Travel

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A description of how I go about traveling. Basically, moving from country-to-country every few months while only owning a backpack.

Because they take up a lot of space, I’ve split out how I study languages, and my packing list. The rest of this page is mostly focusing on summary, and some arrival logistics.

Pre-Travel #

Some things that are useful to have / get done before leaving the country. Mostly, these are centered around having a physical address:

• Passport (renew it!) For U.S. citizens, I also recommend getting a “Passport card”, which is useful as a National ID.
• Driver’s license + International Driver’s Permit (a translation of your driver’s license into many languages; it’s not a license in itself, but is required in many countries)
• Online laptop backup (frankly, it just makes carrying a laptop 1000x less stress). I use Backblaze. Keep in mind that backing up important documents online is definitely a risk. For sensitive documents, you’ll have to balance information swiped from your person vs being swiped online.
• Dual-Sim Unlocked phone is 🧑‍🍳😘
  • SIM 1 would be your current number, which is imperative for 2-factor. Some I’ve used:
    • I’m currently using U.S. Mobile. Just now taking it abroad for the first time, though, so wish me luck! 🤞
    • Google Fi Flexible Plan is very convenient, but they don’t like you using it out of the country, and will shut-off data after a few months if you don’t return to the United States.
    • T-mobile Magenta works, but it’s expensive, and they seem incompetent at keeping your data safe.
  • SIM 2 is usually a sim card for wherever you are, since data will probably be cheaper there. Also, having a local phone number can often be useful for super random things (for example, using rent-a-bicycle services in Taiwan).
• Travel credit-card Since my rent is often paid on card, and services like airbnb count as travel, I get a LOT of points. Typically, all of my flights are paid in points.
• I hear that pre-check/global entry is nice, but I only fly every 3-6 months or so, so I’m not really optimizing for frequent airport flight (aka too lazy to schedule the interview).
• Start language learning