When you first head off to places in the world that are a lot different from where you live, a number of things change. You have to learn to adapt.

I still make a lot of mistakes everywhere I go, but I try to learn from each of them. Here’s a short list of things I wish I’d known before I started my routine of extensive overseas travel, especially in countries in Africa, South Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America that are not part of the tourist circuit.

Health Care

1. You can legally buy safe medicine, including prescription drugs, for very little money overseas. When in Africa or Asia, I stock up on anti-malarials that cost $5 a day in Seattle. On location, it’s more like $1 for a 10-day supply.

2. The best health care is not in the U.S., Canada, or the U.K. The best healthcare is in places like Thailand and Costa Rica; that’s why the practice of medical tourism will continue to surge as both travel and overseas healthcare become more accessible.

Money

3. Take a lot of cash with you, and make sure the bills are new and have no writing on them …more>

It’s quite natural to claim your home city as the best and to look down your noses at the heathens in your rival city.

Sydney has held Australia’s spotlight for some time now as the “place to be”. They have the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and beautiful beaches. They had the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. Sydney is car-centric. The roads are massive and the vehicles plentiful. Public transport is a pain to use, and the bus drivers are very unfriendly.

But it seems times are changing as Melbourne is quickly gaining status as the best place to live in Australia.

Melbourne has the Australian Open, the Melbourne Cup, the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. It has the cafes, the compact and interesting CBD, and an outstanding music scene. The shopping is second to none.

”Melbourne now leads by a long, long way the other Australian cities. If you go back to the 1990s it’s a very different story, where Sydney was miles ahead in all of these areas.”

Not any more. The biggest increase comes in support for our cafes, bars and clubs. In 1999, 34 per cent said Melbourne had more interesting cafes and bars; now 49 per cent choose our cafe culture over Sydney’s.

Melbourne has even gained the edge over the Harbour City as a more ‘’stylish and romantic” destination.

What do you think? Would you prefer the hustle and bustle of Sydney or are you drawn to the lifestyle of Melbourne?

Take the landscape without landscapes quiz! Are you a globetrotting genius or should you go back to high school geography class for a wee review. 

Take the quiz!

Top 10 Worst Cities for Pickpockets:
1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Rome, Italy
3. Prague, Czech Republic
4. Madrid, Spain
5. Paris, France
6. Florence, Italy
7. Buenos Aires, Argentina
8. Amsterdam, Netherlands
9. Athens, Greece
10. Hanoi, Vietnam

Have you heard of the baby tosser? This is where a mother will toss her baby at you. Of course you will try and catch the poor kid and in a matter of seconds your pockets will be empty and so will your faith in humanity!

How do you avoid becoming a victim? Any tips to share?

Worlds Worst Taxi Rides:
Lagos, Nigeria
Naples, Italy
Caracus, Venezuela
Moscow, Russia
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Mexico City, Mexico
Baghdad, Iraq
Bangkok, Thailand
Manila, Philippines
New York City, USA

Do you have a horror story of being taken for a ride by a cabbie? We would love to hear about it!

There are two, shall we say, ‘secrets’ to packing a successful, compact toiletry/beauty case for traveling. The first is obvious: pack travel sized products. more>

· Vegemite: This sticky black yeast extract is the salty stuff that Aussies love to spread on their toast – and taunt foreigners with. Expect the worst and it’ll slightly exceed your expectations. But eat it every day of your trip and you might turn into a fan.

· Lamingtons: These small cakes are provided to new Australians after citizenship ceremonies, so they must be good; unlike Vegemite, most foreigners seem to like them. Basically made up of sponge cake squares dipped in chocolate and coconut, you can find them in any Aussie bakery.

· Kangaroo meat: While this used to be a cheap meat fed only to pets, kangaroo meat has gone through a renaissance since Aussies discovered that it’s one of the leanest meats there is. It’s still not exactly common, but can be found in many a restaurant menu and in most supermarkets in a ready-for-the-BBQ pack.

· Tim Tams: These chocolate biscuits are a must-try. They come in different varieties these day, but the original is best. Aussies will encourage you to try a Tim Tam Slam: bite both ends off the biscuit, then drink your coffee using the biscuit like a straw. The soft insides melt, and this really works. If you practice.

· Meat pies: An Aussie meat pie might not have exactly been invented in Australia, but it’s the snack of choice if you’re at any sporting event or just feeling hungry on the road. Wikipedia says that the average Australian eats 12 meat pies a year and the important point to note is that you can’t ask for ketchup with your pie – you have to use the Aussie equivalent, tomato sauce.

Two french architects in France, Frederic Tabary (pictured as a hamster) and Yann Falquerho, have created a hotel room that looks like a hamster cage… yes a hamster cage!

It is complete with a giant hamster wheel, so if you can’t sleep or need to get in that workout you missed you do not even have to leave your room. You sleep in hay stacks and feast on hamster grain.

Would you pay 90 Euros a night for the hamster experience?

While our neighbours the French enjoy long, leisurely lunches and fine wines in elegant restaurants, we eat our main meal at the bus stop, drink our own body weight in warm lager and then cradle a donner kebab on the way home like it’s our only friend. We consider chips and curry sauce a square meal and we do unspeakable things to peas. more>

So, is British food as bad as they say?  Do you have a favorite British meal?

Take this quiz to see if you are turning into a Brit.  SWAP has a tendency to do that.  more>

If you are interested in living and working in the Britain check out the SWAP Britain program. more>

1 Streets Of London Ralph McTell
2 Waterloo Sunset The Kinks
3 God Save The Queen Sex Pistols
4 Sheila Jamie T
5 Peter the Painter
6 I Was There (At The Coronation) Young Tiger
7 Has It Come To This? The Streets
8 Down In The Tube Station At Midnight The Jam
9 Kidz Plan B
10 Itchycoo Park The Small Faces
11 Oh Happy Day Spiritualized
12 London Belongs To Me Saint Etienne 
13 Mile End Pulp
14 Gertcha! Chas & Dave
15 For Tomorrow Blur
16 A Foggy Day Ella Fitzgerald
17 22 Grand Job The Rakes
18 West End Girls Pet Shop Boys
19 London’s Burning The Clash
20 Sunny Goodge Street Donovan
21 K Hole Ali Love
22 Soho Bert Jansch and John Renbourn
23 London Is The Place For Me Lord Kitchener
24 Primrose Hill John & Beverly Martyn
25 Born Slippy Underworld
26 London Town Light Of The World
27 What A Mouth Tommy Steele
28 I Luv U Dizzee Rascal
29 Maybe It’s Because I’m A Londoner Hubert Gregg
30 You Can’t Always Get What You Want The Rolling Stones
31 A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square Judy Campbell
32 London Dungeon The Misfits
33 A13, Trunk Road To The Sea Billy Bragg
34 I Can See For Miles The Who
35 LDN Lily Allen
36 Albion Babyshambles
37 Knocked ‘Em In The Old Kent Road Harry Champion
38 A Rainy Night In Soho The Pogues
39 London The Smiths
40 14 Hour Technicolour Dream The Syn
41 Up The Junction Squeeze
42 Lambeth Walk Noel Gay/Douglas Furber
43 Swinging London Town Girls Aloud
44 Consider Yourself Lionel Bart
45 Cockney Translation Smiley Culture
46 London Pride Noël Coward
47 Baker Street Gerry Rafferty
48 London London Caetano Veloso
49 Punky Reggae Party Bob Marley
50 Herculean The Good, The Bad and The Queen

What do you think? Who did they miss? Beatles.. Zeppelin..

You can do some awesome things for $10 (or 13 AU$) in this sunny Aussie city, and we don’t just mean lounging around on the beaches, chugging cocktails or surfing…. in fact, there were so many amazing things that you could do with an extra $10 in Sydney that we found it difficult narrowing it down!

Here’s our favourite ten, but feel free to let us know if you have any other top tips for $10… more>

If you had just $10 (or £6.75 ish) in your pocket, what would you spend it on? We asked travellers in London for their ideas… more>

Every year inter-railers, backpackers and travellers of all kinds pass through this wonderful city and spend their days seeing the sights, visiting the museums and taking in the culture. However, when the sun goes down the party starts, so here is a brief guide of the good bars and clubs. more>

People often think that travel in Europe is easy; that cultural gaffes aren’t an issue and that the challenges of Africa or Latin America don’t apply. In some ways this is true, but even in the UK, where the language barrier is removed (save for a few unintelligible accents and some quirky vocabulary) it’s possible to offend the locals if you don’t swot up on essential etiquette. And if there’s one place you don’t want to upset a Brit it’s in their most cherished domain, the pub, so here are five crucial dos and don’ts for drinking in the UK. more>

What do you get when you drop a few dozen backpackers into a hostel, soak with beer and mix in a healthy dose of liberation from social norms?

A tidal wave of hormones…and one major problem: where to go to get it on? more>

The three items on nearly every backpacker’s list: fleece, poncho, Bandanna. Which just happen to be three things that would cause you to destroy every photo from your trip. So throw out the old packing list and learn what rules to break and what items you absolutely do need to take with this more fashion-friendly guide. more>