This post is part of a series called Southeast Asia 2023 After a busy few days, we turned it down a notch today. We kicked things off with some nasi kandar and a trip to the laundromat. Nasi kandar is a “mix everything together and somehow it works” buffet and it didn’t disappoint – fried…
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This post is part of a series called Southeast Asia 2023 Somehow I never quite learn the lesson that “walking six miles to grab some tacos in St. Paul” is not the same as “hiking six miles with 2000 feet of elevation change in a jungle on the equator.” Should take about an hour and…
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This post is part of a series called Southeast Asia 2023 Two-for-one blog day, as Saturday was mostly a transit day for us. The hotel packed us to-go breakfast bags for our 5am trip to the airport, which was pretty nice. Everything went smooth at the airport, so we had time for a bowl of…
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This post is part of a series called Southeast Asia 2023 For the past few years, I’ve maintained that Hanoi is my favorite city in the world. With that in mind, I’ll admit I had a bit of trepidation returning for the third time. What if things had changed? After all, Vietnam is a rising…
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This post is part of a series called Spain 2022 Due to train, plane and meeting schedules, it made the most sense for us to spend a day in Madrid on the way home from Seville. We actually ended up with a bit over a full day – we got to Madrid mid-afternoon on Wednesday…
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This post is part of a series called Spain 2022 While I was at my conference, Kat got out for some adventures of her own. Follow along! Day One There is a small bar on the corner of our street where we decided to have our daily tostada and coffee. The local bread is like…
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This post is part of a series called Spain 2022 We’ve just arrived at a hotel in Madrid, after spending a few days in Seville for a conference. Though it’s been mostly a work trip, we had a bit of time to explore Seville and figured it was worth capturing before it disappears from our…
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Guidebooks can feel a little anachronistic in our age of social media, TripAdvisor, and customized search engines. However, I’m fully in the camp of thinking that a guidebook is one of the best investments you can make ahead of a trip. Allow me to try my best to convince you. Guidebook as a planning tool…
View MoreWhere should I stay? Well, it’s complicated. The options for housing when traveling have multiplied over the last ten years, from short term rentals to boutique hotel chains to group housing. There are great options at every budget level and for every type of stay. I’ve found it helpful to work out a mental map…
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Before diving into a recap of our recent trip to Nairobi, let’s get a couple truisms out of the way. First, when an American tells you that they’ve heard somewhere is dangerous, it’s a lot like a FIAT owner telling you to watch out for those unreliable British cars. Perspective matters. Second, when you live…
View MoreI Pledge Allegiance To the #Brand In past travel tips, I’ve talked about credit card points programs and frequent flyer accounts. However, there’s a whole world of loyalty programs out there, just waiting to turn your frequent patronage into minimally useful rewards and data for algorithms. Which of them are worth the effort? There are…
View MoreThe smartphone and the rise of “micromobility” have dramatically changed the landscape for getting around cities while traveling. When traveling internationally, the options compound further, with local and regional champions and city-specific modalities. Having a good grasp of the mobility options can make travel faster, cheaper, and more authentic, so it’s worth doing your homework….
View More“Earn miles when you spend! 2X miles when you get your hair cut by someone with a monosyllabic first name!” Pitches for “miles earning” credit cards are everywhere. Some of them come with all kinds of travel perks, some of them have very high fees, and some of them are essentially junk. Sometimes you earn…
View MoreIf you’ve spent time in any online travel communities, you’ve probably been exposed to the “mile obsessives” who frequent forums like FlyerTalk. I’ve certainly heard the siren call of the mile game, where things like “mileage runs” (flights with no purpose aside from accruing miles) sound like rational life decisions. It’s a topic worth exploring a…
View MoreWith the rise of smartphones in the latter naughts, it became common wisdom among savvy travelers that the best way to stay connected while traveling abroad was to have an unlocked phone and buy a local SIM card on arrival. Nearly everywhere else in the world pays far less for cellphone service, so getting a…
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You should visit Vilnius because it’s a charming, quaint, and very European city without all of the slick, over-touristed Disneyfication that comes with many European destinations. Vilnius is the heart of small and dynamic Lithuania, a country that’s still working to figure out its identity after a tumultuous 20th century. A visit to Vilnius lets…
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This post is part of a series called Lithuania 2022 Our last day in Vilnius! I’ll do a followup “Why Should I Visit Vilnius” article at some point, summarizing the reasons to come here. Safe to say, we’ve had a great time and I’d highly recommend Vilnius as a European vacation destination. We started our…
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This post is part of a series called Lithuania 2022 Woke up to another gorgeous morning in Vilnius. We’re quickly learning that you should just ignore the weather forecasts, and the dire predictions of locals. Every day, the weather apps predict rain, and the locals talk about the terrible weather. And every day is brilliantly…
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