The top 10 things to take travelling

Jerome Luepkes is a Berlin-based business consultant and travel writer.

For most people, travel is about seeing new places, experiencing new things and meeting new people. Apart from the fact that travel can take time and cost money, there is also a small matter of what to take with you when you set out on your next expedition.

I believe that travellers can improve their overall experience by simply learning what to do without, and only taking those things which are essential for a safe and healthy trip.

Here’s a list of the top 10 things to take on the road:

Check out the full article by Jerome Luepkes on Couchsurfers

If you are looking for a cheap ride check out Transfercar.co.nz or Transfercar.com.au!

100 Great things to do in Melbourne for under $10

melbourneI don’t often have the time to write pretty articles, and to be honest there are so many good writers out there with fantastic information, why muddy up the mix? Here at Transfercar, we want you to have the best travel experience at the lowest price possible (hence why we have free cars and campervans to drive). So I’ve been looking for some great travel tips and found this little article published on  whitehat.com.au I think you may find useful……

The White Hat Guide to 100 Great things to do in Melbourne for under $10

Melbourne has been voted the world’s most liveable city, and there are plenty of great things to do with only loose change in your pocket.

At most of the places listed in these pages (with a few notable exceptions) you will only find locals.

You will rarely find mainstream tourists because there is no easy access for buses, or because the places involved are not promoted to tourists.

Perhaps more surprisingly, you will rarely see backpackers at these places. Our market research indicates the great majority of backpackers that visit Melbourne expose themselves to an increasingly narrow range of ‘authorised’ experiences.

Read the full article here……..

Move over backpacker; here comes the flashpacker!

The latest trend in travelling as recognized during the latest ITB Berlin is Eco and Economy Travel. Everybody who’s anybody in the world of the travel industry meets at ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel show, which was held last March. The starring role in the rising Eco and Economy market is the flashpacker.

The what……??

Yes, you heard it right. The flashpacker. I give you a new breed of traveller; the flashpacker is fresh out of university, end twenties to mid/end thirties with an ambitious travel bug comparable with that of a backpacker. Treasured family times at the Holiday Inn are not yet cute for the flashpacker; he or she still desires a, dare I say, adventurous holiday where a lack of luxury and comfort are not an issue.

The flashpacker holds down a steady job and has got a bit of cash to throw around. What they don’t have on the other hand is time. Their careers are on the roll and need 60-hours-per-workweek-neutering and dedication, and they sure as hell can’t afford to take a sabbatical if they ever want to be somebody in their line of work. Well, not for the coming 10 years anyway.

Backpacker versus flashpacker

The difference between the two are quite obvious. The backpacker we’re all too familiar with is usually stretched for money, with lots of time on their hands and somewhat wet behind the ears when they set foot on foreign soil. They are fresh out of high school, 18 to 23 years old and quite successful at postponing the inevitable grown-up-life back at home for quite some time. That is to say, until the working holiday visa runs out, the overdraft has become painfully overdrawn and they are forced to make ‘THE CALL’ home for funds. The funds usually come in a supersaver-combo-deal: Money in exchange for a swift return to The Motherland. That usually snaps them out of the backpacker-mode and into moving-on-to-university-mode. Behold the natural cycle of the backpacker. Everybody wins.

Green and clean

Now, is backpacking mostly about partying, fruit picking, hitch-hiking or the Kiwi Experience Bus, sightseeing the NZ top 10 in a whirlwind fashion whilst surviving another day on $5, the grown up flashpacker has outgrown all this. Eco tourism and cultural refinement are key for the environment-minded flashpacker. The Kiwi Experience Bus is a no-no as goes for hitch-hiking. The flashpacker only does Eco, whether this is on a campground in the sticks of in a 5 star hotel downtown. They often rent a vehicle, preferably a small van or larger SUV, as long as it is capable of sleeping two adults.

As a result of this rapidly emerging trend, the ‘green and clean’ market in New Zealand alone is expected to grow with another 70% until 2020, with the biggest group of flashpackers for New Zealand and Australia expected to come from India and China.

Now, call me silly, but can anybody tell me how we are going to accommodate this immense tourism grow spurt whilst remaining truly ‘green and clean’?