Stories from Digital Nomads

Serendipitous adventure, carefree nights with newfound friends in foreign lands, delicious foods for bargain prices, and the luxury of time to enjoy it all. Welcome to the world of long-term travel. When it comes to this kind of travel, I get a lot of emails asking for my “secret.” How do you travel so often and for so long? How did you quit your job and escape the grind? You must have a trust fund to afford all that, right? Wrong. I’ve written about how I manage to travel in the past (over and over again), but people still wonder if I am holding something back. What am I leaving out? What, they ask, is my secret to escaping the cubicle and being a nomad? Did I …

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…

When people tell me they hate Bangkok and don’t find a lot of things to do there, I totally understand. It’s a love/hate city that most people aren’t a fan of on arrival. In fact, when I first visited Bangkok in 2006, I despised the city and couldn’t wait to leave. It wasn’t until I lived in Bangkok that I really fell in love with it. Almost twenty years later, Bangkok is still one of my favorite cities in the world. It just takes a little time to get to know and love. Bangkok is not a city that opens itself up easily, and most people spend just a day or two here before leaving to go to the islands or the jungle. That said, there are a lot of things to do and see …

Who am I besides just a guy who loves to travel? What do I do when I’m not on the road? What are my interests? Do I have hobbies? Since I’m more than just a writer and travel fanatic, I wanted to share a bit about who I am and what I do when I’m not on the road (indulge me for one article). While I do post a lot of my day-to-day life on Instagram, here is a little bit about me and my life! 1. I hate flying. I love airports, lounges, and elite status, but the act of flying makes me sick. I don’t like heights and any turbulence makes me think the plane is about to crash. I’m not a good flier and I take Xanax to calm me on most flights. (Ironic considering how often I f…

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 …

Finding the best travel deals is a matter of timing. A lot of people think travel is just expensive, but in reality, there are incredible deals happening all the time. They often don’t last too long, and you have to act quickly. That can sometimes be a problem when a deal requires jumping on a plane tomorrow (how many people can do that?). Fortunately, most deals are for months in the future, giving you ample time to plan your schedule. Often I will book a flight and then figure out my plans. Since you can usually cancel a flight within 24 hours without incurring a fee, I lock in the deal and then figure out if I can make it work. Sometimes I can (like the $1,200 USD…

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 …