Thanks once again for dropping by ubertramp.com, and welcome to the first in the series of regular round-ups celebrating all things backpackery, geeky, and cheap(y)!

As you may have already gathered, this new weekly slot is a celebration of web based austerity. Each Friday I’ll be compiling and sharing a handful of discoveries from around the web – discoveries geared toward preserving that meagre road fund.

Ok, just a few links this week as I only had the idea of doing this whilst having a smoke a few hours ago. Its now mid afternoon and if I leave it much later I’ll have to change the title to cheapskate Saturday – and I don’t want to do that.

To kick off this week’s festival of frugality we’re going straight over to Eyeflare.com and their recent trilogy of tips to help secure a cheaper flight.

Essentially, it deals with air consolidators. And thankfully, the first post in the series kicks off with a brief outline of what an air consolidator is and what they are all about. Now, with this newly gained knowledge tucked into your belt they’ve then laid out a most useful guide to using an air consolidator – with tips and tricks as well as perils and pitfalls.

So, once you are all about on them, all that’s left to do is give you a nice hearty list of some of the main players, and some links to help you get the best deal on your flights. Good, eh?

“But it’s a fast moving business!” I hear you say “Things change all the time!” you shriek again. Never fear. The editor of eyeflare.com keeps his finger on the pulse, diligently updating the posts as required – so it’s well worth dropping by from time to time to check out the latest goings on there.

Ok, moving on. Please allow me to now share something incredibly special with you this first ever Cheapskate Friday. It’s without doubt the most endearing and thought provoking travelogue I have ever found. It’s sharp, exceedingly well written and truly inspirational – and best of all it’s a current, ongoing adventure and has everything to do with getting by on meagre funds.

It’s bristling with romance and humour, and delivers shrewd observations by the bucket load – but its not all flowers and smiles, oh no, there’s enough grit and heartache from front to back to have you reaching for the Prozac. In short, it’s got it all - It’s Song of the Open Road.

I first heard about Song of the Open Road whilst in Morocco a couple of months back, and have been returning to catch up on his latest antics ever since. Of late, I’ve had a little more time to trawl through his site – and have flitted to and fro checking out the posts stretching back a good few years. All I can say is that despite his vehement disapproval of my recent post about Swiss Army Knives, to me he remains a true inspiration.

The astute author Wade – a self confessed happy, rolling cowboy – and his girl, Mira, are currently gallivanting through Portugal on their latest acquisitions: two old bicycles picked up in Spain after their departure from Morocco. I can only assume they will be heading further north, but who knows? But therein lays the beauty of this blog – you never know where it’s going to go. It’s boldly eccentric, magnificently free, and thoroughly recommended. Check it out.

Well that just about wraps it up for this week, so enjoy your weekend – wherever you are and whatever you’re doing - and be sure to drop by again for a more comprehensive round up in 7 days time. Hell, why not subscribe while you’re here as there’ll be plenty more posts in the meantime. If you don’t know what an RSS feed is or how to subscribe, then check out my easy guide to RSS!

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Oh, if you’ve discovered a site that you think is a worthy inclusion to Cheapskate Friday, or in fact run one, why not drop me a line and tell me all about it? Basically, if it’s backpackery AND cheapy I’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, why not share the first Cheapskate Friday with a stumble? It all helps spread the word. Thanks!