Imagine this page as a succulent peach. You’re yearning to scrunch your teeth into every velvety inch of it’s surface. You’ll soon be ignorant of the sticky juice, migrating along a sticky path down your chin.
Well, that peach is slowly becoming covered in furry hyperlinks, that could easily be construed as a kind of cyber mould. They’re relentless, with every foraging trip to Google, I come back with yet more to add to the relentless peachy list.
Like all good fungi, a complex structure will start to form from within and in time you’ll start to appreciate this peach as a whole new object of natural beauty. Yum!
Visas
Project Visa: An invaluable website full of insanely useful and easily accessible visa information for the whole wide world.
Reference
You could leave home without them, but you’d be so much better not too…
Lonely Planet Thorn Tree: Whether you’re a traveller or a tourist I implore you to use this site to get the most out of your destination. Their books are pretty cool too, but if you’re tighter than a penny proud Scotsman then the Thorn Tree is next best thing. Och aye.
World Nomads: As well as offering great insurance policies (use promo code TRLANT for 6% discount!), the World Nomads site also displays some fantastic blogs to do a bit of light reading (obviously after you’ve read ToA.com!). They also offer travel advice, but bear in mind World Nomads is an Australian outfit therefore it’s more relevant to them, and they’re most likely drunk when updating it.
Money Saving Expert: Save money and time with this fantastic site. It caters for all sorts of things, for the traveller in you there’s some great tips on securing those bargain flight tickets.
Seat 61: Don’t even consider getting on a train without having a peek over the shoulder of the man in Seat 61. Whatever he’s been reading, its priceless. Timetables and advice for pretty much the entire worlds rail network. Tickets pleeeeease.
Real Russia: Real Russians as well. If you’re planning on getting within an inch of a Kalashnikov then you’ll need an invitation. These guys will sort that out, and much more.
NHS Fit For Travel: This site is the perfect accompaniment to the wandering hypochondriac. Written by the government funded drug dealers the site is bursting with medical tips and advice that you should ignore, at your peril.
Travel Blogs
Wow, wow and double wow. This lot are a bunch of inspiration stuffed into my backpack…
Megan: Megan has a clean, fresh and exciting style which will nail you to your desk for an hour at least. She carries a host of souvenirs and is never short of a tale. Also a great site for anyone planning a RTW trip as has some comprehensive details.
Pam & Rog: Don’t ever think there’s a stereotype to travel. I’m great friends with Pam’s proud daughter and son-in-law who introduced me to this magical journey from South Africa to Yorkshire, entirely by Jeep (sorry, with Zebedee).
Matt Harding: Matt Harding has got to be one of the jammiest people on this earth. He travels to dance and dances to travel. He loves to move in more than one way, check these vids and his blog.
Vagabonding: It’s almost criminal that Mike is no longer travelling. He’s completed his journey, but reading his site will take you on a journey of your own. As a writer I aim to mesmerise, but as a reader I am rarely afforded that affliction, until I read Mike’s tales of Vagabonding.
Our Big Journey: “How long have you been travelling?” Jez inquired, “About a month, how about you guys”, he waited a moment “Ummm… I think about 4 years now?”. A fantastic read, full of inspiration (especially here)
Spoke About: I’ve met a fair few cycle tourists on this trip, but few have left an impression like this pair of New Zealand love birds. Rachael openly confesses that she doesn’t even like cycling, she just wants to be with Andrew. Their site combines the best of everything, a really interesting read, and one that will surely motivate even the most ardent of couch potatoes!
Polly Evans: ‘Quirky Adventures in an Offbeat World’ is how Miss Evans labels her website, and if you’ve read her books you’ll know why. I’d love to meet Polly one day, not planned or at some corporate event, just a meeting of chance over a coffee and carrot cake in some faraway cafe.
You scratch my back…
These guys found me before I found them, but they all have amazing tales to tell…
The Lost Globe: I was wandering around The Trail one day when I discovered a Lost Globe. I promptly picked it up and gave it a rub and out pops a fellow named Dan, who is also part of a brave new project called Globe Roamer TV.
Ken Douglas: When I visit the Great Wall of China it will no doubt open my eyes, but when Ken visits it will hopefully open many more– to the work of two very worthy charities for autistic children. Please, consider sponsoring him.
Dove mi porta il cuore: “Annika. Swedish by birth, Italian at heart.”. Alas, she’s married. In truth, Annika is a selkie with a lust for life and a passion for all things Italian.
Craig & Tina’s Cubicle Boycott: From 2005-2006 Craig and Tina realised a dream to travel, so suspending all things “normal”: they sold the house, rented out the dogs and quit their jobs to do so. My kinda people, an interesting read.
Vagabondish: In Mike’s own words, Vagabondish “follows the story of Mike, a lifelong travel addict, on a two year journey ’round the world”. Sound familiar? An informal, appealing collation of all things travel with a dash of Vagabond(ish).
Ramblings of a Traveller: Steven and Katherine met in an exam room, and a couple of years later I found them in a hostel in Ulaanbaatar with plans afoot to fill 5 months with first degree fun.
Joe Rodriguez: Meet Joe Blog. I did in Xi’an, you can wherever you choose too, worth a goose and gander.
Jenn & Jon’s Roadtrip 2007: I can’t quite figure out where they’re from, or where they’re going. But where ever they are, they take me on an amazing literary journey.
Feisty Blue Gecko: In her own words, ‘Living and working in Asia (Nepal, Mongolia and now India) for the past 7 years. Mostly (but not always) thriving on the challenges, always marveling at how privileged I am to be here.’ A fascinating insight of a feisty, blue gecko.
Spinn Cafe: If you ever get to Lhasa, then be sure to drop in on Kong and Oat for a coffee and a card trick or three. They’re living the dream, and their homely cafe became a home away from home for a couple of weeks back then.
Where are Liz and Adrian?: I don’t know? I haven’t seen them? Ummm, Liz dropped me an email, she said something about a digital camera and a laptop, I replied and now you’re asking me where she is? Jeees, the pressure! Why don’t you start looking at their site? I’m INNOCENT, INNOCENT I tell you!
Kit
Moleskine: If their notebooks are good enough for Picasso, Matisse, and Hemingway then they’re just about good enough for me. There’s something romantic about a timeworn Moleskine notebook and pencil. It’s enriching to go back to basics and Moleskine is a brand that embraces this magnificently.
