Globe Corner Blogs

Let's Go Ireland: On a Budget

I often travel by myself.  Sometimes it is great; I love the freedom and flexibility to do whatever I feel like doing at that particular moment. Sometimes it is not so great, and I become so painfully lonely that I shop just so I can talk to sales clerks. I used to think that I was not the “tour group type,” but lately I have started to take some traditional tours, and not only have I enjoyed them, but I have made lots of good friends. The problem seems to be finding the right tour group.

Recently a friend told me about a group of backpackers who organize trips to Europe that are based in the North End of Boston. There was also a great article about them in the Boston Globe today (Local Backpackers Flock Together). Since I just found out about them, I haven’t actually participated in a tour. However, I am glad that they are on my radar for future trips.

As a side note, the new 2009 Let’s Gos have arrived. They are a longtime budget traveler favorite. New titles include: Britain, Europe, France, Italy, Spain & Portugal with Morocco, Western Europe, Australia, Buenos Aires, Costa Rica, Germany, Hawaii, New York, Paris, and Thailand.

Let's Go Thailand

This is my first contribution to the Globe Corner blog — unfortunately grad school usually leaves little time for reflections on travel (I should really find a dissertation topic that will allow me to collect data in some exciting locale…), but today I’m finally done with work for the summer, and in about seven hours, I hope to be completely packed and on a plane from JFK to Tokyo. Tokyo will be my first stop on a three week trip, which also includes Hong Kong and a beach in Thailand (TBD: I have a flight into Krabi and some vague desires of white sand and warm water.)

This whirlwind tour of half the continent will be the exact opposite of my last (and first) trip to Asia, as a researcher-writer for Let’s Go Thailand. I spent two months in the north of the country, combing the region for guesthouses, bus schedules, and cooking classes. I was traveling alone, moving every other day, and visiting every last wat (monastery) in each town on my route. I got to know the region extremely well, and in fact, the north is synonymous with all of Thailand for me, since I had to return to the States almost immediately at the end of my route, and never got to see the rest of the country.

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