Bookpacking’s Blog

Yesterday evening found Bookpacking playing with a new toy in the woodland of Wimbledon Common. Sometimes the simplest of things can bring hours of enjoyment, and for £4 or so, we bought a sturdy looking compass from the local Aladaddin’s Cave that is Lidl, and headed off into the bush. The little boy inside takes very little prompting to appear, and with our new low-tech gadget, childhood memories came rushing back of family camping holidays with mysterious forests that had to be explored and hills that had to be conquered.

As people look for cheaper leisure activities – eg not buying a few rounds in a pub and waving goodbye to £50 in a couple of happily hazy hours – Bookpacking is predicting an upswing in activities like hiking and camping. Already surfing a festival wave, more and more people are discovering the joys of life under canvas. There’s nothing like that first cup of tea (remember the slogan: “Tea; best drink of the day”?). Especially when you’ve faffed on for a half-hour to make it – this the very definition of deferred gratification.

And the great outdoors is, well, great. Last night, surrounded by birdsong and devoid of people, it was hard to believe this was Zone 3, well inside the M25. If travel is often about escape, maybe we don’t always need to spend a  huge amount on airfares to find such solicitous solitude if we look harder at home.

And best of all, some sharp compass work brought us right to the final waypoint of the evening, the Fox & Grapes. A cute pint (served only a few degrees below room temperature), we aren’t being obtuse when we say this angle is our favourite segment of the hiking experience; the very apex of this little Boys Own adventure.*

Hi-Tec walking boots from £40; Karrimor boots similar at Field & Trek sale; compass £4 Lidl; OS map typically £7; Berghaus waterproof from £50 online, or c. £150 for Gore-Tex lined; walking trousers c. £30 from Blacks.

* apologies, but what’s the point in having your own blog if you can’t insert the occasional awful pun?

Every cloud has a silver lining, and for the ever-frugal Bookpacking that means that there are some cracking deals to be found as the overextended find themselves making new holes in those ever-tightening belts, and even the well-placed cut their outgoings as they monitor the uncertain economy.

Sipping a delicious 80p cup of “Flat Broke” (8 oz. of filter topped with hot milk, doncha know) in Brick Lane Coffee, we might use that caffeine to suppress our appetite for a few hours. But even then, Marks and Spencer are at hand to offer the £2 meal deal (sandwich, drink, crisps).

And falling upon a couple of hidden-gem hostelries amongst the mews of Marylebone, we were reminded that Samuel Smith’s pubs are more common than you might think in central London. They are uniformly cheap; £1.88 for a delicious pint of bitter? Now that’s t’ good Yorkshire thrift lad.

TNT Magazine had its latest travel show this weekend and a high calibre of guest speaker contributed to a full house. Bookpacking was unable to get in to hear Paul Kilduff telling the tall tales behind Ruinair - How to be treated like Sh*** in 15 Different Countries and Still Quite Like It – a rant-turned-book, as Times Online called it.

After kicking our heels in a coffee bar for an hour, we eventually got in and heard Mitch from Eastern Trekker extolling the delights of Eastern Europe. Having just returned ourselves, we can confirm that it’s a fascinating region and well worth a visit. Credit to Mitch, he talked about the region with a real passion and love, but he didn’t push his own product once.

But they saved the best till last. A lot of the younger crowd had gone home, but there was still a good turnout to hear modern day tales of derring-do from Lonely Planet author Frances Linzee Gordon. From Ethiopian war zones, to aborted helicopter rescues and covert exploration of Saudi Arabia in disguise – this young lady has already lived quite a life.

Her inspirational talk about going off the beaten track touched on travel principles that aren’t a million miles away from the ones we listed here last week, but this woman is hard core. Sometimes you can feel that travelling is a self-indulgent frippery for the decadent dilettante; but on the road Frances has clearly gained a lot of sociological and psychological insights into the people and places she’s explored/logged/photographed. When she checks the FCO website prior to her trips, she probably knows more than the people writing the advice.

With a useful mixture of common sense, a veteran’s insight and some life-coaching pep, it wasn’t hard to see why she’s on the LP roll of travelwriting honour. We like it when the good people give of themselves for free, and Bookpacking will definitely be incorporating her tips into our next travel plan.

Here’s the rules of the road when we’re lighting out and exploring that big old world of ours…

1.    Stay in a hostel, or couchsurf. Locals are there to provide you with information and give you the inside track.

2.    Check the listings guides and scan the papers. Want to be in Krakow and then miss the annual (free) charity fireworks/concert because you didn’t know it was happening?

3.    Travel with the locals. Get buses and trams, see how people are living. What are they reading? What are their ringtones? How sophisticated is the transport system? Is it vandalised?

4.    Eat with the locals. Skip the fancy restaurant and eat cheap with residents. From Sunday snacks with Madrileno’s in the rastro, to the students and old people in Gdansk’s milk bars; it’s an anthropological adventure.

5.    Keep your eyes open. Posters and graffiti help you appreciate the mood of the nation, region or even the city. From anti-tourist slogans in the Basque country to the parental status of Putin or the ownership of Kosovo; what are people talking about?

6.    Initiate conversations. No use being a wall-flower here; start a chat, ask questions. People respond to genuine interest. And after all, everyone’s favourite subject is themselves.

7.    Get lost. Guide books are great, but take some time to wander off the beaten track and you never know what you’ll find. There are atmospheric empty alleys only minutes from Las Rambla, or serene spots for contemplation round SF’s Telegraph Hill.

8.    Go to something different. Like a political meeting, or an alternative art show. In Dresden’s Neustadt you might catch the German Bob Dylan imitator for only a few Euros, or meet interesting progressive political types at a Move On film screening in a US city.

9.    Look up! Especially if you’re a photographer; there’s a whole different world up there that so many miss. You might find 100 year-old advertisements, or eclectically elaborate rooftop decorations signifying a building’s provenance.

10.    Be open and be flexible. People make suggestions for reasons, so follow the tips. Change your schedule to take advantage of opportunities, and cut your losses when a location disappoints.

11.    We said 10 rules, eh? Rule 11 is know when to throw the rules out of the window!

© Bookpacking