mnybondas' VirtualTourist Home Page

I can tell you the shortest travel guide in the world:

1. You can fly there.
2. There are nice hotels there. The taxi drivers know.
3. You can eat in the hotel.
4. You can take a taxi to visit all the sights.

This applies everywhere in all the locations which a normal traveller would ever visit. If money is no object then this is all you need to know to travel the world. For most travellers money matters. If you want to travel on a low budget then you need a much more detailed travel guide. Information is valuable. It is going to save you money. The five star experience becomes boring in the long run. The luxury hotels around the world are all pretty similar. Believe it or not, but you might have much more fun on a low budget trip than on a luxury vacation in a five star resort.

There is a wide variety of travel guide books available. I would recommend the Lonely Planet series. The Lonely Planet series is primarily targeted for low budget travellers (backpackers), but the information is useful for everybody, even for business travellers. The Internet is nowadays an excellent source of information. The world travel guide online (www.wtgonline.com) gives an excellent overview of all the countries in the world.

The general rule for a serious traveller is to use overland transportation in favor of air transportation. The air transportation is almost always much more convenient. If you value comfort then use air transportation, but if you value the real travel experience then by all means use the other transport alternatives.

It is always a good idea to mingle with the locals and with other travellers. The locals and other travellers are often the best source for valuable information. Before you travel make an effort to improve your language skills. Remember that there are 3 world languages: English, French and Spanish. If you master all these then you have a pretty good coverage of the world. Almost half of Africa speaks French and almost the whole Latin American region speaks Spanish.

In general try to avoid using taxis. Once in Ghana one traveller had written on a wall of a toilet: "Taxi drivers suck". Another traveller had added a comment: "It is a worldwide problem". Travellers know these kind of things. If you often use taxis around the world sooner or later you are going to find out that there are many dishonest taxi drivers. Overcharging is the most common hazard. It almost always costs the double to take a taxi from an airport to the downtown than the other way. Many taxi drivers have an agreement with certain hotels that they get a "commission" if they bring travellers to the hotel. If you step in a taxi like this, the taxi driver is going to drive you to one of his hotels. The taxi driver is going to ignore you if you ask for another hotel instead. The taxi driver's "commission" is added to the hotel room price, so you are going to pay a premium. There are many cases where more serious incidents like robberies and rapes have happened.

" There is a vast difference between a 'tourist' and a 'traveler.' A 'tourist' goes to visit a faraway place, stay for a few days or weeks, and then returns home. A 'traveler' is at home wherever he [or she] may be visiting." (Paul Bowles)

The first thing a tourist starts thinking of when he or she arrives to a faraway place is about going home. For a traveler it doesn't matter so much even if he would not return at all.

Real travelers are rare. Tourists are numerous. This is perhaps why this site is called virtualtourist and not virtualtraveler.

The classic advice to take only a passport and a toothbrush with you, when you go traveling, is a good one. Always travel light. The less you have with you the better it is. You sometimes see backpackers with huge back packs. I always wonder, why they make their lives so difficult for themselves. A back pack is a practical thing, but it should be very small. A "school style" back pack that has wheels is a good recommendation. You can easily pull it behind you, when you are at airports and in places where you have good paved streets. If you are in rural places that only have dirt roads or you are out in the terrain, then you can carry your things on your back so that you have both your hands free.

The back pack should be small enough so that you can always take it with you inside the plane. The general rule is that you should never check in anything. There are 3 reasons why you should never check in anything. The most obvious reason is that you are able to get out of the airport faster, when you do not have to wait for your belongings. The second reason is that the airlines regularly displace luggage. If you travel much it is going to happen sooner or later that your luggage gets lost. The third reason is that the contents of the check-in luggage can easily be stolen by the baggage handlers. This is a common hazard especially at some third world airports. Therefore you should never put anything valuable or something important in the check-in luggage. I have had 3 occasions where my check-in luggage has been lost. The contents have been stolen on 2 other occasions.

If you take some clothes with you then 2 pairs of everything is always enough. You can wear one pair, while the other pair is in the wash. If you are on a short trip for a week or two, you might choose to take more than 2 pairs to avoid washing your clothes, but if you are going for a longer trip then you should follow the 2 pair rule, because you are going to move around much more on a longer trip and therefore it is much easier for you, when you have less things to drag around.

If you are on a business trip and you have to drag a laptop with you, put it inside the back pack so that it is not visible, while you walk at the airport. Laptops often get stolen at security check points. The theft scheme works so that 2 guys arrange themselves in the security queue before you. The first guy goes through, while the second guy deliberately sets of the security alarm several times to delay you. When you finally get through the security check, then the first guy has already disappeared and your laptop has of course disappeared as well. Laptops can also be stolen from the overhead bins abord the airplanes. This has happened once to me. Therefore, if you have a laptop with you, hide it in a back pack so that it is not visible. Do not use the laptop carrying cases that come with the laptop. It is too easy to see that you have a laptop if you are carrying one of those.

As a world traveler you are going to experience the problem of jet lag often. The maximum amount of jet lag is 12 hours. It is usually considered that you need one day to recover for each time zone that you travel. The jet lag is considered to feel worse, when you travel east, but it might actually take longer for you to recover from the jet lag, when you travel west.. This is because, when you travel west, you are going to keep on waking up in the middle of the night for several days and there is not much you can do about that, because you have to follow the time of your destination. If you sleep while traveling, you should always sleep according to the destination time zone. For example if you have 2 consecutive 10 hour flights, only sleep if it is night time at your destination. Remember also that no sleep is much better than bad sleep. It is usually almost impossible to get a good sleep aboard a plane. This is because the seat is not comfortable and there all kinds of activites going on around you that are going to keep on waking you up, so usually what happens if you try to sleep on an overnight flight is that you are going to end up with a bad headache and you are going to feel wasted. Therefore a good recommendation is to skip the sleep all together. Keep yourself active and keep on walking around the plane instead.

Most long haul flights are night flights, so you are going to arrive in the morning at your destination. Do not give in to the temptation to go sleeping during the day time. If you do that then you are going to be wasted for a whole week. Instead keep yourself active during the day and then go sleeping during the evening. This is going to guarantee that you get a good night's sleep and then the next day you are going feel almost normal already.

Here is a list from the Travelers' Century Club of all the 317 ethnically, politically or geographically different regions of the world in June 2007:

PACIFIC OCEAN(39)

Australia
Bismark Archipelago (New Ireland, New Britain, Bougainville, Admiralty Islands)
Chatham Islands
Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Aitutaki,Penrhyn)
Easter Island
Fiji Islands
French Polynesia (Tahiti,Tuamotu, Austral,Gambier)
Galapagos Islands
Guam
Hawaiian Islands
Juan Fernandez Islands (Robinson Crusoe Island)
Kiribati (Gilberts,Tarawa, Ocean Island)
Line/Phoenix Islands (Palmyra, Fanning, Christmas, Canton, Enderbury, Howland)
Lord Howe Island
Marquesas Islands
Marshall Islands,Rep. of (Majuro,Kwajalein,Eniwetok)
Micronesia,Fed.States of (Ponape, Kosrae, Truk,Yap,Caroline Islands)
Midway Island
Nauru
New Caldedonia & Deps. (Noumea, Loyalty Islands)
New Zealand
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Marianas (Saipan,Tinian)
Ogasawara(Bonin, Volcano Is., Iwo Jima)
Palau, Rep. of
Papua New Guinea
Pitcairn Island
Ryukyu Islands(Okinawa)
Samoa, American(Pago Pago)
Samoa, Western (Apia)
Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal, New Georgia,Tulagi)
Tasmania
Tokelau Islands (Fakaofu, Atafu, Union)
Tonga (Nukualofa)
Tuvalu(Ellice Is., Funafuti,Vaitapu)
Vanuatu (New Hebrides Is.)
Wake Island
Wallis & Futuna Islands

NORTH AMERICA (6)

Alaska
Canada
Mexico
Prince Edward Island
St. Pierre & Miquelon
United States (continental)

CENTRAL AMERICA (7)

Belize (British Honduras)
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama

SOUTH AMERICA (13)

Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
French Guiana
Guyana(British Guiana)
Paraguay
Peru
Surinam (Netherlands Guiana)
Uruguay
Venezuela

CARIBBEAN (29)

Anguilla
Antigua & Deps.(Barbuda, Redonda)
Aruba
Bahamas
Barbados
Bonaire
Cayman Islands
Cuba
Curacao
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Grenada & Deps. (Curriacou, Grenadines)
Guadeloupe & Deps.(Marie Galante)
Haiti
Jamaica
Leeward Islands,French (St. Martin, St. Barts)
Leeward Islands,Netherlands (Saba, St. Eustatius)
Martinique
Montserrat
Netherlands Antilles (Curacao, Bonaire)
Puerto Rico
San Andres & Providencias
St. Kitts & Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Maarten (formerly Netherlands Antilles)
St. Vincent & Deps.(Bequia, Canouan Grenadines)
Trinidad & Tobago
Turks & Caicos Islands
Virgin Islands, U.S.(St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas)
Virgin Islands, British (Tortola, etc.)

ATLANTIC OCEAN (13)

Ascension
Azores Islands
Bermuda
Canary Islands
Cape Verde Islands
Falkland Islands
Faroe Islands
Fernando do Noronha
Greenland (Kalatlik Nunat)
Iceland
Madeira
St. Helena
Tristan de Cunha

EUROPE & MEDITERRANEAN (67)

Aland Islands(Mariehamn)
Albania
Andorra
Austria
Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Minorca)
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia & Herzegovina(Sarajevo)
Bulgaria
Corsica
Crete
Croatia
Cyprus, Republic
Cyprus, Turkish Fed. State
Czech Federated Rep.
Denmark
Dodecanese Is.(Rhodes)
England
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Gibraltar
Greece
Guernsey & Deps(Alderney,Herm,Sark, Channel Is.)
Hungary
Ionian Islands (Corfu,etc.)
Ireland (Eire)
Ireland, Northern (Ulster)
Isle of Man
Italy
Jersey(Channel Islands)
Kaliningrad
Kosovo
Lampedusa
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Sardinia
Scotland
Serbia
Sicily
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Spitsbergen(Svalbard, Bear Island)
Srpska
Sweden
Switzerland
Trans Dniester
Turkey in Europe(Istanbul)
Ukraine
Vatican City
Wales

ANTARTICA (7)

Argentine South Pole
Australian Antarctic Territory South Pole (Mawson, Davis, Macquarie, Heard)
Chilean South Pole
Falkland Islands Dependencies (British Antarctica, Graham Land, So.
Sheltland, So. Sandwich, So. Georgia, So. Orkney)
French Southern & Antarctic Territory South Pole (Kerguelon, Crozet,
Amsterdam, St. Paul)
Norwegian (Bouvet)
New Zealand South Pole (Ross Dependency)

AFRICA (53)

Algeria
Angola
Benin (Dahomey)
Botswana(Bechuanaland)
Bourkina Fasso (Upper Volta)
Burundi(Urundi)
Cabinda
Cameroon
Central African Rep.
Chad
Congo (Brazzaville)
Congo (Kinshasa - Zaire)
Dijbouti
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni, Fernando Poo)
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana (Gold Coast, British Togoland)
Guinea (French)
Guinea-Bissau
Ivory Coast
Kenya
Lesotho (Basutoland)
Liberia
Libya
Malawi (Nyasaland)
Mali
Mauritania
Morocco
Morocco,Spanish(Ceuta,Melilla)
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sao Tome & Principe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Somalia (Italian Somaliland)
Somaliland (Brit.)
South Africa
Sudan
Swaziland
Tanzania (Tanganyika)
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Western Sahara (Spanish Sahara)
Zambia (No. Rhodesia)
Zanzibar
Zimbabwe (So. Rhodesia)

NEAR EAST (20)

Abu Dhabi
Ajman
Bahrain
Dubai
Fujeirah
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Ras Al Khaimah
Saudi Arabia
Sharjah
Syria
Umm Al Qaiwain
Yemen

INDIAN OCEAN (14)

Andaman-Nicobar Islands
British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos, Arch, Diego Garcia)
Christmas Island
Cocos Islands (Keeling)
Comoro Islands (Anjouan Moheli, Grand Comoro)
Lakshadweep,Union Terr. Of ( Laccadive Is.)
Malagasy Rep. (Madagascar)
Maldive Islands
Mauritius & Deps. (Agalega, St. Brandon)
Mayotte (Dzaoudzi)
Reunion & Deps. (Tromelin, Glorioso)
Rodriguez Island
Seychelles
Zil Elwannyen Sesel (Aldabra, Farquhar, Amirante Is. )

ASIA (49)

Afghanistan
Armenia (Yerevan)
Azerbaijan (Baku)
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Brunei
Cambodia
China, People's Rep.
East Timor
Georgia
Hainan Island
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia (Java)
Irian Jaya (Dutch New Guinea)
Japan
Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo)
Kashmir
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzatan
Korea, North
Korea, South
Laos
Lesser Sunda Islands (Bali,Timor, Indonesia)
Macau
Malaysia
Moluka(Moluccas, Indonesia)
Mongolia, Rep.
Myanmar (Burma)
Nakhichevan
Nepal
Pakistan
Philippines
Sabah(No. Borneo)
Sarawak
Siberia (Russia in Asia)
Sikkim
Singapore
Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
Sulawesi(Celebes, Indonesia)
Sumatra (Indonesia)
Taiwan. R.O.C.
Tajikistan
Thailand
Tibet
Turkey in Asia (Anatolia, Ankara, Izmir)
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Viet Nam

I hope that I meet you some day, somewhere in the world!

Mikael