Travel Tips

Non-EU citizen with valid UK BRP but working in Germany

11/23/2016 11:13:11 AM As soon as the IO sees your BRP he will ask “How long have you been out of the UK?” It’s because he needs to know which rule applies. You have NOT been out of the UK for more than 2 years so the controlling technical reference is Paragraph 18 of the […]

Are mimikaki for real?

8/21/2016 4:21:07 AM I can’t say if it is a common gift to give to your teacher, at least I would not do, but mimikaki is a perfectly fine gift if it is decorative enough. There’s nothing funny or shy about it, this is what it is. Cleaning ears to your loved ones is a […]

Specific vacation type for a lonely hike?

11/21/2016 4:57:26 PM The old post route between Tokyo and Kyoto might be a good choice. Large parts of it are in woods, but there are small villages along the route that have guest houses (ryokan) where you can take a hot bath and stay overnight. For example, the route passes through the Kiso valley […]

Is speaking Portuguese useful in Macau today?

8/20/2016 6:45:20 AM Not really. Only around 0.6% of Macanese speak Portuguese as a first language, and perhaps 5% of the population can speak it at all, most of them elderly and unlikely to be encountered by the casual visitor. Any of Cantonese, English or Mandarin is far more useful in practice. Portuguese is primarily […]

How to get to understand a culture as best one can through the internet

11/21/2016 1:40:01 PM There’s a series of books, “Xenophobe’s Guide To [nationality]”, that I find are a good combination of being short, funny, affectionately-written usually based on self-reflection by well-travelled cosmopolitan people from the country in question (the Czech one is written by three Czechs, for example), and quite well focused on the quirks and […]

What does under two years old mean?

8/19/2016 7:56:47 PM Under two years old generally means not having reached the second birthday. To include two-year-olds, the phrase would normally be two years old and under. Therefore, it appears that (in the given example) for a child who is two years old you will have to pay USD 66 for an extra bed. […]

When must a firearm component be declared in checked-in luggage, when flying within the US?

11/21/2016 6:38:58 AM TSA quote: United States Code, Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 44, firearm definitions includes: any weapon (including a starter gun) which will, or is designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; the frame or receiver of any such weapon; any firearm muffler […]

Why do so many stores at Singapore prefer MasterCard?

8/14/2016 9:51:44 PM Your assumption is wrong: the stores are unhappy with being offered a credit card (which they either don’t accept, or have to pay fees for), not the fact that it’s specifically a Visa. In my experience, and this is from living in Singapore for 8 years, acceptance of Visa and MasterCard is […]

Applied for a UK visa as a couple, but only wife received a notification about getting her passport back. Should I be worried?

12/18/2016 9:09:34 PM You and your wife applied for the UK Standard Visitor Visa and used UKVI’s commercial 3rd party to submit your applications. You applied as the primary and your wife applied as a dependent. Your wife got a notification email and you did not and this is creating stress for you. So you […]

Which of Mt. Aso's facilities are inaccessible during a Level 2 volcanic alert?

8/14/2016 7:49:19 AM There is further information (in Japanese) about the different levels on this page from the Japan Meterological Agency. The first image (with the concentric circles showing different distances) also has a bit more information about what facilities you don’t have access to. Level 2: 1km exclusion zone around crater. No access to […]

Is a transit visa required at Narita, Japan if you're on a multi city itinerary?

5/26/2019 7:36:33 AM I am an Indian national residing in the United States of America under a non-immigrant visa. I am travelling to India via Tokyo and Singapore and returning on the same path. For Japan visas, there is a twenty-four-hour hotline for the U.S.A. that you can call +1-888-671-4583 for all visa enquiries. I […]

Is there an online resource for caravan "pit stops" around Europe?

8/15/2016 1:35:40 PM Yes, there are a fair number of resources like this. Starting at the obvious place, the Caravan Club of the UK has a list of European campsites inspected by the club. Most of them will have the facilities you want, and you can check each one individually. In Europe the term ‘campsite’ […]

Rome2Rio alternative for the Balkans/Eastern Europe?

11/15/2016 7:45:14 AM No, there is no such universal website. The simple reason is that far from everything is computerized and even if it is, the infrastructure is often so primitive it’s not linked to any search engines. In your specific case you’ve got two options: Estimate the driving time on Google Maps and plan […]

Can I rideshare/carpool from Vancouver to Calgary or should I rent a car?

8/12/2016 2:13:43 PM My best recommendation will be the bus. Your main concern is the fact that bus itineraries are not flexible enough. If you take the car to Whistler, then want to drive to the Rockies, your smoothest and fastest itinerary will take you through Vancouver too. A car is costly, and if you […]

When traveling on a tourist Chinese visa, can you stay past the "final" date?

3/29/2017 3:07:57 PM Most countries the way visas work is the date on the visa is the date you have to enter by, and does not affect the length of time you can then spend in the country, which is then calculated from the entry date. You can enter on the last day your visa […]

Can J-2 dependent stay in USA while J-1 principal is traveling?

11/16/2016 6:01:04 PM The short answer: it depends on the length of your (the J-1’s) stay. If that is not longer than 30 days, you should not have any problem with the J-2 remaining in the country (see @Dorothy’s answer). If your stay is (intended to be) longer than 30 days, the J-2 cannot stay […]

Do I need to book in advance in French camping parks?

7/24/2018 2:26:41 PM I have been camping in France a number of times and haven’t ever booked anything in advance other than the first night, when I have arrived in France early evening and wanted to make sure I knew where I was staying (even that would have had plenty of space). However, my experience […]

Where to buy an effective decongestant for a headcold in Taiwan?

Where to buy an effective decongestant for a headcold in Taiwan?

8/12/2016 8:49:10 AM It turns out that Taiwan, like many other places, made Pseudoephedrine harder to obtain, but perhaps more recently (2010). So far I did not find out how easy Pseudoephedrine is to obtain. It is not available over-the-counter (OTC). Many other decongestants and other cold and flu remedies are available over the counter. […]

Is an universal adapter safe enough to use all year?

11/13/2016 7:42:15 PM So how safe is it to be used in a general household? Quite safe. Is it more likely to cause those sorts of troubles than an one-to-one adapter (or no adapter), given that it is used all year round? Yes. Can I pay with cash for the train from Oslo airport to […]

eTA Application "In Progress" for a month. What can I do?

10/28/2017 7:33:39 PM The best way of getting meaningful help is to email the local Canadian High Commission or Embassy. Certainly in the UK the Canadian High Commission give very quick email response. The eTA system is a total mess, to put it mildly. The policy decision to refuse to answer queries by telephone exacerbates […]

Prev posts
Next posts

Search Posts

Latest posts

Popular posts