follow all the steps I am going take, but it might give you an idea of what planning a backpacking trip like this actually entails.

Picture via here

Well, the first item on the agenda is: where the heck am I going? Planning a backpacking route sounds more simple than it actually is. There are many places to travel and there is only limited time to do so, in my case probably 5,5 months. I already decided that I really would like to visit South-East Asia. How to create a route? Like so:

Vulcanic island

Vulcanic island
Destination: Spain, Lanzarote
Date: July, 2009

A well deserved drink after snowboarding

A well deserved drink after some serious snowboarding.
Destination: Austria, Gerlos
Date: January, 2013