Some stuff that may be of relevance.
- Make sure that you have a PIN for your credit card. I was a “Signature guy” and that was a major problem in Europe. Several places just had no idea how to process signature only and I had to go and get cash which was very inconvenient.
- Keep your cash in your savings account. I usually keep my cash in my cheque account but in some countries the default is savings and you have no option to choose cheque.
- Travel hand lugagge only. Enabled me to move quickly and easily. I avoided long check-in queues several times (even when I wasn’t supposed to get that advantage) and I was able to move through custome very rapidly. I would have missed a connecting flight in KL if I had checked luggage. Not to mention the very real chance of luggage going astray (which would have been a real risk given the way that I travelled). See my earlier post Never check a bag again.
- Consider other forms of travel than air. I like rail – for the ultimate online guide to rail visit The man in seat 61.
- Consider London to Amsterdam on the Dutch Flyer “Night Boat” the train/ferry/train from London to Amsterdam. Brand new ferry, great fun and very well priced.
- Consider Lonely Planet Encounter Guide Books. Pocket sized for one city at a time. Found them to be excellent. USD $11.99 or GBP 6.99. Includes a fold out map.
- Look for free wi-fi in your hotel. Most had it.
- In Bangkok don’t bother with fast train to/from the airport. The local train is 20% of the price, ony takes about 10 minutes longer and takes you straight to Phaya Thai Station where you can link with the sky train.
- Take a second phone and get a local pre-paid SIM card for local calls. This can be linked with Skype to give you international linkage. Watch usage and internet browsing e.g. Google Maps on your Australian phone.
- Consider “Premium” or ‘Business Class” on a low cost airline. I flew Business Class on Berlin to Bangkok with AirBerlin for about $1,000 which was pretty good value.
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