Jona | Backpacking with a Book
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June 22, 2016
When I’m traveling abroad, finding the cheapest flight deals can be an ordeal. Flights take the biggest cut in overall travel expenses. And for a budget traveler like me, I sometimes cringe for the money I spend on flights. Here are some personally tested flight deal hacks! Best Flight Deals | Sign Up for Airlines’ Membership Program and Newsletter Why are these two connected? Airlines provide 24-hour priority access to their members before making the promo fare accessible to the public. They send their members an email newsletter detailing the upcoming promo fares. Be ahead of the pack by taking […]
June 12, 2016
Dear Kai, Some weeks ago, you asked me about your Southeast Asian trip. Is a three-day trip too short for three countries: Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh) – Cambodia (Pomp Penh) – Thailand (Bangkok)? I said that you’re such an addict—an expression I used when I did not know exactly what to say. I threw the question right back at you: isn’t three days too short for three countries? But come to think of it, why not? T and I crossed three countries within 24 hours. T had to fly back to Germany from Bangkok while I had a flight to […]
June 10, 2016
Otherwise Known as Personally Tested Tips on Doing Your Own Laundry while Traveling One lesson you would learn from backpacking, according to an article I have read online (written by a western female backpacker, if that matters), is that undies could go for two days straight. The reason? Because of the absence of laundromat around. Wow. #Whiteprivilege #Firstworldproblem Suddenly, I felt very lucky to grow up in a household that taught me, my sisters, and brothers to handwash our own undies and eventually our own clothes at the age of 10. I could not speak for other Asian travelers, but we […]
May 31, 2016
Dear Fellow Travel Bloggers, In my list of daily chores to do, one task remained unfinished for the past four months: it says, “Japan, at least 1000 words, for god’s sake, Jona.” I am referring to my sponsored week-long trip to Onomichi City, Hiroshima, Japan last November. I have written about it twice already: one for BWAB and another one for my travel column Down South on TV5’s interaksyon.com. These two articles are long, about 1500-2000 in words. But can they be considered a travel essay? Hell, no. They are informative, with several, and I would say lousy, attempts on […]