travel
The Best US Cell Phone Service For International Travelers
Last summer a friend and I traveled Europe for two weeks. Neither of us are the type of people who plan very well. In fact, getting onto our flight the only plan was Barcelona, a night or two in Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls and ending in Frankfurt a week and a half later. We didn’t know where we’d go and didn’t have lodging or trains booked. “We’ll figure it out,” we said.
We spent a little bit of time on trains…
Two weeks later, we had visited Barcelona, Pamplona, Montpellier, Nice, the Cinque Terre, Bern and Frankfurt. We had figured it out, on the fly. Half of our trains and all of our AirBnbs and hostels had been researched and booked on my phone without wifi, usually en route to whatever destination we had chosen a minute ago. We’d go to the train station, price out tickets and hop on whatever train we thought would get us there.
Our stay in Montpellier was decided at the train station when we couldn’t get all the way to Nice; I messaged back and forth with our Airbnb host from the train to coordinate our arrival. Our hostel in Frankfurt was booked from the floor of the Milan train station at 2am, with my phone at 4% battery. When we arrived in Frankfurt, we used turn-by-turn directions in GPS to discover that our hastily booked hostel was indeed in the Red Light District. Wondering what to do on Bastille Day in Nice, we looked up the best places to watch fireworks. Afterward, we looked up the best bars to go to and ended up finding a great bar with live music. Most importantly, I coordinated my home insurance over text message and wired the down payment for a condo purchase using the Chase website from a train. All without wifi, using cell service on my US phone for free.
Why The Hard Things To Do Are The Right Things To Do
We’re obsessed with success stories. We love to read about the latest IPO or overnight success and dream about it. We say “why can’t that happen to me?” while we sit on our couch covered in Doritos Locos Taco crumbs, getting annoyed when Netflix asks “are you still there?” Of course I am Netflix, now get on with the next episode of Parks and Rec.
Between episodes we look at our Facebook or Instagram feed and see our friends climbing a mountain or sitting on a beach somewhere. “Don’t they ever work? They got really lucky to get the job they have.” The last trip we took was to Iowa last year for a friend’s wedding, which was also the last time we negotiated a 3% raise at work.
Why do we expect extraordinary results when we’re doing the same ordinary things as everyone else?
How to Get the VIP Treatment with Concierge Services
I walked out of a meeting at 11am and felt a buzz in my pocket. I checked my phone to find 16 text messages in a group text from old college roommates, peer pressuring each other into buying presale tickets to the Outside Lands music festival in August. I debated whether or not I wanted in for about four seconds, until I remembered this delicious beast from last year:
Yeah, that’s a cheeseburger with a glazed doughnut for each bun, with sweet potato tots. Worth it.
I rushed back to my desk. Uh oh, the presale had already been up for an hour. I frantically typed my password, logged on to buy tickets and was greeted with this gem:
Too late!
Damn! Of course, presale tickets sell out in a few minutes. I resigned myself that I had missed the window of opportunity due to a work meeting. I’d have to wait for normal sale tickets, but then they’d be even more expensive and be gone even faster. Then it hit me!
What a hostel hangover taught me about finding purpose
I sit, engulfed by a beanbag chair in the communal living room of a hostel in Krakow, surrounded by young people from around the world. Everybody has their story. Where they’re from, how they ended up here, where they’re going next. British voices across the room talk about taking their gap year, while German voices recount how they’re traveling after finishing university.
I’m engrossed, listening to somebody who grew up a half hour away from me talk about how she quit her job and decided to travel Europe for as long as she can. She’s 24, maybe 25, but she has been traveling for six months already.
“How did you do it?” I ask eagerly. “How did you save up enough to pay for six months of travel? Other people are out there trying to get jobs and you’ve already had yours, quit and backpacked around Europe.”
I lean in to make sure I don’t miss the secret. Her answer surprised me, and it went on to help me discover what career I’d make for myself.
[INFOGRAPHIC] Get free flights faster with the best airline programs and credit cards
“Frequent flyer programs take too long to earn free flights”
When I talk to friends about signing up for airline rewards programs and credit cards, the #1 concern I hear is “it takes too long to get enough points for free flights. It’s not worth it.” The funny part is that I completely agree – if it were up to me I’d get enough points every day and I could fly free whenever I want! I’d be on a plane to Buenos Aires right now. You can come too if you want.
Are you ready to earn quicker free flights? Read on.
Luckily there are people out there who will do all of the hard work for us and tell us exactly how to maximize our travel out of the goodness of their hearts. That’s what I’ve done with the Millennial’s Guide to World Travel. How to get travel for half the points? The best ways to rack up rewards points? It’s all in there.
The good news is that I’m not the only one with experiences and ideas, so here are a couple more to help you out!
How to Pick (and Manage) Credit Cards for the Best Travel Rewards - featured on Lifehacker: Two Cents
Photo Credit: 401kcalculator.org
Note: this article was featured on Lifehacker’s finance sub-blog Two Cents here!
Everybody loves to visit foreign countries and exotic lands, but it can be tough to save up for the travel that you’d like to do. Luckily, credit card miles are a great way to find your way to Europe for the trip you’ve always wanted.
Rewards credit cards aren’t for everybody. If you carry a balance on your credit cards, tend to overspend with credit or don’t have great credit history you may want to hold off on rewards for now. Instead, focus on breaking the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle and revisit this later. If you pay off your credit cards each month, have good credit history or get expenses reimbursed through work you might want to consider rewards cards.
This guide will help you choose the right cards, learn some strategies to earn extra points, and figure out how to best manage multiple credit cards responsibly.