Where am I going with Nomadic Backpacker?
Posted: May 1 2021
The dream of NomadicBackpacker is so that it can eventually fund my travels.
I have a long way to go. It's a #BigAsk and I put an insane amount of work into getting everything looking as good as I can and functioning as it should. This is very important. But I believe in myself!
I am amazed at some sites where logos and advertising banners overshoot the page or when internal links return a 404 error message and doubly amazed when external links are linked to spam sites or those that have long since expired. Blogging is a game where you can't give up. It requires your attention, constantly.
The aim of www.nomadicbackpacker.com is to entertain you, inspire you and inform you.
To Entertain: To all the armchair travellers out there or those who just can't get away so much. This is for you. Live voraciously through my adventures!
To inspire: Off the regular tourism trail visiting places like Sudan, Syria, and Ivory Coast. Read how you can pretty easily go to these places and that they are not as dangerous, as we are led to believe.
To inform: I love providing blog posts with accurate logistics about how to get to places. I do not blog about places I have not visited. I do not trawl the www and put up a post from the comfort of my Manhattan loft (joke) based on other people's intel. I recently came upon a blog post about visiting the archaeological site of Mitla. The info was completely incorrect. They proclaimed twice it was in a location it was most definitely not or never was. You could accept that a bus station gets relocated or such but a Zona Arqueológica? It was blatantly obvious that said blogger did not go there. This is one of my many pet hates. What is the point? Well, I know why. Pushing out posts with advertising on them. Pure and simple. With no interest in what they are doing.
I research stuff using whatever means are available, from GoogleMaps and MapsMe to the good old-fashioned method of asking people. I then visit the said place and provide the details based on my own findings, complete with photos and map locations on my blog!
I am a backpacker. For me, a backpacker is a low-budget traveller. I like to provide details on getting to places using cheap local transport. Local buses as opposed to tourist shuttles or shared taxis/colectivos and not just hailing a cab from the street corner. I seek out the location of bus stations and provide the proof when other bloggers love to say "There is no bus. take a taxi". 95% of the time there is a local bus. You just have to find where it leaves from.
I travel slowly. I can, and love to find and share these tips so you don't have to waste precious vacation time.
When places of interest aren't connected with a bus they are mostly not too far away from town, you can walk or combine with a bus to get you to a closer spot and then walk.
Information is valuable. What is LonelyPlanet? A source of information and they made a good deal of cash. I don't wanna be able to live in a Manhattan loft, I am happy living on a budget of 10-15US$ a day which is what the founders were doing when they typed out their first book from a backstreet hotel in Singapore. Lonely Planet has been sold and resold many times and its audience is now 'people with money to flash'. NomadicBackpacker is, I remind you, a blog for low-budget backpackers and always will be.
I aim to provide all the details. An incorrect map is worse than having no map at all.
I remember researching the location of an embassy in a West African country and came across a blog saying "The embassy is no longer in the location suggested in the LP". Yes, I fully realise, that prices go up, places switch locations or simply just close.
Yet the blogger failed to detail the new location. What a prized twat.
When I do my hostel reviews, they provide details on where I found a great deal. It is not just about the low cost. It's about having a certain level of comfort for a price that is acceptable.
I don't stay in outlandish hotels. But at the other end of the scale, I am not staying in a hotel where the beds have fleas in them.
OK, I have done. Sometimes there has been no other choice. But I am not gonna blog or promote this type of place. I will most certainly mention the place where I stayed and mention that it's better if you find another place.
I promote and I do for free (the idea which has pissed off a few bloggers who go places where freebies are offered in advance in exchange for a good review), places that deserve a mention. Any fool can open up a hostel. But providing a good hostel, now that is something else.
I want to share my findings so that my readers can take extended travels and still be at a comfortable level. Of course, some people are just not cut out for the low-budget backpacker lifestyle. This is a blog providing backpacker advice. Those with high budgets, who stay in nice hotels, order room service and get the concierge to sort out their travels are not really my audience. If you are out there reading this, I hope it can help you see how some of us travel the world, seemingly forever.
My concerns are centred around getting a good night's sleep for as little money as possible. A hostel in a quiet location, no bugs and a comfortable bed.
At the moment, this blog is supported by donations using PayPal. There are no affiliate links but I hope to get some sponsored posts in the next year. To display logos that are relevant to the location of the post.
I am amazed at some sites where logos and advertising banners overshoot the page or when internal links return a 404 error message and doubly amazed when external links are linked to spam sites or those that have long since expired. Blogging is a game where you can't give up. It requires your attention, constantly.
The aim of www.nomadicbackpacker.com is to entertain you, inspire you and inform you.
To Entertain: To all the armchair travellers out there or those who just can't get away so much. This is for you. Live voraciously through my adventures!
To inspire: Off the regular tourism trail visiting places like Sudan, Syria, and Ivory Coast. Read how you can pretty easily go to these places and that they are not as dangerous, as we are led to believe.
To inform: I love providing blog posts with accurate logistics about how to get to places. I do not blog about places I have not visited. I do not trawl the www and put up a post from the comfort of my Manhattan loft (joke) based on other people's intel. I recently came upon a blog post about visiting the archaeological site of Mitla. The info was completely incorrect. They proclaimed twice it was in a location it was most definitely not or never was. You could accept that a bus station gets relocated or such but a Zona Arqueológica? It was blatantly obvious that said blogger did not go there. This is one of my many pet hates. What is the point? Well, I know why. Pushing out posts with advertising on them. Pure and simple. With no interest in what they are doing.
I research stuff using whatever means are available, from GoogleMaps and MapsMe to the good old-fashioned method of asking people. I then visit the said place and provide the details based on my own findings, complete with photos and map locations on my blog!
I am a backpacker. For me, a backpacker is a low-budget traveller. I like to provide details on getting to places using cheap local transport. Local buses as opposed to tourist shuttles or shared taxis/colectivos and not just hailing a cab from the street corner. I seek out the location of bus stations and provide the proof when other bloggers love to say "There is no bus. take a taxi". 95% of the time there is a local bus. You just have to find where it leaves from.
I travel slowly. I can, and love to find and share these tips so you don't have to waste precious vacation time.
When places of interest aren't connected with a bus they are mostly not too far away from town, you can walk or combine with a bus to get you to a closer spot and then walk.
Information is valuable. What is LonelyPlanet? A source of information and they made a good deal of cash. I don't wanna be able to live in a Manhattan loft, I am happy living on a budget of 10-15US$ a day which is what the founders were doing when they typed out their first book from a backstreet hotel in Singapore. Lonely Planet has been sold and resold many times and its audience is now 'people with money to flash'. NomadicBackpacker is, I remind you, a blog for low-budget backpackers and always will be.
I aim to provide all the details. An incorrect map is worse than having no map at all.
I remember researching the location of an embassy in a West African country and came across a blog saying "The embassy is no longer in the location suggested in the LP". Yes, I fully realise, that prices go up, places switch locations or simply just close.
Yet the blogger failed to detail the new location. What a prized twat.
When I do my hostel reviews, they provide details on where I found a great deal. It is not just about the low cost. It's about having a certain level of comfort for a price that is acceptable.
I don't stay in outlandish hotels. But at the other end of the scale, I am not staying in a hotel where the beds have fleas in them.
OK, I have done. Sometimes there has been no other choice. But I am not gonna blog or promote this type of place. I will most certainly mention the place where I stayed and mention that it's better if you find another place.
I promote and I do for free (the idea which has pissed off a few bloggers who go places where freebies are offered in advance in exchange for a good review), places that deserve a mention. Any fool can open up a hostel. But providing a good hostel, now that is something else.
I want to share my findings so that my readers can take extended travels and still be at a comfortable level. Of course, some people are just not cut out for the low-budget backpacker lifestyle. This is a blog providing backpacker advice. Those with high budgets, who stay in nice hotels, order room service and get the concierge to sort out their travels are not really my audience. If you are out there reading this, I hope it can help you see how some of us travel the world, seemingly forever.
My concerns are centred around getting a good night's sleep for as little money as possible. A hostel in a quiet location, no bugs and a comfortable bed.
At the moment, this blog is supported by donations using PayPal. There are no affiliate links but I hope to get some sponsored posts in the next year. To display logos that are relevant to the location of the post.