Category Archives: Trip Reports

a close up of stamps

One Way Flights Can Be Priced Wildly Differently, Depending on the Direction

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There is always something to learn in this miles and points game! Always. Recently I discovered something when booking an award ticket that you may already know. But if you don’t, maybe you’ll learn something new from my sharing what I discovered.

I was booking a trip to Asia but only had enough miles to book an award for either the outbound or the inbound. In deciding which direction to use miles and which direction to pay cash, I started looking at cash prices. I looked at Japan Airlines website for their prices. I searched starting from the states and saw the oneway ticket priced around $650 for an economy seat. I assumed that this was half of the roundtrip cost. This led me to assume the fare from Japan to the States, should I opt to use the inbound as my cash outlay, would be the same $650. Wow, was I wrong!

a globe with arrows around it

Image source: https://lccaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-fly-around-world-for-1-200-euros.html

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a heart made of coffee beans

Shelli’s World Coffee Tour – Vietnamese Coffee in Vietnam

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I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love… and caffeine, one city at a time. Recently, I had a wonderful holiday in Saigon, Vietnam. And though it was hard to tear myself away from the incredible coconut meat and coconut water, I did explore the coffee houses, and I’m glad I did. I drank plenty of coffee, talked with baristas, and I’ve got lots to share with you. Let’s open the TWG cafe society doors and talk coffee, Vietnamese style.

When I travel, I only review and like to support coffee houses that roast their own beans or use locally roasted beans. But before I talk about the one-off coffee house scene in Saigon, I have a very special post for you today. I have Vietnamese friends living in Saigon, and as it turns out, one of them, Huy, had a coffee shop. He and a friend owned and ran it for a few years before moving on to careers in tech. He’s an amazing resource of all things coffee in Vietnam. Huy and his wife Nguyen came to where I was staying and made us Vietnamese coffee! He brought his own equipment and coffee, and it was a ton of highly caffeinated fun. I want to share with you what he taught me because I’ve never been successful when making Vietnamese coffee at home. It’s complicated and requires patience. If you’ve ever tried or want to try making it, here’s the full scoop from a master!

a man and woman holding a drink

Huy and his wife, Nguyen.

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a lake with trees in the background

Three Weeks in New Zealand – Without A Car!

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Buenos dias everyone! Back in November, I was able to snag two economy tickets from San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand for a jaw-dropping $395 per person roundtrip, nonstop on Air New Zealand. (My understanding is tickets twice that price would still be a good deal – right now, the lowest price I see for these flights through the end of 2018 is $1,150). I used Citi Thank You Points from my Citi Prestige Credit Card to book these tickets at a value of 1.25 cents per point (so a little over 63,000 points total).

At first, I avoided making any further plans because I thought the tickets might get canceled – but after a couple of months, I was pretty confident that they would stick. I eventually booked tickets from Mexico City to San Francisco (using American Express Membership Rewards points with the 35% AMEX Platinum Card rebate), and a few days before our trip, I finally started sketching out our plan.

A map of Tonei's route in New Zealand, as described in the article

Map created on Travellerspoint.com

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a hammock on a beach

Happy Feet Make For Happy Travels

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There’s one essential must-have, must-take-with-me-when-I-travel item that I get tons of questions about. When I wear my Buff people look at me…….and then ask a question. But with Yoga toes, very few people actually see me using them because I’m home or in a hotel room when I use them. Whenever I talk about Yoga toes people are curious.

So let’s answer the most asked question: what’s the big deal about Yoga toes?

First let’s start with some humor. I actually had a woman ask me, “Can’t you just put marbles, or grapes, or something between your toes?” I suppose you could, but my answer to her was, “Why would you want to when you can use Yoga toes?”

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a close up of stamps

Travel Hacking Mistakes WE Still Make

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In life, there’s always room for improvement, that’s for sure. And that holds true for the travel hacking world that each of us creates. Talking about mistakes we make is never an easy conversation, but Grant and I had it anyway. Whether the mistakes are the once-and-we’ll-never-do-that-again type, or those reoccurring mistakes that we seem to make over and over again, shedding light on the mistakes helps us think through what we’re doing and perhaps more importantly, what those mistakes might be costing us in the way of miles and points. After admitting our mistakes and deciding to share them with you, Grant and I had a good laugh about it all. Then he went back to enjoying his chai latte and I finished off my cortado, and of course we vowed to wipe the slate clean and not make the same mistakes again.

Let’s Take a Look at Our Mistakes

Grant felt that maybe searching and booking award flights and hotels too far out is a mistake because there are often good deals if you wait to the very last minute. Continue reading →