Legal (but Shady) ATM Scam
Have you been a victim of the "accept conversion" scam becoming more common at ATM machines around the world? With language taken straight out of a shady online marketer's handbook, the prompt gives you two choices. Either accept the conversion rate they are offering or pick the negative-sounding "deny conversion" or "refuse conversion." You DO want the negative option though because that gives you the bank rate instead of one that typically puts 10% to 18% of your money in the bank's pocket by way of a sucker fee that is, unfortunately, perfectly legal since you willfully chose it.
It’s Not Difficult to Keep Your Clothes Clean…
I often feel like travelers are operating under outdated or just plain wrong assumptions when they pack for a trip of multiple weeks, a month, or a year. One of those assumptions is that there's not going to be a place to get laundry washed for a reasonable price. Light packers know there are always places to get clothes washed—besides the sink that is—and it's seldom cost-prohibitive. In many countries it's often one to three dollars a kilo to drop off laundry and on Airbnb there's a filtering choice for houses/apartments that have a washing machine.
Don’t Stop With an Airbnb Search
Another assumption, this time among nomads, is that apartment rentals through Airbnb are going to be a better deal than what you can get through a hotel agency site. I just found, once again, that it pays to shop around. The best full apartment with a sea view that I could find on Airbnb for a town in Albania in June was $57 per night and the past guests didn't exactly seem to love it. Instead I booked a larger apartment on Booking.com for $38 per night all-in with a large furnished balcony overlooking a beach. It has a second bedroom with a desk to work at and a washing machine (see above), with rave reviews from past guests.
Hands-free Camera Sling
I packed pretty well for this current months-long trip in Europe, but when I go on a hike I'm kicking myself for forgetting my camera sling strap. I carry a super-zoom camera to be able to frame better, get people shots without getting in someone’s face, and shoot wildlife photos. If you have one of those or a real DSLR, a sling strap is much more comfortable than a camera bag when hiking and you've always got it at the ready instead of having to pull it out of a bag every time. Mine was a gift so I can't remember the brand, but this one with Prime shipping is around $17 on Amazon and the competitors seem to top out at about $25.
* We're going to give away some cool books from our founders as part of our one-year anniversary coming up soon, in return for answering a few survey questions so we can get to know you better. Tune in next week!
UNCLASSIFIEDS:
How NASA crowdsources solutions to its problems. When it comes to solving complex problems, NASA follows the crowd. In a live interview with Plumia’s Lauren Razavi, NASA program manager Steve Rader explains the process of open innovation, and the four reasons people are so keen to get involved. Read the full story.
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