shoestring travel books

How to Travel the World on a Shoestring Budget

• by Lauren Haas

Learn to travel on a budget from an experienced nomad.

I’ll show you exactly how to find cheap flights, book great lodging, travel safely, and so much more.

Coming Soon

Includes resource list, a chance to ask all your questions, and 30 days of access to the recorded class.

Your Instructor

If you thought world travel was just for rich folks, buckle up. I’ve been traveling the world for more than 17 years on a poverty-level income, so if I can do this, I  know  you can do it.

I want you to feel completely ready to tackle the world after this class.

~ Lauren Zehara Haas

 I’ll show you exactly how I travel on a budget:

• Find the money for a trip, even if you’re broke
• Score deals on airfare
• Research your destination
• Find gorgeous lodging for less
• Plan your own tours and activities
• Get around after you land
• Stay safe & healthy around the world

I’ll also bring some printable handouts, and lots of resources for you to dig further and start planning your next trip!

Kind words from previous students:

How to Travel the World on a Shoestring Budget was a transformative look into the life of a true global citizen.  

Lauren boldly treks the world into lands where being solo and a foreigner seems like an invitation to trouble.

Not only does her course help you travel securely and confidently, but also frugally by avoiding the tourist traps.

We have used her techniques in traveling to two countries now and found our experiences so much richer.

The time spent truly enjoying the local culture was even more wonderful when we realized it didn’t cost a penny more than a trip inside our own country. 

We are hooked!

Now we are ready to travel the world too!

Rob & Teresa W.

This was an excellent course. The teacher had a ton of first hand experience to share with us and did so with an engaging presentation.

I LOVED learning from Lauren, and I highly recommend this workshop to others in the future.

This class was great! I learned way more about traveling on a shoestring budget than I expected, and the instructor was wonderful.

I now feel like I have the tools and knowledge to plan a great, safe and cheap trip!

I am so glad that I came to this class. I got everything I expected and more. Now I know how to plan my trips and the resource tools to get the most for my money. The more money I can save the more traveling I’ll be able to do. Lauren was great; she is easy to talk to and allowed time for us to ask questions. I would love to have more classes with her.

Be the first to know when this class is available!

Questions? E-mail me at [email protected]

I’m Lauren, the founder of Indie Travel Guru. I’m living proof that a life of travel and adventure is available to anyone who wants it.

At 40, I was a single mom with no passport, a poverty-level income, and big dreams. At 48, I started traveling the world with everything I own in a backpack.

After 7 years of living as a digital nomad, I’ve settled down. But I still love to travel the world on a shoestring budget, and I especially love to empower others to travel!

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Southeast Asia on a Shoestring

Get this book for free by becoming a Lonely Planet Insider:

• 3 eBook downloads every year
• Exclusive offers and discounts

$2.99 USD/month (charged annually) Learn more

Inside  Lonely Planet’s  Southeast Asia on a Shoestring :

• Budget-oriented recommendations with honest reviews  - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss
• Extensive planning tools and budget calculators
• Highlights  and itineraries  help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests
• Insider tips  to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots
• Essential info  at your fingertips  - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices
• Cultural insights  provide a richer, more rewarding travel experience - covering history, art, literature, cinema, landscapes
• Colour  maps and images throughout
• Useful features:  First Time Southeast Asia, Big Adventures Small Budget, Off the Beaten Track, Border Crossing, Splurge, and Responsible Travel

Coverage Includes:  Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Singapore, Vietnam

eBook is available in ePub, MOBI and PDF.

ISBN: 9781786571755

Edition: 19th

Publication Date: October 2018

Writers: Brett Atkinson, Tim Bewer, Joe Bindloss, Greg Bloom, Celeste Brash, Lindsay Brown, Austin Bush, Jayne D'Arcy, David Eimer, Michael Grosberg, Paul Harding, Damian Harper, Ashley Harrell, Trent Holden, Anita Isalska, Mark Johanson, Hugh McNaughtan, Rebecca Milner, Nick Ray, Simon Richmond, Iain Stewart, Andy Symington, Phillip Tang, Ria de Jong

992 pages, 160pp color, 161 maps | Dimensions: 128mm × 197mm

Next edition due: September 2025

This guide is in the English language.

Which guidebook is right for me?

Country, city & regional guides.

• Top experience collections
• Regional itineraries recommended by experts (from a couple of days to multi-week)
• 3D illustrations and guided tours of key sights
• Extensive coverage of history and culture
• Detailed maps throughout - includes walking maps and a pull-out planning map

EXPERIENCE guides

(country, city & regional).

• Led by local experts that reveal their favorite experiences and hidden gems
• Personal itinerary building tools
• Seasonal planning calendars
• QR codes unlock additional online content

POCKET guides

(city & regional).

• Special features cover most popular sights
• Content organized by neighborhhod
• Recommended 1, 2, 3 and 4-day itineraries
• Guided walking tours

• Sports, Hobbies & Games
• Fishing, Birdwatching & Other Outdoor Pursuits
• Hiking & Camping

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Lonely Planet Southeast Asia on a shoestring (Travel Guide) Paperback – 15 Aug. 2014

There is a newer edition of this item:.

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Lonely Planet Southeast Asia on a Shoestring is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to skip, what hidden discoveries await you, and how to optimise your budget for an extended continental trip. Experience the magic of the temples of Angkor at dawn, experience Asia's colonial past in the steamy port island of Penang, or hang ten on classic Bali surf breaks; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Southeast Asia and begin your journey now!

Inside Lonely Planet's Southeast Asia on a Shoestring Travel Guide:

• Colour maps and images throughout
• Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests
• Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots
• Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices
• Budget-oriented recommendations with honest reviews - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss
• Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, temples, cuisine, activities, landscapes
• More than 200 maps
• Covers Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam

The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet's Southeast Asia on a Shoestring is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less travelled.

• Looking for just a few of the destinations included in this guide? Check out the relevant Lonely Planet destination guides, our most comprehensive guides that cover destinations' top sights and offbeat experiences, or check out our photo-rich Discover series guides, which focus on destinations' most popular attractions.

Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet, China Williams, Greg Bloom, Celeste Brash, Simon Richmond, Iain Stewart, Ryan Ver Berkmoes and Richard Waters.

About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.

• Print length 976 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Lonely Planet
• Publication date 15 Aug. 2014
• Dimensions 12.9 x 3.8 x 19.8 cm
• ISBN-10 9781742207537
• ISBN-13 978-1742207537
• See all details

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Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1742207537
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lonely Planet; 17th edition (15 Aug. 2014)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 976 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781742207537
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1742207537
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.9 x 3.8 x 19.8 cm
• 66 in Budget Travel
• 221 in Routes & Ways Travel
• 1,149 in Walking, Hiking & Trekking

About the authors

Lonely planet.

With over 150 million guidebooks in print, Lonely Planet is a trusted source for any traveler. Since our inception in 1973, we've inspired generations of travelers to discover amazing places and enabled curious travelers to get off the beaten paths to appreciate different cultures and become agents of positive change.

Celeste Brash

Living on a remote coral atoll for five years with no phone, plumbing and limited solar electricity prevented Celeste from getting an early start in her writing career - although it sounds idyllic, washing laundry by hand, digging your own well and sustenance fishing takes a big chunk out of one's day. She now lives in a small village on Tahiti, complete with flushing toilet and an Internet connection, and her travel articles have magically crossed the seas to appear in newspapers and magazines including the LA Times and Islands Magazine. She has contributed to around 40 Lonely Planet guidebooks and her award winning travel narratives have been published in Travelers' Tales anthologies. Having travelled to some 40 countries, Celeste speaks fluent French as well as conversational Spanish, Thai and Indonesian. In her spare time she can be found singing with a French Tahitian choral group, Tahitian dancing or distance swimming in Tahiti's spectacular lagoon. You can find Celeste on the web at www.celestebrash.com or read her blog at htpp://coconutradio.blogspot.com.

China Williams

China Williams grew up in the pretty Southern town of Aiken, South Carolina, with romantic tales of her parent's past in California, the state of her birth, and their 1960s backpacking trip through Europe. Surrounded by this family lore and a name too strange for the Bible Belt, China was destined to leave her small town as soon as possible. Her first far-flung escape was to Germany through a high-school exchange program. She attended college in Annapolis, Maryland, a state below the fabled Mason-Dixon line but north of the sweet-iced tea line. After earning a degree in philosophy, she worked for a small geology magazine in Washington, DC, during Marion Barry's encore, post-prison mayoral tenure. Like a lot of gen-X-ers, China escaped to Asia to teach English in northeastern Thailand, an easy country to fall in love with. She backpacked through Southeast Asia as much of former Indochina was opening up to tourism. Returning to the United States, China settled in San Francisco, got married and worked as an editor with Lonely Planet. Later she became a freelance writer, commuting across the Pacific Ocean for twice yearly trips to Bangkok for various Lonely Planet assignments. She now lives in the subdued suburbs of Maryland with her husband and son.

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 73% 14% 7% 3% 3% 73%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 73% 14% 7% 3% 3% 14%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 73% 14% 7% 3% 3% 7%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 73% 14% 7% 3% 3% 3%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 73% 14% 7% 3% 3% 3%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings, help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyses reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the book very well-laid out and useful for touring South East Asia. They also say the content is perfect and honest, providing accurate information about each place.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the book's content informative, useful, and helpful for a tour of South East Asia. They say it has all the insider knowledge, including where to eat in each place. Readers also say the writers are honest and give an accurate account of each place, making it one of the best travel books they've read.

"...The writers are honest and give an accurate account of each place, in my opinion. Every time I travel I always buy the Lonely Planet guides now...." Read more

"...It had in depth guides for areas of special interest such as angkor wat and had great sections on countries covering history and culture...." Read more

"This book is a really comprehensive guide to the SE Asian countries and is very well laid out, with all the useful information such as visa, local..." Read more

"...So far just glancing through this book it looks very detailed with lots of information which I am sure will help mealot...." Read more

Customers find the book very well laid out and provides a brief look at all the countries in SE Asia.

"...is a really comprehensive guide to the SE Asian countries and is very well laid out , with all the useful information such as visa, local currency to..." Read more

"... Excellently put , why can't the rest of the book be up front yet also encouraging like that?..." Read more

"Great book! Provides a brief look at all of the countries in South East Asia and helpful tips for saving money - just what you need for a budget trip..." Read more

" Good detailing " Read more

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Europe on a Shoestring Travel Guide

Publisher description.

Lonely Planet: The world’s number one travel guide publisher*  Lonely Planet’s Europe on a Shoestring is your passport to having big experiences on a small budget, offering the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, what hidden discoveries await you, and how to optimise your budget for an extended continental trip. Hit the streets and free museums of one of the world’s greatest capital cities, London; soak up history and art by day and party by night in Berlin; pick your Greek island for fresh food and golden beaches. All with your trusted travel companion. Inside Lonely Planet’s Europe on a Shoestring :  • Budget-oriented recommendations with honest reviews - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss   • Extensive planning tools and budget calculators   • Highlights and one-three month itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests • Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots • Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices • Cultural insights provide a richer, more rewarding travel experience - covering history, art, literature, cinema, landscapes • Colour maps and images throughout • Over 179 maps for easy navigation • Covers Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Scandinavia, Russia, the Baltic Coast, Czech Republic, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Belgium, Austria, and more • Useful features: First Time Europe; Big Adventures, Small Budgets; Off the Beaten Track; Border Crossing; Splurge; and Responsible Travel The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet’s Europe on a shoestring is perfect for budget- and value-conscious travellers taking a big trip, and is packed with amazing sights and experiences, savvy tips and recommendations. Looking for suggestions from a wider range of prices for a shorter, multi-country trip? Check out Lonely Planet’s Europe for a comprehensive look at all the continent has to offer. Want just the highlights? Check out Best of Europe , a photo-rich guide that focuses on the continent’s top experiences. After only a few of the destinations in this guide? Check out the relevant Lonely Planet destination guides . These are our most comprehensive titles, designed to immerse you in the culture and help you discover the best sights and get off the beaten track. Or check out our photo-rich Best of guides, which focus on the most popular attractions. eBook Features: (Best viewed on tablet devices and smartphones) • Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges • Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews • Add notes to personalise your guidebook experience • Seamlessly flip between pages • Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash • Embedded links to recommendations’ websites • Zoom-in maps and images  • Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet, and Korina Miller. About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world’s number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we’ve printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You’ll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, video, 14 languages, nine international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, eBooks, and more.    TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category ‘Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.’ – New York Times ‘Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.’ – Fairfax Media (Australia) *Source: Nielsen BookScan: Australia, UK, USA, 5/2016-4/2017

More Books Like This

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Welcome to the Shoestring Travel Club!

We are a new style of travel business who aim to do one thing and one thing only; to get you abroad more often on amazing trips without having to break the bank to do so!

What Do We Do?

We are different from many other organisations in that we are not a travel agency. In fact, we physically cannot book trips for you. Instead, we see our role as one of a 'right hand man'. We search every nook and cranny of the web to find the very best travel, flight and holiday deals there are to find. Once we do, we show them straight to our members, with zero added fees or inflation to the prices we find.

We make money from our premium membership subscription. We will also occasionally offer affiliate links in which we will receive a percentage of any sale made through those specific links, but we will NEVER artificially inflate prices or add bogus charges onto the deals we offer. Quite simply, what you see is what you get, and you can be sure that whatever you see from us is the absolute best deal we have been able to find.

Our aim is simple: to get you to travel more for less.  We believe that time is precious, and that you should be able to make great memories by going away whenever you have the free time to do so. In our eyes, cost shouldn't have to be a factor when it comes to trips and travel.

However, some trips can end up getting pretty expensive. Maybe a friend of yours wants to book a 'great last-minute' weekend away for £500pp? Or maybe there's a package holiday offering a week in the sun for 'only £749pp!'?

To some, these deals might look OK on paper, but not to us.  

We know there are far  better deals out there to be found, and we've made it our mission to find them for you time and time again.

How Do We Find Great Deals?

By drawing on years of experience from travelling, academic study of the the aviation industry and more, we are able to routinely find great value travel deals for far less than they would be expected to usually cost.

We spend hours trawling every corner of the web to find potential deals. Not just that, but our vast experience in the field means we know exactly where to look, so we're always looking in the right places to uncover the very best deals.

We do all of this so you don't have to! All you have to do is join as a member, and we'll do the rest.

What Do We Do Once We've Found A Great Deal?

Once we find a deal we think is worth sharing with our members, we upload it to our private members area so our members can book it! If we find a deal that we think is particularly good, we'll also send it directly to you as an email alert. We'll make sure that you never miss a thing.

Who Is The Shoestring Travel Club For?

The Shoestring Travel Club is for anyone who wants to travel more for less! It doesn't matter how old you are or what you do for a living. All that matters is that you love to go on great value trips abroad, and want to go on more of them without having to drain your bank account to do so.  

Whether you're a student looking to skip a few lectures to find some sun, retired and looking to fill your time with trips or literally anyone in between, we guarantee that we will have something for you. The only requirement you need have is that you're happy spending far less money that you otherwise would on the deals we show you. Simple!

Meet The Founder

Adam, founder of the Shoestring Travel Club.

Adam's Story

Growing up in rural England, Adam always had a huge appetite for adventure and aviation in particular. An aspiring pilot, he has always been interested in exploring what the world has to offer, particularly in the form of travel and trips abroad. This passion for travel and adventure grew when he studied a degree in Aviation at the University of Leeds. At Uni, he started to use his knowledge to find great flight and travel deals that allowed him to travel on a student budget, and would often use them to sneak away on trips at only a few days notice.  

He began to realise that there were ways of routinely finding great travel deals, and wanted to share the deals he  found with other people who, like him, wanted to travel more without having to break the bank to do so.

One thing led to another, and the Shoestring Travel Club was born!

Life is getting busier by the day. In our eyes, it's crucial that you make sure to enjoy yourself as much as you can. What better way of doing that than by taking more trips, making more great memories and spending less money to do it?! Join The Shoestring Travel Club today, and let us help you get you away tomorrow ✈️ 

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Lonely Planet Central America on a shoestring (Travel Guide)

#1 best-selling guide to Central America * Lonely Planet Central America on a shoestring is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, what hidden discoveries await you, and how to optimise your budget for an extended continental trip. Scale the Maya temples of Tikal, surf the smoothest and most uncrowded waves in Latin America, or explore the colonial charms of Granada; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Central America and begin your journey now! Inside Lonely Planet Central America on a shoestring: Color maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Budget-oriented recommendations with honest reviews - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, music, cuisine, sports, wildlife, environment, architecture, literature, cinema, current events Over 90 maps Covers Mexico's Yucatán & Chiapas, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and more The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Central America on a shoestring is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less traveled. Looking for just a few of the destinations included in this guide? Check out the relevant Lonely Planet destination guides, our most comprehensive guides that cover destinations' top sights and offbeat experiences. Check out Lonely Planet Latin American Phrasebook & Dictionary or Lonely Planet Latin American Fast Talk to make your trip go smoother and to get more cultural enrichment out of your travels. Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet. About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveler community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travelers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves. *Best-selling guide to Central America. Source: Nielsen BookScan. Australia, UK and USA

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Lonely Planet Central America on a shoestring (Multi Country Guide) Paperback – October 18, 2016

There is a newer edition of this item:.

#1 best-selling guide to Central America *

Lonely Planet Central America on a shoestring is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, what hidden discoveries await you, and how to optimise your budget for an extended continental trip. Scale the Maya temples of Tikal, surf the smoothest and most uncrowded waves in Latin America, or explore the colonial charms of Granada; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Central America and begin your journey now!

Inside Lonely Planet Central America on a shoestring:

• Color maps and images throughout
• Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests
• Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots
• Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices
• Budget-oriented recommendations with honest reviews - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss
• Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, music, cuisine, sports, wildlife, environment, architecture, literature, cinema, current events
• Over 90 maps
• Covers Mexico's YucatÃ?¡n & Chiapas, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and more

The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Central America on a shoestring is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less traveled.

• Looking for just a few of the destinations included in this guide? Check out the relevant Lonely Planet destination guides, our most comprehensive guides that cover destinations' top sights and offbeat experiences.
• Check out Lonely Planet Latin American Phrasebook & Dictionary or Lonely Planet Latin American Fast Talk to make your trip go smoother and to get more cultural enrichment out of your travels.

Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet.

About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveler community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travelers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.

*Best-selling guide to Central America. Source: Nielsen BookScan. Australia, UK and USA

• Print length 768 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Lonely Planet
• Publication date October 18, 2016
• Dimensions 5.08 x 1.18 x 7.8 inches
• ISBN-10 9781786571113
• ISBN-13 978-1786571113
• See all details

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From the Publisher

Welcome to Central America

With turquoise seas and lush forests, magnificent Maya ruins, bustling markets and flourishing farms, Central America is packed with opportunities to chill out – or thrill out.

This guide includes information on:

• Mexico's Yucatan & Chiapas
• El Salvador

Editorial Reviews

Book description, product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1786571110
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lonely Planet; 9th edition (October 18, 2016)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 768 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781786571113
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1786571113
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.34 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.08 x 1.18 x 7.8 inches
• #14 in Honduras Travel Guides
• #226 in General Central America Travel Guides
• #399 in Budget Travel Guides

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• Section 5 - Giardiasis
• Section 5 - Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous

Helminths, Soil-Transmitted

Cdc yellow book 2024.

Author(s): Mary Kamb, Sharon Roy

Infectious Agents

Transmission, epidemiology, clinical presentation.

INFECTIOUS AGENTS: Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm) Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus (hookworm) Trichuris trichiura (whipworm)

TRAVELER CATEGORIES AT GREATEST RISK FOR EXPOSURE & INFECTION

All travelers

Immigrants and refugees from endemic countries

PREVENTION METHODS

Avoid contact with contaminated soil

Follow safe food and water precautions

Practice good hand hygiene

DIAGNOSTIC SUPPORT

A clinical laboratory certified in moderate complexity testing; or for clinical consultation, contact CDC’s Parasitic Diseases Branch (404-718-4745; [email protected])

Parasitological diagnosis:   DPDx

Ascaris lumbricoides ( Ascaris or roundworm), Ancylostoma duodenale (hookworm), Necator americanus (hookworm), and Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) are helminths (parasitic worms) that infect the intestine. Due to the role of contaminated soil in their transmission, this group of nematode worms are known as soil-transmitted helminths (STH). Strongyloides stercoralis (threadworm) is sometimes included in the STH (see Sec. 5, Part 3, Ch. 21, Strongyloidiasis ).

STH are transmitted through ingestion of the tiny, infectious eggs of Ascaris, whipworm, and some hookworm, and through skin transmission for hookworm. People of all ages can become infected. Adult female worms produce thousands of eggs daily that are passed in feces and, if conditions allow, deposited in soil. Once in soil, infective larvae of Ascaris and whipworms develop in the fertile eggs and, if ingested by a human host, hatch and develop into adult worms over several months. Hookworm eggs are not infective—the eggs hatch and release larvae that must mature in soil before they become infective. Hookworm infection usually occurs when larvae penetrate the skin of people walking barefoot on contaminated soil; Ancylostoma duodenale also can be transmitted when larvae are ingested. Occasionally, human infection with Ascaris suum (pig roundworm) can occur due to ingestion of infectious eggs shed in pig feces.

Globally, ≈2 billion people are infected with ≥1 STH, which together account for most parasitic disease burden worldwide. STH have widespread global distribution and are endemic in countries with tropical or subtropical climates and where sanitation is poor, human feces are used as fertilizer (“night soil”), or water supplies are contaminated. Although all travelers to endemic countries have some risk for STH infection, risk increases for long-term travelers and expatriates going to countries with poor general sanitation. Travelers can minimize risk by taking preventive measures.

Historically, STH infections were common in people living in US states where warm, moist climate and lack of sanitation enabled transmission; current prevalence of infection in those areas is unknown. Most reported infections in the United States are among immigrant and refugee populations. Since the introduction of predeparture treatment, stool testing for STH is unnecessary for most refugees. Because Ascaris, whipworm, and hookworm do not multiply in hosts (as opposed to threadworm), reinfection occurs only as a result of additional exposure to the infective-stage larvae.

Most STH infections are asymptomatic, especially when few worms are present. With Ascaris, pulmonary symptoms (Löffler syndrome) associated with marked eosinophilia and fever occur in a few patients when larvae pass through the lungs. Heavy roundworm infection also can cause intestinal discomfort, impaired nutritional status, and obstruction. Hookworm infection can lead to anemia due to blood loss and chronic protein deficiency, particularly in children. Whipworm infection can cause chronic abdominal pain, blood loss, diarrhea, dysentery, and rectal prolapse. Travelers rarely develop these more severe manifestations, however, which generally are associated with high worm burdens in indigenous populations.

Diagnosis is through detection of characteristic eggs using standard microscopy to examine fresh stool specimens. Stool concentration methods (e.g., Kato-Katz, McMaster, or FLOTAC techniques) can improve diagnostic yield. Collecting and testing 3 stool specimens on 3 separate days also improves detection because of variable shedding.

In returning travelers, parasitic eggs might not appear in stool for several months after exposure or symptom onset, because after infection female worms do not produce eggs for ≥40 days for Ascaris and ≥70 days for whipworm or hookworm. Serology to detect STH antibodies is not available in the United States. PCR testing is more sensitive and specific than microscopy, but tests are generally still unavailable commercially.

Co-infection with ≥1 STH or other parasitic worms common in some endemic areas can make diagnosis challenging. Request assistance with parasitological diagnosis through DPDx (www.cdc.gov/DPDx). Clinical consultations are available through the Parasitic Diseases Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (404-718-4745; [email protected]).

Treatment of intestinal ascariasis consists of anthelminthic therapy, which effectively reduces morbidity but does not prevent reinfection. The drugs used most often to treat hookworm and Ascaris are albendazole and mebendazole, and for whipworm a combination of albendazole plus ivermectin. These drugs are safe for children but should be avoided or used with caution in pregnant or lactating people.

No vaccines or drugs are available to prevent STH infection. Travelers can minimize infection risk by using preventive measures aimed at reducing ingestion or exposure to soil contaminated with human feces. Preventive measures include careful hand hygiene; washing, peeling, and cooking raw vegetables and fruit; and boiling or treating water (see Sec. 2, Ch. 8, Food & Water Precautions , and Sec. 2, Ch. 9, Water Disinfection ). To avoid hookworm infection, travelers should avoid walking barefoot in areas where hookworm is common or where soil might be contaminated by human feces.

CDC website: Soil-transmitted helminths

The following authors contributed to the previous version of this chapter: Christine Dubray, Sharon Roy

Bibliography

Bethony J, Brooker S, Albonico M, Geiger SM, Loukas A, Diemert D, et al. Soil-transmitted helminth infections: ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm. Lancet. 2006;367(9521):1521–32.

Brooker S, Bundy DAP. Soil-transmitted helminths (geohelminths). In: Cook GC, Zumla A, editors. Manson’s tropical diseases, 22nd edition. London: Saunders; 2009. pp. 1515–48.

Brooker S, Clements AC, Bundy DA. Global epidemiology, ecology and control of soil-transmitted helminth infections. Adv Parasitol. 2006;62:221–61.

Jourdan PM, Lamberton PHL, Fenwich A, Addis DG. Soil transmitted helminth infections. Lancet. 2018;391(10117):252–65.

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The world of New York’s Staten Island Ferry

No city is an ‘urban jungle’. That’s a condescending and dismissive attribute. Every city is a human habitat and they’re full of both wonderful and not so wonderful things. A jungle is a wonderful place too, unless you take it for granted or disturb its citizens. When you call a city ‘urban jungle’ and belittle it, you’re condemning two fine habitats in one go: the jungle and the city.

I’ve been visiting New York – often described as an ‘urban jungle’ - off and on since 1988, and my fascination for the city only increases. Underneath the thousands of steel-and-glass columns soaring into the sky, life goes on pretty much like anywhere else, busy with the mundane details of making a living. Seen from the top of one of them, people and vehicles look like ants scurrying about in a valley of giant mountains.

The essential New Yorker is a person in a hurry but, I think, only as much as her Mumbai, Kolkata or Bengaluru equivalent, except that the styles are different. The New Yorker seems more intense whereas her Indian equivalent is more relaxed – perhaps Indian capitalism hasn’t grown enough to tighten the noose fully. The only people who do not hurry in New York are the elderly sitting on a park bench and watching life go by or the homeless who have nowhere to go. And, of course, the tourists. They hurry, but they hurry slowly. A mind-boggling 6.6 crore tourists descend on the city annually to walk amongst the steel-and-glass corporate cathedrals.

For me, the magic of New York is on the streets beneath the skyscrapers, and in the people-filled subway hidden away in the eerie subterranean tunnels beneath the streets. What New York’s Staten Island Ferry offers you is another magic: it’s a slice of New York that’s afloat. It is one of the most beautiful things of New York.

For those who’re yet to befriend the ferry, here’s a short description. It connects Lower Manhattan to Staten Island 8.4 kilometers away across the New York Harbor. It’s a 25-minute ride through the choppy waters of the East River estuary fed by the Atlantic Ocean tides. One could almost call the ferry everlasting, because at any given moment of night or day, spring, summer, autumn or winter, rain, shine or fog, there’ll be two huge, sleek municipal-orange-colored vessels cutting across the churlish waves, one proceeding to the island and the other to Manhattan. The service is 24 x7 x 365. And, believe it or not, it’s free. Yes, free! In the world’s biggest capitalistic society there’s something that’s free.

Here’re some tidbits about the ferry. It was started in 1905, long before the bridges came. The New York City Department of Transportation operates the ferry. It runs 117 trips a day using eight large vessels and two small ones, all named after prominent citizens of New York and Staten Island, and transports about 70,000 people daily between the St. George Terminal in Staten Island and the Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan - around 2.2 crore people and 40,000 trips annually. The ferry’s annual on-time performance was 94 per cent at last count. In a history of 118 years, it has had had only one accident when, in 2003, the vessel Andrew J Barberi crashed full-speed into a concrete maintenance pier at the St. George Terminal in Staten Island, killing 11 people and injuring many.

I first boarded the ferry in 1992. Over the years I’ve been its loyal passenger many times. I’m indebted to my friend Manohar Thomas for introducing me to the ferry. His Staten Island home is my shelter in New York and that’s how I became a ferry faithful. I remember the first time he drove me to the ferry terminal and said, ‘Go in.’ ‘Where’s the ticket booth?’ I asked. ‘No ticket,’ he said. I couldn’t believe my ears. The United States of America was giving me a free ride!

The waiting hall in the Staten Island Terminal is big and filled with people. There’s a couple of policewomen and men holding two cheerful labradors on leash and chatting and drinking coffee. Once in a while they’ll amble over to a passenger and request to have the luggage sniffed. After the sniffing the dogs have a fulfilled look and their tails wag happily. By now I must’ve seen 2-3 generations of the police and the dogs; may be some of the officers have become top bosses and the dogs must be relaxing in their Happy Hunting Grounds, but missing the sniffing.

The huge drawbridge that takes you into the ferry is operated by personnel standing on high platforms on either side, whose watch over the passengers never seem to waver. I’ve wondered about the immense gallery – stored in their heads - of images of the faces, gaits and manners of the never-ending flow of people who pass under their gaze day after day. It must be an extraordinary log-book of humankind.

The three-decked ship is vast and cavernous. The rows of seats are wide apart and there’s no cramping. Balconies open out on either side where you can stand and watch the world of New York Bay opening up around you. On the starboard Brooklyn comes into view as also the celebrated Brooklyn Bridge, followed by Governor’s Island further ahead. On the port side the Statue of Liberty appears like a dot in the horizon and soon it's in full view but still far. When it gets closer there’s a rush of tourists to the port side balcony holding up their phone-cameras. Next to it is Ellis Island, the place where during the 19th and early 20th centuries millions of immigrants from all over the world – the ones who created the America we know – landed, were processed and forwarded to their locations. (The National Museum of Immigration at Ellis Island is an unforgettable and heart-moving experience.)

The waves are always choppy, whether the tide is coming in or going out. It’s scary to look at them. They are not high and appear to be dancing. But one can imagine how merciless would be their cold, undulating grip if you happened to get caught in them. Cruising all over the Bay are vessels of every kind, giant cargo ships heading for or leaving the harbour, tourist crafts, high-speed boats, luxury yachts, sailboats and little canoes where sits just one man with his fishing rod, impervious to everything, dreaming of his fish hiding down somewhere.

Then the Manhattan skyline begins to take shape at the other end of the Bay, starts to grow, become defined, grow bigger by every minute and then rushes at you like a glittering array of faery castles, their spires reaching for the sky. We know it’s a flamboyant display of power, wealth and domination. But it’s astounding. It’s breathtaking. New York appears before you in all its splendour. Then under the watchful eyes of the drawbridge operators you are offloaded into, what to me, is perhaps the most open-ended and intensely human urban conglomerate of the world. New York may be the HQ of the Masters of the Universe seated up in the skyscrapers, but city belongs to the ordinary people.

Back to the ferry. It’s a world in itself. Like New York it’s a melting pot of races, colours, languages, dresses, behaviours. For daily travellers, like commuters everywhere, the ferry is an extension of their home. There are even people who seem mentally ill – perhaps they’re in depression or under the influence of drugs – and use violent language and lurch around. No one seems to mind. I see Buddhist monks in their saffron robes, Hassidic Jews with their ponytails, huge hats and long coats, Muslims with their white skull caps, African women with their gorgeous headgears, and Indian women in sarees and salwar-kameez. There’s a lot of laughter and chatter but there are also those immersed in their mobile phones or lost in thought. Children play. Lovers whisper and kiss. A black man holds a huge music player – something that’s disappeared from the world long ago – and plays it loud. He’s happy and smiling to himself. No one bothers about him. Families of tourists have fun taking pictures and selfies.

To me the Staten Island Ferry is a slice of real New York, the New York that’s more than the skyscrapers, the glitter and the fanfare. It’s the New York of the working class, the less privileged woman and man, the humble and the ordinary. That it’s free, represents, in its own way, not capitalism’s mercy but what remains of the shining humanism that once illuminated the American Declaration of Independence. Thank you, Staten Island Ferry, for being there. May you traverse the New York Bay – free – for another thousand years!  

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Former Expedia exec’s startup uses AI to help smaller companies book travel

Small businesses and startups often lack a dedicated travel desk, forcing executives and founders to rely on human assistants or consuming and cumbersome travel apps.

Expedia’s former SVP of consumer product, Michael Gulmann, is betting on AI to bridge the gap. His company, Otto , emerges from stealth Thursday, with plans to launch an alpha version of the platform to select U.S. participants in September. The service is designed to quickly facilitate flight and hotel bookings through natural language queries.

Otto has raised $6 million in a seed round led by Madrona Ventures, with participation from Direct Travel. Angel investors in the round include former C-suite executives from services including Expedia, Ortbiz, Uber and Farecast.

The startup will utilize the $6 million it has raised for product development and hiring engineering talent. It should give Otto a run rate of two years.

Gulmann told TechCrunch that while the likes of TravelPerk and Concur focus on large enterprises, Otto is looking to serve customers who lack access to the services.

“Think of Otto as a high-end travel agent or executive assistant that remembers your preferences, such as your choice of hotels and flights. It will also remember other nuances such as if you prefer to stay within 10 minutes of your meeting place,” Gulmann said.

He noted that this means users don’t have to re-enter preferences each time they use the service. They also don’t have to toggle between travel sites and services like Google Maps.

Gulmann added that Otto automatically looks for changes in bookings and schedules. For instance, if your preferred hotel is booked, it gives you an option for another hotel that’s nearby.

In instances where the ‘bot can’t complete the booking for some reason, it will hand over the operations to a human agent at Direct Travel, who will pick up where it left off. Gulmann explained that these cases will likely be rare, though it’s difficult to gauge frequency without more real-world testing.

Steve Singh, Madrona’s managing director and the interim CEO at travel tech firm Spotnana , led Otto’s seed round. The exec, who also founded Concur , acquired Direct Travel (one of the investors in the round), with various other investors in April . Singh is the executive chairman at Direct Travel and will assume a similar position on Otto’s board.

Speaking with TechCrunch, Singh said he believes Otto has a great opportunity to capture some market in the travel space.

“The reason behind a large set of business travel being unmanaged is that services like Concur or other travel management companies are too expensive for small businesses. Typically, small business owners take the help of executive assistants for travel. That’s what’s good about Otto, it acts as your own executive assistant or a travel agent,” he said.

Otto is using its network of investors and advisors to get the best flight and travel data — integrating with services like Direct Travel and Spotnana — to facilitate customized booking queries.

Gulmann said that, for instance, if you need a hotel with a rooftop bar, you won’t find that as a filter on Expedia or Booking.com. He said that Otto is leveraging various hotel data providers and airline schedule databases to provide better customization for users.

The company is currently fine tuning off-the-shelf AI models using their own data. Gulmann noted that the cost of using these models will be far lower than what the company will earn from affiliate revenue per booking.

Otto plans to let the bot book transactions, anonymize trip IDs, and analyze data to check for hallucinations or errors. It emphasized that because it uses different agents and models for different tasks, the number of hallucinations should be small.

Gulmann said that with the alpha release, the company plans to hone its product, aiming to open it up to more people through a beta release by the end of the year. He plans to make Otto more widely available in early 2025.

Singh adds that, in the future, Otto will be able provide a highly personalized service. Users would be able to say as little as “Book me a trip for my next week’s meeting” and the tool will plan a trip based on historical data and preferences.

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The fallout after Bolt’s aggressive fundraising attempt has been wild

After fintech Bolt surprised the industry with a leaked term sheet that revealed it is trying to raise at a $14 billion valuation, things got weird.

Starliner will return to Earth uncrewed, astronauts staying on ISS until February

Boeing’s Starliner mission is coming back to Earth — empty. After months of data analysis and internal deliberation, NASA leadership announced today that Starliner will be coming back to Earth…

Do you know where your children are? Maybe on X

A surprising number of “iPad kids” — aka Generation Alpha’s 7- to 9-year-old demographic — are using X, according to new data from parental control software maker Qustodio. The firm…

Google just made a $250M deal with California to support journalism — here’s what it means

This week, Google joined a $250 million deal with the state of California to support California newsrooms. While the deal offers a much-needed cash infusion for an industry that’s seen…

X shareholders as of June 2023 included funds tied to Bill Ackman, Binance, and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

A court order recently forced Elon Musk’s X to reveal its full list of shareholders, as of June 2023, to the public. Many of the recognizable tech industry names had…

VCs are so eager for AI startups, they’re buying into each others’ SPVs at high prices

VCs are increasingly buying shares of late-stage startups on the secondary market as they try to get pieces of the hottest ones — especially AI companies. But they are also increasingly doing so through financial instruments called special purpose vehicles (SVPs). Some of those SPVs are becoming such hot commodities…

The top AI deals in Europe this year

Cumulatively, there have been more than 1,700 funding rounds for AI startups in Europe so far in 2024.

The founder building a wealth-management product her grandmother would have loved

After two years of building the company, the company quietly launched its beta in June and is officially announcing it today, right here, in TechCrunch. 

These 74 robotics companies are hiring

From the looks of things, companies in the category — including Agility Robotics and Formlogic — can’t hire quickly enough.

Threads confirms it is experimenting with ephemeral posts

Automatically disappearing posts on social networks could be handy for users who have a habit of deleting their posts through third-party tools, or if the context of those posts is…

‘Disappointed but not surprised’: Former employees speak on OpenAI’s opposition to SB 1047

Two former OpenAI researchers who resigned this year over safety concerns say they are disappointed but not surprised by OpenAI’s decision to oppose California’s bill to prevent AI disasters, SB…

VC Neil Mehta, who’s quietly nabbing prized SF property, plans a “Y Combinator for restaurants”

Neil Mehta, the VC behind the acquisition of a string of properties on San Francisco’s tony Fillmore Street, made waves earlier this week for reportedly throwing long-established local restaurants to…

Justice Department sues RealPage over allegedly helping landlords collude to drive up rents

RealPage, which makes property management software, was sued Friday by the U.S. Justice Department and eight attorneys general for allegedly helping apartment and building managers around the country collude to…

Colorful Capital will stop trying to raise for a fund

Colorful Capital’s co-founders, William Burckart and Megan Kashner, declined to comment. 

Andrew Ng steps back at Landing AI after announcing new fund

Andrew Ng is stepping down from his role as CEO at Landing AI, the computer vision platform he founded in 2017. Dan Maloney, formerly the COO, will take the reins…

Piramidal’s foundation model for brainwaves could supercharge EEGs

AI models are being applied to every dataset under the sun, but are inconsistent in their outcomes. This is as true in the medical world as anywhere else, but a…

M&A can open up the playing field for the competition

No two businesses are the same, and that’s good news: As we saw again this week, it opens up space for companies to try opposite approaches, join forces or challenge…

Marc Andreessen’s family plans to build a ‘visionary’ subdivision near the proposed California Forever utopia city

Marc Andreessen’s family is planning to build a large housing development near the proposed California Forever city.

Canoo’s chief technology officer is out amid wider reorg

EV startup Canoo’s chief technology officer Sohel Merchant has left the company, two people familiar with his departure have told TechCrunch. Merchant was one of the members of Canoo’s founding…

Halliburton shuts down systems after cyberattack

A company spokesperson for the oil drilling and fracking giant declined to name the executive overseeing cybersecurity, if any.

Peloton adds $95 activation fee for used equipment

The move is an effort to squeeze additional revenue from second-hand products, over concerns that cheaper, slightly used bikes, treadmills and rowers could cannibalize used sales.

Last day for massive ticket savings to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

Time is running out! These are the last hours to save up to $600 on TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 tickets — offer ends tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT. Join 10,000+ startup…

Meta and Spotify CEOs criticize AI regulation in the EU

Meta and Spotify are once again teaming up — this time, on the matter of open source (or to be precise, open-weight) AI which the companies claim are being hampered…

Tingit is building a marketplace for ‘zero-effort’ repairs, starting with fashion

Tingit, a startup out of Lithuania, wants to help people restore their used clothing to their former glory with its newly launched repairs marketplace.

After changing its license, Redis drops its biggest release yet

Redis, the company behind the popular in-memory data store, which is often used as a cache, vector database or streaming engine, today announced the launch of Redis 8. With this…

360 One lifts its valuation of India’s National Stock Exchange to $29.9B

360 One Asset, an investor in National Stock Exchange (NSE), has increased its valuation for India’s top stock exchange to $29.9 billion.

Get in on the ground floor with Tesla’s humanoid by pretending to be one for pay

Tesla is hiring individuals standing between 5’7 and 5’11 to carry up to 30 pounds for seven hours a day to train its Optimus robot.

DeepMind workers sign letter in protest of Google’s defense contracts

At least 200 workers at DeepMind, Google’s AI R&D division, are displeased with Google’s reported defense contracts — and according to Time, they circulated a letter internally back in May…

NASA to decide Saturday whether astronauts will ride Boeing’s Starliner home — or use SpaceX’s Dragon instead 

NASA officials will announce their final decision on Saturday as to whether two NASA astronauts — Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams — will return to Earth on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft…

Gimbal Space takes on legacy suppliers with fast-paced component supply chain

America’s space industry seems mature, but the supply chain that provides all the parts and components for rockets, satellites, and other spacecraft is considerably less so. Gimbal Space is aiming to…

Mind-Expanding Reads: 18 Must-Read Books for Intellectuals