Going to have to say that our travel experiences differ greatly, as I often find significantly better deals through 3rd party sites rather than dealing directly with the airlines(seems to be about 50/50 split, give or take). Have had not issues with the 3rd parties used either. Like anything, the more places you look…

With travel medical insurance, go for something with a lower up front cost and higher deductible to save some cash, because odds are you most likely won’t need to use it. If you do though, make sure you read all the fine print and contact the insurer before anything major. In my experience, they design their policies…

I find on long flights, paying the most attention to when you are going to land matters most so you can sync your clock up. If you arrive early in the day, then yeah, wanna sleep a lot on the plane a lot so don’t sleep the night before. However, if you are arriving in the evening, you want to be absolutely exhausted…

Agreed on the fetishizing thing here. They go out of there where to get into nuances about Japan, but do things like rely and a foreigner in Hong Kong for information about Mainland China in an article. At the same time, encouraging all the Laowai to visit Japan and nowhere else means less obnoxious tourists for me to…

Have spent a fair amount of time traveling and backpacking, packing cubes are good for some things, but if you really want to save space in your bag, go with something that compresses for your clothes. I swear by Eagle Creek’s hand rolling vacuum bags. Provided you pack right, things actually don’t really wrinkle. For…

Well aware of that. More meant all you ever see here travel-coverage wise outside of Western countries is Japan and maybe Bali.

For Shanghai

For Shanghai

Ahh, so have been to some of those places yourself as well? They are great, and I alternate between wanting to sing their virtues to the masses, and hoping that people keep thinking Japan and Bali are the only places in Asia they can go so we don’t have to share (think its obvious from the initial comment which half…

I’ve only had one time re-entering the US that wasn’t LAX, but it has been several months, will be going soon and see how it goes. For the record, over 15 years of frequent international travel, only had to do secondary in Tokyo(late night arrival, and I looked like a young punk), and Toronto (only one full time, but…

Snickers bars for similar reasons to your cliff bars, but they can be found just about ANYWHERE. I have literally bought them in mountain villages in the Himalayas. Barring that, nuts and dried fruits, as they cover sweet and savory and are energy dense as well. You can always find some type of them just about…

I would recommend adding Maps.Me to the list, as it has offline maps available in countries where google doesn’t (China, for one example), and has much better marking of hiking trails as well.

Lived in China for years, passport full of chinese visas and stamps, never had this happen. Ditto friends who constantly travel on the 10 year tourist visa.

One thing that can help is knowing what the actual drug names are, not the brand names. This helps a lot when using translate apps. For example, the main ingredient in Imodium(or genaric gut-paralyzing anti-diarrheal drugs) is loperamide HCL, and translating that will get you a lot further with a pharmacist. It…

Be careful with cipro- should be a drug of last resort as it has some nasty side effects(increase risk of tendon rupture) and kills of a lot of good gut bacteria as well

Having lived in multiple countries in east asia over the last 10+ years, most of that is pretty standard in big cities across the region. The guides for the blind is pretty much everywhere in the cities you mention, as well as in Shanghai, Seoul, etc. Can’t remember the last place I was, even small podunk towns, where…

For China- the speaking actually works reasonably well, several locals I’ve had to use it with (most recently my new dentist who speaks decent English) have asked what app it is and downloaded it to use themselves(it is one of the only google apps that works in China sans VPN). Also highly suggest turning on the tap…

Have lived overseas for years, but rarely head back to the states, so no point in paying and taking the time for Global Entry. Mobile passport has gotten me through customs in LA and SF in a matter of minutes each time, costs nothing, and is super easy to use. I love it.

Shanghai- East Nanjing road is a waste of time. Also, People’s Square down East Nanjing to the Bund is the highest concentration of scammers in the city(if anyone invites you to tea or a gallery, walk away unless you like being ripped off). The Bund can be pretty, but it is way overcrowded most of the time. Avoid the…

It is a trade off. One place it is worth it: traveling with kids. Personal experience- flying Toronto-LA with a 5 year old. Just gotten through security/customs with plenty of time to spare, planning to eat at the airport. All of a sudden announcement comes on that a flight leaving immediately had seats available to…