A fun execution by VisitBritain is currently running that allows users to crowdsource (crowdvote?) the things that they love about Great Britain. Similar to Reddit, users can upvote different locations and experiences that Great Britain offers in over a dozen different categories like Film and Tv, Culture, Coutryside, and Royals. This wall is a great tool for anybody planning to visit Great Britain as it allows users to quickly see what the most popular experiences/locations are based on input from thousands of different users.
“When I was in London bought a Sim card with 500 mb of data and 100 mins about $25 totally worth it for the ease of getting around and simplifying directions.” -S4H
“Sleeping bag liner. You never know how dirty some hostels/bungalos are. It’s also great if you’re in a super hot climate and just want a clean/thin sheet wrapped around you. Also makes a sleeping bag a few degrees warmer if you want to use it for what it’s designed for. Which I haven’t.” -Kalikoenig
“Microfibre Towel” -Many!
“A cotton scarf. So many uses. Turn it into a hobo bag, a towel, sun protection, dust protection, water filter, tie-down, eye-mask, bandage, arm sling, etc.” -ExpertVagabond
“Gaffer tape. Get the top quality stuff that is made for the entertainment and photography industries, not duck/duct tape. Why? The good stuff doesn’t leave any adhesive or residue behind. I’ve used it to hold a headphone plug in a loose jack in an airline seat, taped a book to a hotel vent to block noise, fixed a loose camera battery door, etc. Roll some around a couple of pens or pencils or other objects in your bag so that you have a meter or two. I roll full width around one pen and varying width narrow strips around another.” -tychosmoose
“Headlamp. Smaller than a flashlight, lights your path more fully, perfect for avoiding nasties on late night trips to the outhouse.” -nefariousmango
“I bought a Nexus 4 for $331 shipped to my house. Knowing that these devices were selling used for very close to MSRP, I figured it was a good investment. I used it oversees for one of my trips, came home, and sold it for $295. So technically this is $36 dollars. But this $36 investment allowed me to have (at the time) a cutting edge brand new unlocked, rooted smartphone. I tethered it at times to give my friend access to the net – which was nice. I think I went through $40 in data in Switzerland, $40 in data in Italy, and $20 in Dublin. After this though, I would highly recommend it. GPS walking directions? Yes. Google Translate? Yes. Pictures to help show people where we want to go (if our phone has no service or doesn’t work). Offline maps? Yes. Train timetables? Yes. Booking hotels/hostels while on the train? Yes” -factory81
One question I get asked regularly are my thoughts on the different tour companies like Contiki, Travel Talk, G Adventures, TopDeck, and Intrepid. The following are my thoughts on each from both a traveller’s perspective and a marketer’s perspective (from a positioning standpoint).
G Adventures G Adventures focuses on giving back to the communities where they offer tours, which comes straight from the top from its founder, Bruce Poon Tip (great guy by the way!). It puts ethical and sustainable travel ahead of anything else. As the name states, many of its trips are adventures more than tours where travellers come out at the end feeling like they accomplished something and made a difference.
G Adventures is great for singles, couples, and families looking to take a trip that would normally be difficult and risky to plan on their own. It makes the impossible, possible for many people, but still provides the feeling of accomplishment at the end. Overall, some travel experience and good level of fitness is recommended for many of their trips.
G Adventures’ strengths are in South America, especially Peru and the Inca Trail. According to its website, it fulfills over 80,000 tours a year. See G Adventures current deals here.
See my G Adventure related posts here (Galapagos) and here (Inca Trail/Machu Picchu).
Contiki Contiki offers tours on most continents for the 18-35 y/o crowd. For the most part, they are slightly higher in price than the other tour companies, but offer the traveller more comforts like a hotel room versus a camp site. In other words, you get what you pay for.
The general consensus in the market is that (regardless of if this was its intention or not), Contiki is known to be the ‘party’ tour company where people come to travel hard during the day, and play hard during the night – not that there is anything wrong with this, but more a personal preference. Most tours include accommodation, transport, and some meals. Great for the beginner or inexperienced traveller.
From a personal standpoint, I found that the company takes great pride in ensuring that each tour is executed properly and accurately, while maintaining its superior products/services. As an example, the vehicles are cleaned daily.
In my opinion as a traveller and marketer, Contiki’s strengths are in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. According to Wikipedia it fulfills over 150,000 tours a year (as of 2007). Surely this number as increased since then. See Contiki’s current deals here.
Being avid travellers themselves, Travel Talk know what is essential to creating that perfect trip, and have tried to combine all of these elements in each and every one of their tours, from exotic destinations like Egypt, Morocco, Turkey and Jordan or Russia, to the sunshine and sea of Greece and Sailing Croatia, or their festival tours like La Tomatina, Anzac and Oktoberfest. With their fascinating destinations, enthusiastic and experienced guides, the likes of people you will be travelling with, premium accommodation and travel – not to mention competitive prices; Travel Talk believes that they have ticked all the boxes to create that unique and authentic travelling experience. See their latest 50% off deals here.
Topdeck
Topdeck offers tours to North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Australia/New Zealand. Slightly more affordable than the others, and ideal for budget conscious travellers. Similar to Contiki, it focuses on the 18-39 market, with slightly less tour options, which can make it easier to choose.
Positioning wise, it seems like Topdeck is the prefect balance between backpackers and those looking for a full-service tour. It offers plenty of time to do your own thing at each location, yet provides the comfort of travelling with other like-minded individuals.
Topdeck’s strengths are in Europe, with recent expansions into Australia and New Zealand. It has been in operation for over 40 years. One noteworthy point is that tipping is not required to the Topdeck team on any of their tours.
Intrepid Travel
Intrepid’s focus is on price and for the most part offers the lowest cost per day of all the operators covered here. It should be noted that the prices sometimes do not include any meals and should be factored into the decision making.
The focus seems to be on group size (about half of the other operators) and control for the traveller with the comfort of being in a group, yet the flexibility to eat and experience what you want at each stop. In a ways, it’s a premium form of backpacking.
Intrepid offers tours on all continents, including Antarctica, and travels to the most individual countries of all the tour operators listed here.
*If you click on one of the links below and purchase/book we will receive a small commission. You won’t pay more, but will be supporting Rain Travels. Thank you!
So you want to become a travel blogger. Where do you begin? Where does one start? Here’s a basic guide to get you started and what I’ve learned to-date.
1. Choose a focus or strategy.
Are you going to write about travelling on a budget? Focus on a particular continent? This is something I failed to do myself and am now trying to refocus after the fact (which is really hard!).
2. Choose your URL and email.
Having your own URL makes your site look more professional than a free site like www.xxxxx.wordpress.com and if you choose wisely it’ll probably be easier to remember as well. Same goes with email. What looks better and more trustworthy? firstname@gmail.com or firstname@raintravels.com?
Think all this is too expensive? You can get your own URL for $4.99 to $9.99 a year through sites like Go Daddy. Once you have a URL, setting up your email is relatively easy. If you want to use Gmail as your email client, it’s only about $6/month.
3. Choose a theme.
Go to sites like WooThemes and Theme Forest to pick a website WordPress template. Don’t worry, you can change the colours, add your own logo, and even customize it to your liking.
4. Get web hosting.
Your site has to live somewhere right? Just like a domain, it’s pretty cheap to get shared hosting through sites like Go Daddy, Media Temple and Hostgator starting at $5/month!
It is recommended that you get CPanel with your hosting (usually included in the monthly fee) and sites like Hostgator offer tools to help you install WordPress themes quickly and easily.
5 (Or Maybe it should be 1?). Start writing.
Posts don’t have to be a specific length. It can be long, short, just pictures, etc. Get into the habit of posting as often as possible and writing (or at least coming up with ideas) during your downtime.
6. Spread the word.
Join the conversation online on Twitter and Instagram (don’t spam!) or go out and meet other travellers at local events like Travel Massives. The only way people will find out about your blog is if they get to know you first.
For more in-depth advice, be sure to check out Will’s Travel Blog Breakthrough blog for some really great insights!
For North Americans looking to catch some sand and surf during the winter months, Puerto Plata (specifically Cabarete) in the Dominican Republic has become a surfers’ paradise as of late. With its warm waters, beautiful beaches, safe streets (minus the crazy moto-bikers), and small-town feeling it’s an all-around great place to be active in a relaxed atmosphere.
Getting There:
Lots of flight options. Only 1.5 hours from Miami!
Lodging: Swell Surf Camp
Arguably offers the best facilities of all the surf camps in Cabarete. Amenities are comparable to 4-star resorts with unbelievably friendly staff and cooks. Brunch is included everyday (usually omelets, cereal, yogurt and breads) with a tasteful dinner included (usually) on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. See their great reviews on Facebook and TripAdvisor.
Pricing starts at $540 for 7 nights of dorm-style accommodations and includes:
Brunch everyday
Some dinners
Airport pickup and drop-off
Transport to surf area twice a day
Unlimited purified (water-cooler) water and bananas
Decent internet (can be slow at times)
*Flight must be booked and paid separately on your own
Daily Schedule:
6am – Wake up!
7am – Shuttle leaves for surf spot
9:30am – Shuttle returns for brunch
12:30pm – Shuttle leaves for surf spot
3pm – Shuttle returns
Free-time for the rest of the day!
Cabarete and Area:
Cabarete and its neighbor Sosua offer some great restaurant and nightlife options. Cabarete offers a great strip of bars and restaurants right on the beach and is about 10 minutes walking from Swell. Sosua on the other hand offers a casino with a good mix of restaurant and bars, but is about a 10 minute tax ride from Swell. During the day, Sosua has some great snorkeling and scuba options that are highly recommended. Snorkeling is about $35/person and includes round-trip transport.
Money: Most vendors accept U.S., Canadian and European currencies and for the most part will calculate it at the day’s trading rate. You will find that being touristy areas, the general cost of meals, drinks, and entertainment isn’t all that much cheaper than in North America, but be sure to negotiate on souvenirs and the exchange rate.
Food: Overall, very safe to eat and drink in the area, including fresh fruits and veggies from the restaurants (too many great options to name). If you want something fast and cheap, try the fish tacos from across the main street from Swell (probably the best you’ll ever have).
Remember winter when you were eight years old? From the crunch of a freshly-packed snowball to the weight of your boots pulling a wooden sleigh up a towering hill that you couldn’t wait to rush down, you embraced it with authentic wonder and couldn’t wait to come out and play. This winter, the Ontario’s Highlands Tourism Organization (OHTO) is hoping to draw visitors from Toronto, Ottawa and surrounding areas by capturing what locals between Haliburton County and the Ottawa Valley already know: that, even though you eventually grow up into a “big person”, out here, every day feels like a snow day.
To celebrate the best in nostalgic, frosty-weather fun from across the region, the OHTO will be launching a #RememberWinter campaign on January 19. The initiative will see Carly Freeman, the OHTO’s Social Media Ambassador and fearless defender of winter, hitting the road once again and getting into plenty of shenanigans as she discovers the coldest, silliest and most playful experiences guaranteed to take visitors back in time to an age where mittens came on a string. “I grew up in Madoc, where one of my favourite winter activities was tobogganing at O’Hara Mill Homestead and Conservation Area,” says Freeman. “There’s nothing like it when you grow up or live in the city, so I’m excited to step back into my big old winter boots, channel my inner eight-year-old and show everyone just how special the season is here. I hope I can keep up!”
In addition to Freeman’s road trip, the OHTO will be featuring kid-like winter experiences on its website, ontarioshighlands.ca, including ice skating at Bonnie View Inn and learning to fly from the peak of Ontario’s tallest public ski mountain at Calabogie Peaks.
In order to engage travelers in a way that feels personal, the organization has also created a hashtag, #RememberWinter, and is asking visitors and locals alike to share photos that show them embodying winter fun for a chance to win weekly prizes and a grand prize of a Canada Goose jacket. Entries can be submitted at ontarioshighlands.ca or facebook.com/ontarioshighlands (click the “Winter Photo Contest” tab).
“The idea of encouraging people to let the fond memories of their winter youth spark a visit to Ontario’s Highlands came naturally,” says Marc Whitehead, Senior Strategist with Karo Group, OHTO’s new marketing agency of record that authored the #RememberWinter campaign. “The region not only features so many things we loved to do when we were kids, it also boasts a friendly attitude that helps visitors feel young at heart, and leave their grown up worries behind.”
The campaign runs until March 16. Business owners in the region who are interested in showcasing a fun winter experience, or sharing their own nostalgic winter stories and photos, are encouraged to contact the OHTO at 855-629-OHTO and use #RememberWinter on their social channels throughout the season.
Unfortunately, living the 4-hour Work Week still requires checking-in and being connected. If you regularly mix work and travel like I do, these product are a must to ensure you never miss a beat!
1. USB Charger. Any USB Charger!
Getting disconnected from the inability to charge your device is the worst! Avoid this with a backup USB power pack like the Motorola P4000 that’s compatible with most major phone brands, including Apple and Samsung. Light-weight and easy to carry.
Available on Amazon (affiliate link) (non-affiliate link)
2. Foldable Phone Charging Platform
‘Cause some phone companies don’t give you enough cord, this platform will allow you to charge your device anywhere regardless of the height of the outlet.
Available on Restoration Hardware
3. iPhone Charging Bracelet
Too many cords making travel life complicated? Try the Cabelet Charging Bracelet by Kyte&Key where the charger turns into a fashionable bracelet.
Available on FancyCrave
4. Roll-up Travel Charger
If you do a lot of group trips where you’re sharing a room with others power outlets can be a rare commodity. With the Roll-up Travel Charger, everybody will be able to charge their devices without the frustration. It even rolls-up into a nice leather case.
Available on Restoration Hardware
Rain is a Japanese/Canadian Travel Blogger that focuses on conversions. With a background in Tech and SEO, Rain leverages his past expertise to get destinations and partners measurable results.
