TRAVELLERS RIDE TIPS
As the heading says we would like to invite you to share your Ride tips, we would like to keep it primarily Transportation mode orientated, but if what you have to share is a real money saver put it in.

Travelling To Europe soon?
TOMORROW'S RAIL PASSES AT TODAY'S PRICES visit RAILSAVE.COM
European Rail Pass Prices are Going Up After Dec. 31, 2001
1. SAVE MONEY at www.railsave.com  - buy before Dec. 31 to avoid the 2002
price increase. You have 6 months from the date of purchase to begin traveling.
2. Anyone arriving in Europe before June 30, 2002 can now save UP TO $48
on their European rail pass.
3. www.railsave.com  offers the guaranteed best prices, a free guidebook
and same-day shipping.
4. Visit www.eurotrip.com  for great travel advice and lively discussion boards.

Backpack Safe Good Budget Travel Tips.

Use a rock-climbing carabineer or two to quickly snap your pack to the overhead luggage racks on chicken buses, to benches in
bus stations, etc. You can catch a nap without worrying that someone can do a snatch-and-run with your bag. If you're in a bus
station, try to stick a leg through at least one strap of any bags you're responsible for, carabineer or no.

Bring a baggie (not Ziploc) full of fabric softener dryer sheets... anything you put into your pack will come out smelling clean and
if you decide to splurge on a Laundromat in a city, your clothes can really smell like home.

Use a ratty-looking knapsack as your daypack. I found a plain grayish one in an Army-Navy surplus store for cheap, I didn't
look like a walking target for thieves, and I didn't care when it got dirty. Just avoid carrying camouflage-patterned bags (or
wearing camo clothing) in many lesser-developed countries with heavy military or drug army presence.

--Georgette

While travelling in Africa, I suffered acute paranoia about loss of cash, credit cards, etc. I always carried water in an insulated,
opaque, shoulder strapped container. I bought and replaced bottled water in liter sizes. I figured that if I was robbed, they might
get my purse and pack, but who would take a water bottle? I placed my credit cards, major money, airplane ticket and
passport under and on the sides of the replaceable bottle. If I needed money, I could privately unzip in a Forex office and
replenish my cash. I also placed small cash in an accessible pouch, feeling that if pick pocketed, I wouldn't lose too much.

--Marie Olsen

If you are going to be out amongst the mosquitoes, there are some ways to appear less tasty to them. Taking garlic capsules
leaves a chemical residue that mosquitoes don't like in the pores of your skin. Also, ingesting a vitamin B complex (containing
100 mg of vitamin B1) causes the body to produce an odor that is not detectable to humans but is disliked by mosquitoes.
There are also essential oil blends, including essential oils of citronella, lavender, eucalyptus, and geranium, that can be applied
to the body as nontoxic insect repellents.

--Yan Shapiro

If you have access to a scanner before you leave, have somebody scan and save copies of your important documents. You can
have them sent to your e-mail account before you even leave. That way, it will be easy to get another copy, even if everything
you owned has been stolen. No matter what, though, always leave a copy of important documents with somebody at home.
Good or bad, there are very few places left on this earth without access to a fax machine.
--Kim

Trains Through Europe
If you are trying to decide which countries to include in your euro-passes, don't worry about including countries like Greece,
and the Czech Rep. etc. as train travel within these countries is very cheap. Make sure you include countries like Austria, (as it is almost impossible to avoid going through), Switzerland and Germany as trains here are very expensive. If you do not have
a Euro-pass, and are deciding to go into the Czech rep. say from Austria, only buy a ticket to the first stop inside the Czech rep., then get off and buy a ticket the rest of the way to your destination (for us it was Prague) and you will make a big saving.
We saved at least GB £20 each this way.

Patrick Gilbert UK

Girls going to Turkey
Whilst in Turkey, girls can lessen the amount of unwanted attention they get by wearing several gold (real or fake) bangles on their wrist. one girl we met happened to have bought some in Malaysia and was told that when a girl gets engaged to a Turkish man she is given gold bangles by her fiancé and their family. By looking as if she were ' taken ' she didn't get nearly as many annoying ' followers ' and also got some excellent prices !

Sally Hodges England

Dodging those immigration storm troopers, from Europe/USA to Aus

I've had many a run in with Immigration idiots and been thrown out of a couple of countries or two, so here's a few things
they don't like and how to get around them and get yourself in.

They hate  you coming in on a one way ticket, SO buy in addition to your cheapie one way ride buy a full fare fully
refundable ticket from a carrier based in the country you will be visiting, then cash it back in for a refund once you're in.
this little trick will cost about $50 or so.

Backpackers are obviously going to be  in their beloved country for a bit, so to take the heat off of your entry
buy a crappy old suitcase from a charity shop and pack all your stuff including backpack in it, then toss it once you're in.

Make a reservation over the phone with a major hotel chain before you leave, this way if they check what you put down
as address on your immigration form you don't dig yourself in deeper.

When asked how long your staying never say ooooohh?  six months..... Wrong answer this will get the little alarm bells
in their empty heads ringing, they will then ask, "how are you going to support yourself?" if you don't have a work visa
they will ask to see evidence of funds to support yourself during your stay, entering the USA they will wand to see cold hard
cash, plastic cards will not do! they don't give a shit if it is a platinum card, for all they know it could be cancelled, maxed out etc. etc.To get around this make a big cash advance before you board the flight, and pay it all back in once you're in.

US immigration will usually go through your wallet/purse if you get pulled for secondary questioning, they are looking for
those little bits of paper with the phone number of casual jobs you may be headed for, so check carefully what you
have in there.

And if worse comes to the worse and you get deported, bar having a computer hacker wipe their file on you, next
best thing, if you really need to get back in, is go home change your name by de-pole get a new passport, and the game is back on.

Cargo Ships out of Tenerife

I recently got a ride out of Tenerife on a cargo boat, there are loads of ships going all
Over the place it took me 45 minutes of asking at different boats, to find a ride going to mainland Spain, I had to pay $50.00 and do some painting. I also found out that there are hundreds of sailing boats that wait till August September and October to make the Atlantic crossing to the Caribbean, many need Crew, or just helping hands for those who don't know how to sail.

MATT. England

Trans Siberian / Mongolian Railway

A few years ago this ticket from Budapest to Beijing via Moscow was $52 American one way Hard sleeper, 1 ½ days to Moscow then 6 days to Beijing, from Moscow trains leave every day, Visas needed are Russian and Mongolian transit visas, and Chinese travel visa. Companies are wrapping and packing these trips and selling them in magazines, Go to E European cities and buy you ticket there, for mega savings, East to west is cheaper, good spot to stop in Ulaan Baator is Gana's guest house it's cheap and loads of fun..Trans Siberian INFO

Russell G. Saskatchewan Canada

Overland Africa

Many overland trucks have to re-position at the end of their trip racing back to cities hundreds of miles away, many drivers will usually look for potential riders at camp grounds and hostels, so they can make some pocket money. I recently rode from Victoria falls to Cape Town for 300 Rand, about US$60 it was a 3 day trip, and half the price of the train and a whole lot safer, many drivers, if they have a good bunch travelling and for a few dollars more will make detours to neat stuff to see.

Barbara NZ

CAR DELIVERY IN USA

There are numerous car delivery companies across the States and Canada,
The cheapest way to get across the country, check the classified ads for the town you
Are in, the deal is the customer employs’ a car delivery company to deliver their car, wherever, as you want to go in the same general direction they allow you to deliver the car for them, after they photo copy every page of your passport, your driving license, take your photo & take your fingerprints, after all that, they give you the delivery documents, the suggested route and the mileage allowance (to discourage side trips) and the first tank of fuel, they also give you a day longer to deliver than is required, also contact details in case of break downs. You get to pick the car you want to take if there are more than one going to the same city, remember you will be paying for the gas after the first one. I had a blast doing this. I almost got caught out as I broke down on a side trip to the Grand Canyon, but that's another story.

Andy Murphy UK