Unique digital nomad travel adventures from around the U.S.
Recently, I was asked to be on a panel at work to discuss work-life balance. Apparently, the organizers felt my tendency to travel whenever possible qualified me for the position. I was skeptical and not anxious to participate. However, I did not want to be …
Travel with parents, grandparents, first-timers and other novices is a different experience and requires a little different preparation. A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, with my parents. My dad has Lyme disease and we were told a specialist there might …
One of the main things people ask when B or I return from a foreign country is ‘how was the food?’ Food is something everyone can relate to because no matter where you go and what you see, you still gotta eat. This post offers some foreign food advice on how to survive and enjoy the cuisine of foreign destinations (and will hopefully help you not to get sick while you are adventuring).
Foreign cuisine can be pretty intimidating for a lot of people because what’s perfectly normal to person in country A can be perfectly repulsive to person in country B. A friend’s dad once told me a story about how when he was living in South Korea, he won a bet with some locals because he ate some rice with milk poured on top of it. What was rice pudding to him was in fact dog food to the South Koreans. Tomato, tomahto.
Disclaimer: Neither B nor I are foodies. We enjoy tasty food, but are not going to spend a lot of money procuring it or a lot of time eating it.
A travel friend gave B this advice a while ago and we’ve tried to follow it since then. The idea is that when you get to another country you should immediately eat the local yogurt. We’ve all seen the commercials talking about probiotics and live cultures that live in yogurt. So when you first get to a country and ingest the local good-for-you-stuff in yogurt, it will build up resistance in your gut for when you try to eat other local cuisine. If a local bad-for-you stuff gets into your system, the yogurt goodies can take it out, and you will not get sick.
Of the two of us, I have more trouble with getting sick than B, but I feel like the yogurt trick is helpful. Bonus–yogurt is tasty in pretty much every culture. In Iceland, where the cuisine is less than ideal (and rightly so, it would be greedy for Iceland to do everything well) the skyr (yogurt) was a life saver. We ate it as much as possible. Even now, if we can find it in grocery stores we will pick up skyr instead of greek or other yogurt.
During the last two weeks I went on two business trips to a certain town in Idaho. On the first trip, we looked up some reviews on trip advisor and yelp for the best places to eat in this small town. One of the highest rated was an italian place that shared a building with the Chevron gas station. We thought what you are probably thinking…no way can that be good and instead ate really subpar pizza at a different restaurant. When we returned this week, we were at a store and asked the cashier for a recommendation and lo and behold, the Italian gas station was her first recommendation. So, we went. And it was really good. Lesson learned–go where the locals tell you to go.
You can also use this trick even when you can’t speak the language and don’t have the internet or a guidebook at your fingertips. If you are standing in front of two restaurants and one is packed with locals and the other has only a handful of people there, you should resist your urge to not stand in line and go where the crowd is. They know what’s up. You still might get sick, but it will at least taste good!
Some places are known for certain things. Can you imagine going to Italy and never having pasta? Sacrilege! Some things are obvious like that, but others might not be. We are preparing to go to Belgium for Christmas. After we made our plans, we started to research what the local specialties are foodwise. Did you know Belgium is renowned for beer, french fries, mussels and chocolate (in addition to waffles)? Now, none of us are super mussel enthusiasts, so we probably won’t be sampling that particular specialty. But man oh man, I cannot wait to try a cone of delicious french fries and sip hot chocolate as I walk around the markets.
To find out what places are known for, a guidebook or the interwebs will give you the information you need. Just goog it…’what to eat in XXXX’ and you are sure to find lots of websites answering that very question.
‘Don’t drink the water’ is my Number 2 rule of travel, followed shortly after ‘use a bathroom whenever one is presented to you.’ Sure, in some countries it is perfectly safe to drink the water and we advise you to save the earth and do that instead of buying bottled water. But in countries where there is a shred of a chance of you getting sick, it is just not worth it (even if you see locals drinking away). Their bodies are conditioned to handle the microorganisms in their neck of the woods, just as ours are for where we live. When we mix it up and go all loosy goosy drinking right out of the tap, we can all get ourselves in trouble (and need to refer to my Number 1 rule of travel).
Another thing to look out for is produce that has been rinsed in water. I remember spending a month in Central America and not being able to eat any salad. You never know how much you’ll miss something until you can’t have it anymore! Cooked vegetables and items with skins you peel off should be okay.
And while we’re talking about it, you should be careful about the ice you get in drinks or smoothies. I don’t really care about tepid drinks, so I am fine ordering them without ice. But fruit smoothies are so delicious I really have to restrain myself unless I know for sure the ice cubes that went in it are made with purified agua.
If those paragraphs freaked you out, I have something that will help ease your mind. Instead of dirty water, you can drink Cokes. Have you heard about how when you leave a nail in coke for a few days it will dissolve? Well, I’m not really sure, that might be an urban legend, but there is definitely some ingredients in Coke that can kill unwelcome visitors in you if you drink it. This is a little worrisome in everyday life, but a desirable attribute in a foreign land.
I am a big fan of passion fruit. Strangely, good ol’ Idaho isn’t renowned for this particular treasure. That makes it insanely awesome when I go somewhere and passion fruit is a native species. If you are visiting a place that produces a certain item, you need to maximize your intake while you are there. This does lead to some unfortunate side effects. For example: eating so much pineapple in Guatemala that your mouth actually gets sores. But really, when it is all said and done and you come back home to your arctic tundra, you aren’t going to regret drinking all of those pina coladas.
While we were relaxing at our hotel pool in Bali, one of the guys on staff climbed up a tree and knocked down some coconuts. He then proceeded to hack them open, squirt in some lime, add a straw and presented us with our very own slice of heaven. If you are in the tropics, why wouldn’t you drink fresh coconut water? It’s a no brainer.
B enjoys herself some seafood. So one day in a seaside town in Morocco, we visited a restaurant next to the water. There wasn’t a specific catch of the day on the menu. Instead, the waiter brought out an enormous iced tray with all sorts of different fish and seafood that had just been caught out back. Again, being as we don’t have any of these salt water delicacies in Idaho, we were able to take advantage and get a very different food than what we are used to. (P.s. our fish was dang tasty–even to a non-fishy food eater like me.)
One of the main ways you can experience a new culture (which is one of the big motivators for travel, after all) is to try out the local food. Sure, not everything will need to happen (like that fermented shark specialty in Iceland). But if you do step out of your comfort zone, you will be rewarded by a full belly and a good story. And who knows, you might just find a new favorite food.
Without a good small item packing checklist, you may well forget something super useful on your next trip. When it comes to packing, I am not a big supporter of “just in case” or “what if.” That is the fastest way to over pack. Plus, …
On Jane Sees the World we’ve casually mentioned planning a trip in pretty much every post. Then again, it is a travel blog, so this probably makes sense. Both B and I have been asked many times over the years how we pick where to …
When choosing a backpack to travel the world with, there are many things to think about and take into consideration. My first backpack was a lesson in what not to buy. We went on a couple of good trips together, but I learned some important things about what I do not like. My next backpack was chosen with a lot more care and it served me well for over 10 years (I suppose I have the first backpack to thank for that). Now I am embarking on a new chapter—a different type of backpack that is more in tune with my current travel style.
Regardless of where you are at in terms of travel experience and travel style, below are five things you should think about before purchasing a new backpack…or any bag for that matter. This is especially useful for first-time buyers.
We are big proponents of packing light over here at Jane Sees the World and having the right-sized bag is the first step to packing light. The smaller your bag, the less likely you will over pack. Backpacks are easy to carry, leave your hands free and come with cool pockets. However, regardless of whether you are looking for a backpack, a typical roller suitcase or another style of luggage altogether, the important thing is that you pick a bag that is not capable of holding the kitchen sink.
Nowadays, we usually prefer to check our bags. With today’s technology, airlines are better than ever at tracking bags. Heck, you can track your own bag if you want. So losing your luggage is a rare occurrence. Sure, you have to wait a bit longer for your luggage at the baggage claim area. But we have found that the wait is usually worth the hassle of lugging luggage around the terminal and trying to find space in the overhead bins.
Regardless of whether you check your bag or carry it on, I still believe in packing light. (Looking for tips on how to pack lighter? Check out our posts on tips and trips and gear for packing light.) Your best bet is to have a bag that fits carry-on standards, even if you plan to check it. I definitely recommend something under the 50 liter range.
For years, R and I have traveled together with basically the same size of backpack. However, our backpacks were shaped differently. More often than not, R was asked to weigh and/or check her bag while I stood to the side with an equally heavy pack that no one noticed. This happened enough times that we could only conclude it had to do with the shape. While my backpack was wider, R’s was taller. Because it stuck up and could be seen over her shoulders, it must have looked bigger. This was frustrating when we did not want to check bags. Since we prefer to check our bags these days, the shape is not as big of a concern. But if you are looking to carry on, then you want to think about the shape of your bag and how heavy that shape makes your bag look.
You also want to think about the fit. We are all shaped differently and that means a backpack that feels comfortable on my back will not necessarily feel comfortable on R’s back. Even if you plan to buy your backpack online, I would recommend you head to your local outdoor store to try on different styles and shapes. Keep in mind that there are backpacks out there specifically designed for women.
Top loading = no good. Trust me on this one. My first backpack was top loading and it was one of the main things that made me buy a new backpack. Our friend S also had a top-loading backpack. The quality, size, shape and everything else made for a great bag. But since it was a pain to get into and keep organized, traveling with it made for a less-than-ideal experience. On her last international voyage, S actually borrowed my backpack instead of using hers.
Pockets, hooks, hidden compartments, etc. all contribute to how functional a bag is. Of course, these things are subjective and really a matter of personal preference. It is up to you to decide what you really need your bag to do for you. Think about it for more than a day. I know I spend a lot of time thinking about what color I want my bag to be. That is all well and good, but I should be spending just as much time, if not more, thinking about whether I really need a laptop sleeve or a place for my water bottle.
What kind of travel do you do? Trekking up mountains? Cruising around the Caribbean? Exploring Europe? All of the above? If you find yourself doing a certain type of travel, you may want to consider that when choosing a bag. Someone who prefers hiking Kilimanjaro might need a different backpack than someone who goes on a cruise and just leaves their bag in the room for five days.
We tend to do many different kinds of traveling so our bags get used in a variety of ways. I used the same bag on a five-day hike to Machu Picchu that I used on a group tour through Morocco (with really nice hotels). Honestly, my bag was not perfect for either occasion. But it did well enough for both. You just have to think about what kinds of trips you go on and which type of bag will work the best.
Another way to say this: think about cost. Like anything in life, when it comes to purchasing a backpack, you get what you pay for. If you plan to use your bag once every couple of years, then you probably do not need to invest in it too much. It you want it to last for dozens of trips, you are going to have to fork over some cash. Traveling puts a lot of wear and tear on your gear and cheap buckles, snaps, wheels, fabric, etc. are not going to last very long.
Most of the big names out there (e.g. Osprey, Eagle Creek, Deuter, North Face, Kelty, etc.) make excellent, high-quality bags. They also usually provide some sort of warranty. Quality and warranties come with a price. If you cannot afford to walk into a store and purchase a quality brand backpack right off the shelf, check out an outdoor consignment store. A quality, lightly-used item is just as good as a new one in my opinion.
Okay, so I have talked about what you need to think about when choosing a backpack. Now let us look at some specific examples.
10 years ago, I purchased this backpack. I chose with care and consideration and the bag treated me right for the next decade. The model I own is no longer for sale, but you can purchase a newer (and possibly better) model. I have no qualms recommending this backpack. The pros far outweigh the cons.
R had this bag for a few years and it saw some good miles. Overall it is a great bag, but probably not made for how R was using it. Did she really need that ice pick holder? Probably not. This is solidly a better backpacking backpack then a traveling backpack. That being said, R really did like it and would have kept it if it distributed space differently.
R researched and found rave reviews for the Osprey Porter 46, but when she went to REI and tried it on, it didn’t feel as comfortable as the Ozone, which was sitting on the next shelf over. This bag has two trips under it’s strap and so far it is looking good.
Given my love for my Kelty bag, I was not in the market for a new backpack. But two things happened on my trip to Australia:
Given these two events, I started researching immediately. After all, it had been 10 years since I even looked at backpacks. I was curious what was available. One option I read about that caught my attention was a backpack with wheels. I knew I did not want to give up the convenience of a backpack, but they can get awfully heavy after a while. I also felt it would be nice if I did not always look like I was headed out on a trek to the mountains whenever I traveled. A backpack with wheels seemed like the perfect solution. The market for this type of bag is not big, but there are a few options.
For me, it came down to two brands: Eagle Creek and Osprey. Both make several versions in various sizes. But what I liked most about these brands is that they made a version that included an attachable day pack. Ultimately, I decided to go with Eagle Creek. The reviews were slightly better and I found one on sale on Steep and Cheap.
Recently, I tested out my new bag out on a work trip. Normally, I pack a larger, wheeled suitcase for work trips. But I wanted to see if my new bag would work. It performed fantastically. I carried it as a backpack twice (to try it out), but mostly I wheeled it around. The all-black color looks sleeker than a regular backpack and I did not feel self-conscious walking into the hotel. I have no idea if this bag will hold up for the next 10 years the way my Kelty did, but I feel confident enough to give it a try. I do wonder what backpacks and travel and myself as a traveler will look like in 10 years. It will be interesting to find out.
UPDATE: I am still loving the Eagle Creek Switchback. It has been on several trips including an international voyage to the Azores. The size is perfect and it is holding up nicely. I mostly wheel it around and rarely use the backpack function, which I find interesting. I am still not a big fan of the all-black coloring, so I added a travel patch to spice it up. At this moment, I have no plans to replace it anytime soon.
Travel gear and technology are always evolving. Along with that, we as travelers evolve and grow. Your bag says a lot about the kind of traveler you are. That might be one reason there are so many options available. If you are making a new choice, hopefully, the things we discussed above will help you in choosing a new, perfect-for-your backpack.
Iceland is h-o-t, people. A Jane reader asked us the other day about whether we had written anything on it as her friend was planning a trip there soon. (If you are like us, it seems like every other day you hear about someone you …
After spending the month of February staying and playing Down Under, I have a pretty good idea of Australia travel costs. This post is a follow up to an earlier post about planning and saving for that month-long trip. I knew I wanted to follow up after …
Smartphones and technology have changed the way we travel. I will not pretend to be an expert in those ways, but I certainly enjoy many of the conveniences technology offers while I am on the road. Below are a review of six travel apps for planning. I tested these out while on a month-long trip to Australia. Some were great and I still use them to this day. Others have since been deleted since they were not useful or usable. If you have suggestions on good travel apps, please pass them my way.
During a month-long trip to Australia, I tried out a couple of new travel apps for planning. I have been using various travel apps for years (e.g. Delta, Airbnb, XE), but I found myself wondering what else I could add to my phone to make my life a little easier—especially in regards to planning and itineraries.
I generally like to create/design a one-page itinerary. It is fun and gets me excited about an upcoming trip. However, a one-page itinerary limits the amount of information I can display. Moreover, my time in Australia would be my longest trip to date. I needed to keep track of eight flights, 13 accommodations, three car rentals, two tours, one bus and one train reservation as well as research on things like transportation, shopping and restaurants. It was a lot of information to keep track of and I did not want to have to carry around paper documentation for all of it. So I turned to my app store and started researching travel apps. Below are the pros and cons of the various travel apps for planning I found and put to the test while on my trip Down Under.
Note: I do not enjoy paying for an app unless I know its value. Therefore, I tend to try out a free app first and then pay for the upgrade later on.
Trip It is a winner when it comes to convenience. I have used this travel app in the past and I continued to use it on this trip for comparison’s sake. The convenience part comes into play while setting up your itinerary. You just email a reservation to support@tripit.com and it automatically gets added to your itinerary in the app. Simple and convenient. You can also manually add notes to any of your reservations and it works offline without any hitches.
Trip It does not recognize a reservation you did not make. For example, when R booked the van rental and I emailed the reservation to Trip It, it did not recognize it as part of my travel plans and therefore did not add it my itinerary. I had to enter the information manually. Also, if your plans or a reservation change (think flight updates), unless you have Trip It Pro, email the new reservation or change it manually, you will not have the latest information available at your fingertips.
I continue to use Trip It. I do not rely on it entirely, but it is the preferred travel app for my company so I imagine I will continue to use it for work trips.
TravlMangr was probably my favorite in terms of layout. I really like how a trip is divided into segments and colors. Instead of scrolling through an entire itinerary to find a piece of information, I just clicked on the appropriate section.
There is no option for an automatic upload—no email to send reservations to. You have to manually enter everything. For a smaller trip, this would not be a big deal. But for my trip to Australia, this was a very big deal. I am still on the fence as to whether I will use this app again do to the inconvenience.
One year later and I have not used this travel app again. I have concluded that having to manually enter your travel information makes this travel app just a little too inconvenient, especially compared to Trip It and Google Trips.
Sygic Travel had some good features. For example, I liked the day-by-day layout and the ability to add things like “places to see” and example itineraries (e.g. 9 hours in Sydney, 11 places). There was a lot of information to choose from, which is good for planning what you want to see and do in a city. The app also allows you to book accommodation and tours. However…
The app felt more like a booking and planning site rather than a useful tool for keeping track of one’s itinerary. There was no way to email reservations and in fact, manually entering them was cumbersome. I was probably using the app all wrong. In the future, I may use it to help plan my outings, but I will not be using it to keep track of reservations.
I have not used this travel app once over the past year. I may still use it in the future if I am looking for advice on what to do. But for now, it is not one of my more useful travel apps.
Oh Google. How are you so darn good at so many things? Google Trips is no exception. You will need a gmail account to use this app. (Does anyone not have one of those these days?) Reservations are easy to add. They either happen automatically (if you used your gmail account to make them), or you can email them to your gmail account. Additional bonus: if R makes the reservation and I forward it to my gmail account, Google Trips recognizes it and adds it—most of the time. If it doesn’t, you can manually add reservations or note. The layout is nice and there are a lot of good tips, suggestions and information. Really, there is more information provided than you could probably every read with this app.
I find combining cities a challenge. Sometimes Google does this automatically. But sometimes it lists cities as different trips when in reality, it is one trip with multiple cities. I am not sure how to combine them or if it is even possible. For Australia, I did not want everything combined—it would have been too much information. But in the future, I may want to. Also, you have to remember to download your trip in order to view everything offline.
I still love Google Trips and use it frequently…for almost every trip in fact.
In theory, the pro for this app would be similar to Trip It. CheckMyTrip claims that all you have to do is email your reservations to trips@checkmytrip.com and they will be added to your itinerary.
Of the half dozen reservations I emailed, only one showed up in my app. I also received a lot of emails telling me they were still processing my emails and would send me another email when the processing was done. Basically, I received a lot emails and no updates. This particular app gets a big thumbs down from me.
I never bothered using this app again and unless things have radically changed, I would not recommend it.
When you travel with friends, keeping track of who paid for what almost becomes a part-time job. It gets even more complicated when C travels with us and we need to split things three ways. I keep track of all the receipts (or write notes to myself) and then try to sort it all out when I get home. But if I did not take good notes or write down who paid for a particular receipt, then I am in trouble. Even after I get it all sorted out, there is the adding, subtracting and dividing—and math is not my strength. I finally created an Excel spreadsheet to help me out. However, I can say goodbye to that spreadsheet because I now have Split. I absolutely love this app. It is a real gem and worked like a champ on my Australia trip. I liked it so much, I paid for the upgrade.
Split keeps track of expenses and does all of the necessary math automatically. Entering expenses is quick and easy. I usually do it while we are at the restaurant, gas station, etc. so I do not have to worry about keeping track of the receipt. Best of all, you can enter expenses in different currencies. I began tracking our Australia costs in U.S. dollars since that is what we made our initial reservations in. But once in Australia, I entered expenses in Australian dollars. The app converted those expenses for me. Hooray! One of the less-fun-aspects of travel is now a breeze. I cannot recommend this app enough. It would also be good a good app if you just wanted to track expenses. But its real value is in splitting up those expenses.
There really are no cons. The only thing I can think of is if you just have the free version, you can only track one trip at a time. 99 cents takes care of that and was a purchase I happily made so that we can track the expenses of all of our upcoming trips.
Love it! We use Split regularly and highly recommend it.
By the time you read this, I am sure many of the travel apps for planning that I used will have already changed. That is the world we live in. But if you are looking for a travel app to make your next vacation a little easier, you can take what I said into consideration while doing your research. And if you find a really good travel app, let me know. I would love to try it out on my next trip.
We’re baaack! And going through the usual post-trip activities—fighting jet lag, getting back into a routine, planning the next adventure, etc. It is never easy coming home. But unless you are going sell everything you own and become a nomad, it is a necessary part …