Travel Tips | Transfercar Blog

Move over backpacker; here comes the flashpacker!

The latest trend in travelling as recognized during the latest ITB Berlin is Eco and Economy Travel. Everybody who’s anybody in the world of the travel industry meets at ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel show, which was held last March. The starring role in the rising Eco and Economy market is the flashpacker.

The what……??

Yes, you heard it right. The flashpacker. I give you a new breed of traveller; the flashpacker is fresh out of university, end twenties to mid/end thirties with an ambitious travel bug comparable with that of a backpacker. Treasured family times at the Holiday Inn are not yet cute for the flashpacker; he or she still desires a, dare I say, adventurous holiday where a lack of luxury and comfort are not an issue.

The flashpacker holds down a steady job and has got a bit of cash to throw around. What they don’t have on the other hand is time. Their careers are on the roll and need 60-hours-per-workweek-neutering and dedication, and they sure as hell can’t afford to take a sabbatical if they ever want to be somebody in their line of work. Well, not for the coming 10 years anyway.

Backpacker versus flashpacker

The difference between the two are quite obvious. The backpacker we’re all too familiar with is usually stretched for money, with lots of time on their hands and somewhat wet behind the ears when they set foot on foreign soil. They are fresh out of high school, 18 to 23 years old and quite successful at postponing the inevitable grown-up-life back at home for quite some time. That is to say, until the working holiday visa runs out, the overdraft has become painfully overdrawn and they are forced to make ‘THE CALL’ home for funds. The funds usually come in a supersaver-combo-deal: Money in exchange for a swift return to The Motherland. That usually snaps them out of the backpacker-mode and into moving-on-to-university-mode. Behold the natural cycle of the backpacker. Everybody wins.

Green and clean

Now, is backpacking mostly about partying, fruit picking, hitch-hiking or the Kiwi Experience Bus, sightseeing the NZ top 10 in a whirlwind fashion whilst surviving another day on $5, the grown up flashpacker has outgrown all this. Eco tourism and cultural refinement are key for the environment-minded flashpacker. The Kiwi Experience Bus is a no-no as goes for hitch-hiking. The flashpacker only does Eco, whether this is on a campground in the sticks of in a 5 star hotel downtown. They often rent a vehicle, preferably a small van or larger SUV, as long as it is capable of sleeping two adults.

As a result of this rapidly emerging trend, the ‘green and clean’ market in New Zealand alone is expected to grow with another 70% until 2020, with the biggest group of flashpackers for New Zealand and Australia expected to come from India and China.

Now, call me silly, but can anybody tell me how we are going to accommodate this immense tourism grow spurt whilst remaining truly ‘green and clean’?

Driving throughout the Land of the Long White Cloud

When you set foot on beautiful Aoteroa you probably have already made up your mind on how you are going to get you and your backpack around New Zealand. Some backpackers are very keen and pedal their way around the islands, other hitch-hike while some rent a car or motor home.

Another option worth considering is a backpacker bus. A sort of magical mystery tour, taking you from one hotspot to another and in between designated stops you can drink, sleep and do…..stuff. Please bear in mind that these busses are also know as ‘The Gonorrhea Experience’. So be smart boys and girls.

Now, with these busses you’re guaranteed at the end of your journey to have ticked off most of popular New Zealand destinations on your list. Examples of backpacker busses are the Magic Travellers Network, The Kiwi Experience or Stray Adventure Busses. But in all honesty; I get a severe case of the flock-of-sheep-feeling when I see one of those busses.

So, for the adventurous and brave backpacker-boys-and-girls arriving in lovely New Zealand, there is another option: Buy your own car and go from A to B to C to D in your own good time.

You’ll need-depending on your nationality-an international drivers license to go with your countries divers license. So yes, you need to have a drivers license in your country of origin.

Please enquire about insurance prior to buying your car. BBH and the AA are both good options. Do not drive without insurance!!! You will not be the first traveller to get into trouble because you’re not covered by any insurance.

And, maybe most important:Drive on the LEFTSIDE! Put a sticker on your steering wheel: LEFT is GOOD, RIGHT is NOT CUTE.

All good, but where to find a car?

Depending on what time of year you arrive, you’ll have either an easy time or a potential headache finding a car. The tourist season kicks off around December and there will be lots of new arrivals looking for a limited number of good cars. Best bet is to look for a car as the tourist season comes to an end (around May) and people are desperately looking to unload their vehicles. But most people arrive in New Zealand in December with a good reason and it doesn’t make sense to plan your entire trip around when the best month to buy a car is. So even if you arrive as things are getting busy, there are still places to look for a bargain.

New Zealand’s anwser to eBay is called Trade Me, and this is a good place to look for a fine deal. Notice boards in backpacker’s hostels are another great place to look, especially in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as they have international airports and people tend to either start or end their trips in these cities. Most major cities will have a car fair or car auction, so ask around once you get to town. Checking the local papers for private sales or heading to car dealerships will also give you some more options. At the start of the tourist season the best cars will go fast, so make sure you get yourself a mobile phone (on pre-pay) and don’t count on emailing the seller back and forth.

I’ve heard that some people who are unable to sell their cars end up leaving them parked at the airport with the keys inside and a not staying ‘take it’, but this could be just another urban legend.

When you find the car of your dreams, arrange with the seller to take it in to a garage for a thorough vehicle check.

The AA can check for you (via a pre-purchase vehicle inspection) if there is for example money owing on the car or other interests pending. If all is good, including the asking price, you’ve got yourself a car!

The only disadvantage of buying your own car is that you, at the end of your trip, will need to sell it again. Depending on the season this could be easy-peasy, but if you’re off-season it can be very hard unloading it. Start a few weeks before you have to go and try Trade Me, notice boards in as many backpackers possible, supermarkets, car markets, newspapers and last but not least; a mega big sign behind the window of your car. Be realistic in price and throw in a few chattels like gas cookers, pots and pans and so on if you happen to have been camping. You can try selling your car to a car dealer, but most of them are not keen to purchase backpacker-cars and in the event they do, you’ll only get a coin.

So, worst case scenario: It’s time to go and your car is far from being sold.

Nothing left to do but to leave the car behind at the airport with the keys inside and a not saying ‘take it’ for the next backpacker to come around.

Holidaying tragedies, Oprah and Me.

OK one of my many ‘privileges’ of working from home is watching Oprah during lunch most afternoon =)

Just last week saw this very unfortunate and interesting episode of an unfortunate incident on a cruise liner, which made me want to share some very important tips

In the case of any ‘unfortunate incident’ overseas, along with the thing u would normally do make sure you also
1. contact the local embassy of your country, this MUST be done along with contacting the local police
2. if its something very tragic it could be most practical to return home, for investigation purposes rather than continuing with your holiday.

Its really sad these things happen, I just hope and pray stuff like this stays in the news – I’d hate to consider something like this happen to me or anyone for that matter, especially on a holiday.

You can read more about the story here.

Tourists losing favour for Domestic Airlines

“The June quarter report released yesterday shows international visitor satisfaction levels for scheduled domestic flights have dropped from a rating of 8.2 out of 10 in December 2006 to 7.7 in June.”
Source: NZ Herald, Sept 1st 2008

Well, which is where and why Transfercar comes into the picture.

And with us stepping up, with what we do – Mr & Mrs Domestic Airlines will have to do a lot better or NO ONES going to fly! 🙂

NZ Herald OE photo competition

New Zealand Herald has got this brilliant ‘Kiwi OE photo’ competition, some brilliantly beautiful photos added from Kiwis all over the world everyday.

Have a look at it here

Was thinking what alternative ‘OE stands for’ I could come up with

Overweight Englishman,
Outsourcing Economy,
Outlandish Exposure,
Overturned Elephant,
Organised Embossing,

All great competitions I reckon! =)

[ps – OE = Overseas Experience]

Do you judge a hotel by its Internet Security?

Well – very interesting article I came across in the Herald the other day.

As per the story – a hacker hacked into a hotel server, left a data stealing trojan that gave him access to all the hotel customer data information!! The hotel in question (for logical reasons) has completely downsized the enormity of situation, saying “it only affected 10 customers”!
Super dangerous dont you think? considering credit card details etc.

All these stories convincing me to ration my credit card use both home and overseas!