The Festival Survival Guide (£4.50 and a sausage!)

chrisbarter — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:26:44 +0000

So you’re lucky enought to be going to a festival this year. What do you need?

You will need a tent and sleeping bag; they will be your sanctuary when you need to escape the 24hr mayhem. Don’t forget tent pegs but don’t bother with a mallet, you can borrow one from the organised couple next door who have their own chemical toilet. Remember, sharing a tent is more fun and you should only have to carry it one way.

If you have friends going then preferably travel together. If you can’t then have a plan for meeting up, preferably before you pitch your tent. Mobile phones are obviously handy for this. If anyone’s been to the festival before then they may know a good place to meet up.

Going with friends is good because you can look out for each other in times of excess. It’s also a great way to get to know those friends of friends that you’re only on nodding terms with. Spend a day blitzed at Glastonbury together and you’ve both got a friend for life.

Don’t insist on sticking to your programme/timetable. Festivals are a time to get away from the control of modern life. Enjoy new sounds and new experiences.

Money . One year I went to Glastonbury with £4.50 and a sausage. I had a great time but I obviously recommend taking plenty of cash with you. Being skint at a festival is more depressing than being skint at home. Keep it safe, spread it around different pockets and NEVER leave it in your tent. Never leave anything of value in your tent.

Don’t take more stuff than you could happily carry for 3 miles. That’s at least how far you’ll probably have to carry it from the car park to where you camp. Wear comfortable shoes as you’ll end up walking miles every day, they don’t put those beer tents next to each other.

Take supplies: bog roll, water, fag papers, booze, sun block, whatever. If you don’t take it with you then expect to pay rip-off festival prices. Even water supplies can dry up.

Take a torch. Obvious really.

Don’t take glass. Most festivals (understandably) don’t allow it. Transfer that tequila into a plastic bottle before you go and you can be doing slammers in the sunshine whilst waiting for (insert name of favourite band).

I hope you find this useful. Have a great festival season and one last thing; take clean socks, for everyone’s sake.

Photo credits

1. by clickykbd

2. by reds on tour

Rucksacks: how can you do without one?

Chris — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:46:22 +0000

A rucksack traditionally was a canvas backpack that was used by the US Army at the time of the Vietnam War. The bag was used by all the soldiers as it proved to be very handy and was helpful as it provided enough space and places to store most of the required items that were used at the time of war. It is a medium sized backpack that had a string at the opening of it. These days, rucksacks are being used by travellers that are travelling mostly to mountainous terrains, or are going to a place that requires a lot of carrying to be done. These types of carry bags are very popular amongst travellers.

Rucksacks are available in the market in all sizes, which can be bought according to different needs and requirements. Usually, the medium sized rucksacks are the most popular, and they even offer great strength as they generally don’t tear easily in comparison to other bags. In the market these bags can be found in the price range of £200 – 500.

There are not many alternatives to rucksacks available in the market. A simple backpack can help to some extent, as it is also of the same size – with the only difference being in the number of pockets and the strength. Using a rucksack fulfils a special purpose of either going to a place that requires a lot of carrying, or for trekking. So a person is not left with many options in place of a rucksack. If you are going on a holiday, a rucksack may end up being more of a headache, as it cannot keep all the stuff organised inside it, and moreover it may end up being a pain as with large rucksacks, 50% of the weight of the rucksack will be taken up by the hip area of the person lugging it around. So carrying a rucksack for a long walk may result in aches, pains and fatigue. So for this kind of trip, a suitcase should be used, which will provide more safety to the items; also, the carrying of a suitcase is not at all tiring as today most suitcases available in the market come with a wheel that make it possible to drag the suitcase over long distances.

Another potential problem with rucksacks is that they are not waterproof, which may cause damage to many of the electronic gadgets or equipment, as well as other goods kept inside it. So it can be overcome using a normal backpack that is water proof, light weight, as well as nearly as big as most rucksacks are. The only disadvantage being the necessary pockets. Backpacks also offer the same feature as the rucksack – that is the front pocket. A front pocket is one of the things that come in very handy as most of the required items (like papers and cell phones) are kept inside it.

Talk On Travel » Backpacks

The Festival Survival Guide (£4.50 and a sausage!)

Rucksacks: how can you do without one?