Hello my curious travelers! My name is Ruby Gleber and during my time in the Peace Corps, I came up with an idea to help promote sustainable/responsible food tourism. As a backpacker myself, I've been a huge fan of Couchsurfing for years. Panza (our app) is essentially a mix of Couchsurfing/Airbnb but for food! We have been accepted into an accelerator program, so we are busy developing our app and business and we need to promote the idea! We would love to get feedback, so I have a survey below. Please please fill it out, it's very quick! I also have our website and facebook below, if you want to check it out. Please let me know what you think and fill out the contact form if you want to be one of our beta testers (around June/July). THANKSSS
Survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2T3CQZR
Website: (I know, I know, I need to buy a domain)
panza-mobile-app.jimdosite.com
Our facebook:
I'm doing this now on my own, travelling through Scotland with my rucksack, and it's way worse than I imagined.
Youth hostels are packed nonstop with the loudest, most gregarious bunch imaginable, you can't rest or read or write in your room or the lounge.
Scottish villages and forest trails (around Pitlochry for instance) are great for folks like me, but towns like Edinburgh or Stirling are obviously bustling and feel oppressive, especially while being alone.
Any introverts here who are into international backpacking? What are your 'methods' and how do you make it uplifting and memorable, as opposed to feeling like a quiet stranger in a strange land?
So on August 1, Costa Rica’s international irports reopened to tourists. All countries are allowed and no tests or quaranite needed.
It would be nice to get an update about the current situation there now at different places. How much is open and what is closed. How empty are the beaches and can you still do activities and other similar stuff?
Please just share your recent experiences.
>Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that Australia will provide visa rebates for international students and backpackers who come to Australia within the next three months.
>During today’s press conference, the PM also said his government will provide $3 million to Tourism Australia as part of a marketing support package intended to bring more people into the country.
>“If they turn up within the next 12 weeks, they will get their visa application fee rebated by the Department of Home Affairs,” Mr Morrison said.
>“So Australia continues to prove resilient despite the frustrations and the very genuine concerns [we face]. ”
>Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Australia is “putting out the welcoming mat” to 175,000 students and working holidaymakers to come to Australia.
>He acknowledged Australia’s performance during the pandemic has not been perfect, but added that “nobody’s response has been perfect”.
>“We are in a very, very strong position relative to the rest of the world.”
In a pleasant change from the recent dumb choices, the feds have finally made an excellent decision to rapidly increase additional unskilled labour and students into the country.
This will help correct the massive unskilled labour shortages and start bringing overseas money back to the education sweatshops we're great at selling.
The Pakistan pavilion was one of the few high effort ones, and it was not just relatively but objectively a very well made display. Can't complain, except maybe it seemed like every country had one section was just a room with screens for walls and it seemed like no one figured out how to pull the concept off (at least with Pakistan's I couldn't think of a specific issue, just that something felt weird).
Yet it was pretty much empty, it was well staffed and everyone seemed happy to help and respond to queries. Only major issue was there was no way to follow up on the things being advertised - like okay Pakistan makes pink salt now what do I do if I'm a big shot business man? Or if I'm a European backpacker who liked the mountains where do I book a tour? Most other countries had QR codes to actually translate their tourism/business into actual transactions.
Then compare this to the India pavilion. Lines of people waiting to be allowed to let in, goray, Arabs, and every other race. It was pretty much as you would imagine if your only knowledge of India and Indians was through internet memes. Walk in, your typical yoga/Ayurveda stuff, big pictures of Modi everywhere, pictures of (mythical) hindu figures (statue of unity guy) or temples, a montage of Modi hugging Putin and Netanyahu.
The staff was also uninterested and not as courteous. They had fliers with pictures of Modi looking like some historical figure, didn't pick one up but I think it had business contacts.
This is the massive difference, India has built so much soft power over the years, especially under its Congress government, it's massive, patriotic and efficient bureaucracy (not efficient compared to China, let alone the west, but miles ahead of Pakistan or any country in a similar income bracket). The sheer momentum that India had drew the crowds, Modi can screw up everything from this pavilion to their economy, openly chant neonazi slogans yet it's just a minor bump that doesn't affect the massive speeding train they have become.
Compare this to Pakistan, what have we done? What is our idea of soft power, Bhutto tearing papers in the UN General Assembly or Hamid Gul going wild in interviews when he could've just kept some things confidential?
I'm going to list some points that make me believe foul play was involved. There will probably be points that you heard before but in my opinion they are still strange and show indication to foul play, and you don't have to agree with me.
I already know the downvotes are coming but it's whatever, most of us know how this sub is like when anything regarding foul play is posted.
While I think there is some possibility that some of the photos were edited/manipulated, I won't be talking about that in this post.
Lastly, feel free to argue against my points and show your own viewpoints in the comment section.
Anyways here we go:
Why I Think Foul Play Was Involved
1) Kris' hair appears to look way too good, after 8 long days lost in the jungle.
Spending 8 days in a jungle with lots of rain, dirt, plants, insects, etc. and your hair being that clean 8 days after getting lost in a jungle is just ridiculous. Many speculate that Kris fell and got injured early on in their disappearance, you mean to tell me she fell and her hair was completely untouched? no twigs, dirt, nothing? okay. I'm sorry but personally my hair would look completely messed up after 1 night being lost in a jungle, never mind 8.
Some say that Kris' might of washed her hair, I just really doubt that.
First, you think her dirty hair would really be a concern for her, being lost for days in a foreign jungle far far from home?
Second, they had no hair products on them. Washing hair with just river water would leave it looking frizzy, not like the hair that looks like on photos from April 1st.
2) Before going to the Pianista trail, locals have said that they saw the girls being approached by an off road vehicle.
Please be aware that I am not accusing any of these people specifically of harming the girls, as that would be not fair without more evidence.
After the girls had a short conversation with the locals, they were approached by tour guide Feliciano's off road vehicle. Son of Feliciano, Henry Gonzalez, was driving that vehicle. He was accompanied by his friend Jose Manuel Murgas.
Henry offered the girls a ride to the Pianista trail, which was only 5 minutes away from that point.
The girls accepted the ride and got to the Pianista trail to begin their hike, alone. So those boys had the information that the girls were alone.
Now like I said, this doesn't mean that it was them specifically that did something to the girls, but they had the information that they were alon
... keep reading on reddit ➡
Hey guys, this is my first reddit post so don't know if I'm doing it right but I digress. I'm just curious if there are many backpackers still going around Southeast Asia considering the whole covid situation we have going on. Even if anyone has just come back from going around or is planning on going sometime in 2022? I've read about a trail called the banana pancake trail which involves a few countries but I believe most of them still aren't allowing travellers to enter the country, I've seen Thailands new scheme to get people into the country but I don't know if its enough to plan to leave everything behind and plan to go out there, to just find most places deserted/lack of other backpackers like myself! Id be solo travelling so I want to meet people that are backpacking too, I just worry everyone is holding off going travelling until restrictions are eased around these countries and the tourism sector is still largely shut over there. Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Hi all! I’m getting my packing list started for an upcoming 2.5 week trip to Europe this spring. We are in Ireland for a friend’s wedding so wedding clothes will be separate. The rest of the trip is purely tourism- no crazy adventuring, mostly cities, so I think my clothes will reflect that. I would love feedback on my packing list! I’ve one bagged in Europe successfully but in the summer when you need fewer layers 🤣 This feels a bit more daunting. Thanks in advance ☺️ (I apologize for the horrible formatting, I was in a rush and am on mobile)
Bag: really old Gregory backpack
Outerwear: Packable rain jacket with hood (can go over other layers)
AllSaints leather jacket
Wool coat
Bottoms:
Black midi skirt
3x jeans: blue, black, gray
Short skirt
Dresses:
Black Marine Layer midi dress
Printed midi dress
Tops:
Merino wool black long sleeve top
Cream wool sweater
Black turtleneck sweater
Short sleeve bodysuit
2x long sleeve bodysuit
Floral blouse
Black tank top
Shoes:
Black waterproof Chelsea boots
White leather sneakers (any suggestions?)
Soludos flats for warmer/drier days
Other:
Black tights
Cashmere wrap (for plane, can act as scarf, wrap for my shoulders at the wedding)
Crossbody purse
Plan to buy a cheap umbrella when we arrive
Pajamas
7 pairs of underwear
Wool socks
No show socks
2 bras
1 bralette
1 pair of leggings for the plane ride / lounging
Tech and toiletries:
Phone charger
Adapter
Portable charger
AirPods
Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, toothbrush/paste/floss
Hair mousse
Contact supplies
Deodorant
Pared down skincare routine decanted into small containers
Pared down makeup bag (mascara, small eyeshadow palette, multipurpose blush stick, highlighter, eyeliner, foundation)
Medicine kit (zinc, vitamin d, ibuprofen, migraine meds, bandaids, antibacterial cream, hand sanitizer, masks, tide to go pen)
I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.
Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.
Once we are back in a state to consider some reopening of the borders, would the best model for reintroducing tourism be resort based? We could pull some ideas from the 29th century origins of NZ tourism, which gave birth to the THC resorts. The basic principle would be to isolate tourists from New Zealanders as much as possible, offering a limited range of packages. These would by their nature be quite expensive, so the target market would be wealthy older people. It could be argued that for this market it's their "last chance" to see our country, whereas the young OE cohort should be able to visit later when things become more normal. So: Flights to NZ only originate at airports which can provide a "green" channel which minmises risk of infection. Visitors are of course fully vaxxed, and if largely retired should be able to pre-isolate at home. A planeload of tourists arrives and are transported by dedicated plane or coach to their selected resort hub. These could be at locations such as Bay of Islands, Wairakei, somewhere near Queenstown, Mt Cook etc. Excursions can be run from these: e.g. from Wairakei you can day trip to Hobbiton, Waitomo, one of Rotorua's thermal areas, lake Taupo cruise. Where possible, separate facilities can be used for International and domestic tourists: e g Waitomo has multiple caves, Ruapehu and Queenstown have multiple skifields, and separate cafes should be easy. At other places (Hobbiton, Weta Workshop etc.) you could have time separation, e g.separate days. Yes, it's well short of a full immersion, meet the locals experience, but for many tourists (particularly non-English speakers), seeing the sights in comfort is all they really want.
Hi all. After a couple of weeks in this part of Reddit for research it was finally my time to take the flight to Thailand Phuket. Right now I’m on a flight from Krabi to BKK, so I figured why not give back a bit to the community with my experiences so far from the last 10 days of travels in Thailand. I have now reread everything I have written down below, and feel that it has a bit to much of a ’’paid add ’’-vibe. Sorry for this, but it has just been an awesome trip overall, thus the recommendations that follow.
Another note - I thought this was posted while I was in Koh Chang a week ago. WiFi was a bit tricky so obviously it did not work. Hopefully someone still finds this satisfying. Timeline for this was mid December till New Years.
Background 10 years ago I backpacked with a couple of friends through southeast asia. Unfortunately, more partying than actually exploring the beautiful countries. When I was in Thailand we went to Phuket (Patong), Koh Samui and Phangan, Koh Samet and BKK. My girlfriend has never been in Asia, so this trip was very exciting for us both. We both just wanted to get away for a couple of weeks, mostly sunbathing, but also some exploring.
Pre flight to Phuket The experience the weeks before the flight to Phuket was quite hectic. Thaipass, certificates, PCR tests and what not. Personally, I looked a lot at TUI and there website for people travelling to Thailand for updated info in one place (We did not fly charter, but it was a updated list almost every day on what needed to be done). Thaipass was also a bit of a hustle. I got mine a minute after I applied, my girlfriend did not. We believe it had to do with her Scandinavian name (letters not in the English alphabet). After sitting on hold for both the thaipass callcenter for four hours as well as two hours with the local ambassy, her thaipass finally came out of the blue, two days before the flight.We were prepared for the airport situation. Our airline emailed and texted us with information that it might be longer waiting time and queues than usual. With that in mind we arrived 3.5 hours earlier which was needed. We were both astounded and embarrassed by our fellow countrymen and the way they talked trash about the experience. Everyone was informed, everyone knows that the airports are not as staffed as they are used to, be people still manage to talk shit about it.
Anyways, flight without any problems (they asked everyone to remain seated, no unnecessary running around,
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hi guys,
I'm looking to solo backpack through your beautiful country in February, and I was wondering if there were any locations/regions you'd consider to be more 'of the beaten track' in terms of both international and domestic tourism. One of my chief goals in backpacking is to travel to lesser seen locations, which display more traditional lifestyles, so I'm open to any suggestions!
Thanks!
Not sure if this is the best sub for this post but we'll see. I've been quoted like $30k for dental work (implants and crowns), which seems outrageous to me. I've heard a lot about dental tourism and I searched around on this sub and it seems like people have had some good experiences with it.
I'd love to combine this work with backpacking if I can. I've been dying to backpack SEA for years now so this "problem" I have might actually be a blessing in disguise if I can use it as a reason to jump overseas for a couple months. I'd have to back for bunch of appointments so I figure I might as well just stay over there and explore a bit. I would have close to $20k saved by by the time I'm looking at doing this. That's a ton for SEA in general but some of it would be used for the dental work too. Still, I don't expect money to be an issue. I'd purchase some form of dental and travel insurance on my own before I left since I'd be quitting my job.
Do you guys think this is feasible? Anyone done it before?
Alot of great jokes get posted here! However just because you have a joke, doesn't mean it's a dad joke.
THIS IS NOT ABOUT NSFW, THIS IS ABOUT LONG JOKES, BLONDE JOKES, SEXUAL JOKES, KNOCK KNOCK JOKES, POLITICAL JOKES, ETC BEING POSTED IN A DAD JOKE SUB
Try telling these sexual jokes that get posted here, to your kid and see how your spouse likes it.. if that goes well, Try telling one of your friends kid about your sex life being like Coca cola, first it was normal, than light and now zero , and see if the parents are OK with you telling their kid the "dad joke"
I'm not even referencing the NSFW, I'm saying Dad jokes are corny, and sometimes painful, not sexual
So check out r/jokes for all types of jokes
r/unclejokes for dirty jokes
r/3amjokes for real weird and alot of OC
r/cleandadjokes If your really sick of seeing not dad jokes in r/dadjokes
Punchline !
Edit: this is not a post about NSFW , This is about jokes, knock knock jokes, blonde jokes, political jokes etc being posted in a dad joke sub
Edit 2: don't touch the thermostat
Hi everyone ! I’m looking for work in the tourism field during my trip to Greece this winter, I understand that big cities like Athens stay lively even during low season so I could try the restaurants and bars, but how about bike/car/boat tour operators, babysitting or working in a backpacker hostel ? Thanks a lot in advance ! Greetings from Belgium !
Do your worst!
How the hell am I suppose to know when it’s raining in Sweden?
Ants don’t even have the concept fathers, let alone a good dad joke. Keep r/ants out of my r/dadjokes.
But no, seriously. I understand rule 7 is great to have intelligent discussion, but sometimes it feels like 1 in 10 posts here is someone getting upset about the jokes on this sub. Let the mods deal with it, they regulate the sub.
They were cooked in Greece.
I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
The Pakistan pavilion was one of the few high effort ones, and it was not just relatively but objectively a very well made display. Can't complain, except maybe it seemed like every country had one section was just a room with screens for walls and it seemed like no one figured out how to pull the concept off (at least with Pakistan's I couldn't think of a specific issue, just that something felt weird).
Yet it was pretty much empty, it was well staffed and everyone seemed happy to help and respond to queries. Only major issue was there was no way to follow up on the things being advertised - like okay Pakistan makes pink salt now what do I do if I'm a big shot business man? Or if I'm a European backpacker who liked the mountains where do I book a tour? Most other countries had QR codes to actually translate their tourism/business into actual transactions.
Then compare this to the India pavilion. Lines of people waiting to be allowed to let in, goray, Arabs, and every other race. It was pretty much as you would imagine if your only knowledge of India and Indians was through internet memes. Walk in, your typical yoga/Ayurveda stuff, big pictures of Modi everywhere, pictures of (mythical) hindu figures (statue of unity guy) or temples, a montage of Modi hugging Putin and Netanyahu.
The staff was also uninterested and not as courteous. They had fliers with pictures of Modi looking like some historical figure, didn't pick one up but I think it had business contacts.
This is the massive difference, India has built so much soft power over the years, especially under its Congress government, it's massive, patriotic and efficient bureaucracy (not efficient compared to China, let alone the west, but miles ahead of Pakistan or any country in a similar income bracket). The sheer momentum that India had drew the crowds, Modi can screw up everything from this pavilion to their economy, openly chant neonazi slogans yet it's just a minor bump that doesn't affect the massive speeding train they have become.
Compare this to Pakistan, what have we done? What is our idea of soft power, Bhutto tearing papers in the UN General Assembly or Hamid Gul going wild in interviews when he could've just kept some things confidential?
He bled for 14 hours. Many hours on side of the road until his friend went looking for him. Then hours on a bumpy road to a hospital. I don’t want to say the country but it’s right next to Panama and the girls visited there before Panama. Locals don’t like tourists as much as you think. Yeah they enjoy robbing them but you think Tourism makes them rich? No they make a fair living off tourism but it’s not like every single local gets some special bonus because tourism. Where I live, we get a lot of tourism and it increases every year, I don’t make a dime from them. I respect them but I’m not getting any money from them or benefiting. All I get is sitting in heavy traffic because there’s too many tourists. Now I know some of you don’t want to believe anything bad could happen to 2 girls in their early 20’s wandering around a jungle all alone, but Lisanne understands. I know this because I read her diary and she said herself that she knows it’s dangerous for a girl to be waking alone in Panama City, but she did anyways because she needed “Lisanne time”. That’s why many of these counties have resorts for tourists, to minimize the risk of tourists being robbed, murdered or raped.
The way the remains were found mixed with the condition of the backpack and it’s belongings, then compared to the phone usage and photos taken a week later , plus the amount of diary entries compared to the lack of messages left behind makes it all look like foul play to me.
