Joe Dunster's travelling tales

I did a lot of planning and research before I came away, many an hour was spent trawling the Thorn Tree travel forum looking for top travel tips and little nuggets of useful information and suggestions from experienced travellers. I think sometimes you can become obsessed with what others pack and feel you need to buy everything that's suggested, but in reality everyone is different and will pack to their own requirements. Here's my top 5 travel essentials so far.

1# Combination cable lock - everyone has a few valuable items that they will want to lock away in the hostel during the day and overnight so a good travel lock is essential. All the hostels tend to have a big locker in the dorm or a set of lockers near reception that you can use for the duration of your stay. I use a cable lock, ideal for bending through a lockable section and the 3 dial combination means you I don't have to worry about carrying around a key for the lock either! I also have a couple of other smaller combination locks so I can lock my backpack and daypack when I'm travelling around.

2# USB Travel adapter - laptop, mobile, kindle, iPod, camera - they'll all need to be recharged at some point so a good travel charger is essential. There's a few on the market but I opted for one which also had a USB port so I can charge my iPod and Kindle without having to take two extra plugs with me.

3# Ear Plugs - if you're gonna be staying in hostels and sharing dorms you're definitely going to need two or three sets of these. Cheap, small and lightweight, they will help block out a bit of noise from either late night party-goers or street noise and help you get a better night sleep...hopefully!

4# Sleep Mask - this will come in handy if you're travelling around countries where sunrise is stupid o'clock in the morning. You also might find that some hostels have rubbish blinds or curtains and if you're anything like me then I need the room to be pretty dark if I'm gonna get a decent night's sleep.

5# Packing cubes - a lot of travellers recommended these packing cubes and I know from my last trip to California I ended up with clothes everywhere so I took a punt on them. The large and medium size cubes fit nicely into my backpack, I use the large one for my trousers, shorts, boxers/socks and fleece, the medium one has all my t-shirts in. The small one is perfect for chucking all the little travel bits in like chargers, adapter washing line, notebook and torch etc. Space saving, perfect sizes, easy access and pretty cheap - packing cubes are the way forward I reckon.

Bear with me on this blog...I promise they won't all be as self-indulgent as this one but I wanted to start this travel blog by giving you an insight into my story.

Wow, what a crazy few years it's been in the life of Joe Dunster. Having settled in Reading and working for the AA; looking after the marketing for AA Publishing and AA Hotel Services, life was pretty good but I felt I needed to experience something different, a travel itch that had to be scratched!

So for everyone who doesn't know me, my name is Joe Dunster, born in Portsmouth, I grew up on the beautiful south coast in a small town called Chichester. I graduated from Bournemouth University after studying Leisure Marketing and went on to work for a full service marketing agency in Emsworth, called MindWorks Marketing before landing a job at the AA. I have great friends and a great family, the best. Two wonderful parents, one brother (Sam), one sister (Amy) and lots of lovely and nieces and nephews and a very close extended family.

My brief life summary wouldn't be complete without mentioning the health issues I have had to overcome in my short life. I was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome when I two years old and spent a lot of my childhood in and out of Great Ormond Street hospital as doctors tried to control my condition. I lead a pretty normal and active lifestyle and even managed to play squash to quite a high level from U12 through to U16 level. My condition started to deteriorate around my 18th birthday and I soon found myself plugged into a dialysis machine four times a day. Two years later I received the magical phone call to say they had found a kidney for me!

Fast forward 11 years and we're back to present day. I won't lie, my kidney failure, resulting health complications, transplant and the fight to get back to full fitness and enjoy an active lifestyle hasn't been easier, but I got there...just! Over the last few years I even managed to put my sporting talents on display and entered the British Transplant Games 2010 in Bath. Following a gold medal in the golf, I was invited to represent Great Britain and compete in the World Transplant Games 2011 in Sweden - what an amazing honour. I also attended the British Games 2011 in Belfast and as a result of all these competitions, I am proud to have picked up two golds, one silver and one bronze (news story); I am also the reigning British and World Transplant squash champion and I hope to defend my crown at the World's in South Africa, Durban 2013

I'd like to think that all those who know me, have seen me go through these life changing challenges and are reading this blog, will know that these experiences have definitely changed me as a person. It has open my eyes to the importance of promoting organ donation - a tranplant is not something to be ashamed of, it's the gift of life.

If your are reading this and you haven't registered for the Organ Donation list, please show your support for this valuable cause, add your name to the NHS Organ Donor Register and let those closest to you know your wishes about organ donation. One day you may be able to save lives.

Anyway, first blog done, phew! On to the travelling...happy reading.