Travel Tip – Stay for a Month

I’ve had the same conversation hundreds of times.  It goes like this: friend: So you’re travelling for a year, huh? Where are you going? me: The Philippines, Japan, France and Germany friend: That’s it?! Then they go on to tell me that if they had a year off, they’d visit 120 countries in 365 days.  They’re completely flabbergasted that I would “waste” my time by only visiting four countries. It’s not uncommon thinking – more than half the travellers I meet have ambitious itineraries like this.  I completely disagree with it.  When travelling, the QUALITY of your time is worth so much more than the number of countries you visit. I advise everyone to stay at each stop of their journey for a month.  Here’s why: You Make Better Friends One of the biggest reasons I go travelling is to make friends.  I’m not talking about those 1-night-party friends, I’m talking about the kind of friends you genuinely miss when you leave and are still in contact with years later. I’m currently staying in the hometown of a friend I met over 10 years ago.  We’ve only seen each other one other time in the 10 years since we met, but our friendship is still strong.  Why?  It’s because we had the time to bond.  We’ve had shared experiences, stories and learned what’s important to each other. Even if it’s 20 years before we see each other again, we’ll still be friends.  You can’t make that type of friend in a few days, it’s just not enough time. As I travel, my only souvenirs are my good friends.  We always promise we’ll see each other again, and we always do – I’ve hosted and been hosted by friends like this.  These relationships wouldn’t be possible if I’d only stayed for a week. You TRULY Experience the Culture Ask a traveller why they travel, and often they’ll say something like, “I want an authentic experience”.  What’s authentic about hitting all the tourist spots in a weekend and leaving on the next flight? This point goes along very closely with the idea of making good friends – if the friends you make are locals, then you gain a true insight into the culture. This year alone, I’ve been invited: to a 50th wedding anniversary backstage of a bunraku show to the stands of a perpetually sold-out baseball stadium mountain climbing and cottaging in the French Alps …and even...
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How to Make Money While Travelling

One of the least-discussed topics around travelling is money.  However, if you’re going to travel for a gap year or are taking up the nomad lifestyle, making money is a must. So what’s the best way to do it?  Some people find temp jobs (like tree planting or fruit picking), but that kind of work isn’t sustainable for long-term travel.  You could get a job as a barista or serving tables, but that only works if you’re staying in a single place for an extended period, not if you’re only there for a few weeks or months. In fact, a casual survey of most long-term travellers reveals that the vast majority work freelance jobs.  If you’re planning on travelling over the long haul, you might consider freelancing as well. Another option: sell products online.  E-commerce is so varied, no matter what your skills, you can sell something online.  Could be something digital, something you make by hand, or something from the local area that you’re in. Freelancing What is freelancing?  In general, you’re selling your time and skills.  This means that you need to find clients that will pay you for your marketable skills. Marketable skills?!  I don’t have any! That is completely bogus – EVERYONE has marketable skills, especially if you’ve grown up using a computer and the internet. At the moment, on Upwork.com (formerly Odesk and Elance), the following jobs are available: Pinterest Manager – someone to help mange and promote a Pinterest page Blog Author – various blogs such as technology, eco fashion, personality Internet Researcher – someone who takes a specific topic and finds popular blogs/forums that relate to that topic Business Plan Author – take a bunch of research and vision, and turn it into a business plan that the client can pitch to investors What are you good at?  What are you GREAT at?  Focus on showing people how you can help them, and they WILL pay you. Selling Products Online Think you have the chops to sell something online?  It’s easier than you think!  Just choose something you think you could make (or re-sell), do some research on what people want, make it or get it, and post it on a well-established marketplace. Here are some of the bigger marketplaces you can use to sell your wares. Ebay.com Still the grand poobah of online marketplaces, many people make their entire living on Ebay.  This is a good...
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How to Meet People While Travelling

On my first Europe trip, I met up with a friend living in Ireland to do a bus trip around the country.  Our first stop was Cork, and we had arrived a bit late in the evening.  As we went to the local corner store to grab some beer for the evening, we mused how it might be difficult to meet people to go out with this late in the evening. And then…I saw it.   It was glorious.  The (at the time) new Heineken mini keg, slightly sweaty and looking refreshing as heck nestled between cans of beer in the cold drink section. “We…we have to get this,” I said, awed.  My friend was not convinced, citing how it was more beer than we needed, more expensive, and that I didn’t even like Heineken. “It’s not about any of that!  With this thing, tonite, instead of trying to meet people, people will try to meet US!” He was still skeptical, but we bought the keg and my plan came to fruition.  It was more beer than we needed, but we ended up sharing with a ton of people in the hostel we were staying, hosting a bit of a party in the common area and then hitting up the bars with our new friends. Beer Not Required Meeting people comes naturally to me, but it’s a source of extreme anxiety for others.  In fact, talking to a lot of travellers and wannabe-travellers, it might be the number one concern that prevents people from heading off on their own. The above was my first foray into meeting people, so you’ll have to excuse me for using beer as a crutch.  In the years that followed I realized that there are a ton of ways to meet people while travelling, whether or not you’re providing beer or staying in a hostel. The only rule you need to follow: be open-minded! One of the biggest benefits of travelling is experiencing new things.  Don’t automatically say no to invitations because they are uncomfortable or unfamiliar.  Instead, try automatically saying yes to things to see where they take you. Meeting People: A Tactical List Here’s a list of my tried-and-true methods to meeting people on the road.  Try a few and see which work for you! “The Boasting Host” One thing I notice is that a lot of people on Airbnb who offer shared rooms are very interested...
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Travel Laptop Recommendations

If you’re planning on working as you travel, chances are you’re going to bring your laptop with you. After extensive research, I’ve narrowed the field down to these two laptops for travelling.  Both of these laptops fit the following criteria: thin and light enough performance to handle heavy-duty apps (no netbooks) around $1100 Both are field tested (I use the Mac, my wife uses the Lenovo), and work quite nicely.  You can see how they compare below.  MacBook Pro 2.4GHzLenovo Yoga 13 screen size13.3"13.3" weight3.46 lbs3.3 lbs thickness0.71"0.67" websiteApple's WebsiteLenovo's website  ...
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How to Choose your Backpacking Backpack

Best Short-Term BagBest Budget BagLargest Capacity Carry-on Best Laptop Protection Best-Looking Bag Tom Binh Aeronaut 30Osprey Farpoint 40Tortuga Travel BagGORUCK GR2MINAAL $270 USD~ $127 USD$199 USD$355 USD$299 USD more infomore infomore infomore infomore info best for: Weekenderbest for: Explorer Gap Year best for: Gap Yearbest for: Explorer Nomad best for: Gap Year Nomad Your backpack is the most important piece of gear that you’ll buy.  A bad backpack can frustrate even the most well-planned trips.  It’s worth it to spend a little time figuring out your needs so that you can choose the right bag. Pick your travel type and find the bag that matches you in the table above. Pick your travel type Don’t let anyone tell you what kind of bag you need – you need to choose the type of bag based on your type of travel.  Which type are you? The Weekender: This type of traveller is well-established in their life, but likes to take frequent weekend trips. The Explorer: The travel bug strikes this type often.  They’ll find themselves taking a few weeks at a time to travel to a new destination. The Gap Year: Taking anywhere from a few months to a year, this type of backpacker is making a real commitment to travel.  Often they don’t have a job, but may pick up some odd jobs while they are abroad for some extra cash. The Nomad: This traveller carries their whole life on their back.  They are travelling indefinitely – working on the road as they travel.  Since they often work online, they’re also called “digital nomads”. Pick your backpack Below is a table with the most common backpacks.  After you’ve chosen your type of traveller above, look at the bags below to see which one fits your style. ALL of these backpacks have the following two features: zips open like a suitcase small enough to fit in the carry-on bin of an airplane Best Short-Term BagBest Budget BagLargest Capacity Carry-on Best Laptop Protection Best-Looking Bag Tom Binh Aeronaut 30Osprey Farpoint 40Tortuga Travel BagGORUCK GR2MINAAL $270 USD~ $127 USD$199 USD$355 USD$299 USD more infomore infomore infomore infomore info best for: Weekenderbest for: Explorer Gap Year best for: Gap Yearbest for: Explorer Nomad best for: Gap Year Nomad Tom Binh Aeronaut 30 $270 USDWeekender Tom Binh Website The Aeronaut is the smallest bag on our list – but that’s a good thing if you’re using...
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