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<title>Travelfish Idlebanter forum</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/</link>
<description>Digest of the Idlebanter travel forum</description>
<pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 2013 07:17:42 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title>Getting There Cheap</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/21146_Getting-there-cheap/0</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 18 Feb 2013 06:21:23 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hi everyone, long time reader writing here and am looking for a bit of advice. Currently, Im looking into flying back to SEA in january of 2014. Prices now seem much higher than i remember when i flew a few years ago, so heres where travelfish community comes in. Im looking to fly out of edmonton alberta, and hopefully into indonesia or philppines. Does anybody have a cheap way that they have used to get here (Say fly into shanghai then a cheap flight on air asia) or a website that has been consistant in good deals? i know im looking pretty far ahead so rices are still up there.

Also, Im currently collecting RBC avion point. are there any airlines of companies that will do points exchanges or something similar? I know british airways ... ]]></description>
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<title>Chinese New Year And Cambodia Disintegrates</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/21082_Chinese-New-Year-and-Cambodia-disintegrates/0</link>
<pubDate>Sat, 09 Feb 2013 12:08:01 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ First day of the holiday and already it's become a stress-fest. I really don't know how I am going to cope. I'm sure you people out there understand what it's like but this was a reach for the valium time. No sausages! And all because it's New Year. What next no muesli for the hippies, no burgers for the Yanks?
Does anyone else have these profoundly gloomy problems during local holidays? ]]></description>
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<title>SPAM From Zorpia.com</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/20908_SPAM-from-Zorpia-com/0</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:02:46 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ I received a personal invitation from somebody called &amp;quot;Stephen&amp;quot; this morning which like all emails, loads in an application called Mailwasher Pro which I have installed. That allows me to read the contents straight off my ISP's mailserver without having to download it first to my own machine. There's also a freebie version called Mailwasher Free incidentally.

Since I don't know anybody by that name, I checked out the headers which can also be displayed in Mailwasher and found the name of the company called Zorpia it originated from. Here's the Wikipedia article for it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorpia

There's some useful advice in the Wiki article of how to manage gmail security if you've got an email account there, but ... ]]></description>
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<title>Felt Great</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/20836_Felt-Great/0</link>
<pubDate>Sat, 19 Jan 2013 05:30:37 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Deleting my LP account ...they could not bother,so I'm done.
I will now make it my mission every time I'm in a book store, to put one of their books in the FICTION section...where their mission statement fits in... ]]></description>
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<title>Skinky Motorbike Adventure</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/20808_Skinky-motorbike-adventure/0</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:49:06 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ &amp;quot;Interesting&amp;quot; approach to travel...

&amp;quot;Adventure motorcycle barging. 20,000 km. 8 countries. 5½ months. Never paid to sleep. Never washed white-T/jeans. Never shaved. No meat. No hotels. No bullshit.


The duo also lived by a set of strict rules referred to as The 10 Commandments, which included never paying for a hotel or hostel, abstaining from eating meat completely and never, ever wasting a drop of beer.&amp;quot;


You can read the full story here on TNT Magazine - worth a look just for the top pic of those unwashed tshirts.

Thoughts? ]]></description>
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<title>Lonely Planet Forums Back On The Agenda</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/20781_Lonely-Planet-forums-back-on-the-agenda/0</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:13:37 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ It appears that Lonely Planet forums are up and running again. They've put a number of filters in place apparently and have updated their guidelines. I won't bother to link to it though since I'm sure everybody knows where to find their forums. ]]></description>
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<title>Dual Pricing (in Thailand And Elsewhere)</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/20771_Dual-pricing--in-Thailand-and-elsewhere-/0</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jan 2013 10:53:00 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Here's a recent blog entry of a foreigner living in Thailand defending the practise of dual-pricing that I thought some may find interesting! I don't agree with it at all, but that's just me.

Thoughts? ]]></description>
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<title>Hitching And Couchsurfing Across Afghanistan</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/20726_Hitching-and-couchsurfing-across-Afghanistan/0</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:25:55 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Matador has a pretty interesting story about a guy who more or less overlanded from Serbia to China. What is most interesting is he couchsurfed and hitched through Afghanistan on which he says, in part:

&amp;quot;Before setting out, he reviewed each of the three main overland routes through Afghanistan. Hitchhiking through the south and central parts of the country was out of the question, though a bus trip was not much safer due to the possibility that he would be kidnapped and held for ransom. Additional hazards included land mines, roadside bombs, and bandits. He did consider hitching a ride on a US consulate helicopter, but was unceremoniously turned away after being informed that they were not a taxi service.&amp;quot;
On couch surfing ... ]]></description>
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<title>Korean Backpacker Beaten Up By Greek Police</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/20700_Korean-backpacker-beaten-up-by-Greek-police/0</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jan 2013 19:44:14 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ There's a report on the BBC News site this morning about a Korean backpacker who was apparently mistaken for a migrant and subsequently beaten up by the Greek police. Here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20958353

It's sad when racism takes hold in a country like that. ]]></description>
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<title>Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Temporarily Closed</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/20537_Lonely-Planet-Thorn-Tree-temporarily-closed/0</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2012 13:21:30 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ and no one noticed....

would it ever have existed? ]]></description>
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<title>What Can Go Wrong When You Lose Your Bag</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/20363_What-can-go-wrong-when-you-lose-your-bag/0</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 03 Dec 2012 19:02:54 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ This is one guy's story about what happend when his bag containing a wallet, passport, etc was snatched.

&amp;quot;If I'd known what lay ahead, I might've thrown a rock at the head of the teenager who ran off with the bag containing my passport, driver's licence, credit card and cash. But I wasn't to know then that losing your identity in Thailand starts a downward spiral that could end in temporary insanity, if you let it.&amp;quot;

http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/asia/8033072/My-Thai-bag-snatch-nightmare

Let it be a lesson!  Keep spare cash, a spare credit/ATM card and a photocopy of your passport in a separate, safe place.  Don't carry your passport on you if you plan to go out and get drunk.

Having lost my wallet on the first day of a ... ]]></description>
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<title>How Was Your Gap Year</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/20150_How-was-your-Gap-Year/0</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 08 Nov 2012 03:12:25 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ I'd love to hear from people who have taken a Gap Year / Career Break. I'm keen to hear your experiences, both good and bad and would you recommend it? ]]></description>
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<title>Luggage</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/19868_Luggage/0</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 08 Oct 2012 03:07:50 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hi,
we are traveling to Thailand and we plan to make some domestic fligths too. Does anyone know if there are lockers or any storage rooms at the  Don Muang airport, so we don't need to travel arround with two or three suitcases? The lockers must be big enough for a 20 kg suitcase. ]]></description>
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<title>Travel Memories</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/19795_Travel-memories/0</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 01 Oct 2012 07:48:54 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hello !
What tools are you using during your travel to save it's real image? I mean, do you think that photos and text is enough? I'm looking for some method to save my memories easily but better than only with camera. What do you think is the best way to do it? What is most important for you while creating your documentary? I'm looking for inspiration. What if you are travelling with buddies? Any method to create documentary easily and together? I know I'm asking many questions but I'm a little bit desperate about it 


Cheers,
Blaise


PS. If this is bad category, I'm sorry, but I couldn't find better in my opinion. ]]></description>
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<title>Has Anyone Else Noticed This?</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/19752_Has-anyone-else-noticed-this-/0</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:41:20 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ I have noticed that the word &amp;quot;Trek&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;Trekking&amp;quot; is used almost exclusively here, while the word &amp;quot;hiking&amp;quot; is never used, even though they have different meanings and it would seem for the most part people coming out here are going to hike vice trek. Anyone know the reason for this? I find these linguistic developments interesting. ]]></description>
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<title>Coming Back To Travelfish</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/19739_Coming-back-to-Travelfish/0</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:59:22 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ for a while there, I was looking at TF on a daily basis ... Since I moved to China i've barely been on.

I've got a 6 week vacation coming up so I'm back snooping around again. Seems like not much has changed on the forum, the same questions n'that.

I just wanted to say 'hello' really.

Hello! ]]></description>
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<title>Annoying Verbiage</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/19152_Annoying-Verbiage/0</link>
<pubDate>Sat, 21 Jul 2012 21:57:25 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Things are slow on travelfish right now, so I thought I'd add a pet peave of mine to liven up converation. I was reading the Lonely Planet Thailand for 2012. It is a characiture for dorky writing style full of words that are over-used and cliche among the backpacker set. These are words that should never, ever again appear in a tourist guide:

Amazing - It's almost as though there is a prohibition against using other like words such as &amp;quot;terrific', &amp;quot;superb&amp;quot;, &amp;quot;Brilliant&amp;quot;, etc. Now I cringe every time I see the word in print.

Culture - A great amorphis term that really means nothing when used in the tourist context. Culture is about language and people and how their social structures function, but somehow that has ... ]]></description>
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<title>Digging For Laos</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/19020_Digging-for-Laos/0</link>
<pubDate>Sat, 07 Jul 2012 20:16:50 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ We just got 14 people arrive here on their way to Laos to do voluntary work.Admirable but what their going to do is dig irrigation ditches! Surely the people of Laos can dig their own.I can understand if someone has a particular skill to offer but surely this is ridiculous.what do other Travelfishers think? ]]></description>
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<title>Going To Lembongan 5-8 July Or So?  Favour Needed...</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/18991_Going-to-Lembongan-5-8-July-or-so---Favour-needed---/0</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:23:31 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ I was wondering if anyone is going to Lembongan over the next 2-3 days and would mind doing me a favour?  It will entail visiting a very lovely Indonesian couple who have limited English (so knowing bahasa would be a bonus!) and getting some info for me. It's mostly just having a chat for 15 mins or so and would be a nice opportunity to meet a gracious local seaweed farming family.   They live by the mangroves where you will invariably end up at some point, so it's very easy to find.

If you're willing and able, please send me a private message, and I'll give you more details. ]]></description>
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<title>Help With My Novel!</title>
<link>http://www.travelfish.org/board/post/idlebanter/18932_Help-with-my-novel-/0</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jun 2012 03:34:36 +0000</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hi everyone,

In the absence of a trip to plan, I've started writing a novel using my travel experiences as part of the plot. Unfortunately, I haven't done everything that I would like my character to do... and while I can look at photographs and websites to get a sense of what it would be like to be there, but I was wondering if anyone would be willing to tell me their experiences of certain places?

I'm only in the planning stages, but at this stage would appreciate descriptions of:

What it's like to be at a floating market in Bangkok (have been looking at the Taling Chan Market). I'm talking smells, sounds, tastes etc.

A trip around Koh Lanta by moped

Favourite foods from these areas that I may not have tried

I understand that ... ]]></description>
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