Category Archives: Trip Reports

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Sacramento Travel Hackers Meetup @ In-N-Out Burger (Saturday June 17 from 12-2pm)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday.  I am writing this post from the KLM / Air France lounge at SFO (thanks to my Priority Pass card) on my way to Minneapolis for FTU Advanced this weekend.  I will be near Sacramento next weekend for a wedding, but I wanted to do a Sacramento Travel Hackers Meetup on Saturday afternoon.  If you are in town that day and want to talk about miles, points, travel, and enjoy a delicious double-double, come join me at In-N-Out Burger in Sacramento’s neighboring city, Rancho Cordova.

  • Where: In-N-Out Burger, 2475 Sunrise Blvd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 (Google Maps)
  • When: Saturday, June 17 @ 12-2pm

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There is no need to RSVP, just show up with an appetite and an eagerness to talk about travel hacking.  I will have a reminder post next Friday afternoon as well.  I hope to see some of you there.  Have a great weekend everyone!

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I’ll be in Minneapolis this Weekend for Frequent Traveler University – Come Say Hi!

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  This weekend, I will be at Frequent Traveler University (FTU) Advanced in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  It will be a fun-filled weekend full of miles, points, travel stories, and hopefully sunshine (bye bye rainy San Francisco).  I’ll be flying from SFO to MSP on Sun Country, my first time flying Sun Country.  I will be arriving late Friday night, so I will miss the Friday happy hour, but I will be there all day Saturday and Sunday for the sessions.  If you are attending the event, please say hi.  I always appreciate meeting blog readers and talking face to face.

If this is your first travel conference, do your best to be social.  Travel hackers, in general, are pretty quiet and reserved, but when we start talking about miles and points, we get really excited.  Ask what city they traveled from, how they got to the conference, where is their next trip to, which blogs they read (if they don’t mention TWG, tell them that TWG is the best travel blog out there!), etc.

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If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great weekend everyone!

P.S. If you are in San Francisco later this month, I will be at the SF Travel Hackers June Meetup on Tuesday, June 27 from 7-9pm at Hopwater Distribution.

P.P.S. I will be in Orange County for Fourth of July weekend and will do an OC Travel Hackers Meetup on Saturday, July 1 from 12-2pm at In-N-Out.

P.P.P.S. I will also be at the Chicago Seminars travel conference from October 20-22.

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My Simple Currency Exchange Rate Philosophy

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On the surface, a discussion about currency exchange rates may sound simple. There are best practices for how to get the best rates and how to access foreign currency when you’re on a trip. Those seem like the nuts and bolts of any discussion. And best practices do change from time to time.

I remember when a really cool thing to do for Euros was to go to your local AAA office where you could buy Euro starter packs at a pretty decent exchange rate. For people who were just beginning to travel abroad, it was a great idea. I used to get them as gifts for couples going to Europe on their honeymoon! I have no idea if AAA still does that, but in the old days, they used to sell out quickly.

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Image source: http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/A-brief-history-of-money-11059182.php

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A New Yorker Returning Home for a Few Days

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Do you live where you were born and raised? Given the transient nature of life these days, and perhaps because the United States is such a big country with so many possible “hometowns,” it’s likely you don’t. I was born and raised in New York City and frankly, I don’t get back there nearly enough. And feeling like it had been way too long between visits, I recently spent 5 days there. Wow, not only did I have a fantastic time, but I’m leaving there feeling proud to be a New Yorker. What a great, vibrant, amazing place!

I know that every article and blog post about NYC will tell you what to see and do, and in fact we have quite a few Boarding Area bloggers who call NYC home and do a great job covering the NYC scene, so I’m just going to mention two wonderful sites to see that don’t come up on lists. I’ll also suggest a coffee place that has locations throughout the city. And how can I not mention my trip to JFK from Manhattan on the subway??

I walk A LOT when I travel, and NYC’s 23 square miles provides plenty of walking opportunities. I averaged about 11 miles a day walking, so please, get out on the streets and walk. It’s the BEST way to see and experience the city!

One of my favorite places to walk is Riverside Park. The people who live by and use Riverside Park probably won’t like me spilling the beans, but this park is wonderful. It spans 4 miles and the views of the river and New Jersey are wonderful, there are wooded paths as well as paved paths for walking or running, lots of dog parks, plenty of benches for enjoying the park or hanging out and reading, tennis and basketball courts, as well as fields for soccer and baseball. I really enjoy this place! Check out the VIRTUAL tour of the park!

a stone building with columns and flags with General Grant National Memorial in the background

Grant’s Tomb at the end of Riverside Park – New York City

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Where to Eat Kangaroo Meat in Sydney, Australia? Check Out These 6 Restaurants

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Good afternoon everyone, the following post is a guest post from my friend Jeff.  He recently traveled to Sydney, Australia, and sent me this very interesting post.  Warning, if you are a vegetarian or vegan, you will probably want to skip this post.  Without further ado, take it away Jeff!

On a recent trip to Sydney, I made it a mission to try Kangaroo meat prepared in as many ways as I could. This obviously isn’t something you come across frequently in the States and, to my surprise, wasn’t something dotting the menus throughout Sydney either. With my smartphone as my guide, I was able to track down a few, and to varying degrees, was delighted by my findings.

1) Moo Gourmet Burgers

Moo Gourmet Burgers is a small restaurant chain in Sydney. I believe there are at least 4 locations throughout the city that prepare a variety of beef burgers and a nice list of specialty burgers including a duck and bacon burger, lamb burger, and of course, a kangaroo burger. Fries (chips), salads, smoothies, and Moo Brew beer are also available. I made my stop at the Newtown location for lunch.

This was my first experience eating kangaroo and I really enjoyed it. Though the toppings are the thing that really made this burger. The meat, prepared well done (not by choice), was a little dry and could have been beef and the burger would have been just as good. Burger came topped with caramelized onions, tomato, homemade mayo, rocket (arugula), and beetroot relish on the bottom. I wish places here in the US offered beetroot relish as a condiment. I don’t believe I’ve run into that before this trip and it seems almost a ubiquitous offering in Sydney. Wash it all down with the Moo Brew Pilsner. Definitely worth a quick stop at one of their locations for lunch while wandering the city.

My Roo Rating: 3/5 Roos

a burger with onions and lettuce on a plate

Kangaroo Burger in Sydney – Moo Gourmet Burgers

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