The Canary Islands: What Every Island on Earth Should Look Like!

After a nice 4 months in south-east Asia where I had the chance to visit four countries while settling in their capitals to get some work done, it was time to hit the road again and like almost every year, I am back to Europe on time for Spring and the Summer Holiday! I’m pretty excited about many pans I have for the next months and since it’s still a little cold on the continent, I am starting my adventures in the Canary Islands off the coast of western Africa, more specifically on two of them: Tenerife and La Palma. I’ve visited many islands through my travels, actually I visited all of the islands countries of the world. Among them, many of the most popular islands still “under control” by European nations. I must say that contrary to what many people think, staying on an island is not always “paradise”. They look great on pictures, the palm trees, the golden beaches and the blue waters are […]

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4 Months in South-East Asia; The Most Comfortable Lifestyle in the World

I stopped counting how many times I went to South-East Asia ever since I first came, back in 2007. It’s been love at first sight, a tropical land full of culture and traditions, encrusted with a mix of people all so kind and respectful. There’s definitely something for everybody, from the partygoers to the virgin beaches seekers. I truly love south-east Asia and it has become one of my favorite place to hang out as a digital nomad, especially for the comfort it offers. After a rough ride throughout 2017 to countries in the middle east such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as my extended travels throughout 14 of the most notoriously dangerous countries of Africa (such as South Sudan, Somalia and the Congo DRC), it was a relief to finally arrive in that part of the world. I arrived just on time for December 2017 to attend some conferences I wanted to take part in Bangkok related to my work. Thailand is one of […]

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My Secret to Stay in Shape while Travelling Long-term? Eat Enough Protein

It’s not a secret that long-term traveling takes a toll on our bodies. People leaving on a 1-week holiday won’t see a big difference eating unhealthy for a week because it’s not enough time for the body to suffer from a radical change of eating out. But for long-term travelers, what I have observed for more than 10 years on the road is that women will gain weight, while men slightly lose weight. Girls have been complaining how unfair this is, but my reasoning about all this is pretty simple: The loss of weight in men is due to loss of muscle which causes a decrease in weight, compensating for the gain in weight caused by extra fats gained as much as women. Those who know me for long enough know that I have been health-minded all my life. And being on the road for more than 10 years has had me testing different diets and strategies to keep in the best shape as possible, all […]

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https://www.thedigitalglobetrotter.com/7-tricks-i-used-to-fly-cheaply-to-over-95-of-the-countries-of-the-world/

7 Tricks I Used to Fly Cheaply to every Country in the World

“Ian, which website do you use to book flights”? “How long before flying should I book to get the best deals”? “How do you find cheap deals on those expensive African of South Pacific flights”? “Is it worth making 1 or 2 extra stops in order to pay less”? Those are the questions I most often get from travelers to improve their search for improving their skills in the art of flight deals research. I keep on saying it over and over: It’s getting easier to travel. Flights are now going almost everywhere in the world and they are getting cheaper every year. Just ask Australians who, just a few years back, would need to throw away around 2000 USD just to get to North America or Europe! Now they can get away with 500-700$  per flights! And with all these cheap airlines flooding the market, it’s getting even trickier to choose the good one. With over 1000 flights done (I never counted, but it’s definitely […]

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My Russia Top 5 Lists Best Cities, best Nature, Best food, Best festivals

As usual with my country review series, I present my top 5 of different aspects of Russia. Its a great way to start planning your itinerary by seeing the highlights of my trips. Top 5 Favorite Cities 1. Novosibirsk 2. Krasnoyarsk 3. Sochi 4. Vladivostok 5. Moscow Top 5 Most Beautiful Cities 1. St-Petersburg 2. Vladivostok 3. Sochi 4. Moscow 5. Samara Top 5 Best Nature 1. Siberian Forest 2. Black Sea Coast from Krasnodar to Sochi 3. Baikal Lake and Baikal Natural Reserve 4. Altai Mountains 5. The Far East around Vladivostok Top 5 Food & Drinks 1. Borsch 2. Shashlik 3. Russian Dumplings 4. Russian Pancakes 5. Russian Salad Top 5 St-Petersburg Attractions 1. Hermitage Museum 2. Peterhof Palace 3. White Palace 4. Canals 5. Chuch of the Saviour Top 5 Moscow Attractions 1. Red Square 2. St-Basil Cathedral 3. Moscow Metro 4. Kremlin 5. Bolshoi Theatre Pin to Pinterest Enjoyed this guide? Help others find it too! Share the following Pinterest pin […]

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3 Best Russian Itineraries You Must Do On Your Next Trip

Following my series about Russia, I describe in this article the best itineraries to be done in this vast countries, from my own experience and personal researchers while on the field, and while talking with other travelers. Itinerary 1: Moscow and around Many people will only have a week to dedicate to visiting a country. And in a country as big as Russia, that means traveling very little distances. Limiting a visit that short will constrain to focus on Moscow and St-Petersburg. This is the itinerary that I have personally done in 2010, arriving by plane in Moscow and leaving the country on the western border into Estonia. Moscow deserves 2 to 3 days to visit all of its highlights, including the Kremlin, the Red Square, and the St-Basil Cathedral. Moscow Subway is also a must, and can easily be taken to go around the city. From there, you can decide to concentrate on the Golden Ring, ancient cities close to Moscow that can be […]

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The Trans-Siberian Train: The Ultimate Russian Challenge

My most recent interest since 2013 has been to dig into the cultures of the ex Soviet Union when I moved to Moldova and Ukraine for the summer 2013. Having more than 144 million native speakers, and the seventh most spoken language worldwide and especially in the 18 ex-soviet nations, I knew it would be a very useful tool for my adventures. It was especially interesting to me since I wanted to travel through the 5 Central Asian “Stan” countries, as well as in the Caucasus. So I went ahead and started learning Russian grammar and practiced through my travels and finally made it with at fluent conversational level in Russian by now. I have been back living in Ukraine for several months during the war of 2014 and after the war, back in 2016. My goal in learning the language was primarily to help communicate with locals to make my travels more interesting, as it is the intermediary languages in all 18th ex-soviet countries […]

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World Map of the Best Quality/Price Destinations, Through the Eyes of a Man Who Visited Them All

Using leverage for your dollar in choosing your next holiday destination is super important. People sometimes focus too much on the hype from what they heard of some places without comparing them to others. An example of this is the typical holiday in Maldives or Seychelles as a beach destination. Having visited both a few years ago, I liked the islands but it definitely isn’t’ better than Thailand or beaches around  Mexico and the Caribbean. Seems like all this publicity from Hollywood movies and advertisement in Forbes magazine worked out for them as people rank them as their “dream destination” while they can do a week to Punta Cana or the Riviera Maya for a fraction of the price. Same applies for Mountain destinations… why travel to the typical Swiss mountains or Western Canada, while you can get better quality mountains in Argentina and Chile for Cheaper and amazing ski! Or if you prefer hiking, why not choose to hike in the highest mountains in the world around […]

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Cities I’ve Been Map (188/195 Countries) – Update December 2017

Each year or so, I update my map with the app “Cities I’ve Been” app on Facebook, and have done so for the last 10 years. This was my way to track my way through the world when I was at the stage of going anywhere whenever I felt like it and wasn’t necessarily counting the countries I’ve been to. I’ve never really been a “Country Counter” until I was getting close to 150 and newspapers started asking for my current count, as well as I wanted to have a way to measure the distance I have traveled. As a world adventurer, my Travel Map is really what I am proud of, much more than my “countries Ive been” map. It is really not that really that hard anymore to travel the 196 countries as it once was with all the flights getting cheaper. There are more and more people reaching the count. There’s even an American girl who has done it in a year […]

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Visiting Angola – One of my Favorite Cities in Africa (my 188/195 country visited)

Angola was my last country of the 5 Portuguese colonies in Africa after Sao Tome and Principe, and I would have come much earlier if t wasn’t for the exhaustive visa procedures that are so hard that I had to wait to my 188th country to pay it a visit. Fortunately for my arrival, I had some contacts to receive me. Some Angolan friends from 5 years ago when I lived in Salvador de Bahía in Brazil. Young Angolan Capitan And what a reception! Thanks to my friend Karina (photo above) who warmly welcomed me with arms wide open, I had the opportunity to see Luanda as locals do it! With a carefully prepared plan she had prepared, Karina and I rumbled the capital from navigated to nearby islands, attending he nieces baptism as well as partying the night away in trendy Luanda Beach clubs to the music of local DJs! View of downtown from the Citadel Luanda was a surprise for me. Since the […]

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