I NEVER TRAVEL WITHOUT:

My small pillow. You can`t buy one. They`re considered dangerous to infants. It`s a tiny pillow I took off a Philippine Airlines flight. With this soft little cushion, I can sleep anywhere. And have done so. In hotels when the pillows were hard as concrete. On a customs bench in Morocco. Deck class sailing down the Red Sea. It goes wherever I go. I`ve lost two on my travels. One left behind on a coach trip to Paris. A second blew into the Bay of Bengal, when I stood up from my deck chair to escape a tropical squall. I found replacements on other airlines. I don`t feel bad about taking 3 little pillows in a lifetime`s flying.

The second item I make sure is packed is my personal cake of soap in a plastic container. This is Roger & Gallet which comes in a variety of heavenly perfumes - tea-rose and gardenia are my favourites which bring a scent of home. Especially when the bathroom is horrid.

The third item I never forget is a pareo. Also known as a sarong, a kikoye or simply a cotton wrap. This is a patterned length of cotton material, worn to great effect in Polynesia. But also in East Africa, coastal India and Dhofar in Oman. The pareo, which I wore daily when working at the Club Mediterranee in Tahiti is a multi-purpose garment. It can be worn in a variety of different styles as a wrap; used as a towel after a shower or a swim, as a sheet, when the night is hot, or stuffed with ice and placed on your head for a hang-over.

Item number four is my swimming costume. I pack this as hand-luggage with my pillow and pareo so if stuck somewhere warm, I can always swim. On two occasions, once off a flight in Singapore, another double-booked in Bombay, I was the only passenger able to enjoy a dip.

Finally, I always pack a small bottle of scotch. This used to go in hand luggage but with the 100 mill rule, it now travels in my case. Whisky acts as a reviver when you reach your new hotel room. Or in event of drama on your travels. It can be drunk neat if you haven`t water and the Scots would say it doesn`t need ice. Delayed 36 hrs at Khartoum Airport, my small flacon of whisky kept body and soul together when the only alternative was tinned mango-juice.

Images: www.copix.co.uk

WEEKEND OF ADVENTURE

The Adventure Travel Exhibition held Jan 29-31 in London attracted just as many middle-aged people as it did young ones. Good on you! What are you up for? It was all represented: rock climbing, scuba-diving, sea kayaking, desert tours, ballooning, white water rafting, mountain treks, bungee jumping, hang gliding. And more.

A wonderful lift out of reality, the ATEX was well enjoyed and hopefully some bookings were made with the sun-tanned tour operators.

I managed to speak to quite a few, including Rock and Sun who specialise in climbs in Spain, Sardinia, Morocco and Thailand. Was I too old to start climbing? Not at all I was assured. `It`s easy when you get to grips with it.` Well yes, I thought, getting a grip...

Water by Nature showed great videos of white-water rafting on the Zambesi which I could say I had done. Wahoo!

Geoff Hann of Hinterland Travel was rather off-hand that I hadn`t been to Iraq since 1981 since he`s running tours there. A very comprehensive 17 day programme covers everything from the river-port of Basra to the ancient Arab city of Hatra, north-west of Baghdad. Six departures in 2010.

I particularly enjoyed a chat with James Wilcox who runs Untamed Borders, visiting the spectacular Northern Areas of Pakistan. As some will know, I am author of a book on this vibrant country, a personal favourite and deserving the attention of adventure travellers seeking something special and unspoilt.

What I also found interesting was information on international volunteering which requires no special skills. Putting something back into a community, by helping villagers better their living conditions, is one of the fastest growing sections of the adventure holiday industry. The Habitat for Humanity website, is listed with others below.

The show covered everything. Educational advice was available on malaria and tick-bite. There were equipment stands, bookstalls and a variety of speakers including Aussie travel writer Peter Moore and Mr Travel himself, Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet.


www.coralcay.org
www.untamedborders.com
www.rockandsun.com
www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk
www.hinterlandtravel.com
www.nomadtravel.co.uk
www.traveltalktours.com
www.waterbynature.com
www.walksworldwide.com

c.Christine Osborne
Image: Canoeing on the Zambesi river
Image: Glacier walk, South Island of New Zealand
Source: www.copix.co.uk

HIGH COST OF SOLO TRAVEL

When will Single Travellers receive a fair deal?

The market caters for single home-owners, single parents and single dating, but apart from a few operators offering mundane package tours, solo travellers are ignored.

I cannot be alone in finding holidays that appeal, the penalty for my interest being that I must pay for two. Me and myself.

I refer in particular to `flight specials` (with pp in small print) and to hotels charging double room rates, for single occupancy.

"To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world," writes Freya Stark, who frequently travelled alone in areas where few Europeans had left a footprint.

I agree. And perhaps the greatest pleasure of single travel is to be able to plan a day, without having to juggle with what a companion wants to see/do. (There be nothing worse - as an African proverb says, than a `bad` travel companion).

It`s not selfish. Neither is it strange. Any genuine solitary traveller will confirm that travelling alone is the best way to meet local people and to explore the culture that you have come from far to enjoy.

The Victorian women travel writers Isabella Bird, Mary Kingsley, and Marianne North, all travelled alone, each of them proclaiming that companions were a nuisance..

And in those days, there were no sites such as www.journeywoman.com to provide helpful advice for independent feet.

Perhaps `men` have a similar website. My appeal is for all single travellers.

c.Christine Osborne

Image: Woman traveller Indonesia

Source: www.copix.co.uk