Travel

A lot of flights are not allowing carry ons with a basic ticket purchase (JetBlue 🤨) so I’ve been using my fishing vest I got from Japan to carry all of my clothes I can’t fit into my personal item.

Styled right it looks super cool with my outfit, AND I can fit 8 shirts, 5 pairs of socks, and an entire laptop (storage on the back) in it. And snacks and water. When I’m traveling to places where it’s inconvenient to bring my fishing vest, I’ll bring my jacket with deep pockets paired with my Costco dad cargo pants. I can fit 2-3 shirts per pocket.

And before anyone complains about the extra weight I’m bringing into the plane I can promise you my extra clothes and snacks weigh less than 5 pounds.

• I wasn’t expecting the focus of this post to be on my fashion choices but I posted a picture of my vest for those curious 😂 I’m not sure what the brand is because I got it from a random sporting store in Osaka. The tag does say windcore but I think that’s the material. And upon further research the vest may actually be more of a Japanese streetwear piece than fishing vest but I am not sure because I’ve never fished before.

I’ll go first: I make it a point when I visit a new country to try out their McDonalds.

food is always shaped by a countries history and culture, so I think it’s super interesting to see the country specific items they have (beer in germany, Parmesan puffs in Italy, rice buns in Japan!) Same reason that even though I hate cooking I still love to visit foreign grocery stores!

I had a personal alarm on my bag, one where if you pull the strap a loud alarm goes off. I got it because I'm a solo traveler and hike a lot and wanted something to set off if I twisted my ankle in the middle of the woods.

I forgot about it and left it on my bag that I don't normally check, got my bag back without it attached. I imagine the cord got pulled during handling and the poor airport employees had to smash it to get it to stop yelling at them. Sorry guys 🤦‍♀️

I m sick at home right now and this seemed like a fun way to pass the time while half dead. So what are your unpopular travel opinions. I'll go first:

• I like Paris! Then again I grew up going to it, so I didn't have an overly romantisised view of it. Also, if you spent a grand total of two or three days and spent one at Disneyland you don't actually have any idea what Paris is like

• Rome is far dirtier and more touristy ( to the point you have to pre book pretty much everything)than Paris but does not get the hate.

• I like Warsaw way more than Krakow ( full disclosure, I live in Krakow ).

• Berlin is overrated as a travel destination. Don't get me wrong, it's nice, it seems like a great place to live, but it reminded me of many other cities I've been to. Also, the clubbing scene is super over rated and kinda cringe, not for anyone who likes being spontaneous and not trying super hard to look like you are not trying.

• Brazil sells itself very wrong. People have this view of it as a crazy party destination,when it's only ok in this regard. It is absolutely incredible destination for nature, culture and history and I wish tourists would engage more with that.

• The best parties and festivals are in the Balkans. The locals are amazing too!

• Spain is my favourite country but I like Barcelona the least.

• In the topic of Spain, the is so much more to Ibiza and Mallorca than partying.

• I had a really great time in Milwaukee and would go back.

• I am biased because I'm Australian, but I honestly haven't seen better beaches anywhere. Just as good, yes, but not better.

What are yours?

I don't have anything outright crazy but I do have some thoughts that may go against with some prevailing views you might see online regularly.

Brussels is alright actually - I don't really get why it gets so much hate 😆 it's okay, mid sized with some sights, Ghent football stadium, atomium. People might find it a bit dull, sure, but there are worse places.

The negatives of Paris are overblown - I'll never get passionately hating Paris, its Okay and great if you love art & fashion. I think people that go with a perfect view of the city in mind will always be let down (its not even that dirty).

London draws too much attention from the rest of the UK - there are a number of nice cities and towns all over the UK, Brighton, Bath, Oxford, Swansea, Manchester, Edinburgh. You'd think London is the only city we have!

My wife booked a hotel in the wrong country, didn't find out till 7pm the night we was staying

It sounds so simple in hindsight... but whether you're new to solo travelling or doing it for the first time, bring along a book or two in your backpack – it completely transforms the experience.

I've been solo travelling for years and – not being much of a reader – always ended up awkwardly staring around or looking at my phone. It's rekindled a long lost love of reading and for me has been the part I didn't know was missing.

There's no joy like idling away a few hours in a beautiful European square or the cosy corner of a cocktail bar while tuning out the digital world.

I have tried getting a lot of travel hacks from traveling across the world.
Some of those ive learned is forexample

To always download map in offline mode, so you use less battery and mobile data.

Take a picture of all important documents such as passports, insurane, drivers license. If you dont have cloud storage, send it to yourself in an email!

What are your travel hacks? :)