Posted: 04/07/2020 | April 7th, 2020

At a time when we can’t travel the world, the next best thing we can do is pick up a good travel book. As Emily Dickenson said, to shut our eyes is travel. Books transport us to distant lands and cultures. They nourish our wanderlust, entertain us, inform us, and provide us with a reservoir of potential trip ideas.

In short, they’re magic.

I love reading travel books. Without them, there would be places and cultures I’d never have heard of. Travel books have added depth to my travels and helped me develop much more nuanced perspectives of different countries and cultures.
They’ve also inspired me to visit tons of new places all around the globe.

Of course, I love traveling even more than reading but since we can’t do that right now, books are our window out into the world.

If you’re are itching to get your fix but are stuck in lockdown or self-isolation, here are some suggestions to get you started and keep your wanderlust stoked:
 

1. The Atlas of Happiness: The Global Secrets of How to Be Happy, by Helen Russell

Helen Russell, author of one of my favorite books, The Year of Living Danishly, wrote this comical visual guide that takes readers around the world — from Iceland to New Zealand to Japan to Ireland — in search of the ways that people define and discover happiness in their lives. It’s an informative, well-researched, and a feel-good guide to how the world stays happy — which is especailly important these days!
 

2. Ultimate Journeys for Two: Extraordinary Destinations on Every Continent, by Anne and Mike Howard

Having founded Honeytrek.com, Anne and Mike teamed up with National Geographic to curate these recommendations for intrepid couples. Chapters are organized by type of destination (beaches, mountains, deserts, and so on) to help travelers discover new places and experiences based on their interests.

It’s an amazing resource for finding inspiration and ideas for your own travels (even if you’re a solo traveler). The photos that fill its pages are stunning and will ignite the kind of wanderlust that will keep this on your coffee table for years.
 

3. The Dogs of ’Nam: Stories from the Road and Lessons Learned Abroad, by Christopher K. Oldfield

In this collection of short stories, our extremely budget-conscious Community Manager, Chris, recounts fumbling his way across the world as a backpacker on a budget. This is not a glamorous tale of luxury travel but rather a true and honest accounting of what it means to be a traveler.

His adventures (including being stalked by a jaguar in Costa Rica and living at a Buddhist monastery in Japan) will entertain you, make you think, and hopefully inspire you to get out there and have some adventures of your own!
 

4. Four Corners: A Journey into the Heart of Papua New Guinea, by Kira Salak

The British explorer Ivan Champion was the first individual to successfully cross the island of Papua New Guinea in 1927. In this book, author Kira Salak, the first non–Papua New Guinean woman to traverse this relatively untouched country and write about it, details her own epic adventures, experiences, and self-discoveries as she tries to mimic Champion’s epic journey.

It’s a riveting look into the wild jungles of a country that so few have been able to visit firsthand.
 

5. Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana, by Stephanie Elizondo Griest

This is the story of a young journalist who travels to Russia, China, and Cuba to witness the effects of communism and explore a world not many of us get to see.

Griest relates her experiences as a volunteer at a children’s shelter in Moscow, a propaganda polisher at the office of the Communist Party’s English-language mouthpiece in Beijing, and a belly dancer among the rumba queens of Havana.
 

6. Rediscovering Travel: A Guide for the Globally Curious, by Seth Kugel

In his book, Kugel challenges travelers to reignite our age-old sense of spontaneity (remember traveling without constantly summoning Google Maps, consulting TripAdvisor, and using travel points?).

The stories of his misadventures explain — often hilariously — how to make the most of new digital tools without living and dying by them.
 
 

7. My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile, by Isabel Allende

Allende is best known for some of her more famous works, such as The House of Spirits and The Japanese Lover. But in this memoir, she explores her personal journey living in numerous countries and her complex emotions toward her Chilean homeland.

The book paints a vivid, nostalgic picture of the world from which is is from. Sometimes funny, sometimes sorrowful, its insight and realism are what make this a captivating read.
 

8. Misadventure Is Better, by David Campbell

“If it isn’t a good time, it’s usually a good story.” That’s the backbone of this hilarious tale. Campbell, born to an American father and French mother, has been confused about where he belongs since day one.

After graduating from college, he decided to go abroad for a while to figure things out. He worked as a cycling tour guide in Europe, enrolled in the Peace Corps in Senegal, earned a master’s degree in New Zealand, went back to Senegal for his thesis research, and then returned to New Zealand.
 

9. Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents, by Elisabeth Eaves

Written by Elisabeth Eaves, this book follows her journeys around the world as she satiates her wanderlust and learns about herself. It started off slow but I really loved the writing here. It really drew you in and left you inspired. The book follows her from being a student studying a broad to being a backpacker around the world to living in Pakistan and Australia. Along the way she comes to peace with the wanderlust inside her and figures out how to balance being a nomad and someone with roots.
 

10. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, by Jack Weatherford

I never knew much about Genghis Kahn so when this was recommended to me, I thought why not. It was a surprisingly pageturner. This was not some dry history book filled with footnotes but a vividly told story about Kahn and his descendants. Most history books miss the “story” part but not this one. It has an arch, vivid imagery, and incredible characters. And it fills you in a lot on the Mongolian empire. Who knew they had a central bank, universal education, paper money, didn’t torture, or had religious freedom?
 

11. Ten Years a Nomad: A Traveler’s Journey Home, by me!

This is a memoir about my ten years traveling and backpacking the world, my philosophy on travel, and the lessons I learned that can help you travel better. It takes you on a trip around the world from start to finish: getting the travel bug, planning, setting off, the highs and lows, the friends made, what happens when you come back — and the lessons and advice that result from all that.

It is my opus on travel.
 

12. How to Travel the World on $50 a Day, by me!

Okay, I know I include this book in every list, but it’s awesome, so you should read it! This New York Times best-seller, called “the bible for budget travelers” by the BBC, will teach how to master the art of travel so you can save money, get off the beaten path, and have a more local, richer travel experience, no matter where you’re going. It will help you plan for the trip you can take when the world starts again and we can all leave our house.

And it will help you score the budget deals that will make that trip even more affordable too!

***

In these times when we can’t travel with our bodies, we can still travel with our minds. These books will help fill your days and recharge your wanderlust battery for when you can finally traverse the world again.

If you have any suggestions that I can add to this list, leave them in the comments!

P.S. – We’ve launched a new members-only community on Patreon! Members get insider access to events, photos and stories I’ve told before, exclusive content, bonus social media posts, phone calls with me and the team, live Q&As, postcards, and much more! Click here to learn more!

The post 12 Books to Take You Around the World appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

I hope you all are doing well this week, as well as can be expected for all of us. It’s a hard time we are going through and I pray for an end sooner rather than later. Getting back to normal will be a good thing for all of us. 

Today I’m sharing more inspiration from my friends for spring and summer inspiration. At least the weather is mostly good right now and we can get outside more. Mark and I are starting to work on our under deck screened porch wall this month so hope to make progress on that. Enjoy! 

The post Style Showcase 24 appeared first on Southern Hospitality.

After eight endurance cases were heard by the FEI Tribunal during the past month, H&H finds out how the FEI’s risk-based strategic approach to dope-testing is paying off…

An increase in dope testing is on the cards for “high-risk” countries, the FEI has confirmed. The body has been increasing testing over the past four years and plans to expand this further.

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I’m going to be sharing more up close details of the bathroom and today, it’s the free standing tub and the faucets I chose. I’m happy to be partnering with Signature Hardware for all of these products and we couldn’t be happier with how they look and function. I’m so happy that they wanted to work with me on this master bathroom project. It was a BIG project, the biggest project I’ve ever planned and overseen, so it’s so  nice to have it all finished and we are so enjoying it all now. I’ve never had a free standing tub, so it was fun to choose one as well as the faucets for our space.

The post Our New Free Standing Tub and Faucets appeared first on Southern Hospitality.

Hi, friends! Another week has passed during this pandemic and I hope you all are safe and sound in your homes. We have stayed in most of the time and have done grocery delivery a couple of times, only going in the grocery stores when we need to. It’s going to be a long month, so I hope these posts help you to find inspiration in your homes as we are going to be inside for so long. At least spring is a good time to be home. Spring is definitely here in Georgia and we are enjoying lots of outdoor days, taking bike rides and enjoying the fresh air and new leaves on the trees. We are about to start that wall in our underdeck space and hope to get that done this month, so that’s going to keep us busy this month. Another project to check off the list.

My parents are doing fine. We aren’t doing our normal lunches with them right now, we figure it’s best to stay away and not take a chance. We are doing grocery pick up for mom and getting them what they need as well. 

Enjoy these fun posts from my friends! 

The post Home Style Saturday 185 appeared first on Southern Hospitality.

Enjoy some of our favourite updates from equestrian social media channels during the past week. From a musical Shire to a possibly psychic toddler, it all happened on social media this week.

Don’t miss the exciting competition on this weekly page. Our favourite tweet each week will win either an Apatchy mini tablet case or an Apatchy cosmetic bag, personalised with your own initials. For more information about the competition and to find out who this week’s winner is, go to the bottom of this page.

Equestrian social media posts of the week

Joseph and Donnacha O’Brien aren’t competitive at all…

Would would you score?

Sarah Flick Sanderson

No Description

What a sewuence!

Yeehaa

We know we should’t laugh, but here’s a toddler riding a sheep dog under the watchful eye of National Hunt trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies

These are some very impressive baking skills

This horse has got the right idea

This is almost enough to make us cry, but hopefully we’ll see him back at Aintree next year

Impressive scope

Did Otis Price, son of five-star eventers Tim and Jonelle, know something we didn’t a few weeks ago?

Klassical Dream shows off his scope back in November

And congratulations to this week’s Social Media Post of the Week winner

Well this is one talented Shire

If you like this, why not follow @horseandhound on twitter today?

Tweet of the week competition

If you are the winner of the Horse & Hound tweet of the week competition, contact us to let us know if you would prefer to receive an Apatchy mini tablet case (pictured below left) or an Apatchy cosmetic bag (pictured below right), personalised with your initials.

Apatchy are designers and makers of bespoke lifestyle gifts. Their ranges include wash, cosmetic, travel and sports bags, which can be instantly personalised or customised without the need for sewing, gluing or ironing. To find out more about Apatchy’s unique personalised products and their wonderful gift wrapping service, visit www.apatchy.co.uk

Would you like to read Horse & Hound’s independent journalism without any adverts? Join Horse & Hound Plus today and you can read all articles on HorseandHound.co.uk completely ad-free.

I’m sharing a previous Feature Friday today, a fun event I took part in several years ago in Mobile, AL, the Southern Romance house. Enjoy it all over again, it’s a beautifully restored house! 

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Today’s Feature Friday is really special. I shared the porch of this magnificent home yesterday, but the final reveal of the interior of this home is another big part of the Southern Romance story. Esther, the CEO of Phantom Screens, bought this house from the Ford family and after an 18 month journey of renovation, the house is finished. We were all wondering what she was going to do with the house and the last video of the series on videos, it was shared that she is keeping her beautiful home. I can’t blame her a bit! After working on a house like this for so many months and pouring her heart and soul into it, I’m so glad she is keeping it in her family and she will vacation in Mobile from Canada for years to come.

If you get the chance, you will LOVE watching all the videos of the progress of this house renovation. They did a fantastic job sharing and capturing it all.

The post Feature Friday: The Morgan-Ford House Mobile AL appeared first on Southern Hospitality.

The Lycett’s Festival of Hunting in July has been cancelled owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

The event, which incorporates the Peterborough Hound Show, attracts thousands of visitors and was due to be held on 22 July at the East of England Showground.

“Although this is an important day in the calendar for hunts and thousands of hunt supporters, as well as the Countryside Alliance (CA), the hunting community is united with the rest of the population in respecting the government’s wishes, to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives, so realises that has to take priority,” said the CA’s head of hunting, Polly Portwin.

“These are clearly disappointing times for the organisers and the trade stand holders as well as those who were due to show their hounds, but we look forward to enjoying all of these events again in the future once the pandemic is under control.

“Those involved in hunting are, however, showing typical resilience in these difficult times by embracing the community spirit and turning their attention to helping out in their own local communities by supporting local businesses, helping farmers and offering assistance to those who are vulnerable or self-isolating.”

Article continues below…

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Alison Queenborough, secretary of the Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show Society, said the group is advising its members, sponsors, trade stand exhibitors, advertisers and contractors, thanking everyone who supports the annual event.

“Since 1878, the Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show has been cherished as the annual showcase for the world of hunting and has only ever stopped during wartime,” she said.

“This time it’s a global pandemic which is placing huge demands on our public health service.

“While ‘Peterborough’ exemplifies the history and tradition of hounds, celebrates rural life and is a great social gathering, we do not wish to place unnecessary burden on our public services which must be focused on the nation’s health and well-being.”

Other major hound shows that have also cancelled this year include the South of England Show (11 to 13 June) and the Great Yorkshire Show (14 to16 July).

Posted: 4/2/2020 | April 2nd, 2020

Travel hacking is one of the best ways to lower your travel costs. Flights, accommodation represent two of the biggest expenses travelers face so getting those to zero allows you to travel more for less. When money isn’t a worry, the world is your oyster.

While I have tons of travel hacking resources on this website for U.S. travelers, I get a lot of questions from Canadians about whether they can take advantage of travel hacking too. And the answer is always yes!

While the U.S. has the most deals and opportunities, Canada isn’t too far behind and is the second biggest points market in the world.

To help you understand the Canadian travel hacking world, I reached out to my friend and fellow travel blogger Ricky Zhang from Prince of Travel. In this interview, he shares his tips and tricks.

Nomadic Matt: Hey Ricky! Thanks for doing this! To begin, tell us about yourself.
Ricky: I’m based out of Montreal and Toronto, and I’ve always loved to travel and get the best bang for my buck when doing so. For the past few years, I’ve run the Prince of Travel website, which is dedicated to helping my fellow Canadians maximize their frequent flyer miles and credit card points to travel the world at a fraction of the price.

How did you get into travel hacking?
I first became interested in points and loyalty programs back in 2013. As a university student in Canada, I was making frequent trips back home to China to visit my family and I was trying to figure out how I could get airport lounge access.

It turns out that there was a little-known opportunity to earn top-tier Star Alliance Gold status very easily with the loyalty program of Aegean Airlines, the Greek national airline. I figured out that I could simply credit the miles from one or two of my round-trip flights to Aegean and I’d end up with Star Alliance Gold, which would get me the lounge access I wanted.

That led me to the online blogs and forums, where I quickly learned that credit card points — and specifically the signup bonuses — was the key to racking up the points and funding many trips around the world (often in business class or First Class) at a fraction of the price.

From there, I was hooked and I’ve just continued honing my craft over the years!

The U.S. is known for its awesome travel credit cards. How does Canada compare?
Many outside observers would probably guess that the Canadian travel credit card market is less lucrative than the US and, while that’s true in some ways, there are also ways in which Canada is the more favorable place to be.

The US has a wider range of travel credit cards, provides access to a greater number of airline and hotel programs, and also gives consumers larger quantities of signup bonuses (for example, 100,000-point bonuses are a regular occurrence whereas, in Canada, the single-highest signup bonus is 75,000 points).

However, the US credit card issuers are also stricter about limiting the number of signup bonuses that a single individual can obtain (or imposing limits on how often you can obtain them), whereas the Canadian issuers haven’t imposed such limits, making Canada much more favorable in terms of earning the signup bonuses repeatedly.

Almost all the cards in Canada let you double- or triple-dip on the bonus (although the terms and conditions may not always say so). It’s easy for issuers to update their terms and conditions to say that you’re only eligible for a once-in-a-lifetime bonus, but much more challenging for them to actually enforce that from an IT perspective.

In addition, there are ways for Canadians to apply for US credit cards as well, thus letting us play the game on both sides of the border!

Really? How can Canadians get a U.S. travel credit card?
Well, to do that, you need three things:

• A US address
• A US bank account
• A social security number (or something equivalent)

The address is easy. Just use a friend or family member’s address, or a mail-forwarding service. The bank account is also easy. Just use the cross-border banking service of your favorite Canadian bank to set up a US domiciled bank account with your US address listed on it.

The social security number part is tricky. You can’t just get one unless you actually study or work in the US. Instead, you can get an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), which is an equivalent number that many issuers also accept in place of an SSN.

Any foreign resident can get apply for an ITIN from the IRS if they show that they’ve earned income in the US (for example, if you’ve earned $5 gambling in Vegas) but need to be exempt from withholding taxes on that income as a foreign resident. Once you have your ITIN, you can use that in place of the SSN on US credit card applications – and voilà!

What are some of the best credit cards in Canada right now?
The single-highest signup bonus one can obtain in Canada is the American Express Business Platinum Card, which gives you 75,000 Membership Rewards points upon spending $7,000 (CAD) in the first three months.

This card is also very valuable for its referral bonus of 25,000 Membership Rewards points, which you earn simply for referring a friend or family member to a card of their own, and can add up very quickly after just a handful of referrals. Then you’ve also got the unlimited Priority Pass lounge access and the Marriott Gold Elite status perks as well.

However, the Business Platinum does come with an annual fee of $499. For those who are more interested in First Year Free offers to minimize their out-of-pocket cost, I’d recommend the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite, which is offering 30,000 Aeroplan miles + First Year Free.

Moreover, RBC Avion points can be very valuable due to how flexible they are, so in that regard the RBC Visa Infinite Avion is another great card to pick up, offering 15,000 Avion points at signup.

In most cases, you don’t need to be a small business owner in the traditional sense to get a business card. Instead, you apply as a “sole proprietor”, which is a form of doing business in which you operate under your own name. Just enter your own name as the business name and apply, and most issuers are happy with it.

And what about debit cards? When it comes to avoiding ATM fees abroad?
The frontrunner in this regard is the Stack Prepaid MasterCard, which does not impose any foreign transaction fees on foreign ATM withdrawals. Stack is free to apply for and to load funds, and only charges you the fair currency exchange rate when you withdraw money at a foreign ATM (although the local ATM fee may still be charged). It’s my go-to method for withdrawing cash while I’m traveling.

Are there any ways to manufacture spending in Canada to earn more points?
At any given moment, there are always a handful of manufactured spending methods floating around in Canada, although they tend not to be discussed publicly out of a fear that they might end if they were too widely circulated.

The best way to learn about manufactured spending methods would be to attend in-person events with fellow Miles & Points enthusiasts. I host one or two of these events every year and there are always other informal meets going on in every Canadian city as well.

What tips do you have for new travel hackers in Canada?
There’s always a ton of reading and scouring online blogs and forums at the start of the learning curve, but the best way to actually get started would be to think about one or two places you’d like to go over the next year (which places, what time of year, how many passengers, what class of service, etc.), then research specifically the best ways to make that trip happen using points, and then put together a strategy for earning those points using credit card signup bonuses.

Having this strategy in place will allow you to learn the ropes and reap rewards much faster than if you simply opened credit cards left, right, and center without a clear goal in mind.

Besides that, try to make it out to an in-person event or meetup at some point so that you can get to know other members of the community — that’ll accelerate your learning process by leaps and bounds. You can learn about them from some of the following groups/websites:

• Prince of Travel Elites
• PointsNerd.ca
• FlyerTalk
• RedFlagDeals
• Churning Canada (Reddit)

I try to host in-person events for Prince of Travel readers about twice a year, and I’m also looking to host a larger-scale PointsCon event sometime later this year, so stay tuned for details on that one.

Otherwise, the Prince of Travel Elites community regularly hosts small informal gatherings, which are known as “Miles & Pints”, in cities all across Canada, so make sure to join the group and keep an eye out for the next event in your area!

Where can people find you online/on social media to learn more?
I can be found sharing Miles & Points knowledge, industry news and analysis, travel tips, and reviews from my own trips every day at princeoftravel.com and sharing weekly videos on my YouTube channel. Also follow me on Instagram, where I post the highlights from my travels, and get to know the rest of the community on my Prince of Travel Elites group on Facebook!

The post How to Be a Travel Hacker in Canada appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

Happy April Fools Day! I wish all of this was just a joke that is happening in our world right now, but we are living in unprecedented times. Regardless April is here and we must enjoy our Spring, so Happy Spring to you all! 

Keeping up with fashion during this time is going to be a little challenging, since I’m not really getting dressed and going anywhere right now. I have a couple of outfits to share today along with a pair of new white jeans I just ordered and got in from Banana Republic. White jeans are always a great choice for spring so here are a couple of ways I will wear these jeans when we can go out again. 

Going forward for the next few weeks, I will probably share some sale clothing that I see and like online and put some outfits together that way since my closet doesn’t have new things constantly. I know there will be some new spring things out there and I’ll look for eye catching things that you all might like too. 

The post Fashion over 50: White Jeans Again appeared first on Southern Hospitality.