Ten Tips for First-time Travellers to Japan

Ten Tips for First-time Travellers to Japan

During a recent trip to Japan a few simple things made the travel experience a little easier and a little more enjoyable. There are many travel blog posts and vlogs which provide useful travel tips for Japan.  A lot cover the etiquette that is so much a part of Japanese culture; or great places to visit such as onsen and sacred shrines; or how to buy shinkansen (bullet train) tickets, to name but a few topics.  But for us, these ten simple things are what we’d recommend to any first-time traveller to Japan.

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Our Top Tips for Independent Travel in China

Our Top Tips for Independent Travel in China

In September 2019 we spent a month in China. We were surprised at the relatively small number of independent foreign travellers we met along the way. There seems to be a view held by many in the West, that China is a difficult country in which to travel as an independent traveller, unless you can speak Chinese. It’s true that there are a few tricky aspects to navigating China, but with a bit of pre-planning, and a relaxed attitude, these can be either overcome or ignored. Overall China is a safe and fairly easy place to visit on your own. Here are a few things we identified before going or learned along the way which made our life on the road easier.



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Our Top Tips for Travel in Mongolia

Our Top Tips for Travel in Mongolia

In August and September 2019, we spent a month in Mongolia. Before going we did some research as to what to expect in terms of weather, culture, food, in-country travel, etc.  This turned out to be very useful as we were reasonably well prepared for our Mongolian adventure. But we also learned a lot while there that helped ensure a culturally sensitive and enjoyable trip. While we don’t pretend to be experts on Mongolia, we do believe that some of the tips we’ve come across are worth sharing with anyone planning their own trip to the country. Here’s what we recommend.

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Vanuatu - Some Travellers' Tips

Vanuatu - Some Travellers' Tips

If you’ve read our previous post “Vanuatu Diary” you’ll know that we only had a little over a week in the country, visiting just two islands – Efate and Tanna. This hardly makes us equipped to qualify as experts on Vanuatu, a nation of over 80 islands.

However, we did pick up a few things along the way that some might find helpful when visiting Vanuatu. Here is our modest list of travellers’ tips.

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Tips for Winter Roadtrippin' in North America

Tips for Winter Roadtrippin' in North America

We spent three and a half months on a road trip around the US and Canada in the winter of 2017 (Jan to April). Before we went we couldn't find much specific info on road trippin' at this time of year so we just had to wing it. This post contains our tips on some things we did and items we took which made the experience a good one.

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Impressions of Cuba and Our Top Travel Tips

Impressions of Cuba and Our Top Travel Tips

Much is written about Cuba nowadays as it is such a popular destination. The aim of this post is not to repeat what can be found elsewhere. What we have aimed for here is two things: (1) Our immediate impressions of Cuba having just spent 2 weeks in the country and (2) A few tips that we either found useful before we went or wished we'd known beforehand that might help to make your trip a little easier

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Torres del Paine - the 'W' Walk (well, most of it)

A lot of older travellers assume that to visit Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia, particularly if you wish to do the world famous 'W' Walk, that you need to go in an organised group.

But we found that with a bit of planning you can successfully do the walk, travel at your own pace and save some money along the way. Here's our experience over 6 days in Torres del Paine.

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