One of the many advantages to being in this business is that the money keeps rolling in no matter what I’m doing and because of this saving money becomes pretty easy. All I really need to do to save is kill time while spending nothing. The same is true in the nine to five world but not spending any money isn’t really an option when you’ve got to get yourself to work, feed yourself, pay your rent etc. Not matter how hard you try to save there are still those minimum monthly expenses that need to get paid no matter what.

In the travel world, however, there is nobody to answer to and you can pretty much do whatever you want. Sure, you have rent to pay in the form of nightly accommodation and you still need to feed yourself and get from place to place but there is more choice about how this is done.

So I’ve come up with a few ways to kill time and cut down on my spending while still doing something worthwhile and enjoyable so that money can be saved a lot quicker.

• Volunteering - The internet is packed with paid ‘volunteer’ positions where you shell out hundreds to a middleman to set you up with an organisation to play in the sand or build a few random things. I think these are a waste of everyone’s time and money but I also think that there are plenty of worthwhile volunteer opportunities out there if you’re willing to seek them out. Many places will rightly ask you to support yourself but some great causes will provide food and accommodation like Hands On and the Burma Volunteer Program. I’d be totally fine with paying my own living costs but they’re likely to be a lot less than shelling out for a hostel and meals at restaurants and working will keep me busy and less likely to spend money than if I were travelling around. Add to all that the fact that I’d be helping out a good cause and it’s pretty much a win win.
• Work for room and board - This is something I did a lot of in New Zealand, working a few hours a day in exchange for food and a place to sleep. I’ve never had a bad experience but one of my friends warned me about a farm run by an evil woman who made her work 8+ hours a day while only feeding her hot dogs. I’d say this is the exception rather than the rule. Besides, I like hot dogs. When you’re not working you can pretty much do what you want whether that be exploring the area, pursuing a hobby or being a web geek. It’s a really great way to learn a few new skills, experience a different way of life, and meet some interesting locals. I’ve done this before through Help Exchange and WWOOF is a popular one that I’ve yet to try plus there are also lots of smaller, country-specific networks out there that I keep meaning to hunt out.
• Go sailing - I love the ocean and have always wanted to learn how to sail. I had a crack at sailing when I spent a week on a smallish yacht off the coast of Queensland with five other backpackers and a pervy boozehound captain. I was demoted to tea maker and dish pig because of my hopelessness with the ropes. Well now I’m determined to get my sea legs and there seem to be a few opportunities out there for people with no sailing skills. One I’ve come across that looks like the best experience ever is on Karaka with a French guy, his girlfriend and an ever changing crew as they wander around the world. Most boats charge a daily or weekly fee and this one is no exception but the fee is usually less that what life on land would cost.
• Join a cult - Actually I’m just kidding about this one but my dad has an irrational fear that I’m going to run off and join a cult so I thought I’d put this in just to scare him. But for those of you out there that are cult-inclined, it might be an option. Just make sure your leader has a beard. It’s not a real cult unless he has a beard. But then again don’t cults make you sign over all your money to them? Maybe not the best idea I’ve ever had.

Being able to hoard my money faster isn’t my main motivation because I’d be doing these things out of interest anyways, but it’s a nice side effect of hiding myself away somewhere without many expenses or temptation. I could always try to find a hut on a beach for $2 a night and hang out there awhile (and I plan to) but I look forward to exploring a few more interesting and interactive options as well.

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Well I’m back from my little 10 day break up to Scotland and, as you can see, I didn’t do too well in the keeping the blog updated department. My time away wasn’t a total washout though work wise. My little test run has opened my eyes to a few things.

• Blogging - I know myself and having to stick to a routine while I’m on the go will kill me. If I even attempt to blog more than 4 times a week I know I’m going to end up drop kicking my computer into a river. I love the blogging thing but for me it will be just as enjoyable to skip a post here and there as it will be to keep on top of things. I’m expecting that once I start travelling I’ll have a lot to share with everyone so my focus will be on quality instead of quantity.
• Working on my websites - I was only able to hide myself away twice, each for several hours but I managed to get a lot done in that time. Because I didn’t have wifi, I was sat at my uncle’s desktop doing research and doing the actual work on my laptop. Having two screens is handy! A major obstacle that I’ll have to sort out is how to work on my sites when I’m offline. I use the PHP equivalent of Server Side Includes (SSI) which means that I need to view my sites online because offline they’re just bits and pieces of separate code. I could still do content updates but it just makes things messy and confusing. It’s something I hadn’t even thought of so I’m glad to have the chance to sort things out before hitting the road.
• New laptop - My new laptop has been great! I think I am in love with it. Well maybe not yet… it needs to buy me dinner first. And then maybe get me drunk. I didn’t come across any wifi in Scotland so I still have to see how quick it is online but the battery lasts for 5 hours and I’m getting used to the keyboard and small screen.
• Software - I loaded Adobe Photoshop and it runs really well. It’s already got Explorer and Firefox and I want to get Illustrator too since I’ll have a lot of time on my hands and want to spend some of it learning new things. Other than that there’s not a whole lot going on as far as software is concerned. I’ll need to put an FTP program on it and I might make the switch from Notepad to a better text editor. I might even start using Notepad++. I am one crazy mofo.
• Carting my stuff around - I bought a courier style bag that sits on one hip with a strap that goes over the opposite shoulder. It has plenty of space for my computer and SLR and lenses but things were starting to get heavy so I left my camera at home this time. I guess I’ll have to get used to it because I’ll want to carry all my valuable stuff with me when I travel from place to place. I’m really going to concentrate on packing light because I think I had too much going up to Scotland and my shoulders were pretty sore.

So all up I’m pretty pleased with my first little laptop adventure. I even busted it out at the airport and felt all cool and sophisticated. That didn’t last long though. I’m really glad I took my computer up to Scotland for a dummy run. I’ve got a few things to sort out before taking off on the real trip in a couple months. I’m already counting down the days!

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Well I’m off to Scotland in a couple of hours with my laptop in tow. Things might be a bit quiet around here for the next 10 days, depending on how well I’m able to sneak in a few hours or work here and there. It’ll be a big test considering my family are over from Canada and I doubt they’ll appreciate me locking myself away to do computer nerd stuff.

On the other hand I’m sure there will be times when everyone is just vegged out in front of the TV and I’m planning to get some things done when that happens. I’m excited to see how it all goes and will do a wee write up of how I’ve found the whole experience - even though it’s not the real deal just yet.

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First I get the camera, then I get the laptop, then I get the power. Ok maybe not power… then I get the plane ticket! I just bought a one-way flight to Manila, Philippines to arrive on January 10th and what I get up to after that is anyone’s guess but I see a lot of hammocks and cocktails in my future.

I’m not sure how I came to the decision to fly into the Philippines. I could have chosen some cheaper spots in Asia to start out. I guess my reasoning is that it’s sort of out of the way from the rest of Southeast Asia and if I didn’t start there I probably never would have been to cheap and lazy to hop a flight to the islands later on.

The plan is to spend a month or six weeks in the Philippines, hop over to Borneo for a few weeks to look around, pop in to Brunei to say g’day to the sultan dude and then continue on to the rest of Malaysia before flying out of Kuala Lumpur for Beijing in early April to hand around there until the Olympics.

Anything can happen between now and then but those are the rough plans and my feet are getting extremely itchy. It’s always been my dream to travel without any time limit or definite plans so I’ll  be taking things as they come and going with the flow as much as possible.

You may have noticed that I’ve got an extra link up top to a map. Well that’s not supposed to be there so pretend you didn’t see that, ok? I’m still working on the page but I can’t figure out how to do that without having the page visible to one and all. Yet another example of my lack of Wordpress knowledge I suppose!

The idea for the map is to have a marker for each place I’ve been. to When you click on the icon a list of blog posts for that place will pop up. These links will take you to my yet to be constructed travel blog where the posts will live. These posts will be purely travel related and aimed at family, friends and anyone who wants to stalk me (I’ve always wanted a stalker) and I guess the idea is to keep interested readers of my Nerdy Nomad blog informed about what I’m up to without having this blog overrun with posts about how bad my sun burn is and what I ate for breakfast. Plus I love Google maps and just wanted an excuse to add one to my site.

If anyone has been to the Philippines, Borneo or Malaysia or has any tips on cool things to do in Beijing I’d love suggestions!

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A couple days ago the Guardian published an article on their website called Top 10 Hostels Around the World. I opened the link fully expecting to see the same 10 ‘best’ hostels that have been bantied about on other websites for years.

Most of the places mentioned on these sorts of lists are huge, spotless, and full of amenities with a hotel feel at a hostel price. To most people this would seem like a good thing but to me these places are backpacker factories in the business of separating travellers from their money any way they can. Huge, purpose built, hotel-like hostels are clean, fun and usually well-located but they’re big business and lack the soul and character of smaller, owner-operated places.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find a new list consisting mostly of smallish hostels, each with a seemingly unique atmosphere. I know the list is a good one because my favourite hostel, Backpack Guesthouse in Budapest, comes in at number five. This hostel is about as far away as you can get from my hated backpacker factories and it’s really encouraging to see such a small, unimposing place make a list like this.

I haven’t been to any of the other hostels but I’ve heard of a couple. Lists like this have to be taken with a grain of salt because everyone has different tastes, but based on the inclusion of my beloved Backpack Guesthouse I will definately be booking myself into these other hostels the next time find myself in the neighbourhood.

I did a wee write up on a few of my favourite hostels (so far) which might be worth a read if you love a great hostel as much as I do.

Looking for feedback: So that was my first travel-related post and I’m curious about whether you guys think it fits in with the theme of the site. I’m not into writing blow by blow accounts of my travels but have lots to say about backpacking in general and plan to compliment the nerdy parts of this site with a bit of nomad stuff. What do you think… can travel stuff and web stuff live side by side on this blog?

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I’ve lived in the UK for five years and have never managed a trip to Wales. Blasphemy I tell you! But tonight I’m off for a weekend of camping in the valleys. Well, I think we’ll be on the beach but valleys sounds more Welsh.

Thanks to the handy dandy timestamper thing I will have posts magically appearing while I’m away. I don’t think it has the ability to approve comments or make comments for me though, so none of that will happen until I get back on Sunday.

Have a good weekend! It’s not supposed to rain but it will be funny if it does. You know I don’t even really like camping. I guess I’ll just drink lots.

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