Travel Tips

Accommodation Top Eleven – Review

May 6th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, News, Travel, Travel Stories, Travel Tips | 4 Comments
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G’day Guys and Gals

We’re doing some reminicing of our trip so far and came up with a list of our top eleven accommodation’s we have stayed at as of the 5th May 2010:

1. Las Dunas – El Calafate Argentina – Good food, good views, room with wifi, good rooms, good bath, good service, cable tv, bad pillows, more expensive and no liquardo’s! (4.5/5)
2. Las Lucarnas – San Martin De Los Andes Argentina – Quaint, cosy, great rooms, great beds, good location, bath, wifi in room, fantastic service, good breakfast, great value and cable tv. (4/5)
3. Viajero Bed and Breakfast – Colonia Uruguay – Great rooms with balcony and view, wifi in room, cable tv, ok service, ok food, good value and good location. (3.5/5)
4. Hostel Patagonia – El Chalten Argentina – Great new cosy rooms, fantastic service, cosy common areas, no breakfast, no in room wifi and good value. (4/5)
5.  Buenos Aires Apartment – Buenos Aires Argentina – Self contained, balcony, convenient, good location, wifi and mobile phone, bit small and smelt awful. (3.5/5)
6. HI Downtown San Francisco – San Francisco USA – Good room, great location, wifi in room, street noise, ok service and bad breakfast. (3/5)
7. La Balconada – La Paloma Uruguay – Fantastic staff/owners, personal touch, tiny rooms, expensive, no wifi and shared bath. (3/5)
8. Marcopolo Iguazu – Iguazu Argentina – Hotel-like, ok service, ok rooms, ok food, wifi in rooms, great bar, pool and ok location. (2.5/5)
9. Hostel-Inn Bariloche – Bariloche Argentina – Great common areas, great view, ok service, good cars, smelt like gas, shared bathroom and dinner and breakfast included. (2.5/5)
10. Hostel Ritz – Buenos Aires Argentina – Great liquardo de banana, room service, good location, ok rooms, hotel-like, smelt like mould and ok service. (2.5/5)
11. Viajero Downtown Montevideo – Montevideo Uruguay – Tiny rooms, overwhelming smell of bleach, stuffy, ok food, good service, pretty building, good location and good common areas. (2/5)

We have also found that the Lonley Planet is seriously seriously out of date though if you do find the hostel/hotel is still in business it usually is very good. Hostelworld.com reviews are way way off the mark and as useful as drinking salt water in a drought. HiHostels.com is average, booking has to be done at least 2 days in advance and the reviews are semi-accurate. Tripadvisor seems to be the most accurate but rarely has hostels.

Most of the places we have stayed in cost around US$40-50 per night for a double room with private bathroom and includes a free breakfast.

Any questions, ask away below.
Cheers
Jess and Hutch

ATM Locator

March 3rd, 2010 | Posted in Blog, News, Travel, Travel Tips | No Comments
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Something that every guide book should have printed on their maps is the location of VISA, PLUS, MAESTRO, Cirrus and MasterCard friendly ATM’s for that city. Why? Well most of us modern traveller’s travel with ATM cards from our home country because they provide an easy, efficient and cheap(ATM exchange rates are usually based on the wholesale rate reserved for interbank transfers) method of getting cash internationally. Most of the banks nowadays are aligned with the Plus, Cirrus or Maestro to allow access to your money when travelling. Read more »

Travelling – What to pack?

March 3rd, 2010 | Posted in Blog, News, Travel, Travel Tips | 1 Comment
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Whilst doing research on various different locations we might want to travel too i came across this fantastic list of what to take with you when your travelling:

http://www.travelindependent.info/whattopack.htm

Excerpt:

Here’s what you need to take backpacking, where to get it from, how to pack it and how to keep size/weight down. Quite frankly, there’s so much crap written on what to pack and a lot of scare mongering about taking this or that essential for fear that if left behind it could not be bought abroad. Many packing lists are aimed at mid-range travellers or are featured in travelogues as examples of ‘I took this’ whether or not it was useful/necessary. Stores that sell equipment, who of course want you to buy as much as possible (how often have you seen items like survival bivvi bag and stoves on their so-called travel packing lists) are also a big part of this problem. Anyone who has travelled before will feel nothing but disdain at short, ambiguous lists in travel mags, guidebooks and charlatan websites. For the record, you will have to think very hard of something not recommended on the list below that could not be bought abroad and normally much cheaper. Mosquito coils for instance appear on many lists: these are almost always available abroad and always at a fraction of the cost compared to Western countries, leaving aside that there are much better ways to tackle mosquitoes.

Google Labs – Google Maps

February 12th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, News, Technology, Travel, Travel Tips | No Comments
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Today when visiting my favourite little travel planning tool – Google Maps i noticed something a little different. No it wasnt Google Buzz or Google Wave but Google Labs! It was a little potion bottle icon that when clicked displayed the following message:

Google Maps Labs is a testing ground for experimental features that aren’t quite ready for primetime. They may change, break or disappear at any time.

  Read more »

Travelling with Google Maps

February 12th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, News, Technology, Travel, Travel Tips | 2 Comments
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Google maps has to be the best travel planning tool on the web! There i’ve said it. It provides an excellent user interface with a vast array of information to make planning your next trip a breeze.

I’ll take you through planning a trip on Google Maps before you leave:

  1. Login to your google account or create one if you dont have one already.
  2. Click on Maps.
  3. Click on My Maps
  4. Click on Create New Map
  5. Type in a Title, Description and decided whether you want this map to be public or private then click on Save.
  6. Travel - Google Maps Step 1

    Travel - Google Maps Step 1

    Read more »

Working Holiday to Canada via South America

February 8th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, News, Travel, Travel Tips | No Comments
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So we’re going to Canada to work and holiday! Moving overseas has been a lengthy exercise with plenty, and i mean, plenty of little annoying things to get done depending on what your leaving behind in Australia. This is my experience.

Hutch: “I’ve got a fine idea! Let’s screw it all and go travelling for a while, we could work in Canada”
5 Min’s later after the excited rambling stops.
JB: “Hmm i dunno what about this, what about that”
3 months later…
JB: “You know what i reckon we do it!”
Hutch: “Do what?”
JB: “Go to Canada!”

That’s how it started, then the idea grew:
Hutch: “I reckon we should do as much travel before we get to Canada as possible. You know South America, USA etc. Maybe rent a RV and trek across the USA”
15 Min’s later after the excited rambling stops.
JB: “Hmm i dunno what about this, what about that”
Hutch: “Yes your probably right about the RV thing Ben does snore a lot, but still it makes sense to travel beforehand else we’re just moving house really”
2 months later…
JB: “You know what i reckon we do it!”
Hutch: “Do what?”
JB: “Travel beforehand around South America” Read more »

Canadian Working Holiday Visa

February 8th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, News, Travel, Travel Tips | 3 Comments
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First things first we’re going to need a visa so, OK this is fairly straight forward if your an Australian aged between 18-30 at the time the application is received and without any specific medical conditions then you’re eligible to apply for the Canadian Working Holiday Visa. I won’t get into anymore details about the visa itself because that’s the job of the WHP Canada site but i will mention that currently the working holiday visa is no longer a once in a lifetime opportunity it can now be renewed on a yearly basis.

The process of applying is fairly straight forward: Read more »

USA B1/B2 Visa for Australians

February 8th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, News, Travel, Travel Tips | 1 Comment
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If you’re travelling through or stopping by the USA on your way to Canada or Mexico, as we are, you may need to apply for the USA B1/B2 Visa as the Visa Waiver Program(VWP) counts time spent in Canada and Mexico as time against that Visa. For example if you flew to Los Angeles and spent 3 days there on the VWP, went up to Vancouver and worked there for 6 months then flew back down to San Francisco you would of overstayed your VWP by 3 months(give or take a few days).

For information on the VWP please see: http://canberra.usembassy.gov/consular/visas/niv/vwp.html

For information on the B1/B2 Visa please visit: http://canberra.usembassy.gov/consular/visas/niv/business-pleasure.html

Specifically, we’re concerned with the B2 Visa as the B1 Visa relates to business travellers. So the B2 Visa is appropriate for: Read more »

Canadian Bank Accounts

February 8th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, News, Travel, Travel Tips | 1 Comment
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If you’re like me, you like to get things sorted before you arrive. Therefore being able to setup a bank account in the country your moving to before you arrive is handy. HSBC through their International Banking Centre provides a service where you can setup bank accounts in the country you’re moving too from your current location provided it has a HSBC branch nearby. Luckily i had used this service previously when i moved to the UK and i am unaware of any other banks that can provide this international service. Read more »

North American Travel Insurance

February 8th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, News, Travel, Travel Tips | 1 Comment
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One thing I’ve never used, touch wood, but never leave home without is travel insurance, not because i worked at an insurance company but because if things go bad especially with my health I want to be sure i can get adequate treatment. If you’ve purchased travel insurance before you may of noticed when you select a region, North America and Japan are separated from the rest of the world. Now without confirming with an insurance expert i assume this is because in those countries(USA, Canada and Japan)  you’re required to have private health insurance to get medical assistance or at least have some means of paying for it. I know for certain to obtain the working holiday visa once you arrive in Canada you will need to provide proof that you have insurance. Read more »

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