Category: Travel & Destinations

I fell in love with Patagonia the first time I went there. It only took a sunset in Ushuaia and a long bus trip in the desert to convince me. I remember those long bus trips, with my nose stuck to the window and a little rock in my ears, watching the landscape go by without end. I remember the shape of the clouds and the light. I remember a special atmosphere and wind. Yet, something was missing. I followed the tourist paths, I barely touched Patagonia, I touched his magic, without really feeling it. Ushuaia, El Calafate, Torres del Paine, Bariloche … from bus to bus, I followed the path all along, knowing that I was missing something. I knew I would come back. I did not think it would be only two years later.

It has been three months since I was in Patagonia, three months since I saw the trip that I had hoped so much the previous time, three months that I finally found the Patagonia that I was looking for so much. Three months that I feel alive in these lands so deserted, so inhospitable. And everything really started in Bahia Bustamante .

Bahia Bustamante was the first village entirely dedicated to algae production. In the 1950s, it was the site of a thriving industry on the Atlantic coast and sheltered 400 inhabitants and a normal village life, a few hundred kilometers from Comodoro Rivadavia. Today, the production of seaweed continues, but there are only 40 people living there year-round and the village still remains very far from any city today. The estancia however welcomes tourists in summer for a unique experience in the heart of real Patagonia . When I heard about this place on the Internet, I knew it was made for me.

After my crush in Salento , I did not want to leave. A little sick, very depressed, I dragged a little in the shadow of what was more, thinking back to the good times. I had only a few days left before flying to Argentina and Antarctica and time to visit a new corner. Almost on the way back to Bogotá , I chose to discover San Agustin, its history and the mysterious pre-Columbian statues.

I do not remember very well this bus trip, which did not have to be extraordinary. There were no tourists on the bus and I was quickly spotted when I arrived in town. I take a taxi to go to the hostel I booked and a friend had advised me and a young man follows me on moped. He is a guide and wants to explain the visiting options. After all, if it amuses him, why not … On arrival at the hostel, we discuss a little, he explains everything and after many discussions I managed to negotiate a price that suits me. I would explore the region in three days and in three different ways: on horseback, by jeep and on foot by myself. What a good overview of San Agustin in a few days.

The first day, I go on horseback with two other visitors. This small group is very appreciable and allows us to go at our own pace. We visit several sites, more or less distant and listen to our guide tell us the legends and assumptions surrounding the statues that we discover. The guide does not speak English and I try to understand the explanations with my stammering Spanish. One thing is certain, no one really knows what it is and everyone goes about it’s history or assumptions. San Agustin and its surroundings suddenly have a mysterious air, surrounded by thousand-year-old legends. I trot and gallop, hair in the wind (or almost) on my proud mount on the roads of Colombia and it’s liberating, as an idea of ​​pure freedom. My horse did not look so alive, but finally he is strong and particularly enjoys galloping. Ouch ouch my gluteus …

Until last spring, I had never set foot in Corsica and I could not resolve to see only Ajaccio at the Salon of Travel Bloggers. I was not the only one wishing to have a little taste of the Island of Beauty, but without breaking the bank and it is at 5 that we finally left two days on the adventure on the roads of Corsica. Two days for a road trip in Corsica, it is too short, but it makes you want to come back much longer.

In a good mood, a Kangoo five seats, a barda, a vague idea of ​​a route, music, a guide, three tents and some bananas in our pocket and we were ready for the adventure. Well, that’s what we thought …

The first night at Ajaccio campsite was calm, but chilly. What an idea to come camping at the beginning of May in Corsica without adequate sleeping bag will you tell me … We were requinqués with a good breakfast, before taking the road. Conductor designated, I had already nearly killed us the day before in the streets of Ajaccio, trying to avoid the dangers of the Corsican road (they are crazy Corsicans), by grilling a red light, trying to park our monster Kangoo and losing us in the burrow. I am not the most reassured driver, but oddly, I always find myself driving in a road trip !

We managed to find our way to Bocognano, a small village in the heart of the mountains for a canyoning outing breath away. This is where Mathieu leaves us to leave and we leave to four. A few hours later, exhausted, I took the wheel. We had the idea to cross the center of Corsica and go down to the south to visit the coast the next day. The road was beautiful, but the road was long. Remember to provide additional time for your Corsican road trip, because it is not easy, especially if you are not used to mountain roads. Tiny roads, damaged roads, turn 180 ° C, it goes up, it goes down, crossing with a bus on a single lane … we had everything and better not to be dizzy. Anyway, this wild Corsica, this Corsica so little visited is sublime and deserves a few days of exploration more …

For ecological reasons and for love of slow travel, I always consider how to avoid having to fly. If I have time, I do not have a professional appointment and the price is reasonable, I always choose the option land or sea. It’s more eco-friendly, it’s an adventure and it’s also more fun. This is how I traveled from Japan to China by ferry , I returned from my expatriation in Sweden crossing Europe by train or I crossed the United States by bus to $ 10 only with 10 stops!

So, if I’m in this situation, I will always check this option before doing my search for cheap air tickets. To do this, I use Google obviously and my knowledge of public transport on each continent, but especially From Rome 2 Rio , a magical site that calculates all the ways to get from point A to point B on the ground. 

For example, on a Bordeaux-Edinburgh , I can see all the options and combinations imaginable and a price order. You may even be able to find an option you did not think about, such as taking a flight to Glasgow, then the train. These are just price ideas, so I recommend going to the recommended sites one by one to see prices on your dates. I am currently in York and the cheapest way that did not last 48h was to take a flight to London , then a bus to York. But that suggested flights to other cities in England that I may not have thought of. So think of this site to think differently about your travel patterns and maybe make a good deal!

Here are all my tips and tricks to find a cheap flight ticket, whatever your destination, your travel dates or your flexibility or lack of flexibility. Do you know other tips and tricks for finding a cheap flight? If so, comment below and I would love to test them!

You dream of going to Japan , you do not have specific dates and the possibility to have the holidays you want? It’s a chance and it’s going to be a benefit for your plane ticket search. (It works for all destinations).

The steps are similar to the previous case study:

• On Algofly, I discover that a low price of cheap airline ticket for Japan is around 400 € and around the months of May and June.
• On Matrix Ita and Google Flights, I’m not learning much this time …

On Skyscanner , when I have more flexibility, I start by doing a reverse search (which I like to do from time to time). It is a question of looking for the cheapest flights from Japan in one-way with the option “cheapest month activated” to discover perhaps countries near me to which it would be cheaper to fly since the Japan (due to commercial partnerships, cultural proximity or other). It takes a few minutes and it’s always good to keep the results in mind. I can see what are the first European countries.

I am doing this because it is currently impossible on Skyscanner to search for “Anywhere in Japan”, but it is quite possible to do “Japan Everywhere” and see trends. Be careful though with this technique, prices in one direction are often more expensive than in the other (prices from South America to Europe are often twice as expensive for example), but it is to identify trends.

From there, I will therefore search from these different European countries to Japan (any airport), with the option “cheapest month” and see if I find things more advantageous than from France , perhaps allowing me to add a city trip before or after the trip (by bus, train or low-cost flight). I thus find a Frankfurt-Tokyo flight at 340 euros in high season cherry, much cheaper than all other options between 400 and 500 euros. And if you live in the East of France, Frankfurt is not worse than Paris! Mission accomplished, I found a cheap flight to Japan!

Find a cheap airline ticket? My hobby!

I have a confession to make … As for finding a cheap air ticket, I am a geek, ready to spend hours of sites in sites, good deals in good plans to find the cheap flight perfect, the ideal promotion, the cheapest flight, like the Holy Grail of the travel hacking . I have a lot of fun working around the system, whether or not I find the right solution and if I have a cheaper ticket to the key, it’s even better! And today, I give you all my secrets and my techniques so that you too find the best airfare, spending hours or not.

First of all, how am I best placed to explain how? My friends are always amazed by the good deals that I find and sometimes ask me to help them. Often, they went through a travel agency or a known site online without asking any questions, perhaps even simply on the first site found by typing “Cheap Air Ticket” on Google. Maybe that’s what you’re doing too, and let me assure you that I usually find a less expensive ticket for my friends in 10 minutes, using the right sites and the right way of thinking. So imagine what I could do with more time?

Moreover, I have never used agencies or intermediaries to find my cheap air tickets. At the time when I imagined my world tour , I planned to go through an agency specializing in tickets around the world. I quickly gave up, to have total flexibility of route and time, but also because I was convinced to be able to find cheaper plane tickets. And I was right!