21–30 of 217 posts
Yes, I'm glad I did some factory tours in Japan, they were really interesting!
Link is to archive.org since JETRO seem to have taken down the site during the pandemic and not put it back up again: https://web.archive.org/web/20190407170023/jetro.go.jp/en/in...
That will only work if a white tourist wedding crashes in a poor country. That will not work if I (as a brown-colored southeast asian) do it.
One travel technique that has worked very well for me takes place the day before my trip: using a pre-travel prep-and-packing checklist. I created this checklist about 15 years ago and still refine it occasionally. This list has three sections: A) Preparation tasks: Like printing essential travel documents, saving a backup to my mobile phone, buying foreign currency, activating data roaming, etc. B) Packing list: Min…
Traveling to rural Vietnam looked daunting and dangerous for people from the EU, but once there me and the friend realized all the worrying and excessive preparation was for naught. We still forgot some things, an hour or two spent at the local shops and the problem was resolved. All you need is an accepted way to pay and you could get out of almost any reasonable situation.
Now would it be cost effective? Surprisingly sometimes yes, but even if not it could give you some more stories to tell. Part of the fun of traveling is the stories you tell afterwards, and no good story starts with “everything went according to plan”.
One travel technique that has worked very well for me takes place the day before my trip: using a pre-travel prep-and-packing checklist. I created this checklist about 15 years ago and still refine it occasionally. This list has three sections: A) Preparation tasks: Like printing essential travel documents, saving a backup to my mobile phone, buying foreign currency, activating data roaming, etc. B) Packing list: Min…
The one thing you _need_ to pack, apart from visa docs required for travel, is a credit/debit card. Anything you’ve missed can be purchased on location. Traveling to rural Vietnam looked daunting and dangerous for people from the EU, but once there me and the friend realized all the worrying and excessive preparation was for naught. We still forgot some things, an hour or two spent at the local shops and the problem…
One travel technique that has worked very well for me takes place the day before my trip: using a pre-travel prep-and-packing checklist. I created this checklist about 15 years ago and still refine it occasionally. This list has three sections: A) Preparation tasks: Like printing essential travel documents, saving a backup to my mobile phone, buying foreign currency, activating data roaming, etc. B) Packing list: Min…
The one thing you _need_ to pack, apart from visa docs required for travel, is a credit/debit card. Anything you’ve missed can be purchased on location. Traveling to rural Vietnam looked daunting and dangerous for people from the EU, but once there me and the friend realized all the worrying and excessive preparation was for naught. We still forgot some things, an hour or two spent at the local shops and the problem…
So, yes, you can often pick things up but don't count on it. If you're adaptable, you can probably manage (perhaps outside of some things like medicines) but you're not necessarily just walking into a store and laying down your credit card.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The one thing you _need_ to pack, apart from visa docs required for travel, is a credit/debit card. Anything you’ve missed can be purchased on location. Traveling to rural Vietnam looked daunting and dangerous for people from the EU, but once there me and the friend realized all the worrying and excessive preparation was for naught. We still forgot some things, an hour or two spent at the local shops and the problem…
My father once told me that as long as you have your passport, wallet and the name and address of where you're going everything else will work out fine. That advice has treated me well.
>In many parts of the world today motorcycles play the role of cars. That means you can hire a moto-taxi to take you on the back seat, or to summon a moto-taxi with an uber-like app, or to take a motorcycle tour with a guide doing the driving. In areas where motorcycles dominate they will be ten times more efficient than slowly going by car.
I would be extremely wary about this. You are so much more vulnerable on a bike. And you won't even be wearing proper protective equipment. Even if they lend you a helmet, it is unlikely to fit properly and don't know how many times it has been dropped or involved in a crash. Also the most common injuries to motorcyclists are to the legs, and I doubt they will be lending you boots or biking trousers.
No thanks!
> Getting an inside tour is the ultimate travel treat. How about a factory tour, Yes, I'm glad I did some factory tours in Japan, they were really interesting! Link is to archive.org since JETRO seem to have taken down the site during the pandemic and not put it back up again: https://web.archive.org/web/20190407170023/jetro.go.jp/en/in...
> The list of most coveted cities to visit have one striking thing in common—they are pedestrian centric.
if your coveted places are mostly in Europe/Japan. Los Angeles, Chiang Mai (or any city in most SEA) etc are the opposite of pedestrian centric. Do you like multi hour walks in heat among pollution and traffic or stray dogs to get to a nice coffeeshop? Yeah. Public transport is broken and literally everybody who lives there uses personal transport.
(He then goes to contradict himself and recommend unsafe moto taxi)