TRAVEL RESOURCES

Chasing the Real World does not provide location guides, itineraries, packing lists, or other concrete resources. Instead, this site wants to get you ready to captain your own ship on the sea of independent travel- by inspiring you to connect with the world, giving you a philosophical approach to travel, entertaining you, and telling the truth of what’s out there.

But sometimes you just need to plan a trip. You need to know how to get from Nouakchott to Atar. Where to get a SIM card in Kathmandu. Whether the ferries are running in Cape Verde. For such questions, you’ll need to plumb the wild world of online travel resources. On this page, I’ve curated a list of the best sites. Scroll down for the category you want (general planning, apps, transport, outdoors, country specific).

BEST ONE FIRST My favorite travel resource of all time is www.travelindependent.info/. It has everything you need to think about independent travel, and actually get on the road. The brief but accurate country summaries are required reading. It also has this map which never fails to rouse the travelling spirit.

• www.travelindependent.info once again. Check it out!
• Lonely Planet’s Thorntree Forum– Just a public Q&A forum, and takes some sifting, but still the most current and comprehensive advice anywhere. Includes info for almost everywhere in the world.
• Country-specific Facebook groups are often indispensable for extremely current info (e.g. Nepal Backpackers Club, Backpacking Pakistan, Expat Zambia). Try searching [Country name + keyword-travel/backpacking/etc] on FB to find the groups.
• Against the Compass– Key info on less-visited places that have few other resources online.

• maps.me for offline navigation. Necessary if you run out of data or can’t get a SIM card. It is also traveler-centric so includes many footpaths and other cool things that Google Maps doesn’t show. Gaia is apparently better for offline terrain.
• Rideshare apps (varies by country)- Taking over the world and making things much easier for travelers. See “transport” below.
• Mobile payment apps (varies by country)- Also taking over. Solves the problem of needing to get change, and safer than carrying lots of cash. Sometimes requires a local bank account, nut not always.
• Photo backup apps like Google Photos so that you can back up photos immediately every time you have WiFi. Good insurance against lost phones, cameras, memory cards, etc.

• Flights: Big aggregators like Kayak, Skyscanner, Google Flights are almost always best, but if flights are looking suspiciously expensive, use one of the “general planning” resources above to see if your chosen country has a different setup.
• Between cities, same country: Many countries now have online booking for buses and trains. Worth searching whether your destination country has this.
• Within cities: Rideshare apps are expanding fast: Uber for some countries, but a lot of diversity in what dominates each country, including homegrown apps (Bolt for Nigeria, Tootle for Nepal, Go-Jek for Indonesia, etc) . Look for moto rideshare apps for cheapest prices, esp. South/Southeast Asia.
• Crossing borders: Thorntree and independent blogs will have the best info. In many places, bus companies will offer cross-border trips, but do research to verify: this does not always work for foreigners.

• SummitPost has specific hiking/climbing information for almost every mountain worldwide.
• AllTrails has for 200k+ hiking trails across many countries (but leans to Europe, N America).
• I have not used Gaia yet myself, but I’ve heard is has the best free, offline terrain maps for hiking- anywhere in the world.

• India: IndiaMike, Stepwell Atlas
• Indonesia: Gunung Bagging
• Senegal: Dakar Eats
• USA: Free Campsites