London Hotels for the Budget Traveler Despite it being one of the most expensive cities to visit and live in, London still remains a sought after travel destination for a myriad of reasons. And if it gives you any comfort, the capital is actually number 12 on the list of the top 20 cities to visit around the world, so whether you are a budget or luxe traveler, London will welcome you with open arms. If you’re planning on visiting this beautiful city and are still looking for a place to stay, here are three hotels you might be interested in: Hotel 55 – £65 per night Although cheaper than most international chains in the area, boutique hotels in the capital are generally pricey, but there are a few exceptions. Over in Hanger Lane is a minimalistically designed accommodation, a contemporary hotel situated in the suburbs. Here they have 26 cozy, air conditioned bedrooms, with several in-room amenities. And if you’ve got a sensitive back, know that you’ll fall asleep in comfort with high thread count Egyptian cotton sheets and an orthopedic mattress. The Hoxton – £69 per night A dream come true for those on a tight budget, The Hoxton on Great Eastern Street is known for its occasional £1 room sales, which usually sell out after a few minutes. Nonetheless, the regular rates are still within an affordable price range. With services like mini breakfast delivered to your room, they’re all about being more than just a place to sleep. It’s a place of work and play, engaging their guests with hotel neighbors through events. As part of the Soho House Group, you’ll also have plenty of bar and dining options where you can hang alongside the locals. Hotel Ibis London Heathrow Airport – £55 per night Good …

I am a little bit chipped on the side, like the reading lamp on the bed side I don’t hide my faults or straighten my waves alright, I would rather glow in my own light, cos baby I am real I am chirpy, fluffy and vivy most times but when you ask for it, I assure you will have a tough fight. When its serious, I never take it light cos baby I am real I was never miss nice in school they said look at her all alone such a fool, Didn’t do what they thought was cool or behaved like just another cartoon cos baby I am real Now, I carry fewer clothes than season in a year There are better things that I hold dear, I want to travel everywhere far and near cos baby I am real Yes, honey I carry my life on my back And chuck it myself on the bus’s upper rack, And not wait for gentleman to handle my rucksack cos baby I am real My world has no shade of grey, neither does it have any pink rays. Those are just damn old tricks by dirty pricks, I am, my sweetie, red, green and all things mix cos, yes your are right, baby I am real I could be glam, I could be sham, and I could be tall with finches of heel and have lots of air But who are we kidding my darling, I will rather be ugly, if ugly is real. After this or after that, I won’t tell my dreams, those are things that I wrote and filled reams To cow down and act like they were never part of the grand scheme, cos baby wake up, this is your time to dream

I don’t know how people manage to travel and look so gorgeous. I tried to do a Kareena Kapoor tashan look for a while when we went to Ladakh but it lasted about two hours and was wrapped up a day before the journey started. For one I could carry a maximum of ten kilos at any point. How many of your pretty dresses and high heels will you carry if it must be all on your back. It was a choice based on convenience. So in all of my journey I could only manage dry lips, tangled hair and nose that looked like an after thought on my face wearing the same sort of clothes days after days; months after months. I thought I was going to hate my travel time pictures. These would be images better stored in memory instead, I thought and hoped I lose my hard disk. But now every time I look at the pictures of my backpacking days I see this incredibly content woman who knew make up and pretty dresses could wait who knew expensive cars and fancy dinners could wait and that there will be a day for manicures or facials but now is time for something more meaningful something I will be grateful for the rest of my life. Traveling around the world takes a lot of sacrifices but it gives you so many more experiences than what books, documentaries and second hand accounts can give you. Your own experience will be your own and unique. It will be shaped by the people you meet, the risks you take and the places you see. In my journey I learnt is time is more important money but peace of mind is more important that time because nothing matters at the end of …

continued from here. I felt as though I wasn’t cut out for travel writing. I thought its not my thing. Because I cannot always be “yay! Look at me here I am in this place which is like every other place.” Or “People are really rude here because they get a million tourists here every weekend, they don’t care a shit about you but I will still tell you how awesome this place is.” I wanted to say the truth. And I did on a few occasions when I did write, I got long mails from people, comments telling me’I am a cynic’ or ‘i didn’t explore the place well enough’. All this while, my feed was still telling me how every travel blogger I know loves every single place they go to and bloody love every single day of their lives. While, I was just sick of being on the road. For months I trudged along, writing articles posting updates until Vikram got really committed took over our baby completely. That meant I could hideout. I took off from writing on the blog. I just couldn’t do it. It felt meaningless, inauthentic and dishonest. Now, months later I feel I have healed both mentally and physically. After having mulled over the beautiful, eventful, in a lot of ways painful but every bit worth it two years I have acquired a degree of peace and I am ready to write. Now that I have found a home, a comfortable sofa, a reliable cup of tea and very gratefully(!) my travel writing voice, I can hope to write again. For writing is such a blessing and there is such a great satisfaction in putting to words what your heart feels and giving your thoughts wing. Sometimes they will stagger, they may …

Travel for your dreams are many but life is one. Travel for you want to live long time but time has wings. Travel for its now or never. But, honey, who are we kidding, now is better than ever. We started this page one and a half years ago when we were traveling through Vietnam. It was all great. We were taking pictures, sharing them on our page, writing blog posts and connecting with people. I had a great time. But suddenly , I found that I could not write anymore. Everything was fine, so then what went wrong that I dropped the ball. On our way to South East Asia, like every avid traveler I had carried a big travel guide of everything in South East Asia. The book sort of spoke about every nook and corner of South East Asia in an exclamatory tone, like an overexcited personal guide. Now, an overexcited guide who magnifies the reality before your eyes and captures your imagination is tolerable for a weekend. But we lived this for six months going by the guide book suggestions, following people’s blog and spending long times in different places. It all sounded great but I realized a lot of times the places just didn’t stand up to the tall claims beyond a day or two. If we stayed some place longer its touristic facade came off. In some cases it didn’t like we spent months in McloedGanj and we would still go back there in a wink. BUt there is no way I would step anywhere in some places which were described as must see destination. I would come back and write my honest review of places on my blog, which I thought was my space, but I often got people disagreeing with me. When …

Heritage villas with shaded courtyards turned to hotels and restaurants, catholic churches of immaculate conception dotting the lanes, unending beach strip with sand the color of silver and alcohol available at prices lower than rest of India: well, that could be the tourist giant and party haven, Goa. But lack of shacks by the water or people drinking in public and absence of sun bathing European vacationers or jet skiing Indian weekenders makes it the intimate and cosy, authentic and honest, Pondicherry. It amazes me what Pondicherry could have been – the decadent French speaking town, smugged at its history of having served a colonial power thats not English and a popular beachside getaway close to a big city; much like its alter ego on the other coast of India. But its not. Its better. The roads are not clogged with SUVs driving down from Mumbai, the prices don’t shoot up here on the drop of a hat; the locals are shy but polite and the food has both taste and character. The city was divided into two parts on racial terms: one, the French designed, ocean front “white” town and then on the other side of a giant canal, the Tamil quarter. On either side you see sites emblematic of two cultures very diverse but yet influencing each other. While, the French part feels like small island of history, an open air museum with an air of abandonment and nostalgia of era gone by, the town on the other side continues to move at the speed of any other regular Indian town. The street names are in French, the police still wear French caps called kepis, restaurants serve French cuisine making Pondicherry the easiest place to find croissant in India. However, there is no denying that beyond the white …

ICELAND is a land of extremes with unique and sometimes weird things to offer – raw nature – geysers and hot springs – volcano craters – daylight day & night – truly awesome waterfalls – mesmerizing landscapes – practically no trees – gigantic glaciers – pristine lakes – powerful and plentiful rivers – a true getaway from civilization. Here are  12 amazing experiences that will leave you in awe of Iceland. #1 VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS – Holuhraun near Bardarbunga. A very recent volcano has a popular tourist attraction. #2 GEOTHERMAL POOLS – Drinking Beers in the Natural Pools, Need We Say more? #3 GLACIER HIKING – They say the world’s glaciers are disappearing. The area of Skaftafell in the National Park of Vatnajökull has some of the most picturesque glacier hiking oppportunities. #4 ICEBERGS – The glacier lagoon of Jökulsárlón is a unique place of earth. It’s the deepest lake of Iceland. Huge and surreal blue icebergs float in the lagoon. This is one of the rarest sights on Earth. #5 ICE CAVES – A truly unique experience. #6 SNOWY LANDSCAPES – Landmannalaugar is a winter paradise, but accessible only by a super jeep #7 SOFT MOSS – Being such a volcanic island, Iceland’s lava has been covered by a thick layer of soft moss makes a very beautiful outdoor setting. #8 NORTHERN LIGHTS – Iceland is the best location on the planet to enjoy the phenomenon of the aurora borealis during the winter. #9 WINTER ACTIVITIES – You could drive a SnowMobile gazing at this wonderful kaleidoscope of nature. #10 PUFFINS – There are so many migratory birds in Iceland, for once you will fell they are here for tourist-watching. #11 MAJESTIC WATERFALLS – One of the most famous and clicked sights in Iceland. #12 HIKING PARADISE – Need I say more. Here you can see the waterfall Svartifoss, framed in columnar basalt rocks, in the …

The ancient Egyptian culture and mystery surrounding the pyramids draws millions of tourists from all around the globe. It is also a great place to experience solo exploration, which is one of the best ways to learn and challenge oneself. The hardest things about traveling alone to somewhere new are: staying safe, deciding where to go and choosing what to do. As a solo traveler, you’ve got time on your side! However, you can easily get overwhelmed by the sheer number of attractions in Egypt. Here’s a little help to whittle down your list. Consider these must-see attractions and experiences in Egypt and tips for staying safe while travelling abroad on your own. World Famous Ancient Attractions The focus of most tourists remains the historical monuments, including The Pyramids of Giza and The Great Sphinx, the Nile, the Temple of Karnak at Luxor, Luxor Temple and the Queen Hatshepsut’s Tomb and Valley of the Kings. Take time to fully immerse yourself in the experience: walking around these ruins brings some real ‘pinch-yourself’ moments and you’ll be able to fully appreciate their magnificence with no one to drag you away from them. Snorkeling and diving along the Red Sea coast or camel trekking into the mountains of Sinai are more adventurous past times in Egypt. If you’d rather take it easy, then there’s always the option to sunbathe on the hot sands of Sharm-el-Sheikh! Try the local foods Egypt is famous not only for its rich ancient culture but also its great traditional food. Egyptian food comprises of a mixture of different civilizations. Kushari is often considered the Egyptian national dish. This vegetarian meal consists of pasta, tomato sauce, green lentils, macaroni and rice mixed together with caramelized onions. This hearty dish is sold widely in restaurants and roadside stalls. It’s …

Niranjan is passionate about travel, be it long bike rides or treacherous trekking or leisure holidaying or backpacking through the countryside or an engrossing train journey. He dreams of setting foot on every single country on planet earth and meeting adorable strangers and learning new cultures. You can read about his travels at http://www.talesofanomad.com Follow him on Twitter or Facebook  We asked him what are the 3 places every traveler must visit in India? Here is what he said. #1 Gokarna-  Besides the very popular Om beach, Gokarna is a hippie’s haven. With beach treks, secluded beaches, shacks and absolutely nothing to do, this tiny fishing hamlet lures travellers like no other. Laze, walk and enjoy the lovely sunsets over the five beaches that Gokarna boasts of. Two of those beaches are approachable only by boat or by trek. How awesome is that? #2Varanasi-  Varanasi is all about the 3 Gs- the alluring Ganges, the languorous Ghats and the intriguing Gallis (alleyways). Add to it, the chaos, the temple bells and hymns, the famous ganga arti, the sadhus, the numerous temples, the boats, the kulhad chai, the paan and what you get is a cocktail of culture, religion, people and beliefs. Isn’t this more than enough to lure any traveller to the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city? Varanasi can be infectious and there aren’t many who would like to part with the city once they fall for its charm. #3 Varkala- Red laterite cliffs against blue background makes for a terrific landscape in Varkala. Arguably one of the best beaches in the country, Varkala beach is well maintained, attracts hordes of foreign tourists and do not be surprised if you find yourself to be the only Indian out there. With numerous cafes atop the cliff, it is absolutely blissful to stare at the blue …