No. of Recommendations: 19
First of all, my apologies. The Berkshire site is not where this should be posted, but I can't find a Shrewd board specifically for foreign travel and I figured just like most people eat from time to time, people here might find travel interesting (I do :-)
While I pretend to spend most of my time investing, in reality, we travel 6-10 months a year. Originally for my own use, the result has been a travel guide covering a long list (about 200 pages) of "best practice" items followed by specific guides covering over 700 cities and towns in over 100 countries all included in a single book (
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V7C2L9S). It is written from the perspective of seeing places on your own, rather than on organized tours.
Anyhow, my sister WendyBG, who hangs out on TMF's METAR site, suggested to someone there (who is going to Japan) to reach out to me for advice and I forwarded him the Japan chapter from the book.
SO, HERE'S THE OFFER: Pick a country - many like Japan, South Africa, Israel, India, France, Italy, Brazil etc. would make sense - while places like Vanuatu and Madagascar are in the book, their chapters are much smaller. Send a message with your email address and your choice of country and I'll reply with the chapter. No strings (but since it's copyrighted, I would ask that you do not re-distribute it to others).
An explanation: All of the information in the book is less than ten years old. While we have been traveling for over five decades (though not at the pace we currently do), I have found that information gets stale (and I would rather err on the side of omission than providing incorrect information). So, I brutally delete any place we have not visited during the last decade. This has caused some unusual cuts - including many Egyptian and Chinese sites (of course not completely as there are significant sections on Beijing, Shanghai and so on).
While the geographic index is at the end of the book, I figured it might be helpful to see the Table of Contents of the book’s first (general travel information) section:
Jeff
PROLOGUE
TRAVELING IN THE AGE OF COVID-19
HOW TO STRUCTURE THE ITINERARY OF A TOUR
An example of structuring an itinerary:
HOW TO STRUCTURE A TOUR OF A CITY
PREPARING FOR THE TRIP
PREPARING TO LEAVE HOME
Phones and internet on the home front:
Closing down the place:
Financial considerations of leaving:
LUGGAGE PIECES
PACKING LISTS
The Leaving Home Checklist
The Cosmetic List
Clothing & Packed Items
LOGISTICS, CHECKING LUGGAGE
PACKING & UNPACKING LUGGAGE AT HOME
TRAVEL AGENTS
MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
__ Cruises
____Commercial Freighter Travel
River Cruise Comparisons
____Antarctic Cruises
More Cruise Notes
“Short term” Taxi's, Ride-Hailing and Chauffeured Cars
“Long term” Chauffeured Cars
Foreign car rentals and Traffic
Airlines
Long-Haul Trains
Long-Haul Buses
Ferries
Subways/Metros, Trams & Local Buses
Hop-On/Hop-Off Buses
Using Porters
HOTELS
The Concept Of “The Hotel” Vs. “The Environment”
SAFARIS and AFRICAN TRAVEL
__East African Safaris – The Great Game Migration
__Tipping on Safaris
__African Travel Methods
UPGRADES
FREQUENT FLYER, HOTEL & CRUISE ELITE PROGRAMS
ATM (FOREIGN CURRENCY) & CREDIT CARDS, USING US DOLLARS
Foreign Currency
Using US Dollars Abroad
Credit Cards
Credit Card Security
BARGAINING, MARKETS, SHOPPING
Buying Jewelry
Detecting Fakes
Shopping FOR BESPOKE CLOTHING
Questions to be prepared to answer when having bespoke clothing made:
Vat Taxes & Duty-Free Shopping
Tipping
Sightseeing
Special Discounts
City Cards
Alternatives To Cruise Excursions
Walking Tours
Museums
Note On Peer Pressure:
Electronics & Gadgets
Special note on wristwatches
LAPTOP AND INTERNET SECURITY
How to Use Public Computers Safely
Built-in Safe Browsing
I Forgot! Now What?
Secure Your Connection
Go Naked
Use Codes or Cyphers
WI-FI AND INTERNET CONNECTIVITY
Setting up a Laptop for Shipboard Use
GSM MOBILE CELL PHONES
Changing to a foreign SIM chip
Phone Based Language Translation Apps
GPS and GPS Phone Software
Other Useful Travel Apps
RESTAURANTS
Spice And Herb Mixtures/Blends
FOOD SAFETY
Note on eating “street food” and in restaurants abroad:
HEALTH/PHARMACIES
We keep the following vaccinations and inoculations current:
COVID-19
HEALTH SECURITY/ TRAVEL INSURANCE
HAIR CARE, GROOMING & TOILETS
PHYSICAL SECURITY
VISA'S, PASSPORTS, DOCUMENTS
