Travel Basics 100: Get Your Airport Right

I started this blog to inform people about those seemingly “minor” details of traveling that can significantly affect a trip. Most extensively, I’ve talked about visas. In this post, I will talk about the importance of knowing your arrival and departure airports.

Many search engines and travel sites will give you the option to search for airports in an entire city area or search for “all airports”. With these search results, you can’t really get a sense of the distance between airports and your intended destination. More importantly, you can’t tell how far away from the actual city these airports are!Continue reading “Travel Basics 100: Get Your Airport Right”

2019 Year End Reflection

I’ve been away from my blog for several months. What have I been doing, you ask? Reading two hundred and forty-four (yes 244) books and articles for my qualifying exams for my Ph.D. Occasionally, when I wasn’t reading for my exams or teaching – or prepping for teaching – I would think about why I liked the things that I did. Why did I love traveling? What were the things I found fun in life? When was I ever going to bake again? How did I want to spend my time with friends and family… when I saw them again, IRL? Since passing my exams (on December 4th), I have returned to these thoughts and listed some of them here in my 2019 concluding blog post.Continue reading “2019 Year End Reflection”

Biggest Regrets from my Recent Work Trip to London

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
―John Wooden

I travel a lot and I know how to navigate my life in new places so that I have the best trips possible. That said, on my 3-week work trip to London I found out I still have a lot to learn about traveling. My regrets from my recent trip to London have taught me important lessons that will shape my travels going forward, and hopefully, you can learn a few things too.

Regrets: Continue reading “Biggest Regrets from my Recent Work Trip to London”

Travel Basics 100: What’s in my Travel First Aid Kit?

“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.”
— African Proverb

Sometimes when I travel, I get sick or get an upset stomach. Over the years this has taught me to anticipate those unforeseen circumstances. So, I always keep a little travel first aid kit with me that contains all the medications I may need.  

20190804_113916From left to right: anti-diarrhea pills, cold medicine, allergy pills, gas relief pills, pain relievers, bandages.

Continue reading “Travel Basics 100: What’s in my Travel First Aid Kit?”

TEAtime: Mexico City, Mexico

My trip to Mexico City was the result of two things. One, I was determined to go somewhere for Spring Break. Two, I had limited funds for a trip. After searching through Expedia, Google Flights, and a few other sites, Mexico emerged as one of the cheapest international options and Expedia had a great bundle package for Mexico City. Continue reading “TEAtime: Mexico City, Mexico”

Travel Basics 100: 5 Things to do a Few Days Before Traveling

Imagine this:

You booked a 4-day trip to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. You’re getting ready to leave the hard grind of your 40+ hour work week. You don’t know what you’re looking forward to the most, the sun or a massage. Your suitcase, packed with short sleeves, sunglasses, and sunblock, is excited to make room for souvenirs. It’s been forever since you and your friends have hung out. You arrive at the airport promptly 3 hours ahead of your flight. As you near the (TSA) agent, you get your passport and your ticket ready. You see them motion for you to step forward. Before they can even ask you, with a smile you present your documents. Then slowly, and painfully, that smile fades away. Shocked, hurt, befuddled – the piercing words of the agent become clear. “Your passport is expired.” There will be no trip.

Avoid the experience above by reading the tips below. About a week or so before your next trip, make sure you’ve done the following things.Continue reading “Travel Basics 100: 5 Things to do a Few Days Before Traveling”

TEAtime: 10 Things to Eat in Guyana and Suriname

Visa, ✅.
Transportation, ✅.
Time to sightsee and eat.

For this TEAtime, I’m focusing primarily on eating. Given all the delicious foods there are in Suriname and Guyana, this was a really difficult list to make. Initially, I wanted to recommend one food from each country but instead, I ended up with a 2,000-word post and 10 different foods. Even this was still challenging, and once you start reading the post you’ll realize I snuck in a few extras too. “10 Things to Eat in Guyana and Suriname” is part food recommendation and part what I ate while I was visiting the two countries. Without further ado, here are 10ish food highlights from my most recent trip to Guyana and Suriname. 
Continue reading “TEAtime: 10 Things to Eat in Guyana and Suriname”

TEAtime: Aruba

Friend: “JetBlue is having a sale. Let’s go somewhere.”
Me: “What’s cheapest?”
Friend: “Aruba?”
Me: “Aruba it is.”
-October 2016

I’m always on the lookout for a good travel deal to get somewhere new. Some of my friends are too. Occasionally – between our busy schedules, complicated lives, and interesting finances – we manage to go off and find a new adventure.

For this first TEAtime, I’m talking about my five days, four-night trip to Aruba. My trip was booked through JetBlue vacations for December 17-21, 2016. The total cost of the flight and hotel, with continental breakfast, roundtrip airport transportation and taxes, per person was $577.20USD. That works out to about $100USD per day if you think about it. This first TEAtime. will feature updated versions of my TripAdvisor reviews.Continue reading “TEAtime: Aruba”

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