After 5-6 months of living in Bangkok, Thailand last year, I have a feeling it will always be my second home. Culture, food, people, weather, and cost of living- all appeal to my very western upbringing seeking a radically different travel experience. I continue to be surprised by how my travel critic peers tend to agree with my love for Bangkok, even while the city is the center of a political firestorm that has flared up too often as of late. Namely, Travel + Leisure named Bangkok the number one city of 2010despite its political issues, with its northern, much smaller sister Chiang Mai taking #2 on the list.

There have been a plethora of posts on Bangkok’s ‘Top 10’, one of my favorite being from CNN: 50 reasons why Bangkok’s the world’s greatest city. However, many people have asked me about my trip lately (i.e. during interviews) and I’ve tripped up a few times in my efforts to succinctly sell my experience in the World’s greatest city in 2 minutes. So with some reflection, here are the top 10 reasons answering the question “Why travel to Bangkok?”

1. Thai People

Straight chill waves. Peaceful, nice, accepting, and relaxed. Perfect, Western-friendly culture for confused travelers. There are obviously scams and touts like everywhere in Asia, but just use common sense.

2. Food

Say goodbye to too-sweet $15 American pad thai, and hello to $1 street Pad Thai glory. A decent diet can be made up of a rotation between noodle dishes, rice dishes, street fruit, and plentiful international cuisine.

3. Cost of living

Overall, there’s an extremely friendly cost of living for those interested in living like a Thai while traveling. However, if you prefer to live like an American or European in Thailand while in Bangkok, costs will be slightly lower or at par with your homeland. Pretty much a win win.

4. International - Rough Hybrid

Bangkok is an extremely International city in parts, yet extremely Thai everywhere in between. Their interesting economic history plays a large part in this, as extremely rapid expansion in the late 90’s was on pace to transform them into a Seoul, South Korea until the Asian financial crisis originated in Bangkok in 1997 and almost sent them back to the stone age. I attribute the lovability of Bangkok to the extreme visual and cultural contrasts to the volatile economy left behind in the form of city layout and buildings.

5. Weather

Well, weather is hit or miss. Let’s just assume you go during high season November - January. Weather is a solid 75-85, humidity more than manageable,and sunny. The islands, always much nicer as well. Hard to beat that.

6. Travel Center

Bangkok is theeee epicenter for travelers in Asia. Khao San Road sees the most of the backpacker vibe. Even if you hate the backpacker overload, you’ll appreciate the services that come along with it - dirt cheap buses departing Bangkok, cheap hostels, tons of travel services, and a sense of comfort.

7. Hawt Threads

Shopping in Bangkok is awesome, coming from someone who hates shopping. As a thrifty shopper trending towards quality rip off merchandise, Bangkok is spot on. Malls and markets full of decent, negotiable clothing and merchandise are awesome. ALSO, Bangkok it is a necessity to get some clothes tailored when in Bangkok - some shirts at the very least, but suits recommended. Just be wary of touts and scams and do real research before choosing a tailor.

8. Cheap flights

As a travel center of Thailand and Southeast Asia, Bangkok serves as the hub for most Southeast Asian flights. Flights from Europe has some of the best flights to Bangkok coming from London, and airfares coming from US are consistently affordable as far as Asian destinations go.

Even better, Air Asia uses Bangkok as it’s second hub (after its HQ in Kuala Lumpur) servicing almost every Southeast Asian destination possible.

9. Sense of Lawlessness - A sense of anything goes and lawlessness in Bangkok is refreshing to a Midwestern audience used to getting $150 police tickets for driving 10mph over the speed limit. Traffic is crazy, the rules that do exist only do to be broken, and you feel like you’re living on the edge even though it’s really not that crazy. Favorite example of this ‘lawlessness’ –> motorcycle taxis & moped rentals. Nothing pleases me more than motorcycle taxis taking me on sidewalks and renting mopeds for $6/day.

10. Well documented

My IT background may be shining a little to brightly here - but Bangkok is an easy travel destination partly due to its documentation. There are a gagillion amazing travel resources for Bangkok online. TravelFish.com, TravelHappy.info, and Bangkok.com to name a few along with the legendary WikiTravel.

Don’t you hate when people start or title a travel piece with a rhetorical question? But seriously. On your backpacking adventures, typically the first buzzword that comes to mind regarding budget friendly lodging needs is…hostel. Depending on your geographic locale or lingo, maybe it’s guesthouse, bed, or dorm. Couch or floor will do if you’re a couch surfer. But nevertheless, resort and villa are typically terms out of the question. In an independent or small group setting, this is probably rightfully so. However, in a larger yuppie backpacking/flashpacking group setting, villas and vacation rentals might not be so far out of question. I said it…yes..vacation rentals. Hear me out.

First, (more…)

If you’re a photography enthusiast and like traveling, National Geographic must inherently be your Bible. Well, good news: If you have a solid portfolio and are feeling a little lucky, WorldNomads is running a promotion (ehemm marketing campaign) that offers a ’scholarship’ to travel to Bhutan.  I’m biting and promoting it. If you win being referenced from BudgetGlobetrotting, buy me a drink.

So how does it work???????

1. Take 5 cool pictures
2. Write some good copy about those pictures
3. Tell a story about why you rule

If you win, you get free travel, Pentax photography gear, and published in National Geographic. The way latter definitely having the highest present value due to the leverage and credibility it could offer you in the photography biznass.

So, for more information check out the World Nomads site for their Travel Scholarship to Bhutan, and if you’re really feeling literate they have a press release out too.  Also, if you’re interested in more of these types of free travel ops, be sure to watch the world nomad webspace since these come around once in awhile if memory serves correct.

I’ve seen quite a bit of discussion of Cyprus on the expat scene as my interest in the topic has grown lately. This appealed to me as I’ll be learning some Turkish this upcoming fall and am interested in Turkey, a neighbor with a large political influence on the somewhat odd island nation of Cyprus. Thus, I thought I’d do a little travel profile of the Greekish – Turkish island nation(s? - the plural from its political status)

Why go to Cyprus:

• Decent prices – as far as hot beach escapes on the Mediterranean go, Cyprus is a different and affordable option.
• Not yet fully in the EU – They have the Euro, yet with their inclusion in the EU just 2 years old, they haven’t been completely unionized in a sense of prices and entrance requirements that are a bit murky when compared to the free flow of people elsewhere through the EU.  So if ever, now might be the time when looking at price levels and ‘difficulty’ of entrance.
• Interesting Politics - Its current political state is, erm, interesting. Some may dislike the conflict, but I think it adds allure as compromised safety is nowhere near an issue. Stats show Cyprus is unbelievablye safe and content.

Why not go to Cyprus

• Greece – With Greece in the economic shit hole, you may be better off just going to Greece. Greece offers more diversity, islands, historical significance, and [probably] beauty. While Cyprus’ financial situation is very questionable at the time as well, Greece’s seems more likely to discount travel options only in the short term. Its dealing with the crisis seems likely to lead to an economic rebound in the next 5 years or so.
• Limited transit options – Cyprus is accessible only by plane and ferry from (drumroll) Greece, as services from Israel and Turkey are no more. For vagabonding budget travelers seeking a little passport stamp diversity in their travels, it may not be ideal to sit in one spot the entire trip.
• Tourism saturation – not everybody loves British tourist saturation. ‘Cyprus holidays’ is a prevalent British buzz word resulting from its status as a former British colony. So if you have an issue with stereotypical Brits, maybe more off the beaten path destinations are better worth your time.

The Lowdown:
The political issues stem from a few Turkish and Greek disagreements in the past. The North is a bit fractioned off with Turkish influence, while the South is predominately Greek, and more of the stable EU part, per say. You’ll be going to the southern part, atleast for entrance purposes. Holidays to Larnaca in southeast Cyprusare the most common method of visiting Cyprus due to the availability of cheap flights. Other airports include Ercan in the North and Paphos (another beach area)  in the southwestern part of the island. A journey between Paphos and Larnaca would be the obvious route of traveling. The coastal drive linking these two destinations along the beautiful azul waters looks spectacular and is the highlight of a few journals I skimmed.

Internal Cyprus Locomotion
Getting around within Cyprus can be done by bus, shared taxi, or car rentals. Obviously, bus it up if you’re on a budget.

Cyprus Lodging
The term “hostel” doesn’t seem too prevalent in Cyprus from initial research. No worries, however, as quick online searches yielded cheap private hotel rooms for 15 Euros and up. The supply of budget hotels seems a bit sparse, so booking ahead might be a good idea.

Off the Beaten Path
Going off the beaten path in Cyprus seems plausible. I’ve read a few interesting reports and commentary on expeditions, but nothing link worthy. With the prevalence of British tourists and the industry catering to the resort type traveler, you’ll have to search a bit harder. With that comes great potential for genuine Cyprus experiences as well, since low travel saturation in secondary non-resort cities could leave amazing experiences to be had.

Conclusion: I’m intrigued by Cyprus. It’s politics interest me, and hopefully with my future Turkish language skills, a trip to both southern and northern Cyprus is in the near term for me.

It’s nice to travel abroad just for the sake of traveling, vacation, or a little R&R - but getting abroad and “doing something” to facilitate international budget travels is an option worth considering. For the less wealthy westerners of this world, justifying a few grand for 4 weeks of ‘vacation’ is a bit more difficult. Thus, the options below that are more than just plain traveling might offer a medium to help you get abroad.

• Study Abroad
• International internships
• Volunteer abroad
• Language study
• Working

Study Abroad

University Partner Exchange

I always advocate for high school or university study abroad programs. Your best bet will be to go through direct University exchange partner. Coming from a big land grand university, it’s easy but somewhat naive to expect everyone has such opportunities. Doing so will ensure credits transferring and support so you don’t have to go another $10,000 semester of college to make up for a ‘lost’ semester abroad.

Directly Enroll Abroad

While there are 3rd parties that facilitate a lot of exchanges, I’ve heard some not ideal things about some operators. Maybe another option might be deferring a semester, finding a university you like abroad, and go off the grid to study for a semester. Your uni will probably frown on this since they won’t get a cut of the profits from unnecessary fees, but it’s a possibility. This way you’ll pay the local university rate which is likely much less than your current tuition.

For example, a colleague in Thailand directly enrolled into the college as an exchange student. While it was a research, credit transfer, and paperwork nightmare, he paid something like $1,500 for a semester, whereas most others paid their home university’s tuition (likely $5,000+). Definitely worth the hassle considering the savings in this case.

Conclusion: Look at direct university exchanges offered through your college, or target a country and google yourself into oblivion looking for universities and inquiring about exchange programs.

Internships

Tons of for-profit offerings. I call complete bullshit and would avoid them out of principal. Paying placement fees for low or non paying internships (in addition to flights, visa expenses, etc.) is ludicrous and I find it hard to believe that most are beneficial. I have no personal experience, this is just the strong vibe I (and most others who’ve been on the internet for more than 2 years) get.

AIESEC

A slight alternative to such internship-arrangers (can i make up that word?) is AIESEC, which is a very large, diverse, and reputable student run non-profit that arranges international experiences and internships from their large database. Unfortunately, there are annoying fees, but the wage for internships with business or technical focus is substantial enough to probably make it a net $0 type of program in the end after all is said and done.

As a student run non-profit, it caters to undergrad or grad students and requires you to be within 2 years reach of either study option I believe. To find out more, seek out a local AIESEC chapter and they can explain more of the details and possibilities. Or just email me.

Corporate

If you go to a good university or take your career seriously, you could have a chance at a real corporate internship abroad. Dual language speakers win at this as well. Probably best for business and finance majors, look at massive multinational companies like Siemens and Unilver, and also at multinational banks and investment banks if you have the resume and experience to land a great internship.

Nonprofit love

Finally, getting an internship in a NGO / nonprofit might be your best bet outside of AIESEC. Don’t expect to be paid much more than living expenses, if that. If you’re motivated here, look at grants available to those going abroad in case you qualify for a grant to go abroad and save the world through a good NGO.

Conclusion: If you have the skills, you can make mad money and build your resume going corporate. AIESEC is reputable, but be wary of other 3rd parties that act as middle men. nobody should need to pay to work, period.

Volunteering

Volunteering, like most for profit ‘internships’ can be a bit tricky to search for. I highly recommend not paying $3,000 to volunteer with babies in India for 2 weeks. There are plenty of organizations out there that would just love you to help out for free.

I’m no expert on the subject, but fellow travel blogger Nerdy Nomad has created a well-received ebook on the subject titled “The Underground Guide to International Volunteering.” I haven’t been able to read it myself, but the blogosphere seems to like it so far and she’s a great resource. I’d surely shell out $14 if I was in the market to volunteer abroad.

If you want to totally DIY, due dilligence is necessary. Here’s a quick list of reputable volunteer possibilities:

• Idealist - Authoritative volunteer search
• Peace Corps - Have 2 years? Tons of benefits upon return
• Red Cross Volunteer
• Kiva Fellows - For microfinance, Kiva rules. There are tons of microfinance programs out there if Kiva doesn’t work for you.
• UN Volunteer - its da UN, I’m assuming it’s legit
• WWOOFing - Work abroad on organic farms for room and board. This is legit.
• WorkAway - Similar to WWOOFing, but a lot more options here not limited to farm or outdoor work necessarily
• Matador Travel list of 44 International Volunteer Organizations
• Esacape Artist - Just another link list.

Language Study

Traveling slowly and learning the language along the way through private language schools is a great option for anyone. 123TeachMe is hands down the greatest resource I’ve come across that caters to those primarily interested in Spanish. There are a multitude of larger language learning companies that offer experiences around the rest of the world as well. Due dilligence will be key here though as quality can vary as the offerings have probably been commoditized recently.

Alternatively, if you’re an outstanding student you may have a shot at programs through the State Department. The Government sponsors several distinguished critical language learning programs that I’ve mentioned numerous times before.

Conclusion: If you have a shot at a grant to study or going through the State Dept, this should be your first choice. Otherwise, once again, due dilligence. Shop around and compare hourly rates. A place I found years ago with good rates was AppleLanguages - I have no experience, but 5 years ago they looked decent, so take that for what it’s worth.

Working

Teaching English

The last option is for those that actually want, or need, to work..most likely for financial reasons. Teaching English is your best bet. I’d even go so far as to say it’s a shoe in for all native english-ers. Anybody with a pulse can go to Asia and teach English, typically with just a Bachelor’s Degree. Some positions may require a TEFL beforehand, while others will offer training opportunities or sponsorship for the certification.

Teaching English is great in that it’s location flexible and/or is paid well in some areas of high demand. The possibilities are essentially endless if you’re into the whole teaching thing. Some resources to get started:

• Wikipedia TEFL - possibly information overload, but get used to it.
• JET Programme - competitive teaching program in Japan
• ESL Cafe - Active teaching forums at ESL Cafe as well
• TEFL Net
• Ajarn - Teaching English in Thailand resource
• Tealit - Teaching English in Taiwan Resource
• Footprints recruiting - Get recruited and let a 3rd party help match you.
• Teach English in Korea - Matador Travel resource
• Teaching in Japan - Matador Travel Post
• Matador ESL - All of Matador’s ESL resources

Online Entrepreneurship / “Lifestyle Design”

Lifestyle design, independent living, vagabonding entrepreneurs - whatever you want to call it, this is in. There are a ton of blogs on the subject and people to help inspire your own lifestyle designing abroad as an entrepreneur. My favorites, most definitely being AONC and Thrilling Heroics

Through the fluff, this is online entrepreneurship. Sell online products, offer online services, or run profitable advertising driven websites. Many like Cody at TH do this while living and traveling abroad where the cost of living can make online cash flow a lot more sustainable.

Multinationals & Executive search firms

If you’re a corporate executive type you should be in pretty good shape in our globalization environment. Get in touch with executive search firms and multinationals. I’m assuming that if this is you, you wouldn’t be reading my lowly budget travel blog.

Oh, India. Backpacking through India is a budget traveler’s dream I’ve been fortunate to have experienced firsthand. December – January 2010, I spent 3 weeks on a fairly typical route through India. I embarked from Bangkok, Thailand with a 1200 CL backpack (glorified school bag), US Visa, Traveler’s checks, bank cards, and a ragged out dated Lonely Planet: India from Khao San Road.

When I decided to spend a few weeks following my studies on a large trip, India was the only option in my mind. Its mystique, massive population, rapid economic growth and prowess, and completely foreign culture drew me in quickly.

When I tried reading up on India and getting started, I immediately realized I knew very little about the place and how manageable a solo trip would even be for 3 weeks. So here, I’ll quickly cover the main points and to help you plan and prepare for an extended trip through India and let you use my trip as a quick case study….the point you to a few resources to continue your due dilligence.

India Big Picture:

India is huge. A billion people, and pretty diverse landscapes and peoples. As a former British colony, everyone speaks English, so fear not knowing Hindi, Urdu, or one of the other 67483 Indian languages.
With a few weeks, you’ll likely wish to explore a combination of the following, major areas.

Dehli – Agra
Dehli is a likely entry point as it’s the capital and a huge city. Tons of typical urban things to do in the massive, ruthless urban center. A hop skip and a jump away is Agra, relevant because of a little attraction called the Taj Mahal. It’s worth the hype especially after escaping a big city.

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