Travel Tips

ESTA application status stuck at "Authorization Pending". What can I do?

5/4/2016 7:03:32 AM Given the circumstances of your application and the recent change of US law, I think it is most likely that your ESTA application has landed on someone’s desk for review by a human being. The new law makes people who have visited Iraq since 2011 ineligible for an ESTA, with some exceptions. […]

Where should I travel to if I want to see paddy fields?

7/29/2015 11:53:34 AM Right next to Piedmont is Lombardy, where you’ll also find many paddy fields. Indeed the province of Pavia and the geographical area known as Lomellina contain the most productive rice farmlands in Italy, according to this site (in Italian). Seeing the paddy fields is easy: all you have to do is drive […]

How do I call a 6-digit Australian phone number with a US-based mobile phone?

8/15/2019 12:54:17 AM It is not enough to use 61 as the country code. You must also use an area code. So +61 2 132221 for CBA IVR/VRU Be aware that 13 numbers are not always the same across all area codes or even regions that share the area codes. Annoying if it is used […]

Travelling to Latin America to take hallucinogenic drugs: how does one do it safely?

5/1/2016 4:47:11 PM Opposite to @jpatokal answer, I’d say that you can do it safely on Iquitos-Perú, where a lot of people often go to do this “ceremonies” and there are a lot of places that offers this service, for example this. The price is around 100$ per person per day (It’s a pack that […]

Do non-CIS nationals have issues with visa checks on the Moscow-Dushanbe train?

1/30/2017 11:35:39 PM UPDATE: I forgot to bring the confirmation. The Tajik staff didn’t care at all, whereas the Russian conductor (who entered my compartment about 4 hours into the trip) did ask for a Kazakh visa, I simply kept saying, in the little Russian I know “Swedish passport, 15 days maximum, no Kazakh visa”, […]

How safe and reliable is the Pride of Africa?

1/25/2012 2:43:58 PM You can find the schedules on the webpage of Rovos, the company running this train. On such a trip I would not worry that much about timeliness. The train stops plenty of times on the road for sightseeing. If ever it is late there should be room to catch up the delays. […]

Being late to a train (UK) because of overground/underground cancellation?

11/11/2022 5:51:43 PM The rules are not entirely clear. Much as TFL likes to downplay it’s status, London Overground is part of national rail. The national rail conditions of travel explicitly allow use of multiple tickets for the same journey and the rules about taking the next train in the event of a missed connection […]

Is it possible to travel safely in Guatemala?

6/6/2014 6:08:32 PM Guatemala is safe even when you travel with kids, but you need to be careful when looking around. Local people help tourists to get around, but it’s better not to trust everyone. If you don’t want to take a risk, maybe it’s safer if you get tours at the hotel you are […]

How come I was asked by a CBP officer why I was in the US when leaving?

6/21/2019 7:48:30 PM People sometimes state that the US has no exit immigration. In practice, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The US uses a number of mechanisms to police exit immigration. These include electronic checks based around data provided by the airlines (via APIS, the Advanced Passenger Information System), and a number of […]

Whilst on ESTA I was stamped a 6 month B2 visa, would this be considered overstaying?

4/27/2017 1:20:59 PM Let’s view this through the lens of current US immigration law and then you can use your judgment to determine your course of action Let’s get this clear. In the case of KAMAL H. TURFAH, (Petitioner-Appellant),vrs UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES; UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY,(Respondents-Appellees), the UNITED STATES COURT […]

Where to go in Morocco with toddlers?

3/22/2014 8:36:35 PM Hi and welcome to Morocco 🙂 I’m a Moroccan living in Germany.. For your question; I would advise not to go to hot areas in summer where the temperature can go up to 45 C, such as Marrakech, Ouarzazate, Zagora, Arfoud, Errachidia.. and other desert/sahara destinations.. But if your trip is in […]

On which trains in Japan is reservation mandatory?

6/1/2021 1:26:40 PM @fkraiem’s excellent answer covers most JR trains that are all-reserved. I will add information about all-reserved trains run by non-JR companies. There are few limited express trains operated by non-JR railroad companies, and a majority of them are all reserved. Those of potential interest to tourists are: μSky (Meitetsu), Nagoya-Osaka, Shimakaze (Kintetsu), […]

Why do they have sleeper cars for women in Thailand? Is it for security reasons?

3/31/2016 5:11:41 PM According to this article, women-only carriages were introduced in Thailand after a 13-year old girl was raped in 2014. This article states that the rape was perpetrated by railway staff. Perhaps because of that, the staff of the women-only carriages consists solely of women. So, it’s safe to say that the women-only […]

How seriously should I take size and weight limits of hand luggage?

How seriously should I take size and weight limits of hand luggage?

5/14/2019 8:44:38 PM Now that I’m back home again I just wanted to add my experiences. I had six flights alltogether (VIE-LGW with Level, LGW-YYC with Westjet, YYC-YYZ with Air Canada, YYZ-LGA with Air Canada, JFK-LGW with Norwegian and LGW-VIE with Easyjet). At none of the flights anyone cared about my hand luggage at all, […]

Is there any highway, road or something else that covers the Grand Tour?

4/24/2012 9:01:34 AM Your question hasn’t been answered yet, so here it is: No. 🙂 The ‘Grand Tour’ wasn’t a predefined trip, but a generic journey through, typically, western and southern Europe, popularized by the English lower upper classes, traveling overland from England through, typically, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy. Note the connection between the […]

From where in Ethiopia can I see the Red Sea?

From where in Ethiopia can I see the Red Sea?

5/6/2016 8:52:59 AM Whether it is possible to see the Red Sea from Ethiopia depends on Air conditions Altitude Whether the view is blocked by other high-altitude land or not For the last two points we have the website HeyWhatsThat, which uses information on topography to generate “views” from mountains all over the world. Browsing […]

Can I carry rock climbing hardware as carry-on in Europe?

Can I carry rock climbing hardware as carry-on in Europe?

4/7/2016 12:14:20 PM A year or two ago I worked on a project in Amsterdam and flew weekly between London and Schipol. There’s a half decent indoor climbing centre in the city and I regularly took indoor climbing gear in my carry on; harness rope quickdraws karabinas I didn’t carry any trad gear such as […]

Cost of jeep / 4WD tours in Wadi Rum

6/24/2012 9:07:06 PM What I found at Wadi Rum was that since it’s a protected area where only the Bedouin can live, the only way in is to sign on to one of the tours. Most of these camps and tours are owned and organised by the Bedouins themselves. Prices are very standardised because it’s […]

Overstay in UK 8 years ago – with mention in passport

Overstay in UK 8 years ago – with mention in passport

2/29/2016 4:24:34 PM I would be very surprised if they don’t keep a record of your overstay. And when you are applying for a visa, I would read very carefully any paper work you were given and think carefully about how you answer the question about deportation on the form I would tend to feel […]

How does the Central London transport system work?

1/17/2019 12:48:00 PM These answers are comprehensive, but IMO too verbose and overwhelming for a visitor who is new to the system. Put simply: All buses & underground trains accept contactless credit/debit card (or android/apple pay) which is the simplest way to pay and guarantees you will not pay more than the daily cap. If […]

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