JK: Pearls of Wisdom After One Year On the Road

One Year of wandering….

It's been ONE YEAR since Linda and I sold all our possessions and hit the road. We've been "houseless" travellers wandering around from country to country. It's been fun and more importantly we're still keen to continue this nomadic lifestyle. In case some of you wonder how we do it, here are a few things we use to help us on this journey......

Logistics and Lessons Learned from 1 year of constant travel:

Put EVERYTHING in your online Calendar: 

- flights, hotel reservations, tours, planned Video calls with friends, when Property Taxes are due, when your Driver's License or Passport expires

- get the Time Zones right!

- embed the agreed upon price for hotel or car rental and whether you prepaid in the calendar item

 

Finances

- online banking is your friend

- have multiple Credit Cards, JK and LF carry different ones

- so far the VAST majority of places take Credit Cards

- put everything on your Credit Card

     - set alerts to email you after every transaction 

     - always have the charge made in local currency, NEVER have charge made in USD.

- have the Card set to "autopay" every month

- get a “premium” travel oriented Credit Card (We use a Chase Sapphire card)

-Benefits:

     - airport lounge access

     - rental car insurance

     - No foreign transaction fees

     - covers lost luggage and trip cancellation

     - Accumulate Travel Points - Use travel points!!

-Downside = typically there is a yearly fee for the card

- Local currency: do get some, but not too much. Use an ATM from a major bank for a decent exchange rate, use a Currency Exchange (Cambio) place for a lousy rate with high fees. 

- have money in accounts at several different Banks with ATM access in case one acts up

     - several Banks will refund ATM fees from other banks (like Schwab, Fidelity, etc.)

- use up local currency at the end of the trip by paying for the last hotel with cash AND credit card. 

Software & App’s we use:

- Critical: Password Manager - we use Bitwarden. We have hundreds of accounts and memberships, each with a unique, long, COMPLEX password. Can also embed photos or PDF's of passports or birth certificates and they will be encrypted.

- Critical: VPN for laptop, iPad and mobile phone - we use Nord VPN

- Encryption Software for files on PC and stored in Cloud - we use AxCrypt

- Google Translate, with downloaded languages

- Google Maps, download maps of the area before you get there!

- Google Photos

- Google Drive

- Google Flights identifying flights with Major Carriers

- Rome to Rio for small local flights, buses, trains

- Backup software - we use i-Drive

- MINT to track our expenses. 

- XE currency converter app has a great User Iinterface

- JK likes TripIt to build a detailed itinerary (nice, but not necessary)

- Splitwise App: tracking costs when traveling with friends. 

Mobile Phone

- have a relatively new phone for long battery life & a good camera

- get a local SIM card in each country, they are super cheap, available as "tourist packages" for a week or a month

(We're about to try one of the online  “E-SIM Market places”, we’ll see how that works out)

- the whole world uses WhatsApp (but not the USA)

     - used by AirBnb hosts, Tour Guides, Hotels, rental car agencies, literally everybody!

- take screenshots of Tickets for fast, no internet access to details.

Accommodation

- for AirBnB or VRBO: We use a Minimum stay of around 3 nights, to amortize the fees over several days 

     - Airbnb, get travel points with British Airlines

     - VRBO, get travel points with United Airlines

- we like to stay close to the Downtown or the Tourist area, close but not necessarily in the middle

- Our filter criteria for AirBnB or VRBO

     - Always: whole place to ourselves, kitchen, one bedroom, Wi-Fi

     - Usually: Laundry, 

     - Sometimes: included Parking

- We use Hotels.com and Booking.com for Hotels. Usually getting the included breakfast is a good deal. 

Transportation 

- we often rent cars, again use a Premium CC with built in insurance

- Uber or Cabify simplifies the taxi ride process (but convenience can cost $)

- try to research what a cab ride from the airport to your hotel should cost before you arrive

- try to negotiate the cab fare in advance.

- confirm if Taxi will take a Credit Card in advance

Hiking

- AllTrails app, download offline maps of the trail. Seems to have trail maps for everywhere. 

Clothing

- always have some warm clothes available

- JK likes Merino wool

- ”Travel Pants” (synthetic, stretchy) are your friends (you look like a travel dork if you always wear Technical Hiking pants & a Tilly hat)

- LF likes ZipLoc bags

- JK likes packing cubes

- leather shoes aren’t always the best choice. 

- Underwear, just don’t bother

- comfortable runners/trainers/athletic shoes work in most situations. You probably don’t need real hiking shoes or boots. 

- weight is a bigger problem than volume. 

Luggage

- we travel with one checked bag (25”) and one carry-on bag each - that’s it!

- we’ve duct taped Apple AirTags inside the lining of our checked suitcases. 

- we use soft-sided, 4-wheel spinner-style suitcases, made of ballistic nylon 

- currently using duffel bags for our carry-on, might try clam shell carry-on spinners in future

Electricity 

- using cube style plug adapters Qty=2.

- 2 meter heavy duty, braided nylon, USB phone charge cables, Qty=2

Electronics

- 2 mobile phones, 2 iPads, 1 small, thin travel laptop

- only camera = mobile phone

General

Do not go along with anything when someone approaches you with a deal, just say “no thank you”. 

You will probably always pay “tourist prices”. 

Don’t worry about being scammed too much - be prudent, but not paranoid.

A wise man once told me that he and his wife would NOT try to see everything in a given location - they always left something to see the next time they came back! (thank you Lester Earle)

RELAX and ENJOY - travel is fun

(PS - ignore the underwear comment)