Shopping Links

I've used this site for a number of year to book hotels in Australia, New Zealand and Asia - you do have to pay up front but I have had some great bargains over the years. And yes I do get a small commission if you book using this link!

Travel Links

Some sites which have good travel information in my humble opinion anyway:

http://www.travelfish.com Good site for general travel information and specific relevant businesses (hotels and tour companies) specifically for South East Asian destinations.

http://www.ricksteves.com Rick Steves has built a guidebook and tour company empire based on telling his fellow Americans that its OK to travel independently overseas. His focus is Europe as in Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2007: The Travel Skills Handbook (Rick Steves) and his "Europe 101" is a very good summary of all the art and history for which Europe is famous but for which some back ground knowledge is very useful. He's not exactly backpacker level and I personally couldn't afford any of his recommended small hotels (which are no doubt booked out anyway because of his popularity in the States), but some of his suggested itineraries and suggested highlights are worth a look.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com Originally focused on South East Asia this publishing empire now covers countries that few others would dare and you have to think can't mak e them any money - need a guide to Lonely Planet East Timor, or Lonely Planet Bhutanthey have it. They cover the rest of the world too. Unfortunately most of the useful stuff is actually in their guidebooks though they do have some updates on the website and you can tell when a guidebook is going to be updated on the site which saves you buying the old edition from your local bookseller.

http://www.exploreoz.com. This site has lots and lots of information on 4WD tracks in Australia. Its also updated regularly with track conditions and petrol prices. That's the good news. The bad news is that the layout is really bad, I've never got the search to work and the form - although full of useful contributors is awful to use and there are no sub-forums - just everything on one screen!

Some travel forums I find useful:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree From the authors of the Lonely Planet Guides but independent as far as I can tell this would have to be one of the busiest travel forums. Topics split by region/country and also general interest. The standard of contributions seem to vary but the Older Travellers branch appears to be consistently helpful.

http://www.bootsnall.com/forum Not as busy as the thorntree one which can be a blessing if you are searching for information which doesn't have to been posted in the last 24 hrs. It has a similar split of discussions as thorntree. The bootsnall site also provides free travel blogs

Some web sites that inspire me:

http://www.travoholic.com Written from the Canadian point of view for the the working holiday traveler but lots of good info for travellers of all ages!

http://www.workingnomad.com Written by an English man who has combined budget travel with running web sites to pay for his travels.

Shameless self-promotion - my blog currently we are touring Australia by 4WD