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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I’ve long wondered why there hasn’t been a comprehensive Travel Budget database of sorts with all the web app hype that’s come alive recently. Sadly, the developers of “2.0″ online travel apps have focused almost exclusively on social networks, “where i’ve been” and flight aggregation. Well, awesome. But really, an accurate, quick centralized database for travel prices and budgets has been a pipe dream of mine that I even failed at creating in Backpackability.com.

Sure, us backpackers and wannabees can sift through BootsnAll, Lonely Planet, and Trip Advisor for prices and then brag about how much time we spent [wasting] planning our trips, but why? Or better yet, we could definitely all order new copies of the recent Lonely Planet guides off of Amazon! not. that’s just silly.

I’m obviously not leaving you hanging with ranting post here shaming the big boys of travel for not developing a travel price database already. So Here comes BudgetYourTrip.com.

BudgetYourTrip is something of what I’ve described above. It’s a relatively new, but no soooo green, website that is alot of what I wanted to develop before I understood database powers. In their own words:

Estimate travel costs by country, city, and category. Use the Estimate Trip Costs search form to plan your expenses, or browse the list of countries. The trip expenses entered by other travelers help us calculate daily averages by location and category.

It’s straight forward, and a golden idea.  There’s no reason for me to sit around and talk about it anymore. Just check it out. Better yet, contribute!

Final Disclaimer This is NOT a paid post at all, surprisingly enough. I’m just a fan of truly helpful travel websites, unlike most of the gunk out there.

Some time back, I was contacted by the kind people at Broadway Books about an upcoming release of a new travel book, “The Lunatic Express: Discovering the World . . . via Its Most Dangerous Buses, Boats, Trains, and Planes.” I took up their offer for an advanced copy to page through and upon its release a week ago I figured I’d give it a mention.

First and foremost, I’ve only wandered through its chapters aimlessly due to time issues, but collectively it seems like an interesting read Budget Globetrotters may be interested in. The book comes from an established National Geographic travel writer and chronicles his journeys world over on shitty forms of transportation. While perhaps slightly over dramatic at times, all in all I’ve decided it’s a book that, at some point, I will read front to back.

Mainly, I really admire Hoffman’s travel style which takes the comfort and luxury out of transportation. Having bussed around India for 3 weeks in more than hellish conditions, I can really relate to his stories, ideas, and train of thought. Taking 8 hour, public buses in less developed countries does something to you and shows you a more real side of a country that is otherwise missed. As I plan on using this strategy in more locales outside of India in the future, first reading his own distressed story will provide an entertaining source of inspiration.

For more information, go click around the Lunatic Express book site. If you’re looking at an entertaining account true budget travel, the Lunatic Express might be a good east read to check out for some of your own travel inspiration.

Spring Break is approaching and plans are a being made across all US campuses. From Key West Florida to South Padre, fellow students will be lining up to spend too much money on traveling and drinking, once again, this March. While I realize I have a somewhat different perspective on the world having traveled abroad, I still feel a slight urge to experience 5 days of the ‘American Spring Break,’ which is why I feel like I have the right to rant on why I won’t be getting involved after some temptatation avoiding, rational thinking.

Why Spring Break Sucks

1. Poor Excuse for a Break

First off, while I open a week off from my studies with open arms annually, (more…)

Returning from my 6 months abroad in Asia, I was quickly reminded of the joys of Airport security, especially in regard to US bound flights. Excessive, annoying, pointless, humorous, time consuming, inefficient are a few adjectives my jet lagged delerious self thought of.

My experience, Flying Bangkok - Minnesota:

Leaving Bangkok: United personnel acted as security agents during checking asking ridiculous questions that I did little more than prolong the already painfully slow process at 4:00 am.

Arriving in Tokyo: After a full security check in Bangkok and leaving the plane in Tokyo, travelers continuing on must go through another security check. Not sure where during the flight I found a bomb, but whatever. An hour later of standing in snaking lines, I cleared. Who’da guessed?

Boarding in Tokyo: Before boarding my flight Tokyo-Seattle, you guessed it. Another security check, mandated by the US Government due to heightened terror threats. So not only might have I found a bomb on the Bangkok-Tokyo plane, but also in the waiting area for my flight to the US. Interesting.

After the flight was already delayed 30 minutes, before boarding the plan a 18 second pat down and bag search, serious questioning ensued:

United agent: “Do you have a knife?”

Me: um, no (trying to think of somewhere i could’ve got a knife)

United agent: Okay that’s all.

While I realize my experience was nothing excessive, time consuming, or annoying as many travelers face in the US, it is a ridiculous process that really questions the greater underlying purpose and need for everything.

A recent Wall Street Journal article Undressing the Terror Threat addresses the issue best. In short, he shows the irrationality of our overreaction to the threat of terrorism (especially in travel) when compared to the homicide and traffic fatalities rates, amongst others.

Is our constant beefing up of travel and airport security necessary? Is it justified? Are we wasting funds? Should we be concerned about other more likely threats?

Travelers - ask yourself:

Okay world globetrotters and tax paying travelers. What do you think?

• Do we need full body scans?
• Are you okay with a more cumbersome airport security process?
• Do you feel safe traveling now or is more security needed?
• Would $100 billion more for tighter security be needed or justified?

When it comes to researching travel insurance products to protect you, your health, loved ones, or ipods while traveling abroad on your backpacking journey, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Online, everyone and their dog is willing to sell you comprehensive, cheap travel insurance. Amongst online travel advertisers, I’d have to say travel insurance companies, affiliates, and agents have to be one of most active advertisers eager to get their unique travel insurance in front of your overwhelmed, lost self.

Do you Need travel insurance?

Good question. As a skeptic by nature, i’m not certain. However, the overwhelming consensus online is that travel insurance is necessary. Highly regarded Matador Travel Network property the Traveler’s Notebook says:

Travel insurance is a necessity. You need travel insurance. If you get sick or injured, if your things are stolen, if you need to cancel your trip or if you need an evacuation, it’s essential to have an insurance company backing you up.

Travel insurance is cheap and easy to get. There’s no excuse not to buy a policy. If you’re traveling and don’t have insurance, you should get coverage right now – it takes less than 15 minutes.

So if you want to take their word for it, yes, Traveler’s insurance is important.

Fortunately, I haven’t been in a position to purchase my own traveler’s insurance. My university assigned me mandatory travel insurance for my current studies abroad, and I’m fortunate enough to have a comprehensive health insurance plan at home that would cover everything anyways. Out of curiosity and relevance to the readers though, here are the best authoritative and reliable resources to scour before buying travel insurance. So atleast I’ll attempt to point you in the right direction.

Resources on How to Choose Travel Insurance

• The Guardian
• CNN
• Times Online
• REI
• TravelFish
• TheBackpacker.net

Sponsored Mention - CheapTravelInsurance.com

With that said, CheapTravelInsurance.com is an insurance seller that caters to the Backpacker’s needs. This provider offers packages tailored for backpackers, gap years, etc. The site has a pretty comprehensive set of offerings that give you a variety of options that will probably suit your needs - as long as you know what they are.

As far as its legitimacy goes, its been in operation since 2001 and more can be read about its faffiliations and underwriters on its about page. Overall, with its variety of policy options comparable to industry leaders, a quick online search for quotes using their engine is may make CheapTravelInsurance.com a good first stop in your hunt for cheap, affordable travel insurance.