Resources

Guide Books & Other Recommended Reading | Advance Hostel/Guesthouse Booking | Insurance | Flights & Other Recommendations

This 'resources' page is pretty much a collection of, well, resources useful to any independent traveller. These range from a section on recommended guidebooks and reading for various regions to a search engine to book hostels/guesthouses for, say, a first night. Every product, service, company, even guidebook in this section has been tried and tested and comes recommended as among the best out there.

Please note, to be frank and up front, that using some (not all) services, like buying a guidebook after using a recommended link will result in a small (in fact they are tiny!) referral fee (at no cost to the purchaser) being received. Full details are given wherever this is applicable and are explained in full, but to quickly summarise: these fees are not a fortune, they do however just about cover the hosting and bandwidth costs of this site, which takes many hours of work each week to keep updated. It needs to be said that this is not a commercial site or a business of any sort and that any recommendations are included because of their genuine use to travellers; opinions given are always honest. Any use of these resources is very much appreciated.

Let's be fair, you're not going to find all the answers on the web or this site. Guidebook, pre-trip planning and reading recommendations straight from the road. View by region and purchase (if you so wish) from Amazon in the UK, USA and Canada.

Find the best reads and guides in the following regions: Pre-trip planning, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand & Pacific & Latin America.

If you need somewhere to stay and want to book in advance you'll find the net full of providers eager to take commission and fees for your money, 'Hostel World' is perhaps the most famous, but there are many others. To the left is Hostel Booker which won't charge a booking fee, whereas most others do - Hostel World and Hostel Booker's search boxes are available on the where to stay page to compare. Remember these booking engines are somewhat misnomers since they list as many hotels as hostels. You can search beds in most countries, check current availability and compare rates. We prefer Hostel Booker on the left since there charge no commission. Not always the best tool, but for a first night or at a very busy time of year in developed countries (where budget accommodation is much more limited and harder to track down) it's well worth using and extremely useful to take the worry out of arriving somewhere with nothing booked.

There are thousands of companies out there who will insure your trip, but we like this one the best because...

• They'll cover your adventure
• You can claim online
• Indefinitely extend your policy
• Free travel safety advice
• Give back to the places you travel
• Recommended by Lonely Planet

Find out more and check their rates here.

»  For flights it's worth checking out the following: Opodo & Expedia. For details on how to find the best airfare prices (normally Opodo comes up trumps) click here. Canadian have reported good results at Flightnetwork.

»  For clothing in the UK try Gear Zone, or 'Castle, Mountain and Moor', in the US/Canada try USoutdoor or MooseJaw, both offer cheaper than high street prices, free shipping and always a huge range hard to find elsewhere. If in Europe, for gear such as expensive North Face, Teva or Mountain Hardware items, buying on-line from the US for delivery overseas can often work out cheaper. Sierra Trading Post is one US outlet that has reasonable overseas shipping rates - they're also quite cheap.

»  For silk sleeping bag liners, sheets and money belts - Jag Bags based in NZ deliver worldwide and come recommended. Carriage is included in the price, quality is excellent and the savings in price are significant to buying in Europe/North America. See comment. Also see: http://www.silksleepingbag.co.uk/

 »  For travel SIM cards, try 0044 (geared towards UK users) - a range of foreign and global SIM cards so that you can avoid roaming charges and in many cases receive calls on your mobile for free and make calls locally and home at a more reasonable price.

More coming soon.... (please feel free to recommend anything).

"Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!"

Bob Marley