Pedro Ivens

What is the best bag I can pick for travel? In terms of space efficiency and luggage maximization, duffel bags are almost perfect, and that is the reason why I just bought one.  I bought a new travel bag! I've discussed in this blog ( HERE ) that I like to travel with 16 liter Fjalraven kanken backpack or a 20 liter backpack. However, I decided to go for a duffel bag that is Ryanair approved. Ryanair official under the seat measures are 40x25x20 (centimeters). Why I have always preferred to travel with a backpack? Because it is very comfortable to carry around since it distributes weight evenly across your shoulders. Walking around with a backpack makes it very easy to go in and out of public transportation. Why I bought a duffel bag for travel? I will be traveling with the low cost carrier Ryanair, and so to avoid paying extra fees and having my bags sent to the cargo hold (something I have discussed HERE , I prefer not to do), I opted for their cheapest fare, which means I can o...

How to pack socks to save space?  Bundling 3 pairs of socks and rolling them together is, in my opinion, an excellent solution to save space while packing. Pack efficiently is all about getting the most out of your bag and either put more things inside it, or making it more organized. I like to roll all my clothes and pack them inside my bag.  When I roll the clothes, each garment has it's own volume, which ends up taking space inside the bag. However, in the case of socks, I believe there is an another method that is more extreme, but can save a ton of space if done right.  This method is putting 3 pairs of socks together and rolling them, creating one roll.  With practice, I believe this is an excellent technique to reduce the size of our bag. Please take a look to my post on  How to travel only with a small 10 liter backpack . What are the benefits of bundling and rolling socks? Bundling pieces together in one roll really maximizes space, because each roll ta...

Is it difficult to find a free toilet in Budapest?  There aren't many free toilets in the streets. I mostly opted to go to cafes and restaurants when it was time to eat. Where can you find toilets in Budapest? In my experience, in central Budapest, it is difficult to find free toilets in the streets. There is no shortage of toilets, they're just either paid or inside cafes and restaurants. In my view, the best option if you're walking around town is just, every once in a while, go and try something in a cafe, or have a meal in a restaurant. These places have free toilets and you can use them, but they obviously they expect you to spend some money. In my case, I used a strategy I had already described here . What I did was book a hotel in the center of the city and returned to the hotel if I was close by, and use the toilet in my room. Using your hotel room as basis for toilet usage is an excellent strategy if your hotel is located near the places you are visiting. If not, j...

I do not have data to back up what I'm going to say, but I do believe that investing in the stock market may be a good way to generate good returns that ultimately can help us pay for our travels. I just read the book " Rich dad poor dad " and the author confirms the belief I had that it is important to acquire assets during our life that generate returns. This got me wondering: would this be a good way to fund travel costs? I believe it may well be. Investing in the stock market may, in the long run, generate returns in 2 ways:   1) some companies pay dividends which basically give you a portion of the money the company generate in the year,  2) if the company does well, the stock prices can increase, thus increase the value of your assets. Of course there is a lot of risk involved, but in the long run, maybe buying stocks from companies that pay dividends could pay for a portion of a trip (and pay for other things, obviously). Because of this, I decided to start my jo...

Is it always worth booking trips by myself or should I book through travel agency? It depends. What has worked best for me is: if I want to go to a beach resort, I just book it through an agency, if I'm planning a trip to visit a city somewhere in the world, I just book it myself. When I book my travels I always think if I should schedule it through a travel agency or book it myself using booking.com , skyscanner.com (and others). Every time I schedule a trip I do the same exercise: ask for quotes in a travel agency, and compare it against online prices. I haven't done a thorough comparison for this post, so I'll just share my opinion based on my experience. Is it always better to book trips by yourself, directly with airlines and hotels? No.  My experience so far is that in certain specific destinations, such as beach locations with family resorts or similar, travel agencies just have better prices than if you book it yourself (either through booking.com or even through...

  What is the best way to pass the time while in airports, airplanes, and trains? it is reading! I've always loved reading, but I recently rediscovered the pleasure of reading, and I try to read as much as I can. I truly feel the benefits of reading regularly: I'm more relaxed, more concentrated, more patient, and everyday a little more knowledgeable. I found out that reading while I travel is the best way to recover from the traveling day. It can be because I've walked around a lot, or because I spent the day at the beach and I want to relax further, or just because I'm in transit in an airplane or in a train (I'm not able to read in buses though...). But it is not easy to keep a regular reading schedule. How do I create the habit of reading? Reading is hard! Especially when you compare it to watching TV, YouTube, or using any social network. The problem most of the times is that it is difficult to start reading a book and very easy to stop reading it. So how do w...