Asia Cheap Travel, Screw the Research & Planning!
One of the most significant problems that I face when planning an Asia cheap travel is trying to set the main things that I want to do and then to come up with a reasonable time frame and importantly for me an affordable travel budget that is realistic to the goals that I have identified. Research is the key to having a great vacation or an OK holiday, screw this part up and regret it you will. Time and money have always been the primary influences for me as a professional Cheap Charley, I want the best chance of having a great time, so I work it hard before I go on the road.
I go to the travel blogs for my primary research once I have an idea where I want to go to, one that I lean on is Travel Blog.org. The people that write on that particular blog have no financial reason to give you reliable information, and they tend to be more seasoned travelers than the vast majority of new guys on the Thorn Tree. I look to see what they did and see if it interests me, always keeping in mind that I do not want to follow precisely the hobbit trail, otherwise, why bother, just read about it. Now it is safer to develop correctly what other people have done, but the surprises that you sometimes encounter good, sometimes bad is the stuff that sticks in the old cranium.
For instance the clock tower in Mandalay in Burma, Myanmar, why bother unless you need to set the time on your watch, for me it was a waste of time, we did, however, have a great time at a restaurant that had duck and goose hanging in the window which was not a tourist place as it was not listed anywhere just down the street, only a regular local restaurant that we stumbled into just because the stomach said a stop was in order. I did indeed dig sitting in the Savoy hotel having tea, which is listed and the time in Bagon was priceless. I tell everyone that they need to make Bagon a priority if they are going to be in that part of the world.
Did I do proper research, I would have known that the boat only runs on certain days between Mandalay and Bagon, Major Bummer! The ship was really cool looking when we checked it out on the dock after taking the boring flight because the planner in the research phase missed that one. Time is always a nuisance, so I recommend that you plan so that there be flex days when you can get the cheap travel on demand, usually a bus or train segments, and then if you find a place that really interests you, you can hang longer and really dig into a home.
Cinnamon South of Tiananmen Square in Beijing was one of those places for me that created a dilemma as I had a really cheap flight to Bangkok on Air Asia out of Xiamen, which was a very cool place worthy of more time, but I was having such a great time in the Tiananmen Market section to the south of Tiananmen square that I wanted to stay in that area longer, which I did, and was rewarded late at night just before the cheap noodle place closed, to watch a local family restaurant dynamics at the end of the day.
The busboy dishwasher was worked about something, and he was letting everyone know in a voice that would not be out of place between me and my precious pussycat "Mangler" when I am standing on her tail as she is shredding my leg with her razor-sharp mouse killers between the bathroom and my morning coffee, anyway, the fur was flying and the back and forth was hilarious as they kept at each other with about 6 staff all interacting for about 5 minutes and at the end of the day they all started laughing, now I don't speak any Chinese but have been involved in that kind of tit for tat and for me that was the highlight of the trip, as I connected with that family group intimately as the fly on the wall contentedly slurping my excellent late night local noodles. Money is the other thing that I spend a lot of time researching.
I ran a small business, and the rule of thumb that I learned is that you should have 2.5 times the budget that you think you need and for cheap travelers, this is a bit higher than you want to hear I am sure, but I would suggest that you have 1.5 available and that you have a reserve of at least 1 times more should something unplanned for happen, nothing worse than being a stranger in strange land making the universal rabbit ears distress signal with your pockets.
Credit cards are good, but bless that little Murphy's impish soul, in times like these they can shut off for no readily apparent reason and if that is all that you are counting on life can get really interesting. I suggest that you have lined up in advance some back up like a rich uncle or another family member that you know will step up should the need arise. Major tip: People that owe you money are not good bets! Has your checking, saving, debit, Visa, MasterCard card information ready so that they can either do a bank to bank transfer or make a payment directly to your credit card. American Express works excellent, but if you qualify, you wouldn't be reading this now would you! The safest bet is having a debit card with a secure pin as you can have someone make a direct cash deposit to your bank, and then you get immediate access via a cash point or ATM. Today, banks have real people hours so the longest possible time would be 48 hours.
They can also make a Visa or MasterCard payment, but they still might not sort you out and turn you back on if they know you are broke and playing in Asia instead of working hard to pay their legal loan sharking rates, and it usually has at least a 3 day wait. I send all that banking information to an email account that I can get to from anywhere label it baby pictures or something else entirely dull and send it to a Gmail my preference or Hotmail or Yahoo email account so that you can get at it. I also scan a copy of my passport and visas that are in it that you will need on your travels and my driver's license or ID card this makes a for a secure ID if you should lose your passport at the embassy or a bank. Hey, if I see you in Asia with the old look at the rabbits in my pants trick I know that you skipped the planning and I will gladly help you out with some good advice like put a bell on your precious pussycat!
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