Timișoara. It's like walking into a scene straight from Hollywood. I think I'm going crazy as thematic music plays each time I walk into one of the public squares. But as I look around, I see the men, dressed in their winter coats, playing the violin or strumming the guitar. They're playing only to a handful of people as it's winter and the tourist crowds have gone into hibernation. 

Roaming the city, I discover the pigeons that guard the landmarks of western Romania's economic and cultural capital. I devour gastronomic delights without losing an arm and a leg. And I witness the bubbling frustration of anti-corruption protesters as they rally in front of the National Opera.

With 10 days on the ground in southern Africa, we began our trip with a safari not in Chobe or Kruger, but in Zambia's South Luangwa. It's not the first place most people think of when they picture an African safari. Yet, it's home to a rich set of flora and fauna, and also the origin of the walking safari.

After a nine-hour bus ride from Lusaka to Chipata and another two hours from Chipata to Mfue, we arrived at Jackalberry Safaris on Sunday mid-morning, just barely escaping the oncoming heat of the afternoon. Our accommodations for the next three nights consisted of a tent, a communal bathroom area, and a poolside bar nestled alongside the winter Mfue River.

Continue reading...

I was reminded the other day that I can't leave Zambia without a final post. To follow up on my last entry, "Arbitrary Lessons I Learned on the Road," I'll keep this one focused on what I've learned from working and living in Zambia over the past couple months. Parts of this are in jest, others I'm quite serious about - which is which you can decide.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in Zambia and don't regret a moment of it. I've learned a lot. I've been smacked with humbleness. I've gain experiences that are borderline sketchy. And, most importantly, I've made friends who are just as sketchy and equally awesome. On with it...

Nothing is fast, just "less slow."

Order a coffee here at a "fast food" establishment and be ready to wait for at least 20-30 minutes. Go to the print shop and be prepared to hover around for 1-2 hours. So, throw out your schedule, sit back, and relax, because things aren't going to move any faster just because you're grumbling and mumbling.

Life doesn't give everyone lemons.

There's a huge wealth and income disparity between the developed nations and many African nations. But, even within Zambia, the disparity is just as discouraging. A traveler just passing by may notice the modern shopping malls built for the recent rise of the middle class, but that portion of the population is small. The rest are cramped inside self-confined areas called "compounds" - a euphemism for overcrowded shanty towns where living rooms are smaller than my former NYC apartment bathroom and kitchens consist of a hot plate next to the television. The borders of the compounds are generally lined by street shops selling furniture, clothing, and various other things, so for a foreigner driving by, everything seems peachy, but we all know what lurks inside. 

Sometimes, firing someone is the best thing you can do for that person.

It feels bad when you have to let someone go, but if by doing so you're helping them develop personally and professionally, then by all means do it, but do it with empathy and in a way that maintains their dignity. The sooner the better - for you, the company, and the individual.

Being Chinese is like being a celebrity - there's a love and hate relationship.

Like some other African countries, Zambia has a sizable Chinese population. However, Zambia is the first country where multiple people have asked if they could take pictures with me. Say cheeeeeeeese, or better yet, nshiiiiima.

There's a fine line between being aggressive and being an overused expletive.

Zambia is pretty laid-back (in all good sense of the word). Unlike other countries where sellers will nag you until your blood boils, most sellers here will mind their business and let you pass on by without much ado. The only exception is the inter-city bus terminal, where the call boys are as aggressive as aggressive gets. We've tried to instill a little bit of this within our staff, and to reinforce that there's a difference between being aggressive and being rude - the line is fine, but we are by no means near it.

Drawing from the likes of Journey's made up "South Detroit" in Don't Stop Believin' and Mampi's Walilowelela, as well as my own experience with consulting-speak, sometimes nonsense just makes sense. 

Does this make sense?

I like nshima.

See you later, Zambia.

Overdue haircut. Overdue shower. Overdue shave. Overdue laundered clothes. Backpackers don't always leave the best impression. Yet, they almost always leave people with a little bit of envy - traveling around the world, meeting new people, learning new cultures, trying new foods, living new experiences. Yes, traveling is about all of these things. But, for me, traveling has also taught me - or reminded me - of lessons that are just as applicable in my daily life as they are when I am on the road. Here are just a few.

Attitude matters.

You can't expect a happy ending or a pleasant journey if you start out behaving like a grumpy old (wo)man. Treat everything as an end in itself. Find love in whatever you are doing. If, instead, you find yourself grumbling about it and notice that your friends don't want to talk to you anymore, then it's time to switch to something new. When I started my Latin America trip, I was sitting on a bench in NYC waiting for the bus to JFK Airport. A subway train passed by overhead, shaking loose idle water and landing it on top of me and my backpack. As I was taking off my backpack to observe the damage, I cut my hand on the edge of one of the backpack straps. Sure it was not the best way to begin a trip, but at least my backpack was now properly christened and ready for two months on the road.

Take the plunge and don't doubt yourself.

Roads fork and so does life. When you have a decision to make, think through your options, pick one, and don't second guess yourself. If you're right, that's great. If you're wrong, find the lesson learned, and move on. Life happens now. I was on a bus heading back to San Salvador and missed my stop. I could have gotten off at the next stop, but decided to take it to the end of the line - what other way was there to get a tour of downtown? Turned out it wasn't one of my best ideas, but at least I got to see a side of the city that I would not have otherwise.

Best stories come from the worst experiences.

It's human nature to like hearing about other people's crappy experiences. Stories of great experiences generate jealousy. You know it. Don't deny it. I thoroughly enjoyed my trek to La Ciudad Perdida, but from my experience, people don't want to hear about the hundreds of stone structures discovered at The Lost City, a stone masonry city that's old enough to be Machu Picchu's great-great-great grandfather. Instead, what elicits the most emotions are the descriptions of the hot and humid Colombian jungle air that left me soaking in my own sweat, and the beds that had soaked in hundreds of other backpackers' own sweat. I can sense your disgust already. 

Nothing is ever final.

If I accepted the first price given to me each time I wanted a taxi or some other good/service, I'll be a backpacker living without the backpack. Negotiate for a higher salary. Bargain for a better deal. Compromise on who does laundry and who takes out the trash.

A smile goes a long way.

It puts people's guards down, even if inside you're secretly thinking about how you're going to manage to pay for the $30 meal you just ate with only $20 in your pocket. Besides, it also does a whole host of positive things for your body - reducing stress levels, lowering blood pressure, making you look younger and sexier without the other person first being inebriated. On my way back to the States from Peru, I missed my connection in El Salvador and had to spend the night there. The airline compensated each passenger with a $200 voucher, but a smile and an hola at the ticket counter got me an extra Benjamin.

Habit creates complacency, but also frees you to do other things.

I get bored easily. That's why you will never find me (when I'm traveling for leisure) in the same city for more than 3-4 days. Blink and I'll be on a bus heading somewhere. But, that doesn't mean I don't like a little bit of routine in my life, just not so much that it puts me in a rut too deep to crawl out. The more "non-essential" things you routinize, the more intellectual horsepower you'll have left for other things. Although I'm not technically in Zambia for leisure, my morning gym routine frees up a period of time when I don't have to worry about anything except to enjoy the peacefulness of the morning sunrise. Then the chaos ensues.

Being uncomfortable is okay, and exhilarating.

Singapore was the first international place I traveled to solo. I still get a little nervous every time I land in a foreign country, especially in the middle of the night. But, at the same time, it reminds me that there is still so much to explore and to learn. Being uncomfortable is a sign that you are living, growing, learning. The moment you feel too comfortable is really the moment you should be sweating your palms about.

You can't control everything.

A crazy bus driver, an out-of-control client, a GPS that takes you to a nuclear power plant when all you want to do is go to the mall. There are things in life that you can control, and things that you cannot. For the former, take charge. For the latter, there's MasterCard. No seriously, just be smart enough to know that it's the latter and stop stressing yourself over it. This includes natural disasters, other persons (e.g., your partner or the guy in the car in front of you who won't turn off his turn signal while driving on a single lane road). 

You don't know everything.

So don't assume anything. This applies to what you think you know about other religions, societies, or cultures just as much as it applies to the people in or out of your life. If you don't know something, go find out, even if it means putting yourself out on a limb. 

Crap will hit the fan. Learn your lesson. Laugh it off. Act now or move on.

Nothing ever happens as you think it will happen inside your self-confined imagination. Things will break down, people will behave unexpectedly, and that is okay, because that is life, not the end of it. Be grateful for the experience.

Material things get in the way of life.

Live uncluttered. If you have too much stuff, follow this chart. If you're considering making a purchase, refer back to the same chart and imagine what category that item will fall in within 6 months' time. A hike on a summer's day requires nothing but a good pair of shoes, a water bottle, and a shopping bag to carry out your garbage. As Trashy the Bear says, "Only you can prevent forest litter."

Cross-posted: Huffington Post | LinkedIn

In the blink of an eye a month has already passed by since I first step foot in Zambia. Time certainly waits for no one. It's been an adventure since day one, and I have no doubt the next month and a half will be equally exciting.

Last Thursday our team camped out at Zamchick, a Zambian based chicken fast food chain. With music blasting from a borrowed speaker, we set out to attract sellers to us. Up until then, our sales captains had primarily gone from seller to seller to give their pitches; but we wanted to do something on a larger scale. We even had our own (unsolicited) dancer in front of the store, swaying his hips every which way. Slowly, the sellers trickled into the restaurant. By the end of our seven-hour camp out, the team managed to acquire a number of sellers equal to how many we had acquired in the first two weeks of June!

Less than 12 hours later, I was on a flight to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, with a connecting flight to Zanzibar. I've never gone through a visa process as chaotic as that at the Dar airport. Rather than relive the experience in words, I'll just say if you go, be prepared to wait around for forty minutes. My flight wasn't scheduled to land early enough for me to catch the ferry to Zanzibar, so I booked a connecting flight over the 23 miles of ocean that separate Zanzibar from the eastern coast of Tanzania (little did I know, we would end up landing 40 minutes early).

Once touched down in Zanzibar, I found my pre-arranged taxi driver (as the public daladalas had stopped running by that time). It was an adrenaline-filled hour ride to the east coast of Zanzibar. The driver put the pedal to the metal as we swerved around the dark roads. With no streetlights, the roads were only visible as far as the headlights shone. Wondering how fast we were going, I glanced over at the speedometer and saw the needle frozen at zero.

With a dramatic history of spices and slaves, Zanzibar has become a destination for anyone looking for white sand beaches lapped by a turquoise ocean. My trip to Zanzibar was primarily for a little R&R at one of Pweza's bungalows, with lunch at the The Rock, a viewing at the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), and an excursion to one of the government-owned spice plantations on the outskirts of Stone Town.

The Rock, formerly a fisherman post, sits in the middle of the Indian Ocean about 50 meters from the Michanvi Pingwe beach. With a simple and unassuming interior, The Rock is a nice place to stop by for an afternoon coffee. But that's as much as I would recommend. The Rock's three menus are encased in what felt like five pound picture frames - perhaps this was an attempt to exude sophistication, but it came out more as obnoxious. The food was overpriced, came in small portions, and probably didn't taste any better than what I could have concocted myself. Hence, just go for the coffee - just remember to go during high tide. The high tide does what freshly precipitated snow does for the northeast US, it makes it look a lot prettier than it would otherwise appear.

After a two-hour ride in the daladala on Sunday morning, I ended up in the winding alleyways of Stone Town, one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. There, I managed to catch a documentary on the late Burundi prime minister, Prince Louis Rwagasore, at the ZIFF. With not much time to spare before my ferry back to Dar, I found a guide to take me to one of the spice plantations a few minutes' drive from the edges of Stone Town. As the guide took me through the spice farm, he plucked at the many plants, giving me a smell and taste of cloves, ginger, nutmeg, chilies, cinnamon, pepper, cumin, and a mixture of other spices. Afterwards, the only thing that stood between me and the ferry was a quick cup of coffee from Msumbi Coffee, a quaint little cafe with a knack for brewing single-origin Arabica coffee.

Then, it was back to hustling in Lusaka to meet with the national postal service, move to a new office, and get a long overdue haircut. We are also partnering with a local fashion blog tomorrow on organizing a Swap Shop, an event where folks can bring 5-10 items and, umm..., swap them for those of others.

What's in store for next week? Who knows - all I know is that the country manager is on vacation for two weeks, leaving me "in charge." That means Kaymu Zambia may not exist in two weeks' time!

Cross-posted: LinkedIn

See more pictures here: Facebook, Google +, 500px

Until next time!

My second full week in Zambia started out with a bang, or lack thereof. Like most things in Zambia, electricity is, on the most part, prepaid. You simply drop by Zesco, the state-owned power company, tell them how many kwacha of electricity you want, and they print you out a code to enter into your meter. What I didn't know was that my electricity would run out despite my meter displaying 11 remaining units on Monday morning. With the chill of old man winter settling in, I was glad that the meter at least had the courtesy of running out just as I got out of the (hot) shower and not beforehand.

The last two weeks have brought to light how - relatively - expensive it is to live in Lusaka. Everything from electricity to gas to food to printing soak up much more cash than I would had imagined. Of the 100 kwacha that I paid for electricity, about 34% of it went towards taxes. In July, electricity costs are being hiked up about 24% for residential homes and 14% for commercial buildings! The cost of printing - at roughly $1 per side - also makes it prohibitively expensive for most businesses to do any type of print marketing.

Trust (more so arm's length trust) is another interesting facet of life here. My encounters with people here have been largely positive, but it's impossible to not notice that the majority of homes are surrounded by 10-foot walls, on top of which are decorated by your choice of barbed wires, electric wires, and / or shards of broken glass. Even parking your car at the upscale malls comes with the risk of returning to discover that you're missing one or both of your mirrors. However, wrong doers commit their crimes at a major risk - and I don't mean prosecution by the official authorities. Vigilante (or mob) justice is not unheard of, with robbers, drivers who have accidentally hit pedestrians, and even adulterers being attacked prior to the arrival of the official authorities.

On the work front, the second week has been as equally as exciting as the first. I've spent the past week working with our delivery partner to fine-tune our order management processes, trying to mend our relationship with a sales partner, onboarding a new employee, and managing the team while the country manager is on vacation. We also managed to grab - at a huge discount - advertising space at two venues that'll be screening the World Cup for the next month! Sweet success.

On the fun side was the monthly Quiz night at an expat joint called "Chit Chat," where the nerdy MBA part of me was able to add value to a question about Jeff Bezos and another one about Dr. Sheldon Cooper. At the start of each month there's also a "Startup Hour" that brings together entrepreneurs from the area to network (I was hoping not to hear that word this summer!). Despite my general wariness of networking events, it was a rather interesting mix of people and, well, there was free food.

Oh, and there was also the gecko who took the liberty of sunbathing on his back in my living room. I promised to leave him in peace if he stayed out of my bedroom.

As I sit at a cafe in Lusaka, Zambia, I am writing this post with an Americano in the making and the sun showering me in warmth. But, it didn't start that way. I arrived in Lusaka not two weeks ago, but unfortunately, my checked luggage didn't. I know, I know, who checks their luggage? Anyway, besides that snafu, things have been going swell in Zambia.

A brief background on what I'm doing here: I'm working for an eBay-like startup that launched back in the March-April time frame. We're a small outfit, with one incredible country manager, a couple eager sales captains, and yours truly. Previous to this I was in consulting. The differences are endless, while the similarities are nearly non-existent.

Since day one I've been on a Zambian high. There is no typical day - every morning, afternoon, and evening is as different as it gets. The only commonality across the days is the morning sunrise I get the opportunity to witness as I walk a kilometer to the gym in near pitch black darkness. Oh yeah.

Since starting up my internship, I've gone into the field (the Kamwala and Comesa markets for those familiar with the area) with the sales team to better understand how the team functions, as well as how consumers are responding to our service. These field adventures surfaced a lot of interesting insights. I won't go into all of them, but will just emphasize one.

Similar to Mercado Libre in Latin America, we work in a region that lacks the physical delivery infrastructure that we take for granted elsewhere. But unlike Mercado Libre, Carousell in Asia, and eBay in North America, we are also trying to figure out how best to educate our sellers and buyers on not only our service, but also e-commerce in general. With internet penetration at roughly ~12% in Zambia, distrust of it is prevalent and misunderstandings of how it works are common. To add to that, computer-based connectivity is limited. These are just some of the many challenges - including order management, delivery logistics, buyer and seller acquisition, payment partnerships, etc. - that I'm working on over the next couple of months.

Anyway, enough with the work stuff. In general, life in Zambia has been wonderful. The people are incredibly friendly - much more so than in any other country I've visited. The transportation options are taxis or "buses," the equivalent of Latin America's "chicken buses." Except, instead of jamming passengers on a school bus, we're pumped inside caravans. Food options are a bit more limited than I'm used to, but I've finally settled into my place, so maybe some cooking is in order. Entertainment is certainly no San Francisco, Boston, or Philly, but sometimes you have to make your own fun. My first week in Lusaka included a night at an Italian joint by the name of Portico, fashion show at Sky Bar, wine and cheese at an expat's abode, overindulgence of oversized avocados, a farewell party to the old pub location of Bongwe Barn, an international food fair sponsored by the Diplomatic Spouses Association, and the Zambia (Golf) Open.

Until next time!

I’ve spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday reflecting on my first year at HBS. In that process, I wrote an email to a few close friends updating them on my time here. As I started to write this post, I realized that the content of that email fit exactly what I wanted to communicate. So, here it is:

I started HBS a...continue reading

Forget about sitting on a beach chair somewhere in the tropics. Bring out the adventurer in you and experience Latin America in a way that few other travelers do. Here are five ways to explore Latin America that will leave you wondering why you've waited so long.

Continue reading on Huffington Post...

In a couple of days I'll be kicking off 60-plus days of trekking through Central and South America. Unlike my trips through less tropical climates, I've placed more focus on decreasing the probability of coming back looking like a pin cushion for mosquitoes.

Aside from the uncomfortable itchy and scratchy feeling of mosquito bites, there's the important health component. With dengue fever, filariasis, malaria, eastern equine encephalitis, West Nile virus, mayaro virus, and other arthropod-borne illnesses endemic to certain regions of Central and South America, knowing the basic preventative measures can be a trip -- if not life -- saver...continue reading

Traveling abroad is all about experiencing new cultures and learning about the local customs, cuisines, peoples, landscapes, and flora and fauna.  However, for those who have done extended travels, you know that after having spent so much time in a world away from home, sometimes you just need a little bit of something to remind you of home.  For me, music is that "little bit of something."  It helps me relax after something stressful and re-energizes me for the next segment of my journey.  It also helps when I'm bored out of my mind - e.g., during my 12 hour train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai a few years ago.  Unfortunately, I was not very well prepared back then.

Here are a couple of the tunes I'm taking along with me this time around.  What's on your traveling playlist?

Bob Marley - Three Little Birds

This song is my natural sedative.  It's so much cheaper than Ambien.

One Republic - Good Life

"When you're happy like a fool / Let it take you over"

Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the Middle with You

We've all been there before - whether it's on a plane, train, or automobile.
"Clowns to the left of me, / Jokers to the right, here I am, / Stuck in the middle with you"

U2 - Beautiful Day

"See the world in green and See China right in front of you 

See the canyons broken by cloud 

See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out 

See the Bedouin fires at night 

See the oil fields at first light 

And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth 

After the flood all the colors came out"

Carlos Santana - Maria, Maria (among others)

Of course I can't go to LatAm without a bit of Carlos Santana in my back pocket.

The semi-full list in alphabetical order by song...

Read the shorten version of this article on Huffington Post. Continue reading below for the expanded version. 

This is part two of "How to Plan for Your Next Great Adventure."  Part one dealt with figuring out your itinerary and finding the right price.  In this follow up, we'll take a look at other things to consider (travel insurance and unexpected costs) as you prepare for your trip of a lifetime.

First, don't forget your travel insurance.  Depending on how you purchased your tickets, travel insurance may already be included.  If not, buy it.  Speaking from personal experience, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having travel insurance.  In the worst case scenario (death), travel insurance will save your family the financial burden related with bringing you back.  Even in less serious cases (e.g., minor sickness, trip cancellation, etc.) travel insurance will provide you with the peace of mind to enjoy your well earned vacation. Get started at insuremytrip.com.  Make sure to read your policy carefully and understand exactly what's covered and what's not, and what you have to do to make sure you get reimbursed.

Second, let's take a look at some of the unexpected costs you may encounter.  One major source of unexpected wallet drainage is travel visas.  Just because you have your flight tickets, that doesn't mean you're going anywhere.  Check out the State Department's website to find out whether you'll need a visa for the countries on your itinerary, how to get those visas if needed, and how much they cost.  Depending on the country, this process can be lengthy and can be one source of large unexpected costs.  For example, a Brazil tourist visa for an American citizen is $180.  If you do not want to or cannot go to the embassy to obtain the visa, you'll have to fork over another $50 servicing fee.  Even if you don't need a visa to visit a certain country, there may still be entry fees (which may only be applicable if you enter the country through certain modes of transportation).

On a similar note, just because you have a flight out of a country, it doesn't mean you're going anywhere.  Some countries have exit fees that are levied at the airport.  For example, there's a $28 departure tax for leaving Costa Rica.  In Colombia, there's a $38 exit tax, but that's only if you've stayed in the country for at least 60 days.  Some airlines add the entry and exit fees into the prices of their flights so it's something worth double checking.

Old man winter is slowly creeping back into his cave.  If you're starting to get the itch for summer travel, you're probably not alone.  However, depending on how adventurous your itinerary is, planning for a trip can be frustrating and a deal breaker for some folks.  Having completed a round-the-world trip across 3 continents, 8 countries, and 19 cities, and getting ready to hop around Latin America for a couple of months, I've learned a few "best practices" to make the planning phase smoother and less of a pull-your-hair-out experience.

Though geared towards travelers who are looking to do more than the traditional "fly to Europe and back" trips, this piece will be useful to anyone looking for ways to fine tune their planning skills. This is part one of a two-part article...continue reading

Flying somewhere this holiday break?  Anxiety over every little bump in the air?  The folks at Million Mile Secrets has written a nice piece on how to cope.  Check it out below (original source)

Note: Billion Mile Secrets is satire and you shouldn’t follow any of Points Envy’s suggestions, nor should you break the law. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.

Recent studies indicate that fear of flying is the world’s second-biggest cause of agony, coming in only after possession of obsolete technology. The distress is so substantial that its estimated economic impact is well over thirty billion dollars per year. While that impact is largely mitigated by the sale of anti-anxiety prescription drugs, fear of flying remains a significant issue, if only in terms of its psychological toll. Some readers have confided in us that they feel nothing can be done to hamper their dread, but we know from personal experience that this could not be further from the truth.

At Points Envy, we literally fly billions of miles every year, and we are often asked whether we have ever been fearful of flying. Publicly, we would never admit to being fearful of anything. But given that this is only the Internet, we are willing to admit that yes, on occasion we have been afraid to board an airplane.

Typically these occasions have involved inclement weather and/or psychedelic drugs, but we understand that some people fear flying for lesser reasons or no for reason at all.

Our most recent harrowing experience involved a complex situation in which, due to ridiculously rigid circumstances involving a viral outbreak, over three hundred feral animals, and around twelve ladies of the night, we were forced to book an economy ticket on a 45-minute intra-Asia flight. If you know anything about Points Envy, you can imagine the terror we experienced waiting for departure in the not-a-lounge area before this “flight.” Luckily, at the last minute we were able to bribe one or more of the premium cabin passengers to switch identities and boarding passes with us, allowing us to have a decent flight experience and leave the country without interference from the authorities.

While we managed to escape the worst, we still got a taste of the fear that some people regularly experience prior to boarding. To help those of you who might have such issues, we’ve compiled a list of strategies and suggestions that we feel will enable you to control your fears and/or distract yourself from the fact that you are barreling through the sky at perilous heights inside an imperfect machine weighing hundreds of tons and consisting of thousands of moving parts likely put together by someone from Washington state or France.

Here are just the tips you need to relax and make the most of your time in the friendly skies:

• Embrace your fear, and get excited about the flight! As you board, sing “Highway to the Danger Zone” as loudly as possible.
• Identify other passengers to dislike, and realize that if the plane goes down, at least they will die too.
• Start a blog! To see how great sky-born blogs can be, head over to pointsenvy.com.
• Walk around the business class cabin pitching business ideas to the passengers, then head back to first to find investors.
• Try anti-anxiety drugs, like heroin. They are surprisingly easy to score in airport terminals and lounges.
• Attempt to guide your plane to a fun new destination using only your cellphone to interfere with the navigation equipment.
• Remember that your carry-on bag functions as a parachute.
• Try to distract yourself with our #boredinfirst games.
• Draw buildings and trees on the window with a magic marker to make it feel more like you are still on the ground.
• Get really drunk.
• Take some time to remember all the bad things in your life and realize how it wouldn’t be so bad to go after all. Also keep in mind that there are much worse ways to die than a fiery plane crash, like being hanged, drawn and quartered or getting old.
• Ask the flight attendants or fellow passengers if they will cuddle with you; offer money if necessary.
• If your points balances permit, bring along a college physics professor to repeatedly tell you the “Why Airplanes Work” story.
• Last but not least, stop being such a wuss.

These methods are a surefire way to take your mind off of your fear of flying, and some of them are also quite effective for relieving your psyche of other burdens, like worrying about your job performance or your family. If for some reason they don’t work, you are probably too sober or are not following our advice correctly. Try them again on your next flight, especially the last one, and if you are still having a problem, then there is probably nothing that can be done for you.

Bon voyage!

It's been a few weeks since the idea of trotting around the globe first came to me. Now that it's only a few days until I begin my hop around the world, I wanted to share a few thoughts/tidbits to anyone who's thinking about their own round-the-world (RTW) trip.

1. It takes a lot more work and time than you think! 
2. Figure out where you want to go. A great way to start is to look at the airline alliances' websites as they have great planning tools to let you know which routes are feasible and which are not for a RTW ticket (to learn more about what RTW tickets are, check out this site). The alliances include oneworld, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam.
3. After you figured out where you want to go, contact a travel agent to confirm your routes or to get ideas on routes. I've found it to be enormously cheaper to buy from third-party travel agents and not from the airline alliances themselves. AirTreks and Air Brokers International are both good places to check out - although I've found AirTreks to be cheaper. AirTreks also includes travel insurance on all its tickets.
4. Just because you have flight tickets doesn't mean you're going anywhere. Check out the State Department's website to figure out whether you'll need a visa for the countries you're heading to, how to get the visas if needed, and how much (believe me, this can eat away at your time/money if you're not careful)!
5. Some folks may want to wait until they land at the airport to figure out where to stay and some may want to plan ahead. Even for the former, it's a good idea to virtually scout a few places ahead of time to get a sense of what's to be expected. TripAdvisor, Agoda, and Hostels.com are a few good places to start.
6. After you've landed, transportation is just as important. Depending on where you're going, taxis won't necessarily be around every corner. Seat61 is an invaluable resource for learning how to travel via train in many regions of the world - e.g., train schedules, how to bypass certain restrictions, etc. 
7. If you're surface traveling within the European Union, then it may be cost effective to purchase an Eurail ticket. Depending on the pass you select, it'll let you travel to basically any country within the EU without having to make a separate purchase each time - at the full price. Be forewarned, for some routes you'll still have to make an advanced reservation and hand over a small fee to do so. To see if the routes you're planning to take require a reservation, check out SCOTTY.
8. It's time for coffee, so to be continued...