6 tips every new backpacker needs to know!

The top of Adam's Peak, Sri Lanka

#1. budget some emergency money

For every month that you're travelling you should have about 50 USD saved purely for emergencies. No, that extra dessert does not count as an emergency. You should never have to stay in a hostel or campsite that you don't trust because you can't afford anything better. If you ever feel in danger it's nice to know you've got some money to fall back on in case you need an emergency cab ride, medicine, first aid kit, or anything else that travelling might throw at you. If you don't end up spending then you can get that chocolate pudding!

#2. Socks and petroleum jelly

Socks and petroleum jelly, guys! Socks never really feel the same after long dusty hikes. Maybe it's just my personal pet peeve, but you can buy a new pair of socks for $2 and clean socks make everything better. Just bring as many socks as you can because finding a laundry service can be hard sometimes and even the thought of putting my precious toes into old smelly socks hurts my heart.

petroleum jelly (aka Vaseline) is amazing and every backpacker needs it. First off, it's a perfect chap stick. Different climates will affect your lips differently and there's nothing worse than chapped lips. Face it, you don't know how to ask for chap stick in French; come prepared. Also, you can use it for hard cracked heels, to protect small cuts and burns, remove makeup, use it as a moisturizer and even diaper rash... you never know what could happen!

Somewhere in Queensland, Australia 

#3. Don't plan the unplanable

No plans are the best plans! allow yourself some flexibility because I've found that the more freedom you have the more adventures you have! Don't make the mistake of planning out every second of your trip and not being able to go on the sunrise hike your new friends invited you on because you've got a shuttle bus already booked!

#4. skyscanner

skyscanner is my favourite app. It lets you see all sorts of discount flights and choose the cheapest ones. My favourite part about this app is that you can choose your departure airport and then click "anywhere!" It'll show you the cheapest flights leaving that airport regardless of where they might be going! Impulse travelling made easy. This is the reason I went to Bali! However, there are two things you need to know about this app. Often the flight prices don't include baggage allowance. Make sure you're not going to be charged $60 for your backpack once you arrive. I learned that the hard way. If your pack is small enough (under 8 kg) you might be able to bring it on as a carry-on. The second thing you need to know: with any discount flight app or website you won't be able to cancel or change your flight. MAKE SURE YOUR DETAILS AND DATES ARE CORRECT! Again, I learned this the hard way when I accidentally booked a flight to Phuket, Thailand in November instead of December. Learn from my mistakes.

Ella, Sri Lanka 

#5. Bring a toothbrush, tooth paste, and fresh underwear on long flights

Twelve hour flights are killer. You're going to be over tired and have smelly airplane food breath. Gross. All you're going to want to do is go to sleep, but you'll have to go through immigration, find a taxi to your hostel, speak to the reception there, THEN you can go to bed. Let me tell you, nothing picks you up like fresh underwear and brushing your teeth. Don't be gross, friends. Brush your teeth.

#6. travel towel

This is so important! Regular towels take up way too much much space in your backpack. Travel towels also are made to dry quickly. We all know the smell of clothes that haven't been properly dried and shoved into a bag for hours and hours. Not good. You can get a good towel for $20 USD at any camping or outdoors outlet.

Dublin, Ireland with my beautiful sister

Save travels everyone, I'll be posting more tips and tricks soon! Comment a tip or trick that you think I missed, I might be using it in my next post!

Ｆｏｌｌｏｗ ＠ＤａｉｌｙＳａｔｕｒｄａｙ