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Rockness 2010 Launches: Get your Early Bird tickets now!

The official dates for Rockness 2010 have been announced:  Friday 11th to Sunday 13th June 2010.

And, with the announcement comes a special early bird offer of £120 for a weekend ticket (general sale starts Monday 7th December 2009).

Here’s the news from the horse’s mouth (so to speak):

The countdown to ROCKNESS 2010 officially commenced today with the announcement that THE STROKES – recent recipients of ALBUM OF THE DECADE by NME for ‘Is This It’, the seminal work that defined a moment and sent the band on a trajectory to global acclaim – are confirmed to headline the Highland music festival in June.

Widely acknowledged as one of the finest exponents of alternative garage rock in a generation and renowned for their electrifying live shows, the band’s RockNess assault signals an end to a four year hiatus and comes with the tantalising news of a new album on its way.

In a hugely exciting new development, which bears testament to the kudos and blossoming popularity of RockNess, BBC RADIO 1 is today announced as the OFFICIAL RADIO PARTNER to the festival. The station’s hottest names du jour including Annie Mac and Rob da Bank are all set to head north with the two each hosting their own unique arenas. Expect an array of awesome talent to be revealed over the coming months!

In true RockNess style, the proverbial envelope continues to be pushed to the max for 2010 with more new arenas added that once again promise to deliver an exceptional soundtrack signalling the start of summer as well as the most festival fun to be had over any weekend.

To find out more, and to get yourself some early bird tickets, visit www.rockness.co.uk.

Handy travel resources for backpackers:
Book hostels – book a hostel at thousands of locations around the world.
RTW flights – book your round-the-world flights at backpacking prices!
Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers.

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BmiBaby Winter Flight Sale: 40% off!

British airline BmiBaby is having a winter sale, with up to 40% off selected flights to Europe and elsewhere in the British Isles.

Travel period runs from 1 October 2009 to 19 March 2010, with blackouts between 18 December 2009 and 6 January 2010 and 12 to 22 February 2010.

Book before midnight (GMT) 22 September 2009.

Handy travel resources for backpackers:
Book hostels – book a hostel at thousands of locations around the world.
RTW flights – book your round-the-world flights at backpacking prices!
Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers

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Virgin Australia’s new non-stop flights to Thailand and South Africa

Virgin Airlines Australia is celebrating its 9th birthday with the launch of non-stop flights to Thailand and South Africa.

And, added bonus, they’re on sale!

Fly from selected Australian cities to Phuket for AU$399 (one-way), or get a return flight from Australia to Johannesburg and back for only AU$1899.

Sale on until 7 September 2009.  Travel periods vary and conditions apply:

• Phuket Travel Period 1: Sunday 22 November to Thursday 17 December 2009.
• Phuket Travel Period 2: Friday 15 January to Monday 31 May 2010.
• Johannesburg Travel Period 1: Saturday 13 March to Monday 31 May 2010.

Visit www.vaustralia.com.au to find out more.

Handy travel resources for backpackers:
Book hostels – book a hostel at thousands of locations around the world.
RTW flights – book your round-the-world flights at backpacking prices!
Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers

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Creamfields 2009 sells out!

If you haven’t already got tickets to one of the UK’s biggest dance festivals, Creamfields 2009, you’re fresh out of luck – they’re all SOLD OUT!

We are pleased to announce that this years Creamfields 2009 festival has sold out. The demand for tickets has been unprecedented, with this weekends line up set to include performances from the likes of Basement Jaxx, Tiesto, Paul van Dyk, Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris, Mylo Live, David Guetta and 2mandjs Live to name a few.

But, never fear – you can always plan for next year!  £100 Early Bird Tickets for Creamfields 2010 go on sale at 9am on Friday 4th September, giving everyone who missed out on this year’s show plenty of time to buy a ticket, so they don’t miss out again.

Handy travel resources for backpackers:
Book hostels – book a hostel at thousands of locations around the world.
RTW flights – book your round-the-world flights at backpacking prices!
Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers

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Ryan Air Summer Sale: 1 Million Seats for £1

Summer is winding down across Europe, but there’s still plenty of adventure to be had.  And at the super low price of £1 a flight from RyanAir, there’s scope for exploration, even on a pinched backpackers’ budget.

Head for Ireland, or Italy or warmer Spain for ridiculous prices.  The tickets available are for travel during October and November.  Flights are one-way, and the price includes mandatory taxes and charges, but not optional taxes and fees (things like stowing your baggage in the hold).

Offer ends at midnight tonight (6 August’09).

Handy travel resources for backpackers:
Book hostels – book a hostel at thousands of locations around the world.
RTW flights – book your round-the-world flights at backpacking prices!
Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers

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Around the world with 30 words: a new language guide for travellers

An interesting new series of language guides have just been launched that backpackers might find rather useful: 30 Words.

They’re compact, they’re focused and they’re waterproof (always handy).  When it comes to language, often simplest is best, so having enough words to get by is usually better than having too many too remember.

“We make a unique type of language guide (http://www.30words.com/) that is designed to enable travelers to start speaking local languages from day one on the road! The philosophy behind our guides is that knowing even a handful of key words and phrases in the local language can be the difference between a mundane travel experience and an unforgettable adventure.  Further, our guides’ portability and durability make them a great fit for travelers looking to get off the beaten path.  30 WORDS are waterproof, tear proof and passport sized so they slide easily into any pocket. Finally, we supplement our printed guides with free online content that allows users to customize their guides according to their travel needs and interests.”

The guides focus on specific topics, each of which is downloadable.  There’s something for all kinds of travellers, from lists of medical conditions (for the accident prone?), or the most important surfing terms that’ll help you find the waves.

The guides are currently only available in Spanish, but more are in the pipeline.

To find out more, visit www.30words.com.

Handy travel resources for backpackers:
Book hostels – book a hostel at thousands of locations around the world.
RTW flights – book your round-the-world flights at backpacking prices!
Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers

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Fancy a free ticket to the Glade Festival?

The UK’s summer season is kicking into full throttle, and even if you’re short on cash, there’s no reason to be left out!

Popular electronic dance shindig, Glade Festival, is looking for volunteers to man their bars and join their litter-picking team (‘treasure-hunting’, they prefer to call it).  In return for a free ticket, all you have to do is a bit of not-too-taxing work to help keep things running smoothly.

Glade Festival will take place this coming weekend – 16 to 19th July 2009. Email 2009@gladefestival.com to find out more.

And, if Glade’s not the only festival you’d like to be a part of, sign up at Festivalvolunteer.co.uk and you could be going to them all!

Handy travel resources for backpackers:
Book hostels – book a hostel at thousands of locations around the world.
RTW flights – book your round-the-world flights at backpacking prices!
Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers

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Save money: book early (the cash-strapped backpacker’s mantra?)

Backpacking, by its very nature, is a random hopping from one destination to another, usually without too much planning, often on the spur of must-find-new-adventure moment.

Unless you’re the kind of traveller who maps out an itinerary, strict budget, highlights-route and actually sticks to it, booking early for bus, plane, train or boat travel isn’t going to come naturally…  But, and here’s the rub: it can save you SO much money – certainly enough, if done regularly, to make your overall trip last that bit longer.

So, what to do… Sacrifice the spontaneous for the terribly organised?  Perhaps the compromise between over-stretched wallet, and need for spur-of-the-moment can be bridged by choosing some transport options way in advance: picking stretches of planned travel, and filling in the rest with spontaneity unbounded.

Book a flight from A to B, a month or two in advance, then figure out, on the hoof, how you’re going to get to A in the first place.  There’s adventure in that too.

So, with that in mind, take a look at this advice from UK rail ticket retailer Trainline.  By buying in advance online (single fares available up to 12 weeks in advance), you can save up to 43% on the fares you’d be buying at the station on the day.  That’s a fair whack.

And, if you’re worried you’re going to miss the fare you want, just sign up for a ticket alert and they’ll let you know when advance fares are up for grabs.

Proving there’s nothing wrong with a little planning, here and there (your wallet will thank you).

Handy travel resources for backpackers:
Book hostels – book a hostel at thousands of locations around the world.
RTW flights – book your round-the-world flights at backpacking prices!
Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers

Posted in Transport, Travel Deals, Travel Tips & Planning, Travel Tools, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Virgin Airlines ‘Tweet Sale’ Extended

There’s a sale on at Virgin Blue and if you missed it, it’s just been extended…

The Australasian budget carrier is offering big discounts on a variety of domestic and international flights, as well as on accommodation/flight package deals.

Fly from Sydney to the Gold Coast for from AU$45 one way, or from Auckland to Sydney for from AU$90 one way.

If you can’t find a fare that suits your budget, though, be sure to check out the airline’s daily ‘Happy Hour’ fares (posted between 12 noon and 1pm AEST).

Handy travel resources for backpackers:
Book hostels – book a hostel at thousands of locations around the world.
RTW flights – book your round-the-world flights at backpacking prices!
Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers

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Global Gathering 2009: Lineup Announced!

Summer’s a-comin’!  If you’re in the southern hemisphere, or heading that way shortly, that means the times of all-night-mega-parties are nearly upon you…

And one such mega-shindig is the great Global Gathering which, whether muddy or dry, is bound to be one heck of an occasion.

If you’re any doubt as to the calibre of this UK event, let it be dispelled by the names upon the Lineup…

“Promising a euphoric weekend filled with dirty beats and colossal bass lines, live headliners The Prodigy, Orbital, and Pendulum will be joined by DJs gods Paul van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, David Guetta, Sasha, Erol Alkan across a whole host of different stages and arenas. With Carl Cox and Tiga playing UK festival exclusives, GlobalGathering is set to be this summers hottest ticket around.

The two-day camping weekender takes place at the height of summer on 24th- 25th July attracting 55,000 musos and style aficionados alike to Shakespeare’s Stratford upon Avon.  Over 100 artists will play the sixteen stages, arena and terraces delivering an unforgettable music marathon. “

So, if dancing night-day-and-night away to the sounds of “DJ gods” sounds like a pretty good way to spend some time, get yourselves to Global Gathering’s funky website and make sure you’ve got tickets.

Global Gathering 2009 takes place on 24 & 25 July 2009.  Earlybird tickets are still available at £115 (weekend ticket, general admission). All tickets include FREE weekend camping & FREE car parking.

Handy travel resources for backpackers:
Book hostels – book a hostel at thousands of locations around the world.
RTW flights – book your round-the-world flights at backpacking prices!
Travel Insurance – instant, cheap travel insurance for backpackers

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