I feel that it is almost time to move to a new country again. It feels like both Helen and I could use a new country to live in and new experiences to have. Helen is excited about moving to Paris. I like the idea of Amsterdam. We have some travel planned for this year, so let’s see what happens towards the end of the year.
Tag: Travel
How to get around in Japan
The best basic tips I’ve seen for navigating Japan in a way not to offend is on this post at Conde Nast Traveller – The Essential Things to Know Before You Visit Tokyo.
Business Class Upgrades
There have been a couple of posts recently about how to get free upgrades to Business Class. The first was entitled “The two words that will get you an airline upgrade over the phone“. The second was “Two words that will NOT guarantee flight upgrades”. I’ve only got one free upgrade to Business Class, and that was totally out of the blue. I presume the plane was full and we were selected because of our Frequent Flyer Miles. The other times I have upgraded, I’ve done it at the airport, before the flight, and I’ve paid for it. Sometimes you can buy an upgrade to Business Class quite cheaply.
Henley Passport Index
The Henley Passport Index rates all the different countries’ passports based on visa-free travel. From their website “With the Henley Passport Index, you can assess where you lie on the spectrum of global mobility and discover how to maximize your travel freedom through citizenship-by-investment”. Japan and Singapore are currently top of the list.
Zurich to London by bus
Today I met a guy who travelled to the conference I was at by bus – only he’d come over from Zurich! He travelled overnight, and said that he was able to sleep on the bus, so he felt absolutely fine. He decided to come to the conference at last minute, so the bus was the most stress-free way of getting over. Apparently the trip cost less than £20! Sometimes I forget about these alternative methods of travel to/from Europe!
Lisbon
I’m in Lisbon for the first time! Helen, Lydia and I flew in this morning, went to the lovely apartment we are staying in (thanks Olivier and Antonio!), and went out to explore. Lydia’s recommendation was to get an Uber from the airport, as the taxis can rip you off on the fare. This is what we did, and the cost was 12EUR to Principe Real, which was a good price. We walked around the area after we got in, and both Helen and I were blown away. What a great city!
Up in the Air
“Meet the Man Who Flies Around the World for Free”. There’s a really interesting article over at Rolling Stone about this guy called Ben Schlappig who maximised air miles rewards to spend most of his life traveling around in First Class. He got started using a site called “FlyerTalk“, which still seems like a good resource.
Gear
I was reading another digital nomad’s blog post on gear this morning, and was amazed at the amount of gear she was recommending carrying around. I suspect that it was because she had Amazon affiliate links to the various things and wanted to get more sales. Most of the stuff she recommended was totally unnecessary in my opinion.