Many of the resorts are outside of the major cities but most of these resorts will have full access to drive you in and out of Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium. So far the best resort to look for is among a group called Beekman, which is located right on the Atlantic and featuring the perfect beach location and only 30 min drive to the centre of all the chaotic fun. Another great resort is located near Johannesburg’s soccer city Stadium, called Waterberg Game Park. It is set in a beautiful 750-hectare game park, surrounded by wildlife, and the perfect opportunity to enjoy luxurious five star amenities. Now if you are looking for something in a reasonable price range, check out accommodations such as three star Sunshine Bay Beach Club in surfer’s paradise of Jeffrey’s Bay. This hotel is located near Port Elizabeth. So if you are an advocated surfer, this would be the perfect spot of you.

For those backpackers who will be adventuring off to South Africa during the month of June, check out these Hostels!

Cape Town Backpackers is located in the heart of what’s happening in Cape Town. It is know to be surrounded by the hip shopping area, café district and where the nightlife takes off. This hostel offers dorms to en suites, including a funky bar, breakfast, travel desk, and a lovely courtyard to relax in. Of course, this hostel also offers Internet, airport transfers, 24-hour service. I say what else can you ask for from a hostel that will only charge you a max of 10 euros a night! Not bad!

The backpack & Africa Travel Centre is another hostel to keep in mind, since the price ranges from 10- 29 euros a night. In 2008 this hostel was known for the best hostel in South Africa, so you can’t go wrong here. With everything you need, from Internet to a swimming pool, this is a must see hostel. Now not only is there everything you need here, but you can also volunteer a night out and help young children play soccer, math, grammar, and even swim.

Only walking distance from the train station, Cat and Moose Backpackers Lodge is located in the heart of historical sites. Plus a 24-hour convenient store is near, including a few amazing bars, and restaurants. This hostel offer bicycle rental, swimming pool, BBQ area and much more. As usual the price is considerable cheap for what you get!

Now these are only a few places to consider when booking your accommodations in South Africa for the WORLD CUP!!!

When you are sleeping on a train, bus or even in an airport, there is a high chance that your bag can get stolen. So what I use to do it is, somehow connect a part of my bag on to my wrist or sleep on my bag as pillow. That way no matter what happened I would wake up knowing my belongings were safe.

Now to keep people from stealing anything out of your bag, carry a small bicycle chain/lock on the top of your bag. You can purchase a net looking chain that frames around your bag so no one can take anything. It’s perfect for those long train rides, and creepy hostels.

Most backpackers tend to carry a lot of stuff. Yes, I have been there, were my backpack was over loaded and looked very fat. Well this is a bad sign, only because the more your rucksack looks fat the more likely someone will be interested in stealing it. So try your best to carry less. Plus, why carry something so heavy, when backpacking is all about carry as little as possible.

Make sure your backpack looks unique and you can tell the difference from other backpacks. Quite often many people get their bags mixed up in airports, hostels, and bus rides. Only because most of the time, backpackers tend to purchase very similar bags and don’t personally make it look different. So try to include a flag, city, object, or colour to distinguish your bag.

Treat your bag like it’s your best friend. Keep it close to you and at all times make sure you know where it is.
Now I know it’s nice to bring your Raybans, expensive gadgets, and shiny clothes along with you while backpacking, but really it’s a bad idea. It will make you look like the perfect target. Try to avoid to looking sharp and pretty, the worst usually comes out of it.

Vancouver

The Source Hostel is just located 927 Main Street downtown Vancouver and is open 24 hours. This hostel offers room rates such as double room (two beds) for $55, but during the games the price will increase to $155, however there is still availability. The Sources offers, great knowledge in what to see in B.C, and where each of the games are located. Not only will you get great service but there is Internet access and breakfast!

Central Station Hostel is located 1038 Main Street, right downtown Vancouver and during the games, the hostel is offering not only dorm rooms but single rooms too. Yes the price has gone up a little, but it beats paying $500 for average night in a hotel. This Hostel is huge with everything you need in it, to find what you are looking for.

Whistler

The International Hostel is located right in Whistler Village and will be surrounded by all the action during the games. Right now the hostel is offering dorm rooms for about $35 a night and for single rooms about $90. Now if you are a member it is a little cheaper. Not only is this hostel equipped with everything you need, it also offers cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, hiking, and a picture view of the lake just steps away from the hostel. However during the games, many of these activities will be not available only, because you will be watching a few pros do these sports just right in front of the hostel.

Now if you are looking for a hostel in Pemberton, there is a great B&B just minutes away from the games. It is located 1490 Harrow Road and about 20 minutes away from Whistler. As of now a private ensuite is $250, but a private room with two beds is only about $230 for a night. Now this place offers an amazing breakfast!

Southside Lodge is another amazing Hostel to check out in Whistler. It is located right in the village and is only 200 meters away from Whistler Creek Gondola. The facilities in this hostel range from about everything; Internet, breakfast, cable, airport transfers, and of course a tour desk. However, this hostel is quickly filling up, so I would hurry to book a room here. The prices range from $50 to about $300 a night.

Now these are just a few hostels that are still available, but trust me they are going to go fast, so hurry along and book your hostel if you haven’t so far.

1. Choosing your destination and reading about it: The first step is knowing where you want to go and doing some research on your destination. You can choose to read about your destination online or you can opt for traveling books such as Lonely Planet, Rough Guides and Frommers (see our post on Guidebooks). There are a variety of books and you will have to spend some time to skim through them to find out which one suits your needs best.

2. Planning your itinerary: Once you did your homework, you’ll need to figure out what cities or places you wish to visit and how long (more or less) you want to spend at each place. But please, if you plan to go to Rome for example, don’t start planning every hour of the day! Tell yourself you will need 5 days (more or less) and you’ll decide what you feel like seeing or doing once you get there. TIP: Do not put yourself on a schedule. You are onvacation! Over-planning will stress you and that’s exactly what you don’t want!

3. Booking your flight: I would suggest you book your flight to your destination asap. The more you wait, the more you’ll pay. You can go to a travel agency or book your flight online. www.expedia.com, www.kayak.com and many many more…

4. Booking internal transportation: So your flight is booked, it’s up to you to decide whether you’ll have to take internal flights or not. This depends on how far the distance is from one city to another or how much time you are traveling for. For internal flights, you should book directly on the airline’s website. If you are going to Brazil for example, then you would surf the websites of TAM Airlines, Gol and Varig. This will also require some research on your part. If you plan to travel by bus or train betwen the cities, there is normally no need to book in advance. You may want to stay at a city longer than expected or you may want to leave sooner- so keep your options open. On a personal note, I never pre-booked any internal transportation, whether it was by airplane, bus or train. And guess what? I never got stranded anywhere! TIP: If you plan to backpack for a few months in Europe, then you should look into the Euro Pass. For those of you who are leaving for a few months and traveling to far distances, you should consider buying an Air Pass.

5. Book your hostel: Now that you know where you’re going, it’s time to book your hostel. If you want to be spontaneous, you can wait until the last minute to do this. I would suggest you book your hostel at your first destination only. Then you book-as-you-go. So let’s say I’d are leaving Rome in 1 or 2 days, then I’d book my hostel for the next destination. Do however keep in mind that if you are traveling during high season, you should book in advance. New Year’s Eve in Paris or Canarval in Rio- do not risk it! Book in advance. But otherwise, I wouldn’t worry about it too much if you are staying in relatively big cities. On the other hand, if you are going to a small village or a place where there aren’t many hostels, then I’d suggest that you book the hostel to be on the safe side. So you are probably asking yourself: “How do I book a hostel?”. It’s extremely easy! Check out the following sites, choose a destination and a date… voila! www.hostels.com, www.hostelz.com, www.hostelworld.com, www.hihostels.com

5. GO! Yes, you will be nervous before leaving. Especially if this is your first backpacking trip. You’ll get rid of those butterflies in your stomach once you arrive to your destination.

A few tips:

• Be smart & be safe: Please don’t find yourself drunk at 3Am in the morning in the streets of Rio. Or don’t walk by yourself at 1 AM in Barcelona. And just don’t flash your Birks necklace in Mexico. These are KEY when traveling but for some reason, I’ll always meet people who get themselves in these situations and then get mugged. And guess what? I don’t feel bad for them. Someone ought to teach them a lesson about showing of or acting dumb in a city they are not familiar with. Please learn from their mistakes.
• Be open-minded: You may run into some problems while traveling: the airline company may lose your luggage, or it may rain for a few days in the city you’re at, or the hostel you’re in simply sucks!  And that’s ok! It will happen at some point of your backpacking experiences. You just need to be ready to deal with it. Yes, you are entitled to be annoyed for a few minutes but get over it! Don’t let it ruin your trip. It’s part of the experience!

Good luck and enjoy!

Missing a train

Running after a train, with a heavy backpack is a common occurrence; well at least for most backpackers. I remember a time while I was backpacking in Lisbon, Portugal and I wanted to make my way over to Morocco by train. I was a little late, but I knew I would make it on the train. Well after I purchased my train ticket I went to get my backpack out from the train station locker. However, the lock broke and my bag was stuck in this locker, with only 3 more minutes until the train’s departure. At this moment I was not very pleased, I started shaking the lockers to see if it would move. With only about a minute left, my bag finally came flying out of the locker. I grabbed my bag and started sprinting for the train. Trust me, it was very difficult to have over a 100 pounds on my back and running after a train! I literally through my bag on the train and jumped for the railing in order to get on the train with out missing it. Now, this always seemed to happened to me, it may have been due to my lack of time management, but I believe it just happened cause I always wanted to see more in all the cities.

Sightseeing to much

Rushing around, getting stressed out, and exhausted in order to get all the sight seeing in; is just not a great idea. Trying to squeeze more countries in your agenda is not a smart move, however it is a common mistake.  When backpackingEurope it is a very frequent thing to do, since all the countries are so close to each other. There is much to see in Europe but before stressing yourself or others out, grab a hand full of countries, and know what sites you want to see first and starting planning from there. Over all you want to take your time enjoyable since backpacking to most individuals not a everyday routine.

Hostels

Sometimes I booked a hostel in advance and often I would just show up and wing it. If I booked a hostel, it often happened that my name was misspelled or the hostel was over booked in the first place. So I would reach my destination and from there I would go straight to the hostel, finding out that there was no room left for me, even if I booked my hostel. If I winged it, it often happened that I would jump from hostel to hostel until I found one that was not fully booked. Now this really only occurred during the peak times of traveling, however it was very exhausting. So I recommend to all backpackers, if you are traveling during peak season and especially in Europe BOOK your hostels in advance!!!

These three experiences happened to me quite often as a backpacking within Europe. Not so much in China and South America. Yet, as I traveled more I heard these mishaps didn’t just happen to me but also to many other backpackers.