40 Tips for Traveling in the US on the Cheap
1. Search for a car rental on sites that include the insurance in the rate (usually UK based). This is generally much cheaper than paying separately for the rental plus the insurances, and most non-US travelers won’t be covered for liability or damage to the rental vehicle through their travel insurance or credit card. I’ve [...]
Instagramming Hawaii’s Best Beach – Lanikai
Lanikai is Hawaii’s best beach (IMHO!) Here are some awesome shots from our road trip yesterday. Lanikai is only a short drive from Waikiki (not nearly as far as going all the way up to the North Shore). There is a Wholefoods supermarket at nearby Kailua, which you’ll drive past on the way there. It’s [...]
Ala Moana Beach and Honolulu Harbor – exploring our new neighborhood
Now that we have settled into our apartment, we started to explore the neighborhood this afternoon. If you haven’t met Kate’s folding bike yet, here’s a photo (it’s a Bike Friday, made in Portland). The woman we’re subletting from has kindly let me (Kathryn) use her bike, along with her 5 bike locks! We biked [...]
Settling Into Our Sublet
We’ve moved in! Today we moved into our sublet in the Ala Moana neighborhood of Oahu. We’re around 6-7 minutes walk from Wal-mart and around 10-12 minutes walk from the Ala Moana Centre Mall (the biggest mall in the Hawaii and a confusing labyrinth of mess!). The beach is a 15-20 minutes walk (maybe less) [...]
Sample Sublet Agreement
We move into our apartment sublet today, so I thought I’d post a copy of the sublet agreement I’ve been using as a template the last few years. This is my base one and it just gets modified each year. Notes – The first five times I sublet apartments we didn’t use a written agreement [...]
My 5 Favorite Google Tools for Travel
1. Google.com/transit Google.com/transit allows you to search public transportation. Here in Hawaii, we’ve used to heaps to avoid long waits for the bus. 2. Check If Your Flight is On Time If you type your flight into Google e.g., “NZ10″ it will tell you if the flight is on time. Great for when you are [...]
Micro SIM Card for International iphone in the US – Unlimited data, 3G, No contract
Now that we’ve arrived in Hawaii, one of my first tasks was setting up my iphone. I went with the same option as I used last year – the Straight Talk Unlimited service. Straight Talk is owned my Wal-mart. They offered unlimited data (3G), unlimited calls, and unlimited txts (US only) for $45 a month [...]
Our First Few Days in Hawaii – Spending, What We Forgot to Bring, and More
For those of you just getting to know us, Kathryn and I started our trip this week. It’s an experiment in being digital nomads. Kathryn has a year off work so we’re taking that time to try it out. Because of the way New Zealand student loans work, we likely will need to bounce back [...]
New York Summer 2013 – My Picks of Things to Do
Summer Streets – car free bike riding, walking, and skating This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever done in NYC in summer. For 3 Saturdays in August, New York shuts off some streets from the Brooklyn Bridge all the way up Park Ave, past Grand Central etc. You can participate by biking, skating, [...]
Setting Personal Goals for RTW Travel
Travel Goals People who are planning RTW travel often have travel related goals (30 countries before 30, see every county in Europe etc). I have some of these types of travel-related goals – although mine tend to be super quirky. For example, I love theater and my favorite TV show is the West Wing. I [...]
