The Untouristed Thailand

January 18, 2010 By / 14 Comments

So you want to visit Thailand. That’s cool. It’s a great place to travel to. Got your guidebook yet? Have you noticed all those ‘Must see’ destinations, and the ‘Hidden Gems’?

Well guess what. They aren’t so hidden any more.

You can expect that “deserted beach with powder soft white sand and turquoise blue water” to be full of fat Australians with tribal tattoos drinking buckets of watered down expensive alcohol. That “charming little village with smiling locals and cheap phad thai” is now a backpacker slum bursting with tattoo parlors and crazy Germans on scooters, oh and those locals aren’t exactly smiling because of you, though they are pretty happy to see your baht.

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The Ethics of Traveling to Burma

January 11, 2010 By / 10 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I found myself sitting on a beach in Vietnam, miffed that my year abroad was about to come to a crashing halt, and desperately trying to find one more place to visit in Asia before I would have to go back to work. I wanted somewhere a little off the touristy trail (so not Bali then) somewhere I hadn’t been before (there goes Laos), somewhere survivable on my pitiful backpackers budget (adios, Philippines) and of course somewhere I would find remotely interesting (sorry, Singapore).  So that left Myanmar (Or Burma, if you are imperially inclined).

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What Will Prevent You From Traveling This Year?

January 4, 2010 By / 4 Comments

I‘m not really the most festive person. I enjoy the holiday season because I get to spend time with my family but rarely put up a Christmas tree or any decorations.  When New Years rolls around I joke about resolutions but I don’t really feel any different or do anything to change the upcoming year.

That said, I find myself doing something during this first week of 2010 that feels like a big contradiction to the above statement: I’m planning my travel goals for the year.

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Realize Your Travel Dreams in 2010

January 1, 2010 By / 9 Comments

A new year is upon us and 2010 also marks a new decade.  I hate to be too cliché but this is the time most people a moment to evaluate their life, goals, and dreams for the future.

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Tips for Saving up Money for Your Next Vacation

November 30, 2009 By / 3 Comments

Love traveling but find it difficult to save up enough money to go on a trip? Here are five tips for ways you can save up some cash and take a vacation.

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Did you know? We’re hiring!

November 27, 2009 By / 1 Comment

File this under the “how I can manage to eat another meal while I’m bumming it in Southeast Asia” category.

Have Pack, Will Travel is expanding it’s editorial calendar and is now offering compensation for articles from guest writers.  It won’t make you rich, but if you love traveling and writing, you can make a little bit of cash, expand your portfolio, and earn valuable links from one of the largest budget and independent travel blogs online.

Go to our submissions page for more details.

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Get the Hell Out of Downtown!

November 24, 2009 By / 6 Comments

Hey you. Yeah you! Fancy traveler flying across the world only to sit in a swanky downtown hotel. Why are you wasting your time?

OK, let me cool off for a second.  I’m not actually mad at anybody, but I constantly am running into people who do nothing by fly to a great country and waste their time in a large city near the airport. It disappoints me.

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Red Eyes, Jet Lag, and Maximizing Your Travel Time

October 27, 2009 By / 4 Comments

One of the problems with short-term travel is the time required to fly to many places. I live in Southern California and if I want to fly to Europe I’m looking at a 10-hour flight at least.  If I only have 7 days of vacation, this will quickly eat up a good chunk of my free time away from the ol’ 9-5.  I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say they just don’t have the time to travel such far distances.

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5 Tips for Bartering While Traveling

October 13, 2009 By / 5 Comments

Something many people are not familiar with is bartering. In America it’s very rare to barter for any goods or services in a traditional marketplace. Of course things like eBay and Craigslist have changed the way we shop, but for the most part, Americans don’t enter a store and offer half of the advertised price and expect to get away with it.  In some countries, that’s exactly what you are expected to do though.

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6 Ways to Truly Experience a Travel Destination

October 5, 2009 By / 7 Comments

Many times when people travel they miss out on the most valuable aspect of the place in which they find themselves: culture.

Here are six ways you can truly experience the culture in a simple and traditional way.

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