(Part 3) Top products from r/solotravel

I solo traveled through the Balkans quite a bit, and you're going to love it!

When you're in Slovenia, Ljubljana is a great base for day trips. If you have the time, I would highly recommend renting a car and checking out the following places:

• Lake Bled (obviously) -- spend the morning there before the crowd hits and then make the quick drive to Lake Bohinj. It's another gorgeous lake, and you actually get a better view of the mountains.
  
  
• Skocjan caves -- I believe that they are the 3rd or 4th largest caves in the world, and it really feels like the mines of moria when you're walking through. You can see old bridges and steps from original explorers. It's just really cool. There are another set of caves that are more popular, but I actually prefer Skocjan. There are also far fewer people there
  
  
• Piran -- Slovenia doesn't have much coastline, but the stuff that it does have is phenomenal. Simply a gorgeous little town full of atmosphere
  
  
• The Vršič Pass -- This road is an absolute blast to drive through as it winds through the Julian alps near the Italian border.
  
  
  If you rent a car, you can easily do a couple of these in a day.
  
  
  For Croatia, I would try to hit up:
  
  
• Rovinj -- This town is the most beautiful I've seen in Croatia. It's tucked up in Instrian part of the country near Slovenia. You do get a descent amount of tourists there, but nowhere near as bad as Dubrovnik (see below). The town more than makes up for it, though. Seriously, this place is gorgeous. Wake up early and stroll the cobbled alleys as the sun rises then grab a burek and some fresh figs for breakfast. Highly recommended.
  
  
• Zagreb -- I actually really enjoyed Zagreb. It has a really cool vibe, and is mercilessly without too many tourists (huge problem in Croatia). The museums in particular were fascinating, my favorites being the museum of broken relationships and the museum of naive art..
  
  
• Plitvice Lakes -- This national park is simply gorgeous. If you go, get there as soon as it opens to have the park all to yourself.
  
  
  
  Split and Dubrovnik and really beautiful places, but in my opinion they have been ruined by the number of tourists, esp. Dubrovnik. Holy shit number of people in Dubrovnik. You can barely move in that city. Don't get me wrong, it's stupidly cool to walk around the city wall and 'see' kings landing, but it's not really worth it in my opinion. Not to mention that Dubrovnik was easily the most expensive Croatian city that i went to. I would say that I had this conversation with about a dozen people in my hostel, and almost all of them agreed with this. If you have limited time, I'd honestly give Dubrovnik a pass (it is a great launching point to go to Mostar and Kotor, though). Split is better, and I really enjoyed the old palace. Didn't go to Zadar.
  
  If you're trying to hit up an island and have a unique experience, try couchsurfing at Hvar with this guy. You'll be 'camping' at this private beach with other CSers, and it's incredibly cool.
  
  
  For B&H:
  
  
• Mostar -- Forr suuuuure. Awesome, awesome place.
  
  
• Sarajevo -- one of my favorite cities in the world. I stayed at the Ferdinand Hostel (I think), and I had a great time. I've heard good things about other hostels there too. Hit up the Sarajevski brewery and the abandoned Olympic bobsleds. Also go to a football match if you can; their fans are really passionate. The Tito bar by the university is also a good spot to check out.
  
  If you're going to be near Dubrovnik anyway, I'd highly recommend:
  
  
• Kotor, Montenegro -- A criminally underrated city in a gorgeously tucked into a bay surrounded by mountains. Spending two days there is a great decision as you can do a quick tour of the country in a day trip. Stay at the Old town hostel
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  General tips, notes, suggestions:
  
  
• Bring some compression travel bags for dirty clothes. They keep in smell and keep your bag small. One of the best travel accessories.
  
  
• All of these places are very safe. There's no need to worry about that
  
  
• The public transport is very good, and hitch hiking is definitely an option if you're comfortable.
  
  
• Bring good ear plugs. Just do it
  
  
• I'd suggest bringing a sleeping bag liner. If you don't have a ton of time (or a ton of backpack room), you might not use it often, but when you need one they are a lifesaver.
  
  
• Get the Rick Steves Slovenia & Croatia guide. It's a phenomenal resource (much better than lonely planet IMO), and it includes sections on both Mostar and Sarajevo.
  
  
• Eat hella burek, Cevapi, and figs.
  
  
  Good luck, have fun, and let me know if you have any questions!

Expect to pay 10-20 bucks a day on the subway. Really depends on how much you plan to move day to day and how much you plan to walk. Major cities can be walked across in a day through the major metro areas so it's possible to land someplace, walk all day, and then just take the subway/train back. A bullet train ticket is about 130 or so. If you plan to take the bullet train, get a rail pass. One roundtrip on it pretty much pays for the pass. There are also airpasses, where you can fly to like 5 different cities for about 10,000 yen.

Food is all over the place. But in general again you'll be walking everywhere. You'll be eating all of the time and still losing weight probably, unless you are normally super active. Expect food to be generally a bit more expensive and expect to be eating a bit more than normal.

Tips -

Buy this. http://www.amazon.com/Say-Japanese-Dover-Language-Guides/dp/0486208079/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348785755&sr=1-2&keywords=say+it+in+japanese My favorite phrasebook.

Make sure your phone can type in Japanese characters if you're planning to head outside of the big cities. Often subway/train maps aren't romanized so I would cheat and type in the name of the station I was trying to get to and then look for the characters. If you have an iPhone or Android phone there are a few metro apps that are useful for planning routes.

Look into staying with a family. It can be a pretty fun first experience and you'll have someone to lean on. But depends on the family. :) Something to look into.

Plan to walk -a lot-. Perhaps more than you ever have in your life. Whenever I travel I expect to walk 6-10 hours a day. I make sure I have comfy shoes, bring anti-fungus cream, lots of clean socks, band-aids for blisters, etc etc. Not having your feet in tiptop shape can really bring down a trip.

Look into various festivals and stuff going on. There's always something interesting coming up. Spring has cherry blossom season (which is amazing), Summer has like a summer festival and fireworks someplace in the country every weekend it seems. Festivals in fall and winter as well and of course, christmas and new years is a big todo there.

And my favorite tip -

Before I went on my solo-trips to Korea and Japan, I made penpals in both countries. So, when I went to visit I had friends there already ready to show me about, go drinking with, etc etc. It was a ton of fun.

Hey everyone. My book, "The Other Side Of Travelling" is finally out. It is a comedy travelogue, trying to give travel stories without the filter. It technically releases on the 20/05, but is out now as a sort of "soft launch" at a reduced price. Anyway, a large part of the stories come from a 7 month round the world solo trip I did, so I thought it might be interesting to some here. Below is the blurb and the link if people are interested:

"Everywhere you look, people are going out on adventures. Your social media feeds are full of happy snaps of clear skies and famous locations free of tourists. Not only that, travel is becoming more and more accessible for many people. Yet, to be perfectly honest, while there is a lot to like about travelling, it sure as hell doesn’t always go as smoothly as it seems to in those photos you have been drooling over at work. They just don’t show the reality of travel. When your best friend posted that shot, they forgot to tell you they waited an hour for a gap in the crowd to appear, just to get that perfect snap of the Colosseum. Travel involves visiting great locations. Yet, it is also full of tourist traps, horrible meals and smelly hotel rooms. Lost baggage, cancelled flights and food poisoning.In this book, you will find stories from my travels across eighteen countries. I had lots of fun and had some crazy times. I also got sick, lost and had many close shaves. So, come along, and follow me as I talk to strangers, follow street dogs into questionable areas and have polite conversations with prostitutes. It’s finally time to read real travel stories without the filter.Countries covered:·Australia ·New Zealand ·Brazil ·USA ·Ireland ·North Ireland ·Scotland ·England ·France ·Italy ·Greece ·Austria ·Czech Republic ·Germany ·The Netherlands ·Belgium ·Turkey ·Hungary "

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1795842695

As always, safe travels and have fun out there.

Itinerary and duration for Budapest in June looks fine to me. It doesn't sound like you're ill-prepared at all. Meeting your mates for the football is also a great psychological 'goal' (haha) on your journey to keep you moving. My other thoughts:

• I find having a Lonely Planet really helpful. I'd recommend getting their 'SE Asia on a Shoestring' guide.
  
• I pack as light possible. First time I went travelling I threw/gave away half my clothes/stuff cause I wasn't using them.
  
• For hostels, if you want to stay flexible with dates and locations, I'd say book the night before otherwise you may potentially be tied to a date/location that is not your preference (if you had booked well in advance). Also consider Couchsurfing where kind locals accommodate you for free. A great way to meet people and save money.
  
• I made a video guide for the Trans-Siberian railway, which provides info on costs, tickets, internerary, mistakes, etc. Vladivostok to St Petersburg can be done for just £200.
  
  Good luck. Your trip sounds awesome. Within a week, I'm sure you'll be super confident about it all! : )

You need a passport. Get that going first. (If you're a US citizen, this is the link you want.)

I think the best thing to do is to pick up a travel book for your intended destinations. Read through it, use it to plan and budget, then bring it along when you go. Let's Go is geared towards young adults. It's kind of fun to read through and plan.

Kayak.com is great for finding budget flights. Late night and early morning flights, mid-week flights, and flights with a few connections save airfare. Basically, less convenient = lower fare most of the time.

You'd probably do well staying in youth hostels. You can meet other people your age very easily in them. There are also rail passes for western europe that can save you money and hassle. There are also very cheap flights to be had within Europe: Ryanair comes to mind.

Plan to pack light, it will save you money and make your trip far better. www.onebag.com is a helpful resource there. You really only need a couple changes of clothes, a bathing suit, a travel towel, toiletries, a smartphone, and some warm & waterproof layers. Packing light makes a trip so much better.

Yep. This is my first long term trip too. Definitely have the occasional wtf am I doing feeling every now and then when somethings don't go as planned or aren't what you hoped for but for the most part it's definitely been an amazing experience that I think everyone should try.

My biggest advice would be to read one book before you go. It helped me in ways that I might be lost without it. Really helps you prepare and see how to separate the difference between just seeing versus experiencing

https://www.amazon.com/Art-Pilgrimage-Seekers-Making-Travel/dp/1573245933

I think a lot of people here would really like it actually. Check it out! I promise you won't be disappointed. I'm not even a book person but it really is fascinating and a very helpful tool for your journeys!

Ps don't be put off by the title since it mentions pilgrimage. It has nothing to do with religion. It's all about travel and how to make it sacred to you personally so you can really get the most out of your experience instead of just checking off sights to see.

I forced myself into the habit of keeping a journal before I moved overseas - and I'm so glad I did. It's a habit that I've been keeping up since late 2015, having moved overseas in early 2016 (and back in early 2018, thanks to my visa ending, but I've kept the diary up). Sure, I'd sometimes get behind, and sometimes I'd be catching up weeks later, but it's still where all those memories and those collected mementos go.

If you're not one for full length journalling, I highly recommend a line a day journal - just a brief snippet, of what you did, but you keep it up full time, and you can look back a year later and remember. If you're like me and a journaller who gets behind, it's also a great way to prompt your thoughts down the track to write a full entry.

I also find that splashing out on a nice journal helps me. But the journal I used to get myself in the habit wasn't a pricey one - I'm just a bit of a Paperblanks addict, and I love how my four (so far!) filled journals look on my shelf, all slightly beaten up around the edges from being carried with me everywhere and puffed out fatter from how many tickets and oddments I've stuck in.

Oh yeah, this is maybe the best situation possible:

Get in shape - do interval and weight training. You'll look better and being in better shape will positively affect your baseline enjoyment of the experience.

Learn some Thai.

Read some thought provoking literature - one I recommend is How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia. Don't worry, it's not actually a how-to, it's a window into life in that part of the world.

Buy this book: http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Bat-In-Paraguay-Peculiar/dp/1442136367

This guy did the same thing, but in South America. Pretty funny and honest book, and I think it will help you know what to expect. Furthermore it will make you realize that even if bad things happen, they aren't that bad.

Glad I can help. If you decide to got for it, the book by Alfred Wainwright (the guy that devised the walk) is great.

I've also uploaded a bunch of pictures from the walk, here.

I travelled to South America alone. Felt safe and had an amazing time....for cheap! I wrote a book about it too:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1790446198

Includes travel tips for Peru, Chile, Brazil, and Panama. Have fun!

There is this book on amazon called Travel Journal: My trip to Germany

here is a description from another site:

This journal is the perfect traveling companion for anyone visiting Germany. Plan and record all details of your trip, includes lined and blank pages for writing your diary and sketching, with handy information tailored for travelers. Lists to help you pack, plan and set budgets are included in this journal.

Bit left field but if you like science in your travel, Alice Roberts' Incredible Human Journey is a million+ year travelogue about the human species; she travelled around a lot to make the accompanying BBC documentary, and it definitely opened my eyes to places I'd never considered visiting before.

Good questions! I'd like to know the answers to these as well since I plan on doing the same exact thing at the beginning of 2013. I know for hostels you can look at www.hostelworld.com, www.hostelbookers.com, or www.hostels.com.

Edit: I believe this is one of the more popular books on the subject. It's geared towards people on a low budget (students mostly) and is pretty comprehensive. I ordered the 2013 edition but if you're planning on going in a couple months the 2012 one should be sufficient.

Always listen to your gut. Have you read “The Gift of Fear?” Good book on that subject.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0440508835/

I don't have any experience, but just wanted to recommend reading A Million Steps!! It's by someone who did el Camino de Santiago.

I have this one and it's been pretty useful so far. Practical information for each country, things to do/see in the cities, country/city/border crossing maps, common phrases for each language, etc. I've never used it to find accommodation, however, since the prices of hostels listed in LP are usually higher since they know people are going to come regardless.

Is it necessary? Not really since, as you say, there are plenty of guides and resources online, but it's come in handy for me a few times and doesn't take up a lot of room in my bag.

I'm going to suggest somewhere completely different: Wales. There are a lot of ancient Celtic ruins in that country, and most of them are not promoted to tourists. The Welsh island of Anglesey was the last stronghold of the Druids in their fight against the Roman Empire, and there you can find the ruins Din Lligwy village, about 2000 years old. Take the #62 bus from Bangor and ask the driver to let you off at the crossroads that leads to Moelfre, then walk down the farm road ahead, past the Stone Age cromlech tomb, and over the hill until you see the site spread out before you. If you are alone, which it's likely you will be, spend time with the stones and think of the daily life that took place ages ago.

Wales is full of places like this. Accessible yet deserted, surrounded by remote picturesque settings.

To set the mood, it helps to read the old stories like The Mabinogion. Even more helpful is to try to learn the local language and make friends; they might tell you about places that aren't publicized. Or just go wandering -- one time we stopped the car near a footpath on the Gower peninsula; on the other end of that path, beyond a woods, was a deserted crumbling castle perched on a cliff above the ocean.

Just one suggestion. Several people I knew who came from the area around those ruins stepped into them with their right foot first. When I asked, they'd joke about how it was just a superstition they'd been told by older relatives. But they all did it. Maybe you should too.

I became very interested in the Roma people when I lived in Italy. One of the best books I read was Bury Me Standing, which reviews say has a "pro-Gypsy bias" or is, at worst, "fair". Certainly it isn't anti-Roma. And if you read it, you'll come to understand the Roma's (fascinating, frustrating) socially and culturally ingrained attitudes about working for a living. Saying that pickpockets in Europe are often Roma is about as racist as saying anti-abortion protesters are often evangelical Christians.

> For Cameroon - The Poor Christ of Bombs

I think maybe you meant 'The Poor Christ of Bomba' ( https://www.amazon.com/Poor-Christ-Bomba-Mongo-Beti/dp/1577664183 )? At least I can't find any books with the name you wrote.