Category: Travel Tips

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  • Avoiding the overnight bus in Baja Califorina

    As anyone who has read my story the Overnight Bus knows, I hate overnight buses. I can never sleep, and I end up missing a day anyway because I’m too exhausted when I arrive in the morning to do anything worthwhile. As always, when I arrive in a town, I check the departure schedule for…

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  • Public transportation in Mexico: plane, bus, or taxi?

    Transportation is one of the top expenses when traveling so I often take aim at it in order to reduce my travel costs. Sometimes you have to get from one town to another; other times it’s just around town. In Mexico, like many other countries in the world, there are a variety of methods in…

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  • hat, 4 shirts, 3 socks, 3 underwear, 1 pants, 1 hat, toiletries

    Around the world with a daypack – My ultralight packing list

    I laugh aloud every time I see a young backpacker schlepping a bag that appears to be the same size as they are. I see them struggling to drag it up the steps of a bus or trying to get it in the overhead luggage space of a plane; straining beneath its weight while trudging…

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  • Down to just a daypack

    This trip presented a particular packing challenge because I began with a visit to the northeastern US in winter, but I would spend the final two months in Mexico. I solved the extreme part of the problem by packing my Mexico clothes in a box I had my dad send to my final east coast…

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  • Tom looking out the window of an airplane in flight

    Beating loneliness when traveling alone

    The first time I traveled abroad by myself I ended up coming home early, which was a shame since I’d planned that trip for over a year. Just before my withdrawal from the trip, I met a guy who tried to talk me into continuing. He warned me that I was glamorizing life back home,…

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  • Change Your Life In One Year

    I have a rule that you should never find yourself complaining about the same thing a year later. If you are complaining about something today that you complained about one year ago, then you are wholly responsible for that problem. I am often asked how I live the life I do. You know what, I…

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  • Impressions from my first time…around the World

    In 6 months, I took 34 flights, rode 14 trains, visited 17 countries, and discovered that the world is a lot bigger than I realized. I thought I’d share my thoughts on each of the countries I visited on my first trip around the world. Naturally, these are filtered through my prejudices, and for some,…

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  • Ever wonder why I take the bus?

    You may wonder why I continue to take buses when many of my anecdotes of travel misfortune come from these trips. I was reflecting on this myself and realized the reason is that I love the stimulation of all of my senses that comes road travel. There is nothing like road travel to see a…

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  • Always bring your earplugs

    Instinctually, I reached for my earplugs as the door to the dorm room opened well past midnight, but then I hesitated. I had been waiting for my next story and this event seem to hold some promise.   I knew he was a drunk the moment I opened the door the previous afternoon. He had…

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