In Hong Kong I stayed in a hotel for 7 nights on Hong Kong Island. It was worth starting the trip with a bit of luxury as I knew there would be far worse places to follow.

I then moved on to Australia, where me and my mate spend 2 months in Sydney in an apartment with 2 girls we knew from the UK. The place was complete with swimming pool, sauna, gym and roof terrace. We then bought a car and drove 26km around the country staying in hostels in the cities and campsites win the desert.

We then did the hostel thing in New Zealand when a couple we were travelling with decided they wanted a bit of privacy and got a camper van and drove round both islands.

In Singapore, and Malaysia it was hostels all the way, and then to Thailand where we ended the trip in a beach hut on Ko Pha Ngan. Although we were pretty skint by this point even the cold water showers didn’t dampen the spirit. It’s well worth going backpacking – even on a shoe string budget.

My favourite hostel was in Melbourne, a hostel called the Exford Hotel which was a proper laugh, full of people up for a good time. Me and my mate were travelling with a couple so they got a room for the 2 of them, whereas we went for a 4 person room because it was cheaper. The 2 other room mates were real part animals and the benefit of the hostel was that there was a pub/bar downstairs complete with pool table and juke box and the bar seemed to be open 24 hours a day.

We had many a good night having a few too many beers and blasting out Oasis on the juke box to remind us of our roots. We even got kicked out of the pub one night for playing too much Oasis, but they took it on the chin and let us back in the same night! We were in Melbourne to coincide with the F1 Grand Prix and saw David Coulthard win the race that year.

If you’re going to Melbourne and are on a budget you can do far worse than the Exford Hotel.