This post is part of a series called Vietnam 2025 Well, it had to end eventually. I’m currently sitting in the Seoul airport, making my way back to Minnesota. The last week has been more of the same, by design. After our Laos side trip, I wanted a few more days of my Hanoi routine…
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This post is part of a series called Vietnam 2025 I’m at the airport in Luang Prabang, waiting to fly back to Hanoi, so it’s time to catch up on the past few days in Laos. After our rainout in Vang Vieng, we took a local (rather than high speed) train from Vang Vieng to…
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This post is part of a series called Vietnam 2025 Catching up on the blog from a very rainy Vang Vieng in Laos. But before I get to Laos, I need to catch up on the weekend. Saturday morning, Kat, Patch, Reuvan and I went to Hữu Lũng, about two hours northeast of Hanoi. Hữu…
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This post is part of a series called Vietnam 2025 Things continue to be lovely in Hanoi – cloudy and damp, functional-if-authoritarian government, and plenty of delicious food. And hey, they even have bountiful cheap eggs! The highlight of the last week was Kat’s arrival on Monday! I met her at the airport around 9:30pm,…
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This post is part of a series called Vietnam 2025 I’m well into week two of my time in Hanoi. I’m having an absolutely lovely time, and I’m feeling great about the work I’ve been able to get done. I don’t have any amazing stories to share, but perhaps some vibes. Each morning, I wake…
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This post is part of a series called Vietnam 2025 I think we can all agree that being mean to Canada is the geopolitical equivalent of kicking a puppy. I’m not saying that when I planned this trip last summer I knew early 2025 was going to be a shitshow (well, I mean, I did)…
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This post is part of a series called Vietnam 2025 Xin Chào! From February 1st until March 9th, I’m working from Hanoi. Why? Allow me to explain! Traveling a lot is great – in just the past few months, I’ve been in Amsterdam, Mexico City, Morocco and India! But each of those trips has been…
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This post is part of a series called India 2025 Wrapping up our truly fantastic India trip, with a few final memories. Friday morning, we said all our goodbyes to the group. Different vans were departing for Chennai, Trichy, and Madurai, so this was our last chance to see everyone. What a fantastic group of…
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This post is part of a series called India 2025 Wednesday was the transition from the tour part of the trip to the wedding part of the trip, but we had time for a little bit more adventure. We got up early and did a bit of exploration of the town, with a break for…
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This post is part of a series called India 2025 Doing some catch-up blogging today. There hasn’t been a lot of downtime on this trip to blog, and it’s been so fun to chat with members of the group, I haven’t wanted to sequester myself to blog during the days. I’ve been nervous to get…
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This post is part of a series called India 2025 Today was our first “temple” day, visiting temple sites which are the true focus of Anna (the bride’s) research. It was also our longest driving day of the tour, as we make our way south towards the wedding venue. We started the day by visiting…
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This post is part of a series called India 2025 A bit of a catchup blog here, as we had a long series of travel days followed by a packed first couple days in India. We’re in India, for the wedding of a friend and colleague from the University. That would be exciting enough, but…
View MoreIt’s definitely true that flights have gotten more expensive since the pandemic, especially for those of us captive to a single dominant airline (ahem). If you’ve got your heart set on a flight to a specific destination on a specific date, you’ll pay about 25% more than you would have in 2019. That said, if…
View MoreWe all know to be on the alert of scams on the internet, but scammers are sophisticated and it only takes a momentary lapse of attention to get tricked. I wanted to share a scam I encountered this week, and the criminally negligent response from a booking platform. Saturday morning I received a push notification…
View MoreDrones are super annoying. Drones are also super cool. This is the conundrum that faces anyone who wants really awesome photos and videos, but doesn’t want to be a jerk. Even a few years ago, drones were bulky and expensive – not the sort of thing you’d toss in your bag haphazardly. Nowadays though, ultra…
View MoreThe fun of travel isn’t just about the days you spend somewhere new or different. For me, the joy of travel is about the planning, the research, and the dreaming before a trip. And, with a fun souvenir or two, all the good memories of a trip can live on long after your passport is…
View MoreLast month, I mentioned “Regenerative Tourism,” a new travel buzzword designed to let the Instagram crowd ramp up the virtue signaling in their #blessed travel posts. Perhaps that’s a little unfair, but the reality is that many of us do think about with the tension between our passion for travel and our understanding of the…
View MoreCheap flights are a perennial topic. Loss aversion drives us to seek a deal, even if it means taking a circuitous route or enduring an extra layover. I’m all for making irrational decisions, but there are a few gotchas I haven’t mentioned in previous tips around split tickets. I’m currently working on a couple itineraries…
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