When the Beetle was a very small Beetle one of the first books about travel she read was by Thor Heyerdahl, the world-renowned explorer and archaeologist. He must have fired the imaginations of millions with his exploits, trying to recreate the journeys of people from past times.

He was born in 1914, in Larvik, Norway and from his earliest days, he was an enthusiastic nature lover, and became a voracious explorer. His first expedition was to Polynesia in 1937-1938 when he was studying the origins of the island's life, that he became convinced that human settlers had come with the ocean currents from the west just as the flora and fauna had done. In 1947 he decided to build a replica of the aboriginal balsa raft (named the “Kon-Tiki”) to test his theories. In 1947, Heyerdahl and five companions left Callio, Peru and crossed 8000 km (4300 miles) in 101 days to reach Polynesia (Raroia atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago). Thor Heyerdahl managed to demonstrate that the ancient Peruvians could have reached Polynesia in this way.

Following the success of the Kon-Tiki Expedition, in 1952, Heyerdahl organized and led the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to the Galapagos Islands, where it was demonstrated that once again, the people of South America had the means to travel much further than archaeologists had previously believed. In 1949, he continued his research on ancient navigation and turned his attention to the ancient reed-boats made of papyrus. These boats were deemed insufficient to cross the Atlantic as the reeds were believed to become water-logged after less than two weeks on open water.

Heyerdahl believed that contemporary science underestimated the ancient vessels and undertook to prove this by experiment. In 1969, he bought 12 tons of papyrus and worked with experts to construct an ancient-style vessel. The result was a 15 m boat which was launched at the old Phoenician port of Safi, Morocco. In the spirit of cooperation, Heyerdahl embarked under the UN flag with a crew of seven men from seven countries. The papyrus craft, Ra, sailed 5000 km (2700 nautical miles) in 56 days until storms and deficiencies in the construction caused the team to abandon their target only one week short of Barbados.

Thor Heyerdahl died in June of this year, aged 88.

One for backpackers! BUG – the Backpackers Ultimate Guide – is a comprehensive network of websites that include forums, an online ride sharing service and extensive destination guides to Australia, New Zealand and Europe that include transport information and over a thousand independent hostel reviews. You can find the home page at bug.bz, or go straight to the ride sharing service at bugride.com . The destination guides to Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific and Europe can be found at bugaustralia.com, bugpacific.com and bugeurope.com .

BUG also publishes an email newsletter every two weeks that contains travel news, an overview of upcoming festivals and information on updates to the BUG websites.

In an attempt to boost the city's flagging post-11 September economy, the mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, has declared tax-free shopping days for people who shop downtown, where businesses have been hardest hit. A new study – requested by New York members of the US Congress – has found that the 11 September attacks cost the city $83 bn. Mr Bloomberg announced nine days of tax-free shopping over the next three months. “From Soho to the Lower East Side, from Chinatown to Battery Park City, I encourage you to spend your money – tax free,” said Mr Bloomberg.

The first tax-free stretch of three days will start on Sunday, to be followed by further three-day tax holidays in July and August.

Whatever people – tourists or residents – buy in shops and restaurants in Lower Manhattan will be free of the 8.25% sales tax, so long as purchases exceed $500 in value.

If you have a mobile phone that works overseas, it's not a bad idea to take it, even if you have no intention of using it for phone calls. In case of emergencies, you can use it to send SMS text messages.

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

As all travellers know, accessing home e-mails from a free service such as Yahoo or Hotmail is fantastically useful, especially for those long trips away.

From 16 July, Hotmail will end the free service that makes it possible to check e-mail accounts held with net service providers via its website. There are apparently around 110 million Hotmail users who before now have managed all their e-mail accounts via the site. Earlier this year, Hotmail rivals Yahoo and Lycos introduced charges for similar services. Anyone wanting to check other accounts, so called POP mail, will have to sign up for the MSN Extra Storage service which, in the UK, costs £19.95 per year. In addition to getting access to the POP mail service, those signing up for Extra Storage get 10 megabytes of space that lets them get and send larger attachments and ensures that their account stays live even if they stop using it for 30 days. Many net experts see the charging of fees for once free services as an inevitable part of the web's development.

Many companies with websites are looking for new ways to offset the cost of running their net business now that revenue from advertising is harder to come by and investor funds are scarce.

Anyone wanting to still use a free POP mail service can find a comprehensive list at emailaddresses.com.

Are you one of 28 million visiting coming to London this year? For as little as £22 you can gain free entry to over SIXTY top London attractions and more… londonpass.com

by Anja Heij / AeonGlobe.com

Twenty mountains on planet Earth bear the name Olympus, being the dwelling of the gods. On Mount Olympus burns the eternal fire of creation and this sign of a bond between the gods and the humans is kept alive and still spread around as the flame on the Olympic Games. In the region Lycia in Turkey we find a remarkable natural phenomenon: a high mountain from which small fires spring to 1 to 3 feet high. This phenomenon has been recorded for at least 4000 years. One can extinguish the small fires, but the natural gas inside the mountain will light them again in minutes. Although the mountain now goes by the Turkish name Tahtali Dag, in older days it formed part of the Greek civilization, was non-surprisingly called Mount Olympus, and in the neighbourhood one can visit the ruins of the ancient city of Olympus (founded around 300 BC). I believe this is the real Mount Olympus the chronicles speak of.

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Mike is still looking for his missing friend. My missing friend is called Bob Arthrell and he is sailing a 40 ft. yacht named Tasneem. Four months ago he was at Nuku Hiva island in the Marquesas, and looking for crew to help him sail to Fanning (Tabuaeran) island which is a tiny part of the republic of Kiribati in the pacific ocean. If you can help Mike, please contact him by email.

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

If you are thinking about travelling to Lesotho, Swaziland, Angola or remote parts in South Africa and Mozambique, it may be worth looking at your itinerary and possibly re-routing. The World Food Programme (WFP) recently warned at a Johannesburg conference that 12.8 million people are on the brink of starvation in southern Africa and urgently need food aid.

Crops have failed across the region due to drought, floods and political breakdown. Hundreds have already died in Malawi but Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho are also badly hit. The whole Southern African region needs 1.2 million tonnes in emergency aid and about 4 million tonnes to make it through the year, according to the WFP and the UN's food agency.