Under 30? Been a member of the Globetrotters Club for 2 years – or want to take out a 3 year subscription? Interested in a £1,000 travel award? Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested? We have just made the first award to Mike Dodd, a 22 year old mechanical engineering student at Warwick University, to help him with his trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

See our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we'll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!

If you are ever planning to travel by rail in the UK, there are two invaluable web sites. The first railtrack.co.uk will show you timetables for the entire country; simply enter your starting point, destination and preferred timings and it will come up with the options. You can ask for earlier and later journeys. However, this site does not show prices, so for this you need to go to: thetrainline.com

Here in the UK, if you book your train fare one week, two weeks and further, in advance, you can achieve substantial savings. Even buying a ticket to pick up the next day at the station can make a big difference in price.

The two rail journeys where buying tickets in advance makes no difference is the Heathrow Express, the £12, 15 minute journey from London Paddington railway station to London Heathrow airport, and the Gatwick Express costing £11, and taking 30 minutes from London’s Victoria railway station to Gatwick.

From Stuart, in London: e-mail yourself your passport details in case you lose it.

Got any travel tips for the Beetle? Then e-mail them to: the Beetle

If you find yourself in South Wales or around Bristol and you feel like shopping, why not check out the McArthurGlen designer outlet just off Junction 36 of the M4. The nearest train station is at Bridgend. It’s open from 10am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm on Saturday and 11am to 5pm on Sundays. It’s got ladieswear, menswear, jewellery, household – you name it, plus a food court. Name includeTimberland, CK Jeans, Windsmoor, Clarks, Wedgwood, Royal Worcester etc. For information, contact: 01656 665700 or visit: the website

Free accommodation in New Zealand

Land of the Lord of the Rings. A message from Yves: Hello! If you plan on passing through New Zealand, just come and pay us a visit! We will put you up for free, providing you inform us in advance. Contact details:
Monsieur Yves Héraud 17
Morningside Road, flat 4, 0101, Whangarei, New Zealand
Tel: 64 94308181
Web: Click Here.
E-mail: Send e-mail.

American Rose would like to meet UK Roses!

Can anyone in the UK help Globetrotter Rose from Seattle via New Jersey?

She says she plans on coming to England in the fall and would dearly love to know people there. If by any chance any Globetrotters members are interested in hosting people, and she in exchange would be willing to host others, let them know that I just love to travel and really don't have firm plans in mind, at this time. She says she just wants others to know that as a single woman, she is really keen on knowing people in different places. Please contact Rose on: ratterayr@aol.com

Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid

Owen Brown, a mad adventurer and ex-Tour Leader of good old Explore adventure travel (maybe some of you know him) is exhibiting a great collection of photos of all his journeys. If anyone happens to be in the area of Suffolk between 27APR-08MAY and fancy giving it a glimpse, the address is: CLOISTERS GALLERY St Edmundsbury Cathedral Bury St Edmunds Suffolk

In a City restaurant: OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, AND WEEKENDS TOO. One of the Mathare buildings: MENTAL HEALTH PREVENTION CENTRE. In a Pumwani maternity ward: NO CHILDREN ALLOWED. In a cemetery PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES.

Write in and tell us your funny sign! Drop a line to the Beetle! the Beetle

Arundhati Roy, the prize-winning Indian novelist, was jailed Wednesday (March 6, 2002) after the Supreme Court in India convicted her of criminal contempt for suggesting it was trying to “silence criticism” of its approval of a hydroelectric project. As about 250 supporters stood outside with banners reading “Free speech is not contempt,” the court sentenced Roy to one day in prison and a $42 fine. If she does not pay, she will spend three months in prison, the court said. The court said that in sentencing her to one day, it was “showing magnanimity of law by keeping in mind that the respondent is a woman.” Roy won the prestigious Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel “The God of Small Things.” She has written articles criticizing India's nuclear program and is a prominent campaigner against the Narmada Dam, the nation's biggest hydroelectric project.

Source: by Nirmala George / Associated Press (via Common Dreams News Center) If you want to take action, visit Amnesty International’s web site.

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites