Practical travel tips and advice
TipsThe cold is real, the distances are deceptive, and the beshbarmak is eaten with your hands. Everything you need to know before visiting Astana.
TipsThe deer WILL eat your map. The big Buddha IS that big. And no, you don't need a full day in Kyoto first. Here's what I learned in Nara.
TipsI learned most of these the hard way at -27°C. Including the one about phone batteries, the one about reindeer on roads, and the one about booking glass igloos.
TipsSwitzerland is expensive. Lucerne is expensive even by Swiss standards. But with the right passes, timing, and food strategy, you can see everything without selling a kidney.
TipsBring a dark swimsuit. Trust me on this one. Here are 18 more things nobody tells you before you fly to the middle of the Atlantic.
TipsPay in pesos (never dollars), skip the Quinta Avenida restaurants, swim in cenotes before 10AM, and find the $30 MXN tacos two blocks from the tourist strip.
TipsArrive at 7AM. Use Entrance 2. Pack your own lunch. And whatever you do, don't touch the water.
TipsDon't pump your own gas, skip Voodoo Doughnut, and why your umbrella marks you as an outsider — 17 lessons from repeated Portland visits.
TipsFrom the official guide scam to surviving 45-degree heat with zero shade, here's everything the travel blogs leave out about India's temple town.
TipsThe orangutans don't show up on schedule. The dive permits sell out months ahead. And the leeches are inevitable. Here's everything I learned in Malaysian Borneo.
TipsFrom wearing the wrong shoes to overpaying for fish on the Ribeira quay — hard-won lessons from three Porto trips.
TipsMate etiquette that prevents awkward silences, the Rambla timing trick, and why your first day should be a rest day — 19 hard-won lessons.
