We have just come to the end of our second calendar year and what a year it’s been for Indie Travel Podcast! Without being too self-indulgent or cliched, Linda and I want to thank all of our subscribers for making it a great one.

In 2008 we:

Re-designed the site from the ground up

Started an email newsletter

Topped 20,000 200,000 unique downloads

Increased our pageviews and visitor numbers by around 640%*

Only visited 15 countries — our quietest year since we started travelling

That said, here’s our highlights from the last six months.

Top 10 Indie Travel Favourites

I intentionally removed the posts which featured in our half-year review.

Articles

1. Become a vagabond master by Sherry Ott

So you think you want to be a vagabond? Traveling around the world and living out of a backpack can sound amazing when you’re sitting behind a desk stressed out with your buzzing Blackberry and bad fluorescent lighting. However, when you really get down to the nitty-gritty, and start to consider long-term travel, you have to figure out if it’s right for you.

Read more…

2. Adapt to the European way of life by Sasha Zahn

I know this might seem obvious to say, but Europe is completely different from anywhere you’ve ever been. It is full of history and old-world culture, and each country is as unique as the next. I thought I knew what Hungary was going to be like before I moved here three years ago, so I did very little research before I showed up. I was in for a world of surprises!

Read more…

Podcasts

3. What clothes to pack

It’s important to consider what clothes you need. You’ll be surprised, you don’t need as much as you might think, and you certainly don’t need to take your whole wardrobe. We took 20-litre daybags for a week in Greece and wondered what other travellers (on the same one-week package) had in their two huge suitcases.

This list should cover you for any eventuality. We’ve been travelling for almost three years carrying basically these items, and we don’t need much else.

Read and listen…

4. Travelling with electronics

Electronics are a necessity for many travellers these days, but you can lighten your load considerably if you cut down on the electronics you’re carrying. One way to do that is to get an all-in-one power adapter like the one we review in this post.

Read and listen…

Gear

5. Vibram Five Fingers

Vibrams continue to be a big draw to the site and sales continue to increase. These strange five-toed shoes still adorn Craig’s feet and are our top seller over the last six months. Have a look at our review and try a pair yourself.

Find out more…

6. Victorinox Swiss Army Picnicker Pocket Knife

It’s still the knife that we carry and one of your favourites too. Have a look at our review and buy one for yourself or as a gift. Just don’t pack it in your handluggage.

Find out more…

Once again we’ve managed to break even on our show costs this year thanks to your donations and people buying through our affiliate links. We’d really like to become profitable in 2009 so we can travel more; please take the time to visit this site and buy through us.

Websites

I’d like to link out to some of the sites we’ve been most impressed with in the last six months. I haven’t included any of our author’s sites — although I wanted to –, but you can find them in the footer of each post.

7. Almost fearless

Christine writes with strength and purpose both on Almost Fearless and the newly revived Europestring. I find her writing fresh and personal; a great combination for a travel blogger.

Visit Almost fearless or read Cross the border, Guatemala style.

8. TravelBlogs

I’ve given in and included one large blog-of-blogs site: TravelBlogs have done a great job of becoming community focussed. They highlight people from their own site as well as travel bloggers from around the web.

Visit TravelBlogs or read “Best of TravelBlogs 2008″

9. Travellious

I can’t stand how they only have pictures and one-sentence teasers on their homepage, but I love their sense of design and friendly, sometimes witty, writing.

Visit Travellious or read Travel Like a Human Being.

10. Cult of travel

There was a quiet patch through December, but Francoise’s Cult of Travel provides a nice balance of tips, destination ideas and stories.

Visit Cult of Travel or read Egypt’s white desert.

Thanks everyone for an amazing year. The Indie Travel Podcast has grown immensely and we’re so glad to be part of a thriving independent travel movement online. You’re all stars.

* Stats aren’t counted for any writers or administrators.

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This article was written by Craig Martin

Podcaster and writer Craig Martin has been living on the road since leaving Auckland, New Zealand in February 2006. With a degree in Media Studies and English plus a penchant for Coleridge, he's still travelling. Craig podcasts at the Indie Travel Podcast and has penned several travel books for Indie Travel Media Ltd.