Stories from Digital Nomads

Hong Kong. Its name inspires visions of a chaotic, jam-packed city with soaring skyscrapers, thick smog, endless noodle stands, big finance, and wild nights out. It’s one of my favorite cities in the world. The fast pace creates a sense of permanent change, and the crowds, multiculturalism, and food keep me continuously coming back. Oh, the food! I could sit bent over a noodle bowl all day long. Hong Kong is a busy city of 7.5 million inhabitants with one of the biggest hub airports in the world. It can be overwhelming for many visitors, especially those not used to crowded places. And, with so much to do in Hong Kong, many travelers scratch their head about where to…

When I started backpacking almost 20 years ago, there were no smartphones. That meant you had to rely on paper maps, physical guidebooks, and (often outdated) information from random web forums. While it made traveling adventurous, it also made planning a trip very difficult. Fortunately, times have changed. It’s never been easier to access information while you’re abroad. From booking hotels to looking up directions to finding places to eat, access to Wi-Fi and mobile data has changed the game. SIM cards were the first step in making this evolution possible. You’d buy an overpriced physical SIM card on arrival and hope that you didn’t blow through the data before your…

Finding the money for travel is one of the biggest challenges people face when it comes to taking a trip. It can take years to save up for that dream trip! And, when people finally save up enough and hit the road, what do most of them end up doing? They throw money away on avoidable bank fees!! Banking overseas is more than just putting your card in an ATM and taking out money. When you travel on a budget, it involves knowing how to avoid bank fees, exchange rate penalties, and making your money work for you. I know too many people who travel abroad and end up paying obscene bank fees when they travel. And, these days, there’s absolutely no need to do that. You didn’…

I love hostels. Even after over nineteen years traveling the world, I still stay in hostels because they’re the best way to meet people and the cheapest accommodation option in much of the world. But what makes a good hostel? And how do you avoid a bad hostel? After staying in over a thousand hostels since I first started traveling the world, I’ve become adept at figuring out very quickly if the hostel owners know what they are doing or if they just randomly woke up one day and said, “Let’s open a hostel. It sounds like fun.” While hostels are all about the people, management can do a few things to make their hostel the perfect framework for making your experience b…

One of the best souvenirs I have from my first trip around the world is the journal I kept over those 18 months. Having captured my thoughts and feelings as I traveled has allowed me to relive that trip over and over again in the years since. Memories fade, so being able to relive events as they happened is priceless. To be reminded of the people I met, places I saw, and things I felt? To see my journeys through the eyes of my younger self makes me glad I kept a journal. Younger me was wise! While we memorialize our travels on social media, journals let you get more personal and honest. After all, unlike social media, you’re (probably) the only one that is going to rea…

What I carry in my bag has changed a lot over the years. Most of that change has to do with the fact that I now carry a lot of gear related to blogging, but it also reflects that I’ve learned a lot about packing since I first hit the road in 2006. I’ve learned different packing techniques through the years. I’ve traveled with big duffel bags, 60L packs, 30L packs, carry-ons, and everything in between. I’ve done it all and in all seasons. And, today, I want to share that knowledge with you so you can be a better packer because a lot of people always want to know what they should pack for their trip. The answer? As little as possible. Packing light is a cliché, yet …

As much as I love hostels, there is something nice about the luxuriousness of a hotel: the clean room, comfy bed, desk, iron, strong shower, and bottled soap for the taking (errr…I mean borrowing). They are a quiet, relaxing respite from the world. But luxury comes at a price. Hotels aren’t cheap and I hate spending money on a room I am only going to be in for a few hours. Often, even at my age, I would much rather stay in a hostel (private room though!), which costs less, has more social interaction, and doesn’t make you feel as removed from the destination you’re staying at. I always feel hotels are isolating, like a concrete bubble keeping you out of the place you’r…

When I was growing up, I wanted to be an archeologist. I loved history (and still do), and the thought of uncovering temples and tombs in jungles excited me. I used to read books on Greek and Roman history and have discussions with my history teacher, even as young as 13. In short, I was a huge geek from the get-go. Being such a huge history geek, visiting Pompeii, the city destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, has always been high on my list of things to do. When the volcano erupted, the falling ash came so quickly that it preserved the city just as it was, burying Pompeii in 4–6 meters (13–20 feet) of ash. It’s a city frozen in time. The earliest settlements in the…

Life can be stressful. Work, bills, relationships, the economy, love, family… the list goes on! There are lots of things we can do to do to relax, like changing our diet, exercising more often, sleeping more, and improving our work-life balance. But sometimes we need to do more than just make changes at home. Sometimes we need a break. And one of the best ways to do that? You guessed it: travel! Travel can refresh us. It is like a time-out from life — like the ones you got in grade school, but this time more fun. It slows us down, makes us stop and smell the roses, and creates a little change in the normal patterns of our lives. It’s not so much “running away fro…

Today is the day! My new book, How to Travel the World on $75 a Day, is out NOW! (Woo! Hoo!) This newly updated edition of my New York Times best-selling book will help you travel on a budget. The last edition of the book came out in 2017 and, since then, a lot has changed. COVID changed the travel industry forever. A lot of companies/hotels/hostels closed during the pandemic, including ones that had been around for decades! Old methods of saving money (like RTW tickets) became obsolete and new methods (like certain apps and sharing economy websites) came into being. Destinations changed. Prices have definitely changed. Because the travel landscape is so different, I w…

I’m a big fan of Daily Drop. It’s a points, miles, travel, and credit card newsletter created by my friends, Kara and Nate (they run a big YouTube channel of the same name). Daily Drop keeps you informed about the latest news and information around points & miles, as well as updates across the airline and hotel industries. While the newsletter is free, they also have a subscription service called Daily Drop Pro, which promises even more points deals, alerts, and tools to help you find the award availability you need for your next trip. But does it deliver? Is it worth the price? As Daily Drop has gotten bigger, I’ve gotten questions about the service from readers …

“How high is this hike again?” I asked as I panted up the mountain trail, the top seeming so far off in the distance. “12,0000 feet,” our guide Efrain said cheerily as he and the others from the Amazonas Explorers office glided up the trail. “But it flattens out soon!” he added as a bit of encouragement. I was skeptical. When I first reached out to Amazonas regarding my Machu Picchu hike, I asked them to pick a route that was a little off the beaten path and could be done in a day. There are lots and lots to choose from in the Sacred Valley after all; the Incas built over 40,000 kilometers of roads through their empire, and many of them have become hiking trails. Th…

Get out a sheet of paper and write down all your set expenses: rent/mortgage, car payments, cable/streaming bill, cell phone, insurance, school payments, etc. Tally them up. Then write down all your discretionary spending. This is what you spend on food, movie nights, drinks, shopping, that daily coffee from Starbucks, your daily midday snack, and other similar things. If you don’t know what you spend money on, go track your expenses for a two-week period, see what you spend, and come back. Add that all up. What did you get? Probably a large sum of money. And I bet there will be many expenses you didn’t realize were there. Financial experts call these “phantom expenses…

Before I first went traveling in 2006, I had these expectations in my head based on nothing but my imagination and popular culture. My trip was going to be a nonstop adventure filled with colorful and exciting people. Crazy things were going to happen to me. I’d make friends everywhere. I’d be talking to strangers on buses. Locals would invite me out for drinks. I’d be sipping a latte, strike up a conversation with my beautiful waitress, and then the next thing I’d know, we’d be at a wine bar, staring into each other’s eyes while she taught me French. It was going to be just like those articles I’d read or travel movies I saw. One adventurous scene after the next. Th…

Time. There just never seems to be enough of it. It always seems to move too fast (and, every year, it seems to just move faster). Time is something people always tell me they don’t have enough of and is one of the main reasons why they don’t travel as much as they would like. (Money is also an issue, which I’ve talked about here.) While there are more digital nomads and remote workers now that COVID has changed the concept of the office, not everyone is able to work remotely these days. But, even if they don’t want to be nomadic, most people I know with office jobs (specifically Americans) want to travel more than they do. They just feel like they don’t have the time.…

This is a guest post by Raimee Iacofano from Raimeetravel. Growing up in Michigan, Ludington was THE place to be. Every summer, my family would pack up the car, blast some classic rock (think Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, and the occasional Lynyrd Skynyrd singalong), and head west for beach days, lighthouse climbs, and the BEST Superman ice cream you’ll ever have. It was tradition for us each year because my grandparents called Ludington home. As a kid, it felt like pure magic. Falling asleep to the sound of waves, chasing seagulls barefoot in the sand, and sticky fingers from melting cones that somehow always dripped down to my elbow. Ludington wasn’t just a vacation spot …

From sea to shining sea, the United States is a very diverse country – both when it comes to culture and natural beauty. I’ve traveled across the continental United States many times over (you never really realize how big Texas is until you drive through it. Damn that state is big!). I think, just on my roadtrips alone, I’ve spent a collective two years exploring the country. That’s a lot of time and doesn’t even take into account that visit to Portland or Nashville or weekend in Savannah. In short, I’ve seen a lot of this country. And there is a lot worth seeing. In the past, I’ve talked about my favorite restaurants and lessons learned, so it only seems proper to g…

I’ve been traveling for close to twenty years. In that time, the airline industry has changed a lot. The use of points and miles has become widespread, round-the-world tickets have gone the way of the dodo, airlines have consolidated, and there has been an explosion of budget airlines. Over the last few years, the cost of airline tickets has steadily risen. They get more and more expensive while their prices often seem illogical. Since ticket pricing is an arcane and misunderstood subject, I want to take some time to explain why your airplane ticket costs what it does. A Look at the Airline Industry Ticket prices have increased over the decade for several reasons. For …

Travelers can be a fickle group of people to buy gifts for. We’re constantly coming and going, we usually don’t carry a lot of stuff with us, and no two travelers are alike. Finding the perfect gift for the traveler in your life can be tricky. While a plane ticket is never a bad idea (I’m a window seat in case anyone is thinking of getting me one), I’ve put together this ultimate gift guide for travelers as there’s a lot of great travel gear out there these days that helps people travel cheaper and better. Even me, the gear-adverse traveler, likes a lot of this stuff! This is stuff I actually think is super useful. No nonsense. No fluff. Just the best gifts for intrepi…

There’s nothing like Sweden in the summer. Light hangs in the air for hours, boats nose through island-studded bays, and cafés spill onto sidewalks as Swedes take advantage of the fleeting warm weather. With so much of the year spent in the cold and dark, the never-ending light that summer brings does not go to waste. Whether it’s on the many islands that dot the country’s coast, at their rustic cabins in the woods, or lounging in the city parks, Swedes flock outdoors. I’ve been to Sweden many times (including spending an entire summer in Stockholm) but have always focused on the southern part of the country. However, with a desire to see something different this visit…

Spain has long been associated with sun-drenched beaches, vibrant cities, and world-famous cuisine. While Barcelona, Madrid, and Ibiza are famous for a reason, the true soul of Spain is often found in its remote corners. One of the areas I love the best is Northern Spain, with its green mountains, rugged coastline, and medieval villages, offers an entirely different perspective. It doesn’t get as many visitors as the hotspots in the south but it is just as beautiful in my opinion. If you want to see a quieter side of Spain, consider stepping off the usual tourist trail and heading north after your flight to Madrid. Spend a few days in Madrid (which is amazing) and then t…

I love road trips. You get in car and can just head off anywhere you want. There’s a freedom to a road trip that you can’t get with trains (and, don’t get me wrong, I love train travel too). Small towns, beautiful parks, historic buildings….whatever you see, you can stop for and can stay as little or as long as you’d like! Over the years, I’ve been on dozens of road trips. Some destinations are just meant for them (think New Zealand, Ireland, Iceland, the United States, South Africa, etc, etc.). However, when you don’t have your own car, renting one can be a pain in the ass. No one likes doing it and we all (rightly) worry we’re getting ripped off. There’s always a lot…

Ruin bars are all the rage in Budapest and have been around since the founding of Szimpla Kert, the mecca of all ruin bars, in 2002. These bars are built in Budapest’s old District VII neighborhood (the old Jewish quarter) in the ruins of abandoned buildings, stores, or lots. This neighborhood was left to decay after World War II, so it was a perfect place to develop an underground bar scene. These places were very off the beaten path, rough around the edges, and catered to artists, students, and alternative people. But they became very popular and well known by 2010 and have nice gone mainstream, though their setting has not changed. From the outside, these bars look …

There’s a lot of walking tour companies in Paris. I’ve taken hundreds (I’ve reviewed my favorite tour companies in this post). Besides formal tours, there’s another thing I love to do in Paris: Airbnb Experiences. Airbnb Experiences are like the holy grail of tours: they are unique, off-the-beaten path, and run by locals who just want to share something they love. They aren’t cookie cutter walking tours or activities lead by a guide holding an umbrella. I absolutely love Airbnb Experiences. They are one of my favorite things to do in any city and, frankly, I don’t think nearly enough travelers do them. Whenever I run polls about them, half usually say they have never he…

There’s a lot of tours in New York City (I’ve highlighted my favorites here) but I think one thing people don’t do enough of is Airbnb experience. Most of us know Airbnb through their stay features but they also have a lot of experiences where you can get a local to show you around. I actually like these experiences more than traditional tours because they have locals who share something they are passionate about, they are small groups, and they are usually a bit more off the beaten path. I don’t think people take these tours enough and they are always one of my favorite things to look for whenever I travel anywhere in the world. New York City has a ton of options you ca…