OK, so now you want to go hostelling / backpacking in some part of the world.  What do you need to do to prepare?  Here’s a list:

Time

Allow enough time to see the country you are going to.  One week total oversees is fine for a touristy honeymoon but not very good for experiencing the culture of the country or the hostelling lifestyle.  I would recommend a minimum of 3 weeks total overseas to really to begin to get into this mode of travel.  I would recommend 4-8 weeks if possible (which would be hard for most working Americans to get off, but not for Europeans).  This allows enough time to get out of the habits of your own culture and to feel the rhythms of the country/countries. The ultimate is if you have the time, money, and will to do a 6 months or a year ‘around the world’ trip.  Many Europeans, many of them British, do this typically during college or just after graduation.

Flights

I have had very good luck with STA Travel, which caters to students even though you don’t have to be a student in many cases to get the good fares.  The nice part of STA is they have offices worldwide so if you need support (change your flight, etc) they are available. You could also try Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, or Priceline.com for good flights.  I typically try a shot-gun approach where I look up flights on Expedia or Orbitz first to get a rough idea for prices, then I go to STA to see how much lower they can go.

The farther in advance you buy your ticket, the more money you will typically save.  Airlines will usually have low fares on their flights 4-9 months out in order to fill the plane.  However, as the plane begins to sell out they will raise the prices.  If you are cashing in frequent miles, try to ticket as early as possible since the airlines severely restrict award seats and they tend to fill up quickly (as I found out to my woe!).

For the adventurous backpacker, British Airways (as well as a few others), offers “around the world” tickets for US$1500-3500 where you circle the world in one direction (east or west, your choice) and pick any six spots to fly into.  For example, you could decide to go east starting in New York, then Amsterdam, New Delhi, Bangkok, Sydney, Honolulu, then back to New York . You typically have 18 months to complete your journey. Check with a travel agent on these deals.

Whenever possible, get electronic tickets and not paper tickets! For electronic tickets all you have to do is show up at the airport with your passport.  If you have a paper ticket, and it gets lost or stolen, you are out of luck and you will have to repurchase it.  Also, it is much easier to change flights with electronic tickets.

Guides

A travel guide is critical for backpackers.  I would recommend the Let’s Go or Lonely Planet series since they specially cater towards hostelling and budget travelers and can be found at almost any retail bookstore or on Amazon.com.  These guides recommend good hostels, places of interest, have city/regional/subway maps, detail local customs, as well listing the best nightlife spots.  These guides are best when you first arrive at a location and you need to find a place to stay for your first night.  From there, other backpackers will often give you advice on the best hostels and things to do. 

Equipment

A comfortable backpack is a must.  It should also be large enough to fit everything you will bring on your trip and should have multiple pockets so you can reach some items quickly without emptying your entire bag. Your backpack should also have a waist belt so most of the weight is on your hips and not on your shoulders.  Spend a little extra money here on a quality bag that won’t fall apart, you will thank yourself later.

A hidden money pouch or belt is a good idea. You typically wear this under your clothes and keep your passport, tickets, and travelers checks in here to prevent being pick pocketed.

Repeat after me: Bring the bare minimum of clothes.  I have on every trip so far, brought home at least one piece of clothing that I never wore during the entire trip.  This is great if you want to give your clothing a world tour, not so great when you have to carry a lot of extra weight and do not have enough room in your backpack for that great souvenir you were going to buy.   Resist the urge to pack something for every possible occasion!! Pack clothes and colors you can mix and match in a variety of ways.  Remember you will typically buy some clothes overseas (souvenir shirts, etc) so you don’t need to bring much out there.

 My recommendations (assuming you are traveling during the warm months):

Other items you should bring:

Money:

Bring your ATM/Debit card.  ATMs are very common in most of the world, and you can pull money out in the local currency and at the bank exchange rate which is much better than the ‘cash-to-cash’, or ‘travelers check-to-cash’ exchange rates. There is typically no need to exchange money before you leave home since every airport has an ATM. Simply pull the local currency out of an ATM at the airport when you land at your destination.  

Before you go, you should also have an idea of how much the exchange rate is between your home currency and that destination country. In this way you can "baseline" what the exchange rate is and can tell if you are getting a good deal when exchanging money (and not being ripped off). A good site to check current rates is x-rates.com.

Also remember that there is a difference between the exchange rates and the purchasing power for respective currencies. For example, the exchange rate between the South African Rand and American Dollar is 7 Rands for each 1 Dollar . This does not mean that items are 7 times cheaper in South Africa than in America!  Purchasing power is harder to measure than exchange rates but can be done by comparing two identical items sold in both countries. A good example is a Big Mac sandwich since McDonald's is ubiquitous around the world.  If a Big Mac in the U.S. costs 3 Dollars while it costs 14 Rands in South Africa (or $2 with a 7 to 1 exchange rate), the purchasing power of the US dollar to the Rand is 3/2  i.e. items are two thirds cheaper in South Africa. 

Credit cards

Bring at least one.  Visa is by far the most accepted around the world followed more distantly by MasterCard and American Express.  Discover/Novus cards are not accepted outside the US .  Use your credit card instead of cash or travelers checks as much as possible (for hostels, meals, and souvenirs) since you get a much better exchange rate on it than cash. This would be also a good opportunity to get a card associated with a airline and earn frequent flier miles with your purchases.

Travelers Checks

Before ATMs and credits cards were widely accepted, it used to be that you brought all your money with you in the form of travelers checks and cashed them as needed. The advantage of traveler’s checks is that they are fully replaceable if they are stolen or lost. Even in this day of ATM and credit cards, I still recommend you bring some traveler’s checks but only use them in an emergency.  I typically will bring $500 of traveler’s checks but keep them hidden in my backpack.  That way if I get robbed or pickpocketed of my cash, ATM, and credit card, I still have this money as a backup.  The last several trips I never cashed my checks until I returned home, but it was still good to know they were there in case I ran into trouble.

Make sure that you write down all the credit card, ATM, and traveler’s check numbers, and the emergency phone numbers for each, and leave them with someone you trust at home.  Easier yet you can photocopy the front and back of your cards.  If one or more of your cards/checks get stolen or lost, you simply have to call that person and then they can report the losses to the credit card companies for you. This is much easier and cheaper than trying to call the companies yourself from overseas.

Passports/Visas

Apply for your passport at least two months before you leave.  It takes the Department of State (if you live in the US ) four to six weeks to process a passport and send one to you.  You can apply for US passports at select US Post Offices or courthouses.

If you need a visa in addition to a passport you need to apply for one with that country’s embassy in the United States . Check the internet for embassies to apply to. Some of the most popular destinations only require a passport, like Western Europe , Australia , New Zealand , and Japan . Most other countries require a visa in addition to the passport, so you must check with that country before you leave.  You will also require a visa for any single country if you plan to stay there for more than 3-4 months, plan to work, or go to school there.

If you don’t have a passport or, where required, the visa when you land in that country, they will often fly you home on the next flight (I have seen this happen!).  So make sure you do your homework here and bring the right documents.

Also, make two photocopies of your passport (and visa).  Keep one copy, preferably hidden in your backpack, so that if your passport/visa gets stolen or lost you can take the photocopy to a US embassy and get them replaced.  Leave the other copy home with someone you can trust.

Immunizations

The most popular travel destinations (again Europe , Australia , New Zealand , etc) do not require any immunizations.  Many others, however, either require it or recommend them.  A good rule of thumb is that the closer to the equator you are travelling to, or the poorer the country, the more likely you will need immunizations.  Immunizations may include shots or pills for yellow fever, tetanus, or hepatitis A & B.  Also, In some tropical countries you may have to take pills for malaria while you travel there. 

Check with your doctor if you may need immunizations.  The World Health Organization keeps a list of which vaccinations are required for which countries.

Train/Bus Passes

Most of the time I would recommend getting train or bus passes when you arrive at the country but I do have a couple exceptions:

If you are going to Europe , then the Eurail train pass is one of the best deals you can find.  A Eurail pass allows a traveler, for one price, to ride almost any train to any destination in continental Europe for between two weeks and two months (depending on the type of pass you buy).  A similar pass exists for the United Kingdom ( England , Scotland and Wales ), called the Britrail pass.  Typically Eurail passes can only be bought outside of Europe and can be found at most travel agencies (I know STA travel offers them) as well as buying them directly.

Another exception would be for people traveling to Australia or New Zealand on the Oz or Kiwi Experience bus tours.  See the “Transportation” section for more information about these.

Hostel Associations and Memberships

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