What you need to know about Baku, Azerbaijan before arriving

Solidly located in Western Asia and sharing borders Russia and Iran, Baku, Azerbaijan does not initially sound like a dream tourist destination. Here’s what to do in Baku, what I wish I knew before arriving, and what to avoid in Baku. Baku is what might happen...

11 Budapest Travel Tips You Need To Know Before Arriving

Budapest was full of surprises, both good and… odd. Let’s run down a few Budapest travel tips so your trip has more good surprises than odd ones. Budapest feels like a Western European city in an Eastern European country. Joining the EU in 2004 and the Schengen Zone...

What You Need To Know About Belgrade, Serbia Before Arriving

Belgrade is pretty awesome… but there are a few things you should know before going. When you hear Belgrade in Serbia has around two million citizens, you might reflexively brace for the impact of super-crowded sidewalks or public spaces. Instead, they’re...

Things I Wish I Knew Before Going on a Romanian Road Trip

So we recently took a pretty cool road trip through Romania — a full week’s worth of driving and destinations — and there’s plenty of awesome destinations to cover in another post. If you’re looking at taking a Romanian road trip for yourself, though, here are a few...

8 Things I Wish I Knew About Toronto Before Arriving

While Toronto may not be as exotic as southeast Asia or some Eastern European countries, the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) has plenty of reasons to check it out. Here’s what I wish I knew before arriving. We spent about 2 1/2 months in the Toronto area – a bit of a break...

7 Things You Need to Know About Florida Before Arriving

Without a doubt, Florida is a lot of fun. Know what to expect before you go. Each region has it’s own feel. In my book, What the Florida, I’ve broken Florida down into the four regions you see above. The panhandle region (in blue) tends to be very similar to Alabama...

15 Things You Need to Know Before Going to Italy

We spent three weeks in Italy enjoying some of the country’s offbeat sights. Here’s some things we learned along the way to help you enjoy your trip. Italian buses are weird. By Steve Morgan — Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 Bologna has excellent bus directions on Google maps,...

11 things you need to know about Vienna, Austria before arriving

Vienna kept us traveling for a full week with some of the most bizarre sights across Europe. Here’s what I wish I knew before going. Vienna is a cross of German efficiency and Swiss creativity, but less angsty than Berlin. This first impression stuck with me the whole...

12 things I wish I knew before coming to Prague, Czechia

Prague offers a great introduction to Czechia / the Czech Republic – but boy there were some things I wish I knew before heading there. Czech isn’t that bad, actually – it just looks that way. The good news: it probably won’t even matter all that much. This Wikipedia...

How to renew your US passport in Bogota, Colombia

Once a decade, an event comes along that you can’t miss… No, really, you can’t miss it. So many problems if you do. Despite the typical bureaucracy found in most embassies, I’m happy to report things are straightforward for the most part. A quick disclaimer: the...