Things have been rather quiet here as of late, but I expect that to change as I get back on the off the beaten trail. Roughly 3 weeks ago I moved to the Middle East, for work, on a 6 month contract. Following my graduation in May, the stars aligned and called me to the Gulf. So far, it’s been a pretty rocky ride. Many struggles, low highs, and very low lows. But slowly, I’m starting to get settled in the Arab world. I expect life to continue to get better every day.

The majority of my time (think 55 hours/week) will be spent working tirelessly recounting beans for companies. Not quite as glamorous as ’studying’ in Bangkok, but this is what being a grown up is I suppose. My free time will be spent sleeping, surfing the interwebs, staying hydrated, and getting fat on Middle Eastern food.

Pertaining to this blog, I have a plan for some fresh new content and articles. As my scarce free time and holidays allow, I’ll be exploring the region as much as possible myself. Furthermore, I’m already lusting over a nice little swing through greater Asia when I’m finished working here. So be sure to stay in tune for some new articles in the coming days, weeks, and months.

My favorite online flight search tool - Kayak.com - highlighted some of its flight search features in a recent newsletter that can help you save some money.  On the surface alone, searching kayak to find great flights is great, but there are a host of tools and features that can save even more money for you.

Best fare calendar

Self explanatory - a calendar of the best fares so it’s easy to plan and see if departing and returning on a Thursday is better than a Tuesday.

Better Fare Alerts

Kayak will email you when they find the cheapest fares on your inputed itinerary, and now the alerts include more options like non-stop flights, one way, or cabin preference.  So if you’re not ready to purchase, kayak will track fares and do your due dilligence for your.

Other tools in the Toolbox

In addition to the calendar of fares, an even better feature is the graphs that depict the fares found by searchers for every day of the month, which is good for us visual learners who <3 pictures.

Another very helpful graph is one that helps travelers find out if it’s time to buy.  This image shows the price for the same flight over the last 90 days, so you can interpret the trend and what not to see if waiting is better or worse than purchasing NOW.

Anywho, I still stand by kayak and love its great service to travelers. If you’re looking for more flight search tools, check out my previous Guide to Finding Cheap Flights.

Hello all. I have a few social networking updates to connect with me and BudgetGlobetrotting.

Twitter

I encourage everyone to start following Budget Globetrotting on Twitter since I finally got one. My new BudgetGlobetrotting account is Twitter.com/BudgetGlobetrot and Twitter is a great utility to stay up to date with friends and news sources your interested in. I’ll be posting relevant/interesting travel links, commentary, and links via the Twitter, and also be giving updates on blog posts, etc. So follow me, @ me (send me msgs), and watch for BudgetGlobetrotting’s future tweets. (you can follow me personally as well: read about me)

TravBuddy

I’m starting to get a little more into travbuddy as I’m solidifying travel plans, so at me as a friend. My username is nickobgt and profile can be viewed here: travbuddy.com/nickobgt

Facebook

Always open for Facebook as well. See about me if interested.

After a lot of travel research the past years I’ve finally concluded a study abroad program is the most economical and rewarding means to live abroad for an extended period of time.  After hours of research and introspection I’m happy to say that I’ll [hopefully] be studying abroad this Fall 2009 in Asia.

I just finished applying for my desired program(s) which go through my business school and are somewhat competitive from what I hear.  My business school has a multitude of programs, mostly of which are based in Europe and are not affordable for me.  However, fortunately they offer some great Asian programs too, and in my application I’m applying for three and ranking each one by preference.  Here are the possibilities:

Bangkok Thailand

Leading my favorite programs my miles is a program in Bangkok Thailand. I would be able to study at Thammasat University, which is the best university in the country and is well known throughout Southeast Asia.

I looked at it first for its great affordability and access to cheap travel everywhere, like Laos, Cambodia, and (more…)

I’m pleased to bring you a new, exciting budget travel and backpacking website that I think could become a timeless reference for all prospective travelers researching their destinations and making their travel budgets.

The site is BackpackAbility.com. What is it? It can be described in a multitude of ways, the following being my favorite:

• World Travel and Living cost index
• Comprehensive listing of travel and living costs for destinations worldwide

I’ve been developing the site off and on the past month or so, and it will initially be a simple listing of prices and costs for as many international travel destinations as possible, with part of this hopefully due to YOUR INVOLVEMENT. I’d love for the site to become a massive compilation of travel costs based on the recent experiences of budget travelers. So I really really encourage you to spend 35 seconds to submit some travel and living expenses to help the community.

So what are these travel costs listed? Initially, just the consumer staples + whatever else you submit. Including beer, hostels, transportation, hotels, cheap meals, apartments, and internet access. Other things that would be great would be visa costs, nice meals, cover charges at clubs, and major attraction/entertainment expenses.

There will be more…

Really, the site won’t too special right away - just handy price index reference that is easy to navigate and quick to use. But the future, I hope for two other features:

• Simple, definitive travel guides outlining good, relevant attractions for budget travelers and backpackers
• A credible and authoritative rating system that takes price, fun, and enjoyability into account to create an objective rating for a country’s backpackability

What there is now:

Roosh has kindly allowed me to use his South American living costs from his travel guides, but the rest of the world is struggling. Here are some examples of finished cost indexes, amongst some other destinations:

• Israel travel living costs
• Ecuador travel living costs
• Argentina living, traveling costs
• New Zealand cost of travel and living

Plus you get something in return.

So check out the site, spread the word, and submit travel costs if you can. If you have a travel site you’ll get a free link back as well in the post. If you don’t have a site, I can still give credit to you or give you a good ole shoutout of whatever in the post.

If you could care less about this cost index jazz, you can always check out the best budget travel and backpacking resources list I compiled.

It’s about that time. It seems like every 9 months I sit down and decide the change something and try to take this blog in a better direction. No promises, but what I have in store:

1. New Writer:

Josh is moving on to big and better projects, which is unfortunate since he’s done a great job here. Fortunately, I got it taken care of right away, so some new writers will be starting in the next week or so.

2. New Design:

Thought I’d comment on the obvious. I like it a lot better, and I hope you do to. Gives me more area for featured articles and definitive guides. I’ll be putting out some timeless, pillar articles to try to cover all the basics of budget traveling, from guidebooks and hostels to the best online travel tools and resources. (more…)