How to create a pre-travel checklist of important tasks
Updated August 14, 2024 If travel is in your future, knowing how to create a pre-travel checklist will help make your preparation less stressful and more enjoyable. A pre-travel checklist sets up a framework for listing all the important and mundane tasks that need to...
Top 20 tips on how to prepare for airport security
Updated July 28, 2024 Are your trips through airport security angst-free and uneventful? Do you factor screening into your packing regimen? If the answer is “yes” to both of these questions, it sounds like you know how to navigate airport security like a pro. If...
Find a travel companion from your past
Updated April 7, 2024 Recurring themes in travel groups are the inability to find a travel companion and reluctance to travel alone. Finding a 'stranger buddy' online is always a risk, and being paired with another traveller by a tour company doesn't always have a...
Travel in the 1970s: What’s better? Then or now?
Updated May 1, 2023 During the pandemic when travel as we knew it felt like a remnant of the past, I found myself reflecting on my early international travel experiences. Musing involved three questions. What was it like to travel in the 1970s? What's better? Then or...
How to apply for a NEXUS card
Updated March 30, 2022 Think of a NEXUS card as a traveller's speed pass. Answer a few questions at a kiosk when crossing the border. Whizz through airport screening using the fast lane. Join the NEXUS lane at land crossings and cross the border faster. It's a...
A comprehensive travel partner compatibility questionnaire
Selecting a compatible travel partner is serious business. It’s not enough that you're best friends or members of the same family. Or that you both enjoy travel, want to visit the same place, and need a travelling companion to cut costs. A travel partner compatibility...
3 Easy steps to choosing a compatible travel partner
Updated January 31, 2022 Anyone who has travelled with others knows that choosing a compatible travelling companion is one of the most important decisions of a trip. The right person can enrich a travel experience; the wrong person can turn a trip into a...
Is a NEXUS card worth it?
Updated September 4, 2021 I’m sitting at the gate at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) pondering the question, Is the NEXUS card worth it? With my boarding pass, passport, and NEXUS card in hand, I'm waiting for my flight to Halifax via Boston. I can’t help...
Ethical animal tourism and our responsibilities as travellers
Updated March 17, 2021 Occasionally in my travels, I’m forced to confront my attitudes towards animal welfare and tourism. Before a trip to Morocco, it had been relatively easy. I steered clear of zoos and avoided riding or handling any animal I perceived to be...
Plane and simple: how to find good airline seats
Updated April 18, 2018 Accept seating assigned by the airline, and you'll soon figure out how to find good airline seats. At least that's been my experience. There have been a few occasions when I haven’t checked which seats I’ve been allocated and have paid...
The book that changed my life
Scouring book lists of stories set in various countries will invariably uncover examples of travel that has inspired books, and books that have inspired travel. In my case, doing so reminded me of the book that changed my life. Setting the scene I’ll try not to be too...
Lost and found recovery services for travellers
Updated December 20, 2016 Anyone who travels is aware of the huge number of bags that go missing each year. In addition, consider the amount of stuff that’s left behind at security checkpoints, in hotels, planes, taxis, restaurants and anywhere else people...
