For those who haven’t tried the addictive drug that is “Reddit.com“, a new travel tool has emerged from the travel subcategory called “VisaMapper“.  It’s an attempt to attack the age old question, “What countries do I need a visa to visit?”.

Simply enter your country and, BOOM, all international visa requirements are mapped out.

Read more about it here – Reddit/Travel – About Visa Mapper (Click)

Or, go directly to the site and start playing around – VisaMapper.com (Click)

Yes, I’m back home.  I spent the past month trying to surprise friends and family which turns out I’m terrible at (but, hence the absences of updates).

Is it weird being home?  Nope.  What’s weird is it feels like I never left.  The whole trip feels like one elongated dream.

I keep having flashbacks of some journey around the world in 280 days packed with a two lifetimes worth of stories.

Now there’s only one thing left to do; Turn it into a movie.

Every time you log on to Backpackers Union (on a computer) you see a picture of me at the top of the page*.  It’s not random.  That picture was from the first trip I ever took overseas and taken within the first few days of arriving.  It was also that trip that inspired the other trips and eventually the Backpackers Union.

A few seconds before the picture was taken I almost died and didn’t find out why until months later.

I was on Noosa Head, an infamous surf spot in Australia and hiking along some trails with a few buddies.  We were told very clearly to stay on the paths by a local surfer.  To get that picture, I not only jumped off the path, I scaled over a fence and climbed down a rock wall to get to the ledge where the picture was taken.  When I landed I was greeted by a charging snake I couldn’t see until it was staring at my ankle.  But it never bit.

Completely oblivious to what type of snake it was, I told my friends to take a look before jumping back to the chain link fence and shimmying about ten feet away and jumping back down to take the picture.

Months later I found out I was staring at the #2 most venomous snake in the world which infest that area.  The Northern Brown Snake.  The reason he didn’t strike and I lived to talk about it;  I was naive enough to stand still to see, “what stupid animal was charging towards me instead of away?”.  Little did I know, they are attackers and charge their threats.  Standing still is what saved my life as they respond to movement and it assessed me as not a threat.

In the end the picture came out great but I almost died for it.

I’m really glad he didn’t bite, the trip clearly became amazing.

*This is the picture that was at the top of the first version of the website.

There’s a new mobile version of movie Backpackers Union that’s way better than before!  And to make things even more awesome, you can easily add it as an app to you’re home screen.

To add it as an App, simply click here to go to the home page then follow these steps.

Done!

You can also add just the section war stories, so you can add anonymous, awesome and funny stories about your travels from anywhere in the world by following the same four step, but starting here…  and because your writing is more likely better than mine… please add stories so we can all enjoy!  The section is completely anonymous if you don’t use your name!

Thanks again to everyone who reads and follows!

*After a few upgrades, the icon now looks likes this  

As a follow up to my last post and the mistakes I made;  read this and don’t make the same ones.

The ATM fee issue differs from country to country.  After hours of research, I found most countries have some pretty good options to avoid or reduce ATM fee’s;  USA has the least, but “one” of the best.

Avoid International ATM Fee’s:  The number one way to avoid international ATM’s fees is opening up a  Charles Schwab High Yield Investor Checking Account account BEFORE** you leave the USA.  It’s easy and their card offers fee rebates from any ATM worldwide.  This is the only card in the USA to do this with no stipulations.  For example, CapitalOne’s Debit Card “Does this” except you need to maintain a $5000 balance.  So, if you have an extra $5000 laying around to float your balance above this threshold, by all means go for it.

Do make this a priority as $hit He@ds at Sovereign Bank charge; a $6 International ATM Fee + a 4% fee of the total withdrawn overseas + a 3% currency conversion fee, then you pay the local ATM’s fee ($0-$5).  Whats this mean?  Take out $200, Sovereign Bank gladly take $20 for themselves, this is not including the local ATM fee charge… multiply that by the total savings for your trip and all your withdrawals… it add’s up quickly.

**(See footnote at bottom if you’re already traveling and want the Schwab Card anyway).

Credit Cards:  Quick note; get a card that touts “travel benefit” stuff.  My CapitalOne Ventura Credit Card’s points count for double on travel related stuff.  I was able to “erase” a $137 flight with points I’ve accrued on travel related transactions. They also claim no foreign transaction fees which are common with other Credit Cards, however I’m unsure how they handle currency conversions (Some Banks, ATM’s, Cards, will skim a little off the top when converting currency’s.  It’s usually a 1% or 2% but watch out for it).  I would shop around for some options, but I’ve been happy with this one.

Free Call’s and Text World Wide:  Bring your smart phone!  Wifi is everywhere.  There’s a joke in Ukraine, “Wifi is a right, not a privilege”.  I was on my laptop in a Taxi connected to the “Free Wifi Kiev” network while driving around looking for my hostel.

With service like Viber, Whatsapp, talkatone* and a million others, you can make free calls and text anywhere there’s a wifi network, which is everywhere.  So, while in 2009 you were looking like a dork in an internet cafe with a giant headset and mouth piece talking to Mom and Dad at 40 cents a minute, you can now look like every other dork back home sitting around a bar table with your friends staring at your smart phones and chat for free.

Bringing your computer?  I personally hate having the responsibility, but LOVE having it.  The best trick with a computer is Google Voice.  You can use any phone number to set it up (I use my parents landline) and it won’t effect that number.  You can then make free ‘computer to phone’ calls and text from Gmail (to the USA).  The rates to other countries are reasonable and can be found on the Google Voice’s website.

*Update:  You can use google voice on your phone over any wifi networks and make free calls to, or within the US by downloading the free app “Google Hangouts“ (Talkatone no longer supported free).

This whole trip I’ve spent hours on the phone calling the USA and it has cost me $0 so far.

PS.  I get paid nothing if you click or take any of this advice, which I think makes me more stupid than benevolent, but I hope it helps.

**Applying for a Charles Schwab High Yield Investor Checking Account while overseas?  I tried this and I was not happy with Charles Schwab’s when the process was done.  I filled out forms, spoke to agents, linked accounts, transferred money, and even faxed special document’s so they’d mail the card to Ukraine.  They mailed the card and 5 days before it arrived the fraud department called and said, “they’d be happy to activate the card, just please fly back to the US and go to the nearest Charles Schwab Bank to confirm your identity……”.  

Not getting Ukraine’s US ambassador to confirm my identify, granting my family a power of attorney, or flying to their Hong Kong office was enough… I needed to fly home or have a “Durable Power of Attorney”, in other words kill myself, then they would activate my account. 

The way around this; The application process is online.  The fraud department flagged my IP Address (my computer’s location) as coming from Ukraine which is why they put a hold on my account. To get around this; get on the phone with Mom or Dad have them fill out the online form from within the USA.  Use your google voice number to talk to the representative when they call to confirm the information (It’ll show as a USA Phone number.  The representatives are unbelievably awesome, it’s the fraud policies that are not).  Then have the card mailed to you… this parts on you, but I’d say have it mailed to your US address on record and then have a friend or family member send it to you.  Boom, done.

My previous rant about WordPress playing with my emotions when they launch faulty software updates has been fixed.  What does this mean?  From now, until they screw up again, you can click on a photo and see a bigger one.  So for all you creeps trying to enlarge Jamie’s photo from the previous post, I’ve tested it 13 or 14 times and it working.  I’ll test it again later to be sure.

*This was relevant before upgrading the site.

I took this story from Jamie, but I think we can all relate and it’s hysterical.  Enjoy!

“This, apparently, is an actual letter received by the UK Passport Office. 

Dear Sirs,

I’m in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe how is it that Sky Television has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a bleeding satellite dish from them back in 1988, and yet, the Government is still asking me where I was bloody born and on what date.

Do you guys do this by hand?

My birth date you have on my pension book. 

It’s on all the income tax forms I’ve filed for the past 30 years. 

It is on my National Health card. 

My driving licence. 

My car insurance. 

On the last eight damn passports I’ve had. 

It’s on all those stupid customs declaration forms I’ve had to fill out before being allowed off the plane over the last 30 years. 

All those insufferable census forms. 

Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother’s name is Mary Anne, my father’s name is Robert and I’d be absolutely astounded if that WOULD ever change between now and when I die!!

I apologise, I’m really pissed off this morning. 

Between you an’ me, I’ve had enough of this bullshit! 

You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my bleeding address!!

What is going on? Do you have a gang of neanderthal arseholes workin’ there?

Look at my damn picture.

Do I look like Bin Laden?

I don’t want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for shit sakes. I just want to go and park my arse on some sandy beach somewhere.

And would someone please tell me, why would you give a shit whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days?

If I ever got the urge to do something wierd to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, you’d be the last fucking people I’d want to tell!

Well, I have to go now,’cause I have to go to the other end of the poxy city to get another fucking copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of £30.

Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day?

Nooooooooooooo, that’d be too damn easy and maybe make sense.

You’d rather have us running all over the fuckin’ place like chickens with our heads cut off, then WE have to find some arsehole to confirm that it’s really me on the damn picture – you know, the one where we’re not allowed to smile?! (bureaucratic fuckin’ morons)

Hey, do you know why we couldn’t smile if we wanted to? Because we’re totally pissed off!

Signed

An Irate Citizen

P.S. Remember what I said above about the picture and getting someone to confirm that it’s me?

Well, my family has been in this country since 1776 …

I have served in the military for something over 30 years and have had full security clearances over 25 of those years enabling me to undertake highly secretive missions all over the world.

However, I have to get someone ‘important’ to verify who I am – you know, someone like my doctor ..

WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN FRIGGIN` PAKISTAN!”

Thanks Jamie!

New Years Eve just feels like the right time to get a little deep and cheesy.

A speech Steve Jobs delivered to a graduating class at Stanford University was one of the most impactful things I’ve ever read.  When I was deciding whether or not to go through with this project, his speech was one of the many influences that helped push me to this chair on the top of the Mad Monkey Bar in Siem Reap Cambodia with a bag of cameras and a stack of releases.

I hope you read it and I hope it inspires your choices in 2013.  And thanks again to everyone who has been a part of Backpackers Union; In it, supporting it and watching it!  “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”…

Steve Jobs’ commencement speech to Stanford in 2005.

“I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out? Continue reading Happy New Years…Eve! →

I use a software called WordPress to manage this site.  Unfortunately what they call “updates” should be called “experiments”.  I’ve been having issues loading media onto the site with the latest “experiment”, and while I personally believe my written content is pure gold, you may not agree.  So, I include photos and videos to keep everyone interested.

I should have this sorted out in a day or so, but here’s a promotional flyer for a mustache party in Kiev to give you a smile.

The answer is yes, and it’s about time I say thank you!  I fully appreciate it is everyone supporting this film and project that will make it successful!  The website averaged 1,275 hits daily last month (38,256 total) which is insane and awesome.  Keep reading and sharing it with others and I will try to keep it brief and interesting!

Thank you all!