James Hammond (00:00)

Hello and welcome to this week's episode. I am repurposing an old episode today, which is episode 25, Things I Would Advise a New

in this episode a few years ago, I picked out 10 things that I would say are crucial for a traveller to know and understand. So I'm gonna give a 2026 reflection on those ten things and see if I still agree with what I said five years ago.

How I'm gonna do this is I'm going to keep the section as it is, then respond to it at the end. So it'll be original and then about a minute, minute and a half of current reaction for each section. And I do say ⁓ number one, number two, etc. in the episode. So it should be pretty easy to follow. And then I'll give my ⁓ summary at the end as to whether it still stands the test of time and maybe give a few bonus ones as well. Right, that's enough of me. Let's get stuck in.

to this repurposed episode from twenty twenty one.

James Hammond (00:52)

Welcome to the Winging It Travel podcast, your weekly ticket to the world hosted by me, James Hammond, proudly part of the Voyascape Network.

This is more than just a travel podcast. This is a cinematic audio experience to take you along with me on my journeys.

through rich immersive soundscapes, authentic storytelling, and on the ground reaction.

bring you right alongside me, whether I'm hiking

checking out the chaos of a city,

or camping under the stars.

With over 15 years I've travelled behind me

I've met incredible people,

seen breath taking places,

and collected unforgettable stories.

And now I get to share them with you.

So expect a mix of immersive audio episodes.

let you hear the world as I explore it.

Solo episodes where I raw, authentic storytelling tips.

and honest travel tales.

and guest conversations with some of most diverse and well-traveled people that I've met.

This is a podcast for travelers, dreamers, backpackers, or anyone who thinks, what if I just went for it and traveled the world?

So if you're looking for stories to tell, tips to share, and experiences to inspire, then you're in the right place.

There is so much travel content coming your way. It might just spark that trip that you've always wanted to take.

James Hammond (02:10)

Wigging It is part of the Voyescape Network and you can check all the podcasts out on the network at voyescape.com. There's so many great hosts, great podcasts and many, many great travel tips. Honestly, it's one of the best resources out there for travel and it will inspire you to get out there to see the world. Head to voyescape.com for more great content.

James Hammond (02:29)

So let's dive straight in.

James Hammond (02:31)

Hello and welcome to the Wingnet Podcast Episode 25. Things I would advise a new traveller. Yeah, I got this idea from Nomadic Matt, he's a well-known travel blogger. He was listening to some things about if he knew now some stuff that he would advise if he got on a big trip. Some lessons that he'd learnt and passed them on because they would be crucial.

in your journey. So I thought, know what? I might do a similar thing. I'm not going to copy them. I'm going to do what I've experienced and advise based on what I've kind of learned from things I've done that are good and bad. So I've got 10 things, pretty cool structure. So we'll crack on, I think. No particular order. These are not in any important order, just ⁓ any order. So number one.

is be flexible when planning. The idea here is, and I've struggled before, is when I've had my first trip in 2013, I think we had sort of set dates for flights. And now at the time with SAA travel, can amend your round the world ticket, but that's only on

like international flights if you like but we had actual internal a few internal flights as well that we couldn't change unless we just accepted that we lost a hundred dollars so it kind of stumped us a little bit and the classic example is we're in Thailand and we're going to Malaysia and we want to go and see the Formula One Grand Prix but at the same time was the Formula One party so we had to choose really just because of timings but yeah I kind of think like

You want to be more flexible because you want to do all the things you can do, not just, um, yeah, just a fixed to a flight because you have to get out. The problem there is it might not even been the flight, um, at the time of those two things, but they were clashing. If you're more flexible, you could have maybe, well, we did the formula one, but obviously the forming party comes around every once every month.

in an ideal world we could have just done a bit more traveling and then gone to a forming party the next month but we're set in stone in our travels so we to choose one and then we missed the other unfortunately and then I've not done it since so yeah I think being flexible really has its advantages if you've got the time well that's another one we'll come to later but yeah you just want to be maybe having a flight in to an area and then when you're closer to the time that you have to leave let's have East Asia for example you fly into Bangkok

I think that's what you need. You can get buses around and stuff pretty easily. So you can decide on the day that if you're to get to Cambodia, you pay $10, whatever it is, and get the bus across. And then when you want to get out from Southeast Asia to New Zealand, for example, you can decide near at the time. The flights won't go up that much in cost. I think

a $50 more expense is better than, you know, so you can be more flexible than maybe saving $50 and being stringent on your time and where you are. So I tried to adapt to the situation because you never know who you might meet and you never know recommendations you get from either locals or other backpackers or whoever's traveling around because these, this will come into other points I'm going to make, but you really get to know the

best things when you talk to people not when you read it or you know, sort of go online and try and find out I think you're just better to speak to people where you are whether that's in your hostel, guest house or even hotel. So yeah, you don't want to compromise your activities and places to see by not being flexible. So yeah, when you travel plan I would advise, it's probably a difficult for a two week holiday because you are going back at a certain date.

That's probably something you can't do, but maybe then in between in the meantime, in the two weeks, you don't book any travel. You just think we'll arrive here. We'll figure it out and we'll get something to hear or get a bus to there or get a plane to there. So yeah, being flexible is key to a pretty happy travel life. yeah, cause it gives you the option to change direction as well. know, like if you're going in one set place,

or one set route you might want to change because yeah, like, like you said, you found something new or you think, do you know what, let's go there. So, um, yeah, that's number one. I think it's a key one that I've learned and I've been stung a few times, but the next trip that we do, um, I'm not going to be anywhere near a stringent in terms of fixated on bookings. I'm just going to get to one place and then we'll, we'll see how it goes and be as flexible as possible. So that's number one.

James Hammond (07:20)

Okay, this one, being flexible when planning your On the whole, yes, I agree. I think flexibility you a chance to be spontaneous, ⁓ change your plans, stay somewhere longer, leave somewhere earlier. All those sort of things are crucial when you travel, especially medium to long term. But there is a caveat here, I would say, in twenty twenty six.

As you start to branch out into other areas of the world and other some things have to be booked ahead of time. And that could be, for example, Patagonia hiking, it could be the Inca Trail, it could be hiking up a volcano, could be getting to an event, a sporting event. All these types of things are really hard to wing it, really, when you're traveling. You can try and get lucky.

But in my experience of the last five years, especially on our year trip in 2023, we could wing and be flexible on most of the things, but we did plan a few activities well in advance. ⁓ for example, Cappadocia. I think we wanted to book something in. I know it's based on weather, but it can get booked up pretty quickly. I also booked the train going over the Alps for Emma's birthday. You have to reserve a spot on the

on the train there. So these type of things are not conducive to flexible planning in terms of just winging it, turning up and booking it. But depending on what time of year you go, you could probably get away with that. But if you're going in high season or even a shoulder season, I think you do run the risk of not doing the real special things that you want to do. if I'm going on a long trip, six months, yeah, of course, flexible all way. I'm going on a short trip, I might book a few more things in

ahead of time and be less flexible just because of time really. so I like this idea. I really agree with it on a broader sense in terms of travel, but sometimes you just have to book things in advance.

James Hammond (09:04)

Number two is get out of your comfort zone.

Now, we all feel comfortable if we're going on a trip in Europe because it's the same as Britain, Predominantly. So I would highly advise that you take more risks because when you get out of your comfort zone, you learn more about yourself and the people that you're with and it's a better experience than just sticking to what you know. And for you to enjoy the stuff that you know and love, like

For example, me might be going for brunch and a coffee. I think it's better to go for one of those when you can talk about an experience you've done the last week, which has been way out there, you know, if you constantly do coffee and cash, which is not a bad thing, but you've constantly do it on your travels. It's a bit too easy for me. I think you need to be out there doing something. So I remember after doing the Inca trail, we sort of like had a buffet.

And then we had our train ride back. So people who've done the Inca trail or the Salcantin in Peru, you get the very slow train back from Aguascalientes to Cusco, which takes probably about two to three hours. It's a real slow train, about 30 miles an hour. I about the British actually, but it transports all the trackers back. And that was almost the best time. We had such a great time because one,

We can talk about how tough it was and what we achieved in the second day and stuff like that. We all knew each other so we got a bit of a laugh, bit of banter, flying around, take the piss, cetera. Three also, we're all fucked. We're all just like knackered, our legs are aching. We're pretty full of fukes with the buffet afterwards but we're just pretty tired. But also all just knew that for number four, were like, this is the last time we're probably gonna see each other for a while if again.

So you want to like maximize those times and then I do think when you do go through something like an experience like that, does bring you all together as a group. And I love that two or three hour train ride when we got back and then you know what's weird? You spend four or five days together, like talking every day, every minute of day, trying to get each other through this activity. You reach this milestone, reach Machu Picchu.

and you get back, you're on the train and then people sort of fall asleep like towards the Cusco and then bang, once you're on Cusco, you get your badge and there's two buses, one going either part of town and then that's it. You sort of like, oh yeah, yeah, catch you later. And that's it, gone. I've not seen any of them since, unfortunately, even though I love that group. So yeah, being at your comfort zone sort of definitely brings you together. And also you learn a lot about yourself, like.

Could I really do Lingua Trail? I mean, physically, probably not, because I'm not the fittest. But I maintain to this day that hiking's mental. This is one foot in front the other. You won't ever reach exhaustion, and we can't do it. So I learned that, oh, do you know what? It's not great that I don't do training for it, but I do know I can do it. Even now, could I do it again? Yeah, it's gonna be a struggle, but I can do it. So yeah, just don't stick to your...

normal routine, get out there, do some activities that are bit rogue, go real left field and try and do something that's really going to be, that's a bit of a cliche, do something that scares you a little bit, whatever it is they say a day, but not too extreme, but when I'm going travelling next time, I'm booking paragliding number one. So I would consider this outside my comfort zone, but not completely. I'm not scared of heights.

I will happily jump out of a plane or go paragliding. So it's something I just want to do. There's going to be a bit of scary moment I imagine, for me it's a little bit out there. For me completely out there is something like diving or anything in water. So I made a promise myself that next time we're in a sort of area where there's a bit of water or diving available, I'm going to try and do it and I'll be scared shitless.

But I think if I can get through a couple of days of doing some basic diving or even snorkeling to that extent, I'm gonna love my trip and love my activity and talk about it. And that'd be like one thing ticked off that I've done that's out there and then you sort of grow from that. So my great example actually of something like this is my friend, Harv, who I'd love to get my podcast.

she's a Welsh girl that I in Margaret River. She was like me at the minute where I can't swim that well, if at all, and I'm scared of deep water, can't deal with it. So she wanted to conquer this fear and slowly but surely she got better at swimming, she got better at being in deep water, and now she can freedive 150 meters, freedive, not even with diving equipment. Just down, hold your breath, come back up with a spear, know, catch a fish, whatever you do. If the...

Don't do that. Just go down and dive and see some stuff, but she's free diving like the other end of the scale. Um, some naval seal shit there. So yeah, she's completely turned it around and I really want to hear about that if I can get on the podcast. So, um, that's a great example of what you can achieve if you put mine to it. And if you put that into traveling and what trip, so getting out of your comfort zone is key to travel. And for holiday, you might not want to do that because you probably want to have a break from work. So

I think just chilling out is probably the best course for that. ⁓ I've never done it, but guess people go to these all-inclusives, that's the opposite end of Converse Center, get out Converse Center I imagine. yeah, it all depends what type of trip, but you've got to a few activities. You always remember the ones that are a bit tough. I remember my skydive in New Zealand, because at the time I wasn't even that scared of it, but it's at the bus of 30 people, 35 people, only six people did it.

People are like, what's it like? Because they don't want to do it because it's probably out of their comfort zone too much. So you get that sort of feeling doing that. So that's number two. Get out of your comfort zone. Rally ho.

James Hammond (15:14)

So number two is getting out of your comfort zone. I could not agree more. And this still holds true today. I'm actually getting annoyed at myself, actually, with my own travels probably the last couple of years, where I feel like I'm playing it safe a little. Might be a bit unfair with myself. I went to Butan, that's totally out there. climbed a volcano in Guatemala. went to El Salvador, which is not on a lot of people's lists. So maybe I'm giving myself a bit of discredit there. But

When I think of these places, these are the ones I remember the most because they're kind of out of the comfort zone doing something new and a little bit edgy. And I would always implore that for your travels. Not all the time, but if I was to go for two months, I would stick in some activities there or some places where I thought, cool, it's gonna be a challenge, it's gonna be a bit edgy. Let's see how we go. Because ultimately when you get to the end and you talk about your travels, you do remember the funny stuff or the hairy stuff the most more than the comfortable stuff.

So getting out of your comfort zone is crucial. If you're new to travel, I think you might want to start a bit easier on yourself and settle into a few countries that are a bit more culturally aligned to your own and then delve into the very culturally Different countries compared to your own.

Honestly, when you go there and you complete the trip or you're in it, you'll be absolutely buzzing after that trip because you're like, ⁓ I can do this, I can go to places that are unknown

Or not talked about that much, or places that seem to be scary but are not, because I went there. All these sort of things. I love getting out of my comfort zone. I love interviewing strangers on the podcast. I love creating YouTube videos in public. That's pretty scary and uncomfortable. ⁓ that's what I do now. even leading tours in the future, that's on my list, that's gonna be out of my comfort zone. So I I do like to create memories, I do like to create experiences that last a lifetime.

And honestly, if you try and incorporate that into your own travels, you'll absolutely love your experiences. And if you don't like it, then you learn something about yourself as well.

James Hammond (17:01)

Number three, I've got crack on with work visas. Now, if you're a traveler, ⁓ a big traveler, ⁓ and going to countries for two months is a good, but you want to extend your trip, the work visas really are a

goldmine of opportunity. It's crazy people don't do them or just leave early, it's mental. You can only get these up to tier 31 mostly if you're British, Irish, might be 35 in some of them. I think it's just mental that you have an opportunity to be working and driving around freely for a year or two in certain countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan.

I think Singapore's got a six month one, whatever it is. You've got an opportunity there just to work a little bit and travel the country, no restrictions. You can stay there year in and out as many times as you want. So you can maybe do two months travel, two months of work. can get that sort of routine. And people don't realise that, know, because when you're in your 20s it goes so fast. You just lose that ability to do that. And I just, you know, the biggest story for me is I just didn't crack on fast enough.

I a gap between ending Australia, work visa and then going on to New Zealand, was it probably about? I don't want to say almost, almost two years. Sort of bumbling about knowledge for bit. I didn't even know why I went back to knowledge for a longer period of time. Don't know, maybe I felt I had to. Not really sure why. But in hindsight, I should have gone and I read Australia for the second year, even though I didn't get my days, sort of lied.

or failing that, would gone to Japan and done my work visa there. But anyway, I've not done too bad. got Australian Museum two years in Canada, it's four years, right? ⁓ But yeah, on a sort of like flip side of this, you can also do your TEFL and maybe go and teach in a different country. There's a bit more options for that if you want to go ⁓ sort of like a different type of travel where it's probably going be in country that doesn't speak English, so.

That's a great opportunity as well and one that kind of is in the back of my mind but I don't want to be a teacher so that's kind of what I'm thinking but my mate Lewis who's on the podcast previously he spent four or five years in China and he loved it. Connor on previous episode is currently in Vietnam so he's been there nearly two years. So that sort of experience can really be one out of your comfort zone like previously mentioned but also doing a job and also you've got opportunity to travel around the area.

These opportunities I think have to be taken because when you hit your 32, 33 that's it. Teaching not, I mean you can go teach at any age anywhere but just for the freedom of work visas they're over. Unfortunately I'm now 32 so I can't get another one unless they increase the age or even get rid of it. I have a free working relationship with that country but if you're younger I highly recommend it. Just don't stay at home. There's more to the world than that.

So yeah, crack on with your work visas, get them done, and then you might find a little spot in one of those countries where you think, you know what, I want to stay here bit longer, get you a residency and crack on. That's what a lot of people do do, just to have that option of an extra passport. Yeah, so crack on with your work visas. I wish I'd done much around one that still eats away at me, but at I've been there, so that's not too bad.

James Hammond (20:28)

Number three is how crucial work visas are when it comes to travel. I still think this holds true, especially for the younger viewers. If you're twenty to thirty-five and you feel like you just want to live and work somewhere for a year or two, it's still an option. There's plenty more options out there now for people with certain passports. Of course, this comes down to passport privilege. So if you can go out on a work visa to somewhere around the world.

Make sure you do because you live a different culture, different way of life. even if it's the same speaking country in terms of your language, you're still gonna learn something new and you're gonna learn something about yourself as well. But I will say that remote work has changed this actually more recently in the last five years. I think digital nomadism is on the rise. And what that means really is do you actually need a work visa? I mean, can you just literally go on a tourist visa around the world and work remotely on your laptop?

course if you're based in terms of tax somewhere around the world, but that's your tax base. I mean you can literally just rock up to any beach around the world and work, right? If you don't need to access their healthcare, their services, et cetera. So

I think work visas are still available, but maybe not as popular because lots of people in the modern age work on laptops. I mean, if you work on a laptop and you can make money online, why'd you need a work permit? I guess it gives a bit of comfort, I suppose. But I think the cost is putting people off a little bit. I mean, Japan, Australia, they're all raising their prices for work visas. So I do wonder where that's going. but when I recorded this back in the day, I don't think digital nomad visas really existed. They started to come in.

so they do exist as well as just a normal tourist visa if you're gonna work remotely. you don't necessarily need a work in holiday visa anymore, as I said. So maybe they're still incredible for the traveller, but maybe not as crucial. But I would still recommend, especially if you're really young, if you want a bit of peace of mind where you don't have to rely on a laptop and you wanna go to work in Australia for a couple of years, go and do it. I mean, why wouldn't you? What a great country to live in. And if I was twenty-one again, I'd be more switched on to the work permits because I haven't done Japan.

I a bit unlucky, but I didn't get my second year in Australia. And there's a few more out there, like Singapore, I think I could have got as well. I think more countries are going to come on board with these work permits. I keep seeing them pop up on my news feed. you're early 20s, mid-20s, get out there, live in a different country and get out of your comfort zone, like the point before. Yeah, would highly recommend it. Still crucial because it also enables you to travel more long term. You could save up money in your home country, go traveling for six months, work in a new country.

say for a year, a year and a half or two years, then go traveling for a year. You know, you could do that that sort of thing and that's like a four or five year trip. I mean, that's incredible, isn't it? It would last a lifetime, those memories. So work visas are crucial and even if you're a bit older, maybe looking into a temporary work visa in another country is worth doing as

James Hammond (23:03)

Number four, which is crucial, document everything now.

last travels. I went on that a year ago or a year ago now, over two years ago. I was like, right, I'm going to note down everything that we do. Didn't do it because I wasn't in the habit of doing it. Now key is you need to get in the habit of documenting what you do every day because you won't remember it unless you're a religious poster. So for my book that I'm writing, I can go back to 2013 Facebook, thankfully, because

updating every time I went to new hostel, didn't have a phone, every time I had an opportunity to go on laptop or computer, did. I was like, I was there at that point. I was there at that point. Now I have my memories, which are not too bad, but you don't remember the little details like who did you meet that day? What day did you, what cafe did you go to that day? What coffee, what local food place did you go to? What tour did you think about going on and booking? What bus and all that sort of stuff. So my rule now is

Right. I'm going to writing every day. So when I go traveling next time, I'll start the day with a coffee and do half an hour or an hour, whatever time we've reflecting on the previous day. So you've got that document with photos and a bit of writing and what you thought of the stuff that you're doing. So take a lot of photos. Okay. Just snap, snap, snap away.

It's not a competition in terms of the best photo of all time. Just get snapping and trust when you get further on than a line, you're need those photos. Write every day and just journal as much as possible. There a of ways you can do this. You can set up a blog. Don't see your blog as emotionally getting people invested in it. Just see it as just a way to track your own ⁓ trip. Yeah, if you wanna read it, great. ⁓

Most people don't commit to reading every day or even listen to podcasts a few weeks. So not too emotional about that. Just, you know, just try and document everything you can. You can actually can write it. You can blog it. You can write notes on your laptop. You can even podcast. That was just what I'm thinking. I'm going to do that with writing. think I'm going to do a weekly podcast of a summary of what we've done that week with my notes that I've written. That's kind of where I'm going to go. And you know what? can refer back to it all the time. And over time,

you can look back and have those great memories. Every time you will forget some stuff. So it's key that you just write down everything that you do. ⁓ I can't emphasize that enough and I wish I've done it in the last four or five years. ⁓ but from now on I will. So yeah, I'm going to even the little trips before, ⁓ whenever we go away again, I'm going to write down what we

James Hammond (25:46)

Okay, number four is document everything. I'm not sure how I feel about this one actually. Yeah, this is interesting. When I did this podcast episode, I've just started the was probably thinking at the time, imagine if I podcasted all of my travels from the previous years. And yes, I think I do wish I had have done that, or at least YouTubed it, or at least blogged it, right? Because you don't forget anything, it's all recorded somewhere, you can base

create projects on it and even do content at the time. I think I missed the boat with YouTube. I went traveling in 2013. Just imagine if I started doing YouTube at that point the same year as Drubinsky and now he has like five million followers, right? So imagine if I got in early. That is a bit annoying. But we're here today and I have a travel podcast and I love going on the road podcasting about my travels. I think I still would do that anyway because it's different to writing and videoing because you can speak into your phone.

Just record pretty loosely and casually about what you've done for the day. And also I can then interview loads of people locally. It could be someone in a hostel, could be a local travel guide, could be a free walk and tour guide, could be someone in a hostel, whatever it is. I think that's pretty crucial for you to hear to get the real experience of where I am when I'm traveling. where I'm not sure about it is I guess YouTube and social media. I definitely wouldn't do social media these days. Wouldn't even bother. Because this doesn't mean anything, does it? I think it means more now.

when people travel and don't say anything.

Yeah, I think I just saw a real the day explaining where the reverse marketing's coming into this where it's not crucial about documenting everything that you do.

It's now gone the reverse. Like you go radio silence or you don't social media for a week or two, but people know you're away. It could be one odd story, one odd photo. Imagine that. And people really want to know about what you're doing, but you're not sharing all on social media. I think that's the way I'm gonna go in the future. I'm done with social media, it's over. But in terms of the

There's still a of space for it to be new, raw, ⁓ exciting and informative to the listener. And I will continue to do YouTube because I've monetized and it's a different audience. And I understand, especially the younger generation, they want to watch stuff more. So I will keep doing the YouTube. But the really big problem with YouTube is how do you record authentic moments? I mean, do you explore first one day, then record the next day, but then it's not totally genuine? Like there's all these questions, right?

So yeah, I think document everything just for your own memory, really. I mean, if you don't want to post it, that's great as well. I mean, if you just want to write things down just because you want to remember stuff that you did day to day on your trip, that's great. I don't think you have to put it on social media these days or even YouTube or podcasting. But if you're creative like me, I like releasing content and helping people out to travel more, and that includes podcasting and YouTube. So a mixed bag, this one. ⁓ I guess I was probably coming from the point of view where

I've got so many travel stories that I've remembered, but how many have I not remembered? I guess that's where I was going with this. So do what you feel is right for you. No pressure on it. Don't have to take photos, don't have take videos. But what I will say is do something so you do remember the trip in case you lose your memory when you're older. You never know, right? So that's where I'll leave that one.

James Hammond (28:48)

Number five, take your time traveling. If you can and time is no issue.

This kind of links to number one, be flexible with your planning, but just take your time. If you think, oh, do you know what? I think we can stay in Paris next year two days, but I think there's more I want to see. Do it. Great. Stay. On the flip side of that, if you're in somewhere and you think, do you know what? I'm just not a fan of this place, then move on because you've got more time somewhere else. So taking your time is key. Don't rush places. Don't just do the tick them off mentality, which I've kind of get rid of before, I think.

You never really know a place unless you live there but if you can travel there and stay there as long as possible then great. There's been loads of I've stayed that I feel like I've got a decent amount of knowledge about and because I stayed there for a period of time, when travelling, not living. Off the top of my head Rishi Keshe in India, I think we stayed there for a week. Just doing yoga, going to Little Buddha Kaaf which is one of favourite kaafs.

sitar lessons, get into the ashrams, think some people do yoga there and stuff like that. You can really know a place. I guess it's a bit easier in Asia because it's a bit cheaper to live. So yeah, you can probably go to like a small town in India or small town in Thailand or Vietnam and get to know a place because you've got more flexible time. taking your time is key because you kind of feel like you're doing what you want to do and you're not forced by time.

But again, like I say, that probably depends on budget as well. So you need to be key with your budget in terms of, if that's Asia, it's probably a bit easier to do it in South America and Central America. But if you're traveling Europe and taking your time, ⁓ I can imagine staying in Paris or, I don't know, Berlin is going to be a bit more expensive than Italy and then going to maybe Lithuania, for example. But, you know, take your time, enjoy it. Don't rush it because it will soon be over. Trust me.

James Hammond (30:46)

Number five, take your time traveling. Yes, 100% agree. But it is based on time. So for my listeners who only get PTO per year, which is pay time off from their job, could be one, two, three, or four weeks. Obviously, you can't take too much time because you've got to get back to your job. And I totally get that. I've been I've been in that phase for the last three years.

I feel like I'm coming to the end of that phase because I just want more time back to do more stuff. And obviously you're gonna have to work that out how to make that possible. And I'm still working it out for myself. But if you really wanna explore a country or an area or a region in depth, and you wanna get all the experiences and meet all the people, staying longer does create better memories because it gives you a chance to give it a chance.

Because what happens if you turn up and you've got three days there, but it's crappy weather. Let's say you want to explore, I don't know, Antigua and Guatemala on foot for three days, amazing sea, but it rains for three days. But you have to leave. I mean you build it up, you build it up, and then you gotta go. That's nothing more devastating than that, is there? So I think you do need to give yourself a bit of time to make sure you give yourself the best chance to explore the place you want explore. I guess for even activities like a safari.

My friends Matt and Nat have just been on a five day safari in Tanzania. And I love that because five days, you're giving yourself a chance. You don't see anything on the first day or third day There's always backup plans in place, right? If you see something first day, you're in bonus territory. But if you see something for the first time on the fifth day, you've given yourself a chance. So I think these are the positives of taking your time. You also understand places much better if you're a bit more intentional about a place.

So not keep dotting around very quickly around the country, but maybe staying in places for longer. ⁓ what I mean by that is you could go for like a week in Vietnam and just literally fly everywhere around the country, but why not spend three weeks and just spend more time in different places to get to know the country better and the people, right? So slow travel is more sustainable mentally and financially, I think, as well. Because you might think it costs more, but actually if you've got no pressure on yourself and you're willing to

stay in lesser places like combinations or not spend as much money on restaurants and stuff like that, you can make it last. So I would rather visit three countries more slowly than ten really quickly. One hundred percent. So take your time travelling, go in shoulder seasons or off seasons, get to know the country, take your time, soak it in, drink it in, and enjoy the experience because it will be over before you know it. And imagine you only gave yourself two weeks instead of two months.

Something worth thinking about.

James Hammond (33:17)

Just a quick break there in the episode. just want to say there are many ways to support this

Please give a written review and five stars on any podcast app of your choice. This is greatly appreciated and helps the podcast find new listeners. On YouTube, please hit that subscribe button, like any video that you watch and leave a comment with your thoughts.

love to read them and respond to them too. You can help the production costs of this podcast by heading to buymeacoffee.com forward slash winging it. For $5 you can buy me a coffee and help this podcast immensely.

and finally, please tell Winging It to your friends and family. Get them to tune in,

some wanderlust on the go, and hopefully they'll come back more if they're inspired to. That's the aim of the podcast, to get more people to travel the world. Let's get back in to the episode.

James Hammond (34:01)

Right, number six I've got here, and this is one of the best investments I've ever made. Noise cancelling headphones, and I mean proper ones. I spent $200 on my Plantronics ⁓ headphones, and they've lasted, and they're still going. ⁓ From 2017, so what's that, we're four years in, still work an absolute treat. Flick the button for noise cancelling.

cancel all the noise, it's great for buses, great for planes, great for hostels if they're a bit noisy or if you just want to spend a bit of me time in a corner and not be disturbed, great for that as well, listen to your music. So I do think certain things that you take are kind of non-negotiable and I think this is one of them because back in the old days when we didn't have noise cancelling.

You had your headphones and the matter time mine broke. Bloody hell, it chaos. But these I've decided to spend a bit more money on and they just last and I will take them until they start working and there's no sign of that. A bit of wear and tear, yeah. But unbelievable investment. I think for me the biggest one for me is planes. I can't sleep on planes but I can drift off with them in the plane seat if I've got a bit of...

You know, Ramstein or bit of Beethoven, whatever fancy. That does help me go to sleep. So that is a great investment and I would highly recommend it because it will help you on your travels. I just cut out that noise because travelling is noisy. You go into all these new big places. Unless you're in the depths of Nepal like we were in the hills near Annapurna where there's nothing around, then you'll be fine. But when you're dipping into especially like Asian cities and they're like hustling and bustling,

you might need them. But yeah, so my recommendation is Plantronics. That's the I've got. I think the classic ones are Beats, they're probably decent as well. Imagine those type of phones that are alright. You've got those like in-ear ones, that Apple, the Apple pods. I think I might get a pair of those ⁓ as a backup as well. I don't like in-ear stuff in my ears. It gets back a long time now, but I prefer Over-Ear.

They probably do the same trick. yeah, that's a great little investment for me if you can do that. All right, let's crack on.

James Hammond (36:29)

Okay, number six is noise cancelling headphones. I put a whole section on this one thing. This goes into more broadly gear, I guess. but I will say quickly, noise cancelling headphones are for me a godsend. I'm a light sleeper. I need them to sleep potentially in a busy place like a hostel or a hotel by a busy road, something like that. And also just for those bus rides, train rides, not too bad, but you just need to maybe sometimes zone out in your own thoughts with the music and not hear anything.

So I do think they're crucial, but here are some things that I couldn't live about actually while I was travelling. I mentioned this before in another episode, but power banks are crucial to keep your gear topped up.

Basic phone so you can get a sim card and also maybe an e sim in your modern phone. ⁓ universal adapters, they're crucial of course. Packing cubes, do help me pack my backpack.

For my content, I need cameras, portable microphones, headphones as well, so they're crucial. ⁓ my interface, which is basically a contraption where I can record sounds. Air tags for your luggage. And I've got a Kindle here as well, actually, because you need a bit of reading ⁓ to keep your knowledge topped up. So yeah, this is all personal to you. I love noise cancelling headphones, I love a bit of tech.

But what I've noticed recently is because I have so much tech these days, it adds to the weight of my luggage and I don't like it. a think, see what you think about this one. But yeah, I agree. Noise cancelling headphones, still crucial.

James Hammond (37:48)

Number seven, don't plan based on guidebooks. I don't want this podcast to be a lonely planet podcast because it's boring. So I try and get people's stories and people's perspectives. It's a bit more interesting. So Sen goes for like a lonely planet book. It's a great starter.

well where do we start? But these places are going to be paid to write about a certain place and you're not going to know the real deal. So the way to get around this is when you arrive somewhere it's to speak to people, speak to locals and speak to fellow travellers and backpackers. They will recommend best places to go and see. A great example is we arrived in Bangkok, going to go straight to Cambodia, which is the plan anyway, and then straight to Ho Chi Minh.

cut a little bit short because someone said, well, you need to go to Phu Quoc in Vietnam. I was like, never even heard of it. yeah, yes, I was in the south of Vietnam. It was actually close to Cambodia, real nice, brand new, new airport, new roads, not busy at all and very hot. Like bloody hell, like the sound of that. So yeah, we amended our trip and being flexible, number one, and decided to cut a little bit of Cambodia out and go to Phu Quoc. Unbelievable recommendation. So that was not in any guidebooks.

anything that we've read or we've researched, we just got told that I can't remember who told me. Cannot remember. Again, if I journaled it, I could have said. ⁓ yeah, so that's a great example of maybe speaking to someone and getting a recommendation if you're out and about for a few months. Speaking to locals is probably the best way ⁓ because they all know the real local places, maybe the best for food and drink. And even tours are the best spots to go and see a sunset or sunrise or a bit of nature. ⁓

but also backpackers who have been there while will definitely tell you places to go and not to go. That's also key as well. Also, they generally do a bit cheaper as well. Like the learning planner guide will give you the really expensive options. If you've got no budget, then great, crack on. The way to meet these people, again, I would always recommend a hostel or guest house or even a family-owned type guest house as well.

because you'll meet the best people there, hotels, nah not for me, people just stick to their own thing but that's key to maybe finding out the best places in the local area.

James Hammond (40:05)

Number seven, don't plan based on guidebooks. So back then I was probably talking about Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, all these guidebooks that you can buy. but I think technology has advanced so much since then. I mean, we have AI, for example. Now you can literally go on AI and ask, what should I do in this place? Where should I go? massive amount of YouTube channels now for travel. There's so much more content these days.

Instagram of course or social media with reels. even Reddit is probably a bit more flushed out for travel now as well. so what do I think about this? ⁓ it's a tough one. I don't plan based on guidebooks. I don't plan that much. I'm just not a planner. I'd rather just go there and wing it or ask a local or ask someone who works in a hotel or hostel, right? Because they're the guys who live there. Surely they know best.

Where I do plan a little bit with books is probably road trips. If we're on a road trip like, okay, we can plan this here and go this road or this route. That's pretty crucial, I think. maybe big activities or big places that require a bit of research, I would probably use a book, but I don't use them that much. I'm not anti them, but I think it just ruins part of the fun of trying to find out about a place when you go there, right? Why wouldn't you want to drop to somewhere and see all the things and do all the things that you learn about when you're there?

rather than known everything before. people always ask me, do you watch YouTube videos for the place you're going to before you go? I'm like, absolutely not. Afterwards, 100%. But why am I going to ruin the view, the activity, what a beach looks like, what a village looks like, whatever it is, before I go. Why would I do that? And that's the same with guidebooks, right? They're going to have pictures in there, they're going to have all the information that you need. I feel like

For nervous travelers it's great, or people who really don't know how to research or don't know information about certain countries, but just not for me. maybe it's more personal to everyone else. me, no guidebooks for travel. I will do a little bit of research probably on the first couple of days, or maybe how to get to a border or something, but definitely not the full trip.

Be careful of algorithms because they will tailor what they think you want to see. And that may be great, but it's also a bit boring, isn't it? So ignore the social media, ignore what people are telling you to go and see, go and see it for yourself and do it for yourself. And then you'll come back with a tip or two that's unique to you. And maybe you can share that with people word to mouth. I think if you go and meet someone for a coffee and talk about it in an audio fashion or even a podcast, right?

Got a back podcast up here, an audio podcast, not visual. If you listen to people speak, maybe that's a tiny bit better because it gives you an imagination and they will never go in depth of something like a lonely planet. So maybe that's good to get the appetite going for a certain place or a certain city. Maybe yes. Speaking to people in person, absolutely yes. Go and hear some travel stories, go and hear some little tips you might not see ⁓ in books. But yeah, don't don't get too emotional about that. Just

Don't plan too much. Be surprised.

Be curious and turn up and be surprised. You'll love it, honestly.

James Hammond (42:56)

number eight is be sociable and friendly. Yeah, I think this comes down to your personality of what kind of person you are but I found the best experiences for me

in terms of activities and memories is kind of being with people and don't be afraid to say hello. The majority of would be nice and have a beer with you ⁓ and talk about their travels and you get to exchange stories and places to go and stuff like that. So being social and friendly also gives you more options because if you're travelling on your own you might just tag along for a week with someone ⁓ or group if you really like it and you've got the option to maybe tag off that group once you've finished a week but

Being social really does help your travels. Me and Mike picked up a few people on the way, we joined a few people on the way on our travels and we wouldn't have it any other way. We're really relaxed about it and like, oh yeah, yeah, we'll meet up there and you sort of tend to go the same route. So you agree to meet up for a day there, do an activity there, book this, book that. It's an unbelievable time. And also gets to meet new cool people and new friends for life.

and experiences that people at home can't relate to because they're not there doing it. making new friends, new recommendations from those people, travel around if you're on your own, maybe with someone that'd be cool for like two or three weeks. But then you go back onto solo travelling. So also for female travellers as well. If you're a bit nervous about going to a country, that's also a great way to meet people and just kind of...

Stick together if you're on your own, if you need to have someone there but a lot of people don't do that. They just go solo completely so full credit to those people, they're hardcore. So yeah, friendliness gets you a long way, don't be a dick. I'll ⁓ be honest, I've not met too many dicks when I've been traveling. A couple of things that I've, yeah, odd occasion like in India, two British guys just mouthing off at a...

American girl who's staying at a hostel because they thought she was a Trump supporter Based on what I don't But these were dicks that were drunk. They nicked a rickshaw from a local which was even absolute cretins and They got kicked out of hostel in end because they're just too rogue and you do meet the opiate like that But it's weird because if there's ten people and these two people just mouth and off the other eight people all know

that these two guys are dicks so I wouldn't worry about that everyone's in the same boat yeah so I think there's lessons to be learned from that in terms of like just be friendly and most people travel aren't dicks like you're out there to see things meet people and do stuff so no worries

James Hammond (45:50)

Okay, number eight is be sociable and friendly. I think this is a hundred percent true. I'm never gonna change my mind on this because when you go to travel places around the world, the locals are sociable and friendly on the whole. some of my closest travel memories have been with people rather than places. Certain scenarios, probably seeing a place with people has made it better as well. Even solo travel is not really solo, is it? I mean you you travel on your own, but you might go to a hostel or go on a bus.

And there's people there. That's pretty cool. Hostels are still brilliant. I think there's a problem with pricing with hostels. They're starting to get way too expensive. And that worries me because people won't go there and be sociable. But if you can afford to go to hostels, still a great resource for meeting people. And tours can be great as well, day tours, free walking tours, even a curated tour for ten days. I don't do that very often at all, but once or twice. But they do give you a sense of community when travelling a new place.

And making the effort to say hello still opens doors. You never know what you might need in the future. If they might offer some help in the future, you could return the favor. And there's been so many people on my travels that have just helped me on my travels or changed part of my trip or whatever it is. So be social, be friendly, be nice, speak to people. I know it's hard for introverts. I get it, I am one. honestly, when you sort of make that first connection or say that first hello.

or have that first bit, it really is worth it.

James Hammond (47:11)

number nine is about money number nine is save more than you need always have a backup I've always traveled with no backup and it's pissed me off

because you get to the next place where you're working and the pressure's on, you gotta get a job, no fucking about. I've always got a way of it, but it's not always the case sometimes. So, save more than need, try and budget for the area you're going to. I would times your budget for the week by maybe 10%, maybe go 15 % more in the back pocket in case you need it. And every time you don't use it one week, you then got 15 % for the next week. On top of the 15%, you've got 30 % more. And it's there as a backup.

If you like me with no, I don't own anything. I don't own anything in terms of like a big mortgage or anything like that. Then it's key just to have a big pot of money sitting at home. And my friend John who I met, he's from Norwich. I met in Australia. He's in Japan. He always has a couple of grand in Norwich. Never goes back, but if he needs it, it's there. Yeah, it's great way to have some money available to you. So that's definitely an option.

and trust me either you're to need it or maybe one time you just need to have a hotel because you might be sick or ill or you might need book a flight and it's going be there and you're not going to regret that one bit. yeah save more than you need. Number 10 is oh just to finish number nine I'd also have a credit card as a backup don't use it just use real money but

Credit cards are great way for insurance. So if you need to book a flight, book something emergency, just do it and deal with it later. That'd be key to your travels as well.

James Hammond (48:52)

Number nine is save more money than you need. I cannot agree more. At the point of recording this episode back in the day, I knew we were gonna go on our year trip. And we probably even had a figure in mind which we saved up for, which was sixty thousand Canadian dollars for a year for two of us. Nowhere near enough. Nowhere near. Probably needed another thirty thousand, I'd say. Which sounds crazy. but this is Canadian dollars, it's not as strong as US dollars or pounds. is for two of us. We're not

Completely budget anymore. We had road trips, we had ⁓ maintenance fees, we had to pay for certain stuff. maybe ten thousand dollars more, could have been slightly more doable, but I think you always need a backup plan. So have your travel budget, have a real backup budget for your travels and make sure you have enough money to get home and start again if you're spending all your money. nowadays I wouldn't do that. Nowadays I'd rather earn money as I travel.

I'd never spend all my money again. It's stressful to get back to where we were. And I think it's just acceptable in the younger days, but as you get to thirties, you get tired of that whole sequence of starting again, I think. So just try and save as much as you can. I appreciate in this day and age it's really tough. Prices are high everywhere, wages are stagnant. It's a real, real problem. Real, real problem.

So you're gonna have to get creative about how to save more money.

And I don't envy you on that.

But this is why I advocate for doing a little bit of remote work whilst you travel. You might not think you want to work that much, but don't just do like one day every two weeks. It still trickles some money coming in, right? Still tops up the fund or tops up the backup fund, whatever it is. But do have a think about if you can save as much as you can, go away, and then think about trying to replenish that fund because it'll make things easier when your trip finishes.

You could go gung ho, and this is not financial advice. I mean, I have done this previously and I don't recommend it. But what I did do post Australia is just spend my credit card on my travels. I mean, when you leave a country, are they ever gonna know? I'll leave that one there to let you think about that. ⁓ so if you really want an ex a sort of nuclear option where you think, do know what? Stuff it, I'm gonna go. I don't care anymore. And you might have a bit of budget to go traveling, but you just want to go for more, you could go that route.

it's risky. It's gonna cost you financially, it's gonna cost you in terms of your credit score, etcetera. But it's worth a go, innit? Anyway, no. ⁓ back to more realistic ⁓ advice. I would say just have as much as possible and have more than you think,

Because you'll spend more. It's just part of life when you travel.

James Hammond (51:14)

Number 10, pack efficiently. You always pack too much. I've always thrown stuff out. Four pairs of shoes, don't need it, two pairs. ⁓ By quality instead of quantity. So I would rather have

I don't know. $500 worth of clothing from maybe Patagonia or Lululemon. That's decent quality. Then 500 pounds at $500 equivalent of double or triple the amount of stuff. Because first of all, you're going to need all that stuff. And second of all, quality stuff lasts longer. So you need to, when I go next traveling, I've got in my mind, I'm going to spend five, $600 just on clothes. It's going be a new wardrobe for me. I've got a fracking out that I've got now that's crap.

I've reduce my shoes, send them back probably because they're more homey shoes and then pack more efficiently. Yeah, I mean I've thrown so much stuff out. Honestly, you think you need it, you don't need it. The key things that you do need to pack, let's say for a week, seven days, a couple of t-shirts, maybe three. I personally have a rule of...

underwear per day because you probably do a wash a week so I do have that but then one raincoat one jumper and one two pairs of shorts stuff like that and just try and pack light as possible because the things that are heavy that you are going to need is be like water and also your toiletries you're gonna need them as well but you want to probably buy some stuff as well that you need to pack into your backpack

If you're gonna bring some stuff home or take stuff home. I've never been one for that, but some people do. There's also an option that you go with as little as possible. And then let's say you go into like Southeast Asia, you're going to buy on the markets there. Just like, it's not really great quality, but it's gonna be one or two pounds. And you can get your wardrobe that way. It's not a bad idea either. ⁓ But yeah, just revisit your backpack. You'll reanalyze it after the trip. And then next one you'll be like, don't need that. I don't need that. So pack light, pack efficiently.

quality over quantity and you won't regret it. That's kind the end of my top 10 if you like.

James Hammond (53:29)

Number 10, pack efficiently. Back in the day, all I was talking about is clothes and the usual stuff, but now I've got a whole load of gear to pack, and it's quite hard. I would love to go with 10 to 12 kilos as a backpack. I don't think it's possible anymore. Just with a tech, I have to go with 15, which is basically my osprey bag and a little day pack full of stuff. I don't want to do it, but I just can't see any way at the minute in terms of what I'm carrying,

in terms of cameras, drones, laptops, etc. So as a creative, pretty tough. But if you're not a creative,

Going with a big day pack only is the absolute dream.

You don't have to worry about checking stuff in on the airport. You don't have to worry about putting stuff underneath the the coach if you're getting a bus ride. We've all heard those stories where people get stuff nicked under there. It just makes things a bit easier if you're just doing a bit of a hike, not too much to carry. So if you can go in a bigger day pack and and you have enough stuff, go for it. Would absolutely love that for you. And it'll make things easier. I still believe in packing light. I don't believe in suitcases.

I just tried to pack a little bit more smarter now with what I've got and it's tough and it annoys me that I've taken so much. But honestly, I don't think the half of the packing where it's clothes or shoes or stuff. That hasn't changed. I don't take that much. That has not changed one bit. It's just the tech has added it on for me. Pack efficiently, pack lightly, it'll make your travels a bit more fun and a bit less stressful.

James Hammond (54:51)

I've got a few extra tips at the end that I've not mentioned but I think might be key. Travel insurance. Insurance is normally a scam. I don't believe in it but travel insurance is probably key for emergencies and I would probably advise that if you're a depths of somewhere and you need medical help. They do cover an immense amount of medical expenses.

So just get travel insurance. I have traveled about it. Nothing ever happens, but something might, that's how they get you the fear. But travel insurance is probably key for some people. Local SIM cards. Yeah, I have my phone unlocked. So when I go to a country, I can just buy a local SIM card, especially if I'm there for a month. And that'll help you with your data and your calls. I highly recommend it. India was a great example. We got some cards there. Paid 10 pound a month and I got unlimited wifi or 4G everywhere.

and it was like available everywhere in the country and minutes and stuff like that. So great way. And also it's a good thing to have if you're in a group, you might need to call someone. So try and do that. I've got another tip here. It's kind of like my own experiences. Try not to have debts when you go and try and worry about paying stuff off on your way. Is this an extra thing you don't need to think about before, during and after? So try and get as debt free as possible. Not possible. You've got mortgage down as a man, but

always rent out I guess but I guess for a house if you rent it out you've got to pay someone to look after that rental right like a management company but yeah those are extra tips I have I haven't got any more written down there's probably loads more but that's a podcast today I quite enjoyed that one looking back on some of the stuff that I've learnt and I hope that will inspire you and help you with your trip next time and yeah better crack on and get to work but say travels I think it's coming back I think

Vaccinations are cracking on with double vacs here. We've got some weekends planned in August away in the van and possibly might do a trip home in October but still up in the air yet. yeah exciting times ahead and I'm really looking into the US West Coast and a bit of basketball in the new year so I can't wait for that. But yeah, be safe, stay inspired and I'll catch you next time. Ciao. Thank you for listening to my Winginit podcast today.

You can check out my website jameshammond.org for all the links to all the platforms for your podcasts including Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify. There's a contact form on the homepage for you to get in contact for anything you want me to discuss to do with travelling. Don't forget to check out my Instagram page, James Hammond Travel. I post daily about my last 10 years of travelling, travelling and more travelling.

Finally, please rate the podcast, I'd really appreciate it you can rate it, leave some comments, and I'd love to read them. Stay safe, happy listening, happy reading, and be inspired.

James Hammond (57:42)

So that wraps up my review of this episode back in the day, episode twenty five. I think listening back to this episode kind of reminded me that although a lot has changed in five years, like technology, way I travel and even my sort of podcast production career, the core advice hasn't really changed. I think you've got to stay curious, you've got to stay flexible, travel long term, talk to people, be nice, don't wait for the perfect time to travel. all these lessons that I've mentioned in this episode still hold true.

And I think they still hold true even more today than when I first recorded this back in twenty twenty one.

Of course things change as you get older, but that's natural. And I think a few tweaks here and there is not too bad, but my ethos is still the same. I like to wing it, I like to meet people, I like to do activities, I like to walk everywhere, I like to record things for the podcast, do a bit of YouTube, and just have a great time. You don't have long on this earth and you really gotta take advantage of geopolitical situations around the world. If it's calm, you've gotta go. They can change very, very quickly, as we have seen.

In certain parts of the world. So pack your bag lightly, pick somewhere around the world, go for six weeks, have the time of your life, do some overland travel, meet as many people, do the experiences, and don't rush. Take your time, soak it all in, drink it in, and you'll have the best time of your life. because I think travel is the best thing you can do in life. I'm a bit biased, but I truly believe that.

Thanks for tuning in. If you'd like to rate and review the podcast, please do on Spotify, Apple or Podcast apps that you listen on. On YouTube, if you're there, please subscribe to Winginit Travel Podcast. That helps as well. If you'd like to donate anything to the podcast production

my travels, can donate five dollars to buymeacoffee.com forward slash winginit. That's really appreciated. And please share the podcast word of mouth with your friends and family and tell them to come back for more travel content in the future.

Thanks for tuning in. I'll catch you at the next episode. ⁓ and by the way, the kidney stones have gone. Get in.

James Hammond (59:34)

Thanks for tuning into the Winging It Travel podcast episode today. I hope you got some great content there and are inspired to go and travel. If you want help to go and travel, there are links on wingingittravelpodcast.com to help you book some travel. These are affiliate links

And anything that you book is at no extra cost to yourself. But for me, I get a tiny, tiny commission with that cost.

Also on this website is other great materials such as blogs, episodes and information about myself and my travels.

Head to WingingItTravelPodcast.com for more information.

for help to start a

This has all of my professional projects within podcasting and YouTube you can see all the different types of content that I'm creating.

And finally, don't forget to leave that review and five stars on your podcast app or if you're on YouTube, don't forget to subscribe and like the video. Thanks for tuning in. I'll see you at the next episode.