The Watch List: Tracks (The Perfect Film to Inspire Adventure)

by Lindsay Shapka in , ,

Sometimes — without even realizing it — I get myself stuck in a rut, overwhelmed by the everyday, and in need of something to inspire, cut through the crap and remind me why I do what I do. 

Today, the movie Tracks did just that. 

If you are looking for a movie to inspire wanderlust, this is your film.

This incredible true adventure, tells the story of Robyn Davidson, an Australian woman who decided that she was going to walk through the desert from Alice Springs to the Indian Ocean — a trip of about 2,000 miles that would take her 6-7 months. 

It was the '70s, and sick of the repetitious life in the city and the "self-indulgent negativity" of her generation, Davidson felt this journey was her way of seeking solitude and relating to her father who had once travelled through the desert of Eastern Africa. 

“The decision to act was in itself the beginning of the journey... I believe when you are stuck in one spot, it’s best to throw a grenade at where you are standing and jump.”

When asked why she wanted to attempt such a crazy feat that would take her through deserted, waterless wasteland, her response was continuously, "Why not?"

It wasn't until she wrote to National Geographic and requested that they sponsor her trip, that things really got off the ground. They agreed to sponsor her, as long as a photographer would be able to check in with her at various times to document the trip.

So, on April 9, 1977, Robyn Davidson, four camels, and her dog set off walking. 

The resulting photos (taken by Rick Smolan) and article written by Davidson are an incredible example of what true adventure photo-journalism was before the advent of the Internet and social media. 

Davidson's article was so popular, that she wrote a book expanding on her incredible journey. And now, her spectacular story has been turned into this captivating film. 

Mysterious aboriginal culture, outback characters, survival instincts, real-life adventure — what more could you want in a movie?! Check out the preview below. I hope you find as much inspiration in Robyn Davidson's story as I did! 

Travel & Adventure Blog Feed
Tourist Scams to Watch For
Tips for visiting the Louvre
The best travel quotes from around the world.png

Hostel, Riad, Tent, Or Hotel? Your Guide to The Different Places You Can Stay While Travelling

by Lindsay Shapka in , ,

Where do you stay when you're travelling? 

It's a question I am asked all the time, and one that doesn't always have a simple answer. Some want to know if I have a secret spot somewhere that they can try out. Some ask because they want a deal and are hoping that I know of one, and some have never really travelled before, and can't fathom not staying in a name-brand hotel, so are just curious. 

But, there is no one answer to that question, as where I stay changes every trip I take. It is based on how long I am travelling for, where I am going, how much money I have to spend, whether I am alone or with friends, and many, many more factors. 

For example, on a recent adventure, I stayed in a hostel, a hotel, a riad, a tent and a guest house — all over only 10 days!

I flew into London and knew that I wanted to stay in the city centre so I could easily walk, or take the tube, to the sights that I wanted to see. I also knew that because it was the middle of July and the most expensive time of year to travel in Europe, a hotel was not an option for me. I was travelling alone, and only spending one night in the city, so knew I would be fine with just crashing in a hostel.

I managed to get a bed in a four person female dorm (not usually my first choice) in the Piccadilly Backpackers (see image above) — located less than a block from the Piccadilly tube station and square of the same name — for 35 GBP (approx. 70 CAD). Not cheap when you look at the conversion, but still cheap for central London. The room was simple and clean. The communal showers had hot water, decent water pressure, and there was free wi-fi in the common area. It was safe, central and easy to find. The perfect crash pad. 

The next night, I needed a place to stay near Gatwick Airport, as I had a really early flight the following day. I ended up staying at the Ibis Hotel near the airport for 35GBP (approx. 70 CAD) — the same price as my centrally located hostel. What I got here, however, was a modern, clean hotel with all the amenities, my own room, TV, wi-fi, and room service. It's amazing the difference being 20 minutes out of the city will make! 

Since I started travelling when I was really young and on a shoestring budget, my first instinct is to always look for the cheapest place to sleep. But when I decided to spend a week in Morocco solo, I knew that throwing out a few extra dollars every night would get me a stunning room in a historic riad. (Plus, I am a Flashpacker now. I don't have to travel on a shoestring budget anymore!)

The view of the plunge pool from my first room at the Hotel du Tresor Riad

I found an incredible place to stay through my Lonely Planet guide (it comes in handy when booking from afar!), and made the Hotel du Tresor (highly recommended — message me if you want more info.) in Marrakesh my home base.

A traditional riad, the hotel was a series of whitewashed rooms draped in Moroccan carpets, pillows, lanterns, and art, that surrounded an internal courtyard with a plunge pool. The pool was what sold me on the place when I looked at it online because it was private, secluded and would be a must-have on +45 days. My room was 35 Euros (approx. 50 CAD) a night which included an impeccably decorated space with AC, a private bathroom, use of the pool, free breakfast, and an incredibly kind group of staffers who helped me navigate the country. 

The view from my bed in the Bedouin tent.

After a few nights in the riad, I spent one night in a Bedouin tent in the desert.

Something to note: The desert does NOT cool off at night in the heat of summer.

It was like sleeping in a sauna. There was no breeze, no AC, and the walls, floors and ceiling of the tent were draped in thick carpets making it pretty stifling. There were four of us that slept on small mattresses on the ground. The shared facilities were a three minute walk from camp and as basic as it gets (aka, a hole in the ground and a bucket with some water in it).

The night was part of a mini-tour I was on, and included dinner and breakfast. The meals and sleeping part of the tour probably works out to being about 40 CAD.

My room at the Hotel La Petite Suede in Agadir, Morocco

After the desert, I spent two nights in a guesthouse in a beach town called Agadir. The place I stayed was called the Hotel La Petite Suede and cost me 110 Dh a night (approx. 14 CAD). This got me a large, safe room with my own bathroom, and a simple breakfast of baguettes, jam and coffee in the morning. There was no AC, but there was a large window, and it was only a five minute walk to the beach.

(NOTE: I was in Morocco in the offseason and the prices I paid could be doubled, or even tripled in the high season.)  

Here are a few things to consider when you are trying to figure out where to stay:

  • Proximity. Do you want to be able to walk to all the tourist sights? Public transportation, or renting a car is not always cheap, and sometimes paying a few extra dollars to stay in the centre of a city will save you money in the long run.

  • Do you want to meet people? Then DON'T stay in a hotel. You need a hostel, or a guest house with a common area.

  • How long are you really going to spend in your room? What's the point of dropping a bunch of cash on a room you are only going to sleep in? If you aren't planning on spending much time at your hotel, then maybe you should be looking for a more standard, cheaper option.

  • What do you really need to feel safe/comfortable? Is having a TV, AC, free WiFi, or even a bathroom to yourself must haves, or are they things that you can do without? The price of rooms is often cut in half if you are willing to go with a fan instead of AC.

Related Posts

Travel & Adventure Blog Feed
Tourist Scams to Watch For
Tips for visiting the Louvre
The best travel quotes from around the world.png

3 Islands You NEVER Want To Visit

by Lindsay Shapka in , , ,

White sand, palm trees, gentle breezes and sparkling blue water — who wouldn't want to spend time on a tropical island?! After the long, cold winter I just lived through, I would take a hot island escape in a second.

It turns out however, that not every island in this world is a so-called "paradise" destination.  Here are three islands that I guarantee you won't want to go anywhere near.

A small patch of trees is the only vegetation on Clipperton Island (source)

A small patch of trees is the only vegetation on Clipperton Island (source)

1. Clipperton Island

This tiny, ring-shaped atoll sits about 1,000 km off the southwest coast of Mexico. It is covered is hard, pointy coral and is battered on all sides by the Pacific Ocean and steady winds. A few palm trees are its only vegetation, there is no fresh water, the island reeks of ammonia, the lagoon around it is devoid of fish (but FULL OF SHARKS) and contains some deep basins including "the bottomless hole"  that has acidic water at its base. 

If this isn't enough to convince you to stay away, the terrible history of the island will.

Having changed hands frequently (it has belonged to the French, US and Mexico), in the early 1900s, Mexico established a colony there, delivering supplies by boat regularly. That is until the Mexican Revolution broke out and the deliveries stopped. Slowly, the inhabitants started dying until all that remained was one man and a handful of women and children. The man decided he was "king" of the island and started raping and murdering the women until they turned on him and he was killed. The last four survivors were rescued soon after, and no one (other then the odd castaway) has occupied the island since. 

One of the few photos of the inhabitants of North Sentinel Island (source)

One of the few photos of the inhabitants of North Sentinel Island (source)

2. North Sentinel Island

Part of the 572 islands in the Bay of Bengal between Myanmar and Indonesia, this island was formally a part of the Republic of India. That is until it was declared "closed" in order to preserve the distinct culture of the people living there. 

For thousands of years, this island has been home to a small tribe called the Sentinels who have violently resisted contact by outsiders. Completely untouched, the inhabitants kill anyone who tries to get near the island, driving off all outsiders with spears and arrows. 

There are estimated to be anywhere between 50-400 of them living on the island that is roughly the size of Manhattan, but because the island is so heavily forested, their buildings are not visible, and no one can get near them, there is really no way to know. (Even Google Earth can't penetrate the tree cover to give us a better look at the individuals living here). 

The last documented contact with these mysterious people was in 2006 when Sentinelese archers killed two fisherman who were within range of the island. The archers later drove off, with arrows, the helicopter that was sent to retrieve the bodies. 

Snake Island from above — nobody's crazy enough to get any closer! (source)

Snake Island from above — nobody's crazy enough to get any closer! (source)

3. Ilha de Queimada Grande (Snake Island)

If you are headed to Brazil, I suggest staying as far away as possible from this untouched paradise. Even the Brazilian Navy has forbid anyone from stepping foot on this island because it is so dangerous!

Why?

Because there are between one and five snakes per square metre living on the island.

And, I'm not talking harmless garter snakes. The palms and sandy beaches of this paradise are populated by a unique species of pit viper called the golden lancehead containing a fast-acting poison that literally melts human flesh. 

Snakes win this one. 

Related Posts

Travel & Adventure Blog Feed
Tourist Scams to Watch For
Tips for visiting the Louvre
The best travel quotes from around the world.png

24 Travel Quotes to Give You A Little Inspiration

by Lindsay Shapka in ,

“The great difference between voyages rests not with the ships, but with the people you meet on them”
—Amelia E. Barr

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends”
—Maya Angelou

“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before”
—Dalai Lama

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, dreams, conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent”
—Jim Jarmusch

“Travel is rebellion in its purest form. We follow our heart. We free ourselves of labels. We lose control willingly. We trade a role for reality. We love the unfamiliar. We trust strangers. We own only what we can carry. We search for better questions, not answers. We truly graduate. We, sometimes, choose never to come back.”
—Author Unknown

“Anything that gets the blood racing is probably worth doing.”
—Hunter S. Thompson

“Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself.”
—The Holstee Manifesto

“Among travelers, talking about the past usually meant talking about the just passed. The expiration date on old experiences came quickly. What mattered most was where you were going next.”
— from A House in The Sky by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

“Great travel writing consists of equal parts curiosity, vulnerability and vocabulary. It is not a terrain for know-it-alls or the indecisive. The best of the genre can simply be an elegant natural history essay, a nicely writ sports piece, or a well-turned profile of a bar band and its music. A well-grounded sense of place is the challenge for the writer. We observe, we calculate, we inquire, we look for a link between what we already know and what we’re about to learn. The finest travel writing describes what’s going on when nobody’s looking.”
—Tom Miller

“I don’t want to earn my living; I want to live.”
—Oscar Wilde

“Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started”
—from Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon

“If you are willing to do something that might not work, you’re closer to being an artist”
—Seth Godin

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people that are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones that do.”
—Steve Jobs

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not leave you astray ”
—Rumi

“We travel not to escape life, but for life to not escape us.”
—Anonymous

“It is a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.”
—Hugh Laurie

“If you do nothing unexpected, nothing unexpected happens.”
—Fay Weldon

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”
—Paulo Coelho

“I would rather die of passion than of boredom.”
—Vincent van Gogh

“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.”
—Joseph Chilton Pearce

“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought, there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you”
—Frida Kahlo

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.”
—Kurt Vonnegut from Mother Night, 1961

“Self-doubt can be an ally. This is because it serves as an indicator of aspiration. It reflects love, love of something we dream of doing, and desire, desire to do it. If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), “Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?” chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.”
—Steven Pressfield from The War of Art

“If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet, he said.”
—Rachel Wolchin

Related Posts

Travel & Adventure Blog Feed
Tourist Scams to Watch For
Tips for visiting the Louvre
The best travel quotes from around the world.png

Ocean Safety 101: How to Stay Safe in The Water

by Lindsay Shapka in ,

I realized after taking my 20-something-year-old friend to swim in the ocean for the first time —  and she screamed, jumped and came running at me the moment she saw a miniature crab — that not everyone understands that the ocean is more than just a really big pool.

Not only is it full of living creatures, but the water itself is mysterious, unpredictable and can be really dangerous if you aren't smart when you are out in it. 

Here are a few ocean safety tips to keep you safe when hitting the beach (other then the obvious like wearing sunscreen and staying hydrated, of course).

Watch out for sleeper waves

These waves are the ones that crash further up on the beach than normal and can knock over small children, or people who don't have steady footing, and pull you out to sea. Be careful when walking near the water line along the beach.

When swimming be careful of rip currents

Rip currents are swift rivers of backwash that surge through the surf (the choppy, foamy or discoloured water near the shore). If you are caught in one, DO NOT swim against it. Swim parallel to the beach until you are free of the current, and then head for shore. 

Stay away from rocks, driftwood and piers

Like icebergs, it is hard to tell how big the rock is underneath the water until you have scraped your hands and knees on it. Unexpected currents and large waves can push you into these obstacles as well, causing a lot of damage.

Watch out for reefs

Reefs are pretty easy to spot, they are usually a dark shadow in otherwise clear or blue water. You can also spot them by the waves that usually break over them. Not only can you risk damaging the fragile ecosystem if you step, kick, or otherwise knock into a reef, but a scrape can cause a nasty infection. 

Stay alert for fish and other critters

Jellyfish are usually easy to spot, as are small crabs that are more afraid of you then you are of them. Shuffle your feet when entering the water if you are somewhere that has stingrays present, and never go in the water with open wounds — no need to tempt the sharks! 

When in doubt, ask a lifeguard

The lifeguards are aware of currents, tides, and any type of critters that might be present on the beach. If there are not lifeguards on the beach that you are headed to, do a bit of research ahead of time or, if nothing else, make a conscious decision to be alert and aware of your surroundings.

Related Posts

Travel & Adventure Blog Feed
Tourist Scams to Watch For
Tips for visiting the Louvre
The best travel quotes from around the world.png

Reads For The Road: A House In The Sky by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

by Lindsay Shapka in , ,

I had heard that Amanda Lindhout's story A House In The Sky was a must-read (it has been hailed in Vogue, The Globe and Mail, Outside, The New York Times, and was a part of Oprah's Winter Reading List), but I was not prepared for the incredibly well written, shocking, heart-wrenching test of humanity that I would find within the book's pages. 

I don't know if it is because she is from a town only a few hours away from where I grew up, but the way that Amanda writes about travelling (especially travelling solo as a female) feels like she has put into words every unarticulated thought that I have had about my own journeys.

That is until she describes being kidnapped. 

“People would say to me all the time, “It must be so hard to travel by yourself as a woman.” But I was finding that it was easier. I was sure about it. If you smiled, if you showed people that you were happy to be there, you were met most often with warmth. The swindlers backed off easily. The tuk-tuk drivers and beggars eased up and became more human, maybe even a bit protective.”
— p 55 from "A House In The Sky" by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

Yup, I said kidnapped.

While working as a struggling freelance journalist, Amanda and her friend Nigel made their way into Somalia. On a trip outside of the capital city to take photos at a refugee camp, they were both kidnapped by a rouge group of men who immediately demanded ransom from their parents and from their countries, neither of whom who had any money to pay. 

Kept hostage for OVER A YEAR, this is the story of what she went through, how she stayed alive through horrific abuse, how she managed to retain her humanity, and how she was saved.

A warning though, once you get started, you won't want to put it down.

People & Culture Blog Feed
Guide+To+Drinking+Coffee+In+Italy.jpeg
Don't point your feet in Thailand
how to be like a new yorker in NYC