Why I love to travel in shoulder season

This is a Hipmunk post from Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads

When people ask for advice on when to travel to a certain destination, I usually respond that they should chase the weather they want. You like your torrential downpours? Head to Southeast Asia during the monsoons. Of course, with global warming and changes in weather patterns, one season tends to bleed into the next. Which is why I tell those who are on the fence about weather that they ought to visit during shoulder season.

Benefits are plentiful: squished between the high prices of peak season and the often cold or rainy low season, it’s a perfect time to see the sights and still manage to find some deals. You’ll usually benefit from off-peak hotel rates and a friendlier set of locals since the crowds are gone. 

And you’ll get some deliciously beautiful sunsets on the cusp of a seasonal change. Take my trip to the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia. It was end of August, a time where the rates for beachside bungalows were halved, but the rains had yet to move onto the islands in full force.

Instead, daytimes were ideal:

Afternoons saw the clouds roll in:

And sunsets were beyond lovely, followed by a tempestuous storm:

So when is shoulder season? I tend to go just after high season ends, something that differs per destination. For Thailand, it’s been in mid-May to early June. For Malaysia’s east coast, late August to mid-September. For most of Europe, Spring and Fall will be your shoulder times (Easter through early June and late October to mid-November). The closer to high season, the better the chance that the weather will hold out. This Travel + Leisure slideshow of when to travel to get your shoulder on is another good resource for getting there just after the crowds and before the rain or snow.

How to: stay informed about country warnings as you travel

This is a Hipmunk guest post from Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads

Seeing the devastation after days of rioting in London, I wanted to post about travel warnings and travel advice, something I get a lot of emails about every week.

Screenshot from the verified incidents of riots Google Maps mashup.

Travelers tend to turn to their country’s Department of State (in Canada, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade), but often write to ask me what I do since I’m usually moving around. Do I pick and choose based on country advice? What made me stay put in Bangkok during the 2010 protests, despite warnings that people should leave the city?

Until recently, I used a combination of checking different government warnings, forums (for Southeast Asia, I used the Travelfish forums quite a bit), Twitter, and my own common sense. But there’s a new service that cobbles together different country warnings and provides updated issue pages as larger events (like the London riots) unfold.

FTAS Online (the Foreign Travel Advisory Service) aggregates travel advisories and information, and also allows you to build your own trip, receiving updates from the places on your destination-list. The site is free, and at present they’re also including their alert services and update bulletins free of cost. This means that you’ll get updates via email for your destination list as situations change.

Topic summary from recent unrest in the UK, via FTAS Online.

I have no affiliation with FTAS but I am always on the look-out for new sites that provide a helpful service for travelers, and it’s a solid resource for one-stop, verified information as you go.

Best Smartphone Apps for Worldwide Travel

This is a Hipmunk guest post from Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads

As a part of an ongoing series on technology and travel (first up was my favourite USB gadgets while on the road), I’d like to post about the best smartphone apps for travel. These aren’t apps for booking your flights - I’m assuming you’ve already got that covered with hipmunk and the free hipmunk iOS app. Rather, it’s a list of useful downloads to help navigate, communicate or stay sane and safe while travelling around the world.

When I started my trip in 2008, I had no laptop and no smartphone. As the years have gone by and I’ve continued my travels, I’ve picked up a phone and kept an eye out for apps that help me as I navigate strange places, be it via language, food or helping make my life a little easier as I go.

1. Onavo (iphone only): Onavo’s aim is to shrink your data usage, and it does so by installing a configuration profile on your phone, so that the data you receive from the interwebs is streamed through their cloud-based compression service. This means that the compression takes place before it gets to your phone, and this also means Onavo saves you some money if you’re not on an unlimited data plan.

2. Skype: Being on the road for over three years means that I’ve had no SIM card and no home base. As a result, Skype has been a saviour – it allows me to use WiFi to reach my friends, I can forward its services to a local number, and I’ve added SkypeOut credit for those family members (*cough* dad *cough*) who refuse to get an account themselves.  For those of you who want to stick to apps from Google, Google Voice’s app is an alternative, allowing you to text freely within North America from anywhere in the world.

3. TripIt: TripIt has been getting rave reviews from friends and travelers alike. It’s essentially a trip organizer – forward your trip details or confirmation to them, and TripIt will build you the full itinerary, accessible from mobile or the web. If you’re a frequent traveler with plenty of reservations to keep track of, this app might make your life quite a bit easier.

4. Urbanspoon (for travel to UK, US, Canada or Australia): I’ll admit, I don’t travel often through North America or Europe; most of my trips take me further afield, to street food fun in Asia. But for the trips I do take in these parts, Urbanspoon is a great way to find out where I should eat. I prefer its interface and enjoy using it more than the also-popular Yelp app.

5. ICOON Global Picture Dictionary: this is near and dear to my heart and I’ve used the old-fashioned Point It Dictionary (i.e. paper) version a lot on my travels to far flung places. When words just won’t work, be it because you can’t speak the language or you need a doctor ASAP, this is your friend. Photos by category, foods, body parts, lodging basics and more. For Android, the Picture Dictionary is an option, though less pretty in design and function.

6. Google Maps: it works in a startlingly comprehensive list of countries; it helps when you’re really exhausted and just cannot figure out where your hostel is and all the street signs are in an unfamiliar language. If you’re directionally disabled like me, Google Maps is a must, especially when you can use it to show your taxi driver where you need to go in their native language

7. Speaking of language, I’m enamoured with Word Lens (iPhone only). The app instantly translates printed words from one language to another using your phone’s video camera. It’s a pretty nifty idea, and even if you don’t absolutely need to get a message across right now, you’ll have a great time playing around with translation on-the-go.

8. Oanda’s Currency Conversion App: Currency conversion is a helpful thing to have available on the road, especially farther afield where you are sometimes negotiating for rates when changing money. Those countries with a closed monetary system (Myanmar, for example) won’t really care what your app says, but for the most part it’s very helpful to have an interbank rate at your immediate disposal. I’ve used this app throughout my worldwide travels and it comes in handy not just for ensuring I get a decent rate, but also to keep track of what I’m spending by converting to USD as I go.

9. Sit or Squat (available for Blackberry or iPhone) might not be the most useful, but bonus  points for creativity and for listing 109,280 toilets around the world (and counting). Just plug in your address and find a place to relieve yourself.

Bonus: Tipping Bird. A Hipmunk user (@jyzhou) created this app and I have to say I wish I had it prior. Divided by country, the app lets you know what you ought to be tipping as you go, in a cross-section of industries. Country tips are divided by restaurants, bars, taxis and others, with info from Thailand to Argentina to the States. Looking forward to using it the next time I travel!

Anything I left out? What are your favourite smartphone apps for worldwide travel?

What’s in your first aid kit?

This is a Hipmunk guest post from Jodi Ettenberg. 

Part of being a savvy traveler is knowing what to pack. I recently wrote about some useful and fun USB travel gadgets, but I wanted to go back to the basics: a first aid kit.

(photo credit: mwichary)

I rarely leave home without mine, and it’s been the subject of some gentle (and not so gentle) mocking. But the travelers who split their calf open on a rusty nail in the middle of a Dominican Republic national park (true story) or fell down the stairs and got bitten by a blood-sucking cockroach in the Philippines (also a true story) didn’t laugh: they were just happy I had something to help make it better.

Many of these can be purchased and/or replaced from the road, but if starting out in a more remote destination, it’s a good thing to have a more thorough kit from the get-go.

For general travel:

• Neosporin or a similar triple antibiotic cream 
• Anti-itch cream
• Benedryl or other anti-histamine
• Small sutures/stitches 
• Burn gel
• Diclofenac (anti-inflammatory cream sold over the counter)
• Gauze
• Sewing kit 
• Safety pins (large size)
• Matches
• Duct tape
• Ibuprofen
• Band-aids
• Moleskin for blisters
• Diflucan (for the ladies)
• Anti-mozzie spray
• Alcohol wipes
• Tweezers
• Leatherman Micra (mini and awesome multitool)

For travel to developing countries, I add the following:

• Ciprofloxacin (if you get food poisoning/stomach infections, you will want some of this), though self-medicate at your own risk. I’ve done so in the past, but only when I’m nowhere near a clinic  or doctor and really ill.
• Metronidazole (for giardia or amoebic dysentery; I’ve picked these up for reasonable prices in Thailand or other parts of Southeast Asia)
• Immodium, but only to take if absolutely necessary since trapping whatever bacteria you’ve got in your intestine is a bad idea. I only use it if I’m about to board a bus for 8 hours and know that I’m not going to make it without copious bathroom breaks. 
• Anti-malarials if you are heading to a malarial region.
• Oral rehydration salts

What’s in your first aid kit? 

USB Travel Gadgets

This is a Hipmunk guest post from Jodi Ettenberg. 

In installing this fun USB wall socket from Think Geek, I was thinking of the USB-related gadgets that make life easier (or more fun!) on the road. 

For starters, Belkin’s mini surge protector is one that I keep with me at all times. It allows me to charge whatever I need, is tiny enough that it doesn’t take up too much room, and comes in handy when there’s only 1 outlet in a hostel and people are clamouring for it.

For those of you with a serious amount of USB charging required, the USB Octopus has your name on it: 7 USB ports in one tiny gadget. 

A similar idea for USB only is the Flip-It, allowing you to charge a device even when all the outlets are taken. 

Less practical but very fun to have on the road is the X-Mini II speaker. The tiny podlike speaker fits in a felt bag and gives off far more sound than their size would indicate. I’ve used them all over the world to play some of my music to locals who are curious about what I listen to; inevitably, people forget about the music and start oohing and aahing over the X-Mini instead!

Finally, for those of you in warmer, sunnier climates: JuiceBar solar charger for USB charging goodness.

What kinds of USB gadgets do you travel with? Leave ‘em in the comments! 

NYC Outdoor Summer Movies, All in One Place.

This is a Hipmunk guest post from Jodi Ettenberg. 

View from my old apartment in NY.

A simple service post for those Hipmunks based in or planning to visit New York City during the coming months: here’s where to find the schedule of all the summer movies being screened in the city: NYC Summer Movies.

I’m from Montreal but I lived in New York for several years, and always found out about upcoming outdoor screenings too late, leaving me scrambling to get there. No longer! It’s all on one handy page, with links to each of the locations during the summer movie series.

(h/t Kottke, by @matthewhowell)

List of Free Museum Days Across the United States

MuseumFreeDays.com is a pretty rad website — with an iPhone app! I’m a bit of a museum junkie, so discovering this recently just makes me wish I’d had it for my last decade of traveling. So it goes.

I’ve highlighted some of our favorite USA cities, their free museum day policies, and highlighting a few museums in particular. Be sure to follow them on twitter @museumfreedays.

Atlanta

• Woodruff Arts Center
• High Museum of Art
• Imagine It! Children’s Museum of Atlanta

Click here for this month’s free days in Atlanta.

Boston

• Peabody Museum
• Boston Children’s Museum
• Institute of Contemporary Art
• MIT Museum

Click here for this month’s free days in Boston.

Chicago

• Chicago History Museum
• Chicago Children’s Museum
• Field Museum
• Museum of Contemporary Chicago

Click here for this month’s free days in Chicago.

Dallas

Read about them on Examiner.com.

Houston

• Children’s Museum of Houston

Click here for this month’s free days in Houston.

Los Angeles

• Museum of Contemporary Art (Grand Ave)
• Bowers Museum
• The Page Museum

Click here for the breakdown.

• Miami Art Museum
• Miami Children’s Museum

New York

• Brooklyn Botanic Garden
• Bronx Zoo
• Guggenheim
• Museum of Modern Art
• Whitney Museum of American Art

Click here for this month’s free days in NY. 

Philadelphia

• Please Touch Museum
• The Franklin Institute

Click here for this month’s free days in Philly.

Portland

Here’s the breakdown of museums that are free and what times of years the others are free.

San Francisco

• Bay Area Discovery Museum
• Exploratorium
• Asian Art Museum

Many museums in San Francisco offer at least one free day per month, and some discounted days or evenings. Click here for this month’s free days in SF.

• Burke Museum
• Wing Luke Museum

Washington D.C.

September 24 is the Smithsonian’s Museum Day where every participating museum is free for the day (and this is happens at museums well beyond the District of Columbia! Most of the museums in D.C. are already free, though. Here’s a list.

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How’d we do? Miss anything? Let us know!

5 Ways to Travel for Free in Cool US Cities

Cheapskates use public transit when traveling to save money over a rental car or a cab. Savvy cheapskates know there are some routes you don’t even have to pay for. Below, a sample.

1. Boston: Train Station Connector

Two of Boston’s main train stations are connected by free train service: the Back Bay/South Station connector. Hop on any commuter train going from one station to the other, and hop off at the next stop. (Be sure not to ride the train more than one stop, or you’ll have to pay for your ride.)

Back Bay Station is in one of the busiest shopping and business districts in Boston, near the Prudential Center, Hancock Tower, and Copley Square. South Station is near the Financial District, Government Center, and Chinatown. While the two stations are only about a mile’s walk apart, you’ll be glad you took the train if you’re there during Boston’s frigid winter.

See the train station connector schedule.

2. Denver: MallRide

A free bus runs along the 1.25-mile length of Denver’s 16th Street Mall. One terminus is Denver’s nearly 130-year-old Union Station; the other end is the city’s Civic Center, near the Public Library, Art Museum, and State Capitol.

See the MallRide Schedule.

3. Seattle: Ride Free Area

From 6 AM to 7 PM every day, busses—but not trains—are free in much of downtown Seattle. The zone includes the architecturally famous Public Library and touristically famous Pike Place Market, and is just a few blocks from the Olympic Sculpture Park.

Just be sure not to stay on past the edge of the Ride Free Area, or you’ll have to pay a fare when you exit the bus.

See the bus routes in the Ride Free Area (the light orange section of the map).

4. Portland (Oregon): Free Rail Zone

In downtown Portland, trains are free but busses aren’t—the opposite of Seattle. The zone is free all day, from the first train in the morning to the last train at night.

The Free Rail Zone includes attractions like Pioneer Place, Pioneer Courthouse Square, and the unusual, multimodal Steel Bridge. Both MAX Light Rail Lines and the Portland Streetcar are free in the Free Rail Zone.

See the train routes in the Free Rail Zone (the light orange section of the map).

5. New York City: Staten Island Ferry

The Staten Island Ferry has great views of the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty, and connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Manhattan. It runs 24 hours a day—and at least every half-hour for most of the day.

See the Staten Island Ferry schedule.

Round-the-World Travel: Staying Calm and Positive on the Road

This is a Hipmunk guest post from Jodi Ettenberg, a former lawyer who is traveling (and eating!) her way around the world, one country at a time. Her views and opinions are hers alone and do not represent Hipmunk. You can follow Jodi on her Legal Nomads blog.

 This is Part 3 of my Hipmunk guest series about round-the-world travel.

Staying Calm and Positive on the Road

These are more philosophical than practical, but are equally important when the sights, smells and chaos of a new place overwhelm you.

1) Give yourself a few days to adjust before making judgments about a new place. You usually arrived tired from the trip and less open minded than usual. Give yourself a chance to warm to it before you decide to leave. Initially I didn’t enjoy my time in Bangkok but after getting out of the main tourist areas and living in the middle of street food heaven, I found myself enthralled with the city. Sometimes the places that make the worst first impressions end up being your favorites.

2) Learning a few words of the local goes a long way. This is helpful not just to get what you need, but also to break the ice in a new place. I’d also and make sure that the translation of “no problem” is on that brief list – it’s a surefire way to get a smile!

3) Don’t sweat the small stuff. Clichéd, but true. The sooner you start to weigh down your days with resentment or anger at things that cannot change, the sooner you’ll want to leave. Things will not go as planned, but that’s part of the adventure, and oftentimes they really do work out in the end. Save the stress and the anger for the things that really matter.  

This goat chased me up the street in Indonesia. Instead of having a temper tantrum, I stayed calm. And I ran. As fast as I possibly could.

4) Build a vacation into your vacation. When I came home for the holidays in 2009, people asked me how my vacation was going. I explained that my round-the-world travels were my life, and my time home was my vacation. Travel in developing countries can be tiring and it can be frustrating, and there are times when you really do need to give yourself a break. Whether that means sitting on a beach for a week and relaxing or treating yourself to a nice meal every so often or upgrading your hotel to something different, figure out what you need to give your brain and body a break, and then indulge in it once in a while.

5) Experiment with food and markets. Experiencing the world through food is by far my preferred method of traveling, and the best ways to do so are to parachute into a busy market in a new place and see what’s what. From the bustling, colorful morning shopping on Inle Lake in Burma to the teeming animal markets of Otavalo in Ecuador, markets led me to new explorations in food and a connection to locals that I would have otherwise missed.

Somtam salad from Chiang Mai, Thailand: delicious and nutritious! 

6) Remember that the travel community is very active online, and will happily provide advice and support whenever you need it. Prior to starting a blog, I had no idea that there was such a robust, supportive community of fellow travelers out there who were available to provide advice and suggestions. For those who aren’t planning to write about their trip but are active in social media, Twitter is an excellent place to get off-the-cuff accommodation picks, food suggestions and people to meet along the way.

Thus concludes my guest post about travel tips for the round-the-world travelers.

Please feel free to leave any additional questions in the comments - I’d be happy to answer them.

-Jodi