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Articles Featured Articles Vietnam

Why 2016 is THE Year to Travel to Vietnam

Vietnam has long been a pillar on the Southeast Asian circuit. It’s a great value, culturally fascinating, historically rich and an adventure to travel in. People come here to eat food, have clothes made, explore the recent history of the Vietnam War, and bask along the coast of the South China Sea.

In 2016 it’s on our list of Value Destinations for European Travelers, but it’s also a great deal for folks with American money, Canadian, or AUD 

Here’s a list of some of the best adventures the country has to offer:

Indie travel is still possible in Vietnam for around $30 USD per day. That’s a fantastic reason to add it to your RTW itinerary right there. Learn how to stretch your budget and enjoy this country.

Visit Nha Trang, Vietnam’s Happiest Beach Town and relax by the sea for a few days, or a few weeks.

Take some time in Hoi An and get some clothing custom made. Suits, traditional Vietnamese dresses for women, party gowns and more are available, made to measure, by some of the best tailors in the world.

Gorge yourself on Pho. At about a buck a bowl, it’s available, street side, in every one horse town and down every side street from Hanoi to Saigon. Eat it until you can taste the subtle differences by region and recipe. You haven’t been to Vietnam if you haven’t had Pho.

When you’re ready to get out of Hanoi, head to Sapa. Up by the Chinese border, just getting there is an adventure. The landscapes are stunning, the air is clear, and you’ll experience a part of Vietnam that’s a bit less traveled.

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Articles Los Angeles

Why You Should Add Los Angeles to Your RTW Trip

All of the Why Go sites around the web are part of the BootsnAll network. Over the past several months, we have been working hard over at BootsnAll adding content to a section devoted to round the world trip planning.

If long-term, RTW travel is something you’re interested in, hopping over to our sister site and checking out the resources is something that will prove very beneficial. Another part of the RTW section over at BootsnAll is the destination guides on offer. If you are looking to travel to Los Angeles, this site you’re on now is fantastic and has all the resources necessary. The destination guides at BootsnAll have a different slant to them and offer tips and advice for adding Los Angeles to your round the world trip itinerary.

There are tons of reasons why anyone would want to travel to Los Angeles, whether it be for a weekend, a week, or an extended period of time. If you can get over the crowds, traffic, and smog, you can visit some of the most popular sites in the United States. Rubbing elbows with some of Hollywood’s elite on Mulholland Drive, partying at some of the country’s best clubs on the Sunset Strip, visiting Chinatown, and shopping in Beverly Hills are just a few of the activities tourists can take part in in the city of angels.

RTW travelers tend to be a little different, and you may be looking for activities that aren’t quite as touristy. There are plenty that can get you away from the crowds and the high prices, and adding LA to your RTW trip will be beneficial in other ways as well. LAX is a major international hub, and flights from Los Angeles can take you all over the world. It’s much shorter, easier, and often cheaper to get to places like Hawaii, Australia, or New Zealand from LA, and the RTW traveler is always thinking about that next destination.

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Articles Las Vegas Los Angeles Things to Do

Go Beyond the Weekend Road Trip

Weekend road trips are a summer staple – jump in the car and head a few hours away for a few days’ change of pace. But if you’re itching to get away for longer, there are plenty of options for extended road trips from Los Angeles. If you have a week or more, consider planning your next road trip to Yellowstone National Park.

The first National Park in the world and home of the famous Old Faithful Geyser, Yellowstone is comprised of 3,468.4 square miles of  lakes, canyons, rivers and mountain ranges that stretch from Wyoming into Montana and Idaho. Driving is one of the best ways to visit Yellowstone National Park on a budget – particularly if you’re comfortable camping in a tent or in a small popup trailer.  But you don’t have to make the 2300 mile, 36+ hour drive in one stretch; that would take all the fun out of it!

Instead, take your time. You could stop in Las Vegas or spend a day or two hiking around the Grand Canyon and then make your way through Zion National Park to Salt Lake City, Utah. From there, swing by Jackson Hole, Wyoming or head straight to the park for camping, hiking, fishing, horseback riding and wildlife viewing. The drive around Yellowstone is one of the best road trips for nature lovers, with the park home to Grizzly Bears, wolves,  bison, elk and hundreds more species of animals that roam freely.

You’ll want to devote at least a few days to Yellowstone as the park is massive and there is so much to see and explore. If you’re short on time, you can return your rental car at the airport and fly home, or take the meandering drive back, stopping at places you missed on the way out. The drive from California to Yellowstone, through Nevada, Utah and Idaho, is a classic summer road trip you won’t soon forget.

Photo by Jim Dollar

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Articles Los Angeles

Visiting Yosemite National Park

Though Los Angeles is known more for crowds, traffic congestion and movie stars, within a few hours you can leave the urban sprawl of LA behind and find yourself in the middle of nowhere in Yosemite National Park. Fly from LA to Fresno-Yosemite, airport or make the five hour drive to the park’s entrance and the busy pace of LA will soon be a distant memory.

Long a popular summer vacation spot for families, Yosemite is also one of the best places to hike in the US. This giant park has dozens of waterfalls, hundreds of lakes, jagged mountains, quite meadows and even some relaxing beaches. And there are over 800 miles of trails that will take you past this beautiful scenery. From easy (and sometimes crowded) paved trails to challenging backcountry trails, there’s something for every hiker in Yosemite. Half Dome, Bridalveil and Yosemite Falls, and Mirror Lake are some of the most popular trails in the park. Be sure to stop by the visitors center when you arrive to get the scoop on current conditions int he park. There are also some national park iPhone apps that can help you plan your time according to your interests.

The Yosemite is one of the most well-touristed National Parks in the US, a visit doesn’t have to be expensive. Especially if you are driving yourself, it is easy to travel to Yosemite National Park on a budget. Camping or staying in one of the tent cabins will be the cheapest options for lodging. But you cann make reservations at only some of the campgrounds in the park, and those will book up fast in the high season. Booking about six months in advance (during high season) is ideal.

High season is during the summer, with June-August being the most popular times to visit. Opting for May-June or  September-October can mean lower prices and fewer crowds, just be prepared for unpredictable weather at these times.

Photo by Rennett Stowe

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Articles

Plan a Working Holiday in Australia

Long-term travel is a dream for many people. The idea of taking off for three months, six months, a year or longer is an enticing one, until you come back to reality and think of the challenges of saving up enough money to fund an extended trip. There is a solution though, and one that is ideal for young residents of the United Kingdom.

If you are a UK resident (or a resident of several other countries, including the US, Canada, France ,Germany, or Italy) and are between 18 and 30 years old at the time of your application, you can secure an Australian working holiday visa.  The working visa allows you to stay in Oz for up to 12 months (though your employer can help you stay for an additional four years after that) and be taxed on your income at a rate of 29%.  The visa can cost as little as  £229 and you can apply online and get a response in as little as 48 hours.

You’ll need to arrange your own flights to Australia but many visa services include airport pickup and your first two nights in Sydney, so you’ll have a bit of help getting started. After that though, you’ll be on your own for lodging and looking for work. Luckily, when it comes to where to spend your Australia working holiday, you’ll have no shortage of options. While many people opt to stay in Sydney or Melbourne and take on work in the service industry, there are many other options. You can help with the grape harvest in the Barossa Valley, work at a ski resort in the Snowy Mountains, or work on a cattle ranch in the Outback. NO matter what your interest or skill set, you can find work in a beautiful area of Australia.

Photo by Travis_Simon

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Articles Panama

Panama is Beautiful and Affordable

Panama can claim much of the same bragging rights as other Central American countries. It offers pristine beaches, colonial towns juxtaposed with dazzling big cities, untamed jungles, and pleasant weather-year round. But unlike some of it’s more well-known neighbors like Costa Rica and Belize, Panama remains a little further off the American tourists radar.

Though the country is home to the famous Panama Canal, it still attracts fewer visitors than other destinations in the region, and has therefore remained a relative bargain. Air tickets to Panama can be had for under $300 if you are flying the 3-4 hours from the southern US, and hostels and laid back beach bungalows cost only a fraction of what you would pay in the Caribbean.  While it’s possible to visit Central America on $25 a day if you plan a budget-conscious trip, you can shave a little off that price and still enjoy a few luxuries in Panama.

Topping the list of places to visit in Panama include that famous engineering marvel, the Panama Canal; the historic Casco Viejo area of Panama City, and the sleepy beach town of Bocas Town. Whether you want adventure, the convenience of city life, or a remote slice of paradise to call your own, Panama fits the bill.

Photo by thinkpanama

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Articles Portugal

Wine Tasting (For Less) in Portugal

Portugal doesn’t get nearly the recognition it deserves as a culinary and wine destination. In Western Europe, it’s often overlooked for Spain, Italy, and France. But what many people don’t realize is that wine-lovers – especially those on a smaller budget – should be flocking here in droves. Portugal is one of the cheapest destinations for wine tasting, producing a diverse array of quality wines all over the country.

Thanks to a struggling economy and a lower cost of living, travel in Portugal is relatively cheap. If you can find cheap flights to Lisbon or Porto (check flights to Madrid and then look for a low cost flight to Portugal) you can get by a pretty small budget. Hostels in major cities can be had for under 20 euros per night, while mid-range hotels are available for around 70 euros per night. Prices in off season and in smaller towns can even be less. Public transport in the cities is excellent and cheap, and the rain network efficiently connects many of the smaller towns with Lisbon and Porto, making it easy to plan a wine tasting trip to some of the smaller regions even without a rental car.

Though Portugal deserves its own trip, many people choose to add it as a side-trip to Spain. The flight from Madrid to Porto or Lisbon is only an hour and can cost as little as 40 euros each way, so you can jaunt into the country even for just a long weekend if you like. There’s also a 10 hour train from Madrid to Lisbon; getting from Seville to Lisbon takes about seven hours on an overnight train.

From the vinho verde wines produced in the northern Douro region to the ports of Porto to the moscatels of Setúbal to the Alentejo wines of southern Portugal, the wines of Portugal are gaining notoriety for their quality as quickly as Portugal is gaining recognition as a world-class wine tourism destination. In other words, the secret is out, and this low-cost, low-crowd destination won’t remain so for long.

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Articles England

Staying in a Narrowboat in London

When it comes to accommodation choices – especially in a big city where camping might not be an option – you’re generally limited as to the type of place you stay. Sure, you can choose between a hotel, hostel, B&B, apartment, guesthouse or inn, but really these are all just variations on a theme – a building with multiple compartmentalized rooms that offer a bed, a bathroom, and if you’re lucky, access to common room and kitchen.

But there are other options. In fact, there is a whole host of unusual places to stay in Europe, from convents and cave hotels to prisons, castles and mountains huts. You can stay on a farm, in an igloo, in a barn, and on a boat. If that last one piqued your interest, check out the narrowboats in London.

London’s narrowboats are generally about 7 feet wide, made to fit the narrow canals of England. You can rent one for a weekend or longer and pilot your way through the many canals in the London area. Stay in one spot for the whole trip or travel around, stick close to London or venture father afield – the choice is up to you. Prices range according to the length of the rental, the size of the boat and the season in which you’ll be traveling. Of course, the more popular the season (summer) and the more people with whom you’ll be sharing the boat, the more expensive the rental will be. But if you come in off season, you can score a boat that sleeps 2-4 people for as little as 200 pounds per night.

Booking in off season can help you save big. Even if you book a boat that sleeps seven people in shoulder season (May and October) you’ll pay less than 80 pounds per person, per night; it’s more than a hostel, but comparable to the cost of many hotels, and you can save money by cooking your own meals on the boat. Plus, since the boat also serves as your transport, you’ll save on the cost of a car rental or train tickets if you plan to explore outside of London. That actually makes a narrowboat stay one of the better London travel deals available.

Photo by James K Thorpe

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Articles Honduras travel guide

Traveling by Bus in Honduras

In most of Central America, there’s really no other way to get around (unless you want your own rental car) than by bus. The good news about bus travel in Central America is that it’s very cheap, sometimes shockingly so. The bad news is that it’s not the most comfortable, convenient way to travel. It’s no different in Honduras.

If you’re willing to ride the ubiquitous “chicken bus” – those rickety, cramped, old American school buses that serves as local transport in much of Latin America, you can travel from place to place for just a few dollar.

However, this is not recommended for any long distance bus trips, as you’ll find that unless you are seriously strapped for cost, the discomfort is not worth the savings. Instead go one step up to a cheap tourist bus – even these can get you across the country (and even to Guatemala or Nicaragua) for under $20.

Though the cost is a bit higher, you’ll find the trip much more comfortable and efficient. The buses generally stop less along the way, and many have bathrooms, tvs, and even air-conditioning – certainly an improvement over sharing the bus with farm animals.

Some travelers argue that by not riding the local buses, you’ll miss out on an “authentic” local experience. Luckily traveling on a budget in Central America often provides plentiful other opportunities to travel slowly, get to know the locals, and have a genuine cultural experience. So if you’d rather have a more comfortable seat, or are on a tight timetable, opt for the nicer tourist bus instead. It still won’t bus your budget and you’ll arrive to your destination rested and (relatively) on time.

Photo by LShave

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Articles Panama

Bucket List Travel: Cruising through the Panama Canal

“A man, a plan, a canal: Panama.” Every schoolchild in the US learns about the Panama Canal, that marvel of modern engineering that allows ships to shortcut between Central and South America rather than take the long way around. And thousands of visitors come each year to see the famed locks in action; some even choose to get an up close view of the locks as they cruise through on a boat.

If you’re thinking about booking a cruise through the Panama Canal, there are a few things to consider. The first is whether or not you actually want to transit through the 50-mile canal. It takes about 12 hours to go through the three sets of locks, and while some might be captivated by the process, others might find a full day of crossing a little too relaxed. Some cruise ships are now offering a partial crossing, which stops after one set of locks and allows passengers to get off the boat for a day of shore excursions that they would otherwise miss.

The next consideration is how long you want to cruise and where you want to go. The most popular Panama Canal route starts in Florida or the Caribbean and lasts anywhere from 9-14 days, with several “at sea” days. But some smaller ships offer shorter cruises that go through the Canal and then make stops in Panama, Colombia or Costa Rica. Small-ship cruising is an entirely different experience from setting sail on a large ship, so check out all the options and weight the pros and cons before you decide what size ship is right for you.

The final consideration when planning a Canal cruise is flights. Since many Panama Canal cruises start and end in different spots, you’ll need to investigate open-jaw options when booking your cheap flights to Panama, or book each leg as a one way. A cruise through the Panama Canal makes an appearance on many a travel “bucket list,” and planning a trip though the landmark is easier than you might think.

Photo by Corvair Owner