Category: Preparation

  • Are you ready for your trip?

    This is an advertorial Plane tickets purchased, hotel rooms booked. Guides are contacted, meet ups with friends and locals are scheduled. You feel you’re ready for your great adventure, but are you sure? Be sure to pack the essentials! If you have been traveling often, you probably already have a check list of things that…

  • Project Greece

    As always, I plan my trips with Excel. Here’s the one I made for Greece, cleaned up just a bit to remove notes for our group (everybody had access to it), and fixed the formatting a little. I’ve also included a sheet with my actual travel expenses during the trip, and another sheet with these…

  • What’s in my bag

    It seems as if my bag is accumulating more stuff to bring as the years pass. In my years of traveling, I have discarded things I used to think was the bee’s knees, and have learned to embrace some of the items I used to scoff at. Such is life. Here’s another round of new…

  • How to apply for a Chinese Tourist Visa in Australia

    Do you pack a what-if item in your bag? You know, the ones that you put in your suitcase or backpack just in case? I’m one of those. My what-if items are photocopies of my passport, birth certificate, and business registration. I also keep a couple of passport-sized photos. You know, just in case. My…

  • How to apply for an Australian Tourist Visa (2013 edition)

    [UPDATE October 13, 2015] Here’s a guide on how you can easily, quickly, and cheaply apply for an Australian tourist visa online [Update: September 15, 2014] Philippine passport holders can now apply for an Australian tourist visa online through the IMMI website. Application fee must be paid via credit card. You can still apply in…

  • What’s in my bag?

    After 6 or so What’s in my bag? posts, you’d think I won’t have space anymore in my bags. As the years pass, my travel style continues to change, and so does my packing style. There are new products to try and added to the list, and there are products that are taken out of…

  • Travel must-haves

    Travel must-haves

    This is an advertorial After traveling for years, I already have my staple travel gear. I’ve blogged them numerous times before, but here’s a short list of the basics for first time travelers. Good, sturdy luggage Not all travelers are backpackers, and though I travel mainly with a backpack, there are times when I have…

  • Project Japan

    A lot of you got scared when I posted my Japan travel expenses. It’s understandable — that’s a lot of money to spend for two weeks in one country. Japan is worth it. It’s very very expensive, yes, but it’s also a really really beautiful country to explore. To those who I haven’t scared off…

  • Project Morocco

    When I published my Morocco travel expenses, friends started messaging me expressing their surprise at the figures I presented and asked for tips on how to plan a trip to Morocco. I promised them I’d give a copy of my spreadsheet, which has our itinerary, budget, list of accommodation we considered staying at and links…