Archive for November, 2009
time to wake up
Posted in Snippets on 16, November, 2009| Leave a Comment »
sleepless in penang
Posted in Snippets on 14, November, 2009| Leave a Comment »
crazy year end bonaza
Posted in Snippets on 12, November, 2009| Leave a Comment »
fact
Posted in Snippets on 10, November, 2009| Leave a Comment »
my beijing trip II
Posted in Snippets on 8, November, 2009| Leave a Comment »
backpack alone experience
Posted in Snippets on 5, November, 2009| Leave a Comment »
again, this year, i m going to backpack for the 3rd time soon. most of the backpack trip i had wasnt a long ones, but so far it was joyful to me. the longest backpack i had stay for around half month which it was my first ever backpack experience.
so, what should u be prepare if you plan to travel alone? first of all you have to ask urself if that you are mentally prepare? to most of the kiddo who gets pampered too much by their parents, Don’t do this! take my advice. for someone who expect to meets ppl during the trip, i advice u go with group of ppls instead of travelling alone. you might get in trouble talking to strangers >< and u might not able to get help if u are in a strange place and if you are alone. backpack alone are like somekinda self exile, setting self alone in a strange place and try to observe or try to be the locals there. you will not enjoy too much of luxury food as you eat alone and mostly you cant order much for every meal unless u get someone else to join with u. you will have to bear and carry the backpack yourself most of the time, which it weighs 10-15 kg in average. you will have communication barrier with the locals and most of the time sign languages helps alot. you will get cornered easily if someone else is picking on you coz you are alone. you need to know who to look for help coz u are alone. so, if you metally prepare to face the above mention, the congratulations, you are mentally prepare. once you are mentally prepare, start planing your destination and durations for the stay.
then we go to financially preparation. first of all, you will need a backpack. depending of the location and the durations and also the weather i.e in winter u need to get more gears than summer time, you need to get suitable backpack. here’s some tip for getting one. first to consider: how big? the unit of measurement for a backpack are either in liters or cubic inches(ci). the most common ones will be in between 50-80 liters or 3000-5000 ci. which usually holds 10-15kg of loads. next: comfort vs fit : bear in mind that you are the one who carries them urself, 15kg will be quite heavy for a small size ppl…here’s a good link to backpack Guide. once you got ur backpack, next will be the fitting. know where are you going to visit, the weather and the temperature. -15′, 0′, 15′,30′ Celsius may needs different kinda fittings. also consider of the visiting place’s culture. next will be the gadget you will need to bring when u are traveling alone. it can be books, ipod, handheld game console, notebooks, gps,torch light, papper spray… that can be consider. depends on how much u can carry. also need to be consider that the electric current if u are bringing eletric components. get a converter always help. next: get budget for hotel u gonna stay, check on the local average prices for the hotels, if u don plan to sleep in the park or railway station. trust me it will be a freezing hell when the temperature around 15′ at nite if u are sleeping in the park. next budget for food and transport. never under estimate the transport fees, air tickets, train, taxi, buses, rent bicycles…. it all costs money. and it costs alot. don’t budget too much for food as most of the time u will be eating alone. plan for the enterance money for the place u gonna visit also plan for some extra cash for the just in case incident. credit cards helps but not in all situations. cash is ur frens ><
so once u are ready for the above, make sure u are fit enough. u need to walk and carry at least 10-15kg backpack.. its quite painful. u have to carry it when u going to pee, when u going from one place to another… when the moment u start walking, u have to carry them…. do some physical training if u are totally unfit before u consider going….