Have Itch, Will Travel

"How old are you?" This was the question posed by Clare when she first heard of our plans to backpack for 8 months. At the time, it was funny, and I considered that it reflected her misunderstanding of what I had meant by "backpacking". We were not fooling ourselves, thinking we were nearly broke bright-eyed twenty-somethings carting around excessively heavy hiking packs, full of hairdryers and five pairs of shoes. No, we were "backpacking" in the sense that we were utilising minimalist principles to pack carry-on sized backpacks (as we have done for years) and travelling on a tight budget. We were very successful in our packing, having only needed to purchase a couple of undershirts and a hat to supplement our gear in all of the seven months so far. We were also very successful in our budgeting. Rob kept a close eye on our daily expenses using a travel budget app called TripCoin , and the stats indicated that we averaged $100/day in Turkey and East Eu...

People rave about their trips to Ethiopia . It's off-the-beaten-track but full of amazingness and culture... I suspect these people enjoyed Ethiopia in the comfort of their 3- or 4-star hotels, coaches, and internal flights, according to a planned and packaged tour. Now, I'm not saying Ethiopia isn't amazing or doesn't provide a different experience in culture etc. The towns (and especially the local markets ) are lively and exciting places, their cuisine is surprisingly varied and tasty, the coffee is the best in the world, and unique landscapes like the Simien Mountain range and the other-worldly Danakil Depression are found there. Hiking the Simien Mountains was a highlight. Finding a place to pee in the bushes around camp where 50 other people shit, not so much. Ethiopia is also a land of fine print, smarmy opportunists , entitled children demanding money, and money-grubbing tourism operators. If you are thinking about going to Ethiopia, I would say, "...