for anyone thinking of traveling to London for a short trip or layover of a few days. Here are a few of my top places go and some tips for while you are in the UK capital. I recently had a few days layover here and was thinking about places and the areas of London I’d like to visit over two or three days.
Continue ReadingMt John summit walk
Last weekend I was looking for a day trip I could take and decided on driving into the interior of New Zealand’s South Island to see some scenery in the Mackenzie region. The walk to Mt John summit and observatory at Lake Tekapo was a good choice as it’s a couple of hours round trip including spending time at the summit once up there. I only had one day off but this was a good opportunity to explore a new part of this area of New Zealand.
Continue ReadingThe Fuji 27mm 2.8 lens for Travel
It’s a sought after lens for its optical quality, small size, and versatile focal length. I bought it to use as a travel lens. I wanted to make my XT1 smaller and lighter to carry around. It turns a Fuji camera from the XT line into a medium sized camera. It’s not as small as a compact camera like the Ricoh but It was a good comprise between smaller size and using something that I already owned.
Continue ReadingUsing an iPad instead of a laptop while traveling
I was recently deciding whether to buy a new laptop that I could take traveling with me. I’d owned my current one for about Ten years and needed an upgrade. Then I thought, why am I about to drop money on a new laptop? I use it on my desk at home and hardly ever take it anywhere. It was time to do something different.
Continue ReadingTomtoc Navigator Travel Backpack 40L Review
I recently bough the Tomtoc Navigator, sometimes referred to as the T-66 or travel backpack or travel laptop bag, or A82. Whatever it’s called where you live let me tell you why I bought it. The This 40L travel bag has all the features I wanted and as I already owned two other Tomtoc products, the Sling and the Tech bag, I figured the quality would be great and the price would be right too.
Continue ReadingOn the ordinary aspects of travel
A few weeks ago I took a short trip from Christchurch to Twizel. It was a last minute necessity to travel and I had the idea to book a ticket on the Intercity bus so could chill out and get into a ‘travel mode’ mindset amongst the European backpackers taking this route.
Fast forward two days to the morning of my trip, I was not in the mood. Christchurch was enduring a miserable winter morning and the thought of 4.5 hours on a bus was not appealing to me. However, subsequent events were going to make me fall in love again with the more ordinary aspects of travel.
Continue ReadingTomtoc Sling Bag EDC 4L
I really like my new Tomtoc travel sling. It’s made out of quality materials, is comfortable to wear, and can carry a good amount of stuff while still being light on your shoulders. Making it a great sling for travel and walking around all day.
Continue ReadingEagle Creek Cargo Hauler 40L
My Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler 40L duffel bag ticks many boxes for me as travel luggage. The organization, carry options, and size make it a great for my needs. Find out if it’s right for you in this product review.
Continue ReadingEight tips on moving to London
Before arriving in the UK you need to figure out what type of visa you will need. Sponsorship visas can be hard to get but if you’re from a Commonwealth Country and under 35/30, depending on your Nationality, you may be able to get a working holiday visa. Those with British Grandparent(s), Parent(s) might be eligible for an Ancestry visa or even Citizenship by descent. Well worth looking into if you have family in or from the UK.
Continue ReadingWhy I use Wise to manage money while traveling
Why should you use Wise to manage your foreign currency while traveling? Well, let me tell you why I do. I’ve been using Wise since 2016 when they were called TransferWise. Back then I was moving from New Zealand to the UK and needed an option to move my savings to a UK account after I arrived. I could have used a bank transfer and lost hundreds on the bad exchange rate the Banks offer, instead I used this new app I found called TransferWise, now known as just ‘Wise’.
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